The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v3

[PhantomFFR]

No GPU in the machine. Uses Intel 4600 integrated. It's an office computer. Was thinking of putting in a cheaper AMD radeon pro or nvidia 1660. Something that can drive monitors from 9-5 and play games after dark

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What do you plan on doing with the computer? If it stays as an office PC, then I don't quite understand your desire for an upgrade. It should be sufficient for that. A GPU wouldn't benefit you in that case, and an upgrade to a Ryzen 1600AF would require not just a new mainboard and new RAM, but also a graphics card, and that will be a bit of a squeeze with 300 USD.

 

[Deleted member 39374]

bad double post

 

[Deleted member 39374]

What do you plan on doing with the computer? If it stays as an office PC, then I don't quite understand your desire for an upgrade. It should be sufficient for that. A GPU wouldn't benefit you in that case, and an upgrade to a Ryzen 1600AF would require not just a new mainboard and new RAM, but also a graphics card, and that will be a bit of a squeeze with 300 USD.

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It would do office tasks during the day and play games afterhours. Maybe I'm just being impulsive. It has a really nice case and it hasn't been touched since 2014 and I really want to get into it and work on it lol

 

[Crazymoogle]

I'm definitely going X570, i don't see any reason not to with, like you said, good boards in the 150-160 range. I've got the MSI A PRO on my list right now just being an MSI fan. Are there any new features that are on some boards and not others I need to keep an eye out for? I remember seeing a new PCIe is coming, but I haven't paid much attention to it yet.

As for my 4000 series question, I'm wondering if it's worth forgoing the 3700x for the cheaper 3600 and then going 4000 series right away when it comes out. Will the X570's take full advantage of them or will it be a situation of 'well the X670 boards are better at this this and this.'

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MSI was the gold standard for B450, but they got killed on X570 for poor cooling, eventually resulting in Tom's Hardware also getting blown up for blindly recommending MSI. Watch the video (or browse through the channel) to see what boards are okay or not.

Your strategy on CPU is exactly what I am doing. (ASUS TUF X570 + 3600). We don't know exactly how X670 will be better (apart from out-of-box R4000 support) but speculation suggests passive cooling for the chipset (almost all X570 require a small fan over the chipset), with USB 3.2 - 2x2 support (a very wide bandwidth solution to allow for 20Gbps hard drives) and possibly USB 4.0 (which basically standardizes Thunderbolt). But that last point is really uncertain and more dramatic changes (PCIe 5.0, DDR5) are waiting on Ryzen 5000 and a new CPU socket. So it's entirely possible X670 is just cooler + more modern USB ports, maybe some more PCIe lanes for drives. Certainly the Ryzen 4000 CPU shouldn't care either way, just as you get just as good perf now on B450/X570.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($199.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($77.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card ($259.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400S ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $999.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-30 22:43 EDT-0400

The idea being that I'm taking the OP's advice and will replace both the processor and the GPU with the next refresh when they come out. I'm also considering getting an Ultrawide (I'm looking at the Dell AW3420DW ) and I think these specs are good enough but if anyone has a 2nd opinion feel free to share.

Any glaring issues?

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• For one, if you get the vanilla Ryzen 3600, it's a fan downgrade. So unless you have a good CPU cooler to carry over from the 2600, you'll either want the 3600X (marginally better cooler) or to get a 3rd party one. It's not a hard requirement - the 3600 cooler does work - but temps will be better on, say, Hyper 212, Mugen 5, Dark Rock Slim, etc. Just make sure it fits in your case of choice.
  
  
• P400A is usually preferred to the P400S because of the mesh front. If you're all about noise avoidance maybe the S works but generally fans run quieter with more airflow...and the P400A has much better airflow. See Gamers Nexus review. (alt case choice here would be the Meshify C.
  
  
• 970 Evo Plus is nice, of course, but you can get a Crucial P1 1TB for less money. Still NVMe, still PCIe 3.0, double the storage. In general any lesser brand M2 is going to be great so long as it has a DRAM cache.

This is probably quite personal I guess, because I am the opposite (except I've never had curved screens of any sort) - I find IPS usually looks horrendous, with a very uneven grey / yellow / even orange in the corners "black", a lot of the time thinking there is backlight bleed but no, that's just how it is. I far prefer a (flat) VA panel with it's inky solid blacks and wonderful contrast!

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It depends on your experience and price range, I suppose. The Pixio P7 / Prism+ F270i Pro are popular for a reason, mainly because they've found a way to do bright (350 cd/m2+) Freesync, QHD, AHVA (IPS) panels with minimal bleed or blotchiness for ~$300 USD. Meanwhile all of the VA panels I've seen in that price range are either hampered badly by brightness, viewing angle, or screen sharpness. Maybe it goes away in the higher end models. Of course, if you want curved, affordable ultrawide, VA is the only game in town. If you want ultrahigh refresh, TN is the place to be. But I'd argue the best home/game average experience is with AHVA right now. ymmv of course.

How has it been a drag? I've been using it since 2018, with no major issues that I can recall off the top of my head.

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Just my experience with Macbook Pros and workplace Dell machines (not XPS, but still integrated graphics); 4K output is always a choppy mouse experience. On the desktop, overall perf is fine but a random variety of the apps we use for production don't do 4K very well, meaning a constant juggling act between 4k and 1080p. Maybe if you go 4K only it's less of an issue? Workplaces rarely give the best hardware though since they are usually bulk supplying for the entire office.

 

[Geist]

There's nothing glaring about the build.

The case doesn't look remarkable from the perspective of thermals, but looking around, it seems about as good as any other case at that price.
If you wanted to sacrifice some write speed for storage capacity, you could change the SSD for a different brand. I think WD has a 1TB NVMe SSD for 125 bucks.
The ram could be slightly faster. That would be an additional 20 bucks? Corsair should offer 16GB of DDR4-3600 for 100 bucks.


That system looks good, though.

Click to shrink...

• For one, if you get the vanilla Ryzen 3600, it's a fan downgrade. So unless you have a good CPU cooler to carry over from the 2600, you'll either want the 3600X (marginally better cooler) or to get a 3rd party one. It's not a hard requirement - the 3600 cooler does work - but temps will be better on, say, Hyper 212, Mugen 5, Dark Rock Slim, etc. Just make sure it fits in your case of choice.
  
  
• P400A is usually preferred to the P400S because of the mesh front. If you're all about noise avoidance maybe the S works but generally fans run quieter with more airflow...and the P400A has much better airflow. See Gamers Nexus review. (alt case choice here would be the Meshify C.
  
  
• 970 Evo Plus is nice, of course, but you can get a Crucial P1 1TB for less money. Still NVMe, still PCIe 3.0, double the storage. In general any lesser brand M2 is going to be great so long as it has a DRAM cache.

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Thanks for the advice. Upgraded the RAM to Vengeance 3600 and changed the SSD to the Crucial P1 1TB. My last SSD was a Samsung Evo so I may have had a bit of brand loyalty in my thinking there. I actually do technically own a Hyper 212, but it's in another state so I decided to get the 3600x. Spending an extra $25 is better than asking a family member to dig around in my storage boxes and ship it to me.

I really wanted the P400A but it's apparently either sold out everywhere or being sold with a significant markup. Meshify C does look pretty good though and even though my last case was a "silent" case that I appreciated, I'll think I'll prioritize thermals this time.

 

[Deleted member 179]

MSI was the gold standard for B450, but they got killed on X570 for poor cooling, eventually resulting in Tom's Hardware also getting blown up for blindly recommending MSI. Watch the video (or browse through the channel) to see what boards are okay or not.

Your strategy on CPU is exactly what I am doing. (ASUS TUF X570 + 3600). We don't know exactly how X670 will be better (apart from out-of-box R4000 support) but speculation suggests passive cooling for the chipset (almost all X570 require a small fan over the chipset), with USB 3.2 - 2x2 support (a very wide bandwidth solution to allow for 20Gbps hard drives) and possibly USB 4.0 (which basically standardizes Thunderbolt). But that last point is really uncertain and more dramatic changes (PCIe 5.0, DDR5) are waiting on Ryzen 5000 and a new CPU socket. So it's entirely possible X670 is just cooler + more modern USB ports, maybe some more PCIe lanes for drives. Certainly the Ryzen 4000 CPU shouldn't care either way, just as you get just as good perf now on B450/X570.

Click to shrink...

I think I'm gonna take it a step further and get a cheaper B450 board and just save the rest of my money for 4000/X670. B450/4600 can handle the gaming I'm doing right now so why not take that route and then go big.

 

[Uzny]

Hello guys, I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and buy a new PC to play Alyx (among other stuff), my current setup is a GTX 970 paired with a 4690K.

1. Budget is 4500 PLN, which is about 1000$, but bear in mind that electronics are more expensive here in Poland.
2. The PC will be used for VR gaming on Oculus Quest via Link (so I only need a stable 72 fps) and for whatever runs better on this than on XBox One X. That being said, I plan to game on the new consoles when they come out, so no need for future-proofing, as the next PC build will likely be 5+ years away.
3. I would like to order this PC by the end of this week.
4. The only parts I'm reusing are my two hard drives (one SSD and one 7200 HDD).
5. I only need the computer itself, maybe a 144 hz display later.
6. As for overclocking, something safe is fine, but I'm not going to buy extra cooling or fans for it.

Here's what I come up with so far:

This set totals to 4600 PLN. I just want to ask if this is fine or maybe I'm making a terrible mistake :) Much appreciated!

 

[Deleted member 179]

What are some good 2TB drives? Once I do this new build I'm gonna transfer everything from my old WD Blue 1TB. Also any ideas what to do with it after? I'm gonna hang on to my old system to play with once I get my own place later this year, and it has a 500GB drive as well so the 1TB is free reign.

 

[PhantomFFR]

1. Budget is 4500 PLN, which is about 1000$, but bear in mind that electronics are more expensive here in Poland.

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Components look fine, aside from the PSU/case that I haven't run across before. But have you considered ordering the parts from Germany? Even with shipping costs you might be able to save some money. A quick check on Geizhals tells me, that the lowest priced 2070 Supers start in Germany at 500€ whereas the lowest priced vendors in Poland listed on the polish version of Geizhals (cenowarka.pl) start at 600€.

It would do office tasks during the day and play games afterhours. Maybe I'm just being impulsive. It has a really nice case and it hasn't been touched since 2014 and I really want to get into it and work on it lol

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Well, with the addition of a GPU you will actually be able to run games, so that seems like the way to go then, especilly if you are okay not playing at the highest possible framerates.

 

[Wraith]

Hi guys, I knew we had one of these threads. Just been toying with the thought of building something due to time and the stimulus check. A big motivation for me is if I can find this cool old pc case my dad had years ago in our stuff he still has it in our stuff(he rarely tosses out PCs for business reasons, it was a prebuilt custom so it was a cool case) that I could salvage as a starting point. So I won't be digging in too deep till I can find that(or confirm we don't have it anymore). But I'm just after a mid level rig so I can play my older games, emulation and some sim games at a decent level without chugging along with my dabbling in some sprite and photo editing and a maybe bringing back some of old 3D modeling hobby(nothing high level). Plus some modern Gundam games. I'm no crazy shiny graphics guy, I go back and play n64 games on original hardware. 1080 and ~60fps is all I need and I'm not playing that many modern games. Just after something better than my low end modern laptop or my ~10ish year old gaming laptop that's gotten extremely unstable. And I have time to tinker(plus I have some family members that'd love if I could get core level Hardware/software pc troubleshooting down).

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For a capable budget-midrange system, can handle new-ish games at 1080p, but not really worried about AAA titles, look at a GTX 1650 SUPER or RX 5500 XT. If you really don't care about dialing down graphics on newer games, an RX 570 might work, still plenty capable for the retro stuff. There aren't as many deals on the RX 580 these days, which sits above the 570, bit below the other two cards.

Could also go 8GB system RAM to cut costs, but 16GB is more common these days, even for general use. And RAM is cheap right now.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB MECH OC Video Card ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ B&H)
Total: $543.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-31 14:20 EDT-0400

 

[Mandos]

For a capable budget-midrange system, can handle new-ish games at 1080p, but not really worried about AAA titles, look at a GTX 1650 SUPER or RX 5500 XT. If you really don't care about dialing down graphics on newer games, an RX 570 might work, still plenty capable for the retro stuff. There aren't as many deals on the RX 580 these days, which sits above the 570, bit below the other two cards.

Could also go 8GB system RAM to cut costs, but 16GB is more common these days, even for general use. And RAM is cheap right now.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB MECH OC Video Card ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ B&H)
Total: $543.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-31 14:20 EDT-0400

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That would actually be totally within my range and doable(I might even be up to upping the ram and storage a touch). Just need to see if I can find that case. Or just find a new one my style. But yeah in that range I'm definitely considering doing it

 

[MazeHaze]

So after 4 months and a bunch of hassle, I was able to convince cyberpower to give me a refund. Now I need to start from scratch and build the thing myself though. Any sales going on right now? Do people still mostly buy from Newegg?

Basically I just need a 2070 super, ryzen 3700, an x570 motherboard (would prefer not to go with Asus after all the issues I had with my cyberpower build) ram, PSU, the fastest 1tb m2 drive, and probably a liquid cooler for the CPU. I want a reliable case thats easy to build in. It's a living room PC so sleeker the better, I don't need it to light up at all.

My budget is $1700 or so, but I can go up to $2k if I need to.

 

[asmith906]

I have a ryzen 1700 leftover from an old build I want to put into a htpc. Would it be okay to use this chip for 4k gaming or would I be better off with a ryzen 1600AF

 

[Wraith]

So after 4 months and a bunch of hassle, I was able to convince cyberpower to give me a refund. Now I need to start from scratch and build the thing myself though. Any sales going on right now? Do people still mostly buy from Newegg?

Basically I just need a 2070 super, ryzen 3700, an x570 motherboard (would prefer not to go with Asus after all the issues I had with my cyberpower build) ram, PSU, the fastest 1tb m2 drive, and probably a liquid cooler for the CPU. I want a reliable case thats easy to build in. It's a living room PC so sleeker the better, I don't need it to light up at all.

My budget is $1700 or so, but I can go up to $2k if I need to.

Click to shrink...

Check r/buildapcsales for deals. A note on PCPP, they're currently excluding prices/links from Amazon/Target/Walmart in search, intending to lessen demand during Coronavirus. But they still show those prices if you click in on a part.

I mostly buy from Newegg/Amazon, but occasionally I'll find something with a good price at B&H or Best Buy.

I have a ryzen 1700 leftover from an old build I want to put into a htpc. Would it be okay to use this chip for 4k gaming or would I be better off with a ryzen 1600AF

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If you already have it, may as well give it a shot. The 1600AF (basically a 2600) probably does better on a per core basis, but differences between CPUs are less relevant at 4K, where you're so much more GPU dependent.

 

[Black_Stride]

So after 4 months and a bunch of hassle, I was able to convince cyberpower to give me a refund. Now I need to start from scratch and build the thing myself though. Any sales going on right now? Do people still mostly buy from Newegg?

Basically I just need a 2070 super, ryzen 3700, an x570 motherboard (would prefer not to go with Asus after all the issues I had with my cyberpower build) ram, PSU, the fastest 1tb m2 drive, and probably a liquid cooler for the CPU. I want a reliable case thats easy to build in. It's a living room PC so sleeker the better, I don't need it to light up at all.

My budget is $1700 or so, but I can go up to $2k if I need to.

Click to shrink...

newegg, microcenter and amazon are pretty much gold standard places to order from.

As for what you are looking at.

3700X
MSI Tomohawk or Aorus Elite X570 board
Any 2070S with a decent warranty will work since youve cancelled ASUS life is a bit easier.
Its a 3700X you dont need to liquid cool it.....save a bunch and get a bequiet Dark Rock 4 or Shadow Rock 3, will give similar performance at a fraction of the price and be quieter.
A Sabreant Rocket or Adata SSD will get the job done, if this is about keeping up with the PS5 you wont be doing that within budget on the SSD front.

But if you really want to trounce the PS5 you might have to stretch your budget a little bit.

15,000MB/s read and 15,200MB/s write
8TB.
Aorus AIC SSD.

Almost double the speed of the PS5.

 

[MazeHaze]

newegg, microcenter and amazon are pretty much gold standard places to order from.

As for what you are looking at.

3700X
MSI Tomohawk or Aorus Elite X570 board
Any 2070S with a decent warranty will work since youve cancelled ASUS life is a bit easier.
Its a 3700X you dont need to liquid cool it.....save a bunch and get a bequiet Dark Rock 4 or Shadow Rock 3, will give similar performance at a fraction of the price and be quieter.
A Sabreant Rocket or Adata SSD will get the job done, if this is about keeping up with the PS5 you wont be doing that within budget on the SSD front.

But if you really want to trounce the PS5 you might have to stretch your budget a little bit.

15,000MB/s read and 15,200MB/s write
8TB.
Aorus AIC SSD.

Almost double the speed of the PS5.

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Thanks solid advice! Interesting note about the cpu cooler I did not realize liquid cooling is unnecessary on a 3700. And that SSD looks craaaaazy, I think I'm gonna have to stick with ~200$ish 1tb drive tho lol. As long as there are 2 m2 slots on the motherboard I can always add another one later

Edit: do all x570 motherboards support PCIE 4.0?

 

[Black_Stride]

Thanks solid advice! Interesting note about the cpu cooler I did not realize liquid cooling is unnecessary on a 3700. And that SSD looks craaaaazy, I think I'm gonna have to stick with ~200$ish 1tb drive tho lol. As long as there are 2 m2 slots on the motherboard I can always add another one later

Edit: do all x570 motherboards support PCIE 4.0?

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They should all support PCIE4 its like the main selling point.
Although realistically right now there is no need to get a PCIE4 SSD unless you really really need it.
For gaming it will do nothing for you over a regy PCIE3 or even SATA drive.
Again might as well save some money now and upgrade later if you really really need to.
In almost all blind tests the difference is imperceptible even to people in the know tech wise.

Sabreant and Adata are the best alternative to Samsungs which are still overpriced.

The Aorus Pro X570 is a really good sweet spot for motherboards, it has all the connections you need, really good VRMs, a really good onboard audio and its M.2 SSD slots have heatsinks on them.

And if down the line you feel the urge to add more cores, the VRMs as mentioned should be more than willing to handle whatever the next Ryzen can throw at it.

And yes the 3700X doesnt need to be water cooled....most water cooled 3700s its because of aesthetics not because of necessity.
Dark Rock 4
Fuma 2
Shadow Rock 3

^All those coolers will never be stressed by a 3700 even pushing it as far as you can.

 

[MazeHaze]

They should all support PCIE4 its like the main selling point.
Although realistically right now there is no need to get a PCIE4 SSD unless you really really need it.
For gaming it will do nothing for you over a regy PCIE3 or even SATA drive.
Again might as well save some money now and upgrade later if you really really need to.
In almost all blind tests the difference is imperceptible even to people in the know tech wise.

Sabreant and Adata are the best alternative to Samsungs which are still overpriced.

The Aorus Pro X570 is a really good sweet spot for motherboards, it has all the connections you need, really good VRMs, a really good onboard audio and its M.2 SSD slots have heatsinks on them.

And if down the line you feel the urge to add more cores, the VRMs as mentioned should be more than willing to handle whatever the next Ryzen can throw at it.

And yes the 3700X doesnt need to be water cooled....most water cooled 3700s its because of aesthetics not because of necessity.
Dark Rock 4
Fuma 2
Shadow Rock 3

^All those coolers will never be stressed by a 3700 even pushing it as far as you can.

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Wow! Thanks for your help. My last build was a Z97 gtx980/i5 machine so everything out right now is new to me lol. Should I just get a 750w corsair or something to power it all?

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Just a heads up, sidewindercomputers.com is having a going out of business sale. If you need air or water cooling parts for your pc, check it out. I just got 14 compression fittings, a ball valve, 2 stop plugs, and 2 male to male couplers for like $57.

Most of that stuff was like 50% off

 

[Black_Stride]

Wow! Thanks for your help. My last build was a Z97 gtx980/i5 machine so everything out right now is new to me lol. Should I just get a 750w corsair or something to power it all?

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YEah 750 is more than enough.
It easily handle everything you throw at it.

You never want your power supply to be over half used.
They have a sweet spot as well.

The 2080 Super does about 250 so a 500 would probably be ill advised, anything for 600 onwards is good.
And I doubt you are going to be doing any super crazy overclocks so 750 is a tone.

GPUs have gotten really efficent.

 

[Duck Sauce]

Anyone know what is growing in my CPU block? Could it be possible corrision?

 

[Crazymoogle]

I think I'm gonna take it a step further and get a cheaper B450 board and just save the rest of my money for 4000/X670. B450/4600 can handle the gaming I'm doing right now so why not take that route and then go big.

Click to shrink...

I think that's a great idea! Just grab a MSI Mortar MAX or Tomahawk MAX if the price makes sense, and deal with X670 later.

What are some good 2TB drives? Once I do this new build I'm gonna transfer everything from my old WD Blue 1TB. Also any ideas what to do with it after? I'm gonna hang on to my old system to play with once I get my own place later this year, and it has a 500GB drive as well so the 1TB is free reign.

Click to shrink...

If you're asking about SSD, then you should be looking at PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, at which point pricing falls into 3 tiers:

THE BEST
Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 2TB (awesome orange copper heatsink)
Sabrent Rocket Gen4 2TB
...basically any other Gen 4 2TB, they all use the same Phison chipset right now.
Samsung 970 Pro
Samsung 970 EVO Plus

Most of these drives are PCIe 4.0, meaning they run hot and require an AMD X570 motherboard. Perf for video editing is incredible, but for games...right now? No difference. Samsung's products are PCIe 3.0 and the gold standard of the industry, but generally very expensive.

THE FAST
ADATA SX8200 Pro 2TB (I use this one currently)
HP ex950 2TB
addlink S70 2TB
Sabrent Rocket Gen3 2TB

All PCIe 3.0x4 drives, which means they use 4 PCIe lanes to increase speed. These are considered the cheapest "bang for buck" 2TB SSDs today, in that they combine great 3.0 performance with excellent cost. They don't all have name brands but as it turns out name brand doesn't matter much these days since they all use the same chipsets.

Did I say there was a 3rd tier? Well there is, but there's nothing to write about. Most of the truly dirt cheap NVMe today top out at 1TB. In fact, a quick look at newegg shows that the HP ex950 is the cheapest 2TB NVMe by far.

So after 4 months and a bunch of hassle, I was able to convince cyberpower to give me a refund. Now I need to start from scratch and build the thing myself though. Any sales going on right now? Do people still mostly buy from Newegg?

Basically I just need a 2070 super, ryzen 3700, an x570 motherboard (would prefer not to go with Asus after all the issues I had with my cyberpower build) ram, PSU, the fastest 1tb m2 drive, and probably a liquid cooler for the CPU. I want a reliable case thats easy to build in. It's a living room PC so sleeker the better, I don't need it to light up at all.

My budget is $1700 or so, but I can go up to $2k if I need to.

Click to shrink...

Glad to hear you escaped CyberPower, MazeHaze. Here's the build I would suggest, in USD:

• CPU: Ryzen 3700X ($300) Slam dunk at your budget.
• Cooler: Hyper 212 RGB ($45) I prefer Dark Rock 4 Slim, but this is the cheap one
• MB: ASUS TUF X570 WiFi ($200): Has the living room Bluetooth+Wifi you probably want. Yes all X570 support PCIe 4.0
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB ($78)
• SSD: HP EX950 2TB ($235)
• GPU: EVGA BLACK GAMING RTX 2070 Super ($525)
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify C TG: See below. ($100)
• PSU: Corsair RM 750W ($125) Pretty sure you can go down to 650W, not sure if there is much cost saving though.
• OS: Windows 10 Home ($110)
• TOTAL: $1717

It's not the most compact build in the world, but it's reliable, has good airflow, includes two fans and really great cable management space. The Meshify C and Phanteks P400A are the most recommended midtower cases these days for those two reasons - personally I prefer the Meshify as it's a bit wider (fits more CPU coolers) and has a front filter if you live in a dustier environment, but both are great. You could save money by reducing the SSD, but a 2TB NVMe is really the easiest for your build and will reduce management down the road.

If you are way more concerned about getting a good living room experience, you want something smaller, which is harder to build...with one exception: the NZXT H1. Sadly I believe the only way to buy it right now due to stock shortage is using NZXT's prebuild service ltsbld.com, but to be fair they aren't cutting corners the same way Cyberpower is. They are packing common parts together. (Review: LTT). The case itself is "expensive" but that's because it comes with a pre-installed CPU water cooler and power supply, which believe me, makes the ITX build process a lot easier.

 

[MazeHaze]

I think that's a great idea! Just grab a MSI Mortar MAX or Tomahawk MAX if the price makes sense, and deal with X670 later.



If you're asking about SSD, then you should be looking at PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, at which point pricing falls into 3 tiers:

THE BEST
Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 2TB (awesome orange copper heatsink)
Sabrent Rocket Gen4 2TB
...basically any other Gen 4 2TB, they all use the same Phison chipset right now.
Samsung 970 Pro
Samsung 970 EVO Plus

Most of these drives are PCIe 4.0, meaning they run hot and require an AMD X570 motherboard. Perf for video editing is incredible, but for games...right now? No difference. Samsung's products are PCIe 3.0 and the gold standard of the industry, but generally very expensive.

THE FAST
ADATA SX8200 Pro 2TB (I use this one currently)
HP ex950 2TB
addlink S70 2TB
Sabrent Rocket Gen3 2TB

All PCIe 3.0x4 drives, which means they use 4 PCIe lanes to increase speed. These are considered the cheapest "bang for buck" 2TB SSDs today, in that they combine great 3.0 performance with excellent cost. They don't all have name brands but as it turns out name brand doesn't matter much these days since they all use the same chipsets.

Did I say there was a 3rd tier? Well there is, but there's nothing to write about. Most of the truly dirt cheap NVMe today top out at 1TB. In fact, a quick look at newegg shows that the HP ex950 is the cheapest 2TB NVMe by far.



Glad to hear you escaped CyberPower, MazeHaze. Here's the build I would suggest, in USD:

• CPU: Ryzen 3700X ($300) Slam dunk at your budget.
• Cooler: Hyper 212 RGB ($45) I prefer Dark Rock 4 Slim, but this is the cheap one
• MB: ASUS TUF X570 WiFi ($200): Has the living room Bluetooth+Wifi you probably want. Yes all X570 support PCIe 4.0
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB ($78)
• SSD: HP EX950 2TB ($235)
• GPU: EVGA BLACK GAMING RTX 2070 Super ($525)
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify C TG: See below. ($100)
• PSU: Corsair RM 750W ($125) Pretty sure you can go down to 650W, not sure if there is much cost saving though.
• OS: Windows 10 Home ($110)
• TOTAL: $1717

It's not the most compact build in the world, but it's reliable, has good airflow, includes two fans and really great cable management space. The Meshify C and Phanteks P400A are the most recommended midtower cases these days for those two reasons - personally I prefer the Meshify as it's a bit wider (fits more CPU coolers) and has a front filter if you live in a dustier environment, but both are great. You could save money by reducing the SSD, but a 2TB NVMe is really the easiest for your build and will reduce management down the road.

If you are way more concerned about getting a good living room experience, you want something smaller, which is harder to build...with one exception: the NZXT H1. Sadly I believe the only way to buy it right now due to stock shortage is using NZXT's prebuild service ltsbld.com, but to be fair they aren't cutting corners the same way Cyberpower is. They are packing common parts together. (Review: LTT). The case itself is "expensive" but that's because it comes with a pre-installed CPU water cooler and power supply, which believe me, makes the ITX build process a lot easier.

Click to shrink...

Hey thanks for the build advice! Isnt the stock cooler on the 3700x probably fine (dont plan on OC really tbh)

 

[Black_Stride]

Anyone know what is growing in my CPU block? Could it be possible corrision?

Click to shrink...

Time to flush the system.

Did you use tap water + Coolant when you set this up?
After the flush use distilled water + coolant.

 

[Duck Sauce]

Time to flush the system.

Did you use tap water + Coolant when you set this up?
After the flush use distilled water + coolant.

Click to shrink...

I originally flushed everything with distilled water when I set this up and then filled it with the corsair red coolant. It's been about 8 months so i guess its time to do some maintenance. I guess i'm going to switch to EK Cryofuel and see it that helps.

 

[Deleted member 179]

I think that's a great idea! Just grab a MSI Mortar MAX or Tomahawk MAX if the price makes sense, and deal with X670 later.



If you're asking about SSD, then you should be looking at PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, at which point pricing falls into 3 tiers:

THE BEST
Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 2TB (awesome orange copper heatsink)
Sabrent Rocket Gen4 2TB
...basically any other Gen 4 2TB, they all use the same Phison chipset right now.
Samsung 970 Pro
Samsung 970 EVO Plus

Most of these drives are PCIe 4.0, meaning they run hot and require an AMD X570 motherboard. Perf for video editing is incredible, but for games...right now? No difference. Samsung's products are PCIe 3.0 and the gold standard of the industry, but generally very expensive.

THE FAST
ADATA SX8200 Pro 2TB (I use this one currently)
HP ex950 2TB
addlink S70 2TB
Sabrent Rocket Gen3 2TB

All PCIe 3.0x4 drives, which means they use 4 PCIe lanes to increase speed. These are considered the cheapest "bang for buck" 2TB SSDs today, in that they combine great 3.0 performance with excellent cost. They don't all have name brands but as it turns out name brand doesn't matter much these days since they all use the same chipsets.

Did I say there was a 3rd tier? Well there is, but there's nothing to write about. Most of the truly dirt cheap NVMe today top out at 1TB. In fact, a quick look at newegg shows that the HP ex950 is the cheapest 2TB NVMe by far.



Glad to hear you escaped CyberPower, MazeHaze. Here's the build I would suggest, in USD:

• CPU: Ryzen 3700X ($300) Slam dunk at your budget.
• Cooler: Hyper 212 RGB ($45) I prefer Dark Rock 4 Slim, but this is the cheap one
• MB: ASUS TUF X570 WiFi ($200): Has the living room Bluetooth+Wifi you probably want. Yes all X570 support PCIe 4.0
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB ($78)
• SSD: HP EX950 2TB ($235)
• GPU: EVGA BLACK GAMING RTX 2070 Super ($525)
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify C TG: See below. ($100)
• PSU: Corsair RM 750W ($125) Pretty sure you can go down to 650W, not sure if there is much cost saving though.
• OS: Windows 10 Home ($110)
• TOTAL: $1717

It's not the most compact build in the world, but it's reliable, has good airflow, includes two fans and really great cable management space. The Meshify C and Phanteks P400A are the most recommended midtower cases these days for those two reasons - personally I prefer the Meshify as it's a bit wider (fits more CPU coolers) and has a front filter if you live in a dustier environment, but both are great. You could save money by reducing the SSD, but a 2TB NVMe is really the easiest for your build and will reduce management down the road.

If you are way more concerned about getting a good living room experience, you want something smaller, which is harder to build...with one exception: the NZXT H1. Sadly I believe the only way to buy it right now due to stock shortage is using NZXT's prebuild service ltsbld.com, but to be fair they aren't cutting corners the same way Cyberpower is. They are packing common parts together. (Review: LTT). The case itself is "expensive" but that's because it comes with a pre-installed CPU water cooler and power supply, which believe me, makes the ITX build process a lot easier.

Click to shrink...

Totally honest I just meant an HDD mass storage drive LOL my current plan is a 500GB M.2 boot drive, my 1TB Sandisk games SSD and the. Get a 2TB HDD. Would you say get one of the PCIe cards over that setup??

 

[Crazymoogle]

Totally honest I just meant an HDD mass storage drive LOL my current plan is a 500GB M.2 boot drive, my 1TB Sandisk games SSD and the. Get a 2TB HDD. Would you say get one of the PCIe cards over that setup??

Click to shrink...

LOL well if you just want an HDD buy whatever, they are all same pricerange and not a big difference. Get a NAS drive if it's a NAS, a WD blue for everything else, a black if you want to waste money on slightly better perf.

I still say get a 1TB boot drive if you can (like Crucial P1 NVMe) just because it's always trouble dealing with different volumes and some games these days are big.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Hey thanks for the build advice! Isnt the stock cooler on the 3700x probably fine (dont plan on OC really tbh)

Click to shrink...

It's usable for sure! Maybe just make sure you have enough fans in your case to ensure airflow though. Meshify C lets you put 2x140mm on the front (or a 280mm radiator if you wanted water cooling) which are very quiet and push a lot of air. P400A comes with 3 RGB fans on the front.

 

[Mindfreak191]

Hello guys, I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and buy a new PC to play Alyx (among other stuff), my current setup is a GTX 970 paired with a 4690K.

Click to shrink...

Got a 2070 super recently paired with a 3800X, you'll have absolutely no trouble running HL:A with your proposed build, get excited :D

 

[HamSandwich]

Ugh I want to build in the NZXT H1 case (been looking at downsizing my pc). But that means I'd have to get rid of my 2080 ti ftw3 and replace it with a 2.5 slot card.

 

[Deleted member 179]

LOL well if you just want an HDD buy whatever, they are all same pricerange and not a big difference. Get a NAS drive if it's a NAS, a WD blue for everything else, a black if you want to waste money on slightly better perf.

I still say get a 1TB boot drive if you can (like Crucial P1 NVMe) just because it's always trouble dealing with different volumes and some games these days are big.

Click to shrink...

I appreciate the advice! I've got a WD 500GB NVMe M.2 in my partpicker build right now, I think they have a 1TB variety and I'll definitely look into the Crucial one tomorrow morning as well. I've already got the Sandisk SATA SSD that I use for all my games but... what could more speed hurt >:)

 

[maped]

I originally flushed everything with distilled water when I set this up and then filled it with the corsair red coolant. It's been about 8 months so i guess its time to do some maintenance. I guess i'm going to switch to EK Cryofuel and see it that helps.

Click to shrink...

Since you've been using a coolant with biocide you should be good on anything growing in your loop. What it does look like is plasticizer leech, ie. the stuff that keeps your tubes pliable slowly dissolving into the liquid and accumulating in the block. You'll have to take apart the block and clean it, there's bound to be much more stuff under the accelerator plate and stuck to the fins.

 

[Nazgûl]

Hello ! First time posting here. Thank you all very much for this thread. It is really useful. I'm a noob in the "PC world"

So all of a sudden I need to build a PC for my studies, and maybe
to play some old games. I don't need anything too powerful.

This is what I thought was enough.

It only costs $ 290. The idea is to add an RX 570 to it in the future. I saw some videos on YT and the performance is more than enough for me.

So what you think ? Any suggestion or comment would be appreciated.

 

[Uzny]

Components look fine, aside from the PSU/case that I haven't run across before. But have you considered ordering the parts from Germany? Even with shipping costs you might be able to save some money. A quick check on Geizhals tells me, that the lowest priced 2070 Supers start in Germany at 500€ whereas the lowest priced vendors in Poland listed on the polish version of Geizhals (cenowarka.pl) start at 600€.

Click to shrink...

I guess I could, but I want to order all the parts in one place, so they can build and test it before shipping, as I'm not that tech savvy :)

Got a 2070 super recently paired with a 3800X, you'll have absolutely no trouble running HL:A with your proposed build, get excited :D

Click to shrink...

That's great to hear! And trust me, I am :D

 

[Terbinator]

So I'm going to make my case plunge this week that i'd mentioned a couple of pages back.

Between the Fractal Define Nano S or NZXT H210, which is the better case? From what limited comparison I could find, it seems people veer towards the NZXT due to it not having a plastic side?

 

[Blizz]

I'd like to get a PC towards later in the year so I can replace this old laptop I have, something in the 500 pounds range, needs to run Unreal Engine alright (something that allows me to have UE4 and Spotify running at the same time without shutting down randomly is already better than what I have), doesn't have to play games in Ultra/High at 60fps, I already have all the peripherals too. It needs to have the case I have listed here, I want a small case that is easily carriable/is good for transporting around.

Right now I have this, would it meet my requirements?

System Builder

uk.pcpartpicker.com

 

[Terbinator]

Depending on how later in the year it is, it's probably not even worth looking at now due to impending CPU and GPU launches.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Will my i79700k last until next gen is over?

 

[Blizz]

Depending on how later in the year it is, it's probably not even worth looking at now due to impending CPU and GPU launches.

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't those be more expensive compared to the price range I want though? Genuine question because while I've had a built PC before, it was built for me when I was young so my experience is almost non-existant.

 

[Genio88]

Will my i79700k last until next gen is over?

Click to shrink...

Seriously no one on earth can say that for certain, but my guess is yes

 

[Deleted member 35478]

I really wanted the P400A but it's apparently either sold out everywhere or being sold with a significant markup. Meshify C does look pretty good though and even though my last case was a "silent" case that I appreciated, I'll think I'll prioritize thermals this time.

Click to shrink...

Keep checking the 400A on Amazon. I had the same issue a while back, and it seemed like it was out of stock all the time. But it's comes back in stock, just sells out fast since its a very popular case. I really like it, good case for the money, especially for an air cooled build.

 

[Black_Stride]

Will my i79700k last until next gen is over?

Click to shrink...

The second fastest Intel gaming CPU?
Will it last the generation?

Easily.

 

[HammerOfThor]

Hey guys, so along with gaming, I also do a lot of software development, video/photo editing, and a lot of multitasking. I've noticed my PC getting a little laggy overall. My current graphics card is a GTX980. My CPU is Intel Core i5-4670K.

I feel like my graphics card is fine for a little longer, and I should focus on a new motherboard and CPU(and ram too I suppose). Thoughts?

 

[TerremotoDePorta]

This is what I thought was enough.

So what you think ? Any suggestion or comment would be appreciated.

Click to shrink...

I would get 8GB of RAM (preferably of a higher speed, like 3000 or 3200) and some kind of Hard Drive for storing games.

 

[Wraith]

Hello ! First time posting here. Thank you all very much for this thread. It is really useful. I'm a noob in the "PC world"

So all of a sudden I need to build a PC for my studies, and maybe
to play some old games. I don't need anything too powerful.

This is what I thought was enough.

It only costs $ 290. The idea is to add an RX 570 to it in the future. I saw some videos on YT and the performance is more than enough for me.

So what you think ? Any suggestion or comment would be appreciated.

Click to shrink...

• 4GB is really not enough these days. 8GB is the generally accepted minimum. For a Ryzen APU on a budget, you probably want 2x4GB of DDR4 3000 or 3200 (RAM speed has a noticeable affect on FPS when using the integrated graphics). If 2666 is all they have (or it's absurdly expensive to go with faster RAM), that's fine, but at least get up to 8GB.
• Not sure if you're building this yourself, or ordering from a place that builds it for you. If doing it yourself, there's a chance that B450 motherboard ships with a BIOS that's old enough that it doesn't support the 3200G out of the box. There are B450 "MAX" branded boards that are guaranteed compatible with the 3000-series CPUs/APUs. But if the store is building it for you/installing the OS/etc., they will presumably take care of updating the BIOS (if necessary) for you.
• 120GB SSD is definitely enough to get you started, but you won't have a ton of room for game installs. If you're mostly focused on older games, this shouldn't be a big deal right away. You can always add a second SSD or an HDD later if you need more space. Since SSDs aren't real expensive, you might see how much more it costs to go up to a ~240GB SSD.
• No idea on PSU quality, or what other options the store has. Fortunately with the parts here, and even after adding an RX 570, there's plenty of wattage.

 

[molnizzle]

Hello ! First time posting here. Thank you all very much for this thread. It is really useful. I'm a noob in the "PC world"

So all of a sudden I need to build a PC for my studies, and maybe
to play some old games. I don't need anything too powerful.

This is what I thought was enough.

It only costs $ 290. The idea is to add an RX 570 to it in the future. I saw some videos on YT and the performance is more than enough for me.

So what you think ? Any suggestion or comment would be appreciated.

Click to shrink...

Others have already commented, but I really need to drive the point home that 4GB of RAM is not enough in 2020. Not even for day-to-day casual use. 8GB is the absolute minimum.

Hey guys, so along with gaming, I also do a lot of software development, video/photo editing, and a lot of multitasking. I've noticed my PC getting a little laggy overall. My current graphics card is a GTX980. My CPU is Intel Core i5-4670K.

I feel like my graphics card is fine for a little longer, and I should focus on a new motherboard and CPU(and ram too I suppose). Thoughts?

Click to shrink...

Given your uses, a Ryzen CPU would be perfect. I don't know too much about them but I believe many are going with the cheaper Ryzen 5 3600 with the plan to upgrade to the upcoming 4000 series later on. If you get an X570 motherboard you will almost certainly be able to swap in the newer CPU's when they release.

 

[Deleted member 35478]

Don't think I ever posted my completed build. I've had the machine up and running for about 2 months now. Felt like such a huge upgrade from my older i5 pc's. Carried over the 1080 until 3080's a released. New 1440p G-sync 27" monitor has been ordered, hoping it lives up to the hype coming for a 27" 1080/60 monitor.

BUILD LINK:

Keep it Clean Air Cooled Ryzen 3700x Build

Check out Superkamikazee's completed build on PCPartPicker! Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core, GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0, Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid Tower, ...

pcpartpicker.com

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($298.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($349.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($125.99 @ Newegg)

 

[Chessguy1]

was able to find a 2060 super /w DVI, phew. glad it wasn't completely phased out.

 

[PhantomFFR]

I would get 8GB of RAM (preferably of a higher speed, like 3000 or 3200) and some kind of Hard Drive for storing games.

Click to shrink...

4GB is really not enough these days. 8GB is the generally accepted minimum.

Click to shrink...

Others have already commented, but I really need to drive the point home that 4GB of RAM is not enough in 2020. Not even for day-to-day casual use. 8GB is the absolute minimum.

Click to shrink...

I'm curious how you all missed this, but there's a column to the left - "cantidad", which translates to quantity. And next to the 4GB of RAM there's a "2". So Nazgûl is already looking at 8GB.

 

[R dott B]

Decided to upgrade from a i7-8700 to a i9-9900k.

Been wanting one for a while and I didn't want to switch my MB.