I need help picking parts for a custom pre-built PC gaming rig

Hi, just as the title suggests I came here hoping to get some help from the community. I don't have any interest building my own PC and I have no problem paying the premium to have it professionally built.

My budget is around $3,000 give or take a little. I must be honest when I say I don't really know all the ins and outs of parts, their power, or longevity. All I know is that I have looked into getting a dedicated gaming PC for many years now and never pulled the trigger.

I am open to any suggestions and I have a lot of questions, so I hope you all don't mind helping me out here.

For now to get things started I will list the things I KNOW I want.

1. The most powerful gaming PC I can get within my budget ($2.5-$3.5k) that will stand the test of time and give me at least a few years of gaming at the highest settings and run smooth as hell and at a high frame rate. I don't plan on playing with all the bells and whistles maxed out at all times, but I do want something that is capable of doing so if I want it to. I am more interested in frame rate, stability, and overall max performance, and I don't want to worry about cranking the settings when I want to. Form factor, weight, and things like that aren't important. I mean if it looks good that's an added bonus, but not a priority by any means.

2. I want a very good cooling solution and don't want to worry about overheating... like at all.

3. I'm not too sure about part compatibility and would like some suggestions.

4. I don't need a monitor and I'm just looking for the tower. I'm going to be hooking the PC up to my TV and using it like a console for the most part. Any suggestions towards a keyboard, mouse, and controller would all be helpful. Should I go wired or wireless? I'm sitting about 7-10' back from an 80" TV that is 4k and 120htz.

5. Any suggestions towards a website or trusted PC building company that I should contact. What is best? I have no idea.. sure, I know there is Alienware, CyberPower, and other such websites, but who should I trust will give me what I want without screwing me over and the best customer support for someone living within the US?

6. I would prefer overkill rather than good enough. Longevity, lasting performance, future proof, and more than needed is more than ok. I don't want to hear I don't have enough.. I'd rather hear if it's more than I need if anything.

7. What power supply should I be looking at?

8. I want it to run as quietly as possible so any suggestions would be great for that as well. Yes I know that it is likely to make some sound if it winds up being a beast.

9. I'm sure this is personal preference but AMD or Intel?

10. 32gb, 64gb ram? I want the PC to play games maxed out and for content creation including running programs that allow game programming and engines. Gaming needs to be priority though. Creation is a secondary interest. I would love to look into playing around with things like Unreal Engine 5 and integrating things like photoshop and other programs. I don't want stutters, hang-ups, freezing, tearing, slowdown etc. If it's an option I don't want it to be a problem regardless of how ridiculous it is in the overwhelming vast majority of anything I throw its way.

11. How important is the case and give suggestions.

12. I'm not too interested in RGB but it would be cool to have the option IF I can turn it off when I don't want it on or I can choose my own custom colors.

13. Always keep the PC on and only let it go to sleep mode while not in use? I've heard varying thoughts on this...

I'm sure by now a lot of people can see why I haven't ever went all out and just jumped into a full on gaming PC by now.. lol. However, it is important to me and since my wife has told me to get one for years I feel it's the time to upgrade from laptop and run of the mill PC's to a full on gaming rig.

14. How much SSD space? 1Tb 2? Get another 2-4gb SSD on top of that in the form of HDD? I want a PC that can play everything current and the next few years at max settings but also want it for classic older PC games as well. I figure the SSD for newer and the HDD for older right? I don't want space to be an issue and expandable options are always welcome. I can also always add this myself later if I need more space, so I need a case or open slots for expansion.

15. Is there a controller or mouse that I can click a button on to instantly turn the PC on from sleep like a console? (this would be cool)

16. When should I purchase? I mean like the best time of year for the best discounts and everything like that. I am A ok with getting a $5k rig for $3k.. lol

17. When it comes to things like 3080, 3080ti, 3090, i7, i9... I'm pretty much lost, I know they are basically tier levels and I want the most I can afford so any explanation or performance marks would be great... is Ron still around? :P

18. Please give serious answers. I mean I can take a joke and all, but I am seriously asking for some help here. I know a lot about console gaming but nearly jack shit about PC gaming when it comes to parts and performance.. lol. I want to jump in at a high level and maintain that level for as long as possible before saying screw it and probably starting all over. Unless it's as simple as buying a pimp ass rig now and just updating a part here and there after that. I don't want to ever build from the ground up though because I'm lazy and don't care and money isn't the issue. The issue is my ignorance on the subject matter... I just want the best I can get to hook up to my TV and sit on my couch like I'm playing a console but have all the benefits of playing on PC. I'm pretty sure my TV should work wonderfully from everything I've seen and heard and the input time is pretty damn good. Yes I know that monitors are better and all that blah blah blah, but I'm not interested in one. I want to use my TV.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to look through this and give me suggestions ahead of time. It means a lot to me to finally be at the point where I am serious about purchasing a real gaming PC. It's been many years in the making and I'm tired of making excuses. I play on everything and that's not going to change, but it just seems as though I'm missing out on a lot of great games that never make it to console and I love tailoring my experience to fit my own needs. That and the fact that playing WoW again on a 80" TV will be glorious.. lol

I know this is a book and a half, but it means a lot to me. A big shoutout to @mrbojangles25 for sending me this way.

Give me your suggestions on individual parts and I will do all the homework deciding which ones are the best for me. It is a very harrowing and overwhelming experience looking the parts up and having no idea what you're looking at, so once again I truly appreciate any help in explaining what the differences are and helping me find what I'm looking for. If I do wind up going with the suggestions I will be sure to post pics of what it looks like upon completion.

Break it down for me Barney style and list the parts individually with comparisons or your own experience. Examples = good, and I don't mind pictures, links, videos, etc. If I were a PC genius I would love a noob like me asking this question. Seems like it could be a lot of fun :)

Yeah... no idea what that means, not going to lie.. lol

Oh ok cool, any idea when it's set to drop?

@girlusocrazy Ok, that's good to know. I would still appreciate some other info as well if you have any.

I'm willing to wait a few months.. hell, I've already waited years. I would add a couple hundred extra to the budget for something like this.

I don't mind paying a premium for a premium product and it looks as though that is what will be offered with the new RAM so I'm cool with that. That is the exact type of thing I am looking for.

Keep it coming everyone.

All the below is mostly moot since you want to go with a pre-built, but I figured you might want the info anyway so here it is. This is just my opinion and experience, but I've been building my own computers since I was 13 (I'm 37 now) so take it as you will.

One thing I want to be clear on: if you're playing at 4K on an 80" TV, you won't be able to max things out. You'll need a really badass GPU with a lot of memory just to play it on there with high detail. I would really recommend getting a really kickass monitor and desk setup if you want to max out your experience; you can get these 40+" ultra-ultra-ultra-wide wraparound monitors that just immerse the shit out the game.

Likewise, I would also recommend setting your budget to 2500 dollars and then using the remaining 1000 dollars to get a Valve Index VR setup.

Anyway...the answers:

1. That's a great budget, and TBH you probably won't need to spend all of it. The question is: do you want to? Because you totally can :D

2. Stock cooling solutions are pretty good these days, most components do just fine running on just air. With that said, some custom offerings out there will liquid-cool your system for a premium.

3. Don't worry about it if you're not building your own. I don't think PC builders will allow you to use incompatible components.

4. Shouldn't be an issue. When you're getting something this high end, the monitors are not usually bundled like they are with cheaper, non-gaming options.

5. Honestly? Check out Dell/Alienware. They offer some pretty awesome stuff and have great support (unless something has changed in the last few years).

6. Yeah I agree with this; overkill is good, though I think of it as "futureproofing". A good PC will last you five or more years, it's worth spending a bit more to make sure those last couple years aren't a slog. With that said, if you plan on getting a new PC every 3-5 years, I wouldn't worry about future-proofiing too much.

7. Don't worry about if you're getting prebuilt, they will take care of it for you. But to answer your question, I'd say 750W Gold standard minimum. You can get some beefy power supplies but I would worry about anything over 1000W.

8. Again, if you're getting pre-built, it won't really make a difference. But there are some good fan manufacturers.

• Noctua is good, but for some unknown reason they make their fans this fugly cream and brown color. With that said, they are supposed to be some of the best.
• If you want RGB lighting and quality fans, Corsair makes some good ones.

9. I went with AMD about a year or two after being on Intel for two "generations" and I have no regrets. I got a good processor some good memory and a decent GPU and I am happy as a clam.

With that said, I think the "power combo" (imo) has always been Intel and Nvidia. AMD is fine for processors, I wouldn't let a good deal pass you by just because it has an AMD processor, but I would definitely try to get an Nvidia video card.

10. With your budget? Go for 64 GB. 32 GB is plenty for now and for the next few years, however.

11. Case is sort of a 50:50 split between function and form. You can get some sexy cases but they might have poor airflow; you can get some really ugly cases that are wonderfully functional with all kinds of space. Some cases meet the happy middle.

I've got big hands so I like a big case I can get my paws into. I also prefer function over form, so my ideal case is literally a giant steel box with vents in the right places.

Motherboard size (measured in something called "ATX") also matters as well. Most mid- and full-tower cases will fit an ATX motherboard, but if you want to do a tiny build (some people like to do that), you'll want to be sure it fits a micro-ATX motherboard.

Some good case manufacturers are:

• Fractal Design
• Corsair
• NZXT

Don't worry about cases that come with fans or even power supplies, that should not be a driving factor for you.

12. There's tons of options for RGB stuff and many pre-built computers will have that option. Wiring it up and configuring it can sometimes be a hassle when building it on your own, but it's still kind of cool.

You can RGB almost everything, it's crazy. I've got some RGB memory that cycles different colors, I've got RGB on my AIO CPU water cool, and I've got RGB on my case fans. Very colorful!

13. It's fine. You'll hear various opinions on this but it's fine. They measures fan wear in tens of thousands of hours so you'd have to run your computer on literally for over two years straight before the bearings start to wear out. There is some concern about HDD wear but if you're spending this kind of money you shouldn't buy any HDD, just get SSD (HDD are your older spinning platter, think record player, hard drives....SSD's have no moving parts and are basically like giant USB sticks for inside your PC).

14. Opinions vary, but I do my setup like this:

• 512GB-1TB NVME SSD (super duper fast hard drive) for your operations system. Seriously worth it, your PC boots in like 5 seconds.
• 2-4 TB SSD for games.
• Optional: 4+ TB SSD for data and stuff (movies, music, documents, etc).

15. I'm not sure, I usually just shut mine off when I sleep and leave it on during the day. IIRC you can hit "enter" to wake it up

16. There's never a good time to buy, to be frank. The next best thing is usually right around the corner all the time. You can wait six months for blah blah blah but six months after that something else better will come out.

With that said, do some research, because it might be worth waiting a couple months for something. But if you want a PC, get a PC, otherwise you'll be wrining your hands waiting for a good deal or the best components forever.

17. Bigger numbers generally mean better, but that is not always true because sometimes the medium number is enough, and the big number might only be 5% better than the medium number, while the medium number might be 50% better than the small number. So in other words the "goldilocks" hardware is generally somewhere in the middle.

For example, getting an i7 for gaming could arguably be considered a waste of money because you won't use all of it's power; it'd be like getting a Ferrari and never going over 60 mph with it.

With that said....there's nothing wrong with owning a Ferrari at all, no matter how slow you go :D

If you want kickass hardware, then get the big numbers. I like to min-max my hardware and get the best bang for the buck but if I had money to spend I'd definitely get the serious shit.

-----------------

I can write a book too :D Anyway let me know if you have any questions, happy to help. I'm excited for you! :)

Socket is what the CPU fits into.

When you're building a computer, as far as the motherboard and CPU goes, you want to make sure of the following:

• Make sure the processor brand (Intel or AMD) works with the motherboard.
• Make sure the motherboard and CPU socket match; for example, AMD's processors are currently on socket AM3, so you'd want to get an AM3 motherboard.

In simple terms, imagine you have an old house with two-prong sockets, but the thing you need to plug in needs a three-prong socket; it won't fit.

But you're not building one, so don't worry about it; pre-built computers won't let you mismatch components (I hope lol).

Found some sites with reviews of "best computers" from some known sources:

PC Mag

PC Gamer

Tech Radar

Noticing a trend? Lots of Dell and Alienware recommendations.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I know parts are always getting better and in short order, and I'm sure it's mostly a personal decision, but should I really wait for the new DDR5 compatibility?

I mean... I want the best I can get, but I also understand that every few months things improve and you will really only be on top for a VERY short amount of time.. lol. That said I'm ok with that, I just don't want to make some big bone headed mistake that there is no going back on.

This sounds like it could possibly be one of those things in a couple years so it seems like it is probably wise to wait on... sigh.

See, this is why I've never actually just gone all in and made it happen..

I do want a good gaming PC, I just wish there was a way for me to know when it's the right time. I guess that's why I've always preferred console gaming.

I just want to get something that is future proof and will last me at least a handful of years without constantly worrying about it. I'd rather spend the extra few hundred and be happy rather than skimp or be impatient and be disappointed. Then again it's pretty hard to disappoint me.. lol.

Damn this sucks.. see, it's supposed to be fun but I just worry about shit too much.. lol. I wish I knew someone I could just hand the cash and trust... lmao. The problem with that is that EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE disagrees when it comes to PC's and their parts. I get that everyone has personal opinions and likes to believe their own build is the best, but is there not some sort of general consensus to an ultimate build that people can agree on for the most part and if I need to scale back a bit I can?

Then again I realize I'm missing the point that most love to build their rig, but I just want it for gaming. When I say pre-built I should actually rephrase that.. it isn't pre-built I'll be using a parts picker and they will build it for me, so it will be built before they send it to me. I'm not going to just pick an already built PC (unless it has everything I'm looking for), I'm going to pick the parts and have it built custom.

when you want\expect to be using the system is the only thing to consider in relation to time frame. as you noted, things can change every few months. waiting 6 months for a new platform that turns out to be only basic 1st gen, and then 3 months later you will see again that everything has drastically improved and now you've got buyer's remorse for dishing out money on that platform too soon.

whereas if you buy the top of line gear now for an existing platform you will have immediate access to it and you can be a bit more assured that things for this platform won't be improving much and may even be more powerful than what's originally available for the next lineup.

also keep in mind that it's much easier to unload used hardware on Amazon, eBay, & local marketplaces. it makes buyer's remorse less of a thing to worry about. you can almost always recoup much, if not all, of the money spent and use it towards later upgrades.

I can understand where you're coming from. I was in a similar boat a few years ago; wanted a bad-ass pc that could last me for 10 years and guess what? Pretty much nailed it!

Now while I don't want to pretend I'm any expert, I too have my mind on getting a new pc sometime and I've noticed a few things...

First of all prices atm are RIDICULOUS. I don't know when the craziness will die off but it'll probably be at least a year or two.

Secondly, there are some very exciting technologies coming up in the next year or two. Like ddr5 ram, Windows 11, intel 12th gen cpus (rocket lake) and of course the 4000 series graphics cards.

I share your view on the important of high visuals and smooth frame rates - that's why I would probably be settling for a 1440p resolution monitor. But if you have a 4k tv and you want great performance well into the future then I can't emphasize enough just how powerful your hardware is gonna need to be.