PCs for a LAN/ESports Center

[Rillean]

Hello all, thanks for stopping in to look at this post.  I have built computers before but this one I want to make sure I get 100% right, or at least as correct as humanly possible.  My wife and I are opening a Gaming and Streaming Lounge in our home town and we need to have several PCs therefore cost is a huge concern for us.  But more than that, we need to have computers that perform well or we will lose customers.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 

1. Budget & Location

New York, USA. Budget is a big issue as I want this to be as cheap as possible so we can afford as many as possible. 

2. Aim

We want these computers to be capable of performing well in the top titles.  We do not need power houses but we definitely do not want our customers to feel like they are suffering because of our equipment. 

3. Monitors

This is probably one of my biggest weaknesses.  I know a bit about most other parts of the computer but monitors are my bane.  HALP PLZ!!!!!

4. Peripherals

Currently my plan is to do wired keyboard, mouse, and headset.  Possibly adding in a Vortex if budget and negotiations are on my side.

5. Why are you upgrading?
Because we cannot have everyone playing on my computer.

 

Thanks again everyone.  And if you have other information that you feel might help us with the lounge please let me know in whatever form feels most appropriate to you.

[Firewrath9]

1080p monitors are fine.

I'll try to make a 1080p AAA 60fps w/ everything for 1k.

[Firewrath9]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	$129.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - X370M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$78.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$74.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8 GB PULSE Video Card	$209.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$64.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$38.96 @ Newegg
Monitor	Acer - SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor	$89.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Velocifire - TKL02 Wired Standard Keyboard	$31.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Logitech - G203 Prodigy Wired Optical Mouse	$27.63 @ Amazon
Headphones	Corsair - HS50 Headset	$39.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$912.38
	Mail-in rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$897.38
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-08 18:33 EDT-0400

 

you can customize the storage, and you should sell the 2 free games with the cpu (are they still doing that) for ~20-30$ ea.

tried to avoid MIR, as mailing lots of them can get annoying, esp. if it takes 10 months

[LogicWeasel]

2 hours ago, Rillean said:

1. Budget & Location

New York, USA. Budget is a big issue as I want this to be as cheap as possible so we can afford as many as possible. 

Here's the big question.  Do you live near a MicroCenter?  They have in-store deals that beat the pants off every online retailer especially when it comes to CPUs, Motherboards, and some cases/monitors.  We can get Ryzen 5 1600s in a pc build for less than $95 if you are able to drive to a Microcenter to pick up the parts.

See that sorta pricing here: https://www.microcenter.com/product/478826/amd-ryzen-5-1600-32ghz-6-core-am4-boxed-processor-with-wraith-spire-cooler

[LogicWeasel]

Here's what I'd do a little differently than Firewrath9's build in the name of cost-savings and max performance:

-The SSD is an NVMe drive but the price is equivalent to a Sata SSD, so that's a nice storage bonus (That HP drive is so dang cheap makes me think HP bought too many or got a sweetheart wholesale deal on them for retail).

-Note that the keyboard and mouse are a bundle, but it'll show up here as a Keyboard (see mouse in name of product)

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($129.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($76.21 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($77.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: HP - EX900 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX - Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS XXX ED Video Card  ($187.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Cougar - MG110 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.96 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Acer - SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: Cooler Master - Devastator 3 Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse  ($34.99 @ Amazon) 
Headphones: Logitech - G230  Headset  ($34.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $770.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-08 20:34 EDT-0400

 

[Rillean]

17 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

Here's the big question.  Do you live near a MicroCenter?  They have in-store deals that beat the pants off every online retailer especially when it comes to CPUs, Motherboards, and some cases/monitors.  We can get Ryzen 5 1600s in a pc build for less than $95 if you are able to drive to a Microcenter to pick up the parts.

See that sorta pricing here: https://www.microcenter.com/product/478826/amd-ryzen-5-1600-32ghz-6-core-am4-boxed-processor-with-wraith-spire-cooler

Unfortunately the closest MicroCenter is down in the city (NYC) and . . . yeah I am not willing to drive there.  If it ends up being enough savings I might consider making an exception but it is quite a trip.

Either way thank you both for your help! This will be a great starting point.

[lmaobadatmath]

Isn't the 1660/Ti the GPU to go with here as they are newer and perform better than both the RX 580 and the 1060 6 GB

[brob]

The gaming experience that you want to offer really determines budget.

 

The monitor supports Nvidia adaptive sync and has a headphone port.

 

The 2600X offers better streaming performance than comparable Intel cpu and comparable gaming performance. One could save about US$25 going with a 2600 and overclocking the cpu. I don't think that is worth the trouble considering the use case.

 

Inexpensive keyboard and headsets as they will likely be subject to some abuse and will need frequent replacing, regardless of quality.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($189.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($76.31 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Intel - 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($65.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card  ($279.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Rosewill - SCM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.98 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: Dell - S2419HGF 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: Cooler Master - Devastator 3 Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse  ($34.99 @ Amazon) 
Headphones: Corsair - Raptor HS40 7.1 Channel  Headset  ($24.00 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1013.02
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-09 13:25 EDT-0400

[Rillean]

Thanks everyone for the responses.  I will go through and research these and I am sure I will have some questions.

[LogicWeasel]

On 4/9/2019 at 11:49 AM, lmaobadatmath said:

Isn't the 1660/Ti the GPU to go with here as they are newer and perform better than both the RX 580 and the 1060 6 GB

No, because price is a factor and the RX 580 is still very high on bang for buck when you just need 1080p 60fps (even look at Linus' math on overall bang/buck and conclusions in his reviews of the 1600 series cards).  Assuming that a GPU for a tier is always a go-to is not taking price detail into account.  In this case since the OP is trying to build many of these systems, it makes sense to save the $80 per system and have more money to get more gaming comps built.

 

If you look at logical increments (website) chart of GPUs they only suggest the 1660 Ti if you want to spend over $200 but not the $350 needed for RTX 2060.  The RX 580 can still be had for under $200 on websites so it's really the RX 590 that needs to be on discount to be worth buying vs the 1660 Ti.

[nivierheim]

if you need centralized server or diskless network system we can arrange, also might give you adviced which hardware and consultation regarding upgrades

[Rillean]

5 hours ago, nivierheim said:

if you need centralized server or diskless network system we can arrange, also might give you adviced which hardware and consultation regarding upgrades

Probably will need some stuff like that too

[Rillean]

Okay so partner just through a curve ball at me here.  What kind of changes to these builds would I need to make to run 4k on ultra high settings?

[brob]

An RTX 2080 Ti and i7-9900K. One might get away with a slightly less capable cpu, but it's not worth the savings. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($479.99 @ Walmart) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($182.88 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($310.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.95 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card  ($1098.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($98.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($92.98 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: Acer - XV273K Pbmiipphzx 27.0" 3840x2160 144 Hz Monitor  ($799.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $3212.74
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-17 11:04 EDT-0400

[Rillean]

Wow that is a price jump

[brob]

One could probably shave a few hundred off this. Less memory, lower capacity psu, less expensive motherboard, but not enough to make a serious difference in the total cost.

[Rillean]

I was going to say, do you really need an i9 and 32 gb of ram?

[LogicWeasel]

10 minutes ago, Rillean said:

changes to these builds would I need to make to run 4k on ultra high settings

Prepare to spend at least double to tripple the $$$ on each system if that's the target.

 

 

34 minutes ago, Rillean said:

I was going to say, do you really need an i9 and 32 gb of ram?

No, I disagree as 4K is really more GPU-bound anyway.

[Rillean]

So something I read said i7 or even an i5 should be able to handle 4k with 16 gb of ram.  Is this true or just straight up crazy talk?

[LogicWeasel]

20 minutes ago, Rillean said:

So something I read said i7 or even an i5 should be able to handle 4k with 16 gb of ram.  Is this true or just straight up crazy talk?

Brob's build is overkill and assumes you like the idea of spending $3k per system.  I'm at work atm but I would suggest a more reasonable 4k gaming build with an RTX 2070 and 16GB of RAM, and somewhere along an i5-9600k up to an i7-9700k would be more than enough.  Depends also if you're wanting to do a 144hz g-sync monitor or just do a less-expensive monitor like a 120hz TN panel that would be a little less extreme.  Should fully run more like $1300-1800 instead with all that.

[brob]

The ask was for 4K at Ultra settings. I doubt an RTX 2070 would do the job.

[Rillean]

Ah okay that makes more sense.  I did ask for that ^

[LogicWeasel]

49 minutes ago, brob said:

The ask was for 4K at Ultra settings. I doubt an RTX 2070 would do the job.

Rather than guess, have some benchmarks: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-03-25-geforce-rtx-2070-benchmarks-7001

He didn't say constant 60 fps 4k Gaming.  Can the RTX 2070 maintain above 30-60 fps in most 4k titles?  Yes, and it can even manage 60fps plus in some titles like BF1 and Tomb Raider.  Can an RTX 2080 Ti handle more FPS in those games?  Sure, but Rillean didn't specify if he wanted the most expensive 4k option or a more value-oriented 4k gaming card.

Saying it flat out "[couldn't] do the job" is not real accurate if we're not being picky about what "the job" is.  The 4k games run. period.

[brob]

Everyone who wants to game at 4K Ultra settings with fps < 60, chime in please.

[Rillean]

Whoa guys I am not looking to start a fight here. Just trying to learn

 

I appreciate your guys help.  I am learning a lot here.  Also learning more about how much I do not know.