Nyekundu - The ultimate budget 1080p rig (upgrades)

[ivanrcks95]

So after much research and searching for help on this forum and others, ive finally completed my budget 1080p rig. I started with JayzTwoCents video for the ultimate budget gaming pc in 2019 as a template, and then went through every single component one by one to see where i could improve and or save. It ended up being predominantly red so i decided to call it Nyekundu, red in Swahili. Parts breakdown and pricing below.

 

Case - Aerocool Bolt RGB - 30 USD - I got very lucky with case choices simply due to where i live. We have every single type of case imaginable, from brands you've probably never even heard off, for prices that are just obscene. My main criteria was it had to have some RGB elements, a clear side panel, and good cable management solutions. This had it all, so it was a no brainier for me. 

 

Motherboard - ASRock B450M-Pro4-f - 65 USD - Now this is something i was stuck on for a while, to spend more or less here, everyone had varying opinions on this, but ultimately i decided to save a bit of the MB and spend it elsewhere. I ended up going with the Pro4-f over the regular Pro4 simply due to the fact the f variant is newer and came out the box with ryzen 2x support, something ive heard the regular model did not have if you got unlucky and received a MB from an older batch, therefore needing you to update the BIOS using a 1x ryzen etc etc. So to not risk this i just went with the less functions but newer f variant. 

 

CPU - Ryzen 5 2600 Box set - 135 USD - Why 2600 instead of 3600? Simply i couldnt find a 3600 box set in stock that was under 200 USD, so the 2600 was the next best bet, thats it.

 

RAM - XPG Gammix D10 2x8gb 3000mhz - 80 USD - Same story as the CPU here, couldnt find any other 3000mhz RAM available in stock for under 100, it being red helped drive the theme of the build too.

 

Memory - XPG SX6000 Pro 512gb - 67 USD - This was another piece i was stuck on for quite a while, deciding between going with a SSD + HDD set up, a NVme + SSD set up etc etc. Ultimately i decided that 512gb is plenty for me since i dont keep more than 2 heavy games at a time anyway, and i really wanted to try what m.2 nvme storage was like.

 

GPU - GTX 1660 Super OC by Gigabyte - 260 USD - Most of the money saved went into this. I originally started off with a RX580/590, but after some research, i released those cards were way past their prime and i wanted better future support, originally had gone with a 1650 Super, but after finding this Gigabyte OC model on sale i thought it was the better move.

 

PSU - Corsair TX550M - 100 USD - Again, i started off with Jayz recommendation here of the CX650M, however, decided that i valued 80 gold efficiency over the extra wattage so the TX550 was a no brainier. 

 

Total - 737 USD +/- 10 USD for when the rgb case strips get here.

 

In terms of performance i havent had much time with games just yet, however i pre-downloaded Crysis 3 from my laptop, on maxed out settings at 1080p i was averaging between 58-74 fps. Will try more recent/better optimised titles and see what i get then. Userbenchmark run shown below as well, the only one ive had time to do so far. Will add onto this as time goes on. Let me know what you guys think, advice for future upgrades will be appreciated too! 

 

 

[DoctorNick]

Nice build, looks great! But if you had every option in cases, why on earth did you go for Aerocool? How cheap was it!?

Edit: And it runs Crysis!

[ivanrcks95]

Just now, DoctorNick said:

Nice build, looks great! But if you had every option in cases, why on earth did you go for Aerocool? How cheap was it!?

30 USD as stated above, and what i meant by that is, i was not limited to picking a budget focused case from name brands, but also had every other random Asian company to choose from as well.

[DoctorNick]

Just now, ivanrcks95 said:

30 USD as stated above, and what i meant by that is, i was not limited to picking a budget focused case from name brands, but also had every other random Asian company to choose from as well.

Alright, then it's justified! (sorry missed 30 USD) Looks good! How's temps?

[ivanrcks95]

1 minute ago, DoctorNick said:

Alright, then it's justified! (sorry missed 30 USD) Looks good! How's temps?

Havent had time to test under load, but idling the CPU is at 38C and the GPU is at 42C.

[DoctorNick]

12 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Havent had time to test under load, but idling the CPU is at 38C and the GPU is at 42C.

Seems good enough with +24c ambient

[ivanrcks95]

5 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Seems good enough with +24c ambient

Yeah all stock cooling too, im already thinking a CPU fan might be my next upgrade haha

[DoctorNick]

5 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Yeah all stock cooling too, im already thinking a CPU fan might be my next upgrade haha

if you'll keep it budget, then maybe The EVO 212 black edition, would be a nice option, also it matches the aesthetics of this build.

[ivanrcks95]

1 hour ago, DoctorNick said:

if you'll keep it budget, then maybe The EVO 212 black edition, would be a nice option, also it matches the aesthetics of this build.

I think coolers are still relatively cheap even for the "higher end" ones, so im willing to spend a bit more.

[ivanrcks95]

Did some more testing, Jedi Fallen Order at 1080p on maxed out settings, lowest i saw was about 68fps, average it sits in the 80s-90s, temps wise it settled in about 54c on the CPU and 76c on the GPU.

[Sir0Tek]

Nice build which proves to be more powerful than it seems at first glance.

If only the inside wouldn't feel so empty...

[ivanrcks95]

15 minutes ago, Sir0Tek said:

Nice build which proves to be more powerful than it seems at first glance.

If only the inside wouldn't feel so empty...

The Gigabyte 1660 super seems to be the best you can get in the mid-range market, so i expected it to handle 1080p gaming. And yeah, no sata drives of any kind does make it look empty, but i love the none cluttered look, once i get my RGB strips in it should liven it up quite a bit.

[ivanrcks95]

The Outer worlds. Again at 1080p with all settings set to Ultra. Average sitting in the mid 70s to lows 80s, lowest i saw was 58fps during what seemed like a loading screen. Im trying to figure out how to have nvidia take a screenshot with the FPS counter, thatll be ideal. Nevermind, sorted!

 

[ivanrcks95]

Another quuick update, rigs been running really good so i decided to see what it could do with some OC. The GPU managed a stable +175 core clock and the memory a +1100. Dont really know if the core clock is any good but i do know getting more than 500 on memory is pretty decent. Firestrike result below, basically a 1660ti now with that score haha.

[ivanrcks95]

Another quick little performance update. Forza Horizon 4. Not really a demanding game since its very well optimised. But the results have been attached anyway. As always everything maxed out at 1080p.

[ivanrcks95]

And now the final set up, with the nicest cable management on a desk ive ever done. 

 

 

[Ben17]

2 hours ago, ivanrcks95 said:

And now the final set up, with the nicest cable management on a desk ive ever done. 

nice job   

[ivanrcks95]

So its been over 7 months now, and the rig/setup has gone through some changes. Taking in all the advice i got on here/pcpartpicker/some youtubers where my setup was featured. First thing i did was get a proper monitor, to get rid of the TV. I ended up going with an Acer 24' 1080p 75hz IPS panel, forgot the name exactly, but it was on sale for sub 100$ so i had to get it, its worked flawlessly since i got it, cant complain. Next on the list was to "fix" all the things i cheaped out on/saved money on originally. First things first, getting rid of the stock cooler, and replacing it with a Deepcool Gammaxx 400EX, really good looking cooler and frankly outperforms the 2600, which is what i wanted, since i do wanna get into overclocking soon. Idles at 35-38c, under full load i havent seen it hit anything above 54c. Win!. I also added a 1TB drive, to help the 512gb m.2 drive, as 512gb really isnt enough anymore for modern gaming. Sad. Then came a set of matching 120mm fans, i had 3 case fans before, not a single one matched hehe, two had molex connectors, i know....I got a deepcool rf120 set of 3, to match the fans on the cpu cooler, set all 5 up to run on silent mode, with the case fans reacting to GPU temps. Now i have a dead silent system on idle, it feels weird. Finally, i wanted to get rid of the case, not only was it the wrong size for my MB, its also extremely cheap, and it just kept getting worse and worse the more i used it, hot temps, the metal was so thin that swapping fans literally destroyed some of the mounting holes, no room for cable management, it was a bad time. I spotted a Cooler Master Q300L for sale for about 10USD, was very temped, watched a few videos and seemed like an epic case, my only regret was not watching GamerNexus video on it. The case is amazing in comparison to the Aerocool, build quality, looks, cable management, and cooling, well, so i thought looking at its perforated design, however, its a hot case. Funny enough, its still cooler than the Aerocool case was, which just shows how bad that case is, but it was far from ideal for me. So i took out a dremel and did a few mods to the front panel, you can find more here https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1234667-cooler-master-q300l-front-panel-mod/. Long story short, i didnt wanna make two big holes like most people do to the case, i wanted to keep the design, and improve cooling, which i succeeded in. And thats pretty much it! Im waiting on the 30series cards to drop, so i can grab a 20 series for cheap, and that will probably be my last mod to Nyekundu for quite some time as at that point there is nothing i personally wont like about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ivanrcks95]

So, Nvidia 3000 series has really been good to Nyekundu, as i predicted in my previous update. Not only did it kill prices of 20-series cards, it actually helped prices of cards like mine (1660super), so i managed to sell my 1660 super for 250usd roughly, and get a rtx 2070 for 300usd, so technically paying 50usd for a 2070 hah! Came with 3 years warranty as well (local shop + gigabyte). Overall a win win. Nyekundu is very much not a 1080p budget rig anymore. The card is quite powerful too, its a gigabyte gaming oc model, during firestrike it managed a core boost clock 400mhz higher than reference, and scored 115% in userbenchmark, 1% more than the average for 2070 Supers. Definitely happy with my purchase, and it should do pretty well when cyberpunk 2077 launches, which was my main reason to wanting to upgrade my gpu.