Got quote for new PC, what do you think?

[PoorOldSpike]

Hi guys, I just got back from the local computer shop after telling them I wanted them to build me a PC that's capable of playing all high-end flight sims and strategy games, and they gave me the quote below totalling 1500 GB pounds / 1900 US dollars.
What do you think?

PSU: Cx750
BOARD: tuf z370 Asus
PROCESSOR: i5-9600k
RAM: 16Gb 3000 venge
HARD DRIVE: 512Mb SSD M2
GRAPHICS: rtx 2080
WIN 10 Home 64
Watercool

PS- what the heck is "watercool"?

[kondi754]

Hi guys, I just got back from the local computer shop after telling them I wanted them to build me a PC that's capable of playing all high-end flight sims and strategy games, and they gave me the quote below totalling 1500 GB pounds / 1900 US dollars.
What do you think?

PSU: Cx750
BOARD: tuf z370 Asus
PROCESSOR: i5-9600k
RAM: 16Gb 3000 venge
HARD DRIVE: 512Mb SSD M2
GRAPHICS: rtx 2080
WIN 10 Home 64
Watercool

PS- what the heck is "watercool"?

graphics card cooling system
it seems to me that you don't need rtx 2080 (graphic card) for strategic games and simulations, this is the most expensive item on this list (definitely, 50-60% of the total price)

[bebro]

PS- what the heck is "watercool"?

Sounds there's no standard "fan" cooling, but one of those fancy water coolers. Which I don't have in my PC, but I assume it's reeeeally silent. No idea if it replaces every fan though (CPU and GFX?)

If it's essential though is another question, a standard fan based cooling should come with a lower price tag and wouldn't be too loud either if it's a reasonable model.

Other than that 32 GB RAM would be nice if you got a lot of "big" games that need RAM.

OS wise depends if you're ok with the WIN home version.

I guess there are a few experts here who can say more about hardware...

[zakblood]

PSU: Cx750
BOARD: tuf z370 Asus
PROCESSOR: i5-9600k is good, i7 for flight sims are better
RAM: 16Gb 3000 venge, ram is ram, as along as it's DDR 4, in the end as long as your not a benchmark freak, it doesn't really matter, 32GB of slower ram is always better than 16gb of faster ram in the long run imo
HARD DRIVE: 512Mb SSD M2
GRAPHICS: rtx 2080
WIN 10 Home 64
Watercool

VENGEANCE LPX 16GB (4X4GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C13 2133MHZ QUAD CHANNEL KIT - BLACK £79.99 notice the timing on the sticks, quad channel means you need 4 sticks btw
VENGEANCE LPX 32GB (2X16GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C13 2133MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT - BLACK means you need a matching pair for dual channel and a M/B to support both dual or quad £149.99

now alter the memory timing's and go up in the world, regarding speed, and watch the price go sky high

TEAM GROUP XTREEM " EDITION" 16GB (2X8GB) DDR4 PC4-36000C18 4500MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT - BLACK £289.99
TRIDENT Z RGB 32GB (4X8GB) DDR4 PC4-34100C17 4266MHZ DUAL/QUAD CHANNEL KIT £649.99

water cooling is good if your overclocking or need a silent system, but only in paired with a silent psu or that will make some noise and make the water cooling somewhat redundant, then again not all water cooling systems are silent and some use a block while others use a fan and a block, a block is a heat sink or fins to dissipate heat, so there's basically a few types of water cooling systems, a full system has water cooling for the VGA card and CPU, a partial water cooled system has only one, a silent system has no fans and has better case design and uses passive heat sinks and good air flow for cooling

512Mb SSD M2 is ok, fast as hell but as your not bothered either how much space it takes up, as M2 is small where as a SSD is 3 times as big, but not so big when gaming is getting somewhat larger, 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-E 3.0 X4 NVME SOLID STATE DRIVE can be around £119.99 with a 1TB 860 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6GBPS 64 LAYER 3D V-NAND SOLID STATE DRIVE being only £149.99, yes a m2 is smaller, where a standard sized SDD is larger in size, but twice the storage size for little in real terms more and the one i'd go for imo

rtx 2080, over kill and way over priced atm

GEFORCE RTX 2080 WINDFORCE 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD £599.99

with the AMD version being somewhat cheaper RADEON RX 5700 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD £389.99

and depending on which game you play, on some benchmarks there both about the same speed etc, so save the money now and upgrade the CPU and SDD imo

ssd.jpg (63.27 KiB) Viewed 1986 times

m2.jpg (42.21 KiB) Viewed 1986 times

[Andy2012]

Hi guys, I just got back from the local computer shop after telling them I wanted them to build me a PC that's capable of playing all high-end flight sims and strategy games, and they gave me the quote below totalling 1500 GB pounds / 1900 US dollars.
What do you think?

PSU: Cx750
BOARD: tuf z370 Asus
PROCESSOR: i5-9600k
RAM: 16Gb 3000 venge
HARD DRIVE: 512Mb SSD M2
GRAPHICS: rtx 2080
WIN 10 Home 64
Watercool

PS- what the heck is "watercool"?

I dont mean to sound condescending, but I feel like they try to oversell you the latest stuff you dont really need. Highest margin for them, money down the drain for you.
You dont need a watercooling.
You dont need 16gigs of RAM, 8 is fine.
Go for an AMD Processor, they are fast enough and way cheaper. I ordered the parts for mine, built it myself, cost around 700 Euros back then. Including the case. Runs Doom 2016 just fine.
My advice would be to check a computer game magazine online, they have regular guides for every budget. I would then pick the midrange. You dont need a Ferrari to play OoB.

[kondi754]

Andy, I agree with you - I wrote about it at the graphics card, which is really unnecessary and too expensive
When it comes to RAM, 8 is enough, but 16 will not hurt
As for the processor, I disagree here
I used both AMD and Intel (currently I'm using i7 for the last 3 years) and disagree with you... I absolutely recommend Intel, the difference in speed is huge and there are no problems with hardware and software compatibility, like AMD have

[zakblood]

don't want to sound like a no it all either, but and it's a big but!

all high-end flight sims

so here's one for starters DCS on steam,

OS 64-bit Windows 8/10; DirectX11; CPU: Core i5+ at 3+ GHz or AMD FX / Ryzen; RAM: 16 GB (32 GB for heavy missions); Free hard disk space: 120 GB on Solid State Drive (SSD); Discrete video card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX VEGA 56 with 8GB VRAM or better; Joystick; requires internet activation.

for recommended, so yes 16GB is today's minimum for flight sims unless your playing the older ones.

same as 4gb of the video card, more if 4k is needed or used

and while the AMD Ryzen 5 for the price are good CPU's regarding speed v's cost etc

and yes the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X is one of the fastest around for the price, the mainstream I7 or I9 are great chips, but costs are high

[Andy2012]

@Spike: Bottom line for you should be: How much do you want to spend? Those guys at the store will happily take all your money and then some for top shelf stuff. That extra 5% speed you never really see in performance unless you run a test costs you a lot of money. Especially watercooling - Jesus, what a waste. Get a good, silent fan, done.
Be honest - do you spend on what you need or what feels like a gift to you? And do you need that gift? I think that is the question lurking behind this.
(I am guilty of this, too. I just looked really closely at a new Zipp carbon wheelset for my roadbike. 1000 Euros. Yep.)
Best sleep on this a few nights.

[zakblood]

my advice is always buy for what you need today, not to buy for future proofing tomorrow, as by the time a game comes out in a years time, all your new parts bought will be faster and cheaper so yes agree don't waste money on parts and speed you may never use either, VGA card is overkill, I5 is ok, but yes i'd still go for something quicker CPU wise and also wouldn't go for water cooling either, but would stick in a larger SDD

[PoorOldSpike]

Thanks guys I'm digesting your replies and see there are many different opinions..

Some of you say I could save money by choosing different components, yes I probably could, but I have to go with what the shop has got in stock, as I don't want to have to wait for them to order different items if I start chopping and changing, and it might upet them if I overrule them.
Anyway as a single unmarried man I'm rolling in money, so price is no problem..

Below: here again are the specs the shop suggested, one concern I had is that I might get overheating problems, bearing in mind I chose a "Midi small" case rather than a hulking big one, but the shop assured me that the "watercool" thing will mean there'll be no overheating.
The bottom line is that the shop were quite confident that the machine will be able to easily handle all high-end games and flight sims so I'm on the point of giving them the go ahead to build it unless you guys give me a dire warning not to (gulp)..

PSU: Cx750
BOARD: tuf z370 Asus
PROCESSOR: i5-9600k
RAM: 16Gb 3000 venge
HARD DRIVE: 512Mb SSD M2
GRAPHICS: rtx 2080
WIN 10 Home 64
Watercool

[Andy2012]

Some of you say I could save money by choosing different components, yes I probably could, but I have to go with what the shop has got in stock, as I don't want to have to wait for them to order different items if I start chopping and changing, and it might upet them if I overrule them.
Anyway as a single unmarried man I'm rolling in money, so price is no problem..

Below: here again are the specs the shop suggested, one concern I had is that I might get overheating problems, bearing in mind I chose a "Midi small" case rather than a hulking big one, but the shop assured me that the "watercool" thing will mean there'll be no overheating.

Sure, Spike, it is your machine and your money after all. Just two things: Unless you live on the North Pole, ordering for retail sale is a day or at most two. Logistics has evolved. Second, you are the customer and about to leave a ton of money there. You can overrule them and upset them. It is their job to do what you ask. Dont put too much trust in people who order parts and stick them together. Most of it is foolproof, I can do it and did it. Seriously, no wizardry involved.
Only thing that bothers me is watercooling - this is really expensive and difficult for you to maintain yourself.
Anyways, enjoy your splurge.

[PoorOldSpike]

..Dont put too much trust in people who order parts and stick them together...
Most of it is foolproof, I can do it and did it. Seriously, no wizardry involved...
Only thing that bothers me is watercooling - this is really expensive and difficult for you to maintain yourself.

Thanks mate and to answer your points-
1- I've been buying all my computer stuff from the shop for 17 years and trust them 99% as I've never had cause to complain about anything, they know I'm rolling in money so presumably they give me VIP treatment to keep my custom. (golden goose).
Anyway they know you guys in wargame forums have got my back and that I regularly consult you like I'm doing now, and that they'll get the whole internet down on their heads if they put a foot wrong..

2- I'm the biggest PC dummy on the planet because I absolutely hate computers with a passion and if I tried to learn you'd have to measure me up for a straitjacket pretty soon. I only know how to make my little men and tanks run around on the screen shooting their guns, that's all I need to know, and I've somehow managed to top wargame leagues and win a silver trophy over the years so I must be doing something right..

3- They quoted me 49 GBP (58 US dollars) for the watercool thing which is peanuts for me but they never mentioned anything about me having to maintain it myself, should I be worried?

[zakblood]

water cooling is a sealed loop, so no it shouldn't need to be maintained unless it's a DIY solutions then yes it does then need to be topped up every now and then, i'd hope they put a sealed one in.

different opinions are always where pc part are talked about, there's a good debate on what parts are better, the race between Intel and AMD has been going for years, with 9 out of 10 times Intel winning, but not always.

on Video cards, you have 2 options in reality, AMD or Nvidia, with imo Nvidia being the slightly better supported with better drivers, and yes i've had AMD in my system for years, atm i'm running both, intel CPU and AMD, plus Nvidia video and AMD, so both for me are on par, then again i also don't no longer get burnt and buy the latest stuff as won't pay for a premium bit of stuff just cos it's new.

off the shelf tends to be somewhat cheaper than a pure custom build, one where you pick all the parts, but out of the 2, i'd go custom all the time, then have really what i want, i tend to buy custom overclock kits, so someone else has done the hard work, and i just fit them and build them into a system, never used water cooling and tbh never need it, but those i know who do, wouldn't go back to a pure fan and heat sink solution either, so enjoy the pc which ever you decide and happy gaming

[PoorOldSpike]

Thanks guys, I just bought the PC from the shop and it works fine, but I spent a long time trying to find the DVD drive without success.
I got onto the shop and they told me "It doesn't have one", so I had to fork out another £30 (35 USD) for an external one..