Gaming PC < 2000€

[Senzelian]

I need to build a PC for a friend but haven't done so in a little while. I just need someone to check this config and tell me if there are any issues with the following parts or whether I'm missing out on something.

My friend isn't all too interested in the latest and greatest tech, and instead just needs something simple and reliable that will play modern games nicely.

 

Budget: 2000€ (But preferably below 1500€)

Resolution: 1440p 60Hz (Again, not looking for anything crazy)

Country: Germany

 

Here's what I have picked out so far:

 

I know the 7800XT might be a bit overkill for the desired resolution and refresh rate, but I also don't want her to need an upgrade anytime soon.

Not sure if I should downgrade to a 7700XT tho.

 

[Motifator]

Isn't 60 Hz kinda garbage for this kind of setup? I mean, I'd definitely expect a higher refresh rate monitor.

[brob]

44 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I need to build a PC for a friend but haven't done so in a little while. I just need someone to check this config and tell me if there are any issues with the following parts or whether I'm missing out on something.

My friend isn't all too interested in the latest and greatest tech, and instead just needs something simple and reliable that will play modern games nicely.

 

Budget: 2000€ (But preferably below 1500€)

Resolution: 1440p 60Hz (Again, not looking for anything crazy)

Country: Germany

 

Here's what I have picked out so far:

 

I know the 7800XT might be a bit overkill for the desired resolution and refresh rate, but I also don't want her to need an upgrade anytime soon.

Not sure if I should downgrade to a 7700XT tho.

 

 

The screen grab is difficult on portable devices. But I think one can do better for not much more.

 

A 7800X3D is currently considered the optimal gaming CPU.

 

The Lancool 216 offers front panel USB-C support. For a few € more it is available with A-RGB fans.

 

A 2TB NVMe drive provides long-term storage needs growth.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  (€330.56 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (€36.49 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€167.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€125.56 @ Galaxus) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€149.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  (€517.90 @ Galaxus) 
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€110.89 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€109.90 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Total: €1548.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-25 17:43 CEST+0200

[podkall]

54 minutes ago, Motifator said:

Isn't 60 Hz kinda garbage for this kind of setup? I mean, I'd definitely expect a higher refresh rate monitor.

I mean it is 1440p

 

1 hour ago, Senzelian said:

I just need someone to check this config and tell me if there are any issues with the following parts or whether I'm missing out on something.

slightly, the 7700x is probably expensive enough that bumping it up to 7800x3D won't be felt,

 

the parts are real high quality though, there's room to save € if he's interested:

 

19 minutes ago, brob said:

Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€149.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)

oh hey we're using the same storage,

 

I'd go for this bad boy:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  (€330.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (€38.66 @ Galaxus)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-E Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€168.49 @ Galaxus)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€125.56 @ Galaxus)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€149.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: *Acer Nitro OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  (€508.65 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (€82.95 @ Galaxus)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€106.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1510.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-25 18:12 CEST+0200

 

at least with 1500€, with a 2000€ budget he can pick up better GPU

 

 

Both me and @brob have 2TB NVME with DRAM cache, EXPO RAM, 850W PSU, and 37€ AirCooler that will be able to cool 7800x3D in a jiffy.

 

What separates us, he actually has cheaper MB:

 

22 minutes ago, brob said:

Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€167.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

That MB has good VRMs, and probably at least decent connectivity, it's 170€ but it has double 8pin CPU connector.

 

And 12 power phase VRMs, those things are the real deal, just like the price is a real deal.

 

It has more complex VRMs than the TUF Motherboard.

[Dedayog]

8 minutes ago, podkall said:

I mean it is 1440p

 

slightly, the 7700x is probably expensive enough that bumping it up to 7800x3D won't be felt,

 

the parts are real high quality though, there's room to save € if he's interested:

 

oh hey we're using the same storage,

 

I'd go for this bad boy:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  (€330.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (€38.66 @ Galaxus)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-E Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€168.49 @ Galaxus)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€125.56 @ Galaxus)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€149.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: *Acer Nitro OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  (€508.65 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (€82.95 @ Galaxus)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€106.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1510.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-25 18:12 CEST+0200

 

at least with 1500€, with a 2000€ budget he can pick up better GPU

 

 

Both me and @brob have 2TB NVME with DRAM cache, EXPO RAM, 850W PSU, and 37€ AirCooler that will be able to cool 7800x3D in a jiffy.

 

What separates us, he actually has cheaper MB:

 

That MB has good VRMs, and probably at least decent connectivity, it's 170€ but it has double 8pin CPU connector.

 

And 12 power phase VRMs, those things are the real deal, just like the price is a real deal.

 

It has more complex VRMs than the TUF Motherboard.

Why are we recommending a PRO drive for gaming?  Samsung love?

 

Also, there is the Ryzen 7600 + GRE combo to look at.

[podkall]

5 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Why are we recommending a PRO drive for gaming?  Samsung love?

 

Also, there is the Ryzen 7600 + GRE combo to look at.

Because of modern games, longevity, reliability, DRAM cache, load times, etc.

 

5 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Also, there is the Ryzen 7600 + GRE combo to look at.

there is 7800x3D + GRE/XTX combo to look at, the budget is sub 2000€

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, podkall said:

Because of modern games, longevity, reliability, DRAM cache, load times, etc.

 

there is 7800x3D + GRE/XTX combo to look at, the budget is sub 2000€

How does load times differ on that Samsung vs any other Gen 3 or 4 drive?    Longevity?  They all last many years.  Modern games?   Any Gen 3 or 4 meets and exceeds their supposed requirements.  DRAM?  not a difference maker any more.  

 

Just seems a waste of money to go with a drive that benefits ZERO.

 

I was thinking the 7600 + GRE for sub $1500, as they state that is preferred if possible.  Not sure how a x3d + 7800XT compares to a 7600 + GRE though.

[podkall]

15 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Just seems a waste of money to go with a drive that benefits ZERO.

high end CPU,

high end MB,

high end RAM,

high end GPU,

high end everything,

but not SSD,

but if I use high end SSD, it's going to guarantee reliability, if something stutters it's not hardware problem in no way shape or form, if I'm installing a 100GB+ game I'm not seeing estimated 30 minutes jump to 40 minutes 10 minutes later,

with high end drive I basically never have to check it's health because it's rated longevity and build quality simply means that latest I'd have to start doing that is 5+ years later,

no latency, if I double click browser there's no lag, the window will pop up and internet will load within 2 seconds,

no performance fluctuations, always ready, no waiting for SLC cache conversion, no waiting for busy controller because Windows attempted to eat all of your PC's resources, etc.

[Senzelian]

Thanks guys. I replaced the motherboard with what you guys recommended, the MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi, and also snuck a 7800X3D in there.

That should definitely do the trick now  

 

 

2 hours ago, Motifator said:

Isn't 60 Hz kinda garbage for this kind of setup? I mean, I'd definitely expect a higher refresh rate monitor.

The monitor does feature a higher refresh rate, but she isn't interested all that much in it. I didn't want people to concentrate too much on it being 144Hz. I should've said 60FPS instead of 60Hz  

 

56 minutes ago, podkall said:

Because of modern games, longevity, reliability, DRAM cache, load times, etc.

Well, the WD850X has 1GB of DDR4 DRAM cache too, and is of good enough quality to not be an issue.

 

 

 

 

[Queen Chrysalis]

I’d get a better monitor and GPU with that budget, otherwise this is just wasteful.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor  (€181.80 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 36 CPU Cooler  (€19.23 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M PG Lightning Wifi Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€143.62 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory  (€115.90 @ Alza) 
Storage: KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€119.00 @ Galaxus) 
Video Card: PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB Video Card  (€707.99 @ Mindfactory) 
Case: Montech AIR 100 LITE MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (€43.90 @ Alza) 
Power Supply: LC-Power LC6 V2.31 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€99.41 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQA1A 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz Monitor  (€189.90 @ Computeruniverse) 
Total: €1620.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-25 19:38 CEST+0200

[brob]

16 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Well, the WD850X has 1GB of DDR4 DRAM cache too, and is of good enough quality to not be an issue.

 

True, but it is currently more expensive than the Samsung 980 Pro.

 

[Senzelian]

3 minutes ago, brob said:

 

True, but it is currently more expensive than the Samsung 980 Pro.

 

Doesn't look like it.

Both are with free shipping.

 

[brob]

Just now, Senzelian said:

Doesn't look like it.

 

 

I am using de.pcpartpicker.com and comparing 2TB drives. Certainly get the less expensive of the two. But do get a 2TB model. Games do not shrink. New releases usually require more storage and if one wants to store a few titles, the extra space makes things easier.

[Senzelian]

2 minutes ago, brob said:

 

I am using de.pcpartpicker.com and comparing 2TB drives. Certainly get the less expensive of the two. But do get a 2TB model. Games do not shrink. New releases usually require more storage and if one wants to store a few titles, the extra space makes things easier.

I agree, 2TB is a better size nowadays, and I have a 2TB Samsung myself, but she will be alright with 1TB. She wanted to go with 500GB originally  

[podkall]

6 hours ago, Senzelian said:

Well, the WD850X has 1GB of DDR4 DRAM cache too, and is of good enough quality to not be an issue.

that's interesting, pcpartpicker doesn't label it or give it cache specs even though it apparently has cache,

 

yes 850X will work, it'll blaze a trail just like 980 Pro would

 

 

[podkall]

6 hours ago, Senzelian said:

I agree, 2TB is a better size nowadays, and I have a 2TB Samsung myself, but she will be alright with 1TB. She wanted to go with 500GB originally  

Interesting, because gravigating towards 2TB is pretty normal considering "modern gaming" when recommending hardware: