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Come 2021, what is considered a Mid-range PC?

Raysoul

Raysoul

Fat4All Ruined My Rug
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,016
So the earliest that I can build a PC would be somewhere mid 2021 because of personal reasons.

We all talk about the next gen graphic cards that costs a minimum of $500 USD of USA. But what would you consider a PC scratch build with reasonable price and a good performance?

I'll be keeping the question open ended as I don't want to say whether 1080p is enough, or I'm good with 30fps.

So what would be your expected Mid-range PC build?
 
Linus815

Linus815

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,775
midrange will likely be redefined by the 3060 and ryzen 4000 series coming soon.
 
Xeonidus

Xeonidus

“Fuck them kids.”
Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,277
I suspect an rtx 3060 will be 350 usd and rival a 2070. It will easily do 4k at max maybe for most current gen games but may struggle to consistently max out 4k games when the real next gen games start rolling out.
 
Sargerus

Sargerus

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
20,844
i knew my 1060 was already showing its age but by next year it will already be considered low tier it kinda hurts.
 
AhahaICantAnswer

AhahaICantAnswer

Member
Oct 31, 2017
542
I'm thinking 2060S/2070S (3060 might be at the same performance) + Ryzen 3600 + 16GB RAM 3200mhz

Despite being mid-range, it'll for sure last the whole next gen if you're going to stick to 1080p
 
ThatNerdGUI

ThatNerdGUI

Prophet of Truth
Member
Mar 19, 2020
4,550
For me a 3070 will be mid range and mostly everything below the 2080 in the RTX 2000 will become low end.
 
leng jai

leng jai

Member
Nov 2, 2017
15,118
Xeonidus said:
I suspect an rtx 3060 will be 350 usd and rival a 2070. It will easily do 4k at max maybe for most current gen games but may struggle to consistently max out 4k games when the real next gen games start rolling out.
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A normal 2070 isn't even close to 4K60 max for most relatively taxing current gen games.
 
Le Dude

Le Dude

Member
May 16, 2018
4,709
USA
It'll be a 3060, a 4600, 16gb of RAM, and an SSD.

Once COVID level demand dies down I imagine that'll be like $300 + $170 + $50 + $70 + the other odds and ends. That's maybe a $700-800 PC? That's mid-range IMO

If DLSS adoption becomes widespread or someone is aiming for 1080p gaming, I imagine even a 3050 will be adequate.
 
inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
8600k/8700k/r5 3600 (quad cores will be low/entry-tier/esports)
gtx 1080 / rtx 2060 / 56000xt (6GB+ VRAM)
16GB DDR4
SATA SSD
 
Alexandros

Alexandros

Member
Oct 26, 2017
17,811
I am very optimistic about the prospects of the 2021 mid-range gaming PC. With AMD and Nvidia releasing new hardware, AMD also bringing new Ryzen CPUs, it seems to me that a system with a $200ish CPU and a $200ish GPU would provide excellent performance.
 

Deleted member 16908

Oct 27, 2017
9,377
A PC with PS5 equivalent specs.

Ryzen 3600/3700X
RTX 2060 SUPER/2070
16GB DDR4 @ 3000+ MHz
NVMe SSD
 
Theswweet

Theswweet

RPG Site
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
6,409
California
Regular 2060 isn't far off from a 2070 when overclocked, with the main limiting factor being the VRAM. 3060 will definitely have to punch higher than that.
 
Tygre

Tygre

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,113
Chesire, UK
A mid range PC in 2021 will be a 2nd hand i5 6600k, GTX 1070 and 16GB of RAM.

A 2060 could possibly be considered mid range, but anything else in the 2000 or 3000 family is indisputably high-end.

PS9 said:
Steam Hardware Survey can answer your question better than ERA.
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For real.

2/3rds of Steam game at 1080p.

The top 7 GPUs are all 1000 series (okay, the 2060 is in 6th, but it's basically a 1000 series) and make up 40% of the total.
 
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Linus815

Linus815

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,775
Tygre said:
A mid range PC in 2021 will be a 2nd hand i5 6600k, GTX 1070 and 16GB of RAM.

A 2060 could possibly be considered mid range, but anything else in the 2000 or 3000 family is indisputably high-end.



For real.

2/3rds of Steam game at 1080p.

The top 7 GPUs are all 1000 series (okay, the 2060 is in 6th, but it's basically a 1000 series) and make up 40% of the total.
Click to expand...
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the question isnt what is the most popular pc config, the question is what will be considered mid range.
The 3060 will be marketed as the new upper tier midrange king. You could literally get a ryzen 2600 for just over 100 pounds until there was stock and no doubt the 3600's price (which is already pretty wallet friendly tbh, considering the performance) is going to go down further with the arriaval of the new gen.

It's a generational jump, so a lot of configurations are going to be outdated quickly. And obviously, most PC users dont have even "midrange" PC's, which is why intel technically has the highest GPU marketshare.
 
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Shoshi

Shoshi

Banned
Jan 9, 2018
1,661
With a nvidia GTX1660 Super 6GB VRAM you can play every game at 60fps 1080p.
With a RTX2060 you can play all DLSS 2.0 supported games in 4K. (But supported games are very limited)
 
Stacey

Stacey

Banned
Feb 8, 2020
4,610
It'll be a 2060, 16gb ram, ryzen 2600.

Anything more than it is just Era being in its little bubble.
 
orava

orava

Alt Account
Banned
Jun 10, 2019
1,316
Ryzen 7 3700x, 2070 super / 2080, 16GB DDR4. Probably already at lower mid range at early 2021.
 

Tangyn

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,281
I have a 2070 with an i7 6700k.... I'm hoping that will keep me going another few years! The processor will be the issue sooner or later though.

As for mid range I assume it will be a 2060 because of dlss but who knows... That's still not cheap cheap
 

Deleted member 679

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,741
RTX2060/3060, 16GB RAM

No idea about CPU as that component can vary quite wildly depending on whether or not you're ok with 30fps, and you didn't want to answer that.

My 2012 i5 3570k at the stock 3.4 speed (no idea why I even got the unlocked version) is still doing me just fine, as long as I can settle for 30fps in AAA open world games not called The Witcher 3. People with much stronger CPUs than mine already upgraded because they were having trouble at 60.

Half refresh rate vsync is the low/mid end user's best friend.
 
ThatNerdGUI

ThatNerdGUI

Prophet of Truth
Member
Mar 19, 2020
4,550
Kitsune86 said:
An

im sorry what... Anything below the 2080 is now low end? That's complete asinine. What planet do you people live in where a 2080, a $829 CDN GPU is low end.
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It's is now, not in 3-4 months. The prices of the 20 series will drop like a rock hence my comment. Not too hard to understand.
 
BeI

BeI

Member
Dec 9, 2017
5,980
Imo, RTX 3050 / 3060 + Ryzen 3600 / 4600 + 16/32 GB DDR4 + Any NVME will become the mid-range next year. That should probably be plenty of performance for the vast majority of pc gamers playing at 1080p / 1440p.
 
Digital Savior

Digital Savior

Member
Nov 8, 2017
1,573
Mid-range is probably about $1200. If you're not buying until next year, wait until the next gen chips are out.

Probably will be a 3060 or AMD equivalent with Zen3 or 11th gen Intel. Stuff isn't out yet, wait for reviews.
 

Deleted member 45130

Banned
Jun 17, 2018
3,244
I think this is highly dependant on what settings you're happy with. I'm running a 2070 and i7 9750 with 16GB RAM. I'm pretty sure I'll see through the next 3 or 4 years at 1080p 60FPS
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,164
i tried typing out an answer and thought about my current rig i spent $1200 on in 2017 and how that's arguably low tier by such standards and got too depressed to weigh a meaningful reply
 
thePopaShots

thePopaShots

Member
Nov 27, 2017
1,688
Built a system with a Ryzen 5 3600, and a 2070 Super last November, and after watching the 3080 event my system already feels average. I can play most current games at 1440P, 60FPS or higher, but I'll definitely be upgrading my GPU and CPU next year. It's an expensive hobby to stay near the top of the high end, that's for sure.
 
Delusibeta

Delusibeta

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,648
For a from-scratch perspective, I'd say the following would be what I'd be targeting:
Ryzen 5 4600
RTX 3060
16Gb RAM
NVMe PCIe 3 SSD of some description

I reckon the RTX 3000 series is going to prompt a pretty significant upgrade cycle, since everyone's kinda taken aback by Nvidia's performance claims.
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
Basically something like the following as other folks stated:

Ryzen 4600-4600x CPU - $200
B550 or 650 motherboard - $100 to $130
16GB of DDR4 3600 (or higher) - $80ish ?
Decent 1TB NVME SSD - $150
Decent Case and fans - $100
650 to 750w PSU - $100 to 150
Cooler (only if you want to OC) - $70 (could go from $50 to way above $100)
RTX 3060 - $350

So about $1100 to $1200 with tax and shipping? Doesn't include monitor, TV, kb/m, speakers or headphones, a chair, desk, a house / apartment, or a job to pay for them 😉 .
 
OP
OP
Raysoul

Raysoul

Fat4All Ruined My Rug
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,016
Surprised that no one is recommending AMD graphic cards. Are they not worth it even on the mid range part?
 
Lump

Lump

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,025
Raysoul said:
Surprised that no one is recommending AMD graphic cards. Are they not worth it even on the mid range part?
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Nvidia priced Ampere cards very well compared to Turing, so the impetus is on AMD for showing that they can at least match what Nvidia is doing at the same pricepoints.

But even if AMD comes out with something that matches the 3070 at 499, (which by Nvidia's metrics is roughly the equivalent of matching the 2080 Ti), it's effectively certain that it can't possibly be priced that much better - and even then, AMD users are missing out on Nvidia's Tensor Cores which bring hardware accelerated raytracing and DLSS to the table.
 
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