10 replies to this topic

[No Party JKor]

I'm starting to plan for my son's next gaming PC.  I got him something relatively cheap at MicroCenter (open box) in 2019 and he's been using that ever since.  I upgraded the GPU a little bit last year but otherwise still the same PC.  I built a PC for my stepdaughter a few years ago and that was about $1500 all in.  I figure I'll probably need to spend at least that much this time around.  Likely nothing from his current PC will be salvageable.

 

Just curious what the BB Gaming community has invested in their rigs.

[Stains_not_here_man]

Right around 2000$ and was purchased in September 2020. I may upgrade around Christmas so that would be 4 years but at this point I don't have any issues running games with badass graphics settings. RTX3080 has been solid.

[BrewerGeorge]

I just got a laptop with a 3080 from a dude at work when he upgraded to a 4080. I paid him $1000. My previous was a 2060 that was still pretty good at three years old, but the new one was too good a deal to pass up. I had planned to sell the old one for about $500 but I ended up giving it to Bell's girlfriend because they had been trying to game on a 6 year old HP.

I have typically bought at right below the cutting edge. Those are good for three years or so and save a lot of money compared to top of the line systems.I've bought laptops for the last three systems, too. I like the portability.

[Vagus]

About 2k in late 2019. I had an old PSU, some case fans, and SSD that went into it. Otherwise, everything was new. Went big on processor and ram, skimped a little on GPU (2070). Still handles just about everything i throw at it. 

[No Party JKor]

I just got a laptop with a 3080 from a dude at work when he upgraded to a 4080. I paid him $1000. My previous was a 2060 that was still pretty good at three years old, but the new one was too good a deal to pass up. I had planned to sell the old one for about $500 but I ended up giving it to Bell's girlfriend because they had been trying to game on a 6 year old HP.

I have typically bought at right below the cutting edge. Those are good for three years or so and save a lot of money compared to top of the line systems.I've bought laptops for the last three systems, too. I like the portability.

 

 

He has a 2060 in his current setup but all of the other hardware are pretty aged.  And I bought the GPU while the prices were still high.  I can get something significantly better for the same price now.

[dondewey]

I just got a laptop with a 3080 from a dude at work when he upgraded to a 4080. I paid him $1000. My previous was a 2060 that was still pretty good at three years old, but the new one was too good a deal to pass up. I had planned to sell the old one for about $500 but I ended up giving it to Bell's girlfriend because they had been trying to game on a 6 year old HP.

I have typically bought at right below the cutting edge. Those are good for three years or so and save a lot of money compared to top of the line systems.I've bought laptops for the last three systems, too. I like the portability.

I think the laptop cards are nothing like the desktop cards, even though they use the same numbers

[No Party JKor]

In terms of benchmarking the mobile cards perform worse but it’s not really that much worse. Maybe 10%? I’d have to look at the numbers again but i was surprised how well the mobile GPUs do considering how much less cooling capacity is available.

[No Party JKor]

Bringing this back up because I've finally caved and decided to do this. I want this to be the last PC I buy him while he's still living at home (turning 14 next week). I've been checking out pre-builts anywhere from $1600 to $3300. I haven't decided how much I'm ultimately willing to spend but I'm open to considering anything in the 1500-3500 range.

 

One thing I'm wondering is if I'm giving away anything by purchasing a PC with a last gen GPU (40XX vs 50XX)? I've mostly been looking at 5070Ti machines. The 4080 benchmarks a little higher. If I can find one cheaper is it still worth considering over the 5070Ti or will I be missing something in a PC that I want to last 5-6 years?

Edited by No Party JKor, 14 June 2025 - 01:02 PM.

[No Party JKor]

Ended up getting him this one.

https://www.costco.c...4000355760.html

I saw a few reviews in different places that they cheaped out on the mobo but it was the cheapest i could find on a 5080 pre-built plus i get the cash back from costco and no sales tax since i bought in NH. That’s a few hundred off the top compared to buying online. Anyway, i don’t mind going back and upgrading the mobo if it turns out to be an issue. The gpu and cpu are the latest sockets/connection protocol so should be able to get new mobos for several years.

Got him this monitor, too. Great deal on open box at best buy. Almost 50% of the clearance price. 62% off retail.

https://www.bestbuy....nhoCVQQQAvD_BwE

[dondewey]

I have a 39" monitor like that one (curved, same resolution) and it's great. He'll love it.

That rig should play anything at the highest settings for the next several years.

[positiveContact]

Right around 2000$ and was purchased in September 2020. I may upgrade around Christmas so that would be 4 years but at this point I don't have any issues running games with badass graphics settings. RTX3080 has been solid.

 

I think the same (about a year or so ago???) but I'm too lazy to try to figure it out.

Edited by positiveContact, 21 June 2025 - 03:34 AM.