Budget Rocket Lake build

wandplus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
370
I haven't even put this together because I want to build shelves for a while. But here it is (all prices in Canadian dollars):
Thermaltake Versa H21 case $67.63 (Amazon.ca)
Corsair CX 450M PSU $69.99 (Amazon.ca)
Crucial Ballistix 16GB 3200 MHz RAM $111.99 (Amazon.ca)
AsRock B560M-HDV motherboard $119.99 (Newegg.ca)
WD Blue 1TB SSD $129.99 (Newegg.ca)
Intel i5-11500 CPU $269.00 (Canadacomputers.com)
Asus DVD-RW $21.00 (ShopRBC)
Windows 10 OEM $134.94 (ShopRBC)
Thermalright AXP-90i heatsink $43.40 (Aliexpress, I think it was Cloudfanstore)
Total not counting shipping and tax without the OS is $832.99. The total counting the OS but still without shipping and tax is $967.93 CAD which is about $799.41 USD. (Note the Canadian dollar has fluctuated wildly lately.)

If I want to criticize this build I bought the Thermaltake H21 case thinking I wanted to experiment with another brand. I almost panicked when I saw you can't install a 120mm fan at the front but it's a mesh front so the machine should survive. (I bought an Antec GX 202 I want to use for a future Meteor Lake build in 2023 but I bought Coolermaster RGB fans for it.) I like the fact that the H21 still has space for an optical drive and has USB 3.0 and 2.0.
The PSU was bought before I even realized there was a small difference between the CX 450 and CX 450M. Had I known ahead of time, I would have bought the CX 450 but I know the CX 450M is superior to other cheaper choices.
I usually like to buy the Coolermaster Gemini S5 but it was out of stock when I was shopping. So I decided to try the Thermalright AXP-90i. The reviews were OK.
As for the RAM, I got really confused reading about the state of modern CPUs, motherboards and RAM. From the research I did, the RAM I bought might run at 2933MHz or maybe even 3200MHz but I'll see. (That would be with the B560 chipset but I wanted PCIe4.) But then there's the whole thing about Gear 1 and Gear 2. I guess I can get into that once I build the machine.
The AsRock B560M-HDV has a DVI and VGA port. I wanted to use this as a gaming machine then later use it in a couple of years to watch films/TV shows. So eventually even if I want to use my GTX 1050 Ti for a while (then maybe an RTX 3050 Ti) I want to take out the vid card eventually.
I got the i5-11500 partly because once I take out a video card I still want to be able to play the last version of Unreal Tournament with the onboard video as a backup for my main machine.
I got the OS on a disc even though later on I figured maybe it would have been a tiny bit more convenient to get the flash drive next time.
Overall the improvements over my current main machine: Win10 instead of Win8, a 6 core CPU instead of 4 core (i5-4570), 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB and a 2400MB/s SSD instead of 500MB/s SSD.
As for the power limit on the motherboard, I may not raise the power limits even if it limits gaming performance somewhat. I'd rather play it safe and also consume less power.
 
Yeah, that processor is the cheapest one with full-fat 32 EUs.

If AMD hadn't completely dropped the ball with the retail 5600G, then I would be beating you over the head for this shit :D AMD's fucking-over thir own APU market by making the Zen 1 processors the last ones released to retail (so they are currently selling for upardsd of $250)
 
Actually there are some pre-built systems with the 6 core Ryzen 4600G but I'd only get one if it was cheap enough because otherwise anyone trying to save money might be better off with the 11400 or even the 11400F if it comes with a GTX 1650. That's one of the odd things with some pre-built systems though, a lot include a 1650 when most people would probably go for an RTX 3050 Ti (even though it's only been launched for laptops).
If anyone looked at the latest drops in Canada though, they were the $3K RTX 3090. I mean wow.
 
Actually there are some pre-built systems with the 6 core Ryzen 4600G but I'd only get one if it was cheap enough because otherwise anyone trying to save money might be better off with the 11400 or even the 11400F if it comes with a GTX 1650. That's one of the odd things with some pre-built systems though, a lot include a 1650 when most people would probably go for an RTX 3050 Ti (even though it's only been launched for laptops).
If anyone looked at the latest drops in Canada though, they were the $3K RTX 3090. I mean wow.

This is the only Zen 3 shipping:

https://www.newegg.com/hp-pavilion-tp01-1140-student-home-office/p/1VK-001E-41DS9?item=1VK-001E-41DS9&nm_mc=knc-googleadwords&cm_mmc=knc-googleadwords-_-desktop pc-_-hp-_-1VK001E41DS9&source=region

you pay over $600 for Vega 7 IGP, on a shitty HP Pavilion. no, op has the right plan here!

The zen 2 parts are similarky priced

https://www.newegg.com/hp-pavilion-...-desktop pc-_-hp-_-1VK001E41DS9&source=region
 
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Some things I looked into that I found a bit peculiar. One is I noticed there aren't too many ITX boards out there with an optical output, even though I found one at a good price for the AMD platform.
The other thing I found is they're actually getting rid of DVI in favor of either Displayport or HDMI. Looking at that it looked like Displayport is more geared towards PCs while HDMI is more geared towards TVs. But oddly enough I found a bunch of lower cost monitors that had HDMI but no Displayport. I was able to find monitors though that had both Displayport and DVI.
And now it looks also like Intel is going to push their new PSU standard on other companies. I don't know if they'll have time before Alder Lake is released. So it looks like new heatsinks wil be required and who knows about PSUs.
 
Some things I looked into that I found a bit peculiar. One is I noticed there aren't too many ITX boards out there with an optical output, even though I found one at a good price for the AMD platform.
The other thing I found is they're actually getting rid of DVI in favor of either Displayport or HDMI. Looking at that it looked like Displayport is more geared towards PCs while HDMI is more geared towards TVs. But oddly enough I found a bunch of lower cost monitors that had HDMI but no Displayport. I was able to find monitors though that had both Displayport and DVI.
And now it looks also like Intel is going to push their new PSU standard on other companies. I don't know if they'll have time before Alder Lake is released. So it looks like new heatsinks wil be required and who knows about PSUs.
If we are talking 1080p , then you can convert HDMI to DVI with a passive:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DVI-to-HDMI-Cable/dp/B014I8UU2W

If you are freaking about optical-out, just pickup an USB -> optical adapter (it's digital to digital. so no difference between $5 and $100 models.)
 
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Well, as far as everything I read lately goes, it seems easier to go 1080p for various reasons: cheaper monitors, cheaper GPUs, easier compatibility with KVM switches if you want to hook up more than one computer per monitor...
EDIT: I just did a review of some interesting looking cases and realized one of the only cases that allows you to have an optical drive, side window and front-facing USB ports is the Antec GX 202 (although I wish it had a sliding side panel).
ANOTHER EDIT: If you want to read something a bit comical, today on May 18, 2021 I read Vietnam closed an industrial park where Foxconn is situated. I just looked at my CPU and motherboard. Both were made in Vietnam.
 
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