Help with building a new PC!

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BrianThompson

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#1 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

Hi guys! New guy here. If I posted this topic in a wrong subforum (I wasn't sure whether to post it here or in Games discussion), please move the topic to where you think it should be in that case.

I literally joined the site because I need your help with building a PC. I apologize for what is going to be a longer post, but this is the first time I'm doing this so I really want to give you guys as much info as possible to make it easier for you.

I'm 24 years old and I do have a lot of gaming experience, but I've never really been a gaming ''gearhead'' and I don't have extensive knowledge about PCs, so please bear with me. In the past, one of my friends who's a PC expert was the guy who would help me with this, but since he's not here right now, I need help from other knowledgeable guys and I figured I'd find them here!

Even though I'm not a gaming gearhead, I'm not a complete dummy either. I've been doing a lot of research, but since I don't really have a lot of knowledge about PCs, I have a hard time deciding/understanding which components I should buy. Since I'm on a budget, I really need to spend every single dollar well. My current PC specs are (those that matter, just so you know what I'm working with now to have a basic idea):

Intel Core I5-6402P

AMD Radeon RX 470

8 GB RAM (2x4)

HDD 1TB

ASRock H110M-DGS Motherboard

This PC is 3 years old and I absolutely love its capabilities. Now, I'll break it down for you in detail so you know what kind of a gamer I am and what I'm looking for. I mostly play GTA V and Hitman 2. Currently, I get around 58-60 FPS on both of those games on medium settings and reason I'm telling you that is because I want you to know I'm more than fine with that. I'm not looking for a crazy setup or to play games at max settings, overclock, push my PC to the limits or anything like that. I don't have the budget for it. I'm fine with playing games with toned down settings. My main goal is just to eliminate stuttering, that's all. So a setup that can hit 55-60 FPS on medium settings is already good enough for me. But of course, I'm looking to get the maximum, best possible setup within my budget.

The reason I'm considering a new build is primarily because of the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 game. I'm not sure my PC will be able to handle it even at medium settings. If you guys are positive that it will, please let me know because in that case, perhaps I won't even get into buying a new PC. I've already done tons of research and I've chosen three components based on all the written and video reviews. They are: Intel Core I5-9400F, XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy 8GB GDDR5 and Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB DDR4 3000MT/s Memory.

Based on the reviews and benchmarks I found on a few sites, the bottleneck chance for these specs is said to be 0,84%. I know my current specs are rated at just under 10%, so I figure only 0,84% is fantastic and a major improvement. Also, I will buy HDD 1TB again. I've never owned an SSD in my life because I don't need it. I need space. Speed is irrelevant to me and it's always been that way, so that decision is definitely final on my part. I don't need the case either since I bought a mid-tower case for my current PC, so my plan is to save money on it and just bring my current PC to the shop and tell the guy who's gonna be putting this new PC together to just remove all the components from my current PC from the case and put all the new components in it. Would that even work?

Do you think going from an I5-6402P/RX 470 to an I5-9400F/RX 590 is worth it? Most of the websites say it's a huge improvement based on benchmarks alone, but I've read some comments saying it's not worth it and that it's not a big improvement at all so I don't know. If the components I've chosen so far are a good match, then I need your help with all other components. By the way, I play on a 1920x1080p Resolution Monitor, 60hz refresh rate and I will use that monitor with this new build too.

Those four already chosen components aside, I'm left with around 150$ to spend and I still need a motherboard and a PSU. Do I need an additional cooling fan too? I've done research on the PSU for those current specs and in some places it says I need 450W, in others 550 and even all up to 600, so I'm not sure which one to buy. Based on the research, it's best to have more than you need, so I figure 550 would be what I need? As for the motherboard, I have no idea which one I need and I know it's a really important component. How do I know which motherboard suits my setup?

Anyway, I'm open to all suggestions, pointers... I'd appreciate any help really!

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PfizersaurusRex

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#2 PfizersaurusRex
Member since 2012 • 1503 Posts

i5-9400F would be a nice step up, although Ryzen 5 3600 is probably a better choice. RX590 is a dated card, based on the same chip as RX470, with a little more cores and overclocked and very power hungry. Even if it returns good fps you should look for a newer generation, maybe RX5600XT. Id' say upgrade CPU MB and RAM first, then wait for Cyberpunk to be released and see what kind of GPU you need for constant 60fps.

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PfizersaurusRex

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#3 PfizersaurusRex
Member since 2012 • 1503 Posts

As for the motherboard, you don't need anything fancy, if you buy i5 make sure it supports 3GHz memory. For AMD any B450 board with native Ryzen 3000 support is fine.

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rmpumper

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#4 rmpumper
Member since 2016 • 2122 Posts

If you want to upgrade for 2077, upgrade when the game is out. By that time both the RDNA2 and RTX3000 will be released and possibly Zen3 + B550 and A520 (if you are really tight on the budget) mobos.

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BrianThompson

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#5 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@PfizersaurusRex: Thanks for a detailed reply! It's good that you brought up the Ryzen 5 3600 because during my research, there were many instances where that very card was mentioned at it was my second choice. I checked out the side by side comparison with the i5-9400F at the gpucheck site and the i5-9400F is a little cheaper, but it also states that it gets slightly better GTA V fps than the Ryzen (but I guess that depends on which GPU I pair it up with) and also that its overall gaming benchmark is 3% higher than Ryzen's, so naturally I chose the i5-9400F. You think Ryzen 5 3600 would be a better option for those three particular games (GTA V, Hitman 2 and Cyberpunk)?

As far as the GPU goes, I chose the RX 590 over the 5600 XT since it's much cheaper and also because it's apparently a perfect match for the i5-9400F. I didn't know it was very power hungry. I checked the combo of the 5600 XT and Ryzen 5 3600 and it indeed gets an even better overall combo score than the i5-9400 and RX 590. Problem is, I don't know if I'll have enough money to get the 5600 XT.

I'll definitely keep the B450 boards with native Ryzen 3000 support in mind while choosing the motherboard. During my research about the motherboards in general, many people said that getting one which could withstand the heat etc. is a must. I really don't want to get one that would crumble really quick. I want this build to be my PC for at least the next few years, you know?

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deactivated-642321fb121ca

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#6 deactivated-642321fb121ca
Member since 2013 • 7142 Posts

My brother has a RX 580, catalyst pretty much crashes all the time. Only way 1440P worked was if it was completely uninstalled, weird.

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BrianThompson

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#7 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@rmpumper: Yeah, you guys are right. I'll wait until Cyberpunk is out. I'll put the motherboards you mentioned on the list with the B450 and see which ones are the cheapest as I'll definitely be really tight on the budget.

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mrbojangles25

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#8 mrbojangles25
Member since 2005 • 58155 Posts

@rmpumper said:

If you want to upgrade for 2077, upgrade when the game is out. By that time both the RDNA2 and RTX3000 will be released and possibly Zen3 + B550 and A520 (if you are really tight on the budget) mobos.

This.

Rarely is upgrading for a single game a good idea, but if must be done, might as well wait until it is out and you find out you actually cannot play it.

But the way things are, though, I think your PC is actually pretty decent @brianthompson. Some of the components are a bit dated but that is about it.

8 GB of memory is sufficient for now but I think it is slowly but surely not enough.

But yeah like Pumper said, wait until the game is out.

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ycdeo

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#9 ycdeo
Member since 2004 • 2841 Posts

u should also buy a acer 27" monitor.

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NoumanZia

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#10 NoumanZia
Member since 2020 • 1 Posts

Try a 30inch monitor with AMD rx580. I am sure it will work great.

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BrianThompson

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#11 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

Hi guys! An update! (Please do read the first post if you haven't so that you understand the whole thing here).

Since Cyberpunk 2077 specs came out the other day, I'm here to tell you that I've decided to get a new PC since unfortunately, my current PC won't be able to efficiently run the game even at medium settings. I want to ask you for your professional advice on choosing 2 more components and then I'm all set. I've already taken everyone's advice here into consideration in combo with my budget and so far, I've decided to go with the following build:

GPU: Sapphire RX 5600 Pulse, 6GB GDDR6

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 (4.2GHz,36MB,65W,AM4): with Wraith Stealth Cooler

RAM: G.Skill AEGIS 16GB 2x8GB C16 3200MHz

HDD: Toshiba P300 1TB

Those 4 are locked in. Now, after A LOT of research, I'm left confused when it comes to choosing the right Motherboard and the right PSU. I need your help choosing those two. I'll start with the PSU.

I've read so many posts on various sites and there are so many different answers. Some people say a 550W PSU is more than enough for this GPU/CPU combo, some say it's not nearly enough if it's under load. Some say a 650W is just right and some say that a 750W or even an 850W is the answer and nothing below that.

What do I do? I don't want to go cheap on the PSU because I know it's one of the worst mistakes. I've done a lot of research and I've decided to go with the Corsair 80+ Gold Modular version PSU because most praise it and say it's really reliable. I'm uncertain about which one to buy when it comes to wattage. Having said that, I've brought it down to 2 options - a) Corsair TX 650W Modular, 80+ Gold or b) Corsair 750W TX-M Series, 80+ Gold. The 650 is cheaper out of the two. If the wattage is definitely more than sufficient, I'd go with that one to save money.

As far as the Motherboard goes, it's complicated too. After my research, I noticed that the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max is the most frequent answer for this build... and I'd go for that, but they don't have one available at my local store. I'll have to check whether they can order it, but if not, I need to have a plan B.

What is my next best thing to buy here? I'm looking for this build to serve me for at least a few years (5+), so I don't want to go really cheap, but I can't choose anything pricey either. It has to be in the Tomahawk Max price range or cheaper, but as good as possible, of course. Problems I've encountered during my research are the BIOS update on various Motherboards and the incompatibility out of the box with Ryzen 5 3600. So... Which Motherboard should I get? Would MSI B450 GAMING PLUS MAX be okay? Something cheaper but reliable maybe?

This, as you can imagine, is really important to me and I also can't really afford to mess it up. Any help would be much appreciated!

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PfizersaurusRex

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#12 PfizersaurusRex
Member since 2012 • 1503 Posts

650W PSU with ~50A on the 12V rail is good. Didn't bother checking the exact specs, but Corsair is a good enough brand to trust. Check with the seller what BIOS version a MB comes with to make sure it will work, you can't rely on forums for that. I don't see a problem with that MSI board as long as it comes with an updated BIOS. Wait for the new midrange GPU's to arrive, it should be within a few months, you'll probably get a better deal than that RX 5600 XT. And I would strongly recommend buying Kingston A2000 1TB or 500MB SSD. It's the best PCIE 3.0 SSD for the money, like it's actually cheaper than many SATA SSD's. You can also add it later, now if you want a PCIE 4.0 SSD you can buy a B550 board and wait for an equally good deal on a Gen 4 SSD but it's a waste of time if you ask me.

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BrianThompson

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#13 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@PfizersaurusRex: Thanks for the answer! 650 it is then. As far as the Motherboard goes, I'll be sure to watch for the updated BIOS version.

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elessarGObonzo

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#14 elessarGObonzo
Member since 2008 • 2677 Posts

@brianthompson:

"...What is my next best thing to buy here? I'm looking for this build to serve me for at least a few years (5+), so I don't want to go really cheap, but I can't choose anything pricey either. It has to be in the Tomahawk Max price range or cheaper, but as good as possible, of course. Problems I've encountered during my research are the BIOS update on various Motherboards and the incompatibility out of the box with Ryzen 5 3600. So... Which Motherboard should I get? Would MSI B450 GAMING PLUS MAX be okay? Something cheaper but reliable maybe?.."

If you can stand to wait until late-October / mid-November, you will have access to a much better GPU for more than likely a much better deal than what you will find right now. Nvidia's RTX 30 series has just launched and AMD's RX 6000 series is coming October 28th. Even if you are dead set on getting something from the previous generation, those prices will be dropping over the next couple months to compensate for the new series hitting the shelves. If you do end up deciding to get a new series card, you may want to hold off on your other components and reconfigure your system, budget, and power needs based on that.

Most GPU manufacturers should have a power configurator tool(example: EVGA Power Meter) on their websites to help you determine what the minimum power needs will be based on your entire system load. It will help determine what you will actually need and give you an idea of how much more you may want to have regarding future upgrades and add-ons.

I can almost guarantee you will be disappointed with that current build within a few years if game tech keeps increasing the way it has over the last 5+ years. You may still be able to get decent frame rates with middle-ground settings on the most demanding games down the road, but if only going for "decent" & "middle-ground" you may as well go for consoles.

32GB RAM and at least a 16GB GPU should be more what you are looking at for good coverage over the next 5 years. Also, if going for a cheaper CPU, at least make sure it is an 8-core with a bit more power than the Ryzen 3600 to compensate for overclocking later on in the future when you realize the lower speeds are holding your more demanding games back. And since you plan on going for a Ryzen CPU, you should do some research regarding the platform to help decide what the best route to take is for your RAM needs and maxing out the potential of your CPU & memory. Maybe check out a lot of the info here: AMD General Forum(Overclock.net) they offer some great insight and direct answers into what to use and what to expect.

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BrianThompson

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#15  Edited By BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@elessarGObonzo: Thanks for the detailed reply! My plan was to get the said PC about a week before Cyberpunk 2077 is released, so pretty much at the start of November, definitely not before.

I hear what you're saying, definitely. However, take into consideration that the only titles I've been following since day 1 are GTA and Hitman. Cyberpunk 2077 is an ''anomaly'' in my gaming world, so to speak. I don't game that much. So unless GTA 6 or Hitman 3 come out within the next 5 years, I don't think there's a chance of me ever needing a gaming PC for anything else. On top of that, I'm really not a demanding person when it comes to gaming, not even close.

Now, having said that, I'm kinda counting on the prices to go down once the new generation of GPUs come out because I'd like to get the 5600 XT for as low a price as possible. However, yes, I would consider other options once the market prices change. I just haven't had the chance to really research much outside the build I listed.

I'd definitely consider getting a 5700 XT instead of the 5600 XT, for example, if its price at the start of November drops to the current price of 5600 XT. I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that, right? But other than that, I really don't know. With this current build I'm planning to get, my budget is pretty much maxed out. The new GPUs hitting the market doesn't really mean much to me since they're going to be way more expensive than the current price of 5600 XT, so I won't be able to afford them anyway.

All in all, if anything, I can rely on the current build listed here. It will be the ''worst'' build I get. If I get anything else for the current price in November, I'll make sure it's better than that of the 5600 XT/Ryzen 5 3600 combo.

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elessarGObonzo

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#16 elessarGObonzo
Member since 2008 • 2677 Posts
@brianthompson said:

...The new GPUs hitting the market doesn't really mean much to me since they're going to be way more expensive than the current price of 5600 XT, so I won't be able to afford them anyway...

i doubt the prices of the medium level future series will be way more, if more at all. considering the current MSRP of first iterations of the RTX 3070 will be $499 with the performance of a 2080 Ti, i would expect the RX 6000 mid-level cards to be a bit less with much better performance than the RX 5600/5700 or XT variants.

there are also already leaks of 16GB variants of the RTX 3070 coming, so hopefully AMD will also have good VRAM size for their 6000 series mid-level cards while still at a good price.

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gamekillag4life

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#17  Edited By gamekillag4life
Member since 2020 • 45 Posts

pc$ = expensive

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BrianThompson

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#18 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@elessarGObonzo said:
@brianthompson said:

...The new GPUs hitting the market doesn't really mean much to me since they're going to be way more expensive than the current price of 5600 XT, so I won't be able to afford them anyway...

i doubt the prices of the medium level future series will be way more, if more at all. considering the current MSRP of first iterations of the RTX 3070 will be $499 with the performance of a 2080 Ti, i would expect the RX 6000 mid-level cards to be a bit less with much better performance than the RX 5600/5700 or XT variants.

there are also already leaks of 16GB variants of the RTX 3070 coming, so hopefully AMD will also have good VRAM size for their 6000 series mid-level cards while still at a good price.

Well, in the case that the new medium level stuff are tagged at current price of 5600 XT, I will surely report back here at the start of November again, of course. But, we'll see. Again, if not, I'm sure 5600 XT/Ryzen 5 3600 combo will be perfect for me as well.

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Grey_Eyed_Elf

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#19  Edited By Grey_Eyed_Elf
Member since 2011 • 7970 Posts

That GPU upgrade is small and the 590 is basically a 580... Which is basically a 480, also none of these GPU's are ready for the coming games as they will land far off the recommended spec's for the coming games your looking at 1080 levels of performance as a minimum for worth while upgrade so a RTX 2060 or 5600XT.

I would recommend waiting and saving for a RTX 3060 when it comes out or what ever AMD have that is under $300.

As for CPU I wouldn't go intel, get a 3600 and a B550 board with 3200/CL16 RAM.

A 3600 with a 6600XT or a RTX 3060 will be what I would do if a had a small budget, just save and wait till those GPU's come out, never cheap out on a GPU.

Also get a 16GB RAM its cheap now, I got 32GB for £170 of Kingston 3333/CL16 you can get 16GB for less than $80/90 now.

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BrianThompson

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#20  Edited By BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: Hey thanks for the reply. I actually updated the topic a few days ago. I ditched the build listed in my original post.

The current build I'm planning on getting is very similar to what you proposed in your post: Sapphire RX 5600 Pulse, 6GB GDDR6, Ryzen 5 3600 (4.2GHz,36MB,65W,AM4): with Wraith Stealth Cooler and G.Skill AEGIS 16GB 2x8GB C16 3200MHz Memory. As far as the Motherboard goes, I'm still undecided on that. I was juggling between the B450 Tomahawk Max and the B450 Gaming Plus Max. Now that you've mentioned it, do you think that the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 would be a better choice? Would I need to update the BIOS or is it compatible with the 3600 out of the box?

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Grey_Eyed_Elf

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#21  Edited By Grey_Eyed_Elf
Member since 2011 • 7970 Posts

@brianthompson: B550 boards will work out of the box with 3 series CPU's... And they offer PCIe Gen 4, so you can use faster M.2 drives. Its just the smarter buy.

Spending a extra $20 on a better motherboard is the best thing you can do, same price rule applies to cases and PSU's... A extra $20 can give you a drastically better product.

I always go with Asus boards, the Asus B550 PRIME Plus or the B550 TUF gets my thumbs up as the best budget B550 boards.

I wouldn't bother even looking at B450 boards to be perfectly honest.

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BrianThompson

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#22 BrianThompson
Member since 2020 • 10 Posts

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: Thanks a lot on clearing that up! I'll check out the 550s.