Re: [OT] It's Xmas - time for new gaming PC, advice please

On Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:00:04 GMT, Geeknix
<usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

As the subject suggests, I'm looking to build a gaming PC for my son, a
combined birthday and Christmas gift. I don't have a budget, but "her in
doors" has, so basically I do have a budget!
>
Looking for a PC that will last a while without having to upgrade, can
manage 2k graphics, and enough storage for his growing library. If I
could smuggle install MSFS2020 that would be a bonus.
>
I am thinking for our budget that AMD5 might offer more future proofing
than LGA1700. 8Tb HDD seems a lot cheaper than 10Tb. Other
considerations is I am in Malaysia, access to brands is a bit harder.
Local shops are recommending Zotac GPU, or prices vary.
>
I tried to build the same machine as recommended by a local shop here:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kthRJn
>
I tried to swap out the parts for brands I am aware of and tweak a few
things:
>
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>
I would really appreciate anyone can have a quick review, I believe most
here are more experienced gamers than myself! Apologies if the request
for your time is cheeky or against the group rules. Thanks in advance.

Some immediate thoughts:

- Fully modular power supplies are neat, but unless you really tinker,
they're generally not worth the premium over non-modular power
supplies. How often are you going to be plugging and unplugging
peripherals? The fifty bucks you save can get put to something more
useful...

-... like adding a second (or larger) SSD. 1TB goes fast with games.
Fully installed (e.g., base game plus all free add-ons), MS Flight Sim
2020 takes 220GB all on its own (plus more for cache). And you _do_
feel a difference playing that game on SSD versus HDD.

- I'm sure this is subjective, but I also prefer Samsung SSDs to
Toshiba. I've just had better experience with the latter brand.

- Surprisingly (at least according to the specs sheet), the spinning
rust HDD you picked is CMR and not WD's usual SMR bullshit (which
slows down write performance). Be careful with picking hard-drives
since larger capacity drives usually accomplish this by using shingled
magnetic recording. If speed is a consideration, you want conventional
magnetic recording.

(That said, I'd just buy a cheaper and spinning-rust drive for data
storage and spend the savings on that second .M2 SSD).

- I don't have any issue with Zotac as a brand for the GPU. For a
while they were a bit dodgy but their QA has definitely improved over
the years. I was always a fan of EVGA but since they ducked out of the
industry they're not an option. The 4070 is a capable card and has
headroom for several years of gaming, even if it isn't highest-end.
It's /more/ than capable of running pretty much every game out there
at maxed out settings. You are buying right on the cusp of the
next-gen 5xxx GPUs coming out though, so as soon as you get the PC its
going to be outdated ;-)

Other than that, looks like a nice build (except... what, no mouse?).
If you want, you can buy two and give one to me ;-)