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How to build a gaming PC with a RTX3080 graphics card
I don't have time for much gaming anymore, but fortunately, I know plenty of people that do. The other day, a friend said that they'd managed to get hold of a Gigabyte GeForce RTX3080 graphics card.
A beast. And it should be for the $950 it costs.
These things are hard to get hold of, and it's not the kind of card that you shove into any old system. So, she wanted some advice on what else to buy.
The only limit: No spending more than $2,000 (excluding the money already paid for the GTX3080), and the processor had to be an Intel chip (not my decision, but makes it a bit easier for me).
That should be possible. With change for at least a pizza when it's done.
Must read: Best RAM 2021: Top memory upgrades for your PC
Note: The parts I've listed here do not include a PC case (there are too many to choose from), any peripherals, or Windows 10.
Without overspending on silicon, this is a great chip for gamers. 8-core humming along at 3.8GHz. You can spend a lot more on more cores and more speed, but games aren't really all that optimized to make use of it.
Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 dock - in pictures
A great motherboard for a gaming system. Plenty of scope for components, lots of tweak and fiddle with in the BIOS, and a good, stable board.
It's also got that gaming board look and feel. Not something I bother with because they quickly get a layer of dust, but it's important for some.
Got enough of a budget overhead to go for 32GB of RAM. Bit of overkill and might have managed on 16GB or 24GB, but this means RAM is not going to be a problem.
A nice, fast boot drive for the system.
Workhorse drive for the games. My favorite high-performance hard drive for gaming. I actually recommended installing two, so there was enough space to breathe, but not putting all the eggs into a single basket.
Globalstar Sat-Fi2 portable satellite Wi-Fi hotspot
This is not a cheap PSU, but in my experience, these are well-built and last when pushed hard. I've had SilverStone PSUs in systems that I've had running 24/7, and the Japanese capacitors seem to give them a long, reliable life.
Going for something a little different for the cooler. Not the prettiest or the "coolest," but it works, is super reliable, and should be more than enough for what we have here.
The total price for the components came to $1,570 (excluding taxes and delivery, but including the two hard drives I specified).