I’m new and dumb, help.

[TechTarded]

Hello internet,

 

I find myself watching Linus and his minions with drool dripping down my chin cause I often have no idea what he’s saying. I love this stuff though. It is so interesting! With all of that being said, Linus has done a fantastic job of getting my curiosity peaked. I want to build a new pc but don’t know really anything about what levels of performance I need. For a first build, what should I look to for absolute necessities and what are some other specs that aren’t necessary but are good starting points for a first time pc builder. I love to game but not at a competitive level. The games I typically play are 1st person shooters, I.e. Rainbow Six Siege, Call is Duty, Battlefield, etc....

 

like I mentioned, ladies and gentlemen, I am completely new to this so any direction will be welcomed! 

[Dedayog]

Pop over to the New Builds and Planning area and read this post about how best we can help you...  It shortcuts us asking for info back and forth.  Good luck and congrats to building your own!

 

 

 

[boggy77]

ideally you would set a budget and a level of performance expected. for example, do you want everything on high, 1440p 144fps? in that case, you might be looking at $1500-$2000. if you're happy with 1080p 90fps or so, yo can go as low as $600. it's upi to your budget and expectations. I can help with choosing parts after answering these questions.

[minibois]

14 minutes ago, TechTarded said:

Hello internet,

 

I find myself watching Linus and his minions with drool dripping down my chin cause I often have no idea what he’s saying. I love this stuff though. It is so interesting! With all of that being said, Linus has done a fantastic job of getting my curiosity peaked. I want to build a new pc but don’t know really anything about what levels of performance I need. For a first build, what should I look to for absolute necessities and what are some other specs that aren’t necessary but are good starting points for a first time pc builder. I love to game but not at a competitive level. The games I typically play are 1st person shooters, I.e. Rainbow Six Siege, Call is Duty, Battlefield, etc....

 

like I mentioned, ladies and gentlemen, I am completely new to this so any direction will be welcomed! 

A PC and the rest of the setup should always be balanced.

If - for example - you are getting a really fast detailed monitor, you PC should match that, so you can get the most out of it. Same for the games you play. Someone who plays Bejeweled and Minesweeper can get by with a way simpler computer as compared to the sorts of games you mentioned.

 

In that fashion, the best PC and the sorts of specifications you need, will match your demands and equipment.

For gaming, what mostly will change from one monitor to another is the videocard. The rest of the system can kind of stay the same (give or take a bit), but the videocard will do the brunt of the work for you.

 

Of course it depends on what you are looking to spend and what kind of other tasks you will be doing on your PC, but let's say you're making a PC for 1080p 144Hz or 1440p 144Hz (a normal monitor does 60Hz. 144Hz is preferred for faster response times in games and smoother gameplay), you should be looking into something in this direction:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.89 @ B&H) 
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($72.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($503.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Corsair) 
Total: $1205.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-26 12:07 EST-0500

 

(I'm not saying buy this exactly, just giving an idea of what sort of equipment and price range you could be looking at)

 

The videocard is where you could change out the most. I took 1440p@144Hz in mind mostly, judging by this benchmark of CoD MW 2019:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-benchmark-test-performance-analysis/5.html

Where at max settings at 1440p you would be getting around 100fps.

But it's really the part where the most variation can be had in, as you can totally get away with a ~280 USD videocard, like a 1660 Super or RX 5700 too, where you would be getting closer to 60-100fps at 1440p.

 

So my advice would be to give it a good think; what are the 'wants', 'needs' and 'must haves' for your PC. What kind of monitor will you be pairing it with, what sort of other things will you be doing with your PC?

[quickhakker]

Lets start with CPU: Anything quad core or higher is good for gaming, personally for you I would suggest a 2400g or a 3400g from AMD (this also takes care of graphics but ill still address that later

For the motherboard this is technically the hardest component to choose cause you have Intel and AMD then you have to worry about if the CPU you bought will work out the box, and thats before thinking about the technologies it has on it (pcie gen 4, m.2, overclockability) I would say (including the suggestion I gave about the CPU) go for a B450 board this is what I recently got as an upgrade, its a good board has an m.2 slot 4 ram slots and is ready for ryzen 3rd gen, as a note when ryzen 4th gen comes out (if its on AM4) you will need to do a "bios update" if you want to stick with the board which the way AMD are going they look to be supporting the socket until DDR5 comes out.

Next up is RAM I honestly wouldn't suggest  less than 8gb of ram, on ryzen you want good speed (3000mhz is a bit on the low side but -should- be good) if you go with an APU (which is the style of cpu i suggested at the first point) I would suggest going with 16gb as the OS and GPU will be sharing the ram (and personally i dont like mix and matching capacities)

Speaking of GPU if you didnt go with an APU then this does matter (especially if you go AMD as they don't do graphics on the chip) any GPU works with any CPU its finding the best match up for your CPU, a lot of people will probibally say rtx2060 super or that new AMD card, personally I would say 1660super (or whatever its called) or a rx580/590 

the case is MOSTLY cosmetic however a case with good airflow is ideal, there are some cheap ass cases that are good for this but others that are not so be careful.

Power supply is the "spine" of the system so to speak, a lot of people will say go double the capacity of your system (this also adds upgradeability) but honestly if your system looks to need 300w you can go 450w, any form of modular is nice but not needed (seriously it does make it all look good in the end and makes cable management easier but if you lose a cable you might have to go to cable mod or the manufacturer to get a replacement)

Storage again this is partially personal preference here, 250gb 2.5 SATA ssd for boot (technically you can go as low as windows needs but you would need to install everything on a seperate drive) and at least 1tb hdd, if you can afford it go 2tb cause you can fit games and other files on there to make things a lot easier, although i had 300 games installed at once on 2tb and just about filled it up (1.8tb)

 

one big thing that i will suggest is use pc part picker to help you out, this is one thing that i will say the verge did suggest right cause they can tell you compatability problems, they can also point out if you might need a bios update and can help you save money if you are willing to go to several venders instead of just one. 

 

the last thing im gonna say is cooling, if you go intel YOU WILL NEED A CPU COOLER as the stock one intel ships is hot garbage (litterally) if you dont plan on overclocking on AMD then you can use stock, (you can get a slight overclock on AMD but for a newbie i wouldnt recommend it)

[Dedayog]

You guys totally undermine me

 

Good info tho!

[quickhakker]

3 hours ago, jstudrawa said:

You guys totally undermine me

 

Good info tho!

in my defence i was already typing before i saw your comment

[TechTarded]

Thank you to everyone for all the info. I’m excited!

[ItsMeRachata]

20 hours ago, TechTarded said:

Hello internet,

 

I find myself watching Linus and his minions with drool dripping down my chin cause I often have no idea what he’s saying. I love this stuff though. It is so interesting! With all of that being said, Linus has done a fantastic job of getting my curiosity peaked. I want to build a new pc but don’t know really anything about what levels of performance I need. For a first build, what should I look to for absolute necessities and what are some other specs that aren’t necessary but are good starting points for a first time pc builder. I love to game but not at a competitive level. The games I typically play are 1st person shooters, I.e. Rainbow Six Siege, Call is Duty, Battlefield, etc....

 

like I mentioned, ladies and gentlemen, I am completely new to this so any direction will be welcomed! 

What's your budget? 

[TechTarded]

2 hours ago, ItsMeRachata said:

What's your budget? 

$600-$850 is the budget I’ve seen is a great starting point without breaking the bank. 

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$119.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$79.99 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Inland Premium 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$72.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$53.98 @ Newegg
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB SC ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$228.98 @ Newegg
Case	Thermaltake Versa H18 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$54.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$38.98 @ Newegg
Case Fan	ARCTIC P14 PWM PST 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan	$10.50 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P14 PWM PST 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fan	$10.50 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$775.88
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$740.88
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-27 12:24 EST-0500

 

[Dedayog]

@boggy77 - No Fractal Meshify C, 3600 combo?  Why mini ITX?  

 

I'm curious more than anything.  Then I cried some more over the price of RAM ($179 for 16GB was my price a few years ago).

[boggy77]

4 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

No Fractal Meshify C, 3600 combo?

price

4 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Why mini ITX?

it's micro atx. again, price.

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

price

it's micro atx. again, price.

I dig it. 

 

 

[VEXICUS]

There you go mate...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($112.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5700 8 GB Evoke OC Video Card  ($294.99 @ Newegg) Not the best cooled 5700. But it is currently available for under $300 and with the fix it performs great.
Case: Cougar MG130-G MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.90 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: BitFenix Formula Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($69.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $842.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-27 13:34 EST-0500

[ItsMeRachata]

On 2/27/2020 at 10:51 PM, TechTarded said:

$600-$850 is the budget I’ve seen is a great starting point without breaking the bank. 

Is this included the monitor or not?

[TechTarded]

On 3/1/2020 at 9:25 AM, ItsMeRachata said:

Is this included the monitor or not?

It does not, tower only. 

[ItsMeRachata]

6 hours ago, TechTarded said:

It does not, tower only. 

Ok. Here are the specs, good luck with your new computer!

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XwjDn7

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($83.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($81.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card  ($234.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.33 @ Amazon) 
Total: $838.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-04 22:52 EST-0500