Tentative build for mid- to upper mid-range gaming build. Feedback?

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Papasmurf89

Member
Building my first rig. Been playing off of laptops for the past decade so this will be quite the upgrade. Looking forward to it.

Will be for gaming (no streaming) and other mundane tasks (e.g., web browsing, Microsoft Office, etc.). Mostly play competitive games (FPS' and MOBAs) as well as some (A)RPGs. Nothing super demanding but it would be great if I have the option to play some more intensive games in the future (maybe Cyberpunk 2077?). Not a big single player guy. Some stuff I've played in the past: Apex Legends, Realm Royale, PUBG, FN, CS:GO, Day of Defeat: Source, Overwatch, R6S, Insurgency, Killing Floor, Payday 2, World of Tanks, Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, Diablo 3, Borderlands 2, Warframe, Heroes of the Storm, Dota 2. Lots more but that's a pretty good snapshot. Games I'm interested in playing now (that I haven't been able to yet) include COD: Warzone, Valorant, and Borderlands 3. Maybe Cyberpunk 2077.

Would really like to give 144hz gaming a try but other than that I'm not entirely sure what performance specs I'm looking for. Best framerate possible at a reasonable price? Don't mind upgrading specific parts in the future but it would be great if what I build initially lasts a few years.

Budget is $1000-1300 (including monitor). I will need to buy a monitor as well. Any recommendations? Will be buying in US. Tower is currently around $1000 so would be willing to spend up to $300 on monitor. Have heard good things about the ASUS VG249Q.

Here's a quick build I threw together using PCPartPicker and Logical Increments. Let me know what you think! Open to any and all ideas. Definitely not married to any of these parts yet. If I can drop this price a bit that'd be great but don't mind spending my max if it's worth it.
 
OmniDyne

OmniDyne

Active Member
Papasmurf89 said:
Here's a quick build I threw together using PCPartPicker and Logical Increments. Let me know what you think!
Click to expand...

Depending on how far you want to go with creature comforts, the most effective way to execute your setup for gaming is to house your operating system separate from your games; ideally you'll want the operating system on an SSD. The reason being is that game load times seem to be impacted negativity when loading from the same drive the OS is housed on. On the whole, games take about the same amount of time to load whether on a hard disk or SSD as long as the operating system isn't directly involved.

You'll definitely need more than 1TB of storage. You could stick with the SN550 to boot from and get a 3 or 4 TB hard disk, preferably from Western Digital, or go with a multi-terabyte 2.5" SSD.

Or, you can purchase a smaller (256GB-ish) 2.5" SATA SSD as the boot drive and purchase a multi-terabyte SN550 or equivalent drive, or hard disk for the games.

I can recommend reputable SSD models when I get more time later today, if you'd like.

That Corsair Power supply is outdated and there are superior models that are cheaper.
 
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Papasmurf89

Member
Interesting. Had no idea that game load times are negatively impacted when loaded from the same drive the OS is installed on. How much of an impact is there? And when you say "load times"...what exactly are you referring to? The amount of time it takes to load up the game or processes that actually occur while playing the game? Have never had an SSD+HDD but am open to the idea. Would love some SSD recommendations if you got them.

What PSU would you recommend? Do you think springing for a 80+ Gold is worth it?
 
jevery

jevery

Active Member
I was researching some of your choices yesterday and saw the GX-550. Modular, good reviews, and warranty. It would likely be my choice at this point in time, although, it looks to be so popular it’s sold out at Newegg. B & H Photo states they’re expecting stock within 7-10 days. I like your choices so far, The Tomahawk MB, RX 5600XT, Ryzen 5 3600. I personally would probably stick with 3200 memory just to decrease the chance of incompatibility. Have you decided on a monitor?
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Totally don't skimp on the monitor, I clung on to an old 1080p 60Hz panel but the new high refresh ones make a huge difference. You don't think it will but it totally does.

1-2 TB of NVME as primary storage is easily doable, it entirely depends on your data use though. A 1TB NVME and 2TB 'bulk storage SATA SSD' are decent price points currently if you want everything solid state (and not icky like mechanical storage).
 
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Papasmurf89

Member
jevery said:
I personally would probably stick with 3200 memory just to decrease the chance of incompatibility. Have you decided on a monitor?
Click to expand...

I went with the 3600 for my memory cause that's what a friend recommended me. Had no idea there's a possibility of incompatibility. Do I lose anything by going from 3600 to 3200? Not even sure how those numbers even relate to RAM.

For the monitor I'm thinking the ASUS VG249Q. Was also looking at the AOC 24G2 but haven't been able to find it in stock anywhere. The ASUS has the same panda panel apparently.

beers said:
Totally don't skimp on the monitor, I clung on to an old 1080p 60Hz panel but the new high refresh ones make a huge difference. You don't think it will but it totally does.

1-2 TB of NVME as primary storage is easily doable, it entirely depends on your data use though. A 1TB NVME and 2TB 'bulk storage SATA SSD' are decent price points currently if you want everything solid state (and not icky like mechanical storage).
Click to expand...

Leaning towards the ASUS VG249Q for my monitor. Think that'd be a good choice.

And are you recommending I keep the Western Digital Blue as my primary SSD and then add another SSD as secondary storage? Currently have a 2 TB external hard drive that I keep all of my movies on. I'm thinking 1 TB SSD should be enough but not opposed to getting more space if I need it.

Still trying to find a good PSU. What do you guys think of the EVGA 550 GA? 550W 80+ Gold. $30 off with coupon code and mail-in rebate. Open to other recommendations too.

Also, it looks like I can get a 5700 for just ~$20 more than the 5600 XT. Worth it? And are these the right cards? It's so confusing to me how there are so many different manufacturers for the same chipset.
 
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jevery

jevery

Active Member
Papasmurf89 said:
I went with the 3600 for my memory cause that's what a friend recommended me. Had no idea there's a possibility of incompatibility.
Click to expand...

RAM "speed" is the frequency the MB northbridge runs the RAM at - (to my limited understanding). Faster is better. Occasionally a MB will refuse overclock a particular set of RAM to it's intended speed and it will default to base clock - like 2133 or something. MB manufactures maintain a RAM compatibility list which is a list of RAM that has been tested to run at intended speed. Here's MSI's support page for the Tomahawk. Look for memory compatibility.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX#support-cpu
 
jevery

jevery

Active Member
That particular set (F4-3600C16D-16GVKC) is not on MSI's list. Doesn't mean it won't work - it likely would - but does mean it hasn't been tested and "approved" by MSI. I always try to find something off the compatibility list.
For the EVGA PSU you'd be giving up some warranty (2 yrs labor/3 yrs parts) compared to 10/10 for the Seasonic.
For the 5600XT vs the 5700 you'll have to be the judge.
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-5700-vs-AMD-RX-5600-XT/4046vs4062
At some point it starts to make you crazy. Research, compare, consider expectation vs need vs vs budget - repeat. At some point you have to pull the trigger, but you don't want to do so before going around the circle a few times.
 
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beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
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Papasmurf89

Member
Ended up switching my build around a bit.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $939.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-16 20:31 EDT-0400

What do you guys think? The buggy cards and driver issues with the Radeon 5700 cards scared me away. Going with the 2070 instead. Got some cheaper RAM (3200mhz/16CAS) and a cheaper SSD (SN550 seemed to be pretty overpriced). Dropped the cooler for now. Still might get it, but also might just see how the card runs with the stock cooler. If I do get a cooler would probably get a Hyper 212 or a Freezer 34 DUO.

Still trying to find a reasonably priced PSU (<$100). Looking for something that's 550-650W 80+ Gold. Gigabyte's site recommended 550W. Everything seems to be overpriced, out of stock, or on special order. Any recommendations?
 
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jevery

jevery

Active Member
You don’t NEED more than 550 – especially since you’re considering a high quality gold series unit, (though, I did buy a 650 for my last build). Us old-school builders used to feel we needed at least 750 watts in case we wanted to crossfire/SLI GPUs plus OC. Newegg’s calculator recommends about a 470w PSU for your build. I’d be perfectly comfortable using that PSU with what you’re putting together.
 
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Papasmurf89

Member
Okay, thanks. Just trying to decide between the RMx (2018) at 550W and the EVGA G5 at 650W. Both are Gold, same price, and fully modular. RMx is ranked slightly higher in this tier list, though. Seems like I can't go wrong with either. 10 year warranty on the EVGA is nice. Ordering my other parts now and will probably just make a game time decision when I get there unless you have any other nuggets of wisdom. Thanks again for all your help. Really appreciate it.
 
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Papasmurf89

Member
Gotcha. Thanks. Think I'll go with the EVGA G5 just in case I ever want to OC down the line.

Got a headlamp already. Anything else you'd recommend I grab while setting everything up? Got some thermal paste from re-doing my laptop. Screwdrivers (although no magnetic tip), allen wrenches...all that good stuff.
 
jevery

jevery

Active Member
Little zip ties. Take your time mounting the MB on the tray - Getting the standoffs placed correctly between the MB and the tray. Most frequent mistake is MB grounding somewhere on the case due to getting in a hurry mounting the MB.
 
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Papasmurf89

Member
Thanks. Quick question...the RTX 2070 is unfortunately backordered. Must've just missed it since it wasn't last night. Think I'm going to pick up a 2060 Super instead cause I'd really like to just pull the trigger already. I wouldn't be losing much, if anything, right? Heard they're very similar in terms of performance.

Edit: Also, is it worth it to buy any SquareTrade protection plans? Most of the components have manufacturer warranties, right?
 
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