As a novice, you probably want to go with a pre-built system. That's going to increase your cost a bit.
IMHO, you might as well skip the i3 series completely. i5 is ok for moderate use, but if you plan on actually using the PC, I would recommend an i7.
That said though, AMD's 3rd generation is kicking Intel's @%$*#!. Even the latest entry-level Ryzen R3-series is completely wiping the floor on both price and performance. Intel needs to be really scared right now, and should have been for the past year.
(Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who has sworn by Intel for high-end computing for a little over 20 years now.)
I agree with you completely on Nvidia vs ATI/AMD. Time after time ATI fails on drivers and hardware compatibility. The 5700 series is a true testament to how poorly they are implemented. It's been out almost a year, and they still haven't fixed the driver issues with many games.
(And it is the driver that is the issue here, not the game engine or the hardware.) There is a reason that Nvidia has proudly owned the GPU marketplace with shares consistently over 70%.
At a glance,
this system looks like it's really well stacked, but then you see it has a 5700XT for the GPU.
You will often find that manufactures just go Intel-Nvidia and AMD-ATI on their builds, and it's hard to find a good mix of AMD-Nvidia.
If we say we'll stick to the Intel platform, this one is a nice starter.
CUK Continuum Micro Gamer PC (Intel i7-9700F, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB, 600W Gold PSU, Windows 10 Home)
The only real issues I have though are that there is no large storage for games, and it's got the entry-level 2060 in it. It's good, but for $1500 you can do better.
It does have all the good basics though. The case is an excellent design for a strong positive pressure, it's got decent liquid cooling, and plenty of room for future upgrades.
Building a system from scratch, this is what I would recommend outside of the CPU.
32GB RAM 3000Mhz or faster.
(16GB is the current "standard" in gaming. You want this rig to last, so go 32.)
GTX 2070 Super (You could go with a 2080, but the extra price really isn't worth it. Anything less isn't great either. a 2660Ti is close to the same performance but almost the same price. The 2070 will OC to the same performance as a 2080.)
512GB SSD for the OS. Usually this in NVMe, but honestly for Windows a plain SSD is fine.
2TB SSD for games. This one you want to be NVMe, but plain SSD is "ok". 1TB is too small. With increasing quality of graphics in games leading to larger game builds, 2TB should be your minimum.
(Case in point. I have a 1TB NVMe SSD for games. It has 7 Days, Ark, Conan, and Empyrion on it. It is already filled a third of the way, and you want to always leave 40% free space on an SSD if you want it to last.)
A good case. If you don't have good airflow with a positive pressure case, you're just kicking yourself in the @%$*#!. Also note that liquid cooling isn't all it's cut out to be. If you're going to compare liquid cooling to a stock cooler, liquid is better. However unless you're going to go all out with a custom liquid setup, an Evo 212 or a Noctua NH-U12A will cool better, and run quieter than water-cooling. (and they're cheaper too.)
Here is my most recent build on PC Parts Picker. The prices on here are questionable, and not all of the components are readily available thanks to a surge of PC parts purchases from government checks. It's also missing the case, and a couple of fans because I already have a case and fans to use on my build. It kind of gives you an idea though. This is a top-end system that I plan to have last me the next 5-7 years.
Anyway, with all that in mind, this one is going to be what I would consider to be the bottom end.
CUK Continuum Mini Gaming PC (
Liquid Cooled AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6GB, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 1TB HDD, 650W Gold PSU, Windows 10)
$1440
Though it has a 1TB Hard drive, it's an abysmally performing 5400rpm platter drive. It would be fine for storing documents and videos, but it will suck major donkey balls for playing games from. I can only really recommend this build if you toss in a 2TB SSD for games.
You'll notice I've been sticking with the CUK
(Computer Upgrade King) builds. This is mostly because their cases are top-notch, and the builds are solid with good reviews. Another big player would be iBUYPOWER, but I've had reports of questionable quality from them, and their cases aren't always the best.
With that in mind though, this is a good build.
iBUYPOWER Pro Gaming PC Computer Desktop Element MR9280 (Intel Core i9-9900 3.10Ghz, NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, 240GB SSD, WiFi Included, Windows 10, VR Ready)
$1869
I like this one because it's a top-end Intel, has a good GPU choice, and both of the drives are SSD. The only real issue I have is that we don't know what speed the RAM is. I'm also a little surprised it only has 16GB RAM for the price. RAM is cheap though, and that's a fast and easy upgrade if you want.
That should give you some good ideas though. If you have anything you find that you want to run by me, feel free to post it here.
