New PC/Monitor Build June2020

[Elfalot]

I haven’t built a PC for several years now (Intel Core i5-4570K no oc currently, 16Gig Ram, radeon 7950, 500 Gig Samsung ssd).

Hadn’t really had enough money to feel comfortable splashing out on a PC and I’ve been considering it for a few years now. And while the next gen of consoles is just around the corner I’m hoping to get back into PC gaming with older games at higher res/perf and newer ones at a decent level also a bit of a hope that down the line I can do some VR stuff too.

End of financial year sale should be starting soon so thought now would be good time to save a bit on a build.

 

Budget: Hoping for max $3000 AUD for PC. Also maybe $500 more for monitor. Might be willing and able to bump it up if needed.

Country: Australia. 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: There are some older games I want to crank up and I’m looking forward to some of the new and coming games (Cyberpunk2077 for example) even if not at max settings (be nice though).  1440P @ 120Hz would be great.

Other details:

Reusing          G19 Keyboard

G9 Mouse – Might want to replace this

5.1 Logitech - Speakers 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/BNCLgJ

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($239.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($399.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($269.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1479.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo G ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($199.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $3003.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 18:06 AEST+1000

 

PCCaseGear wont have this case back until July so either get it late or get

Metallic Gear Neo Mid Case Black $109

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass Specail Edition $ 19

 

*I mainly set it to PCCaseGear as savings on multiple purchases will be offset on shipping although specials/deals may change that. Also used them before with success.

 

For the build Im looking for recommendations on a 27" 1440p monitor @120hz

I would like some controllable RGB elements.

The 1tb SSD is preferred but NVME is not mandatory (a HDD for storage will be in use.)

The 32Gig of ram is mainly because browsers eat memory but it’s not a must, if tighter timings or value for money is too low I guess 16 will do.

I’m thinking a better cooler might be warranted for noise and general longevity of the CPU.

Will the 2080 super be bottle necked by the 3600 for a gaming PC? I only occasionally dabble in things like editing (HD at most at a pinch) so not a focus. I don’t stream.

Do you think the newer B550 boards be a consideration in this time frame?

 

[marmour]

The LG UltraGear 27GL850 is really the gold standard for 1440p 144hz from what I've heard, however it comes in at 850 AUD on pc case gear, so a bit much. If you're able to I would save by getting the 16gb of ram and try and squeeze this one in. 

If not, there's still loads of great options. Check out this video from hardware unboxed for some other choices:

 

10 minutes ago, Elfalot said:

I’m thinking a better cooler might be warranted for noise and general longevity of the CPU.

The stock cooler can be a bit noisy so something like a ~$50 tower cooler from bequiet or noctua should work.

11 minutes ago, Elfalot said:

Will the 2080 super be bottle necked by the 3600 for a gaming PC?

I don't imagine it should be a huge problem if your playing at 1440p. With higher resolutions and game settings you should be more GPU bottlenecked, and the 3600 can hold its own pretty well anyway.

 

Hope this helps

[Mateyyy]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$299.00 @ JW Computers
CPU Cooler	be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler	$119.00 @ PCCaseGear
Motherboard	MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$166.60 @ Device Deal
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$262.90 @ Newegg Australia
Storage	HP EX950 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$216.70 @ Newegg Australia
Video Card	EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$1472.80 @ Device Deal
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$158.40 @ Newegg Australia
Power Supply	SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$219.00 @ PCCaseGear
Monitor	Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$699.00 @ PLE Computers
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$3613.40
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 18:28 AEST+1000

^ slightly improved, but granted it's got less RGB.

 

I recently had to go back to just 16GB in my main rig since I had one of the RAM sticks fail on me, and honestly I managed with 16GB just fine, despite being used to 32GB for quite a while now. When I'm gaming, I often have Spotify, Chrome with a load of tabs, Teamspeak and other junk open in the background so it's not like I'm a particularly light user, but hey if you've got the money for 32GB, it's your choice. Keep in mind that the money saved by going with 16GB could go to upgrading the CPU to a 3700X, for example.

Speaking of the CPU, MSI's confirmed that their B450 boards will support Ryzen 4000, so I think you'll be good with B450. Also, B550 boards looks quite a bit more expensive that B450, so you'd be spending more there.

Also, the EX950 is significantly better than the SX6000 you've selected in your build, and cheaper in this case.

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/sBgJQq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED Turbo (Red) 66.3 CFM CPU Cooler  ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($199.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($399.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Storage: Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1479.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Monitor: LG 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor  ($599.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Total: $3531.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 18:41 AEST+1000

[Guest]

I would suggest going with a 2070 Super or 5700XT as they are both better value than the 2080 Super, and are still good cards for 1440p. Also gives you a bit more money to spend elsewhere if needed.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC Video Card  ($892.60 @ Device Deal) 
Total: $892.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 21:00 AEST+1000

 

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING OC Video Card  ($749.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Total: $749.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 20:58 AEST+1000

[Elfalot]

The LG UltraGear 27GL850 seems like a great option, is listed on few other sites for about $800 maybe less. Black levels / Brightness seem to be the only sore spot with it.

Anyone in Australia what’s been your experience with monitors being shipped, would paying extra for cover be worth it? Some sites where I looked at this monitor didn’t have insure/cover options for shipping.

I will be going for 16Gig Gig

Switch to a Kingston A2000 1 TB

Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply is this comparable to the Corsair RM650x as the cheaper price makes it a good alternative

The EVGA card looks like an interesting but appears to be limited availability, was there a particular reason to recommend it?

I am considering the 3700X. I mainly went 3600 as it seems like the consensus is the extra cost is okay if productivity is a big focus

Added Seagate barracuda 4tb.  Any issue/ suggestions with it?

Case still not decided, the listed one is a place holder for now. (but it does look nice)

After some confused tinkering (which site has this in stock, better price, shipping, where’s that tab) I think this might be close to final set up, not all sites appear to have eofy sales active yet, I used override on parts pcpart picker due to stock issues

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/zPTNwh

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.00 @ Centre Com)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($215.00 @ Shopping Express)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($199.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($208.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.00 @ Shopping Express)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1398.00 @ Shopping Express)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo G ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Total: $2885.00
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-05 17:26 AEST+1000

 

PLUS   LG UltraGear 27GL850 27" 144Hz QHD             $ 793 @ Device Deal

            some shipping costs

 

Total ~$3800

[gloop]

2 hours ago, Elfalot said:

The LG UltraGear 27GL850 seems like a great option, is listed on few other sites for about $800 maybe less. Black levels / Brightness seem to be the only sore spot with it.

Anyone in Australia what’s been your experience with monitors being shipped, would paying extra for cover be worth it? Some sites where I looked at this monitor didn’t have insure/cover options for shipping.

I will be going for 16Gig Gig

Switch to a Kingston A2000 1 TB

Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply is this comparable to the Corsair RM650x as the cheaper price makes it a good alternative

The EVGA card looks like an interesting but appears to be limited availability, was there a particular reason to recommend it?

I am considering the 3700X. I mainly went 3600 as it seems like the consensus is the extra cost is okay if productivity is a big focus

Added Seagate barracuda 4tb.  Any issue/ suggestions with it?

Case still not decided, the listed one is a place holder for now. (but it does look nice)

After some confused tinkering (which site has this in stock, better price, shipping, where’s that tab) I think this might be close to final set up, not all sites appear to have eofy sales active yet, I used override on parts pcpart picker due to stock issues

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/zPTNwh

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.00 @ Centre Com)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($215.00 @ Shopping Express)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($199.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($208.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.00 @ Shopping Express)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1398.00 @ Shopping Express)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo G ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Total: $2885.00
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-05 17:26 AEST+1000

 

PLUS   LG UltraGear 27GL850 27" 144Hz QHD             $ 793 @ Device Deal

            some shipping costs

 

Total ~$3800

Can drop the CPU cooler if you want to keep the price down, I'd also recfommend getting a 7200RPM HDD instead of 5400RPM.

[Elfalot]

On 6/3/2020 at 6:34 PM, Mateyyy said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$299.00 @ JW Computers
CPU Cooler	be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler	$119.00 @ PCCaseGear
Motherboard	MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$166.60 @ Device Deal
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$262.90 @ Newegg Australia
Storage	HP EX950 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$216.70 @ Newegg Australia
Video Card	EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$1472.80 @ Device Deal
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$158.40 @ Newegg Australia
Power Supply	SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$219.00 @ PCCaseGear
Monitor	Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$699.00 @ PLE Computers
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$3613.40
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 18:28 AEST+1000

^ slightly improved, but granted it's got less RGB.

 

I recently had to go back to just 16GB in my main rig since I had one of the RAM sticks fail on me, and honestly I managed with 16GB just fine, despite being used to 32GB for quite a while now. When I'm gaming, I often have Spotify, Chrome with a load of tabs, Teamspeak and other junk open in the background so it's not like I'm a particularly light user, but hey if you've got the money for 32GB, it's your choice. Keep in mind that the money saved by going with 16GB could go to upgrading the CPU to a 3700X, for example.

Speaking of the CPU, MSI's confirmed that their B450 boards will support Ryzen 4000, so I think you'll be good with B450. Also, B550 boards looks quite a bit more expensive that B450, so you'd be spending more there.

Also, the EX950 is significantly better than the SX6000 you've selected in your build, and cheaper in this case.

Any particular reason why you suggested that EVGA card? That card seems scarce atm (in Aus) and I am wondering if getting a similar card from EVGA would be the way to go.

While I thought it might be a option to buy one I'm hoping the B550 release will make the B450 boards drop (at least during mid year sales). Also I thought going with the  tomahawk as I read in passing it has better rvm's although the Mortar Max on review sounds very good but stock has been inconsistent with retailers.

And now after some thought and reviews I feel like I'm torn between the Fractal Design Meshify C and the Phanteks Eclipse P400A Airflow D-RGB Tempered Glass Black (and I guess the MetallicGear Neo G Mid because cheap & RGB). Unfortunately newegg shipping kills that low price for the Meshify, next cheapest being $189 @Umart/PCCG) & the P400A is $159@PCCG. What were your reasons for the Meshify? and would you still recoomend over the P400A?

Also looking at a 3700X, 16G G.skill NEO and, a kingston a2000 1tb

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/gsqBRk

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($519.00 @ Shopping Express)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler  ($119.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($179.00 @ Shopping Express)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($191.40 @ Newegg Australia)
Storage: Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($188.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.00 @ Shopping Express)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1398.00 @ Shopping Express)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid Tower Case  ($159.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($179.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor  ($793.00 @ Device Deal)
Total: $3884.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-11 22:51 AEST+1000

[Mateyyy]

1 hour ago, Elfalot said:

Any particular reason why you suggested that EVGA card? That card seems scarce atm (in Aus) and I am wondering if getting a similar card from EVGA would be the way to go.

While I thought it might be a option to buy one I'm hoping the B550 release will make the B450 boards drop (at least during mid year sales). Also I thought going with the  tomahawk as I read in passing it has better rvm's although the Mortar Max on review sounds very good but stock has been inconsistent with retailers.

And now after some thought and reviews I feel like I'm torn between the Fractal Design Meshify C and the Phanteks Eclipse P400A Airflow D-RGB Tempered Glass Black (and I guess the MetallicGear Neo G Mid because cheap & RGB). Unfortunately newegg shipping kills that low price for the Meshify, next cheapest being $189 @Umart/PCCG) & the P400A is $159@PCCG. What were your reasons for the Meshify? and would you still recoomend over the P400A?

Also looking at a 3700X, 16G G.skill NEO and, a kingston a2000 1tb

I think at least at the time I posted that it was pretty well priced compared to other options, but also the FTW3 Ultra is among the best models out there for the 2000 series, and EVGA's got great customer support.

The B450 Tomahawk and Mortar are pretty much equivalent in terms of VRMs. They should both handle a 12-core 3900X at stock speeds without any issues.

The P400A would also be a solid option. It's very similar to the Meshify C in terms of cooling performance iirc.

[Elfalot]

11 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

I think at least at the time I posted that it was pretty well priced compared to other options, but also the FTW3 Ultra is among the best models out there for the 2000 series, and EVGA's got great customer support.

The B450 Tomahawk and Mortar are pretty much equivalent in terms of VRMs. They should both handle a 12-core 3900X at stock speeds without any issues.

The P400A would also be a solid option. It's very similar to the Meshify C in terms of cooling performance iirc.

What about a cars like the Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB STRIX GAMING OC? I saw it for $1439 on sale (saw it too late and the deal ended) but a quick lookup makes it looks interesting about 1499 other places.

[Mateyyy]

2 hours ago, Elfalot said:

What about a cars like the Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB STRIX GAMING OC? I saw it for $1439 on sale (saw it too late and the deal ended) but a quick lookup makes it looks interesting about 1499 other places.

Yeah that'd also be a solid choice.

[Elfalot]

6 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Yeah that'd also be a solid choice.

Ive purchased a 3700X for 445 (about 50-70 less than other places on pcpartpicker) from amazon au, do you think the Dark rock 4 still be suitable?

[Mateyyy]

3 minutes ago, Elfalot said:

Ive purchased a 3700X for 445 (about 50-70 less than other places on pcpartpicker) from amazon au, do you think the Dark rock 4 still be suitable?

Nice! The Dark Rock 4 would work great with a 3700X, so would an NH-U12S, though if you want to save some money you could stick with the stock cooler - it should handle the 3700X at stock speeds without any problems.

[Elfalot]

On 6/3/2020 at 6:34 PM, Mateyyy said:

Also, the EX950 is significantly better than the SX6000 you've selected in your build, and cheaper in this case.

Unfortunately since the EX950 stock seems to have dried up or increased in price so I chose the Kingston A2000.

Would it be more worth it to buy a 512Gb and maybe just add a SSD later if needed? I was thinking of a BarraCuda 510 500GB its a high-tier @ 158 from ShoppingExpress. And SE orders with Seagate drives have free shipping (save about $12) and a $30 evoucher promo (a few choices). So ends up costing about $116. Basically halve capacity for price and performance.

 

More a curiosity, but I was reviewing the SSD tier list and I was wondering since the Kingston A2000 is a ranked as 'budget' NVMe and the Crucial MX500 is ranked 'High-end' SATA how do they compare? Would the Kingston A2000 still out perform it since its NVMe?

 

[Mateyyy]

2 hours ago, Elfalot said:

Unfortunately since the EX950 stock seems to have dried up or increased in price so I chose the Kingston A2000.

Would it be more worth it to buy a 512Gb and maybe just add a SSD later if needed? I was thinking of a BarraCuda 510 500GB its a high-tier @ 158 from ShoppingExpress. And SE orders with Seagate drives have free shipping (save about $12) and a $30 evoucher promo (a few choices). So ends up costing about $116. Basically halve capacity for price and performance.

 

More a curiosity, but I was reviewing the SSD tier list and I was wondering since the Kingston A2000 is a ranked as 'budget' NVMe and the Crucial MX500 is ranked 'High-end' SATA how do they compare? Would the Kingston A2000 still out perform it since its NVMe?

Of course you could just get a 512GB one now and throw another one in later. By going this route, you can get a really good SSD now and not spend a whole lot (as in not as much as you'd have to spend on a 1TB variant), and later on when you decide to add in another drive for games for example, you can save some money by going with a cheaper QLC drive, since it won't make much of a difference there.

 

The Barracuda 510 is a good drive, the Kingston A2000 is decent. Really though, in most day to day tasks it's hard to notice a difference even between an NVMe drive and a SATA drive, so the difference between two good NVMe drives is really unnoticeable. It's only with DRAMless and/or QLC equipped SSDs that you might notice actual bad performance at times, hence why those are not optimal for an OS install.