Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

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boogiehead
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by boogiehead »

This reminds me of the good ol days when I would scout the Fry’s newspaper ad every Sunday for their motherboard/cpu (best deals) combos and then figure out how to overclock the cpu 😏. I’m assuming those deals are long gone since last I heard is Fry’s on the verge of bankruptcy 🤨
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tuningfork
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by tuningfork »

Just to toss in something totally from left field, if you happen to have a cat in the house, it will probably enjoy sitting on top of the computer case, especially if there's a vent on top pushing hot air. This can be a problem if the power button is also on top of the case. You don't want your cat turning off the power in the middle of an important gaming session. I have a piece of cardboard secured over the power/reset buttons on one of my cases for this reason.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Hi, we are stuck on this decision. Should we go for the MSI mpg b550 gaming edge wifi motherboard or MSI mag b550 tomahawk motherboard?

msi mpg b550 gaming edge wifi motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/msi-mpg-b550-gam ... 6813144324

or


MSI mag b550 tomahawk motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/msi-mag-b550-tom ... 6813144326

Thanks!

(we have a wired internet connection available through an eero device)
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Also, we can't find our graphics card available: https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-radeon- ... 6814932338

We have a backup graphics card but not sure if this is good?
https://www.newegg.com/xfx-radeon-rx-57 ... 6814150829

Let us know if there are other/better cost effective options.

Btw we now have bought everything in red. Just gpu pending:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1728953728
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
rallycobra
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by rallycobra »

Purchase a used i7-4790k system off of ebay for $300 or less (Dell Optiplex 9020 or similar)
Look for one with 16gb of ram, Windows 10, and a SSD. USB wifi if you want

Purchase a 600W or greater 80 plus gold power supply ~$80 and sell the Dell power supply
Video card used or new. Get a least a GTX 1660 Super, they are about $250 new.
This system would be about ~$600 out of pocket and perform better than what you have designed.

Upgrade the video card for higher performance. RTX 2060 if you can find one is great. 3070 for $500 is the best value but they are unobtainable.

For gaming you need a computer with a SSD and a great video card. As long as the cpu is half decent you won't notice the difference on any other components. The boglehead thing to do is put the money in the video card and save everywhere else. :happy
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Independent George
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Independent George »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:53 pm Hi, we are stuck on this decision. Should we go for the MSI mpg b550 gaming edge wifi motherboard or MSI mag b550 tomahawk motherboard?
Man, at those prices, both are steals. If you don't ever intend to use the wifi or expect to get 2.5 GB ethernet, get the Tomahawk.
Wannaretireearly wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:01 pm Also, we can't find our graphics card available: https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-radeon- ... 6814932338

We have a backup graphics card but not sure if this is good?
https://www.newegg.com/xfx-radeon-rx-57 ... 6814150829

Let us know if there are other/better cost effective options.
Honestly, that is way overpriced for a 5700 XT (which should be $400 at most), but the GPU market is utterly insane right now. Basically, there is a massive under-supply of the next-gen GPUs, so everybody that was intent on upgrading for Christmas have decided to just buy up the value cards with the intent to upgrade once the supplies normalize (probably in 2021). That has pushed the prices up across the board, and nothing looks like a good buy right now.

There really is no good answer on account of sky-high demand and Corona-depleted supply. I think the least bad option is to just find the cheapest 5700XT or 1660 Super/Ti that is in stock. You will be overpaying for a card that will be outdated in a few months, but at least you'll be walking away with something.
tsm1th
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by tsm1th »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:01 pm Also, we can't find our graphics card available: https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-radeon- ... 6814932338

We have a backup graphics card but not sure if this is good?
https://www.newegg.com/xfx-radeon-rx-57 ... 6814150829

Let us know if there are other/better cost effective options.

Btw we now have bought everything in red. Just gpu pending:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1728953728
XFX is a perfectly fine GPU brand. All cards with the same GPU chip all basically identical, the only major differences are if the coolers are non OEM (non OEM usually better) and sometimes bells and whistles like RGB or slightly higher out of the box clock speed.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Awesome. Thanks folks. GPU's seem like an insane market right now!!
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Kagord
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Kagord »

I'd say build a Z490 system, minus an overpriced GPU, just off the top of my head, something like:

Asus TUF Z490-PLUS ($200)
Intel I7-10700K ($320-350)
Samsung EVO PLUS M.2 NVME Drive 500GB ($80)
DDR4 3600 Ram ($60-80)
750W modular power supply, name brand, ($90-120)
WiFi M.2
Nice Case ($100-150)

So under $1K for all that, and it's very current, USB 3.2 gen 2, Thunderbolt, PCE 3.0 (AMD has better PciE lane throughput options, but I like Intel)

And then cheap out on the GPU on EBay, like a GTX 780 or RADEON 570, perfectly fine for most 1080P gaming ($80-120).

Then, when the RTX 3080 comes back down, or prebuy a RTX 4080 next year, swap to that, and keep your old card as a backup.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Kagord wrote: Thu Nov 26, 2020 9:54 am I'd say build a Z490 system, minus an overpriced GPU, just off the top of my head, something like:

Asus TUF Z490-PLUS ($200)
Intel I7-10700K ($320-350)
Samsung EVO PLUS M.2 NVME Drive 500GB ($80)
DDR4 3600 Ram ($60-80)
750W modular power supply, name brand, ($90-120)
WiFi M.2
Nice Case ($100-150)

So under $1K for all that, and it's very current, USB 3.2 gen 2, Thunderbolt, PCE 3.0 (AMD has better PciE lane throughput options, but I like Intel)

And then cheap out on the GPU on EBay, like a GTX 780 or RADEON 570, perfectly fine for most 1080P gaming ($80-120).

Then, when the RTX 3080 comes back down, or prebuy a RTX 4080 next year, swap to that, and keep your old card as a backup.
Thx! Already bought most things except the GPU. But, good suggestions
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Callisto
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Callisto »

If you don't want to wait for 3000 series to get back in stock, and are open to Ebay, 1080ti's are selling for around 400, sometimes even lower. It's got better or at least comparable performance to the 5700XT and 2070.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

guys. thoughts on this graphics card?
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-radeon- ... 6814932307

Not sure if the lower spec is worth that price? Perhaps?
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Independent George
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Independent George »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:11 pm guys. thoughts on this graphics card?
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-radeon- ... 6814932307

Not sure if the lower spec is worth that price? Perhaps?
What resolution is your monitor? It's serviceable at 1080p, but, really, that wasn't a great value in terms of price/performance even at launch; about the best thing going for it is that it's still in stock (which, in this market, should tell you something about its relative value). The 6 GB of VRAM is definitely insufficient - 8 GB is really the minimum to run the newer titles right now. It's unfortunate, but the GPU market is just absurd right now. If you buy a card right now, you're going to overpay - and even then, the only things left in stock are underpowered cards that will likely need to be replaced in 3 months. I would suggest buying a used card on eBay, but even those prices are pretty badly inflated; I took a quick look, and it seems that used, mid-range cards from 2019 are selling for msrp, which seems utterly ridiculous to me.

I know this was an experience you'd wanted to share with your son, but stock is just terrible right now. Your choice is to either buy twice (one underpowered temporary card today just so you can have something functioning by Christmas, plus a replacement card in a few months when stock has hopefully normalized), or wait it out. It's a hard decision because this was supposed to be a fun activity you could share.

ETA: I see a few used 1070 cards listed on eBay in the $200 - $250 range, and 1080 for $300-$350. That's a bit inflated, but not actually terrible if they are still in good condition; the problem is that I'd wager a lot of these cards were used for crypto mining in 2016, and probably not in good condition. It's really hard to tell from an eBay listing. Also, those are current bid prices, so it will probably go up further at close.
Last edited by Independent George on Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Thanks George! We were able to find this card at bestbuy 30 miles away. Picked it up this morning. Now I hope to price match a lower price (i can hope...):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/xfx-amd-ra ... Id=6375963
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Independent George
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Independent George »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:05 am Thanks George! We were able to find this card at bestbuy 30 miles away. Picked it up this morning. Now I hope to price match a lower price (i can hope...):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/xfx-amd-ra ... Id=6375963
Cool - that's actually a decent price on a good card.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Quick update, we finished the install and everything so far works well. We've had a couple of instances where the pc won't start, but then comes back alive later. Going to have to keep an eye out for that!

Anyway, great help on this thread! Wish I could easily post a pic :annoyed
Side benefit, my son now knows the power of the bogleheads!!
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Mudpuppy »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:53 am Quick update, we finished the install and everything so far works well. We've had a couple of instances where the pc won't start, but then comes back alive later. Going to have to keep an eye out for that!
Does it shut down and then refuse to start up for a while (indicating something may be overheating) or does this refusal to boot happen from a cold start?
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Mudpuppy wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:00 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:53 am Quick update, we finished the install and everything so far works well. We've had a couple of instances where the pc won't start, but then comes back alive later. Going to have to keep an eye out for that!
Does it shut down and then refuse to start up for a while (indicating something may be overheating) or does this refusal to boot happen from a cold start?
Only a cold start, so far...
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Mudpuppy
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Mudpuppy »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:36 pm
Mudpuppy wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:00 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:53 am Quick update, we finished the install and everything so far works well. We've had a couple of instances where the pc won't start, but then comes back alive later. Going to have to keep an eye out for that!
Does it shut down and then refuse to start up for a while (indicating something may be overheating) or does this refusal to boot happen from a cold start?
Only a cold start, so far...
I would suspect that something is slightly loose and needs to be reseated. It looks like the MSI B550 Tomahawk has diagnostic LEDs, from page 41 of https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_ex ... 91v2.1.pdf. Check those on every boot and note what is lit up when it fails to boot. You may need to remove a side panel temporarily to get a good look at the LEDs.
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Wannaretireearly
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Mudpuppy wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:54 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:36 pm
Mudpuppy wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:00 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:53 am Quick update, we finished the install and everything so far works well. We've had a couple of instances where the pc won't start, but then comes back alive later. Going to have to keep an eye out for that!
Does it shut down and then refuse to start up for a while (indicating something may be overheating) or does this refusal to boot happen from a cold start?
Only a cold start, so far...
I would suspect that something is slightly loose and needs to be reseated. It looks like the MSI B550 Tomahawk has diagnostic LEDs, from page 41 of https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_ex ... 91v2.1.pdf. Check those on every boot and note what is lit up when it fails to boot. You may need to remove a side panel temporarily to get a good look at the LEDs.
Thx! Will check this out
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Wannaretireearly
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New Gaming PC

Post by Wannaretireearly »

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

Dear, Bogleheads
I am 11 years old (WRE's son) and I am building my first PC and here is the list of items I need to buy. Could you review the list and provide feedback. I have reviewed these items in an app called PC Part Picker. I appreciate your help.



face cam Razer - Kiyo Webcam with Adjustable Ring Light - Black $70

Motherboard MSI - MPG Z690 CARBON WIFI Socket LGA 1700 USB 3.2 Intel Motherboard $400

Memory kit or RAM PNY - XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 16GB (2PK 8GB) DDR4 4200MHz Desktop Memory Kit RAM $75

The PC case NZXT - H510i Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with RGB Lighting - Matte White $135

Graphics Card XFX - SPEEDSTER QICK308 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Gamin $660

SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

2nd SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

Power Supply Unit CORSAIR - RMx Series RM850x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply - Black $135

CPU cooler CORSAIR - iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX CPU Cooler - Black $120

cpu Intel - Core i7-11700K 11th Generation $383

mousepad HyperX - Pulsefire Mat Gaming Mouse Pad with RGB Lighting and Touch Sensor (XL) - Black $40

Mouse REDRAGON - Predator M612 Wired Optical Gaming Mouse with RGB Backlighting - Black $18

keyboard ROCCAT - Magma Full-size Wired $60

Headset Altec Lansing - AL2000 Wired Stereo Gaming Headset $27

monitor Alienware - AW2720HF 27" IPS LED FHD FreeSync and $338

speaker Logitech - Z200 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (2-Piece) - Black $40

gaming chair High Back Gaming Chair PC Office Chair Racing Computer $88

total $2829
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sarabayo
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by sarabayo »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:56 pm Dear, Bogleheads
I am 11 years old (WRE's son) and I am building my first PC and here is the list of items I need to buy. Could you review the list and provide feedback. I have reviewed these items in an app called PC Part Picker. I appreciate your help.



face cam Razer - Kiyo Webcam with Adjustable Ring Light - Black $70

Motherboard MSI - MPG Z690 CARBON WIFI Socket LGA 1700 USB 3.2 Intel Motherboard $400

Memory kit or RAM PNY - XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 16GB (2PK 8GB) DDR4 4200MHz Desktop Memory Kit RAM $75

The PC case NZXT - H510i Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with RGB Lighting - Matte White $135

Graphics Card XFX - SPEEDSTER QICK308 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Gamin $660

SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

2nd SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

Power Supply Unit CORSAIR - RMx Series RM850x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply - Black $135

CPU cooler CORSAIR - iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX CPU Cooler - Black $120

cpu Intel - Core i7-11700K 11th Generation $383

mousepad HyperX - Pulsefire Mat Gaming Mouse Pad with RGB Lighting and Touch Sensor (XL) - Black $40

Mouse REDRAGON - Predator M612 Wired Optical Gaming Mouse with RGB Backlighting - Black $18

keyboard ROCCAT - Magma Full-size Wired $60

Headset Altec Lansing - AL2000 Wired Stereo Gaming Headset $27

monitor Alienware - AW2720HF 27" IPS LED FHD FreeSync and $338

speaker Logitech - Z200 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (2-Piece) - Black $40

gaming chair High Back Gaming Chair PC Office Chair Racing Computer $88

total $2829
Why two SSDs instead of one larger one? Amazon has the 2TB version of the Samsung 870 EVO for $230, which saves you $10 and is also more convenient.

Personally I wouldn't bother with a fancy mousepad, it's just a mousepad.

Also I wonder why you're going for the Intel 11th gen when the 12 gen is already out and by all accounts is a much better generation than the 11th. (Maybe price considerations?)
Makefile
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by Makefile »

sarabayo wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:06 pm Why two SSDs instead of one larger one? Amazon has the 2TB version of the Samsung 870 EVO for $230, which saves you $10 and is also more convenient.
And why SATA rather than M.2 NVMe? Looks like that board has a generous 4 M.2 NVMe slots.
Don't forget operating system
Make sure case doesn't impose a maximum video card length shorter than chosen card--I didn't check but it does say "compact"
boogiehead
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by boogiehead »

Do you enjoy building computers and/or you want very specific components for your gaming pc? Asking because for that price you could get a similar pre-built pc from one of the big manufacturers (i.e. dell) without all the hassle of building your own. Building PCs to me is similar to doing your own oil change … the savings you get is almost negligible that there is no point of doing it unless you have a passion for it.

Also don’t forget to include the price of whatever OS that you’ll need to buy if you build your own PC. Good luck!
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by Patzer »

I have been building gaming computers for 20+ years and still have every CPU from every computer I have ever built in a display at my desk.
Congrats on the opportunity to build your first one!

I don't understand the need for a $400 motherboard, there are boards around $200 that should support what you are building.

Power supply is pretty overpriced and overpowered. Run the numbers to determine how much power you need... there are online calculators for it. I suspect 600-650W is more than enough.

If you aren't overclocking your CPU, $120 for a cooler is overkill.

Otherwise, looks like a very solid rig.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by BogleMelon »

Make sure to check out this site for prices and compatibility:
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/
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sarabayo
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by sarabayo »

BogleMelon wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:18 am Make sure to check out this site for prices and compatibility:
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/
The OP says they're already using that site.
Wannaretireearly wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:56 pm I have reviewed these items in an app called PC Part Picker.
niven
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by niven »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:56 pm Dear, Bogleheads
I am 11 years old (WRE's son) and I am building my first PC and here is the list of items I need to buy. Could you review the list and provide feedback. I have reviewed these items in an app called PC Part Picker. I appreciate your help.



face cam Razer - Kiyo Webcam with Adjustable Ring Light - Black $70

Motherboard MSI - MPG Z690 CARBON WIFI Socket LGA 1700 USB 3.2 Intel Motherboard $400

Memory kit or RAM PNY - XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 16GB (2PK 8GB) DDR4 4200MHz Desktop Memory Kit RAM $75

The PC case NZXT - H510i Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with RGB Lighting - Matte White $135

Graphics Card XFX - SPEEDSTER QICK308 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Gamin $660

SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

2nd SSD Samsung - 870 EVO 1TB SATA 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive $120

Power Supply Unit CORSAIR - RMx Series RM850x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply - Black $135

CPU cooler CORSAIR - iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX CPU Cooler - Black $120

cpu Intel - Core i7-11700K 11th Generation $383

mousepad HyperX - Pulsefire Mat Gaming Mouse Pad with RGB Lighting and Touch Sensor (XL) - Black $40

Mouse REDRAGON - Predator M612 Wired Optical Gaming Mouse with RGB Backlighting - Black $18

keyboard ROCCAT - Magma Full-size Wired $60

Headset Altec Lansing - AL2000 Wired Stereo Gaming Headset $27

monitor Alienware - AW2720HF 27" IPS LED FHD FreeSync and $338

speaker Logitech - Z200 2.0 Multimedia Speakers (2-Piece) - Black $40

gaming chair High Back Gaming Chair PC Office Chair Racing Computer $88

total $2829
Hi, I see a couple of red flags (unless they are typos):

The Intel 11700K is an LGA 1200 socket CPU and the MSI - MPG Z690 CARBON WIFI is an LGA 1700 socket motherboard, so it would require a 12th gen CPU like the 12700K.

Also, that MSI motherboard appears to use DDR5 memory, not DDR4, unless they have a DDR4 version I don't see. The motherboard has to be designed for the type of memory, they aren't interchangeable physically or electrically. Some models of brands do have DDR4 motherboards for the 12th gen CPUs. I'm sure you know that the DDR5 memory is hard to get and expensive!

Good luck on your build! :happy
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DarkNyte
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by DarkNyte »

Dear WRE's son,

It's encouraging to see an 11 year old interested in building their own computer. If this is your first computer build and you don't have much help from parents or an older sibling to complete the build, I would actually recommend you buy the NZXT kit that allows you to pick 3 tiers of computers that you can put together. In this global computer chip shortage, this will be the only way to reliably get a GPU without paying 2x to 3x MSRP. You still get the experience of building the computer but get the price of a prebuilt. You might not get every component exactly as you would want it, but you will save a lot of money and get a better PC for gaming = better FPS. For example, the 2nd tier NZXT BLD kit comes with a RTX 3070 which heavily outperforms the 6600xt, and the NZXT kit is cheaper than the computer parts you listed.

https://nzxt.com/collection/bld-kit

If you are still set on building your own PC and buying each part individually, I would recommend visiting your local Microcenter if you live near one. They often have the best prices for these builds. Workers there should also be able to help give recommendations if you want to talk to more people about specific recommendations.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by dboeger1 »

Personally, I hate the racing-style "gaming" chairs. A friend of mine gave me his for free when he was moving apartments, and it kills my back. Granted, I'm an overweight adult, so I wouldn't expect an 11-year-old to have the same problem, but honestly, I still think almost any office chair is a better alternative.

16 GB is certainly fine for most everyday uses, but given how much you're spending on the rest of the PC, I would think about upgrading to 32 GB of RAM, especially if you intend to do things like running VMs or productivity software. I regularly run multiple VMs simultaneously for development/testing purposes, and I like giving them each a fair amount of RAM to keep them snappy.

Most importantly, I would cut the 2nd SSD. I haven't built a gaming PC since before M.2/NVME consumer drives were a thing, so I don't know if they're a readily available or affordable alternative to SATA, but if so, I would VERY HIGHLY recommend getting 1 very fast drive using the newer interfaces. For much of gaming history, games were engineered to avoid/sidestep I/O bottlenecks, mostly by pre-loading world assets during loading segments and by capping world traversal speeds to allow mainstream drives to stream in data at a reasonable rate. Starting with this generation, there has been a major paradigm shift, where game developers are now embracing very fast drives as a way of enabling new gameplay experiences reliant on high-speed data streaming. An example of a PS5 game which simply wouldn't have been possible in the previous generation is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, in which players can teleport rapidly and frequently between completely different, highly-detailed 3D worlds with seemingly no asset streaming delay. This is only possible because of modern high-speed drives being able to stream in many GBs of assets on-demand in almost real-time. While for the most part, games are still supporting even traditional HDDs, it would not surprise me to see more games in the coming years specifically targeting high-speed drives as a requirement to support such game design trends. If nothing else, you want to be able to match what the current generation of consoles supports, since they more or less dictate the minimum target systems for AAA game development. For that reason alone, I would consider an M.2/NVME drive just shy of a non-negotiable requirement for a gaming PC being built today. I/O transfer speeds are arguably much more important than storage volume, since the latter can be augmented with a combination of cloud storage, cheap leftover HDDs, etc. Basically, you just need a really fast drive that's big enough to store the games you're actively playing at any given time.

Lastly, regarding your monitor, the popular opinion seems to be that IPS monitors are the best-looking by far, and people do pay a premium for them, but I've never actually had a problem with other panel types. I even have an old TN panel I rather like; it certainly doesn't look amazing, but the anti-glare nature of it is quite convenient. It's not that panel type doesn't matter when it comes to PC gaming, but I think resolution, frame rate, and size have much bigger impact on the experience. For me, panel type is much more important on large TVs for watching movies and shows in various lighting conditions from across the room, because I'm focusing much more specifically on image quality in those contexts. For PC gaming however, I want the image to feel smooth and responsive above all else; I've just never found panel type to have as big of an impact on immersion as reviewers make it out to have. I would personally prefer to spend less on a larger VA panel than more on a smaller IPS panel, but that's just me. This is the monitor I bought to use with my gaming laptop a couple of months ago and I've been loving it:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32 ... ccessories
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by GuyInFL »

I've got a 3440x1440 monitor and really love it. Definitely would look at a higher resolution monitor with that graphic card.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by tortoise84 »

Yeah, your CPU, motherboard and DDR4/DDR5 RAM don't match. I'd recommend:

i5-12600K $290 (when it's on sale) or i7-12700K $370, with
MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 LGA 1700 motherboard $220 or with WIFI for $240

or i5-12400 $200 with MSI MAG B660 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 LGA 1700 motherboard $190, if you want to trim the budget.

2 x 16 GB RAM DDR4-3600 RAM. Around $110 for CL18, or sometimes you can get CL16 on sale for a tiny improvement.

The NZXT H510i case has bad airflow at the front. You should get a case with a mesh front such as the H510 Flow, Corsair 4000D Airflow, Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact TG, Lian Li O11 Air Mini.

Trimming other items to get a better graphics card will give you the most bang for your buck. e.g. MSI Mech Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB $910 at Newegg right now.

Don't get SATA SSDs when you have 3 or 4 M.2 slots on the motherboard. A NVMe M.2 1TB Gen 3 SSD should be around $110. Gen 4 for a little more.

You can get a 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitor with at least 144 Hz for less money than that Alienware 1080p. I got a Gigabyte G27Q 27" 144 Hz for $260 and it's great for gaming. But do not get a 4K 60 Hz monitor for gaming. It'll give you a headache with the motion blur.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:56 pm I am 11 years old (WRE's son) and I am building my first PC and here is the list of items I need to buy. Could you review the list and provide feedback.
I would suggest you read through the PC Build Thread - 2020... and beyond!!! topic as it covers much of the same ground.

Is this a continuation from viewtopic.php?f=11&t=329806?
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by JDP »

I have built all of my gaming rigs since high school; however, given how much components have increased in price due to supply issues, I would suggest buying a prebuilt system. Here is a decent one for the price if you are a Costco member.
Lenovo Legion 5 Desktop $860 with shipping
i5-11500 Processor
16GB DDR4 (2-DIMM) 3200MHz RAM
1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
512GB NVMe™ M.2 Solid State Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce GTX™ 1660 SUPER Graphics, 6GB
2 year warranty

Of course, there are pros and cons to buying prebuilt versus building e.g., warranties, component quality, etc.


If you are set on building, you can save money swapping out some of those components. I would replace the slower SSD drives for a faster NVMe drive, such as a Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe $85. There is a 2TB version for $170. You may likely find a similar priced NVMe with a better controller/memory with a little searching.

Corsair's 750w RMx Gold PSU is currently $100 at newegg with a $5 promo code. Do you need 850w?

Like another member suggested, buy from microcenter if you have a store nearby. They usually have good combo motherboard/CPU prices.

I use r/buildapcsales on reddit and slickdeals.net to find computer part deals. Also, computer forums usually have a "deals" section where members post good finds. The above deals come and go quickly.
Last edited by JDP on Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by mary1492 »

xyzzy
Last edited by mary1492 on Sat Oct 01, 2022 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
JDP
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by JDP »

Here are some suggestions:

HDD: Sabrent Rocket NVMe 1TB $85

CPU/MOBO: Intel i5 11600K and Asus Z590 Wifi Gundam Edition $500 If you don’t have a microcenter nearby, then I would focus on trying to keep the CPU/motherboard costs in between $475-600. Lower price range means sacrificing CPU generation/cores and motherboard features.

RAM: Your ram choice is a good price. I would go for 16gb DDR4 (2x8gb) with the fastest cas latency and MHZ that can get you the “best bang for the buck” price. Should be under or around $100.

Graphics Card: GIGABYTE AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT $550 This is $110 cheaper. It is OOS now.
MSI 6600 XT $610

PSU: Corsair RMx 750w Gold $100 or $85 with MIR

CPU Cooling: If water cooling isn’t essential, then look at Cooler Master Hyper 212 series or Noctua air coolers for $40-70.

Case: Something with good airflow, cable management, etc. I’m a Fractal Design fan. Lots of good cases out there. Remember that you may need to purchase some additional case fans.

These options should save you a few hundred dollars compared to the prices you found.

Playing devil's advocate :twisted:, here is a beastly Dell XPS Tower $1900:
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700 processor (12-Core)
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 8GB (LHR)
16GB DDR5, 2x 8GB, at 4400MHz
256GB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD
750W Night Sky Bezel Chassis including optical drive

Not bad for a 12th gen Intel CPU, DDR5 RAM and a 3070 graphics card. I would buy another 1-2TB NVMe separately. Upgrading it through Dell is more expensive. Some people hate Dell. There XPS line is better than the lower models (Inspiron, etc.) If you bought a 3 year warranty, it's total ($2200-2300) would be similar to the prices you posted. The extended warranty may give you some peace of mind even though I think it's overpriced.
Last edited by JDP on Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:53 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by willthrill81 »

boogiehead wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:06 am Do you enjoy building computers and/or you want very specific components for your gaming pc? Asking because for that price you could get a similar pre-built pc from one of the big manufacturers (i.e. dell) without all the hassle of building your own. Building PCs to me is similar to doing your own oil change … the savings you get is almost negligible that there is no point of doing it unless you have a passion for it.
The savings from changing one's oil is a lot more than this. I can change mine for about $30 instead of $70+ at a local shop. It doesn't seem likely to me that the OP is saving anywhere near that much by building this out himself.

FWIW, I got an Alienware laptop back in 2013 for under $2k that was great for gaming, though it certainly wasn't top of the line.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by Rex66 »

You need to know which games

I’d pony up for 6800xt. The lower cards although cheaper are a substantial step down

I’d use m2 drives. Doesn’t matter if 1 or 2 of them.

I’d use air instead of liquid cooling bc the air has greatly improved over time
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by randomguy »

willthrill81 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:16 am
boogiehead wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:06 am Do you enjoy building computers and/or you want very specific components for your gaming pc? Asking because for that price you could get a similar pre-built pc from one of the big manufacturers (i.e. dell) without all the hassle of building your own. Building PCs to me is similar to doing your own oil change … the savings you get is almost negligible that there is no point of doing it unless you have a passion for it.
The savings from changing one's oil is a lot more than this. I can change mine for about $30 instead of $70+ at a local shop. It doesn't seem likely to me that the OP is saving anywhere near that much by building this out himself.

FWIW, I got an Alienware laptop back in 2013 for under $2k that was great for gaming, though it certainly wasn't top of the line.
With the coupon I can get my oil changed for 25 bucks. 70 bucks sounds like finding the highest priced place in the area....

I doubt you are saving much money building your own and likely are paying a few bucks more given current GPU prices on the retail market. But you get the fun of picking out all the parts and screwing them together. Much like how some people like spending hours messing around with their car. I remember it being fun worrying about pretty meaningless speed differences as a kid. Now a days I would just get some 2k Alienware setup and spend the other 800 bucks on the monitor and the accessories.

Without knowing what games the OP is planning on playing over the next 3-4 years it is hard to figure out if they are buying too much or not enough. I doubt you will ever regret a nice monitor/keyboard but if you notice the difference between 16gb and 32gb or 1tb versus 2tb of storage is hard to guess. I also don't know how realistic it will be in say 3 years to just buy a new GPU and squeak out another 2-3 years of life. And how important budget is as far as spending another couple hundred or is slicing a couple hundred more important.
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by willthrill81 »

randomguy wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:29 am
willthrill81 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:16 am
boogiehead wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:06 am Do you enjoy building computers and/or you want very specific components for your gaming pc? Asking because for that price you could get a similar pre-built pc from one of the big manufacturers (i.e. dell) without all the hassle of building your own. Building PCs to me is similar to doing your own oil change … the savings you get is almost negligible that there is no point of doing it unless you have a passion for it.
The savings from changing one's oil is a lot more than this. I can change mine for about $30 instead of $70+ at a local shop. It doesn't seem likely to me that the OP is saving anywhere near that much by building this out himself.

FWIW, I got an Alienware laptop back in 2013 for under $2k that was great for gaming, though it certainly wasn't top of the line.
With the coupon I can get my oil changed for 25 bucks. 70 bucks sounds like finding the highest priced place in the area....
No, it's because I only use Mobil 1 full synthetic oil.
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by LadyGeek »

Wannaretireearly's son - In order to provide appropriate advice, it's best to keep all the information in one spot. I merged your update back into your Dad's original thread. If you have any questions, ask them here.

The combined thread is in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (PC build).
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Thanks Ladygeek!

I’ll go thru all the latest responses with my son later today.
Much appreciate all the help & responses so far.

One side benefit is getting my son to review/respond/digest and understand ‘directly’ the benefit of this great site! (I want to raise junior bogleheads)
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by Independent George »

willthrill81 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:16 am
boogiehead wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:06 am Do you enjoy building computers and/or you want very specific components for your gaming pc? Asking because for that price you could get a similar pre-built pc from one of the big manufacturers (i.e. dell) without all the hassle of building your own. Building PCs to me is similar to doing your own oil change … the savings you get is almost negligible that there is no point of doing it unless you have a passion for it.
The savings from changing one's oil is a lot more than this. I can change mine for about $30 instead of $70+ at a local shop. It doesn't seem likely to me that the OP is saving anywhere near that much by building this out himself.

FWIW, I got an Alienware laptop back in 2013 for under $2k that was great for gaming, though it certainly wasn't top of the line.
The problem is that prebuilts, including Dell and its gaming subsidiary Alienware, are terrible. Common issues: nonstandard motherboards, lousy cooling, a single-stick of RAM, poor quality memory, XMP not enabled by default, nonstandard proprietary parts, terrible cases, terrible PSUs, and, worst of all, absolutely riddled with bloatware. If a prebuilt is cheaper than assembling your own from parts, you need to ask yourself where they're making their margin from; usually, it's from using substandard, proprietary parts which they happen to have a warehouse full of. By and large, the only prebuilts that are worth buying are from the small, boutique builders like Origin, and they typically charge a 15-25% markup.
Last edited by Independent George on Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Folks, I went thru each response with my son. Thank you all for responding!

My 11 year Old’s thread got merged with my 13 year old, apologies if that caused confusion. My 13 year old loves his rig after all the help he got with this thread last year!

I’m on the fence with my 11 year old. He is not as hands on or patient. However, just going thru this ‘process’ has been good.

Independent George & others, I really appreciate all of your experience.

Given the higher cost, as well as likely less to no involvement with this kid (he is going to be a GREAT manager, if you catch my drift), I’m trending towards buying a pre built.

What are the Alienware laptops like?
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Re: New Gaming PC

Post by tuningfork »

DarkNyte wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:32 am It's encouraging to see an 11 year old interested in building their own computer. If this is your first computer build and you don't have much help from parents or an older sibling to complete the build, I would actually recommend you buy the NZXT kit that allows you to pick 3 tiers of computers that you can put together. In this global computer chip shortage, this will be the only way to reliably get a GPU without paying 2x to 3x MSRP. You still get the experience of building the computer but get the price of a prebuilt. You might not get every component exactly as you would want it, but you will save a lot of money and get a better PC for gaming = better FPS. For example, the 2nd tier NZXT BLD kit comes with a RTX 3070 which heavily outperforms the 6600xt, and the NZXT kit is cheaper than the computer parts you listed.

https://nzxt.com/collection/bld-kit
Ohhh, thanks for pointing out this site. I've bookmarked it and will look at it again next time I build a PC, which will likely be next fall or winter. The components they chose for the highest tier look quite good, very close to what I would choose myself. Might not be enough LEDs for WRE's son, though! :D
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Any thoughts on this machine from Costco?

https://www.costco.com/msi-ge76-raider- ... 63831.html
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Independent George »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 pm Given the higher cost, as well as likely less to no involvement with this kid (he is going to be a GREAT manager, if you catch my drift), I’m trending towards buying a pre built.

What are the Alienware laptops like?
1. I'm not as experienced with gaming laptops, but based on my experiences with their desktops, I'm deeply skeptical of Alienware as a whole.
2. Razer is the premium brand for gaming laptops, but they're hella expensive. On the one hand, they're going to have excellent build quality and components, but there is a significant price to be paid for it.
3. I have no direct experience with it, but I've been told by people I trust that ASUS and MSI are generally pretty good for gaming laptops.
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by willthrill81 »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 pm What are the Alienware laptops like?
As I noted above, I bought a mid-range Alienware laptop back in 2013 and was pleased with it. Gaming laptops are obviously much heavier than traditional laptops, and their battery life plummets when you're doing a lot of high intensity stuff. But aside from an occasional buzzing sound from the fan, it worked very well for the five years that I owned it before something or other happened, which I don't recall now, that made it give out. I bought it mostly to play World of Tanks, and it worked perfectly well for that purpose, though I couldn't run all of the graphics settings completely maxed out. I paid under $2k for it back then.
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

Independent George wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:46 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 pm Given the higher cost, as well as likely less to no involvement with this kid (he is going to be a GREAT manager, if you catch my drift), I’m trending towards buying a pre built.

What are the Alienware laptops like?
1. I'm not as experienced with gaming laptops, but based on my experiences with their desktops, I'm deeply skeptical of Alienware as a whole.
2. Razer is the premium brand for gaming laptops, but they're hella expensive. On the one hand, they're going to have excellent build quality and components, but there is a significant price to be paid for it.
3. I have no direct experience with it, but I've been told by people I trust that ASUS and MSI are generally pretty good for gaming laptops.
Thanks George
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Re: Gaming PC Build: Newbie questions and feedback!

Post by Wannaretireearly »

willthrill81 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:50 pm
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 pm What are the Alienware laptops like?
As I noted above, I bought a mid-range Alienware laptop back in 2013 and was pleased with it. Gaming laptops are obviously much heavier than traditional laptops, and their battery life plummets when you're doing a lot of high intensity stuff. But aside from an occasional buzzing sound from the fan, it worked very well for the five years that I owned it before something or other happened, which I don't recall now, that made it give out. I bought it mostly to play World of Tanks, and it worked perfectly well for that purpose, though I couldn't run all of the graphics settings completely maxed out. I paid under $2k for it back then.
Thank you Will
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