Custom/Prebuilt Gaming PC under $5,000- $6,000

PiggyBoo on 05/08/2024 - 21:21

Hello,

I have been a console gamer and owned iMacs (for work/productivity) for more than a decade.

I am now thinking of building/buying a prebuilt a gaming PC. I haven’t built a PC in 10+ years and things have changed quite a bit.

I’m looking for some community suggestion on specs for a gaming pc (around $4,000 for the cpu and $1,000 for two 27” or 32” monitors so I can also use for WFH setup and peripherals).

I was looking at pcpartpicker but feeling a bit overwhelmed with building but prebuilt pcs don’t have the right components I am looking for (7800x3d, 64GB ram and 4080 gps maybe?) and a tad more expensive.

If you were building one for this budget, what would you do and how would you do it?

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • YeemaiI on 05/08/2024 - 21:32
    +4

    (around $4,000 for the cpu

    I think you meant the whole PC 😲

    Some good deals here, you can probably configure them to suit your requirements. And in most cases, it's cheaper buying prebuilt from some of the vendors posting here on OZB.

    • PiggyBoo on 05/08/2024 - 21:43
      +1

      I was looking at Nebula and GalaPower who post here constantly.

      https://www.galapower.com.au/product/sup/
      Looking at Sup model. But by the time, you upgrade ram and add extra ssd, you are looking at mid to high 4k.

      • CrispyChrispy on 05/08/2024 - 21:46
        +4

        Would argue you probably don't need a RTX 4090, which is why that build is so $$$

        If you go for a 4080 PC like the one I listed below you'll be saving 1 to 2 grand.

        • PiggyBoo on 05/08/2024 - 21:52
          +1

          Will probably go with 4080.

  • MrThing on 05/08/2024 - 21:40
    +3

    time to do some more research …… a 6000$ computer is a total waste of money

    • PiggyBoo on 05/08/2024 - 21:45

      I use a video editing tools for personal and data analytics tools for work which are power hungry :(

      • simplystu on 05/08/2024 - 21:54
        +2

        "data analytics tools" … Are these programs CPU bound or GPU bound ???

        Alot of "old school" data analytics are CPU bound … and can easily get by with a 4-6 GB GPU card.

        Just saying.

        • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 07:32

          My current setup is a 2019 spec’d out iMac. It works but is running really slow than my work M2 Max Mac Studio and very slow to boot. I was looking at a Mac Studio but looking at getting a pc to switch things up.

    • Bruceflix on 06/08/2024 - 08:32
      +1

      Maybe for your usage. But when you start adding peripherals, $6000 is easily spent on a decent system.

    • Nillionaire on 06/08/2024 - 08:40
      +2

      You've probably never been around anyone that does intensive professional work. Most of them have a $4000+ Mac Studio and with high end displays and peripherals, it can easily go much higher.

      • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 13:32

        Agreed. The new Mac setup I’m looking at was getting around $7,000 with just one Pro Display monitor.

  • CrispyChrispy on 05/08/2024 - 21:44
    +2

    but prebuilt pcs don’t have the right components I am looking for (7800x3d, 64GB ram and 4080 gps maybe?)

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/858884

    Most gaming PC prebuilts will top out at 32GB RAM, but can probably ask Lawrence to config it with an extra 32GB. Or just DIY and sell off the other sticks.

    • PiggyBoo on 05/08/2024 - 21:51
      +2

      This looks good. Thanks for the suggestion. I will reach out to them tomorrow morning :)

      • JownehFixIT on 05/08/2024 - 22:46
        +1

        You can use Nebula PC's standard configuration to put together a configuration to your liking, and still apply the same OZB_TAXBACK$500 Off code for $500 off.

        I just added Windows 11 pro, upped a few components, and specced something potentially suitable with double the RAM, an extra 4tb SSD (Nebula price beat this drive for me a few months ago for under $300 at the time), and some other bits and pieces as pictured here:

        https://photos.app.goo.gl/2jAikcakyzAbKFKw7

        Including insurance and shipping (+$50) this comes out to around $4157.

        • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 07:28

          That configuration sounds perfect. I was thinking more towards Black Friday as I still need to decide monitors (2x 27” or 2x 32”? I don’t want oled but something that is good for color correcting and gaming*) and other peripherals. My current setup still works but is running a bit slow and takes a long time to boot up. :(

          • I have PS5 that I can hook up to the monitors but would like to go back to PC gaming.
    • JownehFixIT on 05/08/2024 - 22:27
      +3

      +1 to this. Every time I message Lawrence he humours me, however time-wasting my query may end up being. After over a year just chatting and asking about configs and builds and recommendations / prices, I finally got the chance to buy a few builds this year and they have all gone really well. Resolved my one issue with a BIOS update and a UEFI setting recommended by Lawrence in a private chat. So he definitely goes above and beyond. Good after sales support.

      • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 07:26
        +2

        That’s good to know. Thanks for your input. I have a reminder to call Nebula at 10 this morning.

        • JownehFixIT on 06/08/2024 - 08:58
          +2

          Sweet. Good luck. I've found both email and messaging on OzBargain to be pretty effective too. 👍

  • dogboy on 05/08/2024 - 22:06
    +1

    PCPartPicker can be useful to check out other popular systems people have built to get an idea. That is what I did before I built my last one.

    • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 07:33

      I’m looking into pc part picker for the build and getting some ideas. But it feels a bit daunting to buy parts and build them myself as I haven’t build one in a very long time. If I mess up, it will drive me insane.

  • scrimshaw on 05/08/2024 - 23:56
    +3

    New AMD Ryzen 9000 series are coming soon in about 2 weeks time, I'd recommend waiting for reviews and seeing if the new chips are any good.

    • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 07:34

      That’s good to know. I’m looking to buy around Black Friday. So it might be available by then.

      Thanks for the heads up.

      • rodericb on 06/08/2024 - 16:12
        +1

        I built a 7800X3D system for myself on the weekend. I considered waiting for the 9700X but the performance increase with the 9700X over the 7800X3D is in non-gaming applications. If you wait for the zen 5 professors to hit the shops here you can make a more informed decision on which CPU to buy as you'll know the costs of each.

        But anyway, I ended up with:
        7800X3D
        MSI core liquid P240 AIO CPU cooler
        MSI Pro B650S wifi (ozb)
        64gb Corsair vengeance 5600 RAM (ozb)
        4TB Lexar SSD (ozb)
        Sapphire RX7800GT video card
        Corsair SF750 power supply (ozb)

        (ozb) indicates they were deals here which I purchased from.

        A Cruxtech power cable extender kit as the PSU is in the bottom of my case and would not reach.
        Cable Matters 1 to 3 power cable to put the the case fans onto one fan header on the motherboard.

        The biggest problem was the MB wifi didn't work at first when I was installing MS windows so I tethered my mobile and updated the system to update the BIOS and get the wifi going.

        Then set the fan management to smart control and PWM.
        Activate AMD EXPO for the RAM.
        Corsair 4000D airflow RGB case

  • jv on 06/08/2024 - 00:00
    +1

    I built mine for about $350

    • CrispyChrispy on 06/08/2024 - 00:10
      +2

      Can it run Minesweeper ???

      • jv on 06/08/2024 - 00:15
        +3

        Built for Minesweeper Pro…

  • lordra on 06/08/2024 - 09:25

    $4,000 for the cpu

    My heart skipped a beat there for a second.

    Here is mine. I paid $3,300 for it, all up.

  • jk82 on 06/08/2024 - 11:42
    +2

    If you're investing that much into the actual rig, you might want to allocate more for a decent monitor(s). $1000 for two monitors will get you two ok-ish monitors, but if you allocate say $1,100 - $1,200 for a single monitor you could get an OLED, then a cheaper second screen.

    If you've got top of the line hardware you want to be able to actually push it and see what it can really do.

    • PiggyBoo on 06/08/2024 - 12:09

      That’s true. I’m slightly flexible on the budget as I want them to last a while. I was looking into oled monitors but text clarity/fuzziness is one of the most talked about negative.

      • jk82 on 06/08/2024 - 20:05

        Yeah well it’s all pro’s and con’s with monitors I suppose. For what it’s worth the text on my OLED is fine to me, so I guess it depends on the individual and whether they really notice it or not.

        But give me those inky blacks and richness of colour any day. Plus the high refresh rates with no LCD smearing or ghosting. It really is something else.

  • harshbdmmaster718 on 06/08/2024 - 22:52
    -1

    at those kinds of prices it better have a mega AI processing unit with TB of RAM and PB of lightspeed storage.
    also a nvidia scrunchflop 60000 bleedgeyser so you can run plenty of gay large neural network models.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 11/08/2024 - 14:28

      So, a Mac Studio?

      • harshbdmmaster718 on 11/08/2024 - 16:34

        no they haven't released AI computers yet. I am talking about ones like they use in the AI processing centers but for consumers. I hear they are coming eventually. so you can run multiple LLM and AI image generators at once super fast. not going to be cheap.

  • jugsy on 07/08/2024 - 12:06

    Techfast

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