First time gaming PC build, looking for advice!

[Jcrowl]

1. Budget & Location

Trying to stay under $700, not including operating system and peripherals.  Located in the U.S.

2. Aim

This system will be used primarily for gaming (eg. pubg, halo online, dark souls) and casual use/web browsing.

3. Monitors

One 1080p 27" monitor.  I don't plan on upgrading this anytime in the near future

4. Peripherals

I'll  need to pick up a keyboard and windows OS for sure.  I'll probably invest in an xbox one controller as well at some point

5. Why are you upgrading?

Getting into PC gaming.  

 

Check out my parts list for the build I'm looking at doing:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hzzscY

Note that I also have a 750gb 2.5 hdd from my old laptop that I'll be using for this

 

Also, I've heard that having 2x4gb of RAM works better with the Ryzen CPU, but having 1x8gb allows me the opportunity to upgrade to 2x8gb in future if I want to.  Thoughts?

 

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[germgoatz]

Link doesn't work, just shows up as a blank list.

[Ryujin2003]

Your link is broken. It does my own personal list when I follow it. Do I cannot really provide feedback other than go for higher speed RAM on Ryzen. Already 2993/3000 would be my suggestion.

 

Ground yourself before the build.

[Herman Mcpootis]

wrong link, the link to your list is beside thw word 'permalink'.

[Jcrowl]

Hmm that's strange, it works for me.  Maybe this one will work

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hzzscY

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Jcrowl said:

Hmm that's strange, it works for me.  Maybe this one will work

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hzzscY

that link you originally gave only linked us to the website, not to the specific list.

[Jcrowl]

Ok, I edited the original link to be the list instead of the website.  Should be all good

[Herman Mcpootis]

4 minutes ago, Jcrowl said:

Hmm that's strange, it works for me.  Maybe this one will work

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hzzscY

get a TX550M or seasonic focus 550w, the BT is low quality. also, the gpu isn't in stock.

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($188.90 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($87.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA - XPG SX6000 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Mini ITX OC Video Card  ($344.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Rosewill - FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($21.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $798.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-13 11:06 EST-0500

[Ace McPlane]

16 minutes ago, Jcrowl said:

1. Budget & Location

Trying to stay under $700, not including operating system and peripherals.  Located in the U.S.

2. Aim

This system will be used primarily for gaming (eg. pubg, halo online, dark souls) and casual use/web browsing.

3. Monitors

One 1080p 27" monitor.  I don't plan on upgrading this anytime in the near future

4. Peripherals

I'll  need to pick up a keyboard and windows OS for sure.  I'll probably invest in an xbox one controller as well at some point

5. Why are you upgrading?

Getting into PC gaming.  

 

Check out my parts list for the build I'm looking at doing:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hzzscY

Note that I also have a 750gb 2.5 hdd from my old laptop that I'll be using for this

 

Also, I've heard that having 2x4gb of RAM works better with the Ryzen CPU, but having 1x8gb allows me the opportunity to upgrade to 2x8gb in future if I want to.  Thoughts?

 

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Pascal cards are crazy overpriced due to cryptocurrency mining right now. That 1060 shouldn't cost that much. If you want to save money, get a 9 series card like a GTX 970 for about 150 USD on ebay on auction used. It's actually a better card spec wise and is cheaper.

The 1060 6gb is a better card than the 970 but the 970 is better than the 3gb version so why pay an extra 100 bucks for a card that's not as powerful?

 

Don't be scared of buying used. If you get something that doesn't work on ebay, you can always return it as long as you do it within 30 days. Ebay has an automatic 30 day return policy even if the seller doesn't have one. You just have to test stuff right away.

[Guest]

Get 2x 4 GB of ram. The motherboard you selected can support up to four, also try getting around 3000 mhz ram for Ryzen.  I'd look into a case like the Bitfenix Nova TG, rosewill cases aren't that great.

[Jcrowl]

11 minutes ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Pascal cards are crazy overpriced due to cryptocurrency mining right now. That 1060 shouldn't cost that much. If you want to save money, get a 9 series card like a GTX 970 for about 150 USD on ebay on auction used. It's actually a better card spec wise and is cheaper.

The 1060 6gb is a better card than the 970 but the 970 is better than the 3gb version so why pay an extra 100 bucks for a card that's not as powerful?

 

Don't be scared of buying used. If you get something that doesn't work on ebay, you can always return it as long as you do it within 30 days. Ebay has an automatic 30 day return policy even if the seller doesn't have one. You just have to test stuff right away.

Awesome!  Thanks for the input, I'm definitely going to look into that!  Is there any risk that the 900 series will become outdated soon because it's an older model?  Or is it just an objectively better card than the 1060 3gb?  I'd like a machine to give me a solid 1080p 60fps high settings for at least a couple years

[Jcrowl]

9 minutes ago, Konrad Kwasniewski said:

Get 2x 4 GB of ram. The motherboard you selected can support up to four, also try getting around 3000 mhz ram for Ryzen.  I'd look into a case like the Bitfenix Nova TG, rosewill cases aren't that great.

What about the Rosewill case isn't great?  I really like the simplistic unassuming look and small form factor of the SRM-01 and it's low cost lets me put more $ into the more important hardware. 

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Jcrowl said:

Awesome!  Thanks for the input, I'm definitely going to look into that!  Is there any risk that the 900 series will become outdated soon because it's an older model?  Or is it just an objectively better card than the 1060 3gb?  I'd like a machine to give me a solid 1080p 60fps high settings for at least a couple years

a 980 should do that... and a 980 Ti for sure. I can run all my games maxed out, and Battlefront 2 I keep at ultra on my 1080p ultrawide, with 140% render scale (I think 150% in Battlefront 2015) and still get 60+ fps ezpz. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Jcrowl said:

Awesome!  Thanks for the input, I'm definitely going to look into that!  Is there any risk that the 900 series will become outdated soon because it's an older model?  Or is it just an objectively better card than the 1060 3gb?  I'd like a machine to give me a solid 1080p 60fps high settings for at least a couple years

It's not really a better card, I've tested it, its on par in most games, but yes pascal is newer and with ampere around the corner the 970 will age as time goes on. But in the current market situation, you dont really have a choice.

[Zando_]

9 minutes ago, Konrad Kwasniewski said:

It's not really a better card, I've tested it, its on par in most games, but yes pascal is newer and with ampere around the corner the 970 will age as time goes on. But in the current market situation, you dont really have a choice.

But if you do any video editing, then the 900 series is better because they have more CUDA cores... 

[Jcrowl]

2 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

But if you do any video editing, then the 900 series is better because they have more CUDA cores... 

Haha good to know!  Unfortunately I do exactly zero video editing... But if that card can give me excellent 1080p performance for a couple years at a significantly cheaper price then that is definitely what I'm going to go with.

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, Jcrowl said:

Haha good to know!  Unfortunately I do exactly zero video editing... But if that card can give me excellent 1080p performance for a couple years at a significantly cheaper price then that is definitely what I'm going to go with.

Defo try and find a 980 Ti if you can fit it in your budget, they're sadly often overlooked. Same with the 980. A lot of people have more GPU power than they actually need. Even a 1050 Ti will handle most games on medium/high at 1080p. As long as you stick with 60fps, anything 970 or higher should be good. 

[Jcrowl]

8 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Defo try and find a 980 Ti if you can fit it in your budget, they're sadly often overlooked. Same with the 980. A lot of people have more GPU power than they actually need. Even a 1050 Ti will handle most games on medium/high at 1080p. As long as you stick with 60fps, anything 970 or higher should be good. 

Awesome, great info.  Do you think the ryzen 5 1400 would work well with the 970 or 980?

[Zando_]

Just now, Jcrowl said:

Awesome, great info.  Do you think the ryzen 5 1400 would work well with the 970 or 980?

For sure. My Xeon X5675, when overclocked, is about equal with an R5 1600, and I don't have any performance problems. So an R5 1400 + 970/980 should be awesome. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Jcrowl said:

Awesome, great info.  Do you think the ryzen 5 1400 would work well with the 970 or 980?

It's gonna be an ok match.

[Jcrowl]

1 hour ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Pascal cards are crazy overpriced due to cryptocurrency mining right now. That 1060 shouldn't cost that much. If you want to save money, get a 9 series card like a GTX 970 for about 150 USD on ebay on auction used. It's actually a better card spec wise and is cheaper.

The 1060 6gb is a better card than the 970 but the 970 is better than the 3gb version so why pay an extra 100 bucks for a card that's not as powerful?

 

Don't be scared of buying used. If you get something that doesn't work on ebay, you can always return it as long as you do it within 30 days. Ebay has an automatic 30 day return policy even if the seller doesn't have one. You just have to test stuff right away.

Are you sure on that price for the 970?  I'm only seeing the 970 for around the same price as the 1060 on ebay.

[Ace McPlane]

1 hour ago, Jcrowl said:

Awesome!  Thanks for the input, I'm definitely going to look into that!  Is there any risk that the 900 series will become outdated soon because it's an older model?  Or is it just an objectively better card than the 1060 3gb?  I'd like a machine to give me a solid 1080p 60fps high settings for at least a couple years

Let's put it this way.

You could buy an Oculus Rift or Vive and the 970 is good enough to run it, so it's still going to be good for a while longer.

 

Unless you're into 4K gaming or VR, it's going to do you for quite some time for 1080p gaming.

For VR, it'll do you until the next generation of VR headsets comes out.

 

I'm suggesting it as a placeholder until the pascal cards come down in price.

 

What I suggest is to use the 970 until then and when the pascal cards are reasonable, buy one and flip the 970 for like 50 bucks less than you paid for it.

You'll get most of your money back and have a decent card that can run all of the modern titles in the meantime.

[Ace McPlane]

41 minutes ago, Jcrowl said:

Are you sure on that price for the 970?  I'm only seeing the 970 for around the same price as the 1060 on ebay.

Yea, you need to be patient and fight your arse off to win an auction at a low price.

Don't just buy one for "buy it now" prices.

Those are for suckers.

Be patient, check everyday, watch for one on auction at a low price, wait until the last 2 minutes of the auction, place a bid that's the minimum they give you, and put about 10-20 bucks on the automatic bid thing afterwards just in case someone tries to outbid you.

This is how to get things for a steal.

I win almost every auction this way.

 

I got an asus maximum hero vii not long ago for 150 bucks and with all of my other left over parts and some other auction steals, I now have two VR computers

 

FYI, I saw two 970's go for 200 not long ago so you can definitely find one for $150. I'm actually saying 150 because I saw one go for that the other day.

[Jcrowl]

32 minutes ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Yea, you need to be patient and fight your arse off to win an auction at a low price.

Don't just buy one for "buy it now" prices.

Those are for suckers.

Be patient, check everyday, watch for one on auction at a low price, wait until the last 2 minutes of the auction, place a bid that's the minimum they give you, and put about 10-20 bucks on the automatic bid thing afterwards just in case someone tries to outbid you.

This is how to get things for a steal.

I win almost every auction this way.

 

I got an asus maximum hero vii not long ago for 150 bucks and with all of my other left over parts and some other auction steals, I now have two VR computers

 

FYI, I saw two 970's go for 200 not long ago so you can definitely find one for $150. I'm actually saying 150 because I saw one go for that the other day.

Wow, damn, serious pro tips right there.  I really appreciate that, man!  You likely just saved me a couple hundred bucks on this machine.