# Time to Upgrade the Ol' Gaming Rig **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 8, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055 "2017-04-08T15:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/22 "2017-04-14T13:00:17Z")
It sounds similar to the one I just ordered: Dell XPS 8920 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.2 GHz)NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory 256GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (plus a bunch of old 2TB drives I use to store movies, music, pictures, backups and whatnot 16GB (2X8GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 Memory I’m not a huge gamer, but the sort of games I do play do seem to push the graphics and processing capabilities of my PC. I’m a bit annoyed because my old system… 3rd Gen I7 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 28GB DDR3 Memory …the motherboard just sort of irreparably fried itself. I’m also doubly annoyed because I just bought a RAM upgrade and I’m not sure if I can return it since I don’t think it will fit in the new computer. It did last a good 4 years though. Serious question though. Where do you buy your PCs where you can choose “I want this but not that”? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/23 "2017-04-14T13:31:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It sounds similar to the one I just ordered: > > Dell XPS 8920 > 7th Generation Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.2 GHz)NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory > 256GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (plus a bunch of old 2TB drives I use to store movies, music, pictures, backups and whatnot > 16GB (2X8GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 Memory > > I’m not a huge gamer, but the sort of games I do play do seem to push the graphics and processing capabilities of my PC. > I’m a bit annoyed because my old system… > 3rd Gen I7 > NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 > 28GB DDR3 Memory > > …the motherboard just sort of irreparably fried itself. I’m also doubly annoyed because I just bought a RAM upgrade and I’m not sure if I can return it since I don’t think it will fit in the new computer. It did last a good 4 years though. > > Serious question though. Where do you buy your PCs where you can choose “I want this but not that”? Building them yourself. [Newegg.com](http://Newegg.com) and [tigerdirect.com](http://tigerdirect.com) are the two major sites I know of that sell all the bits and pieces. You buy the parts and put it together, and save 50% or so over something like a Dell or HP. It takes a little more knowledge (what uses a PCI-E x16 bus, what kind of power connectors does the video card need, etc.) but most things are fairly compatible nowadays. It’s a good bit of research, and it can be stressful when you push the Power button the first time and nothing happens, but outside of shorting a motherboard on the case, or messing up the pins on the processor when seating it, it’s all troubleshooting. I built mine…6 years ago, with some advice from my younger brother, who started 15 years ago and has moved on to custom building his own cases. Now that I have access to a CNC fiber laser and generous press brake operators and welders, my custom case design is gonna blow his away, even if Lexan with embedded LEDs looks awesome. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/24 "2017-04-14T13:35:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > where do you buy your PCs where you can choose “I want this but not that”? Since I’m Canadian, I buy from [ncix.com](http://ncix.com). I know quite a few people who buy from [newegg.com](http://newegg.com) (or newegg.ca up here). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/25 "2017-04-14T13:38:05Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Serious question though. Where do you buy your PCs where you can choose “I want this but not that”? Ibuypower and CyberpowerPC are two of the better known but if you type “Custom gaming rig” into Google you’ll get other results. Depending on where you live, you may have local options as well. While many people build their own systems, the savings aren’t as significant as they used to be and the difference may be worth it to save yourself the time, hassle, risk of errors and having a single source warranty. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/26 "2017-04-14T14:03:27Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Building them yourself. ^^This. Seriously. If the PC is for your grandma who will only use it for email and Facebook to see some pictures then absolutely go for a Dell. If you want to do some gaming or video editing or other computer intensive work then building it yourself is the way to go. I used to buy Dell and still do for our office but I have grown to hate them so, so much. They are a pale shadow of the cool company they once were. I hate my Dell PC at work with a burning passion. The not-so-secret secret is building a PC really is not that difficult (takes an afternoon and a screwdriver to accomplish once all the parts are there). If you are of a mind to try I recommend getting advice here or on Reddit ([Reddit - Dive into anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/)). There are other places but these are known and trustworthy places for this advice. You will get all the help and tips you need to get the PC you want. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/27 "2017-04-14T14:07:38Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Since I’m Canadian, I buy from [ncix.com](http://ncix.com). I watch [Linus Tech Tips](https://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips) on YouTube pretty regularly. I think he got his YouTube start doing tips for NCIX. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/28 "2017-04-14T14:14:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Dell XPS 8920 > 7th Generation Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.2 GHz)NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory > 256GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive (plus a bunch of old 2TB drives I use to store movies, music, pictures, backups and whatnot > 16GB (2X8GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 Memory > > I’m not a huge gamer, but the sort of games I do play do seem to push the graphics and processing capabilities of my PC. On paper you should have no trouble with any games given those specs. A GTX 1060 is not bleeding edge but still quite capable. It is roughly equivalent to a GTX 980 which is still quite capable (the 1060 is the [4th most common card used by Steam users](http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/videocard/) and the top three are all less capable). You might not be able to run at Ultra settings and maintain 60 FPS but you should be able to get a very nice experience out of it unless you are trying to run at 4K in which case you need an upgrade. At 1080p you should have no trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/29 "2017-04-14T14:23:43Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If the PC is for your grandma who will only use it for email and Facebook to see some pictures then absolutely go for a Dell. **Msmith** isn’t asking about buying a Dell. He bought a Dell but he’s asking about custom shops where you select your components and someone else does the building, testing, installs, etc and sends it to you with a single warranty and ready to plug into the wall. I build my own systems and will do it again the next time I build a system. I’d recommend doing it at least once so you feel comfortable tinkering and upgrading and aren’t convinced that it runs on fairy magic or is so fragile that it breaks with a glance. But I’ve also had times when I had some issue that took a while to resolve. Or had parts I had to RMA and then wait a week before I could finish my build. The last time I built my own system, I ran the same components through a custom shop calculator and saw I had saved maybe $125 or so – not insignificant but I could easily justify the value of not spending an afternoon on it, the potential mishaps and having a single place to hassle if it doesn’t work. Unless you’re buying parts on sale over the course of months, you’re not going to hop onto NewEgg and save 50% these days. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/30 "2017-04-14T14:41:09Z")
Indeed, DIY is often more expensive. A big reason is that Dell et al get their Windows licenses for peanuts. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/31 "2017-04-14T14:44:32Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > ^^This. Seriously. > > If the PC is for your grandma who will only use it for email and Facebook to see some pictures then absolutely go for a Dell. > > If you want to do some gaming or video editing or other computer intensive work then building it yourself is the way to go. I used to buy Dell and still do for our office but I have grown to hate them so, so much. They are a pale shadow of the cool company they once were. I hate my Dell PC at work with a burning passion. Other than violating some sort of unspoken “nerd law”, what specifically do you hate about Dell? I don’t have any particular stake in them, but they seemed to get good reviews and I like the simplistic design. Keeping in mind, I’m just buying one for personal use and not dealing with them as a vendor supplying an office of dozens or hundreds of people. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > ^^ > The not-so-secret secret is building a PC really is not that difficult (takes an afternoon and a screwdriver to accomplish once all the parts are there). If you are of a mind to try I recommend getting advice here or on Reddit ([Reddit - Dive into anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/)). There are other places but these are known and trustworthy places for this advice. You will get all the help and tips you need to get the PC you want. I’m skeptical about the cost savings. Just some quick calculations: NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1060 $275.00 Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700 Processor $350.99 Memory $118.00 Motherboard $218.00 Windows 10 Pro license $199.00 Hard Drive $60.00 Power supply $100.00 TOTAL $1,320.99 I’m still missing parts like cooling fans, the case and God knows what else and it’s already about as much as what I paid for the Dell. But the Dell comes already assembled and has a manufacturers warranty. I could certainly do it with a bit of research. But to be honest, I doubt I would come up with anything much better than the stock system. Maybe there’s a greater benefit if you are looking at a $3000k gaming system. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/32 "2017-04-14T15:13:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’m skeptical about the cost savings. Just some quick calculations: > NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1060 $275.00 > Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700 Processor $350.99 > Memory $118.00 > Motherboard $218.00 > Windows 10 Pro license $199.00 > Hard Drive $60.00 > Power supply $100.00 > > TOTAL $1,320.99 Those prices don’t look right to me… The 1060 can be had for under $200 now a days. The $350 can buy a 7700K class processor, which is what I’d go for over the non K. $218 is a LOT for a motherboard. I doubt you’re getting many of the features that a high end third party mobo will net you at that price point with whatever Dell is putting on their XPS line. And with a single 1060 I doubt you’d need a high end mobo anyway. Windows 10 pro RETAIL is $140, OEM it’s under $100. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/33 "2017-04-14T15:23:33Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Other than violating some sort of unspoken “nerd law”, what specifically do you hate about Dell? I don’t have any particular stake in them, but they seemed to get good reviews and I like the simplistic design. Keeping in mind, I’m just buying one for personal use and not dealing with them as a vendor supplying an office of dozens or hundreds of people. It is no “nerd law”. I have been buying PCs for my employers for two decades and I loved Dell. They were far and away my favorite and recommended them any chance I got. Those days are gone sadly. Your ability to customize a PC with them is minimal at best. Try buying a PC from them but swap a HDD for an SSD. If you can mange it (mostly you can’t) they charge you waaay more for the SSD than it actually costs. Same with RAM. The quality of their builds is bargain basement. They put a nice exterior on but the insides are crap. Someone recently asked me if they could put a GTX 1060 in their Dell. The computer had one PCI slot and a 240W power supply. You never know till you try but my guess was forget about it. I have a (on paper) very nice Dell where I work. Ticks all the boxes. Its performance is shit and the ability to upgrade it is extremely limited. It is impossible to express here how bad it is and barely an hour goes by when I do not curse it. The hard drive constantly thrashes making the whole PC struggle and hiccup and lurch. To be clear I am no novice when it comes to PCs and their maintenance. Not claiming I am the #1 expert but I make my living mainlining office computer system. I am not grandma with 20 tool bars on her browser. I know what I am doing and I have diligently worked to improve performance on my Dell but it is beyond help and just sucks major ass. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/34 "2017-04-14T15:31:12Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Windows 10 pro RETAIL is $140, OEM it’s under $100. I do not know the needs he has but there is little need for Pro outside of a large office environment. Home edition is just fine in most cases. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/35 "2017-04-14T15:41:59Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Unless you’re buying parts on sale over the course of months, you’re not going to hop onto NewEgg and save 50% these days. Dell and their like certainly get volume discounts we cannot. On the flip side they have to pay for all their overhead. Washes out their savings. What I do not think you are considering is the quality of the parts. Compare what Dell puts in for their power supplies or motherboards and you will see a difference. A big one. As I noted in a post above my Dell at work thrashes the hard drive like mad. On paper it is a 7200 RPM hard drive. Standard stuff. But not all hard drives are created equal and this one is shit and it shows. So yeah, your overall savings may be minimal but I’d wager you are getting a far better PC for your dollar not to mention a PC built to meet your needs rather than some middle of the road generic, mostly gets it done PC. That said there is value in a one-stop shop. It is simpler and as I said before if you are buying a PC for basic use (email, internet) then Dell is fine. If you want to game with AAA titles or do video editing or CAD work and such steer waaaay clear of Dell. Also, Alienware sucks now too after Dell bought them. This is where you will see your money savings. Compare a swank Alienware rig with a comparable one you build. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/36 "2017-04-14T15:44:14Z")
Eh, I got everything plus the case (which includes fans) for less than $1100, which gives you the chance to upgrade in the future. One of the biggest issues with Dell and such (at least in the past, I’m not sure if they’ve changed) is that they use proprietary motherboards and cases. Standard motherboards don’t fit the case, and there’s no room to expand anything other than memory. In the past, that wasn’t even an option. That’s building to compare to a Dell at $1500. I’d drop to an i5, and throw that extra cash at memory and an upgrade at the video card. Dells are not terrible computers. The peace of mind from the warranties and customer service can be worth it for some people. Alienware (now part of Dell) is pretty much shite still though. ETA: I’d take the case for the new Area-51 system though. I’ll fill the internals, TYVM. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/37 "2017-04-14T15:45:00Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I do not know the needs he has but there is little need for Pro outside of a large office environment. Home edition is just fine in most cases. I needed it for VPN + remote desktop for work ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/38 "2017-04-14T15:51:25Z")
My friend got an HP OMEN PC on sale for $900 (CAD). It had $1200 of hardware in it. Some times buying an OEM machine is a good idea, even if you’re confident in assembling your own. Though their ad was super dumb for the machine. The second line was “Intel HD Graphics” so immediately you lose interest in it. If you scrolled to the bottom of the spec sheet: “NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960” Nice work, HP marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/39 "2017-04-14T15:53:30Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I needed it for VPN + remote desktop for work ☹ You can do remote desktop for free with [TeamViewer.](https://www.teamviewer.com/en/) Works great. I use it to support my friends and family with great results. VPN I am not up on these days but I am betting there are third party solutions for that too. All that said Pro may make perfect sense and in your case if it does then great! Easy-peasy. Just saying it is worth a look at the difference between Home and Pro to see if you should pay more for Pro. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/40 "2017-04-14T16:31:19Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Dell and their like certainly get volume discounts we cannot. On the flip side they have to pay for all their overhead. Washes out their savings. > > What I do not think you are considering is the quality of the parts. Compare what Dell puts in for their power supplies or motherboards and you will see a difference. A big one. Again, I wasn’t speaking so much of Dell (or HP, etc) so much as online custom shops. Buying from them gives you much more input into your components so no cut-rate motherboards with a 245W PSU unless that’s what you picked. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055/41 "2017-04-14T16:48:00Z")
This system is overkill, but since you intend for it to be so, I think you’re generally targeting the right components. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-upgrade-the-ol-gaming-rig/784055.md?page=3)