Building a gaming PC

[Your Mom 4806]

Disgruntled man who yells at clouds post:

So we got the PC built with no problems.  What a great time it was coming up on a few obstacles and finding ways to work around them or problem-solve with some youtubing.  Great experience and the 12 year old was very proud of himself.  @Captainant we bought the exact monitor you posted and it's fantastic.

Now for the disgruntled part...

It's been a decade or more since I've done anything on a Windows machine and now I remember why.  I couldn't figure out how to get it on my wifi network so I put that off and just plugged in an ethernet cord at the other end of the house and moved everything to another room.  Once online I went through 4 reboots before it finally caught all the Windows updates it needed.  Ok fine, not a big deal.  Had to download a driver for the and unzipping it seemed a lot more convoluted than it should have been.  Ok fine, no big deal.  Now I start troubleshooting the wifi issue only to find out that this computer built with parts made in the year 2020 has no wifi?  WTH??  Is that a gaming thing or something?  Is ethernet preferred for gaming?  It blows my mind that wifi wouldn't be included on every motherboard made in the last 10 years.  

I've been through an iMac, and a couple Macbooks and never had this much hassle getting one up and ready to use in a few minutes.  I've spent a couple hours troubleshooting various things on this machine.  I still can't get the keyboard to work, but I think it's a keyboard problem.  We went cheap on a keyboard after the Steel Series he wanted was sold out.  Pulled an old Mac keyboard out of the Goodwill box and it works fine for now.  Headed to Best Buy to get a better keyboard and a wifi adapter to bring us into the 21st century.  

Seriously, is it just me being unreasonable?  Do gamers not use wifi?  I guess it's a little slower but I'm not adding an ethernet outlet to his room, nor running wire across the house... is he screwed when it comes to games if I make him use wifi? We have Google Fiber... good enough?

[Captainant 27668]

33 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

Disgruntled man who yells at clouds post:

So we got the PC built with no problems.  What a great time it was coming up on a few obstacles and finding ways to work around them or problem-solve with some youtubing.  Great experience and the 12 year old was very proud of himself.  @Captainant we bought the exact monitor you posted and it's fantastic.

Now for the disgruntled part...

It's been a decade or more since I've done anything on a Windows machine and now I remember why.  I couldn't figure out how to get it on my wifi network so I put that off and just plugged in an ethernet cord at the other end of the house and moved everything to another room.  Once online I went through 4 reboots before it finally caught all the Windows updates it needed.  Ok fine, not a big deal.  Had to download a driver for the and unzipping it seemed a lot more convoluted than it should have been.  Ok fine, no big deal.  Now I start troubleshooting the wifi issue only to find out that this computer built with parts made in the year 2020 has no wifi?  WTH??  Is that a gaming thing or something?  Is ethernet preferred for gaming?  It blows my mind that wifi wouldn't be included on every motherboard made in the last 10 years.  

I've been through an iMac, and a couple Macbooks and never had this much hassle getting one up and ready to use in a few minutes.  I've spent a couple hours troubleshooting various things on this machine.  I still can't get the keyboard to work, but I think it's a keyboard problem.  We went cheap on a keyboard after the Steel Series he wanted was sold out.  Pulled an old Mac keyboard out of the Goodwill box and it works fine for now.  Headed to Best Buy to get a better keyboard and a wifi adapter to bring us into the 21st century.  

Seriously, is it just me being unreasonable?  Do gamers not use wifi?  I guess it's a little slower but I'm not adding an ethernet outlet to his room, nor running wire across the house... is he screwed when it comes to games if I make him use wifi? We have Google Fiber... good enough?

Ahhhh I see the motherboard didn't come with wifi built-in. That's a pretty common thing with modern motherboards, and you can add wifi to the computer with a USB dongle (not terrible, but you can do better), or with a PCI-e expansion card. I'd STRONGLY recommend a PCI-e card if yall are comfortable putting new parts in your computer, they usually cost about the same as a USB adapter and are MUCH more capable

Look for a wifi 6 (may also be labelled as "AX") adapter - it's damn near as good as a wired connection. Not as good, but close.

If you can't find an AX adapter, an AC adapter is really good too. Stay away from b/g/n labeled wifi cards, that's last-gen tech

EDIT: a took a look at best buy and they have some decent options in store

Edited September 24, 2020 by Captainant

[Hawndoh 2386]

My motherboard doesn't have wifi either. Pretty common for desktops.

Saves money and most desktops are wired to a network.

[Your Mom 4806]

Ok, yeah I guess that's just my ignorance and using nothing but laptops the last few years.  We're going to research which PCI-e cards are compatible with this motherboard.  Thanks again ya'll.  

[Captainant 27668]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

Ok, yeah I guess that's just my ignorance and using nothing but laptops the last few years.  We're going to research which PCI-e cards are compatible with this motherboard.  Thanks again ya'll.  

Pretty much any card will be drop-in compatible and windows will already have the drivers for it. I've bought TP-link cards in the past, but really any of the major brands are fine. I wouldn't spend more than $50 on one though, newegg and Amazon have a bunch of great options

[BNB 100]

On 9/24/2020 at 6:43 PM, Your Mom said:

Ok, yeah I guess that's just my ignorance and using nothing but laptops the last few years.  We're going to research which PCI-e cards are compatible with this motherboard.  Thanks again ya'll.  

I'm with you, it would seem like in this day and age when a wifi chip and blutooth chip are maybe a dollar, or so, they can't just throw them on there.

[MadBurgerMaker 404]

On 9/24/2020 at 10:43 AM, mapplewhite132 said:

got an order in for a 3080 founders edition last night from nvida. fingers crossed it doesn't get cancelled. 

Did you end up getting this?

[mapplewhite132 309]

8 hours ago, MadBurgerMaker said:

Did you end up getting this?

Yes it’s fantastic 

[atomheartbevo 89668]

Kind of related.  Includes some laptop shipments as well, but apparently desktops are hanging in there thanks to gaming.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/12/gartner-us-pc-market-just-had-its-best-quarter-in-10-years.html

Quote

16.5 million PCs were shipped to the U.S., an 11.4% increase over the same period last year. That’s the fastest U.S. PC growth rate in a decade, according to Gartner.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

I'm going to be upgrading my 5700xt to a 3070 when they are released and I can get my hands on one.  When looking at the market for 3080s and 3090s and the availability, I'm guessing the 3070 will be available...ohhh...by Q2 2021. HA.

[Brothahorn 10087]

So what games do you youngsters play on PC now days? I haven't really gotten into PC games since MOH: Warfighter. 

[pearlandhorn 3269]

On 10/18/2020 at 10:14 AM, Brothahorn said:

So what games do you youngsters play on PC now days? I haven't really gotten into PC games since MOH: Warfighter. 

A lot of people are playing CoD, Apex Legends.  I play mainly GTA 5 and Destiny 2.  Younger (high school) kids play Fortnite.

[Bigpoppapump 530]

Dota 2 is the only big game I play on PC anymore besides dumb steam shit.  Though I feel like I watch Dota more than I play it these days.

[atomheartbevo 89668]

On 10/18/2020 at 10:14 AM, Brothahorn said:

So what games do you youngsters play on PC now days? I haven't really gotten into PC games since MOH: Warfighter. 

Minecraft for the oldest son.  Railroad Tycoon 3 for me.

Hey, you asked!

[Jersey Man10 3529]

Whoa just saw this thread. Finally built my own pc after months of research. If yall need help you can ask me.

Went with intel after their processor prices dropped. Took me 8 hours!

[atomheartbevo 89668]

Beautiful cases these days.

No having to wonder if you were going to bleed out before finishing a build, or wondering if blood will short a video card out, because you cut a vein open reaching in to the case.

[Brothahorn 10087]

On 10/22/2020 at 11:32 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Minecraft for the oldest son.  Railroad Tycoon 3 for me.

Hey, you asked!

Nothing wrong with that.

 

I found a Fishing Sim through Xbox game pass and got the The Catch on PC. Came home early one Friday and had the house to myself. Started playing around 8pm and before I knew, it was 6am. I stayed on the PC until Madden 2007, after they stopped making a PC version, I finally switched over.

 

I miss the old simulator games like F-16, https://store.steampowered.com/app/32720/F16_Multirole_Fighter/. With 2020 tech, it would be badass. 

[immamac 42850]

So with all the news about ryzen and 3080 I've been getting the itch for a new build. 

I have a 5820k (6c/12t @3.4 with 4.1 boost), crucial ballistix DDR4 overclocked to 3000mhz a 980gtx, 2 samsung evo 970 sata3 + a 4TB WD spinning disk. Mobo has dual 1gbe nic 7.2channel surround and all the luxuries you'd expect from a high end board (including on board security chip).

Anyway. I don't use 40 lanes if pci-e so the 5820k has been extreme value. 

After looking at geekbench scores and real world benchmarks I don't think upgrading to anything other than the tippy top of the line is going to get me anything and most of that is going to come from the GPU not the new chipset, processor or RAM. I'm actually pretty sad that with all these"improvements" intel is basically the same shit this much later single core performance wise.

Maybe I'll just slap a 3080 in and be done. The latency on newer RAM is better, but that's not really worth the 300+ for upgrading 64GB worth. 

Any thoughts or anything I'm missing about all the new stuff? 

[pearlandhorn 3269]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

So with all the news about ryzen and 3080 I've been getting the itch for a new build. 

I have a 5820k (6c/12t @3.4 with 4.1 boost), crucial ballistix DDR4 overclocked to 3000mhz a 980gtx, 2 samsung evo 970 sata3 + a 4TB WD spinning disk. Mobo has dual 1gbe nic 7.2channel surround and all the luxuries you'd expect from a high end board (including on board security chip).

Anyway. I don't use 40 lanes if pci-e so the 5820k has been extreme value. 

After looking at geekbench scores and real world benchmarks I don't think upgrading to anything other than the tippy top of the line is going to get me anything and most of that is going to come from the GPU not the new chipset, processor or RAM. I'm actually pretty sad that with all these"improvements" intel is basically the same shit this much later single core performance wise.

Maybe I'll just slap a 3080 in and be done. The latency on newer RAM is better, but that's not really worth the 300+ for upgrading 64GB worth. 

Any thoughts or anything I'm missing about all the new stuff? 

Intel has allowed AMD to gain so much market share by being lazy and lacking innovation. The consumer benefits.

What resolution do you play games on? If 1440 or above, get a 3080. If at 1080, get a 3070. The performance gain for just upgrading your GPU will be very very noticeable.

Edited October 24, 2020 by pearlandhorn

[Jersey Man10 3529]

I would wait until the new Ryzen Zen 3s come out. I'm waiting for GPU prices to go down.

[BurntOrange&White 39932]

I always prefer intel/nvidia over ryzen

 

would anyone be interested in buying my rig? Peripherals? 
 

can post details when I get home 

Edited October 25, 2020 by BurntOrange&White

[Jersey Man10 3529]

Finally fixed my rgb issues. Couldn't figure out the wiring at first but it came out awesome.

[Captainant 27668]

On 10/24/2020 at 7:13 AM, immamac said:

So with all the news about ryzen and 3080 I've been getting the itch for a new build. 

I have a 5820k (6c/12t @3.4 with 4.1 boost), crucial ballistix DDR4 overclocked to 3000mhz a 980gtx, 2 samsung evo 970 sata3 + a 4TB WD spinning disk. Mobo has dual 1gbe nic 7.2channel surround and all the luxuries you'd expect from a high end board (including on board security chip).

Anyway. I don't use 40 lanes if pci-e so the 5820k has been extreme value. 

After looking at geekbench scores and real world benchmarks I don't think upgrading to anything other than the tippy top of the line is going to get me anything and most of that is going to come from the GPU not the new chipset, processor or RAM. I'm actually pretty sad that with all these"improvements" intel is basically the same shit this much later single core performance wise.

Maybe I'll just slap a 3080 in and be done. The latency on newer RAM is better, but that's not really worth the 300+ for upgrading 64GB worth. 

Any thoughts or anything I'm missing about all the new stuff? 

Once there's independent benchmarks out for the new Ryzen chips, you should really consider upgrading to the new chipset and processor. Early benchmarks have their $300 5600x single core performance beating current-gen intel at a lower power consumption, and they're objectively superior on paper specs. As long as you aren't using some intel-specific instructions there's no downside to Ryzen. Plus you get PCIe 4.0

Comparing apples to apples: 

5820k has a TDP of 140W, 15mb of L3 cache, and base clock of 3.3GHz and a max boost clock of 3.6GHz

5600x has a TDP of 65W, 32mb of L3 cache, and base clock of 3.7GHz and a max boost clock of 4.6GHz

The clock and power consumption improvements aside, IPC is significantly increased in Zen 3 and you should upgrade if you're getting the latest and greatest GPU and don't want to bottleneck in a year

[immamac 42850]

I don't even max out my gtx 980 right now and even if I went with a 2080 after the price drop I doubt that my CPU would bottleneck for quite a while esp with the overclocking on air cooling that i've got (consistent good performance @ 4.0GHz). gaming at 1080p is pretty snoozefest and even though I have an awesome 43" IPS LG 4k monitor I run my life off of, it's more just for the 4 quadrants of 1080p with business related stuff. When I game on it I window it and run it at 1440p at most. World of Warcraft even shadowlands is pretty low tier on the demand for graphics. Classic is literally hilarious how snoozer it is. 

I hadn't even looked at new systems until this zen3 arch. I will say if I wanted to do a lot more with my PC like run my whole house off of it (including video streams, VDI's on monitors inside and all that) then I'd for sure spring on the AMD box and just have a "server" like set up on the 5950x or something nuts. 

[elfenix 34240]

On 10/24/2020 at 7:13 AM, immamac said:

I have a 5820k (6c/12t @3.4 with 4.1 boost), crucial ballistix DDR4 overclocked to 3000mhz a 980gtx, 2 samsung evo 970 sata3

no you don't.

 

 

i'd probably just go with a graphics card update.  while that processor isn't fast anymore and sucks down power compared to new stuff, it's fast enough and it's not holding you back.  the $6-$700 it might cost to upgrade to new ain't worth it, particularly if you're not playing new games while streaming where moar coars! comes in handy. 

[immamac 42850]

1 minute ago, elfenix said:

no you don't.

 

 

i'd probably just go with a graphics card update.  while that processor isn't fast anymore and sucks down power compared to new stuff, it's fast enough and it's not holding you back.  the $6-$700 it might cost to upgrade to new ain't worth it, particularly if you're not playing new games while streaming where moar coars! comes in handy. 

Doh I meant 870 you are totally right

[Captainant 27668]

Does your mobo support NVMe? You'll get a pretty significant performance uplift for boot times and loads if you can get off of SATA interfaces for your SSD's. Or shit, just a PCIe card to take NVMe drives may be a worthwhile upgrade for not too much extra.

[Hozz 1017]

Speaking of CPUs, I got by with a first gen i5 760 modestly overclocked to 3Ghz for literally almost a decade, purchased fall 2010.  Same mobo the whole time too.  I upgraded video cards like 3 times and power supply once and put an SSD in at some point.  I finally got something new a few months ago.  Point is, CPU really doesn't matter much at all.  GPU and then SSD are by far the biggest bang for the buck parts.

[ztejas 43448]

thought I'd post here too

 

[atomheartbevo 89668]

Lotta reading to do, but apparently AMD is coming on strong.  Usual suspects below

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16202/amd-reveals-the-radeon-rx-6000-series-rdna2-starts-at-the-highend-coming-november-18th

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/10/amds-newest-graphics-cards-rdna2-power-from-579-999/

https://www.engadget.com/amd-radeon-6800xt-rdna2-gpu-162246249.html

Multiple articles

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/

Bunch of articles

https://www.tomshardware.com

 

[Capn81 372]

Give me some good ideas on a 1440p monitor. Preferably 32 inches at 144hz.

[ztejas 43448]

2 minutes ago, Capn81 said:

Give me some good ideas on a 1440p monitor. Preferably 32 inches at 144hz.

This is the one I have. Can't beat it for the price

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1426796-REG/lg_32gk650f_b_32_class_qhd_gaming.html/?ap=y&gclid=Cj0KCQjwreT8BRDTARIsAJLI0KJbFDuAMKt--NguICtlMpG_RKZeg3Psx38qP9-uYWUnz9EFU8XhrJMaApTtEALw_wcB&lsft=BI%3A514&smp=y

[bad_teammate 13195]

20 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Lotta reading to do, but apparently AMD is coming on strong.  Usual suspects below

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16202/amd-reveals-the-radeon-rx-6000-series-rdna2-starts-at-the-highend-coming-november-18th

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/10/amds-newest-graphics-cards-rdna2-power-from-579-999/

https://www.engadget.com/amd-radeon-6800xt-rdna2-gpu-162246249.html

Multiple articles

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/

Bunch of articles

https://www.tomshardware.com

 

I love it when ya call me Big Navi.

I am a hot garbage PUBG guy with hundreds and hundreds of hours, and I'm trying to convince myself it's the fault of my 4770/1060. If I upgrade to one of the new Ryzens coming out and a 6800xt then SURELY I will become merely a decent PUBG player, right? A full red build to suit my Communist sympathies; tune the fans to spin and produce the Soviet National Anthem. All red and gold RGB lighting.

THEN, surely, I will secure more regular chicken dinners.

[elfenix 34240]

12 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

I love it when ya call me Big Navi.

I am a hot garbage PUBG guy with hundreds and hundreds of hours, and I'm trying to convince myself it's the fault of my 4770/1060. If I upgrade to one of the new Ryzens coming out and a 6800xt then SURELY I will become merely a decent PUBG player, right? A full red build to suit my Communist sympathies; tune the fans to spin and produce the Soviet National Anthem. All red and gold RGB lighting.

THEN, surely, I will secure more regular chicken dinners.

i think you need an OC-3 connection straight into a backbone provider to get your latency down

[atomheartbevo 89668]

4 hours ago, elfenix said:

i think you need an OC-3 connection straight into a backbone provider to get your latency down

T1,  because you'll be running circles around the Quake kiddies.

[C-Man 27227]

On 10/22/2020 at 11:53 PM, Jersey Man10 said:

Whoa just saw this thread. Finally built my own pc after months of research. If yall need help you can ask me.

Went with intel after their processor prices dropped. Took me 8 hours!

So my son is big on this project again this year. We are putting together the list of all the shit he needs and we're going to put it out there for three sets of grandparents to gather all the components for Xmas and his Jan birthday.

What was your total cost on this project?

[pearlandhorn 3269]

Looks to be around $1,300 for that set up I'd guess.  The GPU is the main driver for cost and a 1660TI is around $300.  You could definitely save some on the CPU side if you went with AMD as most AMD CPUs come with a stock sufficient cooler.

CPU: Intel (depending on which series): $200 - $300.

CPU Cooler:  CoolerMaster AIO $80 - $100

MB: Aorus z390 $180 - $200

RAM: GSkill RGB 16 gigs (I'm assuming) $80. 

Storage:  I see one SATA connector in to the MB so I'm assuming a 1 TB 3.5 inch drive ($80 or so). An NVMe drive could be substituted here for an additional cost.

GPU: EVGA 1660 TI $300

PSU:  Can't really tell from pictures but I'm assuming a 650 W Bronze at least which is around $80 to $100

Case:  Simple Fractal Design case probably $70

I see a few additional case fans (in the PSU basement so add an additional $80 for case fans) and I'm also not sure what comes standard in that case as far as fans go.  There's also some RGB on the case fans so that'll drive your cost up if you went that route.

Edited November 16, 2020 by pearlandhorn

[Jersey Man10 3529]

Looks to be around $1,300 for that set up I'd guess.  The GPU is the main driver for cost and a 1660TI is around $300.  You could definitely save some on the CPU side if you went with AMD as most AMD CPUs come with a stock sufficient cooler.
CPU: Intel (depending on which series): $200 - $300.
CPU Cooler:  CoolerMaster AIO $80 - $100
MB: Aorus z390 $180 - $200
RAM: GSkill RGB 16 gigs (I'm assuming) $80. 
Storage:  I see one SATA connector in to the MB so I'm assuming a 1 TB 3.5 inch drive ($80 or so). An NVMe drive could be substituted here for an additional cost.
GPU: EVGA 1660 TI $300
PSU:  Can't really tell from pictures but I'm assuming a 650 W Bronze at least which is around $80 to $100
Case:  Simple Fractal Design case probably $70
I see a few additional case fans (in the PSU basement so add an additional $80 for case fans) and I'm also not sure what comes standard in that case as far as fans go.  There's also some RGB on the case fans so that'll drive your cost up if you went that route.

Damn that’s pretty spot on. I went to Microcenter in Dallas and picked everything up. Lots of sales so total was about $1,200 or so.

i7-9700k - $200
CoolerMaster AIO with RGB - $70
MB z390 Pro with Wifi - $180
GSkill RGB RAM 3200 2x16 (32GB) - $125
Storage Samsung 500 GB m.2 drive - $80
Storage Samsung 1 TB 3.5 inch drive - $95
GPU EVGA 1660 TI - $240
PSU is EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze - $100
Case is Fractal Meshify C - $100
CoolerMaster 120mm RGB fans - $60

Some items like the GPU and storage was open box so they were cheaper and most of the items were on sale. Used the Microcenter credit card too and got 5% off each item so that was nice too.

[ztejas 43448]

On 10/28/2020 at 8:39 PM, Capn81 said:

Give me some good ideas on a 1440p monitor. Preferably 32 inches at 144hz.

Did you get one yet? I might be looking to sell mine. 

 

7 minutes ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Damn that’s pretty spot on. I went to Microcenter in Dallas and picked everything up. Lots of sales so total was about $1,200 or so.

i7-9700k - $200
CoolerMaster AIO with RGB - $70
MB z390 Pro with Wifi - $180
GSkill RGB RAM 3200 2x16 (32GB) - $125
Storage Samsung 500 GB m.2 drive - $80
Storage Samsung 1 TB 3.5 inch drive - $95
GPU EVGA 1660 TI - $240
PSU is EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze - $100
Case is Fractal Meshify C - $100
CoolerMaster 120mm RGB fans - $60

Some items like the GPU and storage was open box so they were cheaper and most of the items were on sale. Used the Microcenter credit card too and got 5% off each item so that was nice too.

Wish I was on a different timeline. Have a 1080 I'm trying to get rid of I would have sold you for $300.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

6 hours ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Damn that’s pretty spot on. I went to Microcenter in Dallas and picked everything up. Lots of sales so total was about $1,200 or so.

i7-9700k - $200
CoolerMaster AIO with RGB - $70
MB z390 Pro with Wifi - $180
GSkill RGB RAM 3200 2x16 (32GB) - $125
Storage Samsung 500 GB m.2 drive - $80
Storage Samsung 1 TB 3.5 inch drive - $95
GPU EVGA 1660 TI - $240
PSU is EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze - $100
Case is Fractal Meshify C - $100
CoolerMaster 120mm RGB fans - $60

Some items like the GPU and storage was open box so they were cheaper and most of the items were on sale. Used the Microcenter credit card too and got 5% off each item so that was nice too.

If I’d known you went to microcenter, I’d have said $1,200 😂 

I love microcenter. I did many trips to the Houston store when I was building.

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

On 10/24/2020 at 2:54 AM, Brothahorn said:

I miss the old simulator games like F-16, https://store.steampowered.com/app/32720/F16_Multirole_Fighter/. With 2020 tech, it would be badass. 

You should check out DCS (Digital Combat Simulator).  https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/

 

 

[Brothahorn 10087]

You should check out DCS (Digital Combat Simulator).  https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/
 

 

Oh my goodness...I know what I will be doing over the holidays.

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

This Pom has some extensive reviews on the different modules you can buy for DCS. 

 

[C-Man 27227]

So we are working on this tonight and the boy put together this build idea. The video card he's picked here is like $700 at NewEgg (I think) so that makes this a much spendier build than others y'all are doing. Just looking for good guidance on bang-for-buck as I do not know much. He thinks he knows everything. Thoughts?

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by C-Man

[bad_teammate 13195]

Probably an oversight, but an M.2 PCI-E 3 (4 not worth the $ for gaming uses) SSD to use as boot/current games.

Otherwise, since the Ryzen 5xxx series and new GPUs are impossible to find, that looks like a beast.

[Jersey Man10 3529]

@C-Man

For the ram, try to find a CL16 or less instead of CL18. G.Skill is a good brand tho.

Also you don't necessarily need a 2 TB drive unless he's gonna have a ton of games. I would definitely get an SSD drive. Maybe a 256 GB or 500 GB to use as a boot drive or for your apps and a 1 TB hard-drive for games, etc.

This is a bad time to get a graphics card and no the 2070 Super is not worth $700 anymore since the 30 series cards came out. If you are determined to get a 2070S, pay no more than $500.

You get get windows online on reddit or eBay for super cheap too.

[ztejas 43448]

On 11/20/2020 at 9:27 PM, C-Man said:

So we are working on this tonight and the boy put together this build idea. The video card he's picked here is like $700 at NewEgg (I think) so that makes this a much spendier build than others y'all are doing. Just looking for good guidance on bang-for-buck as I do not know much. He thinks he knows everything. Thoughts?

 

As others said, don't pay $110 for Windows.

Definitely get an SSD. My last build I just had a 1TB SSD that I ran everything off of and some external HDD space when I needed it. Using an HDD with that build would be like... well I don't know, it would just be dumb.

And I don't want to shatter the kids hopes and dreams, but he doesn't need a $140 case. He doesn't need $90 RAM.  He doesn't need a $96 CPU cooler. At all. Unless he is doing some serious OCing (which he shouldn't be given his knowledge as displayed on your shopping list). Maybe a few case fans (that are dirt cheap).

That list reeks of spending money just to spend money. And the investment ratio between the GPU and everything else is too low. You should be spending at least half of your budget on the GPU to optimize performance.

[elfenix 34240]

On 11/20/2020 at 9:27 PM, C-Man said:

The video card he's picked here is like $700 at NewEgg (I think)

don't spend more than $400 on a 2070S.  the (ostensibly) $499 3070 demolishes the 2070S.  3x00 series is short on stock now but absent some bitcoin runup they will become more available.  also the new AMD parts are competitive in the $500+ market for a change. 

 

the only reason for plain old hard drives nowadays is serving your totally legit movie collection.  get an SSD, 1 tb models with good performance are ~$100 now and will take a while to fill even with AAA games.  one of the best on the market, sk hynix P31, is on sale for $115 after coupon right now.  https://smile.amazon.com/SK-hynix-Gold-PCIe-Internal/dp/B08DKB5LWY

 

the AMD _600 processors are considered better for gaming, in part because you have more to budget for GPU.  3600 (don't get the X model the main difference is the heatsink which you're not using) is a favorite and the 5600X demolishes (once you can find some). 

 

in other words *right now* is a horrible time to build a computer unless you're a bot that can buy shit when it comes in stock. 

Edited November 22, 2020 by elfenix

[C-Man 27227]

Thanks for all of the advice. This is most of his Xmas. The plan was to distribute the list among grandparents and others to buy the individual components.

 

[elfenix 34240]

also if you're in houston, dallas, or some other town with a microcenter, you can get your CPU, motherboard, ram, and even SSD there (house brand inland premium 1TB uses the same phison E12 chip as everyone else, and though it may measure slower than the sk hynix drive i linked, if that sk hynix drive weren't on sale i'd go with the inland).  they also stock a lot of cases tho not sure how competitive pricing is and obviously they don't have everything.  power supply pricing has never seemed particularly competitive, though iirc they do price match if it won't go below their cost.  story is pretty similar with graphics cards, but i've gotten a few open box cards there just fine. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by elfenix