# Let's do another "help me buy a gaming PC" thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812
**Category:** The Game Room
**Tags:** computer-hardware
**Created:** [July 9, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812 "2023-07-09T12:42:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/61 "2023-07-26T02:08:55Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> 2.5 years in and the be quiet fans haven’t caused any insanity.
lol, I remember you asking about that (not directly fearing insanity but thought it might make an unlivable drone) and posting that review
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> I just love that case _so much_
The love of my PC life is my Rosewill Thor v2 case which is pretty dated at this point and no longer made but it’s a huge beast (24"H x 22"W) with a mesh side panel and room for three 230mm fans – though I removed two to fit two AIOs in there. Those giant fans are great though; move a ton of air without much noise since they can spin pretty slow. The side panel allows extra ventilation and keeps my GPU pretty cool. It’s a joy to work in with all that space, plus a (semi) solid side panel means never needing to cable manage any more than you want to 😉
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/qXwKkw5.jpg)
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/KI0zmGw.jpg)
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/62 "2023-07-26T03:06:49Z")
Very nice!
I like your cable management. The only thing that seems “messy” are the side panel fan (AIO?) cables, but that is inherent to their nature. My old 2013 machine had a side panel fan, but unlike yours, it made it extremely difficult to actually take off the side panel. There was almost no slack to work with. That kind of traumatized me to the point that I doubt I will ever have a side panel fan again.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/63 "2023-11-04T08:06:52Z")
I’m looking at buying a new gaming computer in about five weeks, that’s when I’ll get my monetary award for having “outstanding” performance at work. I don’t intend to put all of that toward a new Windows box but I do have some other money that’s available. My current box is a slightly upgraded [five-year-old HP OMEN](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-general-discussion-gaming-pcs-game-sales-news-etc/952885/572) and ny upper limit is about $1500.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/64 "2023-11-04T08:51:35Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> in about five weeks
That’s awkward timing with Black Friday being three weeks away.
Based on the linked post, you have a local Microcenter and a bunch of pieces already in place.
What PSU did you upgrade to? And are you looking to stick with that case or did you want a new one?
Any upgrade will include a new CPU and motherboard, which will necessarily mean new ram as well. And if you’re still rocking that original mechanical hard drive, you’ll definitely want a new M.2 NVMe.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/65 "2023-11-04T13:42:11Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> I don’t intend to put all of that toward a new Windows box but I do have some other money that’s available
Are you looking to build all new from scratch? For that matter, are you looking to build at all or looking for a prebuilt?
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/66 "2023-11-04T14:51:24Z")
I tend to go prebuilt and swap out parts when an upgrade is needed, like with my current box. This OMEN has been good, maybe I’ll see about getting another OMEN if I can find one close to my price range.
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> That’s awkward timing with Black Friday being three weeks away.
Tru dat. Maybe I can get in on a Christmas sale or something.
Thing about Micro Center is that we don’t drive and it’s difficult to get to on public transportation. This OMEN came from a Best Buy.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/67 "2023-11-04T15:18:18Z")
At the high end of your budget, there’s this guy:
[https://www.microcenter.com/product/665456/powerspec-g444-gaming-pc](https://www.microcenter.com/product/665456/powerspec-g444-gaming-pc)
PowerSpec is Micro Center’s in-house brand from what I can tell. 12th gen i7, 4070, 32GB RAM, AIO cooler, 3x PCIe x16 slots. I’d buy it if I was in the market.
A couple hundred less:
[https://www.microcenter.com/product/668360/asus-rog-strix-ga15-g15dk-ga15dk-mb786-gaming-pc](https://www.microcenter.com/product/668360/asus-rog-strix-ga15-g15dk-ga15dk-mb786-gaming-pc)
This was a top-of-the-line machine in 2020. Half the RAM and you lose 4 CPU cores. Better looking case if you care about that sort of thing. Aside from the 4070 being newer, the 3080 is more or less the same card. Still a pretty good machine.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/68 "2023-11-04T15:29:53Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> [https://www.microcenter.com/product/665456/powerspec-g444-gaming-pc](https://www.microcenter.com/product/665456/powerspec-g444-gaming-pc)
>
> PowerSpec is Micro Center’s in-house brand from what I can tell. 12th gen i7, 4070, 32GB RAM, AIO cooler, 3x PCIe x16 slots. I’d buy it if I was in the market.
I’ll keep this in mind. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/69 "2023-11-04T15:34:01Z")
Yeah, that’s a nice system. Good right out of the box and a future upgrade path for the CPU (up to 14th gen) and GPU if that matters to you. DDR4 and DDR5 are basically the same performance for most normal tasks including gaming and 32GB is a good amount that shouldn’t hold you back anytime in the near future.
As far as prebuilts go, it’s hard to fault it.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/70 "2023-11-04T15:37:35Z")
14th Gen isn’t really an upgrade, though. It’s just a refresh, with essentially the same performance as 13th Gen. Maybe like 3% faster; an amount so small it could technically just be within the margin of error.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/71 "2023-11-04T15:44:31Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> Maybe like 3% faster
Apples to apples, yeah, but they’re coming from a i5-7400. The i7-12700KF will be a huge upgrade on that.
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> As far as prebuilts go, it’s hard to fault it.
And with Micro Center’s own brand, you can probably talk face-to-face with the person who built it. They’re not just slapping their badge on someone else’s machine, I’m pretty sure they’re literally building these things right there in the store.
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### Author:  [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/72 "2023-11-04T15:49:48Z")
I have NOT bought a NEW desktop computer in over 10 years.
So I have looked at the PCs recommended in this thread and looked at PCs at my local Wal-Mart the first thing I noticed is NONE of the PCs have built-in optical drives(i.e DVD and/or Blu-Ray drives).
Are they not a thing anymore? Are games and software only available for download now?
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/73 "2023-11-04T15:53:24Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> 14th Gen isn’t really an upgrade, though. It’s just a refresh, with essentially the same performance as 13th Gen. Maybe like 3% faster
At the i9 end. i7 bump from 13th to 14th is more like 10-15%. And the i7 jump from 12th to 13th was notable as well, another 10-15%. Someday when we’re on 18th gen or something, going from an i7-12700 to an i7-14700 will give a decent boost to performance for probably not a lot of money.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/74 "2023-11-04T15:55:45Z")
> [@dorvann](#):
>
> Are they not a thing anymore?
They are not a thing anymore. At least, not as a standard feature. Most cases don’t even have a 5.25" slot to put an optical drive in these days. Most commonly, someone needing a DVD-ROM will buy an external one that plugs in via USB.
PC gaming is almost entirely digital these days. The only people putting PC games on DVD/CD-ROM are “200 in 1 Arcade Packs” games sold on Office Depot endcaps displays.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/75 "2023-11-04T16:31:40Z")
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> Most commonly, someone needing a DVD-ROM will buy an external one that plugs in via USB.
And just to toss this out there, external DVD drives / burners are like $20 on Amazon.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/76 "2023-11-04T16:32:07Z")
> [@dorvann](#):
>
> the first thing I noticed is NONE of the PCs have built-in optical drives(i.e DVD and/or Blu-Ray drives).
The lack of optical drives is one reason I plan to use a KVM switch with USB 3.0 capability. All my music will be staying on the old computer, which does have one built-in and can import more music from CD.
We have an external optical drive but it’s for my SO’s tablet.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/77 "2023-11-04T16:49:38Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> staying on the old computer
So you need a full new system, not reusing any parts from the old computer, yes?
You mentioned how Microcenter was kind of a pain in the butt to get to, and that Best Buy was more convenient. It sort of sounds like getting something shipped to your house would be best case scenario.
It also sounds like you’ve done pretty extensive upgrades in the past. How would you feel about assembling the whole thing from scratch yourself?
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### Author:  [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/78 "2023-11-04T16:57:50Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> Thing about Micro Center is that we don’t drive and it’s difficult to get to on public transportation. This OMEN came from a Best Buy.
I do not know where you live or how close a Microcenter is but for a $1500(ish) purchase it can be worth renting a car for a day (or doing a Zipcar if you have them). It’ll add to the cost but it’s not too much. If you rent a car for a day you can pile on some other errands too to make it more worthwhile (and maybe go to that restaurant you wanted to try but was not easy to get to).
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/79 "2023-11-04T17:05:23Z")
Here’s a parts list for a build your own $1500 system going with Intel and Nvidia. I started out with the stuff I would recommend, thinking I would trim down to get on budget, but my first choices ended up being right around the target. You could save a few bucks ($20-$40) each at hard drive, motherboard, ram and video card, meaning you could trim another $100 or so without sacrificing too much, though it wouldn’t be quite as nice.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WqpV4M)
| Type | Item | Price |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **CPU** | [Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LfNxFT/intel-core-i5-13600k-35-ghz-14-core-processor-bx8071513600k) | $307.99 @ Amazon |
| **CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hYxRsY/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120-se-d3) | $34.90 @ Amazon |
| **Motherboard** | [MSI MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CxLFf7/msi-mag-b760-tomahawk-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-mag-b760-tomahawk-wifi) | $180.98 @ Amazon |
| **Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/x4VmP6/gskill-ripjaws-s5-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-f5-6000j3040f16gx2-rs5k) | $104.99 @ Newegg |
| **Storage** | [Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/f3cRsY/samsung-980-pro-2-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-mz-v8p2t0bam) | $119.43 @ Amazon |
| **Video Card** | [Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QvfxFT/gigabyte-gaming-oc-geforce-rtx-4070-12-gb-video-card-gv-n4070gaming-oc-12gd) | $584.99 @ Newegg |
| **Case** | [Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/QnD7YJ/fractal-design-pop-air-atx-mid-tower-case-fd-c-poa1a-02) | $79.97 @ Newegg |
| **Power Supply** | [SeaSonic FOCUS PLUS 850 Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jWFXsY/seasonic-focus-plus-gold-850w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-850fx) | $109.99 @ Newegg |
| **Total** | _Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts_ | **$1523.24** |
| | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2023-11-04 13:00 EDT-0400 | |
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-another-help-me-buy-a-gaming-pc-thread/986812/80 "2023-11-04T17:08:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#):
>
> I do not know where you live or how close a Microcenter is but for a $1500(ish) purchase it can be worth renting a car for a day
Or just calling an Uber, yeah
Edit: Heh, “calling”. You know what I mean.
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