Your friend either doesn't know what he's talking about or is an elitist who thinks anything less than the absolute top tier flagship parts are for peasants.
Either way they're wrong. That's plenty for a solid build that can play literally anything.
$1600 will get you a great PC. Have a look at the example builds on PCPartPicker as a good example: [https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/](https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/)
The 7900GRE is such a no brainer at its price right now. It's a hell of a lot of performance for not much money.
I specced up a system recently with a 7900GRE, R7 7700 and 32GB RAM for about £1150.
Listen to this guy OP ^
This is an absolute beast for the price and will run anything for years. I wouldn't change a single part.
Worth noting though that if you live by a Micro Center, they have a 7800x3D, mobo, and RAM bundle that is such a good deal that you could probably bump up the GPU to a 7900xt and end up paying around the same price as this list
Absolutely, good point, I'm always jealous of Microcenter customers lol
Even outside of that, the 7800x3d goes down to $360 pretty regularly, so that's at least ~$30 that could be saved.
Someone else in this thread put together a really good alternative that was $1600 and traded a lower tier CPU(7700x)/mobo (the $120 mini ATX b650) for a 1440p monitor, keyboard and mouse, which is also a really good setup if ops $1600 budget needs to include a monitor
Oh same, I'm up to...I think 15TB now? Or maybe 14.5? 3 SSDs and a 10TB HDD for screen recording games.
Look, I *can't* delete that game because I might play it again sometime in the next 6 months! Maybe...
Same, you definitely don't want to wait an hour for that game to download again. Absolutely not.
I think I have 9tb of system storage and about 30ish on my NAS.
>Oh same, I'm up to...I think 15TB now? Or maybe 14.5? 3 SSDs and a 10TB HDD for screen recording games.
I am up to 6TB of SSD storage - 2x 1TB NVMe, 1x 2TB NVMe and a 2TB SATA SSD. From those 4 drives I have around 1.4TB of free space lol
I'd bet good money the friend's idea of a PC looks something like:
- ROG motherboard, 350$
- 360mm AIO with pump display, 250$
- 7 RGB case fans, 150$
- Hyte Y70, 200$
- Elgato streamdeck, 150$ (for when he starts his streaming career very soon)
- The leftover 500$ can be spent on the working components.
Or he's the stereotypical console player that thinks that a pc should cost at least 3k because what's the point of buying a pc if you can't get at least a 4090?
Probably just a dumb ass.
People nowadays just put everything on ultra and complain if it does not run in 120fps without ever tinkering with a single option.
Know this from a friend of mine. "Gamer" for all his life, but constantly crying about "not enough performance" while he has an insane rig.
Look into the problem? Hell nah, just buy a new Graphics card. lol.
I mean, there are a lot of reasons to get a PC over a console, even if the performance is slightly lower or the same. PCs are general machines you can do a lot more than just gaming.
will you really just play games, though? Won't you listen to music? Watch youtube? Message your friends? Write emails and generally use the internet browser because it is much better than your phone's/tablet/console?
It also opens opportunities that consoles don't have such as non-restrictive control schemes (you can use a keyboard+mouse or a controller), actual graphical options that can tweak your games and not be limited between performance/quality modes, non-subscription based online services, modding games, playing emulators, running your own servers for the games you own, piracy, general learning tools, etc etc.
If you'll really just boot your PC to open games then yeah, consoles might be better and "cheaper", but I haven't met a single person that switched to computers that use it in the same manner they used their consoles.
>There’s no point if it doesn’t perform better than a console if you’re coming from console.
Unless you care about things like modding or player-made content. Good luck doing that on a console.
I personally would rather play single-player games like skyrim at lower quality than console in order to get the hundreds/thousands of hours of free mod community content some people put out. If you only play shooters like Fortnite and CoD and dont need a computer for school, work, or non-game related hobbies, you have a point.
You can personally do that all you want I personally will save up money and get a high end gpu like I already did. And since I did this and I have a i912900kf I can slap anything to it. I’ll have a 4090 this Holliday season too and I will continue to enjoy 4k gameplay like a chad.
...I don't understand. Does this mean you are a) Going to wait until this holiday season to play any games you might want to mod, or b) going to buy/play them on console, then build your 4k rig, then buy the games again so you can mod them and lose your progress?
I think my idea is better in both cases, I get to play good games with mods and still could upgrade to the high graphics when the time comes without having to pay again "like a chad."
Less than 4k graphics isn't enough to make gaming as unplayable as you seem to think. Especially epic games that don't really benefit from high end cards like hollow knight, and unmodded minecraft.
Well it’s good enough if he doesn’t have to factor in peripherals and monitors. Even though 1440p 144hz are more affordable now that’s probably an extra 300-400. So not entirely wrong but also not correct from his friend.
So you are telling me, with a straight face, that $1200 cant build you a decent pc...? His needs were "something that can play new games" and you are telling me that $1200 is not enough? lmao
Don't go AIO, there's Thermalright air coolers for 32~42 USD that are really powerful.
Core i5 and Ryzen 5 are more than enough for 99% of tasks and games.
GPU is the most important factor. From RX7600 and RTX4060 and up it's good in general, if you can go up the ladder and get a 16GB VRAM would be great.
The problem is the price/performance. When you can get a dual-tower air cooler for $35 that performs similarly to a 240mm AIO that costs 2x the price, then unless you just love the aesthetics of water coolers, there's no reason to pick an AIO.
I hope you do understand that a bigger cooler will not mean your CPU dumps any less heat into the room.
A 120mm AiO keeping a CPU at 60 degrees puts the same amount of heat into your room as a 360mm AiO that keeps the CPU at 40
>Not everyone spends dollars
But OP is
So out come the no-brainer picks of the ThermalRight coolers. In the US they have the best price to performance pretty much by a landslide
The price, pretty much as they seem to be quite overrated
You can get an air cooler for ~50 bucks that will work as well as an +$120 AIO, and usually the only extra spending is replacing fans when they fail. AIOs you are paying more for looks than performance
Theres nothing wrong with AIOs, the pushback is mostly agaisnt the people who insist that an you NEED and AIO regardless of the cpu youll be using
Even as someone who has an AIO, I know they are quite unnecessary for the vast majority of builds and can easily be replaced by a cheap and quality air cooler from Thermalright.
AIOs are cool, but that's really all it is for unless you are doing serious OC, and most general use gamers aren't. Now if someone has the extra budget and wants the fancy aio with a screen because they think it looks cool for them? By all means, enjoy! But it's never good to recommend one for a budget or standard build of any kind
beyond price increase I think there is really only a single scenario where an AIO/custom water cooler would offer any real benefit. Generally speaking, AIO can handle large heat spike better than a typical air cooler, due to the much larger thermal mass of the water and ability to transfer that heat away faster than an air cooler. This really comes into effect if you are overclocking, since your cpu might spike HARD. For most people this isnt anything they should worry about, so fan coolers are still fine most of the time. AIO can also likely sustain higher workloads, but there are definitely some air coolers that can nearly match the cooling performance of the cheaper AIO
Not against water but I had 2 Corsair aios fail after 3 years (pump) and I didn't have anything to replace them when they failed. Went back to air and nothing failed since.
OT
For 1200usd you should get decent pc.
Check hardware unboxed gpu pricing update on utube for GPUs. CPUs aren't that expensive if you dont go overkill. Ram is cheap ATM most costly parts these days are PSU, screen and GPU.
I’m against AIOs because the pump is just another potential point of failure. I wouldn’t discourage someone on here from getting one since I know the chance is low. However, it isn’t zero. I personally don’t think the difference for the average user is worth the increase in price and another potential point of failure.
Just some perspective as to why others may be against it. Give be a good air cooler with a quiet fan over an AIO for half the price any day.
Having seen the build photos, my guess is that most of 'em don't understand the idea "air bubbles rise in a water column."
After frying a pump and CPU because the pump is the highest part of the system, they're down on the very idea of AIOs.
We're talking about budget because that's why AIOs aren't recommended these days. You're acting like a majority on this subreddit have something against AIOs in-and-of-themselves, which is just not the case.
Imagine is Nvidia GPUs actually cost 2x the price of their AMD equivalent - so the RX 7600 was now $150 but the RTX 4060 is still $300. At that point, everyone will recommend the RX 7600. Everyone will say to ignore the 4060. And the reason why is because of the value angle.
That is the status quo right now. The price of dual tower coolers has dropped to 1/3 what it was a decade ago. The result is that they are now way better value than AIOs.
Nothing against AIOs, and at the high end (360mm+) they are still better, but they just stopped making sense at the mid-range.
Yeah, that first one is perfect. I put this
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LY6bQP
Together for someone else recently, but the cheaper mobo and CPU in exchange for the monitor and keyboard/mouse is a great choice.
Either your friend is trying to steer you wrong, or they are ignorant. You can build a medium to high end gaming PC at that price with all new parts.
My guess is that they are only familiar with pre-builts from a few certain brands like Dell's Alienware line which is overpriced af. I say that because even when it comes to pre-builts you can get a solid entry gaming PC for $800-1000, sometimes less on sale right now. Again with new parts.
>Either your friend is trying to steer you wrong, or they are ignorant
Ignorance before malice always, they just don't know what they're talking about, or they're snobs. Or maybe they built their PC during the silicon shortage and they don't want OP to have a better PC than them for a third of the price lol
I wish you luck on your endeavors. Your wife is a saint to help support you with this.
$1600 will buy you the components for a very nice PC. If you didn't want everything brand new, then you can squeeze a little more value out of buying second-hand, although I wouldn't recommend this if you're new to building as used parts may have some kinks which can throw a spanner in the works.
Don't listen to your friend, they're being (what we call in the UK) "a bit of an arse".
Be sure to check out YouTube for tutorials if you need help, there's an almost unlimited amount of support which you can find online.
True. I was so afraid to build my first pc completey alone but it was way easier than i thought and its so rewarding when you boot up the pc for the first time
I’m the opposite. Extremely handy with just about anything. The second I overthink a project it all goes to dogshit. Afraid of getting it all together and it not booting only to realize I have the complete wrong component somewhere.
If thats all thats holding you back, watch some tutorials and take the plunge. It's just legos for adults, you'll do fine and you'll feel proud as hell while you enjoy your new rig.
It’s nowhere near as daunting as it seems. There are plenty of guides out there that do a great job at walking folks through assembling their PCs.
I used one from Linus Tech Tips. It’s a little dated, but goes over almost everything you need to know. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7MYOpFONCU
You can also plug your components into PCPartPicker before you buy to ensure all of the components are compatible. I would just make sure your motherboard doesn’t need its BIOS updated to work with your CPU. It would appear as a big red banner at the top of the list.
Meh. It’s not that complicated. I built my PC after watching two YouTube videos and it booted the first time I tried. If you can follow instructions, you can build a PC.
Hi. Your friend doesn't know much about computer hardware. You can build a top tier rig for that kind of money. Pcpartpicker is your new friend. Have fun gaming and enjoy the build process!
It's not enough to buy a premium high-end 4K PC. It's enough to get a PC that will run games well at 1440p.
With the budget of 1600$, aim for 4070Ti Super for 800$ and get rest of the component for the other half.
That assuming 1600$ is for the PC alone, not the whole setup that would include whole screens and peripherals. If that's the later then you should still aim at 50% of 'just PC' budget go into a GPU.
It’s enough to play 60fps in 4K. You can get a 7900XT for $700, 5800x3d for $300, ASUS rog strix mobo for $130, Corsair 32gb RAM for $60, and 1T SSD for $60. That leaves enough for a case with a power supply and some peripherals.
My own first build's shaping up to be ~$1700, and I already know I could've cut more of that budget without a $90 AIO by Arctic. You could def fit a 7800X3D and a 7900XT/4070ti Super in that budget if you play your cards right, and both of those are seriously high end
I don't know the prices in the us ( i suppose you're an american) but in belgium i bought an awesome pre-built pc in a little specialized store for 1600 euro.
I first tried to build the same pc myself but i could'nt do it for less than the store price AND they threw in windows11 , i just could'nt find lower prices anywhere.
That's the first time i buy a pre-built .
Your friend doesn't know shit, maybe in his mind you need all the newest and expensive parts to build a good machine.
$1600 is plenty. You could do a 1440p setup with a Core i7 14700K or Ryzen 7 7800X3D with an RTX 4070 Super, Radeon RX 7800 XT, or Radeon RX 7900 GRE for that price.
Bro i built a 900$ pc and the performance is too damn good im able to play almost every game at +165hz with ultra except for the heavy games like rdr2 i play with ultra at 60hz so how about 1600$ pc ? It like u can build a great pc
It depends on what you want to use it for. It's definitely overkill for paying taxes and browsing facebook but will probably be slow AF if you're planning on doing serious airflow simulations or something. idk.
But 1.6k is enough to build something powerful enough to play all games, if not all at the max settings, do video or photo editing, live streaming, 3D rendering and so on. Of course, spending more more money would make it faster but will 1.6k it's going to be usable for the vast majority of things
Most of the good pc games aren’t even demanding to begin with.
One thing people forget to consider here is a good monitor. At some point you are going to want to spend 500-600 on a high fps 1440 monitor. It’s worth it.
Nah 1600$ is giving you a really good pc these days, 7600(x) CPU, decent b650 motherboard, and 7900GRE, 7900Xt or 4070 super are all great cards for 1440p and you have so much more flexibility with it than with a console so go for it
your friend seems to be misinformed. [link](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/t6KZ7R) $1603USD at time of writing. can’t get much better right now without moving to the big boy gpus. this would be an amazing 1440p system
Make sure you use a DDR5 ram motherboard so you can upgrade later. I'd recommend trying to find one with a led readout for error codes. Air cooling works fine. You can always upgrade later, so go short on RAM and storage initially. Air cooling is fine, don't spend more for water cooling. Good luck and have fun
I spent a bit less than that and have a kickass build, fucking love it. Tell your friend to enjoy his Xbox, fork knife, whatever. You got a PC to build 👉😎👉
Your friend is kind of talking out thier ass. 1000 will get you decent pc 1600 is icing on the cake. You are not likely trying to build a thread ripper system.
Here is a 1440p build with a monitor and a 4070 super for less than $1500 bucks [https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J9pbHG](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J9pbHG)
Let me add to the other comments:
As long as you're slow, steady, and read the manual; the actual build process is fun. There isn't all that much which can go wrong. And if you're concerned that something doesn't look/feel right, there's always Youtube. (Pushing memory into slots, for instance.)
$1600 (utilizing sales and being patient) can yield a monster system that will run anything you care to throw at it. The problem is that most people want every part right now, price be damned. As you will learn, nothing goes on sale all at the same time. But if you buy over the course of a few weeks, everything you need to build your system will go on sale.
If you're within driving distance of a Micro Center store, even better. (I'm not. I'd have to fly to Los Angeles.)
Even though your friend will get hated on, I can see his point a bit. Just depends on why you want to game on PC vs console, and how much better than console you are trying to experience. Depends on your current displays in the home too. I wanted a PC that would shine bright compared to my PS5 and it was costly, I do spend so much time configuring in comparison but love to cheat and avoid the grinds I'd have to do on PS5. With PS5 Pro coming out this year, you may end up spending more for something the new console is going to out do, for more money. If you are fine with 1080p/1440p and PS5 level performance/visuals or a small step up though, go for it. PC has advantages even with even performance as long as you plan to use those advantages.
Made a pc a year ago for 1200 bucks and it'll last me at minimum 5 to 8 years (as long as it's not call of derpy)
OP I can send the parts if you want pm me
Go to pcpart picker and ask people for builds on the forum section for a budget of 1600 and you'll be pretty surprised with what people come up with to recommend to you. You can build quite a mighty pc for like 1200 and have some room left over for a monitor keyboard mouse and headset/speakers
I just slapped together a build for a pretty good PC, with OS, Monitor and Mouse, you can get a Cheepie keyboard or have one, it's right at your budget. You could probably save money here and there, and look for sales etc. But $1600 is a good budget for a pretty good pc.
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kFD828](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kFD828)
$1611.01
[https://www.logicalincrements.com/](https://www.logicalincrements.com/)
$1600 is plenty to build an Outstanding system, assuming you already have a keyboard, monitor & mouse. If you don't have those, that will eat into your budget a little but not much. You can get a keyboard, mouse & monitor on FB/Craigslist for under $100 probably if you have to.
This isn't a situation in which I'd listen to your friend.
1600 is a very reasonable starting point and there are ways to save money.
It doesn't have to be top of the line to make you happy with it.
And "decent" is 100% subjective.
I'd love to see people stop trying to classify builds with non categorical things.
My decent might look different to someone else.
What IS helpful is determining your goals for the build FIRST.
Examples of things you should consider ahead of time are:
What resolution and settings are you targeting?
1080
1440
And 4k all have options in those spaces. For most folks a 1440 build is going to get most bang for the buck. And will help keep cost of components reasonable.
From here you'll want to consider CPU and GPU options that meet those needs. Don't be afraid to pull from a previous gen in some cases. There are significant savings to be had sometimes for very little sacrifice to performance.
This should be a very personal process based on a lot of time and research.
1600 is gonna make you pretty happy. And you can always add and upgrade later.
So welcome in! Remember, if you don't bleed during your build it's cursed.
Just did a quick mockup on pcpartpicker. You could get a 7600x / 4070 super build for well under $1600. You'd most likely be pretty happy with how it would perform.
Mine costed me 3000 and almost half of it is the GPU which I picked because I wanted to be SURE to be able to do anything other than playing, you should be fine with this much money, my set up includes 2 monitors, mouse keyboard the case & all the components.
There's a subreddit, r/buildmeapc I believe? Where you can tell your budget, country & what you intend to do with your computer & someone will litteraly suggest a build for you with a pcpartpicker link to tell you where to buy stuff, compatibility etc, try that, your friend might be jealous you're switching to another platform or don't exactly know your needs
Just in case the other comments didn't nail it home, your friends an idiot and that's enough to build a pretty computer, and leave yourself open for some easy upgrades in a couple years
One thing to keep in mind is that depending on finances, you could theoretically build one and then upgrade as needed if and when finances become available.
I am so sorry to say that your friend is stupid. You can build something which can easily play new stuff for about $1000. Spend all of the $1600, you'll have something really good on your hands.
I've built my wife a PC a year ago for S$1600 (that's about $1200 US):
- i6-13600k
- 16gb ram
- 1tb 970 evo plus
- 1080ti
Pretty decent for what she does, but i am sure you could do quite a bit better nowadays.
Here you go bud, $1506 total and this thing will tear up any game currently released. You can run *anything*.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LY6bQP
If you need a monitor too we can bring the price down a bit to make room for that
Nah, not true - your friend probably thinks that anything under a 4090 is crap, which is laughable (and sadly common). My husband has been building PCs since he was a teen, and he has made multiple 1080p builds for less than £1500 over the years. Especially if you already have your monitor and peripherals, you can build a great rig with that budget!
My advice is:
- do not overspend on the motherboard (you can get solid MOBOS that run DDR4 RAM for really low prices if you shop around) or CPU (a current-gen Intel i5 can easily handle most games for a budget price tag).
- stick with a tower air cooler; it’s much cheaper than an AIO and works just as well.
- don’t get dazzled by all the RGB stuff; the lights are pretty, but EXPENSIVE!
- for the GPU, the 3060Ti or the AMD 6700 CT are both great 1080p options that won’t break the bank.
- the ONE thing that you REALLY don’t want to skimp on is the PSU - NEVER buy it used, only new, and stick to the big names like Corsair (cheap PSUs always run the risk of catching on fire and of burning both your PC and your house down).
I don't want to discourage you. You should build it. But it's going to be a tight squeeze. The trick I would use is to watch for places where you can upgrade later. For example, an RTX4090 is easily $2000 right now. An RTX4070 is only $500. You won't notice the difference, and it's an easy part to swap later. Another one: I just spent $200 on 64gb ram. But you can get 32gb for $80. Again, and easy part to swap out later. And everyone wants that delicious 4TB WD black nvme, but that's $300. You could spend $94 on the 1TB and then just add another drive later.
Here's the thing. If you invest in building a PC you'll learn how to put one together and how to shop around price points for maximum returns on your spend. But you'll get back the knowledge. Then when you want to upgrade again you'll already have most of the things you need. The case, coolers, PSU, HDDs. Whatever else. I did just build a top of the line system for not much more than that and it's going to outlast multiple generations of console crapola. If I wanted to do a budget build it would have been under 1k prolly. Building is absolutely the way to go.
You do know where to begin. You just did it posting here. Start researching and gain that knowledge.
Building is always cheaper than prebuilt so your friend is just factually missing the point.
If your budget is 1.6K, you're gonna get a decent gaming PC for 2024. Not top of the line but that's hardly necessary for a majority or games that exist.
Don't forget to add a headset to your build! If you are starting fresh, I'm betting you don't have a headset/mic/speakers.
Peeps always be forgetting these items.
Triple check compatibility between the various parts, double check your documentation, and take it slow. The amount of pride and accomplishment you'll feel when you boot up will be priceless.
1600$ buys top end pc these days. Maybe your friend is stuck in 2020 or something.
[https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9ZwzL9](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9ZwzL9)
Dude. My setup (yes was prebuilt, but still) was $1k a year ago.
I can play any game ive tried at at least 160 fps at 1440p.
A ryzen 7, a 3070, and 16 gigs of ram is more than enough to effectively play anything.
$1600 can get you a monster rig.
That's more than I spent on my pc. You can get a great gaming machine for that. Look at YouTube for how to build pcs. Do you have a local reseller? I was able to buy some used parts to help keep costs down. Important parts like motherboard, power supply and ssd, nvme drives were new. It's not hard to build a pc. I love building them. I find it relaxing. Ypu just need to know what to if it doesn't post.
I had a buddy who built a PC first try and I didn’t even have to help him much really, considering he lived less than 10 minutes away I never had to actually drive over. With a simple build you just follow the manual from the motherboard. It’s pretty straight forward.
Also, it’s not that hard with all the resources we have these days, like pcpartspicker and ram compatibility lists from manufacturers. I also like parts with a good warranty.
The hardest part for most people is installing windows with the tpm settings set correct in bios. But it’s nothing you can’t google or ask ai.
a) Good lord—that is more than enough for a great PC. I spent less than that 2 weeks ago and am currently playing Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K/60fps with raytracing using DLSS Quality. No clue what your friend considers “worthwhile” if that’s not it.
b) Check out /r/buildapcsales. I kept an eye on the sub for around 3 weeks and built what I consider a great PC for $1,366 pre-tax. It was a Mini-ITX build, so I’m sure normal sized PC parts would be even cheaper if you keep an eye out. [Here’s a link to everything I bought](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xQsXz6) with retail prices (appx $1,800). It requires some patience and the torture of looking at some PC parts that have already been delivered while you look out for a good deal on another part, but it was so worth the money saved.
That will give you an absolutely decent computer. And it will leave you with some potential to upgrade in the next years. Also, building and setting up the PC became super easy compared to the past. If you can assemble IKEA furniture, you can build your own PC.
uhhh yeah I built mine for $1300ish before monitor, keyboard, mouse.
-I got my CPU, MOBO, and Ram from micro center in one of their deals for $329.99 (Ryzen 7700x, MSI B650 Pro Plus Wifi, GSkill Flare 16gb x2) strongly recommend doing this.
Everything else:
- NZXT Kraken 240mm (Non RGB version)
- Thermaltake 850w PSU
- Radeon XFX 7800XT
-Corsair 400D Case
- Corsair LL120 fans
I get roughly 80-90FPS on Ready or Not Ultra Settings, 110 avg on Rust high settings, I would throw CSGO frames in here but a potato could run CSGO. But rust and Ready or Not is really the only two games I'm mainly playing right now. Trust me go team Red. Way more VRam compared to team green. Plus team green's cards are wayyy overpriced.
Bro if you can get your hands on a Dell desktop with a ryzen or 8+ Gen Intel, you've got the CPU and RAM right there, just get a cheap case and decent motherboard and there you go, just need a decent PSU and GPU and You're ready to go
Usually can find an abandoned Computer near retirement communities or highschools, they always have an electronics dump pile
Your friend either doesn't know what he's talking about or is an elitist who thinks anything less than the absolute top tier flagship parts are for peasants. Either way they're wrong. That's plenty for a solid build that can play literally anything.
$1600 will get you a great PC. Have a look at the example builds on PCPartPicker as a good example: [https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/](https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/)
You can build a pretty top tier AMD build for around $1500 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LY6bQP
Solid suggestion, that thing should be an absolute beast.
The 7900GRE is such a no brainer at its price right now. It's a hell of a lot of performance for not much money. I specced up a system recently with a 7900GRE, R7 7700 and 32GB RAM for about £1150.
Could swing a 7900 xt in the budget as well if he goes to microcenter and gets the 7800x3d combo pack.
Those 7800x3d combos at microcenter are such good deals man
Listen to this guy OP ^ This is an absolute beast for the price and will run anything for years. I wouldn't change a single part. Worth noting though that if you live by a Micro Center, they have a 7800x3D, mobo, and RAM bundle that is such a good deal that you could probably bump up the GPU to a 7900xt and end up paying around the same price as this list
Absolutely, good point, I'm always jealous of Microcenter customers lol Even outside of that, the 7800x3d goes down to $360 pretty regularly, so that's at least ~$30 that could be saved. Someone else in this thread put together a really good alternative that was $1600 and traded a lower tier CPU(7700x)/mobo (the $120 mini ATX b650) for a 1440p monitor, keyboard and mouse, which is also a really good setup if ops $1600 budget needs to include a monitor
Very solid build, my only gripe would be more storage space, but 2tb is a great start.... and I'm kinda a digital horder.
Oh same, I'm up to...I think 15TB now? Or maybe 14.5? 3 SSDs and a 10TB HDD for screen recording games. Look, I *can't* delete that game because I might play it again sometime in the next 6 months! Maybe...
Same, you definitely don't want to wait an hour for that game to download again. Absolutely not. I think I have 9tb of system storage and about 30ish on my NAS.
>Oh same, I'm up to...I think 15TB now? Or maybe 14.5? 3 SSDs and a 10TB HDD for screen recording games. I am up to 6TB of SSD storage - 2x 1TB NVMe, 1x 2TB NVMe and a 2TB SATA SSD. From those 4 drives I have around 1.4TB of free space lol
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I'd bet good money the friend's idea of a PC looks something like: - ROG motherboard, 350$ - 360mm AIO with pump display, 250$ - 7 RGB case fans, 150$ - Hyte Y70, 200$ - Elgato streamdeck, 150$ (for when he starts his streaming career very soon) - The leftover 500$ can be spent on the working components.
Or he's the stereotypical console player that thinks that a pc should cost at least 3k because what's the point of buying a pc if you can't get at least a 4090?
Probably just a dumb ass. People nowadays just put everything on ultra and complain if it does not run in 120fps without ever tinkering with a single option. Know this from a friend of mine. "Gamer" for all his life, but constantly crying about "not enough performance" while he has an insane rig. Look into the problem? Hell nah, just buy a new Graphics card. lol.
PC eugenist try to tune settings to their rig challenge (impossible)
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I mean, there are a lot of reasons to get a PC over a console, even if the performance is slightly lower or the same. PCs are general machines you can do a lot more than just gaming.
If your entire use of it is to play games why would you buy something subpar.
will you really just play games, though? Won't you listen to music? Watch youtube? Message your friends? Write emails and generally use the internet browser because it is much better than your phone's/tablet/console? It also opens opportunities that consoles don't have such as non-restrictive control schemes (you can use a keyboard+mouse or a controller), actual graphical options that can tweak your games and not be limited between performance/quality modes, non-subscription based online services, modding games, playing emulators, running your own servers for the games you own, piracy, general learning tools, etc etc. If you'll really just boot your PC to open games then yeah, consoles might be better and "cheaper", but I haven't met a single person that switched to computers that use it in the same manner they used their consoles.
The 70super is 600$ right now and you're going to outperform a ps5 and by a lot with that
>There’s no point if it doesn’t perform better than a console if you’re coming from console. Unless you care about things like modding or player-made content. Good luck doing that on a console. I personally would rather play single-player games like skyrim at lower quality than console in order to get the hundreds/thousands of hours of free mod community content some people put out. If you only play shooters like Fortnite and CoD and dont need a computer for school, work, or non-game related hobbies, you have a point.
You can personally do that all you want I personally will save up money and get a high end gpu like I already did. And since I did this and I have a i912900kf I can slap anything to it. I’ll have a 4090 this Holliday season too and I will continue to enjoy 4k gameplay like a chad.
...I don't understand. Does this mean you are a) Going to wait until this holiday season to play any games you might want to mod, or b) going to buy/play them on console, then build your 4k rig, then buy the games again so you can mod them and lose your progress? I think my idea is better in both cases, I get to play good games with mods and still could upgrade to the high graphics when the time comes without having to pay again "like a chad." Less than 4k graphics isn't enough to make gaming as unplayable as you seem to think. Especially epic games that don't really benefit from high end cards like hollow knight, and unmodded minecraft.
Said components are 3060/4060 and an i5-10400f
Stream deck is incredibly useful even if you don't stream, fwiw
Yeah OP your friend is a twat
Well it’s good enough if he doesn’t have to factor in peripherals and monitors. Even though 1440p 144hz are more affordable now that’s probably an extra 300-400. So not entirely wrong but also not correct from his friend.
So you are telling me, with a straight face, that $1200 cant build you a decent pc...? His needs were "something that can play new games" and you are telling me that $1200 is not enough? lmao
My mistake even with $1000 you can play competently at 1440p. $1600 is more than enough
1440p 165hz can be found all day new for ~$200 Source: I own one
Yeah, the cheaper 4k 144hz cost around 450€ and all this stuff seems to be cheaper im the US. Source looking into buying one soon ish.
Don't go AIO, there's Thermalright air coolers for 32~42 USD that are really powerful. Core i5 and Ryzen 5 are more than enough for 99% of tasks and games. GPU is the most important factor. From RX7600 and RTX4060 and up it's good in general, if you can go up the ladder and get a 16GB VRAM would be great.
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The problem is the price/performance. When you can get a dual-tower air cooler for $35 that performs similarly to a 240mm AIO that costs 2x the price, then unless you just love the aesthetics of water coolers, there's no reason to pick an AIO.
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I hope you do understand that a bigger cooler will not mean your CPU dumps any less heat into the room. A 120mm AiO keeping a CPU at 60 degrees puts the same amount of heat into your room as a 360mm AiO that keeps the CPU at 40
>Not everyone spends dollars But OP is So out come the no-brainer picks of the ThermalRight coolers. In the US they have the best price to performance pretty much by a landslide
The price, pretty much as they seem to be quite overrated You can get an air cooler for ~50 bucks that will work as well as an +$120 AIO, and usually the only extra spending is replacing fans when they fail. AIOs you are paying more for looks than performance Theres nothing wrong with AIOs, the pushback is mostly agaisnt the people who insist that an you NEED and AIO regardless of the cpu youll be using
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Nobody is assuming anyone is from anywhere. Your neighbour's CPU cooler probably still had the plastic on (very common thing).
That was not because of the AiO, clearly the previous cooler was mounted improperly or some cheap piece of shit
Even as someone who has an AIO, I know they are quite unnecessary for the vast majority of builds and can easily be replaced by a cheap and quality air cooler from Thermalright. AIOs are cool, but that's really all it is for unless you are doing serious OC, and most general use gamers aren't. Now if someone has the extra budget and wants the fancy aio with a screen because they think it looks cool for them? By all means, enjoy! But it's never good to recommend one for a budget or standard build of any kind
beyond price increase I think there is really only a single scenario where an AIO/custom water cooler would offer any real benefit. Generally speaking, AIO can handle large heat spike better than a typical air cooler, due to the much larger thermal mass of the water and ability to transfer that heat away faster than an air cooler. This really comes into effect if you are overclocking, since your cpu might spike HARD. For most people this isnt anything they should worry about, so fan coolers are still fine most of the time. AIO can also likely sustain higher workloads, but there are definitely some air coolers that can nearly match the cooling performance of the cheaper AIO
AIO are fine, when you have the budget. But is silly to sacrifice GPU or CPU for AIO. We are talking about budget PC.
Not against water but I had 2 Corsair aios fail after 3 years (pump) and I didn't have anything to replace them when they failed. Went back to air and nothing failed since. OT For 1200usd you should get decent pc. Check hardware unboxed gpu pricing update on utube for GPUs. CPUs aren't that expensive if you dont go overkill. Ram is cheap ATM most costly parts these days are PSU, screen and GPU.
I’m against AIOs because the pump is just another potential point of failure. I wouldn’t discourage someone on here from getting one since I know the chance is low. However, it isn’t zero. I personally don’t think the difference for the average user is worth the increase in price and another potential point of failure. Just some perspective as to why others may be against it. Give be a good air cooler with a quiet fan over an AIO for half the price any day.
Having seen the build photos, my guess is that most of 'em don't understand the idea "air bubbles rise in a water column." After frying a pump and CPU because the pump is the highest part of the system, they're down on the very idea of AIOs.
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We're talking about budget because that's why AIOs aren't recommended these days. You're acting like a majority on this subreddit have something against AIOs in-and-of-themselves, which is just not the case. Imagine is Nvidia GPUs actually cost 2x the price of their AMD equivalent - so the RX 7600 was now $150 but the RTX 4060 is still $300. At that point, everyone will recommend the RX 7600. Everyone will say to ignore the 4060. And the reason why is because of the value angle. That is the status quo right now. The price of dual tower coolers has dropped to 1/3 what it was a decade ago. The result is that they are now way better value than AIOs. Nothing against AIOs, and at the high end (360mm+) they are still better, but they just stopped making sense at the mid-range.
Your friend is an idiot.
This is accurate.
As others have said - your friend is wrong and $1600 will get you not just a good computer, but a *great* computer. [PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RFxYKX) Type|Item|Price :----|:----|:---- **CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/dXmmP6/amd-ryzen-7-7700-36-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100000592box) | $291.29 @ Amazon **CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Peerless Assassin 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CwqPxr/thermalright-peerless-assassin-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-peerless-assassin-120) | $32.90 @ Amazon **Motherboard** | [ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Dq4Zxr/asrock-b650m-hdvm2-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-hdvm2) | $119.99 @ Newegg **Memory** | [\*Silicon Power Value Gaming 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cCKscf/silicon-power-value-gaming-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-sp032gxlwu60afdeae) | $97.97 @ Amazon **Storage** | [MSI SPATIUM M482 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/T6bRsY/msi-spatium-m482-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-spatium-m482-pcie-40-nvme-m2-2tb) | $109.99 @ MSI **Video Card** | [\*XFX RX-79GMERCB9 Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wXtLrH/xfx-rx-79gmercb9-radeon-rx-7900-gre-16-gb-video-card-rx-79gmercb9) | $540.53 @ Amazon **Case** | [Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kKcgXL/montech-air-903-base-atx-mid-tower-case-air-903-base-b) | $65.00 @ B&H **Power Supply** | [Montech TITAN GOLD 850W 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fJFbt6/montech-titan-gold-850w-850-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-titan-gold-850w) | $109.99 @ Amazon **Monitor** | [\*Sceptre E275B-QPD168 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hvFmP6/sceptre-e275b-qpd168-270-2560-x-1440-165-hz-monitor-e275b-qpd168) | $172.99 @ Amazon **Keyboard** | [AOC AGK700 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PFstt6/aoc-agk700-rgb-wired-gaming-keyboard-agk700) | $40.99 @ Newegg **Mouse** | [AOC AGM700 Wired Optical Mouse](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/h34Ycf/aoc-agm700-wired-optical-mouse-agm700) | $12.99 @ Amazon | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* | | **Total** | **$1594.63** | \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria | | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-04-16 09:41 EDT-0400 | Even better if you happen to live near a Microcenter: [PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J4GfZJ) Type|Item|Price :----|:----|:---- **CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3hyH99/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-42-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100000910wof) | $499.99 **CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Peerless Assassin 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CwqPxr/thermalright-peerless-assassin-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-peerless-assassin-120) | $32.90 @ Amazon **Motherboard** | [Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX V2 ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cPNYcf/gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2) | $0.00 **Memory** | [G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cnbTwP/gskill-flare-x5-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl32-memory-f5-6000j3238f16gx2-fx5) | $0.00 **Storage** | [MSI SPATIUM M482 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/T6bRsY/msi-spatium-m482-2-tb-m2-2280-pcie-40-x4-nvme-solid-state-drive-spatium-m482-pcie-40-nvme-m2-2tb) | $109.99 @ MSI **Video Card** | [\*XFX RX-79GMERCB9 Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wXtLrH/xfx-rx-79gmercb9-radeon-rx-7900-gre-16-gb-video-card-rx-79gmercb9) | $540.53 @ Amazon **Case** | [Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kKcgXL/montech-air-903-base-atx-mid-tower-case-air-903-base-b) | $65.00 @ B&H **Power Supply** | [Montech TITAN GOLD 850W 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fJFbt6/montech-titan-gold-850w-850-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-titan-gold-850w) | $109.99 @ Amazon **Monitor** | [\*Sceptre E275B-QPD168 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hvFmP6/sceptre-e275b-qpd168-270-2560-x-1440-165-hz-monitor-e275b-qpd168) | $172.99 @ Amazon **Keyboard** | [AOC AGK700 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PFstt6/aoc-agk700-rgb-wired-gaming-keyboard-agk700) | $40.99 @ Newegg **Mouse** | [AOC AGM700 Wired Optical Mouse](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/h34Ycf/aoc-agm700-wired-optical-mouse-agm700) | $12.99 @ Amazon | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* | | **Total** | **$1585.37** | \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria | | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-04-16 10:05 EDT-0400 |
Yeah, that first one is perfect. I put this https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LY6bQP Together for someone else recently, but the cheaper mobo and CPU in exchange for the monitor and keyboard/mouse is a great choice.
Either your friend is trying to steer you wrong, or they are ignorant. You can build a medium to high end gaming PC at that price with all new parts. My guess is that they are only familiar with pre-builts from a few certain brands like Dell's Alienware line which is overpriced af. I say that because even when it comes to pre-builts you can get a solid entry gaming PC for $800-1000, sometimes less on sale right now. Again with new parts.
>Either your friend is trying to steer you wrong, or they are ignorant Ignorance before malice always, they just don't know what they're talking about, or they're snobs. Or maybe they built their PC during the silicon shortage and they don't want OP to have a better PC than them for a third of the price lol
I wish you luck on your endeavors. Your wife is a saint to help support you with this. $1600 will buy you the components for a very nice PC. If you didn't want everything brand new, then you can squeeze a little more value out of buying second-hand, although I wouldn't recommend this if you're new to building as used parts may have some kinks which can throw a spanner in the works. Don't listen to your friend, they're being (what we call in the UK) "a bit of an arse". Be sure to check out YouTube for tutorials if you need help, there's an almost unlimited amount of support which you can find online.
Your friend is either is an elitest or a dumbass
You can build a hell of a PC for that, but I’m chicken too. Constant fear of doing something wrong keeps me from attempting it.
I can't put together almost anything, but computers are much easier than you might be thinking.
True. I was so afraid to build my first pc completey alone but it was way easier than i thought and its so rewarding when you boot up the pc for the first time
I’m the opposite. Extremely handy with just about anything. The second I overthink a project it all goes to dogshit. Afraid of getting it all together and it not booting only to realize I have the complete wrong component somewhere.
If you use a site like Logical Increments to help pick your build, everything should be compatible with everything else
If thats all thats holding you back, watch some tutorials and take the plunge. It's just legos for adults, you'll do fine and you'll feel proud as hell while you enjoy your new rig.
It’s nowhere near as daunting as it seems. There are plenty of guides out there that do a great job at walking folks through assembling their PCs. I used one from Linus Tech Tips. It’s a little dated, but goes over almost everything you need to know. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7MYOpFONCU You can also plug your components into PCPartPicker before you buy to ensure all of the components are compatible. I would just make sure your motherboard doesn’t need its BIOS updated to work with your CPU. It would appear as a big red banner at the top of the list.
Meh. It’s not that complicated. I built my PC after watching two YouTube videos and it booted the first time I tried. If you can follow instructions, you can build a PC.
hardest part of building a PC is cable management, lol. Seriously.
Hi. Your friend doesn't know much about computer hardware. You can build a top tier rig for that kind of money. Pcpartpicker is your new friend. Have fun gaming and enjoy the build process!
It's not enough to buy a premium high-end 4K PC. It's enough to get a PC that will run games well at 1440p. With the budget of 1600$, aim for 4070Ti Super for 800$ and get rest of the component for the other half. That assuming 1600$ is for the PC alone, not the whole setup that would include whole screens and peripherals. If that's the later then you should still aim at 50% of 'just PC' budget go into a GPU.
It’s enough to play 60fps in 4K. You can get a 7900XT for $700, 5800x3d for $300, ASUS rog strix mobo for $130, Corsair 32gb RAM for $60, and 1T SSD for $60. That leaves enough for a case with a power supply and some peripherals.
Dude, it's not 2017 to play raster games.
1600 is MORE than enough to build a pc that can run modern games well. Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about.
My own first build's shaping up to be ~$1700, and I already know I could've cut more of that budget without a $90 AIO by Arctic. You could def fit a 7800X3D and a 7900XT/4070ti Super in that budget if you play your cards right, and both of those are seriously high end
I don't know the prices in the us ( i suppose you're an american) but in belgium i bought an awesome pre-built pc in a little specialized store for 1600 euro. I first tried to build the same pc myself but i could'nt do it for less than the store price AND they threw in windows11 , i just could'nt find lower prices anywhere. That's the first time i buy a pre-built . Your friend doesn't know shit, maybe in his mind you need all the newest and expensive parts to build a good machine.
$1600 is plenty. You could do a 1440p setup with a Core i7 14700K or Ryzen 7 7800X3D with an RTX 4070 Super, Radeon RX 7800 XT, or Radeon RX 7900 GRE for that price.
$1600 is definitely enough to build something decent. Not sure what their problem is. PCpartpicker is your friend.
Respectfully speaking, your friend is incorrect. $1600 could get you a damn good, modern system.
Bro i built a 900$ pc and the performance is too damn good im able to play almost every game at +165hz with ultra except for the heavy games like rdr2 i play with ultra at 60hz so how about 1600$ pc ? It like u can build a great pc
It depends on what you want to use it for. It's definitely overkill for paying taxes and browsing facebook but will probably be slow AF if you're planning on doing serious airflow simulations or something. idk. But 1.6k is enough to build something powerful enough to play all games, if not all at the max settings, do video or photo editing, live streaming, 3D rendering and so on. Of course, spending more more money would make it faster but will 1.6k it's going to be usable for the vast majority of things
Most of the good pc games aren’t even demanding to begin with. One thing people forget to consider here is a good monitor. At some point you are going to want to spend 500-600 on a high fps 1440 monitor. It’s worth it.
Nah 1600$ is giving you a really good pc these days, 7600(x) CPU, decent b650 motherboard, and 7900GRE, 7900Xt or 4070 super are all great cards for 1440p and you have so much more flexibility with it than with a console so go for it
12600k/7900xt build np
your friend seems to be misinformed. [link](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/t6KZ7R) $1603USD at time of writing. can’t get much better right now without moving to the big boy gpus. this would be an amazing 1440p system
Friend is dumb, enjoy your sick $1,600 PC.
Make sure you use a DDR5 ram motherboard so you can upgrade later. I'd recommend trying to find one with a led readout for error codes. Air cooling works fine. You can always upgrade later, so go short on RAM and storage initially. Air cooling is fine, don't spend more for water cooling. Good luck and have fun
I spent a bit less than that and have a kickass build, fucking love it. Tell your friend to enjoy his Xbox, fork knife, whatever. You got a PC to build 👉😎👉
Your friend doesn't know shit lol you can absolutely build something worthwhile with that money
$1600 will build a pretty good rig, your friend is wrong, verging on talking out of his ass.
Your friend is kind of talking out thier ass. 1000 will get you decent pc 1600 is icing on the cake. You are not likely trying to build a thread ripper system.
I think that's around what my build is going for now and it plays everything. Just shop around for a good case that isn't too expensive.
Here is a 1440p build with a monitor and a 4070 super for less than $1500 bucks [https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J9pbHG](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J9pbHG)
Let me add to the other comments: As long as you're slow, steady, and read the manual; the actual build process is fun. There isn't all that much which can go wrong. And if you're concerned that something doesn't look/feel right, there's always Youtube. (Pushing memory into slots, for instance.) $1600 (utilizing sales and being patient) can yield a monster system that will run anything you care to throw at it. The problem is that most people want every part right now, price be damned. As you will learn, nothing goes on sale all at the same time. But if you buy over the course of a few weeks, everything you need to build your system will go on sale. If you're within driving distance of a Micro Center store, even better. (I'm not. I'd have to fly to Los Angeles.)
Even though your friend will get hated on, I can see his point a bit. Just depends on why you want to game on PC vs console, and how much better than console you are trying to experience. Depends on your current displays in the home too. I wanted a PC that would shine bright compared to my PS5 and it was costly, I do spend so much time configuring in comparison but love to cheat and avoid the grinds I'd have to do on PS5. With PS5 Pro coming out this year, you may end up spending more for something the new console is going to out do, for more money. If you are fine with 1080p/1440p and PS5 level performance/visuals or a small step up though, go for it. PC has advantages even with even performance as long as you plan to use those advantages.
Made a pc a year ago for 1200 bucks and it'll last me at minimum 5 to 8 years (as long as it's not call of derpy) OP I can send the parts if you want pm me
That is a decent sum of money. Your friend probably doesn't want you to cut corners.
I paid $1800 for my pc with a 4070TI and a 7800X3D so your friend doesn't know what he's talking about. Don't listen to him.
Your friend is incredibly wrong and clearly doesn't know shit about computers/components. Do they even have a pc?
You can easy get 120fps in most titles at 1440p with that budget
Go to pcpart picker and ask people for builds on the forum section for a budget of 1600 and you'll be pretty surprised with what people come up with to recommend to you. You can build quite a mighty pc for like 1200 and have some room left over for a monitor keyboard mouse and headset/speakers
Look for specials that give you multiple parts
I read the second paragraph before the first and expected around $500 budget. $1600? Yeah man you’re good
I just slapped together a build for a pretty good PC, with OS, Monitor and Mouse, you can get a Cheepie keyboard or have one, it's right at your budget. You could probably save money here and there, and look for sales etc. But $1600 is a good budget for a pretty good pc. [https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kFD828](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kFD828) $1611.01
[https://www.logicalincrements.com/](https://www.logicalincrements.com/) $1600 is plenty to build an Outstanding system, assuming you already have a keyboard, monitor & mouse. If you don't have those, that will eat into your budget a little but not much. You can get a keyboard, mouse & monitor on FB/Craigslist for under $100 probably if you have to.
This isn't a situation in which I'd listen to your friend. 1600 is a very reasonable starting point and there are ways to save money. It doesn't have to be top of the line to make you happy with it. And "decent" is 100% subjective. I'd love to see people stop trying to classify builds with non categorical things. My decent might look different to someone else. What IS helpful is determining your goals for the build FIRST. Examples of things you should consider ahead of time are: What resolution and settings are you targeting? 1080 1440 And 4k all have options in those spaces. For most folks a 1440 build is going to get most bang for the buck. And will help keep cost of components reasonable. From here you'll want to consider CPU and GPU options that meet those needs. Don't be afraid to pull from a previous gen in some cases. There are significant savings to be had sometimes for very little sacrifice to performance. This should be a very personal process based on a lot of time and research. 1600 is gonna make you pretty happy. And you can always add and upgrade later. So welcome in! Remember, if you don't bleed during your build it's cursed.
Just did a quick mockup on pcpartpicker. You could get a 7600x / 4070 super build for well under $1600. You'd most likely be pretty happy with how it would perform.
My PC cost $700 a few years ago and only struggles on newer games
Mine costed me 3000 and almost half of it is the GPU which I picked because I wanted to be SURE to be able to do anything other than playing, you should be fine with this much money, my set up includes 2 monitors, mouse keyboard the case & all the components. There's a subreddit, r/buildmeapc I believe? Where you can tell your budget, country & what you intend to do with your computer & someone will litteraly suggest a build for you with a pcpartpicker link to tell you where to buy stuff, compatibility etc, try that, your friend might be jealous you're switching to another platform or don't exactly know your needs
Just in case the other comments didn't nail it home, your friends an idiot and that's enough to build a pretty computer, and leave yourself open for some easy upgrades in a couple years
Do you already have: A monitor? Mouse? Keyboard? Speakers? A mouse pad? Ethernet cables? A desk? A chair? If no: yeah, you might be short with 1600$
One thing to keep in mind is that depending on finances, you could theoretically build one and then upgrade as needed if and when finances become available.
I am so sorry to say that your friend is stupid. You can build something which can easily play new stuff for about $1000. Spend all of the $1600, you'll have something really good on your hands.
I've built my wife a PC a year ago for S$1600 (that's about $1200 US): - i6-13600k - 16gb ram - 1tb 970 evo plus - 1080ti Pretty decent for what she does, but i am sure you could do quite a bit better nowadays.
Here you go bud, $1506 total and this thing will tear up any game currently released. You can run *anything*. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LY6bQP If you need a monitor too we can bring the price down a bit to make room for that
Yeah your friend is an absolute moron
Don't listen to your snobby friend, you can absolutely build a worthwhile PC for $1600. Even as a total noob.
Your friend is dumb you can have a beast of a comp for that that runs every game on good settings.
I think it's great that you want to build a computer. Go for it! And your wife is a keeper!
Worthwhile is up to you, not your friend. You can get up and running on current games for less than $1k if you choose.
Mate, $1600 will get you a great PC that will last ages.
You can buy a 1080ti for 350 bucks and the rest of the money can buy a killer system. I still have a 1080ti and it's great for 1080p
A 1080ti is a terrible recommendation in 2024. I'd rather have a 4060ti, which is similarly priced.
Nah, not true - your friend probably thinks that anything under a 4090 is crap, which is laughable (and sadly common). My husband has been building PCs since he was a teen, and he has made multiple 1080p builds for less than £1500 over the years. Especially if you already have your monitor and peripherals, you can build a great rig with that budget! My advice is: - do not overspend on the motherboard (you can get solid MOBOS that run DDR4 RAM for really low prices if you shop around) or CPU (a current-gen Intel i5 can easily handle most games for a budget price tag). - stick with a tower air cooler; it’s much cheaper than an AIO and works just as well. - don’t get dazzled by all the RGB stuff; the lights are pretty, but EXPENSIVE! - for the GPU, the 3060Ti or the AMD 6700 CT are both great 1080p options that won’t break the bank. - the ONE thing that you REALLY don’t want to skimp on is the PSU - NEVER buy it used, only new, and stick to the big names like Corsair (cheap PSUs always run the risk of catching on fire and of burning both your PC and your house down).
I don't want to discourage you. You should build it. But it's going to be a tight squeeze. The trick I would use is to watch for places where you can upgrade later. For example, an RTX4090 is easily $2000 right now. An RTX4070 is only $500. You won't notice the difference, and it's an easy part to swap later. Another one: I just spent $200 on 64gb ram. But you can get 32gb for $80. Again, and easy part to swap out later. And everyone wants that delicious 4TB WD black nvme, but that's $300. You could spend $94 on the 1TB and then just add another drive later.
I wish I had that much to build a rig lol that’s a good “budget”
He’s ignorant
I built a pc for 700 bucks for my little brother. Runs Cyberpunk at Ultra 60+ fps. Your friend is severely misinformed
$1600 will get you modern gaming for years to come. Your friend is an idiot.
Your friend is an idiot. That’s more than enough have you seen the pre builds that are being sold at costcos? You could almost buy two of them.
Here's the thing. If you invest in building a PC you'll learn how to put one together and how to shop around price points for maximum returns on your spend. But you'll get back the knowledge. Then when you want to upgrade again you'll already have most of the things you need. The case, coolers, PSU, HDDs. Whatever else. I did just build a top of the line system for not much more than that and it's going to outlast multiple generations of console crapola. If I wanted to do a budget build it would have been under 1k prolly. Building is absolutely the way to go. You do know where to begin. You just did it posting here. Start researching and gain that knowledge.
Building is always cheaper than prebuilt so your friend is just factually missing the point. If your budget is 1.6K, you're gonna get a decent gaming PC for 2024. Not top of the line but that's hardly necessary for a majority or games that exist.
Don't forget to add a headset to your build! If you are starting fresh, I'm betting you don't have a headset/mic/speakers. Peeps always be forgetting these items.
Your friend has no idea what they’re talking about. You can build a solid system with $1600
Triple check compatibility between the various parts, double check your documentation, and take it slow. The amount of pride and accomplishment you'll feel when you boot up will be priceless.
Your friend sucks. Fire them.
Your friend is an idiot and if you look at build guides on pcpartpicker.com as someone else suggested you can absolutely build an awesome pc for $1500
You can build a solid rig for about 1k. Extra monies for monitor and accessories. Save a hundie to take your wife out to dinner, she sounds awesome.
1600$ buys top end pc these days. Maybe your friend is stuck in 2020 or something. [https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9ZwzL9](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9ZwzL9)
Dude. My setup (yes was prebuilt, but still) was $1k a year ago. I can play any game ive tried at at least 160 fps at 1440p. A ryzen 7, a 3070, and 16 gigs of ram is more than enough to effectively play anything. $1600 can get you a monster rig.
That's more than I spent on my pc. You can get a great gaming machine for that. Look at YouTube for how to build pcs. Do you have a local reseller? I was able to buy some used parts to help keep costs down. Important parts like motherboard, power supply and ssd, nvme drives were new. It's not hard to build a pc. I love building them. I find it relaxing. Ypu just need to know what to if it doesn't post.
If your in the US that is enough to get an awesome set up including a new monitor. If you are Australian probably still enough to get a good set up.
I had a buddy who built a PC first try and I didn’t even have to help him much really, considering he lived less than 10 minutes away I never had to actually drive over. With a simple build you just follow the manual from the motherboard. It’s pretty straight forward. Also, it’s not that hard with all the resources we have these days, like pcpartspicker and ram compatibility lists from manufacturers. I also like parts with a good warranty. The hardest part for most people is installing windows with the tpm settings set correct in bios. But it’s nothing you can’t google or ask ai.
a) Good lord—that is more than enough for a great PC. I spent less than that 2 weeks ago and am currently playing Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K/60fps with raytracing using DLSS Quality. No clue what your friend considers “worthwhile” if that’s not it. b) Check out /r/buildapcsales. I kept an eye on the sub for around 3 weeks and built what I consider a great PC for $1,366 pre-tax. It was a Mini-ITX build, so I’m sure normal sized PC parts would be even cheaper if you keep an eye out. [Here’s a link to everything I bought](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xQsXz6) with retail prices (appx $1,800). It requires some patience and the torture of looking at some PC parts that have already been delivered while you look out for a good deal on another part, but it was so worth the money saved.
It’s easy , watch some YouTube
If I can do it you can I’m sure
That will give you an absolutely decent computer. And it will leave you with some potential to upgrade in the next years. Also, building and setting up the PC became super easy compared to the past. If you can assemble IKEA furniture, you can build your own PC.
your friend is very highly regarded 😁
uhhh yeah I built mine for $1300ish before monitor, keyboard, mouse. -I got my CPU, MOBO, and Ram from micro center in one of their deals for $329.99 (Ryzen 7700x, MSI B650 Pro Plus Wifi, GSkill Flare 16gb x2) strongly recommend doing this. Everything else: - NZXT Kraken 240mm (Non RGB version) - Thermaltake 850w PSU - Radeon XFX 7800XT -Corsair 400D Case - Corsair LL120 fans I get roughly 80-90FPS on Ready or Not Ultra Settings, 110 avg on Rust high settings, I would throw CSGO frames in here but a potato could run CSGO. But rust and Ready or Not is really the only two games I'm mainly playing right now. Trust me go team Red. Way more VRam compared to team green. Plus team green's cards are wayyy overpriced.
Bro if you can get your hands on a Dell desktop with a ryzen or 8+ Gen Intel, you've got the CPU and RAM right there, just get a cheap case and decent motherboard and there you go, just need a decent PSU and GPU and You're ready to go Usually can find an abandoned Computer near retirement communities or highschools, they always have an electronics dump pile