Budget 90k+ Need Recommendations for Value For Money Gaming PC

[MadAxe]

Hey everyone.

I'm planning to gift a gaming rig to my brother. He's been using an old HP laptop since quite long. The last build I made, was more than a decade ago and I'm not following the PC scene since then so I'm unaware of the current scenario. I cannot ask him for suggestions as it's going to be a surprise, but I can ask for his preferences without giving him a hint. He likes aesthetics. So please suggest Value for Money (VFM) components that do not compromise on performance but are aesthetically pleasing as well.

Please pardon my ignorance and feel free to suggest better components wherever possible and provide your valuable advice.

TIA for helping a brother out.

1. What is your budget?
   
   • 1.30 Lacs ( including Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse )
2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
   
   • None
3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
   
   • None
4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
   
   • CPU - Intel i5-12400F ( or should I wait for i5-13400? )
   • Motherboard - MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Motherboard
   • GPU - Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti EAGLE 8GB OC GDDR6 (rev. 2.0) ( More VFM GPU available? )
   • RAM - G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB DDR4 (8GBx2) 3200Mhz ( Is there a thing as VFM RGB RAM? )
   • Monitor - Acer Nitro XV272U KVbmiiprzx ( Is the same model reviewed by Rtings, available in India?)
   • HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM Desktop Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008) ( Please suggest better )
   • SSD - Kingston KC3000 1TB M.2 NVMe Gen4 Internal SSD (SKC3000S/1024G) ( Please suggest better )
   • PSU - Cooler Master MWE 550 V2 SMPS 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certification PSU With Active PFC ( Please suggest better )
   • Cabinet - Ant Esports 250 Air ARGB (ATX) Mid Tower Cabinet - White ( Please suggest better )
   • Cooler -Deepcool AK400 Black 120mm CPU Air Cooler (R-AK400-BKNNMN-G-1) ( Please suggest better )
   • Keyboard - Cosmic Byte CB GK 16 ( Please suggest better )
   • Mouse - Logitech G102 Lightsync Gaming Mouse - White (Please suggest better)
5. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
   
   • Yes, won't be upgrading any component till 3 years.
6. Where will you buy this hardware?
   
   • Nehru Place, New Delhi
7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market?
   
   • No
8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
   
   • 1440p Gaming
   • Browsing
   • Watching movies
9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
   
   • Would prefer brands that have service centers in Delhi NCR for easy RMA and offer good after sales service.
   • My preconceived notion is that Asus products used to provide great performance. Unaware of the current scenario.
   • Don't dislike any brands particularly.
10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    
    • All sorts of games (FPS, TPS, RPG, Sports)
11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    
    1. Gaming - 1440p
12. Are you looking to overclock?
    
    • Yes
13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    
    • Windows 10 64 bit or Windows 11 (if stable)

 

[Dinesh6252]

Also planning to buy a 1440p gaming monitor. Have you checked out the Gigabyte M27Q?

 

[Asteroid]

For the cooler, I would suggest you go with deepcool ag620 instead.
For the case go with corsair 4000D airflow
Bump up the powersupply to atleast 650W, preferably 750w. Corsair Cv, Antec HCG and XPG Reactor are pretty good power supplies, try to go 80+ Gold rated.
Instead of the kingston, get a samsung 980 ssd
for monitor go with Gigabyte g27Q
For the GPU, consider picking up a used card, they go quite cheap on facebook groups and even on the marketplace here.
Just go with VFM Corsair LPX, Adata gammix or Crucial ballistix ram. Instead of wasting money on something that has no impact on your system performance, consider investing the savings here on a better PSU or better GPU for your build.

 

[mehimdumb_7t]

CPU and motherboard choices are on point. If you can find a regular 12400 and it's the same price, I suggest taking the 12400 instead of the f model.
HDD, cooler, keyboard and cabinet are fine.

GPU - A 6700XT will be cheaper, but also has slightly lesser performance. Productivity and Ray tracing performance are worse.
I would say 3060ti is great for 1440p, and the particular model is fine.

RAM - G.skill RGB RAM is a bit expensive. Team Group Delta/Thermaltake ToughRAM/Adata XPG Spectrix will be a bit cheaper.
Note that you can get 2 separate 8GB sticks of the same brand+model. It shouldn't make a difference.

SSD - Do you really need a Gen4 SSD? You won't notice a big difference unless you copy huge files often.
A Crucial P2/WD SN550,SN570 will be sufficient as an OS drive.

PSU - Don't cheap out on the PSU. I would go for a modular, little higher wattage (600/650w) and gold rated PSU.
eg. XPG Core Reactor, MSI MPG A650GF, CM MWE Gold v2, etc.

Monitor - I don't think this exact sub model is sold in India. The model sold here seems to be the XV272U Pbmiiprz.
There's a cheaper Acer model (VG271U), but it has a worse stand.
There are other good ones like the Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte G27Q, etc.

Mouse - Note that G102s are prone to the double click issue (own one myself). Most mice in this range are prone to double click unfortunately.
I'll let others post their advice.

Good place to check would be pcpricetracker.

 

[mehimdumb_7t]

Also planning to buy a 1440p gaming monitor. Have you checked out the Gigabyte M27Q?

Note that this model comes with a BGR subpixel layout instead of the regular RGB. This means that text will be a bit blurry with fringing in most apps even with Windows ClearText enabled.

Also panel quality control is a bit bad on this monitor. I managed to get a piece with good panel uniformity, and I don't really mind the blurry text that much.

 

[Dinesh6252]

Note that this model comes with a BGR subpixel layout instead of the regular RGB. This means that text will be a bit blurry with fringing in most apps even with Windows ClearText enabled.

Also panel quality control is a bit bad on this monitor. I managed to get a piece with good panel uniformity, and I don't really mind the blurry text that much.

What price did you got it for? Can recommend any other 1440p monitor?

 

[mehimdumb_7t]

What price did you got it for? Can recommend any other 1440p monitor?

I bought it for around 32k 1.5 years back. The price has gone down quite a bit though.

There are other good models like the Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte G27Q and Asus Tuf VG27AQ1A. It all depends on your budget.

 

[Dinesh6252]

I bought it for around 32k 1.5 years back. The price has gone down quite a bit though.

There are other good models like the Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte G27Q and Asus Tuf VG27AQ1A. It all depends on your budget.

I have a budget of 30-35k max. Which is the best that I can get?

 

[mehimdumb_7t]

I have a budget of 30-35k max. Which is the best that I can get?

MSI MAG274QRF (non QD), LG 27GP850/32GP850/27GN880 (need to stretch the budget a bit for 32), Gigabyte G27Q/M27Q, Asus Tuf VG27AQ1A, Dell S2721DGF are some good options.

Some notes-
MSI MAG274QRF - Has a USB C port, and a good stand. Excellent colour performance with a good sRGB mode.

LG (all) - Poor contrast ratio, blacks look grey in the dark. Otherwise has excellent response and colour performance.
27GP850/32GP850 have a USB hub, which maybe useful to you.

Gigabyte - G27Q has a normal RGB panel, so no blurry text like the M27Q. However both these have a bit slower response times (if you care).
The M27Q has KVM and USB ports (Type C as well) which maybe useful to you. Also note that QC of Gigabyte is a bit worse than the others.

Asus/Dell - Dell is better performing, but it's a tough call.

All of these models are quite good. It is up to you to see which features you require and which compromises you are ok with.
For example, I wanted KVM and a height adjustable stand as I use multiple systems so went for the M27Q. I don't notice the blurry text that much, and performance is good enough (I'm no esports gamer to figure out 2-3ms differences in response times).

If KVM was not important, I would go for the MSI MAG274QRF as it has the best mix of features.

 

[INTL_akash]

Keyboard: Do not buy Cosmic Byte CB-GK-16, it has blue switches which are not at all suitable for gaming. They are too noisy and mostly everyone who buys them for gaming ends up changing them because of annoyance to themselves and to other people in house. Buy CB-GK-18 instead which had red switches.

Mouse: Instead of G102, you can try G304. It is the same mouse design as G102, but instead its wireless with the hero sensor which is the best gaming sensor by logitech. With a battery mod it competes with 10k mouses.(you can watch linus video for that). Wireless mouse are superior and better to buy it now than to have your brother wanting one later. Logitech switches tend to fail but can easily be replaced with Kailh 8.0 switches later on (you can get those for around Rs120 on genesispc). I wouldve recommended razer mice with optical switches but if those go bad they cant be fixed as spares are not easily found on India.

 

[gourav]

• CPU - Intel i5-12400F ( or should I wait for i5-13400? )
• Motherboard - MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Motherboard
• RAM - G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB DDR4 (8GBx2) 3200Mhz ( Is there a thing as VFM RGB RAM? )
• HDD - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM Desktop Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008) ( Please suggest better )
• SSD - Kingston KC3000 1TB M.2 NVMe Gen4 Internal SSD (SKC3000S/1024G) ( Please suggest better )
• PSU - Cooler Master MWE 550 V2 SMPS 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certification PSU With Active PFC ( Please suggest better

CPU choice is fine. Since launch dates are not confirmed, you might have to wait a lot for 13400, given that initial prices will be high. 12400 is itself a beast and will comfortably carry the build for 5 years.

For Motherboard, do take a look at Gigabyte B660m DS3H AX. MSI has this weird design choice where the Wi-Fi antenna is at the bottom of the panel and the antenna keeps interfering with the back panel ports.

RGB RAM will cost money. It's your call. You can check the prices of 3600 Mhz RAM, if it's not much higher.

Hard disk is fine.

For SSD, if you have to go for high end, check Samsung 980 pro, available at a slightly lower price. Otherwise go for SN570 1 TB for 7k and use the 4k saved to get a 650w gold modular PSU. Gen 4 SSD is not going to create any difference in performance.

 

[calvin1719]

1. Please get some sort of confirmation whether your brother actually likes RGB. Aesthetics != RGB and some don't like it at all.2
2. Don't get a Crucial P2 SSD as suggested above by someone; it's QLC and there are better available for a similar price.
3. Is your brother the type to shut down the PC often or keep it on 24x7? Are you getting a UPS? That HDD will probably die in 2-3 years if it's without a UPS or 24x7 operation.
4. You mentioned overclocking 'yes'. If that's the case I'd say go with an AIO, not an air cooler.
5. Bump up the PSU. The one you selected is a tier C PSU suggested for low power builds. Take a look at the tier list.
6. The RAM you specified doesn't actually specify a product, because there can be multiple variations under the Trident Z brand with 3200MHz. Check the CAS latency value and try to get 15 or at most 16.
7. The Logitech G102 is an absolutely garbage piece of hardware that's deliberately engineered to fail after about an year. Here's a couple of Corsair mice in around the same bracket: M55 RGB Pro, Harpoon Pro RGB
Also mice are pretty personal, as in what's good for someone is almost impossible for someone else to guess. I'd say give him the pc and buy him the mouse after checking which one he thinks would fit his hand/style.
8. Cosmic Byte CB GK 16 - This is a blue switch kb and it's pretty loud. Is your brother/whoever is going to be in the room the PC is kept in going to be ok with the clack clack clack? Consider Red/Brown switches. Cosmic Byte as a brand is fine.

 

[mehimdumb_7t]

4. You mentioned overclocking 'yes'. If that's the case I'd say go with an AIO, not an air cooler.

This actually doesn't matter as the 12400/13400 can't be overclocked. I don't think the chosen board has bclk overclocking as well.

A 120mm air cooler with good airflow is more than sufficient given the efficiency of the 12400. I suspect that the 13400 won't be any different efficiency wise.

The rest of the points are spot on.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

I have a budget of 30-35k max. Which is the best that I can get?

IMO Acer XV272U KV is enough for most people. Just check its rtings.com review. It has good response times & true 1 overdrive mode which is good for the whole refresh range. A friend of mine got Samsung G7 1440p 240Hz for 35k in May, never saw it again at that price, but that is something which I would consider as worth extra 10k over Acer one.

 

[Dinesh6252]

IMO Acer XV272U KV is enough for most people. Just check its rtings.com review. It has good response times & true 1 overdrive mode which is good for the whole refresh range. A friend of mine got Samsung G7 1440p 240Hz for 35k in May, never saw it again at that price, but that is something which I would consider as worth extra 10k over Acer one.

Getting a used Acer x34p for 30k good?

 

[MadAxe]

Bump up the powersupply to atleast 650W, preferably 750w. Corsair Cv, Antec HCG and XPG Reactor are pretty good power supplies, try to go 80+ Gold rated.

Shouldn't 550 W suffice? Which model for 750 W?

for monitor go with Gigabyte g27Q

Budget for monitor is 25k

For the GPU, consider picking up a used card, they go quite cheap on facebook groups and even on the marketplace here.

Not going the used route

A Crucial P2/WD SN550,SN570 will be sufficient as an OS drive.

Or Samsung 980 as mentioned by another FM above?

Mouse - Note that G102s are prone to the double click issue (own one myself). Most mice in this range are prone to double click unfortunately.
I'll let others post their advice

There is no other RGB mouse under budget.

Keyboard: Do not buy Cosmic Byte CB-GK-16, it has blue switches which are not at all suitable for gaming. They are too noisy and mostly everyone who buys them for gaming ends up changing them because of annoyance to themselves and to other people in house. Buy CB-GK-18 instead which had red switches

I've heard both the models have the noise issue. You sure?

Mouse: Instead of G102, you can try G304. It is the same mouse design as G102, but instead its wireless with the hero sensor which is the best gaming sensor by logitech. With a battery mod it competes with 10k mouses.(you can watch linus video for that). Wireless mouse are superior and better to buy it now than to have your brother wanting one later. Logitech switches tend to fail but can easily be replaced with Kailh 8.0 switches later on (you can get those for around Rs120 on genesispc). I wouldve recommended razer mice with optical switches but if those go bad they cant be fixed as spares are not easily found on India.

G304 also has double click issues apparently.

For Motherboard, do take a look at Gigabyte B660m DS3H AX. MSI has this weird design choice where the Wi-Fi antenna is at the bottom of the panel and the antenna keeps interfering with the back panel ports.

But isn't the MSI PRO B660M-A the best B660 mb as per reviews?

RGB RAM will cost money. It's your call. You can check the prices of 3600 Mhz RAM, if it's not much higher.

I'm looking to buy 3200 Mhz ones.

For SSD, if you have to go for high end, check Samsung 980 pro, available at a slightly lower price. Otherwise go for SN570 1 TB for 7k and use the 4k saved to get a 650w gold modular PSU. Gen 4 SSD is not going to create any difference in performance.

Don't want to go high end. I'm looking at absolute VFM components.

1. Please get some sort of confirmation whether your brother actually likes RGB. Aesthetics != RGB and some don't like it at all.2

He likes RGB

Don't get a Crucial P2 SSD as suggested above by someone; it's QLC and there are better available for a similar price.

Samsung 980 or other?

3. Is your brother the type to shut down the PC often or keep it on 24x7? Are you getting a UPS? That HDD will probably die in 2-3 years if it's without a UPS or 24x7 operation.

Often shuts down. The UPS can be bought later. APC is the brand to go right?

4. You mentioned overclocking 'yes'. If that's the case I'd say go with an AIO, not an air cooler.

Reason to go for AIO?

5. Bump up the PSU. The one you selected is a tier C PSU suggested for low power builds. Take a look at the tier list.

550 W should suffice for the build?

7. The Logitech G102 is an absolutely garbage piece of hardware that's deliberately engineered to fail after about an year. Here's a couple of Corsair mice in around the same bracket: M55 RGB Pro, Harpoon Pro RGB
Also mice are pretty personal, as in what's good for someone is almost impossible for someone else to guess. I'd say give him the pc and buy him the mouse after checking which one he thinks would fit his hand/style.

Looking for RGB mouse under budget

8. Cosmic Byte CB GK 16 - This is a blue switch kb and it's pretty loud. Is your brother/whoever is going to be in the room the PC is kept in going to be ok with the clack clack clack? Consider Red/Brown switches. Cosmic Byte as a brand is fine.

Cosmic Byte CB GK 18 doesn't have the noise issue?

IMO Acer XV272U KV is enough for most people. Just check its rtings.com review. It has good response times & true 1 overdrive mode which is good for the whole refresh range. A friend of mine got Samsung G7 1440p 240Hz for 35k in May, never saw it again at that price, but that is something which I would consider as worth extra 10k over Acer one.

My question was, is the model reviewed by Rtings same as the model sold in India? @mehimdumb_7t mentions that the model sold here seems to be the XV272U Pbmiiprz and not XV272U KVbmiiprzx.

 

[Dinesh6252]

I'm looking at absolute VFM components.

Then, getting used GPU would be a wiser choise. Use that money in good quality PSU SSD and monitor.

 

[Dauggie]

most of things feel proper, all i can suggest is to aim for 3070 for future-proofing 1440p gaming, since your budget is quite good. also since you aim to buy from offline market, make sure you stick to specific brand and model number of your product since these shops will miss guide you into buying something they want to sell.

also please don't use Chinese brands like cosmicbyte for keyboard spend some more and get Logitech or something, it's worth it.

 

[Asteroid]

Shouldn't 550 W suffice? Which model for 750 W?

Yeah, 550w is sufficient for now, but youre cutting it really close and it maynot be sufficient if you have a lot of RGB strips and peripherals. Better bump it up to 750w to be on the safe side. Also, the way power consumptions of new gpus are increasing, it gives you an upgrade headroom, else you'll have to buy a new psu when you upgrade gpu, why not spend a bit more now and save a lot later?

Budget for monitor is 25k

and your point is? Gigabyte g27q regularly sells for around 23k, its even gone as low as 17.5k on sale.

There is no other RGB mouse under budget.

then no point worrying about other options, is there? Just get the g102 and dont bother with the double click or sensor drift issues. Its the best RGB mice in your budget which has the most amount of lightshow and is the most customisable one in terms of rgb.

I've heard both the models have the noise issue. You sure?

If youre worried about noise, just get any mechanical keyboard in your budget that you like and has customisable rgb to your needs and has red switches, they are not as noisy.

But isn't the MSI PRO B660M-A the best B660 mb as per reviews?

Its a solid choice.

I'm looking to buy 3200 Mhz ones.

Why specifically 3200mhz? 3600mhz is not much more expensive and offers a noticeable improvement in performance.

Don't want to go high end. I'm looking at absolute VFM components.


He likes RGB

RGB and VFM dont exactly go hand in hand, you gotta compormise on vfm or quality if you want rgb

Samsung 980 or other?

samsung 980 hands down, costs about the same as its competition but is much better.

 

[calvin1719]

Reason to go for AIO

Better cooling for oc. But as mentioned the cpu is locked so air shouldn't be an issue.

APC is the brand to go right

Seems to be.

Samsung 980 or other?

980 or ws sn 570 I'd say.

550 W should suffice for the build?

It should

Cosmic Byte CB GK 18 doesn't have the noise issue?

All mechanical keyboards are going to be louder than membrane. Try checking youtube for mechanical switch sound comparison.

VFM is a bad term to be frank. Performance per rupee is not related to price tier of what you buy.