dad with $2K budget looking for help

Two things you must know. AMD is more advanced than Intel right now. Second, everyone is talking 3080, but it is very hard to get in the market, and it is not at all necessary for a great gaming experience first time out. When he knows more about computers and gaming on them, you can always get a faster card later.

That said, here are a couple of builds in your price range. I used the Lynx case because it comes with RGB fan enhancements built in, and it saves on the case so we can get better parts. To see these builds in the Configurator, go to the main page, upper right: "load Config. Click on that and a new window opens. Copy and paste just the config# in the code window and <enter>.

        3568015     $2004 after a $200 discount you'll get at checkout.

This is a very strong build all around at this price point. Computer monitors come in various resolutions. the only two we are interested in are 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p which is a super picture at 24", this rig, with an Nvidia RTX 3070, will crush every game out there on the highest settings and very high framerates. On a larger monitor at 27" or more, you probably would prefer a 1440p resolution. This rig will also perform very, very well on such a monitor. It won't get the fastest frame rates in every game, but it will get very close to or over 100fps in most. It will get well over 100 fps in COD on Ultra. I've seen benchmarks from 125 to over 150fps.

If you simply HAVE to HAVE a 3080, know that it is a total waste of money at 1080p. Know also that the framerate enhancement on a 1440p is in the eye of the beholder and barely noticeable to many. If you don't have two monitors playing the two cards side-by-side, you would never know the difference. You can go online and watch You Tube videos of the two side-by-side, and there's just not that much to see, IMO. so here's a build for that:

          3568055       This one is $2152 with discount

Note the second one has come down a notch on the CPU to a 3700X. That is not a crippling performance blow by any means, but it could reduce the longevity of the machine going forward. A lesser CPU could possibly limit your choices for a future video upgrade.

If it were me, I'd have the young man do all his own research on the two cards and what they are capable of. Have him see if he can see the differences in the videos. These cards have taken a mighty leap forward technologically just recently, and the 3070 is faster than the former highest-end Nvidia card just a couple of months ago. As far as I know, they are available now, and there seems to be about a one-two month wait for the 3080s.

Cretae,

Can you look at this build and advice if this is a better value or not as good as the one you originally suggested.
This is what I was looking at before finding digitalstorm. Thanks.

OMEN 30L Gaming Desktop PC, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Graphics Card, 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10900K Processor, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and 2 TB Hard Drive, Windows 10 Home (GT13-0093, 2020) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HR91FHT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_c1.UFbQ27SMYP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks. I just want to be sure. Some of the specs APPEAR better but I get that doesn’t mean it’s good overall. I appreciate your response.
Thanks

The omen was $2200. It seemed to be close to the build you suggested. But had slightly larger ssd drive and more ram. With the 3080. So it seemed like a bit higher spec components for about the same money. But I want sure if any of those parts were less quality or if the case would get too hot etc.

Good Sir, I have visited the site address you directed me to twice. The exact equipment you describe is priced at $4179.99. I have been to the HP website, and there is nothing there that would indicate that price would be on anything they sell with that equipment. If I can't go where you send me and see what you saw, I can't debate on the merits. In my searching far afield, all I saw from HP aside from the $4179.99 model you showed me, had last generation parts from six months ago in the $2000 range.

Amazon nor HP will stress-test your rig for flaws before they ship it out. The NVMe SSD I recommend is 5 times faster than a SATA SSD. They don't warrant every individual part for a year, probably the whole thing has to go back to be replaced. There is no mention of lifetime support from experts.

I'm not interested in disputing anything, just citing facts and saying I can't find what you saw. Every hand-built DS machine is superior to any off-the-shelf assembly line PC at any price point. That's an opinion. If you buy here, you will never regret it.

brirx,

I am a 72 year old curmudgeon, but I don't intend to come off as one.
That does appear to be a heckova deal that obviously ran afoul of the 3080 supply issues. It is a faster CPU, but the NVMe SSD will outperform the SSD by a huge margin. It's basically instant everything. The GPU, according to comments at the site is an HP clone that does not appear to be well regarded. I didn't even know HP did that. As I said, the 32GB of RAM will not come into play for gaming. Most games don't even access 16GB.

I don't know if that is a sketchy site or not, but I would hate to test it out if the rig came and just wouldn't work. Who would you turn to? That is not even a question here.

You are honorably welcomed here as a "Verified Customer", so it's pretty pointless to hash this further. Obviously we are nearly as passionate about our facilitator (DS) as we are about our hobby. They have been tripped up occasionally during this trying time by circumstances, but we veterans here know they ALWAYS make it right, and that is extreme value added.

I just want to assure you above all, that your son will never be able to perceive anything but excellence from whichever build you chose. The fact of the matter is that the top CPUs today are way overpowered for gaming, and the GPUs have just recently become everything we gamers have been hoping for. It's not necessary to go to the very top end to get brilliant performance for the first time ever.

I'm humbled by your apology, but it isn't necessary. My ignorance of what you came across explains it all. You asked the right questions, and I hope we have given satisfactory answers. Welcome to our family.

I DO believe we have a group! I will get right on that PM. Waaiit for it....

Oops. Keep waiting a bit longer, I need to clean out my Spark!


      

Hello,
Was wondering if I can ask a quick follow up question.
Are you able to tell me the types of display related ports that will be on this computer?
Looking to run a two monitor setup and assume there will be only one hdmi port so wondering what type of cable I’ll need in addition to an hdmi cable to facilitate two monitors.
Thanks again.
Brian

Thanks for the response Cretae

No it hasn’t arrived yet. Last email I got showed it in stage 6 on 12/16.
I checked online and saw this:
View Troubleshoting Flow-Charts

Blue Screens, Crashes, Freezes, Stability Issues. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF file.

� During Game Play
� During Regular (Non-Gaming) Use
Power Up, Boot, Loading Issues. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF file.

� No Video Signal / Monitor Signal
� During Windows Startup

So not sure if those were corrected prior to stage 6 or if those issues are still being resolved.

TY. Unfortunately the discounts have gone away.

If you need to save a little, the RTX 3060 Ti is the very powerful price/performance pick for 1080p monitors. Those cards were not out when those builds were recommended.