My pc or 80s finally has up the ghost and now I’m looking for a new pc.
My graphics card I was using as 1070.
I primarily play Warcraft but often play no man sky, cities skylines and other strategy games. I would like the option to play like gta on it when it comes out but not a deal breaker as I’d have a console anyway.
I want to get a pc that’s going to be future proof for the next couple years at least.
Thing is I can’t decide on a lap top or a tower. Can I still use screens if I buy a laptop? I like the idea of portability but don’t want to hamstring myself.
I think my budget would be around 1000-1200 pounds, I’d stretch to more if it’s worth it. Any advice would be appreciated.
Unfortunately because of the RAM crisis alongside other PC parts like SSDs, buying a new system is extremely expensive right now and will only get worse in the future.
As it stands, a 32GB kit alone will go through a substantial amount of your budget. Be warned what you’re getting into. Your best bet might be pre-built.
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Yeah I’d rather just go off the shelf but I’ve been looking at the usual suspects like razer or Alienware but just don’t know where to start.
Myself and my gf are looking to move in together so I’m thinking the flexibility of a lap top would suit me better for a year or two then buy a new set up once we are settled.
I mean as long as I can run midnight at a decent level of performance and graphics I’d be happy.
Unfortunately with that budget and the ram crysis I’m afraid you won’t be able to do much (I’ve just built a new pc right at the start of the crysis and I managed to buy everything, but I ended up spending around 300 euros more than what I expected, and the situation now is worse).
I agree with Lythric and I will say that probably pre-built PCs are more convenient as of now, until they will run out of supplies and will need to build new ones - then I’m afraid even that market is going to rocket in prices.
Anyway, if it can be of any help, I asked for help on Reddit /buildmeapc, detailing budget and country. Some users gave me some good builds which I then reviewed with pc builder friends, adjusted a little, and then bought everything.
Even if building a pc is not what you are going to do, you may specify that you would need a list of components to aim for with a pre built, that would be of help. I always rather ask for help to guys who do these things for a job or on a daily basis!
BTW, always remember that if you want a laptop you will sacrifice performance even with the same components, there’s just not enough space to have a cooling system as good or big as a desktop (I was impressed by my new GPU alone, that thing’s bigger than a console by itself, and on top of that the heatsink is huge as well and looks like something that has been stripped from a motorcycle) - I’m not sure if there are exceptions to this as I’m no expert but this is the general rule of thumb I’ve been explained. So less value for money, at the end of the day.
Mazel tov on your pc dying at probably the worst possible timing ever.
Black friday is a year away and winter “sales” just about ended all the while component prices are probably the most bloated they have ever been while still going up and they won’t go down anytime soon, if ever.
Game dev’s also don’t give a hoot about optimizing anymore so every new release just becomes more and more performance hungry, requiring better and better components to barely run (puts on tinfoil hat).
If I were you…
I would completely forget about future proofing and playing the newest games on pc. It will cost you FAR more than what you budgeted.
You said you got a console, if it’s a semi new model I’d just get the new AAA games like GTA for console instead and if you absolutely MUST play pc exclusives like wow or skylines then I would get the cheapest possible machine that can just about run them and maybe upgrade in the future when the prices are lower or you have larger budget.
I also wouldn’t get a laptop unless I absolutely NEED the portability, they are worse than a desktop in every aspect except portability. Barely.
I absolutely would check around for a second hand machines to save as much as possible.
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Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll stick to prebuilt.
Modern AAA games I’ll stick to my console so really I just need a decent setup for wow.
surely even a laptop would be better than my current 1070 set up.
If it hadn’t died I probably would’ve tried to get another year or so out of it
Another option would be to buy parts second-hand perhaps? They maybe don’t last forever, but might get you through the artificial shortage caused by AI companies.
Not necessarily tbh.
You sacrifice a lot for that portability and newer components aren’t necessarily automatically better. Newer cards usually support “ai” features like DLSS and get much of their performance through new tech like that but whether that’s a good thing or not is up to you and also not all games support it.
I assume you got a GTX 1070 and if you compare it to a RTX 3050 which is in a lot of 1k range laptops where I live, then they perform pretty much the same.
If you max your budget however you do start to see cards like RTX 5050 and the like which are much better than your 1070 with DLSS but only slightly better without it.
What they also do with laptops is that they throttle down the performance of the components to save battery and produce less heat because laptops suck at heat transfer.
So the same card in a laptop are often much worse than the “same” card in a desktop. So again you sacrifice a lot for the portability.
You will get a lot more out of your money with a desktop and it is much easier to upgrade in the future, but a laptop is more portable. It’s up to you what is more important.
Gaming laptops can run games very well - I’ve run wow on mine a few times when away!
But… Cooling is a big issue with laptops meaning they tend to be very noisy when running games and thermal throttling does limit their performance.
Screen wise most laptops will have a HDMI port and can run a single external monitor (along with the laptop screen usually giving you dual screen capability) but 2/3 monitor setups are rarely an option (and ultra expensive).
Generally - a desktop will give more performance compared to a laptop at the same price, but of course the form factor is more convenient.
As you are (I assume) not able to wait 18-24 months for the market to improve - I’d recommend making a purchase as soon as you can - prices likely to only increase further as this year goes on.
A Nvidia 5060 should be within your budget (albeit you may need to add 100-200 more to stretch to 32GB Ram) and will perform noticeable better than a 1070.
I would build desktop by ordering parts cheapest I can find around net and do the build myself if you can.
Heres ballpark for prices and what I would suggest.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D €400, Ryzen 7 9800X3D €500
RTX 5060 Ti €500, RTX 5070 Ti €800
AM5 board b850 €240, x870 €270
Then ram… I was looking kit of ddr5 32gb for €119 in march and now it costs €400
These are your base for the build, then youre looking at power and cooler for CPU and m.2 ssd and case, I say even by selecting all cheapest from what I said you are looking at €1800 to build an gaming pc now for next 5-7 years.
Impossible to get budget range GPU for reasonable price anymore and they are only going to rise from here I recon.
GPU is your most expensive part and the most worth for performance, next is the CPU which I wouldnt go any other than 7800X3D or 9800X3D now, and for these you need AM5 mobo and ddr5 ram, the power difference between the two CPU’s is about 9% for €100 difference in price. Can also buy the parts in installments if the interest is not high.
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I buy a new laptop every 2ish years and all cost the same. ~1000 euro.
They are good for their times.
Go to the store and ask for a gaming laptop. You`ll find it right away.
It will be good for the new games for 2ish years and for WoW for 5+, maybe 10+.
WoW is still running good on my old Lenovo but BNET says you wont be able to use it in Win 8 in 2026.
Okay, good; bump that up to 2.2k pounds.
Custom Built.
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Focus on your CPU since you primarily play Warcraft.
Get the i9 and the 5070.
Laptops are not built for gaming, as I’ve experienced firsthand. Wear and tear, and the first thing to go is usually the keyboard. Most likely will be the W key.
its not 2015 any more gameing laptops are fine at the moment for the amount of ££ you have it may even be you best opeohs
I confirm this, unfortunately.
This is my build btw (aside for the case which is a Fractal Design North XL but it doesn’t really matter, I bought if for a little less as it was on sale):
https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/TL6z3w
The first time I got this list, it costed 1900 euros (in September). I decided to wait for discounts on Black Friday, HUGE MISTAKE, I ended up paying 300ish euros more due to RAM and SSD, and now it’s risen almost of another 300 euros. And it will get worse.
But I’ve seen similar builds from Alienware which now cost less - even if it won’t last forever. I have had a bad experience with Alienware (the PC I’m upgrading from is an Aurora R5) and it’s a brand I will never go back to, but alas, as it is right now DELL might have better deals, both for desktops and laptops. I would always suggest a desktop though.
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Fractal had good cases I was looking one from them aswell. I could use alot from my current PC but the plan was to donate it for my brother.
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Judging by some of the games you mention I’d suggest going for a PC where you can control the cooling better.
You would have to increase your budget though because builds in that price range aren’t much better than laptops except for having better airflow solutions.
If you do decide to go for a laptop I’d suggest getting a cooling pad or a very well ventilated laptop stand to help keep temperatures in check.
It is worth considering second hand with all costs considered.
My son wanted to build a 2nd machine to act as a server to handle heavy loads
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GNyZgn
The Ram alone is £800 (I know though 64gb, but still 32Gb would still cost more than the CPU!).
Instead last night on facebook market place we found a good interim solution.
9900k Intel (Core i9 9th Gen)
32Gb DDR4
500gb NVMe windows boot
2Tb HDD
RTX 2080 Super etc
Very clean and tidy for just £350 which as I say is a good solution and interim fix which will cover the next 2 years by which time hopefully things will have come back under control.
Or at the very least allowed you to save up more so it doesn’t feel like such a big hit in one go on your pocket.
I play on a Predator Helios Neo laptop because I live in a very small space. I have been very happy with it. It plays smoothly and I don’t get the lag at the beginning of new stuff like I used to. I know this is not a tech answer but there.
i have a lenovo legion with a 4080 graphics card, was € 900 last year. Probably cheaper now, if they still have stock. Current gen hardware is extremely expensive.
If you are looking for building your own PC now. Can also consider getting Intel 14th gen which supports both DDR4 and DDR5 and a motherboard which has both DDR4 and DDR5 slots.
With the RAMagedon we got now. That some DDR5 ram kits costs more than a mid-tier GPU. DDR4 RAM prices is at least in the subjective “bearable” levels.
So can build an intel 14th gen system with DDR4 ram with leaving room to upgrade to DDR5 once the prices stabilize.
Important side note - I’ve been AMD fan since Ryzens came out 2017 so knowledge regarding Intel is based on what generic news I read on the forums. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on some details