Getting my cousin a rig as surprise gift. 800 dollar budget

[Turtle Rig]

Hey all thanks for taking time to read my post.  So my cousin has a rig from 2008.  Core 2 Quad 8GB RAM a old case with PSU up top a crummy motherboard.  He does video editing and renders 5 minute videos.  His video card is a 960 GTX from China that he got for 55 bucks and it doesn't even work on most games.  I got him a SSD a while back so hes good there.

 

Parts he would need are.

 

A new case

A new motherboard and 16GB RAM and new CPU and new PSU and a video card.  His monitor I got for him is a 32" 75hz 1080p.  So hes gaming will be at 1080p with possibly some AA methods turned on.  I have no preference as to AMD or Intel.  This is going to be a surprise gift mailed to his house and he can put it together.  My budget is 800 dollars US.  He is just a non greedy humble person so hes been stuck with that POS Core 2 Quad rig for  12 years.  I want his CPU to be equivlant to mine but of course mine is a 2012 CPU , so something current that can handle his video editing and Photoshop with ease.  Also for his gaming to give him 60fps without dips.  Im open to all suggestions.  Also I prefer buying everything from Amazon.  Thanks plenty in advance.

[LukeSavenije]

one can do

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$164.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$59.99 @ Newegg
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$74.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Crucial - P1 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$69.99 @ Adorama
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX VEGA 56 8 GB Video Card	$269.99 @ Amazon
Case	Corsair - Carbide SPEC-04 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case	$29.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Cooler Master - MWE Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$54.99 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$769.82
	Mail-in rebates	-$45.00
	Total	$724.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 17:12 EDT-0400

 

[Fasauceome]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$164.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	Gigabyte - B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$87.88 @ OutletPC
Memory	Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$104.95 @ Amazon
Video Card	Zotac - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Video Card	$348.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case	$29.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$39.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$801.69
	Mail-in rebates	-$25.00
	Total	$776.69
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 17:13 EDT-0400

 

You can always go cheaper with the GPU since the 2060 is a lot for 1080p 60/75Hz.

[lookpuppy]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$163.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard	ASRock - Z390 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$99.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$77.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$279.99 @ Newegg
Case	NZXT - H500 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SeaSonic - 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$36.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$818.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$798.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 17:15 EDT-0400

 

[LukeSavenije]

7 minutes ago, lookpuppy said:

Power Supply SeaSonic - 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply $36.98 @ Newegg

internal freakout

 

seriously, WHY? it lacks protections entirely, uses group regulation with a 10 year old design

[NumLock21]

Do you live close to your cousin? If yes, then it's better to drive over there and hand it over personally

 

[LukeSavenije]

8 minutes ago, lookpuppy said:

Motherboard ASRock - Z390 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $99.99 @ Newegg

btw, ever heard of the z390 ud?

[Turtle Rig]

10 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Do you live close to your cousin? If yes, then it's better to drive over there and hand it over personally

 

Yes I can do that.  Thank you and thank you all up above for your responses.  Im kinda not comfortable getting a micro ATX I rather have full sized ATX.  The first build is good and so is the second one.  Thank you Luke and lookpuppy and fasauceome.  So what disadvantage would micro ATX bring ?  If nothing but size then I can go with the micro ATX suggestion.

[NumLock21]

30 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Yes I can do that.  Thank you and thank you all up above for your responses.  Im kinda not comfortable getting a micro ATX I rather have full sized ATX.  The first build is good and so is the second one.  Thank you Luke and lookpuppy and fasauceome.  So what disadvantage would micro ATX bring ?  If nothing but size then I can go with the micro ATX suggestion.

Go ATX more room for future expandability

[jerubedo]

33 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Yes I can do that.  Thank you and thank you all up above for your responses.  Im kinda not comfortable getting a micro ATX I rather have full sized ATX.  The first build is good and so is the second one.  Thank you Luke and lookpuppy and fasauceome.  So what disadvantage would micro ATX bring ?  If nothing but size then I can go with the micro ATX suggestion.

If you are ok going a little over budget I'd say this for optimal gaming performance:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$163.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 UD ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$114.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$74.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$60.55 @ Newegg
Video Card	Zotac - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Video Card	$348.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	Corsair - Carbide SPEC-04 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case	$29.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$34.39 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$852.78
	Mail-in rebates	-$25.00
	Total	$827.78
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 18:14 EDT-0400

 

[trevb0t]

I don't typically advise the 2600X, since it's usually a bigger bump, but it's currently only a $15 difference. So why not??

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card	$359.89 @ OutletPC
Case	Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case	$41.00 @ Newegg Business
Power Supply	EVGA - BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$48.52 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$827.28
	Mail-in rebates	-$40.00
	Total	$787.28
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 19:17 EDT-0400

Since he does do rendering work (as I'm sure @jerubedo will point out, the 9400F is a touch better for photoshop, but I think as someone who does creative work, it's rarely locked into a single software suite.) I would go with the 2600X for 12 threads at 3.6 base. This is a very overclockable CPU as well, and the board would support it. 

 

I always push this case, since it's cheap, great airflow, great cable management, and it looks nice. I have one myself. It doesn't come with any intake fans, but they are easy to find for cheap!

[Turtle Rig]

10 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

I don't typically advise the 2600X, since it's usually a bigger bump, but it's currently only a $15 difference. So why not??

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card	$359.89 @ OutletPC
Case	Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case	$41.00 @ Newegg Business
Power Supply	EVGA - BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$48.52 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$827.28
	Mail-in rebates	-$40.00
	Total	$787.28
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-22 19:17 EDT-0400

Since he does do rendering work (as I'm sure @jerubedo will point out, the 9400F is a touch better for photoshop, but I think as someone who does creative work, it's rarely locked into a single software suite.) I would go with the 2600X for 12 threads at 3.6 base. This is a very overclockable CPU as well, and the board would support it. 

 

I always push this case, since it's cheap, great airflow, great cable management, and it looks nice. I have one myself. It doesn't come with any intake fans, but they are easy to find for cheap!

Thank you trevB0t, I feel comfortable with the rig you suggested as I really don't want to go micro ATX plus I feel sketchy about that i5 9400 Intel.  What do you think about going with the 1660Ti compared to the 2060 GTX.  As I said previously he just needs 60fps sustained with no dips.  His refresh is 75hz if he wants to turn on vsync.  Is it worth going 2060 over 1660Ti or is the 2060 the better bang for your buck ?  Also what HSF do I go with or does the 2600x come with one ?

[trevb0t]

Just now, Turtle Rig said:

Thank you trevB0t, I feel comfortable with the rig you suggested as I really don't want to go micro ATX plus I feel sketchy about that i5 9400 Intel.  What do you think about going with the 1660Ti compared to the 2060 GTX.  As I said previously he just needs 60fps sustained with no dips.  His refresh is 75hz if he wants to turn on vsync.  Is it worth going 2060 over 1660Ti or is the 2060 the better bang for your buck ?

I did beef the GPU to meet the budget fully. You could easily sub in a 1660Ti and it would still be a lovely build. 

This one is a solid buy. You'll lose a little flexing power against the 2060, but this will do plenty at 1080p 75mhz.

Comparably, This Vega 56 is a similarly good deal. I wouldn't rule AMD out either. Their older cards have held up almost better than nVidia's

[jerubedo]

41 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Since he does do rendering work (as I'm sure @jerubedo will point out, the 9400F is a touch better for photoshop, but I think as someone who does creative work, it's rarely locked into a single software suite.) I would go with the 2600X for 12 threads at 3.6 base. This is a very overclockable CPU as well, and the board would support it. 

Yep, I was going off of gaming and Photoshop, which both favor Intel heavily (even with an OC for the 2600x). The same goes for Premiere Pro. For reference here's some sources. As @trevb0t said, though, I was only going off of what you said, which was gaming/adobe which = Intel. If there's other software suites he uses for content creation, then the Ryzen takes the lead (at a slight gaming performance hit):

 

[jerubedo]

35 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Is it worth going 2060 over 1660Ti or is the 2060 the better bang for your buck

Assuming Ultra settings, there are games in which the 1600 Ti won't maintain 60 FPS where the 2060 will. The 2060 also provides access to Ray Tracing and DLSS, just as an added bonus. To be fair, though, it is a decent amount more, so if that's valuable to him that's more of a personal choice.