Build Plan Thread Recommendations (Please read before posting)

[drew6700]

Supposed to be budget build, already have keyboard, mouse, monitor, headphones, and amp. (USD) Looking to play AAA games on ultra/high at 1080p. Some advice is needed as this is my first.

[drew6700]

On 11/17/2017 at 7:15 PM, ChaosJ said:

I have gone severely over budget and was wondering if anyone could advise on where I can save money. (the goal is to get as close to CAD $1700 as possible. ALL prices are in Canadian Dollars)

 

Looking to buy the following.

CPU: i5 8600K @$350 (would like to overclock. ive also heard the 8400 can be overclocked, is this true? because i can save a good 100$ CAD)

Cooler: Corsair h60 cpu cooler @$97

Mobo: Msi Z370 Gaming Plus @$163

RAM: Corsair Vengence lpx 8gb ddr4 2400 MHz (2x4gb mem kit) @$120

GFX Card: MSI GTX 1060 6GB @$407 (Ideally an EVGA 1070ti but trying to knock down my spends)

SSD: Sandisk 120GB SSD Plus @$80

HDD: Seagate Barracude 2TB @$83

Monitor: BenQ Zowie XL2730 2K Monitor @$480 (Really want a 2k high frame rate monitor that is adjustable)

PSU: Evga 750W B2 @$123

Cabinet: Phanteks Eclipse P400 TG Edition @$100

Case Fans: Corsair AF120 4 Fans @$58

 

TOTAL: $2061

 

Off the top of my head I would downgrade the CPU to the i5 8400 with stock cooler/hyper 212 evo. (i would love to overclock this if possible... first time overclocker)

Second if you guys recommend, i can junk the liquid cooling and stick with the hyper 212 evo for Overclocking the 8600K (but i hear it gets pretty hot)

I can also drop the SSD and save $80 and upgrade later i guess.(obviously would like to avoid doing that)

My last resort is to convert that GTX 1060 into a 1050Ti from Zotac. 

These are the only ways i think i can save.... please help guys. If you have any better recommendations I would absolutely love them!

 

 

Don't downgrade the 1060 to a 1050Ti, the lack of VRAM will hurt. If you're willing to compromise a hybrid SSHD from Seagate or the like you can mix the speed of SSD with the size of HDD with a reasonable price. Unless you want the name brand, there are so many other cheaper options for 8gb ddr4 RAM out there. I would pick one of those. Also, 8400 is not overclockable but is definitely powerful enough to not bottleneck your GPU, great choice. Definitely go for the 212 Evo switch, water cooling looks nice, but is pretty expensive. If you're really on a tight budget and don't mind LEDs, the LED version of the 212, the 212 LED, is like 5 USD cheaper. If you're ok for going team red the Ryzen 5 1600  is a good choice and I believe it's cheaper (check your dealers). This would mean that you also have to change your MoBo to something like the X370, which also happens to be cheaper. Remember, this also doesn't include an OS, keyboard, mouse, or WiFi connection if you need it. Also, the P400 comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports, so if you need more you'll need a hub. Hope this helped.

[ChaosJ]

5 hours ago, drew6700 said:

Don't downgrade the 1060 to a 1050Ti, the lack of VRAM will hurt. If you're willing to compromise a hybrid SSHD from Seagate or the like you can mix the speed of SSD with the size of HDD with a reasonable price. Unless you want the name brand, there are so many other cheaper options for 8gb ddr4 RAM out there. I would pick one of those. Also, 8400 is not overclockable but is definitely powerful enough to not bottleneck your GPU, great choice. Definitely go for the 212 Evo switch, water cooling looks nice, but is pretty expensive. If you're really on a tight budget and don't mind LEDs, the LED version of the 212, the 212 LED, is like 5 USD cheaper. If you're ok for going team red the Ryzen 5 1600  is a good choice and I believe it's cheaper (check your dealers). This would mean that you also have to change your MoBo to something like the X370, which also happens to be cheaper. Remember, this also doesn't include an OS, keyboard, mouse, or WiFi connection if you need it. Also, the P400 comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports, so if you need more you'll need a hub. Hope this helped.

Thanks a tonne. I will prob go 1070 or 1070 Ti. With reagrds to Wifi, for my desktop system, I always prefer a direct line and I use the wifi only for mobile/smart devices. Ive got a keyboard and mouse, Ive accounted for the OS. and I've got a hub and also a PCIE ext card-usb 3.0 adapter thingy. whatever its called.  but thank you, you hit all the right nails and were great to take all this into consideration while responding.

[drew6700]

2 hours ago, ChaosJ said:

Thanks a tonne. I will prob go 1070 or 1070 Ti. With reagrds to Wifi, for my desktop system, I always prefer a direct line and I use the wifi only for mobile/smart devices. Ive got a keyboard and mouse, Ive accounted for the OS. and I've got a hub and also a PCIE ext card-usb 3.0 adapter thingy. whatever its called.  but thank you, you hit all the right nails and were great to take all this into consideration while responding.

No problem, glad I could help

[ConsolePleb]

I've been a console gamer for my entire life and I'm this is my first build.

 I know little about computers let alone building one.

I'll use ot for gaming and playing games such as bf1, pubg and cs go.

So I had this build in mind, if yall could give me some pointers on it or what should I change. My budget is around 1k usd.

 

i3 8350k Processor (I have a Cooler Master 212 evo cooler on it)

MSI Z370 gaming m5 motherboard

16gb of Ballistic sport LT ram 2666mhz

Wd blue 250gb ssd and 1tb hdd

Psu is corsair 550w

Gpu is Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ 4gb

And I'm working with a BitFenix comrade case (if that makes any difference)

 

[ChaosJ]

5 hours ago, ConsolePleb said:

I've been a console gamer for my entire life and I'm this is my first build.

 I know little about computers let alone building one.

I'll use ot for gaming and playing games such as bf1, pubg and cs go.

So I had this build in mind, if yall could give me some pointers on it or what should I change. My budget is around 1k usd.

 

i3 8350k Processor (I have a Cooler Master 212 evo cooler on it)

MSI Z370 gaming m5 motherboard

16gb of Ballistic sport LT ram 2666mhz

Wd blue 250gb ssd and 1tb hdd

Psu is corsair 550w

Gpu is Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ 4gb

And I'm working with a BitFenix comrade case (if that makes any difference)

 

My Personal opinion is that youre going overkill on the RAM. I think 8 gigs is enough. You could also trim the SSD down to a 120GB for ESSENTIAL software ONLY. (OS, startup programs, etc.) Unless you plan on installing games on the SSD itself, in which case, BF1 is more than 50 gigs, pubg is pretty big and other games are super large too these days, that 250GB SSD will get exhausted soon. So either look at a larger SSD or trim it down and isntall the games on your HDD. you can save some money that way.

 

The money you save on the ram and SSD can be put into a slighlt better processor. I think the processor may cause a bottleneck but I am sure that there is someone better equipped to confirm that, so don't take my words as gospel on that.

 

Also, what monitor are you working with? If your monitor caps your FPS then you might as well go for a GTX 1060, the 580 gives slightly better FPS for 100$ more. So again you could save some there, and re shuffle the funds :). You could also invest in a wireless xbox one S controller and bluetooth dongle for those Racing and third person games or even first person shooters, if that;s how you prefer gaming. Youd still get much better visuals and frames than any console.

[ConsolePleb]

13 hours ago, ChaosJ said:

My Personal opinion is that youre going overkill on the RAM. I think 8 gigs is enough. You could also trim the SSD down to a 120GB for ESSENTIAL software ONLY. (OS, startup programs, etc.) Unless you plan on installing games on the SSD itself, in which case, BF1 is more than 50 gigs, pubg is pretty big and other games are super large too these days, that 250GB SSD will get exhausted soon. So either look at a larger SSD or trim it down and isntall the games on your HDD. you can save some money that way.

 

The money you save on the ram and SSD can be put into a slighlt better processor. I think the processor may cause a bottleneck but I am sure that there is someone better equipped to confirm that, so don't take my words as gospel on that.

 

Also, what monitor are you working with? If your monitor caps your FPS then you might as well go for a GTX 1060, the 580 gives slightly better FPS for 100$ more. So again you could save some there, and re shuffle the funds :). You could also invest in a wireless xbox one S controller and bluetooth dongle for those Racing and third person games or even first person shooters, if that;s how you prefer gaming. Youd still get much better visuals and frames than any console.

I changed it a bit to perform better, any pointers now?

PSU:550w corsair

GPU:RX580 nitro+ (gtx1060 are the same price in europe)

CPU:i5 8600k (evo 212)

Motherboard:Gigabyte AORUS gaming 5

RAM:8gb Kingston HyperX

Memory:1tb wd blue and 120gb kingston ssd.

I was thinking id install the OS and probs pubg on the ssd (other games on hdd)

The RAM im a bit worried about since I heard some new games use over 8gb

[McSkirmishpants]

Hi All,

long time reader but first time poster.
I used to build PC's over 15 years ago but working in the Apple world took me away from Windows builds.
A year ago I changed jobs and am now looking to put together a Windows rig again.
I am no stranger to working inside machines and did put together a gaming rig for a friend 18 months ago but the parts from this were mostly worked out from a suggested rig on a forum at the time.
As I'm doing this one for myself there is a bit more care being put into the design and I would love some input from you all on what might fit the budget.
I'm starting with a few parts already and mainly would like input on the Board and Processor for my budget.

The parts I have are
DeepCool Steam Castle Case - so will need a Micro ATX board
LG 34UM67-P Monitor
MSI GeForce GTX 970 Videocard
Have a Logitech Keyboard and Mouse
2Tb WD Blue HDD

 

1. Budget & Location

$1000 AUD as I'm an Aussie

 

2. Aim

Gaming but probably not too high end.
I'm looking to play Elite and RTS games rather than FPS.
Would like to future proof it as much as possible.
Will look to upgrade the video card in 6-12 months if needed as the Monitor has Freesync but the current card is Nvidia.
Would like to include a M2 SSD if suitable but this is something I could add in the future.

 

3. Monitors

Already have the LG 34in Ultrawide Monitor

 

4. Peripherals

Have a basic keyboard and mouse that will do for now

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

Building a new machine from my case of choice and donated video card and monitor.

 

I thank you all and look forward to your assistance

[AndreLebrao]

On 12/27/2017 at 4:50 PM, ConsolePleb said:

I changed it a bit to perform better, any pointers now?

PSU:550w corsair

GPU:RX580 nitro+ (gtx1060 are the same price in europe)

CPU:i5 8600k (evo 212)

Motherboard:Gigabyte AORUS gaming 5

RAM:8gb Kingston HyperX

Memory:1tb wd blue and 120gb kingston ssd.

I was thinking id install the OS and probs pubg on the ssd (other games on hdd)

The RAM im a bit worried about since I heard some new games use over 8gb

I currently have 8gb of ram and no game could use it all  up to this point. They're demanding way more of my gpu and cpu. If I were you i would go with Ryzen 1600 (maybe one of the best price/performance chips out now) and a b350 motherboard, it can be easily OC'ed to 3,8Ghz with the stock cooler. 

[A1Mike_W]

On 26/12/2017 at 11:48 PM, ConsolePleb said:

I've been a console gamer for my entire life and I'm this is my first build.

 I know little about computers let alone building one.

I'll use ot for gaming and playing games such as bf1, pubg and cs go.

So I had this build in mind, if yall could give me some pointers on it or what should I change. My budget is around 1k usd.

 

i3 8350k Processor (I have a Cooler Master 212 evo cooler on it)

MSI Z370 gaming m5 motherboard

16gb of Ballistic sport LT ram 2666mhz

Wd blue 250gb ssd and 1tb hdd

Psu is corsair 550w

Gpu is Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ 4gb

And I'm working with a BitFenix comrade case (if that makes any difference)

 

Edit: your changes and other replies didn't load for me, so I'll re-write my advice:

 

The i5 8600k is a decent processor but may be overkill for your needs, if you're looking for places to save $$. Your GPU is likely to be the bottleneck in the system, so I would personally recommend the i5 8400 instead for the games you want to play. It boosts to 3.9 ghz so even CSGO will like it, and getting an unlocked CPU for overclocking usually isn't the best idea for your first build (and you could skimp on the cooler too, as the i5 8400 doesn't get hot enough to thermal throttle even on the stock intel cooler). 

 

There are loads of videos on Youtube showcasing the difference in performance in the specific games you want to play (which I highly recommend checking out before buying).

If you plan on playing on a 1080p @ 60hz monitor, your setup is going to be pretty decent 

[A1Mike_W]

12 hours ago, McSkirmishpants said:

Hi All,

long time reader but first time poster.
I used to build PC's over 15 years ago but working in the Apple world took me away from Windows builds.
A year ago I changed jobs and am now looking to put together a Windows rig again.
I am no stranger to working inside machines and did put together a gaming rig for a friend 18 months ago but the parts from this were mostly worked out from a suggested rig on a forum at the time.
As I'm doing this one for myself there is a bit more care being put into the design and I would love some input from you all on what might fit the budget.
I'm starting with a few parts already and mainly would like input on the Board and Processor for my budget.

The parts I have are
DeepCool Steam Castle Case - so will need a Micro ATX board
LG 34UM67-P Monitor
MSI GeForce GTX 970 Videocard
Have a Logitech Keyboard and Mouse
2Tb WD Blue HDD

 

1. Budget & Location

$1000 AUD as I'm an Aussie

 

2. Aim

Gaming but probably not too high end.
I'm looking to play Elite and RTS games rather than FPS.
Would like to future proof it as much as possible.
Will look to upgrade the video card in 6-12 months if needed as the Monitor has Freesync but the current card is Nvidia.
Would like to include a M2 SSD if suitable but this is something I could add in the future.

 

3. Monitors

Already have the LG 34in Ultrawide Monitor

 

4. Peripherals

Have a basic keyboard and mouse that will do for now

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

Building a new machine from my case of choice and donated video card and monitor.

 

I thank you all and look forward to your assistance

If you're no stranger to working inside machines then how come you're aiming to future-proof? A good CPU will last 5-10 years on less demanding games (and especially on higher resolutions like your ultrawide). CPU upgrades are usually easy and painless and take no more than an hour, which isn't a lot considering you wouldn't be doing it very often. As for GPU upgrades, they can take under a minute excluding unboxing (and your case has 320mm of clearance for them plus support for SLI so your upgrade path is great). Same goes for RAM, you just open the bracket and shove it in. Plus, future-proofing on a budget is almost a paradox as newer parts can achieve better performance for less money, and you can sell your old parts as you upgrade.

 

Also, with regards to Freesync, some people don't see the difference - so you can opt for AMD but YMMV.

 

GPU:

If you're just looking to play Elite and RTS games then the requirements aren't too high., even on ultra-wides. If you wish to upgrade your GPU I'd look at the gtx 1070 for best price to performance ratio, or vega 56 if you insist on Freesync. Just keep in mind the 1070 might be cheaper. It'll set you back around $600 but trading in your old 970 should help cover at least half of the cost.

 

Motherboard and CPU:

A good value to performance mobo+cpu bundle would be the cheapest mATX z370 board paired with the i5 8400, at about $500 total. Plenty of future-proofing for your applications, and a good upgrade path if you decide to upgrade down the line. The i5 8400 provides about the same performance in games as the i7 7700, but if you want to shave off about $150 you can opt for the i3 8100 instead, which is a 4-core with the same performance as the i5 7500. Additionally, neither the i3 8100 nor the i5 8400 require extra cooling, meaning they will perform to their full potential with just the stock cooler (meaning you save some money there too). You can look into getting a cheap 212x to cut down on noise, and your case should support it as it allows a ridiculous height.

You could wait until h370 comes out, which would be a bit cheaper.

As for AMD, I don't have much experience with their lineup. A Ryzen 5 1600 looks to be in your price range, but it's essentially a slower i5 8400 with multi-threading. In games, the i5 8400 would fare better and their price is roughly the same. You might be able to save some on the motherboard though.

 

RAM:

8gb of RAM should do you, but if you wish to future-proof then 16gb would be the way to go. Just keep in mind that RAM prices are quite steep right now, so you may have to go with 8gb to stay within budget. If you decide to go with an AMD processor, also keep in mind that they require higher memory speeds to utilise them to their full capacity. 

 

M.2:

As a general upgrade I would absolutely look into M.2 drives, just because it makes pretty much everything on your PC load faster (including games), but also increases boot times and general responsiveness of your system. It'll be the most noticeable upgrade you can make, especially from a hard drive. The only problem is price, and you may find that a normal SSD will be a better choice. The 850 evo 250gb would be a good choice, as you have plenty of storage in your 2TB HDD, and would be enough for your OS and games. The M.2 version of it costs about $25 more.

PSU:

A high-rated PSU can decrease how much you pay for the bills, so may be a worthwhile investment. Not skimping on one will allow for reliable power too, meaning less problems down the line. There's a handy guide on this forum under cases and power supplies where you can look for a good candidate, just keep in mind size restrictions from your case.

 

Notes:

Upgrading your motherboard requires the most effort, so buy the one that supports a good CPU and allows for an upgrade path down the line.

Your quest of future-proofing will be held back somewhat by your budget. The whole thing (with all my recommendations on cutting cost) would roughly set you back $50 over budget ($185 for cpu , $175 for mobo, $150 for SSD, $120 for PSU, $120 for RAM, $600 GPU + selling old GPU for $300) and that's excluding shipping (unless it's free, then woohoo!). If you find deals online you can cut that down obviously. Opting for 16gb of RAM and a better CPU would satisfy your need to future-proof, but bring the price up by about $150-200.

 

[ChaosJ]

On 12/28/2017 at 12:20 AM, ConsolePleb said:

I changed it a bit to perform better, any pointers now?

PSU:550w corsair

GPU:RX580 nitro+ (gtx1060 are the same price in europe)

CPU:i5 8600k (evo 212)

Motherboard:Gigabyte AORUS gaming 5

RAM:8gb Kingston HyperX

Memory:1tb wd blue and 120gb kingston ssd.

I was thinking id install the OS and probs pubg on the ssd (other games on hdd)

The RAM im a bit worried about since I heard some new games use over 8gb

seems more balanced. I would also consider what Andre is saying:

10 hours ago, AndreLebrao said:

I currently have 8gb of ram and no game could use it all  up to this point. They're demanding way more of my gpu and cpu. If I were you i would go with Ryzen 1600 (maybe one of the best price/performance chips out now) and a b350 motherboard, it can be easily OC'ed to 3,8Ghz with the stock cooler. 

But i don't forsee much of an issue, i think the i5 performs better, only thing is i don't know how much heed you pay to the recent developments about intel processors having some major security flaws. I'm not sure I care too much. But between these two processors, i think you're well decked out for everything

[ChaosJ]

21 hours ago, McSkirmishpants said:

Hi All,

long time reader but first time poster.
I used to build PC's over 15 years ago but working in the Apple world took me away from Windows builds.
A year ago I changed jobs and am now looking to put together a Windows rig again.
I am no stranger to working inside machines and did put together a gaming rig for a friend 18 months ago but the parts from this were mostly worked out from a suggested rig on a forum at the time.
As I'm doing this one for myself there is a bit more care being put into the design and I would love some input from you all on what might fit the budget.
I'm starting with a few parts already and mainly would like input on the Board and Processor for my budget.

The parts I have are
DeepCool Steam Castle Case - so will need a Micro ATX board
LG 34UM67-P Monitor
MSI GeForce GTX 970 Videocard
Have a Logitech Keyboard and Mouse
2Tb WD Blue HDD

 

1. Budget & Location

$1000 AUD as I'm an Aussie

 

2. Aim

Gaming but probably not too high end.
I'm looking to play Elite and RTS games rather than FPS.
Would like to future proof it as much as possible.
Will look to upgrade the video card in 6-12 months if needed as the Monitor has Freesync but the current card is Nvidia.
Would like to include a M2 SSD if suitable but this is something I could add in the future.

 

3. Monitors

Already have the LG 34in Ultrawide Monitor

 

4. Peripherals

Have a basic keyboard and mouse that will do for now

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

Building a new machine from my case of choice and donated video card and monitor.

 

I thank you all and look forward to your assistance

 

8 hours ago, A1Mike_W said:

If you're no stranger to working inside machines then how come you're aiming to future-proof? A good CPU will last 5-10 years on less demanding games (and especially on higher resolutions like your ultrawide). CPU upgrades are usually easy and painless and take no more than an hour, which isn't a lot considering you wouldn't be doing it very often. As for GPU upgrades, they can take under a minute excluding unboxing (and your case has 320mm of clearance for them plus support for SLI so your upgrade path is great). Same goes for RAM, you just open the bracket and shove it in. Plus, future-proofing on a budget is almost a paradox as newer parts can achieve better performance for less money, and you can sell your old parts as you upgrade.

 

Also, with regards to Freesync, some people don't see the difference - so you can opt for AMD but YMMV.

 

GPU:

If you're just looking to play Elite and RTS games then the requirements aren't too high., even on ultra-wides. If you wish to upgrade your GPU I'd look at the gtx 1070 for best price to performance ratio, or vega 56 if you insist on Freesync. Just keep in mind the 1070 might be cheaper. It'll set you back around $600 but trading in your old 970 should help cover at least half of the cost.

 

Motherboard and CPU:

A good value to performance mobo+cpu bundle would be the cheapest mATX z370 board paired with the i5 8400, at about $500 total. Plenty of future-proofing for your applications, and a good upgrade path if you decide to upgrade down the line. The i5 8400 provides about the same performance in games as the i7 7700, but if you want to shave off about $150 you can opt for the i3 8100 instead, which is a 4-core with the same performance as the i5 7500. Additionally, neither the i3 8100 nor the i5 8400 require extra cooling, meaning they will perform to their full potential with just the stock cooler (meaning you save some money there too). You can look into getting a cheap 212x to cut down on noise, and your case should support it as it allows a ridiculous height.

You could wait until h370 comes out, which would be a bit cheaper.

As for AMD, I don't have much experience with their lineup. A Ryzen 5 1600 looks to be in your price range, but it's essentially a slower i5 8400 with multi-threading. In games, the i5 8400 would fare better and their price is roughly the same. You might be able to save some on the motherboard though.

 

RAM:

8gb of RAM should do you, but if you wish to future-proof then 16gb would be the way to go. Just keep in mind that RAM prices are quite steep right now, so you may have to go with 8gb to stay within budget. If you decide to go with an AMD processor, also keep in mind that they require higher memory speeds to utilise them to their full capacity. 

 

M.2:

As a general upgrade I would absolutely look into M.2 drives, just because it makes pretty much everything on your PC load faster (including games), but also increases boot times and general responsiveness of your system. It'll be the most noticeable upgrade you can make, especially from a hard drive. The only problem is price, and you may find that a normal SSD will be a better choice. The 850 evo 250gb would be a good choice, as you have plenty of storage in your 2TB HDD, and would be enough for your OS and games. The M.2 version of it costs about $25 more.

PSU:

A high-rated PSU can decrease how much you pay for the bills, so may be a worthwhile investment. Not skimping on one will allow for reliable power too, meaning less problems down the line. There's a handy guide on this forum under cases and power supplies where you can look for a good candidate, just keep in mind size restrictions from your case.

 

Notes:

Upgrading your motherboard requires the most effort, so buy the one that supports a good CPU and allows for an upgrade path down the line.

Your quest of future-proofing will be held back somewhat by your budget. The whole thing (with all my recommendations on cutting cost) would roughly set you back $50 over budget ($185 for cpu , $175 for mobo, $150 for SSD, $120 for PSU, $120 for RAM, $600 GPU + selling old GPU for $300) and that's excluding shipping (unless it's free, then woohoo!). If you find deals online you can cut that down obviously. Opting for 16gb of RAM and a better CPU would satisfy your need to future-proof, but bring the price up by about $150-200.

 

I Agree with Mike on all except for 1 point. I've done ALOT of research on NVME M.2. SSDs vs traditional SSDs, its unlikely that as a consumer you will notice too much of a difference even in boot times. When compares to HDDs, yes, both SSDs show a DISTINCTLY NOTICEABLE improvement, but when compared with each other, one of the only places you will notice a distinct difference is while transferring from one M.2. to another due to 3x higher read write speeds that traditional SSDs. Atleast this is the general consensus of what I've read. Is the M.2. worth it for low to mid spec gaming? I don't think it is. Samsung's 850 EVO is probably the best price to performance drive out there right now as Mike went on to clarify and probably the perfect SSD for your needs. Additionally if you want to bump up that ssd storage then I think Adata has a very good performing 1TB SSD variant as well that is relatively pocket friendly.

[A1Mike_W]

10 hours ago, ChaosJ said:

 

I Agree with Mike on all except for 1 point. I've done ALOT of research on NVME M.2. SSDs vs traditional SSDs, its unlikely that as a consumer you will notice too much of a difference even in boot times. When compares to HDDs, yes, both SSDs show a DISTINCTLY NOTICEABLE improvement, but when compared with each other, one of the only places you will notice a distinct difference is while transferring from one M.2. to another due to 3x higher read write speeds that traditional SSDs. Atleast this is the general consensus of what I've read. Is the M.2. worth it for low to mid spec gaming? I don't think it is. Samsung's 850 EVO is probably the best price to performance drive out there right now as Mike went on to clarify and probably the perfect SSD for your needs. Additionally if you want to bump up that ssd storage then I think Adata has a very good performing 1TB SSD variant as well that is relatively pocket friendly.

Yeah I phrased that badly, I'm of the same opinion as you. The only reason why I would favour m.2 over traditional SSD in his build is because less cable clutter, as the speeds especially in games are almost identical. Thanks

[kaliksto]

Could I please have some help? I'm planning on building a new system and was wondering if all my parts will work together and if its good for the price.

I have around $1300 CAD to work with. And I plan to run most AAA games(Battlefield 1, GTA V, Witcher 3, etc) on high settings with at least 60 fps on a 1080p monitor.

 

The Parts are:

 

Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

Gigabyte - GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

ADATA - XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Seagate - FireCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive

Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Founders Edition Video Card

Corsair - Carbide SPEC-04 (Black/Gray) ATX Mid Tower Case

Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

 

Parts list link:https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GGDFwV

 

Some help would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

[McSkirmishpants]

On 12/30/2017 at 6:28 AM, A1Mike_W said:

If you're no stranger to working inside machines then how come you're aiming to future-proof?

Sorry I should have been more clear on that as I was really only looking to future proof the mobo and processor so I didn't have to spend money again rather than avoiding to work on the machine.

Thank you for all your advice, great help!

 

[AndreLebrao]

On 01/01/2018 at 7:26 PM, kaliksto said:

Could I please have some help? I'm planning on building a new system and was wondering if all my parts will work together and if its good for the price.

I have around $1300 CAD to work with. And I plan to run most AAA games(Battlefield 1, GTA V, Witcher 3, etc) on high settings with at least 60 fps on a 1080p monitor.

 

The Parts are:

 

Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

Gigabyte - GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

ADATA - XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Seagate - FireCuda 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive

Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Founders Edition Video Card

Corsair - Carbide SPEC-04 (Black/Gray) ATX Mid Tower Case

Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

 

Parts list link:https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GGDFwV

 

Some help would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

I would swap out the psu and storage for this instead:

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/W3Qpd6

Put OS, apps and one or two most played games in ssd and whats left just dump into your hard drive

The psu is just better quality overall, semi modular to help you with cable management

 

EDIT: Also keep in mind your peripherals (1080p 60Hz monitor at least, good headset, mouse and keyboard if you have this kind of money to spend)

 

 

[RaiseYourHwat]

Upgrades

 

For 1080p gaming on ultra/highest settings, would a RX 580 8gb or the GTX 1060 6gb be a better card with this build?

[Nikz Jon]

On 1/19/2018 at 5:28 AM, RaiseYourHwat said:

Upgrades

 

For 1080p gaming on ultra/highest settings, would a RX 580 8gb or the GTX 1060 6gb be a better card with this build?

1. 1060 will work great.

2. Use www.kinguin.net for windows oem. i always use that. its soo cheap.

3. If you were using a intel 7th gen or higher, Intel optane would help you great with the storage read and write speed significantly since there is no ssd.

4 If you are sticking to amd, get a 120 or 256gb ssd as boot disk.

 

All the best for your build.

[ChaosJ]

13 hours ago, Finwillwin said:

I've checked with this forum once before, and I got some great suggestions, but I wanted to double check with my new parts(I'm wondering if the PSU is good enough?) Thanks! Here are the parts:

• GTX 1050ti
• Core i5 8400
• 8GB DDR4
• MSI Z370 GAMING PLUS LGA 1151 (300 Series) 
• G.SKILL TridentZ Series 8GB RAM
• WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive
• CORSAIR VS Series VS600
• MasterBox Lite 5 ATX Mid-Tower Case
• Windows 10 Home

I think that should be good, but I'm not sure.

think its perfect. But you can always check with the utility below to be sure. (Whatever it recommends should work fine but if you want to be cautious you could go with 50 Watts more that the recomendation)

 

https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

[dani92]

Hey, i'm building computer for the first time and i want to check if this config is good. I need it for gaming and video editing.

 

 

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Zalman - CNPS8X Optima CPU Cooler  

Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 

Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory 

Storage: SanDisk - X400 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 

Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AORUS Video Card  

Case: Corsair - Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case 

Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Thanks

[ChaosJ]

On 2/9/2018 at 8:26 PM, dani92 said:

Hey, i'm building computer for the first time and i want to check if this config is good. I need it for gaming and video editing.

 

 

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Zalman - CNPS8X Optima CPU Cooler  

Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 

Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory 

Storage: SanDisk - X400 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 

Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AORUS Video Card  

Case: Corsair - Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case 

Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Thanks

Couple of things.

1. Where are you buying this? as in which country?

2. Have you considered Ryzen? Im not discouraging intel, just making sure you're aware of the security issues recently brought to light. It's a big trigger for many who have migrated to AMD.

3. SSD I would recommend a Samsung 850 EVO.

[dani92]

1 hour ago, ChaosJ said:

Couple of things.

1. Where are you buying this? as in which country?

2. Have you considered Ryzen? Im not discouraging intel, just making sure you're aware of the security issues recently brought to light. It's a big trigger for many who have migrated to AMD.

3. SSD I would recommend a Samsung 850 EVO.

Oh yes... I forget it... i'm from Croatia and I'm thinkig to buy some components here at stores and some on online shops in EU...

 

Yes, I know about this issues with intel but I never had an AMD processor and I honestly do not know much about Ryzen

 

Ok I will look for this SSD... 

 

Tnx

[ChaosJ]

16 hours ago, dani92 said:

Oh yes... I forget it... i'm from Croatia and I'm thinkig to buy some components here at stores and some on online shops in EU...

 

Yes, I know about this issues with intel but I never had an AMD processor and I honestly do not know much about Ryzen

 

Ok I will look for this SSD... 

 

Tnx

Nothing much to know about MAD, just processors like intel. If you dont overclock or do anything too geeky, it works just fine all the same.

 

I would recommend going with a x370 motherboard and Ryzen 5 1600 (comes with cpu cooler which is enough to overclock. or the 1600x which is without a cooler but comes overclocked. you will need to find a compatible cooler i think.) or a Ryzen 7 1700(x). Below are some links. 

Mobo: https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-AX370-Gaming-FUSION-Type-C-Motherboard/dp/B06WLMWYMF/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1518342847&sr=1-3&keywords=x370

 

RAM: https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-3000MHz-Desktop-Memory/dp/B0134EW7G8/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518342921&sr=1-2&keywords=ryzen+ram

 

CPU: Ryzen 5: https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Processor-Wraith-Cooler-YD1600BBAEBOX/dp/B06XNRQHG4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518342946&sr=1-1&keywords=ryzen+5

Ryzen 7: https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-1700X-Processor-YD170XBCAEWOF/dp/B06X3W9NGG/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518342993&sr=1-5&keywords=ryzen+7

 

Note: AMD processers with an 'x' after the model number do not come with coolers. best to check package contents before ordering.

Either way ill leave this decision to you, just a recommendation. But, most importantly, i would recommend comparing prices between picking up indiv. parts and ordering a pre-built system. Seems like for once pre-builts maybe giving much better value. check out letsbld.com by NZXT or cyberpowerpc.com or somethign like that

[Sakmetegd]

hello everybody,

long time reader but first-time poster.

As for now, I have been looking at parts but I'm not sure what would be best for my needs. First time building my own computer. I have looked into pre-built as noted above from letsbld.com and cyberpowerpc.com

Needs: workstation (video editing, photo editing, and lighting design)

 

1. Budget & Location

$1000 - 1300 USD USA

 

2. Aim

Workstation: video, photo editing, and lighting design. 

 

3. Monitors

I own 3 nec monitors 24". I would love to be able to do up to 5 monitors or 4 monitors. (5 for when I am asked to randomly put up a video wall and don't want to get a matrix switch).

 

4. Peripherals

Have a basic keyboard and mouse that will do for now

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

Been working on a dell from 2004 and a MacBook pro, dell crashes 2-4 times a day and doesn't do any of my programs. The MacBook from 2011 was a gift and well its mac doesn't run everything I need.