PC gaming. - The Bear and Badger

stonechalice

GooberTheHat wrote:

Does it havd to be a laptop? You'll get more bang for your buck from a desktop/tower?

Doesn't have to be no. It's gonna be sat somewhere for games. Trouble is the monitor and keyboard pushes the cost up. I want it play the good stuff really. Looking at a about a grand to spend...

Kow

You won't get the same level with a laptop, at least not without spending a small fortune. A desktop will last much longer too as you can upgrade components throughout its life.

Kow

Plus keyboards are really cheap.

GurtTractor

stonechalice wrote:

GooberTheHat wrote:

Does it havd to be a laptop? You'll get more bang for your buck from a desktop/tower?

Doesn't have to be no. It's gonna be sat somewhere for games. Trouble is the monitor and keyboard pushes the cost up. I want it play the good stuff really. Looking at a about a grand to spend...

I think that even factoring in the cost of monitor and keyboard that a desktop will still work out better, plus a larger raised screen is much better for ergonomics. For a grand you probably aren't going to be getting the best specced and largest laptops, and if absolute portability and immediacy isn't crucial then desktop is the best choice by far. You can get a smallish mini-ITX system which wouldn't be too hard to relocate if needed.

Kow

Having fantastic graphics on a laptop screen wouldn't be comparable to a 30 inch screen either. And you can add great speakers to a pc. And etc etc

stonechalice

Okay sold on a desktop then. Are there any on that Argos link that standout? Is 1660 good enough or am I better spending the extra for a 2060? How much should I spend on a monitor?

GooberTheHat

stonechalice wrote:

GooberTheHat wrote:

Does it havd to be a laptop? You'll get more bang for your buck from a desktop/tower?

Doesn't have to be no. It's gonna be sat somewhere for games. Trouble is the monitor and keyboard pushes the cost up. I want it play the good stuff really. Looking at a about a grand to spend...

OK, a NAS drive would be too expensive for now then, but worth thinking about in the future.

Kow

stonechalice wrote:

Okay sold on a desktop then. Are there any on that Argos link that standout? Is 1660 good enough or am I better spending the extra for a 2060? How much should I spend on a monitor?

I suppose you have small electronics shops that will build a pc to spec for you? You choose the components and they'll make it for you. Should work out cheaper and you get what you want, not a marked up branded one.

GurtTractor

stonechalice wrote:

Okay sold on a desktop then. Are there any on that Argos link that standout? Is 1660 good enough or am I better spending the extra for a 2060? How much should I spend on a monitor?

I know I say this all the time and that not everyone is keen etc, but building your own is absolutely the best way to get into desktop PCs, typically better quality and more bespoke for your needs parts, better value, and you get far more confidence in maintaining, upgrading and diagnosing issues with it. People seem to think it's really difficult or scary because of the thought of breaking something, but that's absolutely not the case. There's like two basic super easy to remember precautions and the rest is just simplified lego, takes an evening and a few videos or hints from us lot.

GurtTractor

A GTX 1660 is about Xbox One X level graphics, if you wanted next gen then you are looking at more 2070 Super or 2080 level I think, 5700 XT gets close too IRRC.

Dinostar77

stonechalice wrote:

Okay sold on a desktop then. Are there any on that Argos link that standout? Is 1660 good enough or am I better spending the extra for a 2060? How much should I spend on a monitor?

I take it, it has to be from argos chalice as you want to use the interest free aspect, right?

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7625550

Stormforce Onyx Ryzen 5 8GB 1TB RX Vega 11 Gaming PC. £499.99

Leaves you money for monitor, keyboard and mouse. AMD are cheaper than intel for cpu and current AMD are good value for games. Anything Intel with an Nvidia graphics card will cost more and eat into your grand budget. This way you can get everything you need for a grand.

If gurt has time to look at argos he might see a better machine.

stonechalice

Would be nice aye. I dunno if I can arsed building one tbh.

GurtTractor

Dinostar77 wrote:

stonechalice wrote:

Okay sold on a desktop then. Are there any on that Argos link that standout? Is 1660 good enough or am I better spending the extra for a 2060? How much should I spend on a monitor?

I take it, it has to be from argos chalice as you want to use the interest free aspect, right? https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7625550 Stormforce Onyx Ryzen 5 8GB 1TB RX Vega 11 Gaming PC. £499.99 Leaves you money for monitor, keyboard and mouse. AMD are cheaper than intel for cpu and current AMD are good value for games. Anything Intel with an Nvidia graphics card will cost more and eat into your grand budget. This way you can get everything you need for a grand. If gurt has time to look at argos he might see a better machine.

This just has integrated graphics so you would need to get a GPU to get it at all reasonable for current gen gaming.

Honestly I'm not sure what to recommend from that Argos list, the more you spend the better in terms of getting something that is comparable to the current and next consoles and will last you 3-5 years without feeling inadequate in terms of performance. Most of the ones around 1000 just have a 6 core 6 thread CPU though, which is a bit meh for the money. At that point you almost might be better of going for a similarly priced laptop, just because the benefits I mentioned previously about desktops start to disappear once you get locked into a fixed spec, proprietary motherboard system.

Dinostar77

Chalice what size monitor do you want or have space for?

Gurt, the one i linked has the rx vega 11 gpu. I didnt realise that was intergrated.

Kow

Are there shops that would do the building part for you?

GurtTractor

If it doesn't have to be Argos there are probably better options.

DIY is seriously well worth the time though, myself and others will take all the stress of picking a good parts list.

Kow

Is this place, Box, any use? I use one here called PCBox, which might be the same company.
https://www.box.co.uk/custom-built-gaming-pc

Dinostar77

I think chalice wants to use the interest free aspect of the argos card which i completely understand. I agree that its better to build yourself or use a site that can custom build for you. However if chalice has to stick to argos then the best we can do is find him the most value for his money from argos.

Kow

What does interest free mean? Is it to pay in instalments?

GurtTractor

Is £1000 plus monitor + keyboard a fairly hard limit? There's not an awful lot to choose from there.

Dinostar77

Kow wrote:

What does interest free mean? Is it to pay in instalments?

Pretty much. Installments with no interest. Its how we paid for our sofa in our house.

Dinostar77

GurtTractor wrote:

Is £1000 plus monitor + keyboard a fairly hard limit? There's not an awful lot to choose from there.

Its a challenge for you gurt. Look at it that way.

bad_hair_day

Chalice, went down the gaming laptop route against the general consensus and love the portability and space save. Playing mostly PCVR games streamed to the Quest, not sat at a monitor so may not be representative of most badgers. x

Dinostar77

bad_hair_day wrote:

Chalice, went down the gaming laptop route against the general consensus and love the portability and space save. Playing mostly PCVR games streamed to the Quest, not sat at a monitor so may not be representative of most badgers. x

Lets add to gurts challenege to find an argos laptop as an alternative as well

stonechalice

Aye I've got an Argos card with a £1200 limit on it. I don't wanna outlay that sort of money in one go as I've got several other things eating cash up at the minute. Trying to build a deck in the garden also lol.

Monitor wise I'm not bothered really. Bigger the better I suppose? You've got me thinking about space and where I'd put it now...

GurtTractor

Aye I'm sort of leaning towards a laptop just because the desktops aren't that enticing, and you do get the benefit and simplicity of a built in monitor etc.

Maybe this one is alright? - https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7994188

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/28544-asus-tuf-fx505dv-review/

Kow

That place Box lets you do 4 monthly payments interest free.

GooberTheHat

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7994188

That would probably be the best one near the price range, but it's only a quad core cpu and the display is only 1080p when the gpu supports higher resolutions, so it seems pretty pointless as a machine.

stonechalice

Kow wrote:

That place Box lets you do 4 monthly payments interest free.

Oooh. I'll check that out cheers Kow.

GurtTractor

Straight away the choices look much better on Box. 1000 quid the hard limit on a system w/ monitor etc?

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