New Gaming PC under 1 Lakh

[edurgesh]

Hello friends,

I need your help in building a new gaming PC for my son; the current PC is more than 12 years old and now showing signs of EOL!

Please find the required inputs below in the prescribed format:

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.' Vague answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work.)
Ans: Gaming and other study related online work. Games to be played: Wukong (upcoming), GTA VI (upcoming), Elden Ring (new), Forza Horizon 5 (old), Valorant (old), Uncharted (old), Last of Us (old), Red Dead Redemption 2 (old).

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: Under 1 Lakh, including monitor & KBD/mouse. Can extend a bit if really required, but prefer to keep under budget.

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Windows 10/11

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: 1 TB SSD

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention the screen size and resolution you prefer. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, then do mention the screen size and resolution of the monitor you have.
Ans: Yes, new monitor is required. Preferably 22" FHD Gaming monitor.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: None

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: ASAP; say within a week or two.

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Yes, the current PC was build by me only.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Pune, and open to buy parts online too.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: It should be upgrade-able in future when required; our current PC served really well!

Thanks a lot!

 

[omega44-xt]

i5 12400 + 32GB DDR4 + 7700XT + 2TB SSD:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/3a415973-c0f2-4d1b-8e6d-71ac6eaf0bd1

It is not upgradeable at all, at least CPU side. So will have to change CPU, mobo & RAM.

Can add 27" 1440p 180Hz monitor for 16k during sale - Acer XV272U V3.

Increase budget a bit for UPS, KB & mouse. What kind of KB are you looking for?


Edit - Something upgradeable:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/d731ccc1-b6d8-447f-a6c8-5e6c61cf2537
7600 + 7700XT

 

[shreeux]

i5 12400 + 32GB DDR4 + 7700XT + 2TB SSD:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/3a415973-c0f2-4d1b-8e6d-71ac6eaf0bd1

It is not upgradeable at all, at least CPU side. So will have to change CPU, mobo & RAM.

Can add 27" 1440p 180Hz monitor for 16k during sale - Acer XV272U V3.

Increase budget a bit for UPS, KB & mouse. What kind of KB are you looking for?


Edit - Something upgradeable:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/d731ccc1-b6d8-447f-a6c8-5e6c61cf2537
7600 + 7700XT

Just query...
Why DDR4...Instead of DDR5 MotherBoard?

 

[edurgesh]

i5 12400 + 32GB DDR4 + 7700XT + 2TB SSD:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/3a415973-c0f2-4d1b-8e6d-71ac6eaf0bd1

It is not upgradeable at all, at least CPU side. So will have to change CPU, mobo & RAM.

Can add 27" 1440p 180Hz monitor for 16k during sale - Acer XV272U V3.

Increase budget a bit for UPS, KB & mouse. What kind of KB are you looking for?


Edit - Something upgradeable:
pcpricetracker.in/b/s/d731ccc1-b6d8-447f-a6c8-5e6c61cf2537
7600 + 7700XT

Thanks for the suggestion! I think the AMD one looks better.

Can we get away with the following for now:

1. 22" FHD monitor; this is due to space constraint; actually the table is not big enough and anything larger than 22" will not be suitable.
2. 16 GB DDR5 RAM; DDR4 may not be future proof. Can add more when required.
3. 1 TB SSD; can add more in future it required.
4. Maybe less powerful GPU; just a thought?

What do you say?

 

[omega44-xt]

Just query...
Why DDR4...Instead of DDR5 MotherBoard?

To save money. OP wants monitor & peripherals within 1L, which is possible with DDR4.

 

[omega44-xt]

Thanks for the suggestion! I think the AMD one looks better.

Can we get away with the following for now:

1. 22" FHD monitor; this is due to space constraint; actually the table is not big enough and anything larger than 22" will not be suitable.
2. 16 GB DDR5 RAM; DDR4 may not be future proof. Can add more when required.
3. 1 TB SSD; can add more in future it required.
4. Maybe less powerful GPU; just a thought?

What do you say?

1. No, get 24" 1080p 165Hz gaming monitor at the minimum (costs 10k on sale), re-evaluate purchase decisions as output device like monitor is a very important factor for gaming. A low response time VRR (freesync or gsync) monitor changes the exp a lot & it cannot be appreciated on a youtube video. Say having a 4090 but using a 4K 60Hz TN monitor will be an inferior exp to say having a 7800XT + a good IPS 4K 144Hz panel. Even if you play games at 60-70fps, response time & VRR helps a lot with smoothness.

2. You don't have the budget (1L). An i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7700XT will easily outperform an R5 7600 + DDR5 RAM + say 4060/7600. Heck, an i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7800XT will be slightly faster than R5 7600 + DDR5 RAM + 7700XT in most games unless game starts crossing 100fps where CPU & RAM might become bottleneck. Adding a DDR5 RAM to i5 12400 might not help much. So either go AM5 or save money with DDR4 + i5 12400, your call.
Note - I have i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7900GRE. At 1440p & 4K, the fps I get is almost similar to online fps numbers (usually benchmarked on 7800X3D). I know there's some CPU bottleneck but since I upgraded just the GPU, spending another 40k on CPU, mobo & RAM upgrade for 5-10% boost in some games made no sense. But I will not recommend anyone buying a new rig to get i5 12400 + 7900GRE.

3. Cheap mobos have just 2 M.2 slots. Game sizes are increasing. My miss that H610 mobo doesn't support Gen4 SSD, so can save money in SSD with SN580 (good Gen3 SSDs are out of stock)

4. 7700XT should be good for 1080p gaming for years to come as PS5 pro will have a similar powered GPU with similar powered CPU

 

[edurgesh]

1. No, get 24" 1080p 165Hz gaming monitor at the minimum (costs 10k on sale), re-evaluate purchase decisions as output device like monitor is a very important factor for gaming. A low response time VRR (freesync or gsync) monitor changes the exp a lot & it cannot be appreciated on a youtube video. Say having a 4090 but using a 4K 60Hz TN monitor will be an inferior exp to say having a 7800XT + a good IPS 4K 144Hz panel. Even if you play games at 60-70fps, response time & VRR helps a lot with smoothness.

2. You don't have the budget (1L). An i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7700XT will easily outperform an R5 7600 + DDR5 RAM + say 4060/7600. Heck, an i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7800XT will be slightly faster than R5 7600 + DDR5 RAM + 7700XT in most games unless game starts crossing 100fps where CPU & RAM might become bottleneck. Adding a DDR5 RAM to i5 12400 might not help much. So either go AM5 or save money with DDR4 + i5 12400, your call.
Note - I have i5 12400 + DDR4 RAM + 7900GRE. At 1440p & 4K, the fps I get is almost similar to online fps numbers (usually benchmarked on 7800X3D). I know there's some CPU bottleneck but since I upgraded just the GPU, spending another 40k on CPU, mobo & RAM upgrade for 5-10% boost in some games made no sense. But I will not recommend anyone buying a new rig to get i5 12400 + 7900GRE.

3. Cheap mobos have just 2 M.2 slots. Game sizes are increasing. My miss that H610 mobo doesn't support Gen4 SSD, so can save money in SSD with SN580 (good Gen3 SSDs are out of stock)

4. 7700XT should be good for 1080p gaming for years to come as PS5 pro will have a similar powered GPU with similar powered CPU

Wow! Thanks for the detailed reply and explanation!!

I think you are right that I need to increase the budget to make a proper future proof PC. I can extend it say max 20K, so total budget becomes 120K, but lower would be preferred if possible. Now I think we should be able to accommodate an AMD/DDR5 based future proof PC.

Based on your inputs, I think this should be good enough:

1. R5 7600 + 7700XT +32GB DDR5 + 2TB SSD + M/B & other parts.
2. 24" FHD gaming monitor; 24" due to space constraint & FHD for keeping it relevant for a longer period. Please suggest one.
3. A descent set of wired BK & mouse; nothing fancy. These can be easily replaced later if required.
4. We have a 1.6 KW inverter with 150+150 AH batteries; can we get away without using a UPS?

Thanks a lot!

 

[omega44-xt]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed reply and explanation!!

I think you are right that I need to increase the budget to make a proper future proof PC. I can extend it say max 20K, so total budget becomes 120K, but lower would be preferred if possible. Now I think we should be able to accommodate an AMD/DDR5 based future proof PC.

Based on your inputs, I think this should be good enough:

1. R5 7600 + 7700XT +32GB DDR5 + 2TB SSD + M/B & other parts.
2. 24" FHD gaming monitor; 24" due to space constraint & FHD for keeping it relevant for a longer period. Please suggest one.
3. A descent set of wired BK & mouse; nothing fancy. These can be easily replaced later if required.
4. We have a 1.6 KW inverter with 150+150 AH batteries; can we get away without using a UPS?

Thanks a lot!

1. Made slight changes - pcpricetracker.in/b/s/95de28f3-6fc8-403b-899f-314baf1d0bce

2. www.amazon.in/LG-Ultragear-Monitor-FreeSync-Compatible-24GN65R/dp/B0C5MPH9G7
www.amazon.in/Acer-Backlight-Freesync-Response-Speakers/dp/B0CKL5G65P - Cheaper w/o height adjustment

3. Mouse - Razer Deathadder essential for 1k
KB - Cosmic Byte GK 16 if you are fine w/o a numpad, costs 2k or so

4. Should work if it is pure sine wave & has a UPS mode

 

[edurgesh]

Great, now it looks perfect!

1. Just checked the updated config, and now it has 750W SMPS which I think should be more future proof, if we upgrade the GPU sometime later.

2. Good options; will prefer the Acer one; height adjustment may not be useful because it will be wall mounted, to clear some space on table. Even current monitor is wall mounted.

3. I think the KB w/o numpad should be fine; again will free up some more space.

4. Yes, the inverter says "Su-Kam Pure Sine Wave Home UPS 1600"; should be fine. Will skip the UPS this time.

Now will mostly go with this final config. Few questions though:

1. Do we need a separate CPU cooler?
2. 32 GB RAM is really required, or just for future proof?
3. Do I need to check the availability of parts over the phone before placing the order?

Thanks a lot again for your help!

 

[omega44-xt]

1. Yes, else need to undervolt & power limit CPU
2. Kind of both. 16GB is bare minimum now.
3. All 3 of them are big stores, so mostly no. You can call & then place order though.

 

[edurgesh]

1. Yes, else need to undervolt & power limit CPU
2. Kind of both. 16GB is bare minimum now.
3. All 3 of them are big stores, so mostly no. You can call & then place order though.

Great! So we will go with that config and start ordering the parts; will keep it posted here.

Thanks a lot for your help and support!!

 

[edurgesh]

Finally, I placed the order for all the components, except monitor & KB/mouse!

Now waiting for the parts to arrive. Once, the core components arrive and I start building the PC, then I'll order the remaining parts. Have few questions though:

1. I've built my current PC long back; I think the process should be very similar, or do I need to take care of anything specific while building or installing Win11, like new CPU cooler or BIOS configuration?
2. Current PC has Win10, which was upgraded from Win7 which originally was bought as a retail license. Can the same license be used for the new PC with Win11 or do I need to get another one?

Thanks!

 

[omega44-xt]

1. Watch from how to build a PC tutorial

2. Yes, should work IMO

 

[edurgesh]

1. Watch from how to build a PC tutorial

2. Yes, should work IMO

Sure, I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

[edurgesh]

Finally received all the core components; though still need to order the monitor & KB/mouse!

Now the time to put it together has arrived.

 

[edurgesh]

Sorry for the late update; I was out of Pune due to some family emergency.

Now, almost everything is ordered except the keyboard; still need to order that, and will do in a couple of days.

Finally the PC is built and everything seems to be working perfectly!

Couldn't transfer the Windows license from old PC in Win10 (which was upgraded from Win7 retail key). Currently running un-activated, maybe I need to buy the Win11 key for cheap.

Also, do I need to check/verify anything at hardware level for the new PC.

Thank so much my friend @omega44-xt for your help and support! Really appreciate that!!

 

[TheSloth]

you need to login to your MS account in Win11. You can logout of Win10 PC if you are still using it. I think there is a Win Wizard which does it. If possible, use the old PC HDD component in new PC to kick start wizard when windows initiates the Wizard by showing error PC not recognized. I dont remember exact steps but i did this when I moved from laptop to desktop.

 

[edurgesh]

you need to login to your MS account in Win11. You can logout of Win10 PC if you are still using it. I think there is a Win Wizard which does it. If possible, use the old PC HDD component in new PC to kick start wizard when windows initiates the Wizard by showing error PC not recognized. I dont remember exact steps but i did this when I moved from laptop to desktop.

Hello, yes I tried few things; in fact followed some guide from TomsGuide website for transferring the license from one PC to another, and as per that guide this is what I did:

1. Reset the old PC to disconnect the Win10 license.
2. Logged in into new PC with the same email, but it's not showing any of old or new PCs. In fact it's only showing my laptop which is also linked to the same email account.
3. Now, in old PC, the license is not linked to my email but Windows is still activated.

Not sure, what to do? If nothing works, will buy a Win11 key from some cheap source.

Thank you!

 

[TheSloth]

The Win 11 version should be same as Win 7, 10, i.e. Home Edition, also you have to see if it was Single Language version.
As a last measure contact MS support and explain them that you have already deactivated the account in old laptop, so ask(request them) if its possible to move the license to new one.

 

[edurgesh]

The Win 11 version should be same as Win 7, 10, i.e. Home Edition, also you have to see if it was Single Language version.
As a last measure contact MS support and explain them that you have already deactivated the account in old laptop, so ask(request them) if its possible to move the license to new one.

I also thought so, and tried multiple times but somehow it didn't work; didn't call MS customer care though. Finally bought another Win11 license for cheap and activated the windows. Now, all is well!

Also ordered the suggested keyboard few days back, and got it yesterday. Now the PC is complete!

Thank you so much!!