...yeah, it's time. I've finally found games I actually want to play that require a half-decent machine, I make all my money on the computer, and I regularly do video editing as well. I always keep my machines for a long time, so they need to be as future-proof as possible and I can't justify saving up for a PC unless it's going to be good enough for the foreseeable future. So here's where my head is at, I'd be grateful for any advice.
tl;dr https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xjP3yF for the general idea, but I'm open to other ideas. It's going to be a linux machine, and all AMD since I hear the drivers work better/are less fiddly. Aesthetically, I like an all-white motif but looks are secondary to pure power and long life. I would like to be able to emulate PS4, Xbox 360, run S&box so my kid can make games, and render my clip shows at high speed. The budget I'm targeting is about £2k. Will mean saving up for a couple months. Parts I'm considering:
CPU
- Ryzen 9 9950X3D (I'm most excited about having a strong CPU, this one appeals to me even though it's a bit of a splurge)
- Ryzen 9 7950X3D
- Ryzen 9 7900X3D
GPU
Anything AMD, 16gb preferred but at least 12gb. AMD RX 6800XT or higher perhaps. RX 7800 XT or similar would be great.
Memory
16gb preferred, DDR5, not too fussy about brand. Maybe someday another 16gb if it becomes worthwhile.
Storage
1 or 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD, any really who cares. I don't need a lot of storage, most of my games are lightweight indies or backed up on my server.
Power Supply
Anything 850-1000w, preferably modular? I dunno.
Cooling
Possibly an AIO liquid cooler. I'm iffy on that, would be happy with a fan if it's more recommended.
Case
Fractal does a nice white wood effect one (North XL), as does Antec (Flux Pro). Happy with anything that matches, but don't really love showy RGB, prefer understated and clean looks.
Ok, so unconventional and not recommended unless you know a lot about PCs, but have you tried looking on your local Craigslist/marketplace equivalent? I'm still seeing a decent amount of options for used PCs (US, so your experience might vary given the economic uncertainty of your local {it ain't great in the US right now}), so it might be worth it give a look around, and see if you can save on a basic pc and upgrade the GPU or the like.
Another option is to look at amd minisforum boards that have a laptop CPU soldered on, they take laptop ram and I've been quite pleased with mine (was ~$300 for the board and CPU for my desktop about a years ago).
Also, AMD is pretty smooth with linux, generally would recommend if using Linux, though Nvidia isn't the absolute worst so long as you aren't trying to run on mobile (like a laptop, done that, never again).
I've always wanted to be into PCs, but always ended up buying premade just to get things done. Now that I have a bit of breathing room and actual goals, it's finally time - but beyond escaping Windows and going all-AMD, I don't know how adventurous I'm willing to be with building my own or buying used kit. I looked on Gumtree but I kind of got sketched out, and (embarrassingly) a bit sad about not having control over the aesthetics.
Nah, I get it. I was the same way, first PCs were prebuilts or laptops, so my latest build was a mostly scratch build (I already had built the case {makerbeam} and reused the PSU, and as mentioned I opted for a minisforum board to save on cost for an overkill CPU). That being said, I keep an eye out on marketplace and occasionally see a PC that is probably being sold because rent is due, and those are often decent deals and you are probably helping someone though a shit moment in their life.
Enjoy the building! Also, as someone who finally committed to getting off windows this past year, you won't regret it (though I would watch a couple of videos about Linux roughly works, answers on forums are great but it helps to understand the overarching problem).
Thanks!