Custom build or prebuilt?

Originally I was trying to custom build myself a desktop that could run League and some Steam games without much trouble without needing any upgrades in the next 6 months.

Throughout the process of building, since I know only as much as I've read in the last few days, I asked a few friends for help but only got really conflicting opinions about what to change on the build I had made.

Original

Vote:
Build 1
Build 2 (I changed the memory from Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory)

Probably gonna add some of these regardless of which build I choose: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 37.9 CFM 120mm Fan

Thoughts?

 

I urge you to leave behind a prebuild, the problem with prebuilt computers is that often the manufacturer cuts corners to maximise profit, you end up with a product that doesn't live up to the expectations you had in mind, even though you paid the price of a premium desktop computer.

Also, the prebuild you selected is apparently made for overclocking, because it has a Z270 Chipset and an overclockable i5. Which is quite simply awful considering most people who buy a prebuild have no intention or knowledge to do anything in regard to overclocking.

It does however allow the manufacturer to boast their nonsensical system and make it sound interesting to the uninformed.

If you let me know what kind of applications you intend to run on the desktop, what resolution, game settings and such, I'd gladly help you select parts that are in tune with your expectations.

It would also help to know if your US based or somewhere else, that way I can keep in mind what sites are available.

 

First one with 16GB of RAM instead of 8. I feel like 8 is too low nowadays.

 

Personally I'd go for something like this:

PCPartPicker

Specifically chose the 7600k for overclocking for only $20 more, added 16gb of ram instead of 8, you can also get a nice 144hz monitor for only about $20 more then the 75Hz monitor you chose.

Of course, if you don't plan on overclocking then this may be a mute point. For what you'll be doing (LoL and Steam) you can probably cut a few corners tbh.

Btw, If you want more future proofing then I probably wouldn't buy a RX 480.

Edit: i forgot to mention, if you have a microcenter near you PLEASE go into the store. They have so many deals on open boxed items and things of that nature that could save you a butt load of $

 

If I had to choose between the two I'd probably go with the second. But for not much more money you could build a true beast. I spent like $1300 before my ultra-wide and I have:

1 tb ssd(850 evo, very highly rated)
i7 6700k - bought right before the newest processors
16 gb 3200 DDR4 RAM
Z170 mobo
Water cooling
gtx 1070 g1 gaming card
144hz 1ms monitor(the one in JSand link)
Case and psu
(All color coordinated and almost all the parts have rgb LED)

I think prices are back up, I did this in November. I would advise that you wait and find deals as they come. There really are some good tech deals that roll around.

 

builds - pcmasterrace

This is a great community and that build page is updated often for optimized builds in multiple price ranges. The discord community is also very helpful. They have a tech support chat on the discord that will help you through any problem you may have.

They really help you build the best system at any price range so you dont waste money where it isnt needed. Like the crucial ram is just as good as the competitors but is much cheaper. Also i5 and 8gb ram is all you need at the moment.

My build: Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core, GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING, TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower - System Build - PCPartPicker

 

Personally your wanting a computer specifically to use so that you can play League of Legends without any trouble.

In this case rather than linking two builds I would have looked a little bit around the League of Legends streamers and determine what PC build they have.

After that I'd play around with a couple of other websites and see which PC build is similar however unique to you. You can always upgrade components if you feel that they aren't working out for you. Just remember to use a Desktop when playing League as opposed to a laptop.

 

Why are you spending 1k+ on a system for League? What other games are you playing? I can get your price waaay down and still max whatever you want.

 

This is a horrible suggestion. Requirements to stream and play vs requirements to simply PLAY the game are far different. The power needed to play the game is significantly lower than the power needed to stream it.

 

How does that make sense you're just capturing the screen. While the game has to render the screen and perform logic.

 

You're not just "capturing" the game.

You're capturing, rendering, compressing, and then transmitting the data to the twitch servers. This process uses processing power from both the GPU and the CPU.

 

What's there to render? Yes compression does take time. Transmitting it doesn't take much processing power.

I just don't see how capturing, compressing and transmitting a video would take longer than producing a video that's rendering objects based on the input of many players. Maybe I'd believe it if it's capturing many different resolutions. Neither of us have provided supporting evidence.

 

Clearly you've never streamed. I've been streaming for 4 years, partnered with twitch for 2 and a half, I understand how much stress streaming puts on a PC.

To OP, I would just recommend taking a look at the "recommended specs" for all the games you play, get a baseline, then go up a generation or two in your hardware to ensure stable gameplay for those specific games, and any newer ones you look at playing in the future.

 

Most streaming can be handled by the GPU so you could even stream on a super budget setup that costs under 400 bucks. Problem is if you want a super clean signal it gets expensive because you'd want to do CPU encoding instead.

 

Definitely go with one the custom builds suggested above, no reason to pay for the premium of having it pre-built. Doing it yourself may seem daunting but go back to basics and just follow the instructions and watch a video or two on how to build a PC on youtube. If you take your time for the first one you will be fine.