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PC time again, need a decent gaming PC
April 17, 2021, 07:52 PM
Lord VaalicPC time again, need a decent gaming PC
My son has achieved the academic goals I set for him and his reward is a new gaming PC. However I have no freaking idea what a good one is anymore. Building one is out, I quit PC building and messing with that stuff a long long time ago.
Looking to spend about $1500. Is that reasonable? Going for a desktop. He has a laptop now he uses but it's getting old now and I know a desktop is usually more bang for the buck.
Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day April 17, 2021, 08:32 PM
Oz_ShadowBrowsed for some, but as I expected, something with a nice, current graphics card is going to be difficult to find. Like many things, there’s been a recent shortage. Hopefully some here can find something.
Costco has the Lenovo Legion series and I think an Asus gamer line.
April 17, 2021, 10:08 PM
JasonEucNow is not a good time. Prices are nuts due to GPU unavailability.
If you can go to $1700, you should be able to get a Razer Blade 15 base edition. We switched to this model at work for our engineers and designers, and they are excellent for the price. Make sure to go FHD resolution on the display and the mobile GPU is just fine.
Plus, he will probably be thrilled with a Razer.
April 17, 2021, 10:09 PM
JasonEucPrice dropped, now $1600
https://www.razer.com/gaming-l...5/RZ09-03287E22-R3U1April 19, 2021, 09:04 AM
joel9507Thanks to supply issues and crazy demand, $1500 today would get you maybe a GPU by itself. If you don't mind paying a scalper.

If the budget has flexibility, you can get desktop gaming systems with the good GPUs (Nvidia RTX 3060/3070, e.g.) in the $2.5K+ range. The gaming systems makers are buying the good GPUs up as they can't sell machines without them. And nVidia says they don't expect to have supply meet demand till year end at best.
April 19, 2021, 09:39 AM
myrottietyquote:
Originally posted by joel9507:
Thanks to supply issues and crazy demand, $1500 today would get you maybe a GPU by itself. If you don't mind paying a scalper.

If the budget has flexibility, you can get desktop gaming systems with the good GPUs (Nvidia RTX 3060/3070, e.g.) in the $2.5K+ range. The gaming systems makers are buying the good GPUs up as they can't sell machines without them. And nVidia says they don't expect to have supply meet demand till year end at best.
What others have said. The GPU market is insanity right now. There's people buying whole Gaming PCs just to tear the GPU out of it right now. I grabbed a factory refurb'ed 2080 Super for $900 and considered that "lucky".
Based off the specs that laptop JasonEuc mentioned above seems to be a pretty good deal.
It's a shame because the GPU is really the heart of a good gaming PC. Prices are ridiculous right now. If you bump your price up to around $2,300 you can get a built one with a 3070 as others have said.
Train how you intend to Fight
Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat. April 19, 2021, 10:38 AM
tiwimonLook at the HP Omen series, the 25 and 30 - I purchased this one couple months ago -
Omen 30L GT13-0395xt after trying to build, like I typically do and could not get a GPU at a fair price - times being as they are
It has been a stellar system thus far - if you are big on overclocking they will get you on the memory - you need to use their HP Omen memory specific to theirs or start playing with Intel profiles and other workarounds - I use mine for development as well so I just replaced all memory and now rocking 64GB (for data driven work) and no issues with any games I play and I'm not overclocking as it has enough headroom for my needs
Been in IT for near 30 years now - craziest thing I ever saw with components but between crypto craze and extra cash in everyone's pockets inflation is a thing now
ETA - keep an eye out on their website - availability is hit or miss - I checked a few days in a row and scored this one - shipped a couple weeks later
April 19, 2021, 01:39 PM
mrbill345If you push your budget to ~$2000,
Redux Computersgets you an Core i5 10400F, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 500 GB NVMe storage, RTX 3070 8GB, Windows 10 (w/ recovery USB) - $1829
Changing to RTX 3060 Ti 8GB - $1647
AMD Processors (other specs the same):
Ryzen 5 3600 6 core & RTX 3070 8GB - $1866
RTX 3060 Ti 8GB - $1684
Ryzen 7 3700X 8 core & RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB - $1897
RTX 3070 8GB - $2079
Other processors ETA June 2021
Had this due to a family request to spec out a $2K Windows machine (was best I could find).
There is a $75 build fee.
“Agnostic, gun owning, conservative, college educated hillbilly” April 20, 2021, 10:16 AM
heatinajeepBest to just buy a retail box at this time.
Cost of getting a GPU MRSP is not a reality at all.
April 20, 2021, 10:48 AM
bobtheelfIf you're in the middle-TN area and you want to pick components, I'd be happy to do the build for you.
April 20, 2021, 11:23 AM
myrottietyquote:
Originally posted by tiwimon:
Look at the HP Omen series, the 25 and 30 - I purchased this one couple months ago -
Omen 30L GT13-0395xt after trying to build, like I typically do and could not get a GPU at a fair price - times being as they are
It has been a stellar system thus far - if you are big on overclocking they will get you on the memory - you need to use their HP Omen memory specific to theirs or start playing with Intel profiles and other workarounds - I use mine for development as well so I just replaced all memory and now rocking 64GB (for data driven work) and no issues with any games I play and I'm not overclocking as it has enough headroom for my needs
Been in IT for near 30 years now - craziest thing I ever saw with components but between crypto craze and extra cash in everyone's pockets inflation is a thing now
ETA - keep an eye out on their website - availability is hit or miss - I checked a few days in a row and scored this one - shipped a couple weeks later
Considering I'm seeing the 3070 on line for $1499 by its self. This seems like a super reasonable deal.
Train how you intend to Fight
Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat. April 20, 2021, 08:02 PM
AllenInARThe sucky thing is MSRP for your typical 3070 is like half that.
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The artist formerly known as AllenInWV
April 21, 2021, 04:45 PM
smschulzquote:
Looking to spend about $1500. Is that reasonable?
It would depend on what all you need.
Graphics card, Monitors especially can push you way, way past that amount.
You can play games for that amount but it is only a dent to the serious gamer.
But you have to start somewhere.
Good Luck.