Have never built a PC before, but want to take the plunge.
So I have a games room with a sweet couch and opposite is all my consoles, connected to an LG oled/4K.
Perpendicular to that is a big computer desk with loads of cubby holes. Has an extension up above that's currently topped with loads of console boxes from 90s and figurines and such. Also has a PVM on it, but I can move that elsewhere.
So.
I want to build a good spec PC that could go in either place and ideally, hook up to both the TV for couch gaming with a controller, and a monitor on the desk for let's say CRPGs, when I want to get nice and close.
From the limited knowledge I have, I'm guessing 1070/1080 for the card to handle some 4K to make the most of the Oled?
Talk to me about Ryzen. I hear some buzz. Am I right in saying is cheaper per performance than corresponding Intel CPUs?
I really am clueless, and it's a brave new world.
I don't want to go balls out top of the line, but I don't mind spending well to get great performance. Already have a Pro, so a bump over that would be nice. Even if it's hitting the same graphical fidelity and resolution, but getting a solid 60fps.
The big thing with Ryzen is its multi-threaded performance, in that it has more cores and threads than similarly priced Intel CPUs, so in programs that really eat that stuff up, it'll perform better through simply having more cores to work with. So stuff like streaming, photoshop, video rendering, 3D modelling, etc.
In the immediacy, intel CPUs still pull just ahead overall for gaming performance - though Ryzen has certainly closed the gap from when it first launched - with the i7 7700k as the king in such regard atm. Intel however is already looking at the possibility of a new generation of processors in the form of Coffee Lake, expected sometime later this year, which will have core counts bumped up from previous generations of processors. Thus with the progression in core counts in availability, it's presumed developers will start to actually utilise them more. Ryzen processors now and in future will all be using the AM4 socket however - or some variant - providing much more room to upgrade without having to necessarily swap out your motherboard or the like down the like, where Coffee Lake is
not compatible with motherboards for other, prior 'Lake' CPUs.
The Ryzen 1600 is roughly about where the best 'performance for dollar' overall is regarded atm by many, since it's got enough cores to be good at multi-threaded workloads, while the 1700 and higher don't really get much more in terms of game performance (ie, framerates) in most titles. So I'd say
right now, your choice is either the Ryzen 1600 as a jack of all trades, or the 7700k for absolute framerate push.
With regards to 4K, you're gonna have to compromise
somewhere. The 1080 Ti, the most powerful GPU on the market, also the second most expensive, and will only
sometimes hit 60 FPS on max settings at 4K - in many cases it'll be in the '60 but with a fair few dips' range. The GTX 1080 is able to comfortably handle 4K at 30 FPS with comfortable headroom, but it usually won't come close to 60 without dropping a lot of settings. The GTX 1070 can just about achieve 4K 30, but more readily risks falling below that baseline. Usually it's regarded as more of a 1440p card.
Vega 56 and 64 have just released, from AMD, aimed at the GTX 1070 and 1080 respectively, with roughly similar performance.
So either you get a (relatively) cheaper card and accept lower settings for sheer resolution - which can be acceptable - or yeah, you spend some heavy cash.
