Looking for a new computer...

[Orphalesion]

So my trusty current desktop computer is nearing the end of its (rather long) life. So rather than waiting for it to blow up, this time I'm gonna start looking for a new computer while it's still (somewhat) working.

Now I am not the most technically minded person and neither is any of my close real life friends right now... So I thought I ask here?

What are the most important things I should look for to get a stable, long-lived computer? Now I mostly use the computer for working and writing. But I definitely also want to use it for gaming. Stuff like Cities:Skilines and things like that.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated...

[Gwynbleidd]

From what you've said you use it for, it sounds like you need a good all-rounder.  Is Cities:Skyline the game you play most?  Any other games such as FPS like CoD, or big colourful, highly detailed RPG's etc? If not, there's a good saving right there.  The more games you play that are gfx/gpu/cpu intensive, the more expensive it can get with the gear for that optimum gaming experience.   

Firstly, is there a budget you'd like to stick to? 

Are you looking to have someone build it for you to your own specs? (Sometimes it's much cheaper to do this)

Or are you looking to buy an out-of-the-box-plug-and-play computer?

 

[thedutchiedutch]

Things to look for is at least an i5 processor, 1 TB hard drive and 12 gigs of ram, Windows 10 and 64 bits. (everything higher is good of course).
Myself I prefer a laptop so i can take it and use it anywhere I want but that's just my preference. Good luck.

[SHaYap]

There's CPU & GPU wars brewing on the horizon between team red and blue, nvidia just gave radeon a smack on the face and Intel just totally turned the motherboard power supply architecture a good kick a round, best wait a bit to see how the end user market reacts to some things first. A month or two will show the cream of the better deals from the market players. 

~

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by third_eye
Awfulautokorrectomundo

[Grim Reaper 6]

 

2 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

So my trusty current desktop computer is nearing the end of its (rather long) life. So rather than waiting for it to blow up, this time I'm gonna start looking for a new computer while it's still (somewhat) working.

Now I am not the most technically minded person and neither is any of my close real life friends right now... So I thought I ask here?

What are the most important things I should look for to get a stable, long-lived computer? Now I mostly use the computer for working and writing. But I definitely also want to use it for gaming. Stuff like Cities:Skilines and things like that.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated...

Are you looking for a Laptop or a Desktop, in most cases if you do not carry your Computer around with you a Desktop Computer will work fine and be much cheaper than a Laptop.

It sounds like your computer has a Windows Operating System is that correct?  Windows 10 is Microsofts current Operating System

No matter which type of computer you buy it's very important to have good Virus software installed, along with a good VPN, which is a Virtural Private Network. Here is a link that explains what it is and how it protects you from intrusion. Norton 360 offers good Virus Protection along with a VPN all in a single Package.

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-what-is-a-vpn.html

1)  Computer Processor Chip :  Intel Core i5-10600K  Procesor 64 Bit

2)  Hard Drive :  1 to 2 Terabyte of memory 

3)  Ram for gaming: minimum 12 Gigabyte  RAM is known as Random Access Memory

4)  GPU Ram : minimum 6 to 12 Gigabyte  GPU is known as Graphics Processing Unit. 

5)  VRAM: For Video Randum Access Memory  minimum of 4 to 6 Gigabyte

These are somethings to consider, hope this helps

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Manwon Lender

[Orphalesion]

12 hours ago, third_eye said:

There's CPU & GPU wars brewing on the horizon between team red and blue, nvidia just gave radeon a smack on the face and Intel just totally turned the motherboard power supply architecture a good kick a round, best wait a bit to see how the end user market reacts to some things first. A month or two will show the cream of the better deals from the market players.

I don't even know what that means, third_eye I don't follow any computer news and things like that .And remember I live in Europe who known how long they are going to fart around here until...what you describe shows any results around here.
I mean I know what nvidia and radeon are, but I just don't wanna continue using a computer that is clearly dying.

13 hours ago, Gwynbleidd said:

From what you've said you use it for, it sounds like you need a good all-rounder.  Is Cities:Skyline the game you play most?  Any other games such as FPS like CoD, or big colourful, highly detailed RPG's etc? If not, there's a good saving right there.  The more games you play that are gfx/gpu/cpu intensive, the more expensive it can get with the gear for that optimum gaming experience.   

Firstly, is there a budget you'd like to stick to? 

Are you looking to have someone build it for you to your own specs? (Sometimes it's much cheaper to do this)

Or are you looking to buy an out-of-the-box-plug-and-play computer?

 

I don't play FPS I do play some RPGs. Cities Skylines is pretty much the most power intensive game I play. It takes like half and hour to load, it frequently freezes my computer for longish periods and stuff like that. 
I want a computer that's out of the box. Budget isn't that of a problem, here in Europe computers are faily cheap.

 

12 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

 

1)  Computer Processor Chip :  Intel Core i5-10600K  Procesor 64 Bit

2)  Hard Drive :  1 to 2 Terabyte of memory 

3)  Ram for gaming: minimum 12 Gigabyte  RAM is known as Random Access Memory

4)  GPU Ram : minimum 6 to 12 Gigabyte  GPU is known as Graphics Processing Unit. 

5)  VRAM: For Video Randum Access Memory  minimum of 4 to 6 Gigabyte

These are somethings to consider, hope this helps

 

Thanks but rather than the minimum, I'd would like to know what the "upper standard" is. Like not custom made gaming rigs, but like what are better "standard machines" Like I know I want at least 16GB Ram.

[SHaYap]

28 minutes ago, Orphalesion said:

I don't even know what that means, third_eye I don't follow any computer news and things like that .And remember I live in Europe who known how long they are going to fart around here until...what you describe shows any results around here.
I mean I know what nvidia and radeon are, but I just don't wanna continue using a computer that is clearly dying.

There's a major change with how computers are going to be sold to the end-user from what Intel and nvidia has announced just these two days. 

Not sure what you mean by "clearly dying" computers keeps working until they don't due to hardware failures. Most times its just a matter of a little software or operating system maintenance to get it to up and go again. Anyways, just giving you a heads up about the latest news, best wait a bit if you want some sweet deals because this is not just a minor change in the PC platform, it's a major revamp on everything related to computers, gaming or just a simple casual home PC setup. 

Quote

[00.06"16]

Just yesterday... 

~

[Orphalesion]

56 minutes ago, third_eye said:

There's a major change with how computers are going to be sold to the end-user from what Intel and nvidia has announced just these two days. 

Not sure what you mean by "clearly dying" computers keeps working until they don't due to hardware failures. Most times its just a matter of a little software or operating system maintenance to get it to up and go again. Anyways, just giving you a heads up about the latest news, best wait a bit if you want some sweet deals because this is not just a minor change in the PC platform, it's a major revamp on everything related to computers, gaming or just a simple casual home PC setup. 

Just yesterday... 

~

So your recommendation is that I wait two months? I might do that.
I didn't really understand that video very well. As I said, technology is really a field were I have trouble comprehending stuff. I know all that stuff about software and VPNs and maintenance, but I always struggled with hardware things. With computers, with cars, with all that,it's just a field were I struggle. 

[SHaYap]

3 minutes ago, Orphalesion said:

So your recommendation is that I wait two months? I might do that.

Just wait a bit if you want better deals, might not even be a month, year end deals are going to be early this year, that's why all this news makers are shaking up the market now. 

We're looking at at least 30% to 40% pricing adjustments, you might not be spending less money than you were prepared for but you'll be getting a whole lot more bang for your dollars.

~

[Duke Wellington]

16 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

So my trusty current desktop computer is nearing the end of its (rather long) life. So rather than waiting for it to blow up, this time I'm gonna start looking for a new computer while it's still (somewhat) working.

Now I am not the most technically minded person and neither is any of my close real life friends right now... So I thought I ask here?

What are the most important things I should look for to get a stable, long-lived computer? Now I mostly use the computer for working and writing. But I definitely also want to use it for gaming. Stuff like Cities:Skilines and things like that.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated...

So to begin with a word of warning - Ignore the hobbyists otherwise they will have you believing you need to spend several thousand dollars on a computer even if its just for the internet, Netflix, gaming, etc. Computer games are made for consumption by the mass market not for those with hobbyist PCs.

Here is the Steam Hardware Survey from last month showing what most gamers on Steam use:

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

Monitors and Graphics Cards

The monitor you buy decides what graphics card you need. Its pointless buying a better graphics card than what your monitor can utilize because you wont see any benefit.

1080p Gaming: If a monitor is going to be less than 32 inches in size then it needs to be a 1080p monitor and a 1080p gaming card. There is no point in buying a higher resolution monitor at 1440p or 4k because you wont see any difference on these size of screens. Likewise, its pointless buying a graphics card for 1440p or 4k gaming as your monitor cannot do those resolutions.

1080p Graphics Card: Nvidia are currently the best with their 1660 super which is about $230 to $240. It isn`t worth stepping up to a 1070 or 2060 at this time as both cost about $500. While they would get you longer maxing out 1080p graphics (possible 4 years) they arent value for money. A 1660 super should be able to max out 99% of 1080p games that get released over the next couple of years.

CPUs

There are two manufacturers to choose from which are AMD and Intel. The current norm for gaming as can be seen on the Steam Survey is 4 cores or quad-core. At some point over the next few years that will step up to 6 and then 8 core. You dont need a cpu that can be overclocked. 16GB of the cheapest DDR4 memory is all you need for gaming, faster speeds dont matter.

AMD: They give more cores for your money but the cores are weaker than Intel ones. 4-8 cores is a good choice. You dont need to go beyond that.

Intel: They give fewer cores but the cores are more powerful. An i5 with give you 4 to 6 cores and a i7 will give you 6 to 8 cores. I5s are cheaper than i7s but you wont get as long before you need to upgrade. 

The games you play have influence in your decision. City Skylines is demanding on processors with all the calculations that go on. Therefore I lean towards saying getting an i5, or if you can afford an 8 core then a i7.

Your CPU choice will determine your motherboard. You dont need an overclocking one, you dont need one with loads of storage connectors if you only have 1 or 2 hard drives/SSD drives. You can cheap out on the motherboard. 

Everything Else

If you are comfortable assembling your new PC they you can harvest across a lot of stuff like your hard drive, SSD, DVD Drive, power supply. A graphics card usually comes with advice on the wattage of the power supply needed so you need to check this. If you do this you will save yourself a few hundred dollars, if not I would advise buying it through Amazon not via a bricks and mortar store to keep the cost down.

If you tell us your budget I will assemble online and link you to what would be a good choice.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Cookie Monster

[Orphalesion]

13 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

So to begin with a word of warning - Ignore the hobbyists otherwise they will have you believing you need to spend several thousand dollars on a computer even if its just for the internet, Netflix, gaming, etc. Computer games are made for consumption by the mass market not for those with hobbyist PCs.

Here is the Steam Hardware Survey from last month showing what most gamers on Steam use:

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

Monitors and Graphics Cards

The monitor you buy decides what graphics card you need. Its pointless buying a better graphics card than what your monitor can utilize because you wont see any benefit.

1080p Gaming: If a monitor is going to be less than 32 inches in size then it needs to be a 1080p monitor and a 1080p gaming card. There is no point in buying a higher resolution monitor at 1440p or 4k because you wont see any difference on these size of screens. Likewise, its pointless buying a graphics card for 1440p or 4k gaming as your monitor cannot do those resolutions.

1080p Graphics Card: Nvidia are currently the best with their 1660 super which is about $230 to $240. It isn`t worth stepping up to a 1070 or 2060 at this time as both cost about $500. While they would get you longer maxing out 1080p graphics (possible 4 years) they arent value for money. A 1660 super should be able to max out 99% of 1080p games that get released over the next couple of years.

CPUs

There are two manufacturers to choose from which are AMD and Intel. The current norm for gaming as can be seen on the Steam Survey is 4 cores or quad-core. At some point over the next few years that will step up to 6 and then 8 core. You dont need a cpu that can be overclocked. 16GB of the cheapest DDR4 memory is all you need for gaming, faster speeds dont matter.

AMD: They give more cores for your money but the cores are weaker than Intel ones. 4-8 cores is a good choice. You dont need to go beyond that.

Intel: They give fewer cores but the cores are more powerful. An i5 with give you 4 to 6 cores and a i7 will give you 6 to 8 cores. I5s are cheaper than i7s but you wont get as long before you need to upgrade. 

The games you play have influence in your decision. City Skylines is demanding on processors with all the calculations that go on. Therefore I lean towards saying getting an i5, or if you can afford an 8 core then a i7.

Your CPU choice will determine your motherboard. You dont need an overclocking one, you dont need one with loads of storage connectors if you only have 1 or 2 hard drives/SSD drives. You can cheap out on the motherboard. 

Everything Else

If you are comfortable assembling your new PC they you can harvest across a lot of stuff like your hard drive, SSD, DVD Drive, power supply. A graphics card usually comes with advice on the wattage of the power supply needed so you need to check this. If you do this you will save yourself a few hundred dollars, if not I would advise buying it through Amazon not via a bricks and mortar store to keep the cost down.

If you tell us your budget I will assemble online and link you to what would be a good choice.

I'd really rather not assemble my computer, plus remember you're in the US, I'm in Europe there's gonna be differences in what is available and all and how expensive those things might be.

Budget isn't all that of a problem. My current cumputer cost me 700 EUR and it served me for 5 years. But as of now he's (sorry I always refer to my computer as a "he") starting to struggle with games, like I wrote above. Even with me taking care of him he starts to muck up with games like Cities:Skylines.
I guess my want to spend no more than 1200 EUR?
I want a computer where i don't have to wait half an hour to start playing a game. I don't play FPS or stuff like that, though.

I had to replace my monitor four month ago, so I'm not gonna buy a new monitor. It is a AOC monitor 2160 x 3840 pixels. My old AOC monitor served me well for 4 years and that one had good reviewes and also was on sale. What does that mean for the graphics card?

[Duke Wellington]

1 minute ago, Orphalesion said:

I'd really rather not assemble my computer, plus remember you're in the US, I'm in Europe there's gonna be differences in what is available and all and how expensive those things might be.

Budget isn't all that of a problem. My current cumputer cost me 700 EUR and it served me for 5 years. But as of now he's (sorry I always refer to my computer as a "he") starting to struggle with games, like I wrote above. Even with me taking care of him he starts to muck up with games like Cities:Skylines.
I guess my want to spend no more than 1200 EUR?
I want a computer where i don't have to wait half an hour to start playing a game. I don't play FPS or stuff like that, though.

I had to replace my monitor four month ago, so I'm not gonna buy a new monitor. It is a AOC monitor 2160 x 3840 pixels. My old AOC monitor served me well for 4 years and that one had good reviewes and also was on sale. What does that mean for the graphics card?

I`m in the UK, what country are you in?

Thats a 4k monitor, how big is your screen? I get that you have already brought it but it might mean a different graphics card if you are willing to go up to 1200 euro. Do you mind me asking what the rest of your setup is:

CPU:

GPU:

RAM:

[Orphalesion]

I'm in Germany. Sorry I thought you were American because I saw you posting in so many US-politics related threads.

Here's my specs:



I think I definitely want to go up to 16 RAM

[Duke Wellington]

1 hour ago, Orphalesion said:

I'm in Germany. Sorry I thought you were American because I saw you posting in so many US-politics related threads.

Here's my specs:



I think I definitely want to go up to 16 RAM

In the UK we have a company called CCL Computers which does 2 day deliveries to Germany for £9.99 (about 12 euro). It is cheaper than Amazon DE even with those delivery fees: https://www.cclonline.com/. It will also assemble custom builds for you for a £25.00 fee which is about 30 euro.

https://www.cclonline.com/pc/custom-pcs/

It wont allow you to select incompatible components. I went Gaming > Intel > Performance > Z490. I then went down the list altering the build. With each category you`ll notice it lists the top ones, by there is an All button allowing you list all available options.

I went for the cheapest case (which still looks good), cheapest Motherboard (it outputs HDMI and only has 6 slots for SSDs/HDDs and enough USB), the cheapest 16GB (speed doesnt matter for gaming), selected the cheapest RTX 2060 6GB, got the cheapest 240GB SSD, got the cheapest Bronze 750w PSU, a cheap cpu cooler (its the wrong type of motherboard for overclocking anyway), cheapest Wi-Fi card.

Total Price £997.74 but you would need to install your own windows and it has no hard drive. You can add in the cheapest 1TB hard drive if you dont feel comfortable keeping your current one for very little. Windows on a USB stick can be purchased off Amazon or eBay for 20 euros if you dont already have your own copy that allows additional installs. Its just a case of plug it in, turn the pc on, and follow the onscreen instructions for install.

If you found someone to assemble it all for you then you could order the separate components instead getting the price down to about £800 or 930 euro.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Cookie Monster

[Duke Wellington]

You could also jump down a generation in Intel (which is still very good, its last years gen) and end up wit h something like this which has windows and both a SSD and Hard Drive

https://www.ebuyer.com/982512-cyberpower-gaming-core-i5-9th-gen-16gb-ram-1tb-hdd-240gb-ssd-ebu010115

i5-9600k and i5-10600k builds seem to be the best you will get for 1200 euros. They are good processors, better than what you have by quite a bit and both are certainly current and will be for a good few years to come. You should get more than 5 years out of either.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Cookie Monster

[Duke Wellington]

Very good for what you need but only a SSD and no HDD but a GPU that will give you 60hz 4k:

https://www.amazon.de/i5-8600K-6x4-3GHz-8-Generation-Windows-Garantie/dp/B07L6P21Y8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&dchild=1&keywords=i5-9600k%2C+RTX+2060%2C+16GB&qid=1599245491&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFTOEdBTUs0VzI5TFgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NDQxMThONktWR0lZODIyVyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjY2NTAwMVBZWjM3MEFDMThCNiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Even better with SSD and HDD:

https://www.amazon.de/i5-9600K-6x4-6GHz-9-Generation-Windows-Garantie/dp/B07MWB11QG/ref=sr_1_3?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&dchild=1&keywords=i5-9600k%2C+RTX+2060%2C+16GB&qid=1599245557&sr=8-3

Even cheaper:

https://www.amazon.de/i5-9600K-6x4-3GHz-9-Generation-Windows-Garantie/dp/B07YWNJ2MF/ref=sr_1_9?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&dchild=1&keywords=i5-9600k%2C+RTX+2060%2C+16GB&qid=1599245557&sr=8-9

You get the idea. 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Cookie Monster