Building a new rig, looking for suggestions

Disarray said:
Been out of the PC game for a long time. Last rig i built was in 2006. Trying to go cheap and be able to play some games. How does this look?

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Disarray357/saved/#view=PnGcTW
Click to expand...

Actually very good for not having built a system in over a decade (y). All the parts you selected are compatible and would work fine.

But you can actually do a lot better for yourself performance wise and costing less. First, the Ryzen 5 2600 comes with a Wraith Stealth cooler, so purchasing an extra one is not necessary. Also, for the average user an NVMe SSD isn't needed, it's more for transferring large files for workstations (photo/video editing). So you can get a regular SATA SSD. You'll want a better GPU, the one you chose is for basic display output for $90. Let's use the money saved on cooler and SSD to get a future proof gaming RX 580 with 8GB VRAM for $160. Finally, you can purchase a Windows 10 license from the FS/FT forums for $10. Last, your build is missing a case. I assume you need a case

Let's go with this build instead:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.94 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 580 8 GB ROG STRIX Video Card ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks P300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $649.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-30 16:42 EST-0500

Total comes to $650 with case included, and it has a better PSU, motherboard, and GPU by a sizeable margin.
 
I would stick as much as you can into the video card though. You might need a higher watt power supply then.
NVME drives are all the rage but you can buy a 1TB sata SSD for about the same price and won't fill up as fast at it will be the exact same for load times for games.
 
Disarray said:
will that work with the same motherboard?
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Yes. Personally I think the 3600 CPU is the sweet spot right now myself though, less cores than the 2700 but the 3000 series got a healthy bump in IPC which makes it the better choice for gaming currently.

I actually just put a system together the other day for friend that uses the 3600 along with the same Motherboard, RAM, SSD, and case that janas19 listed above. I'd second those recommendations but I'd probably bump up the PSU to a slightly better unit(personal preference) and I'd recommend picking up at least one additional case fan with that case. That's a great case for the price BTW, my only complaint is that the PSU area is a little cramped making it hard to get the PSU in.
 
Disarray said:
will that work with the same motherboard?
Click to expand...

Yes, the 2700 is pretty much the same CPU as the 2600 except with 2 extra cores for $15 more with this deal and the promo code.


Ebernanut said:
Yes. Personally I think the 3600 CPU is the sweet spot right now myself though, less cores than the 2700 but the 3000 series got a healthy bump in IPC which makes it the better choice for gaming currently.

I actually just put a system together the other day for friend that uses the 3600 along with the same Motherboard, RAM, SSD, and case that janas19 listed above. I'd second those recommendations but I'd probably bump up the PSU to a slightly better unit(personal preference) and I'd recommend picking up at least one additional case fan with that case. That's a great case for the price BTW, my only complaint is that the PSU area is a little cramped making it hard to get the PSU in.
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How much of a bump are we talking though? It might be the better CPU but it's $60 more, if the performance bump is only 12-18% greater the 2600 is clearly the best CPU in performance/dollar.
 
janas19 said:
How much of a bump are we talking though? It might be the better CPU but it's $60 more, if the performance bump is only 12-18% greater the 2600 is clearly the best CPU in performance/dollar.
Click to expand...

The reviews I saw at launch put the 3600 just below the performance of my 2700x in multithreaded tasks with 2 less cores and better performance in games. Whether that's worth the extra money over the other two mentioned is subjective but I think it is and figured I'd throw my 2 cents out there, the 2700 should come with a better cooler though which might be a consideration.
 
janas19 said:
Yes, the 2700 is pretty much the same CPU as the 2600 except with 2 extra cores for $15 more with this deal and the promo code.




How much of a bump are we talking though? It might be the better CPU but it's $60 more, if the performance bump is only 12-18% greater the 2600 is clearly the best CPU in performance/dollar.
Click to expand...
according to this techpowerup review of the 3600:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-5-3600/
its about 9% better on average, than a 2600, in gaming, at 1080p.

They don't do an average score for the other types of tests. But if you look at compression, encoding, productivity, etc: most of it seems to be a vast improvement. A few things are small improvements.
 
A vanilla AMD 3600, 16gb of 3200/3600, an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX and a RX 580 8gb is the current "sweet-spot" IMO.

As for storage - NVMe is great but not required. (Go with whatever the best solid-state deal is @ time of purchase)
 
Ebernanut said:
The reviews I saw at launch put the 3600 just below the performance of my 2700x in multithreaded tasks with 2 less cores and better performance in games. Whether that's worth the extra money over the other two mentioned is subjective but I think it is and figured I'd throw my 2 cents out there, the 2700 should come with a better cooler though which might be a consideration.
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I think you're right. If budget allows, then the 3600 should be chosen over the 2600. However if the user is on a budget, the 2600 is by no means a bad choice. It's only 10% slower at 1080p on average, but a cost savings of $60.
 
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Nice recommendations all.

No mention of the Budget Beast Ryzen 1600AF? It has gone up to $99 recently but if going to the 2600 the 1600AF can be considered.

Personally I‘d go with a 3600 which will carry through a GPU upgrade down the line
 
Machine is running. What should I use to test and see how it’s performing?
 
https://www.ocbase.com/
aka OCCT

Overall System Info
https://www.hwinfo.com/
Temperature monitor (CPU-Z for cpu info is here too)
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
GPU-Z GPU info

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-gpu-z/
aida64 paid testing, can run eval version:

https://www.aida64.com/
Linpack Extreme, testing/burn in like Prime95 or Intel Burn Test. There are a lot of handy links on the techpowerup downloads pages.
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/linpack-xtreme/
Crystal Disk Mark for SSD/HD speed testing (Info program tells you drive stats)

https://crystalmark.info/en/
Asus' test program, Real Bench

https://rog.asus.com/rog-pro/realbench-v2-leaderboard/
 
Dont forget a monitor! There are so many good new monitors out there.

I suggest the AOC 24G2. Probably the best bang for the buck monitor out there at $180.
Here is a review for it on Youtube:


If you can find it in stock. It was available on Amazon for $180 yesterday, and today no go.
 
Ranulfo said:
https://www.ocbase.com/
aka OCCT

Overall System Info
https://www.hwinfo.com/
Temperature monitor (CPU-Z for cpu info is here too)
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
GPU-Z GPU info

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-gpu-z/
aida64 paid testing, can run eval version:

https://www.aida64.com/
Linpack Extreme, testing/burn in like Prime95 or Intel Burn Test. There are a lot of handy links on the techpowerup downloads pages.
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/linpack-xtreme/
Crystal Disk Mark for SSD/HD speed testing (Info program tells you drive stats)

https://crystalmark.info/en/
Asus' test program, Real Bench

https://rog.asus.com/rog-pro/realbench-v2-leaderboard/
Click to expand...
You don't need all that crap. Just play some games.
 
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