One Month Update

[Swoops McGee]

A little over a month ago, I built my first PC with the help of a few YouTube channels (LTT included, obviously) and Reddit. I wanted to post a one month update to give my experience as a noob and how that has been changing!

I sourced all of these parts from various online retailers apart from the GPU which was purchased used from Ebay.

MoBo: ASRock B450M Pro4 AM4 ($80)

CPU: Ryzen 3 2200G ($100)

RAM: Patriot Viper 4 2x4GB 3000MHz DDR4 ($73)

GPU: Gigabyte Windforce 1060 6GB ($190)

Power Supply: Seasonic S12ll 520w Bronze ($47)

Case: DIYPC BG01 Mid Tower ($30)

I already owned a HDD with Windowns 10 Home.

Total Price: $520

 

I came from a small form factor HP workstation with a 1050ti tossed in it but was experiencing quite a lot of thermal throttling, so I returned the 1050ti and started doing some research! I spent the best part of 3-4 months researching nuances and performance differences between so many pieces of hardware and waiting for the deals I was looking for as I was on a fairly tight budget. This was the list I ended up with and felt very good about it.

Upon the parts' delivery, I was a bit nervous as I knew the building process could easily be done incorrectly and result in damaged components. I followed BitWit's building guide on YouTube (which is great btw if you are a noob): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhX0fOUYd8Q

I took my time with each step to ensure I was connecting cables to the appropriate headers on the MoBo. The build took roughly an hour and a half. I booted it up and it posted first try without any issues at all! I was worried about the MoBo not being up-to-date with the Ryzen processor as I had read that this generation of Ryzen processors required a Bios update on some MoBos, but that was not the case here.

I proceeded to download Ryzen's Ryzen Master software to play around with some subtle overclocking. I bumped the speed up by small increments as well as the appropriate amount of power input. I was able to take the quad core CPU from 3.5GHz stock to 3.85GHz and to this day, it happily performs at this speed.

Next, I figured I could milk the Ram a bit more, so, in the Bios, I upped the RAM speed from 2998MHz stock to roughly 3100MHz. I was surprised at how noticeable this was in every tasks and homework.

Then, the real test, it was time to overclock the GPU. This GPU was purchased off of Ebay for what I thought was a pretty good deal. This particular unit was just returned to the previous owner by Gigabyte through a Manufacturer's warranty claim. In other words, I purchased a factory-refurbished unit, which is still under warranty for another 7 months. Regardless, I was a bit nervous to overclock this unit as it was not "new". I slowly increased the clock speed and VRAM like I did with the CPU. I was able to take it from roughly 1800MHz to 2050MHz and didn't feel the need to push it any further.

At this point, I am very pleased with how the system runs. I mainly play OverWatch, COD BO4, all of the Fallouts, Farcry 4, RocketLeague and a few others. Every game runs at over 60FPS, High-Ultra settings, 1080p. In watching AfterBurner while playing, I noticed both the CPU and GPU running pretty similarly, which makes me feel that these two unit pair quite well. Both the CPU and GPU do cap at 100% usage occasionally, but I am not sure what can be done about that.

I have a few additions in mind:

I originally planned to purchase an SSD, but had to wait as the budget didn't allow for one yet. I will purchase a 120GB soon.

I would also like to take advantage of the higher frame rates that I am getting. I am using a 27' Samsung Curved, 4ms, 1080p, 60Hz monitor. It is a great monitor, but I am limited to 60FPS. I have my eyes open for a good deal on a 1080p, 144Hz, 27' monitor. I do not care about the curve as I currently don't notice it on my monitor now - it may as well be flat to me. I have seen some deals lately, but I'm shooting for under $150, even if that means getting it used.

 

Anyway, for those of you out there that lurk on this subreddit and are contemplating a build but are a bit intimidated, don't be! It is fairly easy with the help of the plethora of resources available online. I had a blast doing all of the research and building the system and am pretty proud as it stands. Just do your research and have patience!

For those of you who are experienced, feedback is welcomed and I would love to hear what else I could be doing with this hardware!

Thanks!