Just my 2 cents... (you're probably overwhelmed already).

- Go for a real PC, not laptop, if you have no good reason otherwise. Laptops are more expensive and harder (as in "nightmare difficulty") to upgrade when it comes to gaming.
- Don't build your first real gaming PC yourself. It's really possible to break something, and you end up with expensive trash and won't even know which part is broken. The best way would be to have friends who you trust in this regard who can recommend to the needed components and have a pro assemble them. The second best is to simply buy a "gaming machine" from an honourable hardware vendor. PCs are complex things (which makes them great) but tinkering is just not for every one and needs a bit of experience.
- And the most important: Get second best if you can afford it. The "bleeding edge" stuff is most of the time ridiculously expensive, the second row will still be pricey, but last a few years, so this really pays off in the end. If you buy cheaper, you'll probably want to upgrade in a year or two, which is in the end often more expensive.

one screw up like that thats lasted this long to a newbie is not worth it. also Nvidia has the history of being more friendly to older tech... the only downside is Linux support. Nvidia simply has more compatibility then AMD cards and less issues.

core stability above all else, that's what this all comes down too... there is nothing that trumps stability.

I believe the OP asked for a "smooth experience". So an SSD for booting/working with Windows is definitely the key to that.
Why don't you recommend a Pentium 2 while you're at it.


It's not just about being future proof. With 16GB you can run a recent game *without* having to close everything that's already running (misc. software, browser (tabs), etc.)

Well then if he wants to drop $70 for 250GB of SSD then go for it, but that could go into 2 TB of 7200RPM disks... starting out sure, why not get an SSD and then a 1TB HDD, that are about $50 right now and use that as archival backup or swap space.

as a note an SSD can die in as little as 100 Terabytes of written data (written in any form) or as much as 2 Petabytes written, but those would cost as much as the entire computer. Normally you'll see SSD's last between 600 and 1100 Terabytes before they start their death throws.

My suggestions are for longevity and stability, a compromise of speed/performance and durability plus easy of use and understanding for a newcomer.

Win 10 is fine. No problems with it.

Adding RAM or changing hard drives/SSD (to bigger ones) is not generally harder on laptops than on desktops, while CPUs and GPUs are not generally even meant to be replaced on laptops, or definitely not upgraded. I recall there are some such gaming laptops where such options exists, but for 99% of laptops that is not the case.

However, when I think about my past desktop PCs, by the time I decided it is time to upgrade some vital component in it (CPU or GPU), usually at that point it made more sense to buy a whole new PC anyway. Quite often the slot technology etc. had already changed so a new bleeding edge graphics card wouldn't necessarily even fit to my old PC because of having wrong kinds of slots, or new CPUs wouldn't fit into the CPU socket that my motherboard had. Or even if they did, they would still not work optimally as e.g. my motherboard was missing some vital new feature that newer motherboards had that supported those newer CPUs/GPUs or new memory types etc.

Heck, even once when my PSU died and I bought a new one, I realized only at home that the power connector standard (to the motherboard) had apparently changed in the meantime, so I needed to hunt down for some kind of adapter that I could use that new PSU with my PC. Luckily I did find such adapter so that I could bring my PC back to life with a new PSU.

Then again, since I haven't bought new desktops for a long time, I don't know if the slot/socket/memory technology changes that often anymore, as it did back then. But yeah, all in all, desktops do offer more power per buck and easier maintenance, while laptops are more compact solutions and offer the portability (which are quite important to me, I love it how easy it is for me to move my gaming laptop, even just within my home to a different room, or even take somewhere if needed; or just close the lid of my laptop and push it to the cupboard if some friends come over).

Even more important to me is that someone else guarantees that the whole system, with all the different components, works together without a hitch. If I buy different components from different vendors and then there is some freak incompatibility problem that this GPU doesn't go well with this CPU or motherboard, then I don't have to try to find out what is the culprit. If I e.g. complain to the motherboard and GPU vendors that their components don't go well together, they will each just say it is the other vendor's problem.

When some PC store assembles the system for me, then they have to figure out how to sort out such problems, or alternatively contact me to negotiate whether to use some other component instead which doesn't have compatibility issues.

Doesn't Germany have PC stores that assemble (and test) the PC for you, from components that you have selected from their inventory? Here they usually have some default options (one for basic use, a more expensive one for gaming etc.) and either you go with one of those predefined setups, or then ask to replace some of the components in those default setups if you want some other GPU or different kind of or more RAM or HDD instead of SSD (or vice versa) etc.

So the only options here are not either build a PC from components yourself, or buy a generic HP desktop with no options. There's the third option between those two extremes. (Then again nowadays there seem to be less such stores than 10 years ago, but they are still there...).

I have an AMD GPU with 8GB of VRAM. And no, it's not even a Vega (which alone would be expensive enough to blow 70% of OP's budget).

From the laptops I know it can often be quite a challenge just to open the damn things. Which is IMO a real PITA, since it's sometimes necessary to remove all the dust and cat hair from the cooling...

I'm totally with you here. For me spending more money for service and guarantee is less an issue than saving a few bucks and ending up with broken machine and no one but myself to blame. Esp. assembling MB, CPU and cooler can be quite tricky with some combinations (Scythe cooler and AMD CPU...) and it's easy to actually damage the CPU if done wrong.

In larger cities you have stores which can give you competent advice and will build your PC. Although many of them are struggling because many people are glad to get the consulting but buy the components cheaper online afterwards... I wouldn't do that, because I find it unfair and cheap, also I want to support local stores in favour of some big companies.
In the countryside it's considerable harder to find stores like that - there are "computer shops", but most of them are specialised to provide the local craftsmen and shop owners with their office machines, so they have a small set of reliable mid- to low-end machines available and don't care much for knowledge of hardware for more special needs (be it gaming, development, 3D design or movie processing).
In that case there's still a big online shop called Alternate. While a true consulting is not really possible with them, at least they have their "PC configurator" which reliably selects only compatible components based on what you selected before.