Subj : Gaming (Windows) PC: build or buy?
To   : Digital Man
From : Nightfox
Date : Fri Jul 16 2021 10:21 am

  Re: Gaming (Windows) PC: build or buy?
  By: Digital Man to All on Thu Jul 15 2021 09:12 pm

 DM> Anyway, for her birthday, I want to replace the system with something
 DM> (even) better suited to gaming, like this:
 DM> https://www.costco.com/dell-xps-8940-tower---11th-gen-intel-core-i7-11700-
 DM> --geforce-rtx-3060ti.product.100773674.html 

 DM> I could just build a new system from puchased parts and re-use her
 DM> existing GPU (the 1050 Ti), but being a low profile card, that could be
 DM> tricky in a full-height case and being a gift, I don't want it to be
 DM> something I may have to troubleshoot (e.g. buying the wrong RAM for the
 DM> CPU/motherboard... again?). 

 DM> The Costo Dell deal looks pretty good, $1600 for:
 DM> - Core i7-11700 (8-core) CPU
 DM> - 32GB DDR4 RAM
 DM> - NVIDIA GeForce RTS 3060Ti GPU w/8GB RAM
 DM> - 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD
 DM> - 1TB 7200RPM HD
 DM> - DVD/CD reader/writer
 DM> - Windows 10

 DM> Stuff it comes with but likely wouldn't use:
 DM> - keyboard and mouse
 DM> - Wifi and Bluetooth adapters

 DM> I didn't want to spend that much, but seems like it'd last her several
 DM> years without any need to upgrade (much). Thoughts?

That PC seems fairly decent, and you're probably right that it would probably last severla years without having to upgrade.  And as far as the graphics card, are you sure it's not RTX?  I don't think Nvidia has an "RTS" line.  The RTX 3000 series are currently their latest, and seem to be fairly hard to come by too (I've been waiting for a decently priced 3080 TI; they tend to be out of stock in most places, or sold by scalpers asking ridiculous prices).

If I were to build/buy a PC now, I might choose an AMD processor, as they seem to have some really good processors right now and lower prices for comparable (or perhaps even slightly better) performance & specs than the comparable Intel processors.

Nightfox

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