First Build since 2015

[gberserk]

Hi Guys,

first time posting, but long time lurker here.

 

I'm planing my first build since early 2015, and a lot of things have changed since then, specially because the last build was for my brother with a $500 budget, so, nothing fancy was used there, just trying to squeeze every penny.

This time, I have around double that in my budget, give o take, since I'm in Mexico, and currency change, import fees, local availability and the chance to buy used parts are variables in the game.

 

Early this week I found some interesting stuuf on newegg's newsletter and decided to take the plunge on a mobo, cpu and ram sticks to take advantage of the current sale, so those parts are pretty much written in stone but the res is in the air still since I'm waiting for the next check to buy the rest of the parts.

 

My goals for this build are:

Workstation for graphic design that can also do some 1080p (maybe low-detail 4k) gaming, and that can, in the near future, do some VR too if possible.

• It will be air-cooled for the moment
• RGB should if possible be controlled from Aura Sync (I have 2x 12v headers in the mobo)
• An optical drive is a BIG plus
• Aesthetics and performance should be balanced
• I'm targeting an elegant build on a tight budget than can be expanded and do some upgrades from time to time
• Overclocking is a must, but it will be my first time

Now, for the parts I already have:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9600KF 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$229.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Asus - PRIME Z390-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$182.69 @ OutletPC
Memory	G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$187.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Gigabyte - 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$38.60 @ OutletPC
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$43.71 @ OutletPC
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$78.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$801.87
	Mail-in rebates	-$40.00
	Total	$761.87
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-18 01:34 EDT-0400

Ignore the prices on the list, since I got everything cheaper than that.

Also, on a second note, I haven't bought the SSD, HDD nor PSU, but probably will stick to those on the list.

 

Graphics

I have the following options available for almost the same price:

• ASUS Strix GTX 1660 Ti (New)
• ASUS Dual RTX 2060 (New)
• ASUS Strix RTX 2060 OC (Used)
• ASUS Strix GTX 1080 (Used)
• Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1080 Ti (Used)

CPU Cooling

I can choose a low profile cooler that won't allow me to OC, and later on upgrade to an AIO, or buy a cheap, but good looking tower with ARGB that will limit the options for the case.

• DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX GTE RGB
• Cooler Master i71C RGB

There are also these options from a local manufacturer, but I have little information about them, other than they sell really good online.

• Yeyian STORM 1200 CPU Cooler
• Yeyian VATN 1200 AIO

 

Computer Case

Here things are a bit more complicated since some of the cases won't fit the GAMMAXX GTE, and others come with one or none fans and I need to buy them separately.

Bottom line about his is thta I don't know if I should buy something nice that I can later pimp with all the ARGB fans it can fit, or something barely adequate that will give me some slack to buy more fans and the RGB stunt from the get-go.

Another thing is that almost all cases that are in the budget limit ($50 dlls top, maybe more if I opt for a cheaper cooler and no OC) won't have room for an optical drive.

• Acteck Volta X GP001 (Almost ugly, unknown company, but can fit everything including optical drive)
• AeroCool Cylon RGB (Cheap materials, RGB not compatible with MOBO, no 5.25" bay)
• Thermaltake V200 Tempered Glass RGB (Good quality, exceeds the budget so I would need to skimp elsewere, RGB compatible with mobo)

[Mephi00]

For gpu the 1080 ti is the most powerful, but you need to be careful with the seller and make sure it works.

[everettrules]

How much would you pay for the 1080 ti? Nvidia is claiming that there 2060 super is faster than the 1080 ti...  And cheaper depedning on where you get the 1080 ti, they are 400 straght from nvidia

[Dedayog]

13 minutes ago, everettrules said:

How much would you pay for the 1080 ti? Nvidia is claiming that there 2060 super is faster than the 1080 ti...  And cheaper depedning on where you get the 1080 ti, they are 400 straght from nvidia

2070 Super may compete with the 1080Ti but the 2060 Super does not.

 

@gberserk what are the prices of the 5700?

[gberserk]

2 hours ago, Mephi00 said:

For gpu the 1080 ti is the most powerful, but you need to be careful with the seller and make sure it works.

That's for the moment the first choice, specially for the 4k and VR performance.

Right now there's only one for sale in my budget, although is an Aorus, which I don't like aesthetically, would provide some serious firepower for just $350 bucks.

 

I will make sure everything is in working order and buy from a reputable seller if I decide to go with any of the used options.

2 hours ago, everettrules said:

How much would you pay for the 1080 ti? Nvidia is claiming that there 2060 super is faster than the 1080 ti...  And cheaper depedning on where you get the 1080 ti, they are 400 straght from nvidia

Found one for $350 which is close to my maximum budget for a GPU.

The 2060 Super aren't officially available here yet, but can be imported for around $550-700 depending on the version, so it's not an option at the moment.

1 hour ago, jstudrawa said:

2070 Super may compete with the 1080Ti but the 2060 Super does not.

 

@gberserk what are the prices of the 5700?

This time I'm trying to steer away from AMD since I haven't had nothing but problems with them on the past.

But they are kind of close to the budget, $420 for the 5700 and $480 for the 5700 XT. I would have to skip the case and use the Mobo cardbox or sell a set of RAM sticks and do with just 16gb

Edited July 18, 2019 by gberserk
Forgot to specify it was the super

[Dedayog]

Just now, gberserk said:

That's for the moment the first choice, specially for the 4k and VR performance.

Right now there's only one for sale in my budget, although is an Aorus, which I don't like aesthetically, would provide some serious firepower for just $350 bucks.

 

I will make sure everything is in working order and buy from a reputable seller if I decide to go with any of the used options.

Found one for $350 which is close to my maximum budget for a GPU.

The 2060 aren't officially available here yet, but can be imported for around $550-700 depending on the version, so it's not an option at the moment.

This time I'm trying to steer away from AMD since I haven't had nothing but problems with them on the past.

But they are kind of close to the budget, $420 for the 5700 and $480 for the 5700 XT. I would have to skip the case and use the Mobo cardbox or sell a set of RAM sticks and do with just 16gb

Then the 1080Ti is the best call, especially if you insist on gaming in 4K.

[VEXICUS]

14 hours ago, gberserk said:

...

I'll recommend something like this instead...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($329.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Sniper X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($76.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: HP - EX900 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB AORUS Video Card  (Purchased) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master - MWE Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.20 @ Amazon) 
Total: $825.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-19 02:31 EDT-0400

[EldritchMoose]

20 hours ago, gberserk said:

An optical drive is a BIG plus

In the interest of not limiting your case options, it's probably not too difficult to pick up an external optical drive for a reasonable price. All the advantages of an optical drive without the downside of requiring a case that has to account for one.

[gberserk]

8 hours ago, VEXICUS said:

I'll recommend something like this instead...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($329.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Sniper X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($76.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Storage: HP - EX900 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB AORUS Video Card  (Purchased) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master - MWE Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.20 @ Amazon) 
Total: $825.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-19 02:31 EDT-0400

Thanks for the suggestion, looks like a solid build, but I don't like AMD and it's easy over budget (1k dlls including GPU), besides I already have the processor, Mobo and RAM in the mail, although that case looks really good.

4 hours ago, EldritchMoose said:

In the interest of not limiting your case options, it's probably not too difficult to pick up an external optical drive for a reasonable price. All the advantages of an optical drive without the downside of requiring a case that has to account for one.

That's my second option, only thing I don't know if it's possible to boot from an external optical drive since I tend to test live discs from time to time.

22 hours ago, jstudrawa said:

Then the 1080Ti is the best call, especially if you insist on gaming in 4K.

Unfortunately I lost the bid on that card, and nothing similar come anywhere close in price, so probably I missed the deal of the year, or maybe dodged a bullet with a lemon.

 

Anyway, I found a 1080 Strix for $300 that had the fans replaced by the seller.

Looks good to the naked eye and videos of it working don't show any alarm signs, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to buy something that has been fiddled in the past.

I also found a 2060 Strix OC for exactly the same price. It's pristine, 2 months old (the 1080 had been used for over a year) and it comes to a whopping $130 under retail.

This would give me good slack to buy a better case or maybe jump to a 512 gb SSD.

 

 

On another note. It's really hard to find halo-style rgb fans that are compatible with 12v rgb.

[celerystruct]

42 minutes ago, gberserk said:

but I don't like AMD

Why? You said you wanted a work station in which case AMD will give you the best bang for your buck. You realize that it's beating intel in multi-thread performance now right? Which is something that's more important for a work station anyway.

 

Also do you have a 4k monitor? If not then maybe get a cheaper gpu and upgrade in the future.

[gberserk]

3 minutes ago, celerystruct said:

Why? You said you wanted a work station in which case AMD will give you the best bang for your buck. You realize that it's beating intel in multi-thread performance now right? Which is something that's more important for a work station anyway.

 

Also do you have a 4k monitor? If not then maybe get a cheaper gpu and upgrade in the future.

I know the performance to cost rato it's better with AMD, and it's probably just my luck but I've had 3 video cards in the past that failed just days out of warranty and processors running so hot that I needed expensive coolers to keep them in check. Currently I have another rig with a 3770k running at 4.2ghz on a stock Intel cooler with no issues.

This PC will sit in a room with no A/C (just a fan) for the rest of the year and we can reach over 100°f in summer so temps are an important point to me.

 

Add I said, it's probably just my luck, but I won't be able to buy something else if this goes in the pooper.

 

Regarding the 4K monitor. I don't have one, just a couple of basic 1080p monitors for working, but I have a 55" 4K TV sitting a few feet away that I use for gaming and a long enough HDMI cable, so a card that gives me a decent experience for 60fps 4k is enough.

[celerystruct]

4 minutes ago, gberserk said:

I know the performance to cost rato it's better with AMD, and it's probably just my luck but I've had 3 video cards in the past that failed just days out of warranty and processors running so hot that I needed expensive coolers to keep them in check. Currently I have another rig with a 3770k running at 4.2ghz on a stock Intel cooler with no issues.

This PC will sit in a room with no A/C (just a fan) for the rest of the year and we can reach over 100°f in summer so temps are an important point to me.

 

Add I said, it's probably just my luck, but I won't be able to buy something else if this goes in the pooper.

 

Regarding the 4K monitor. I don't have one, just a couple of basic 1080p monitors for working, but I have a 55" 4K TV sitting a few feet away that I use for gaming and a long enough HDMI cable, so a card that gives me a decent experience for 60fps 4k is enough.

So I read your last build was in 2015. I'm assuming the AMD chip you had was an FX one. Ryzen chips are great now and like I said it's not just price to performance anymore it's flat out beating intel in multi-threading and trading blows for gaming.

 

Also intels stock coolers are trash. AMD stock coolers will actually keep your stuff cool and it'll be more than enough if you aren't going to overclock. Some of them can handle a mild overclock too.

 

Also would it be possible to return the parts you purchased and ask for a new build list with your total budget? It sounds like you have a $1000 and that's not the kind of budget that can squeeze in a 9600k and demand 4k gaming.

[VEXICUS]

1 hour ago, gberserk said:

Thanks for the suggestion, looks like a solid build, but I don't like AMD and it's easy over budget (1k dlls including GPU), besides I already have the processor, Mobo and RAM in the mail, although that case looks really good.

AMD with its latest ipc improvement performs on par with it's Intel counterparts at comparitively lower costs.

Also, I have factored in the price of the case and opted in for a 500gb SSD if you think my price is higher.

 

Here's a build under $1000 including GPU. You can opt for a b450 board with bios flashback and save a few bucks instead of going with an x570 board.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Sniper X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($80.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Mushkin - Enhanced Helix-L 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB AORUS Video Card  (Purchased For $300.00) 
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master - MWE Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($78.02 @ Amazon) 
Total: $999.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-19 12:50 EDT-0400

[EldritchMoose]

On 7/19/2019 at 5:10 PM, gberserk said:

That's my second option, only thing I don't know if it's possible to boot from an external optical drive since I tend to test live discs from time to time.

This should be possible.