Hello Everybody

[Tucci149]

Hi everyone I'm new to this site and came here looking for advice and tips on how to build a Gaming PC since I am thinking of building one myself in the near future.
I am a teen and would really appreciate any help, tips, whatever you've got. My budget is of around USD1600.

 

Cheers from New Zealand!

 

[SkilledRebuilds]

4 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

Hi everyone I'm new to this site and came here looking for advice and tips on how to build a Gaming PC since I am thinking of building one myself in the near future.
I am a teen and would really appreciate any help, tips, whatever you've got. My budget is of around USD1600.

 

Cheers from New Zealand!

 

Welcome to the Forums,. Someone will likely be with you shortly,.. I would go into details but I'm also time restricted right now...

 

Also..For local advice, join your local Tech groups on Facebook (New Zealand technology / PC groups)

iE If you have any troubles, a local could come in handy... as well as the online reach out your doing now..

[emosun]

might be an obvious question but have you watched any of the hundreds of pc building tutorial on youtube or on google? becuase theres tons of information in them and then you could ask us about things they might not have touched on.

[Herman Mcpootis]

if you're in new zealand, use new zealand dollars. converting your currency to US dollars only makes things misleading for us.

[Tucci149]

2 hours ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

if you're in new zealand, use new zealand dollars. converting your currency to US dollars only makes things misleading for us.

Hi @Herman Mcpootis thank you for the tip, I have US dollars tho, I'm only stating that I'm in New Zealand because the range of parts that I can get will be limited.

 

Cheers

2 hours ago, emosun said:

might be an obvious question but have you watched any of the hundreds of pc building tutorial on youtube or on google? becuase theres tons of information in them and then you could ask us about things they might not have touched on.

Hi there @emosun I have watched several but technology goes so fast that I don't want to end up with last years components for the same price of this year's or the next.

 

Cheers

[emosun]

3 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

Hi there @emosun I have watched several but technology goes so fast that I don't want to end up with last years components for the same price of this year's or the next.

the.... market will dictate the price of components. meaning watching even a 10 year old video will result in a machine that is ridiculously cheap now.

Also the time between watching several videos and ordering parts isn't like.... years..... it's weeks maybe even just a few days.

[Flying Sausages]

Hello, my name is OlympicAssEater and I eat ass. Nice to meet you.

[Herman Mcpootis]

9 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

Hi @Herman Mcpootis thank you for the tip, I have US dollars tho, I'm only stating that I'm in New Zealand because the range of parts that I can get will be limited.

 

Cheers

where are you buying it from?

[Tucci149]

Just now, Herman Mcpootis said:

where are you buying it from?

I will probably be buying the parts from retail in New Zealand, with amazon I will be paying a lot in customs.

[Herman Mcpootis]

4 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

I will probably be buying the parts from retail in New Zealand, with amazon I will be paying a lot in customs.

Then list your currency in New Zealand dollars.

[Tucci149]

1 hour ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

Then list your currency in New Zealand dollars.

Actually, the exchange rate is pretty low right now, so I will stay in US dollars.
I am mostly interested in learning if Intel is still better than AMD or not; or why, for example, you have chosen to build with an AMD Ryzen; or what GPU will last me longer; or how to get more bang for my buck and that kind of stuff.

Learn to later make better decisions by myself. Does that make sense? Cheers.

 

Should I start my build from the motherboard up, is that the best way to go?

[Augustin]

I don't know why FOB loves his USD. You will find your local pb tech has competitive prices. We have no FTA with US but we do have FTAs with many Asian nations; the taxes and delays are not worth it when you can buy direct from asia. I only use amazon when I cannot find something in NZ, Australia, or Asia.

29 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

am mostly interested in learning if Intel is still better than AMD or not

In NZ you will find they are priced appropriately. Performance is proportional to price. What you really want to ask is Nvidia vs AMD.

 

 

 

 

[boey]

24 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

Should I start my build from the motherboard up, is that the best way to go?

Start with your use-case, preferences and budget. For example, I'd say something like "I'd really like to game at 1440p ultra, and my budget is $2000. I would also like the PC to be small as I have no space"

31 minutes ago, Tucci149 said:

I am mostly interested in learning if Intel is still better than AMD or not; or why, for example, you have chosen to build with an AMD Ryzen; or what GPU will last me longer; or how to get more bang for my buck and that kind of stuff.

Right now, Intel's only advantage is clockspeed. If you frequent the Adobe Suite then Intel performs better. AMD Ryzen performs better or on par with pretty much everything else, it draws less power and is cheaper. Certain games do favour Intel more but they are decreasing. Maybe you could tell us your use case and preferences and we could help you with choosing parts? We can explain why we chose each part to facilitate you in learning how to choose parts on your own

[Tucci149]

4 hours ago, _d0nut said:

Start with your use-case, preferences and budget. For example, I'd say something like "I'd really like to game at 1440p ultra, and my budget is $2000. I would also like the PC to be small as I have no space"

Right now, Intel's only advantage is clockspeed. If you frequent the Adobe Suite then Intel performs better. AMD Ryzen performs better or on par with pretty much everything else, it draws less power and is cheaper. Certain games do favour Intel more but they are decreasing. Maybe you could tell us your use case and preferences and we could help you with choosing parts? We can explain why we chose each part to facilitate you in learning how to choose parts on your own

You're awesome! Thank you so much.

Thanks for the pointers, I'm a console peasant taking my first steps into the PC master race world, I'm barely a teenager so I should be fine.

I want to game at 1440p very high or ultra and my budget is USD1600, I value function over aesthetics and don't really care about LED lightning, and fancy stuff. I'd rather spend that on bettering some other component. I'm aiming for one nicely sized screen and onboard audio. I'll be using it mostly for gaming but I'll probably be using adobe software for school now and then. I plan on doing some video editing in the future so learning about best storage options would be nice; and also how to avoid bottlenecks.   

 

That's all I got for now, cheers.

[boey]

On 9/29/2019 at 5:09 PM, Tucci149 said:

You're awesome! Thank you so much.

Thanks for the pointers, I'm a console peasant taking my first steps into the PC master race world, I'm barely a teenager so I should be fine.

I want to game at 1440p very high or ultra and my budget is USD1600, I value function over aesthetics and don't really care about LED lightning, and fancy stuff. I'd rather spend that on bettering some other component. I'm aiming for one nicely sized screen and onboard audio. I'll be using it mostly for gaming but I'll probably be using adobe software for school now and then. I plan on doing some video editing in the future so learning about best storage options would be nice; and also how to avoid bottlenecks.   

 

That's all I got for now, cheers.

Ok, are the prices in NZ similar to those in the US? You'll be fine if I give you $1600 USD worth of parts from US sites? Or would you prefer if I gave you parts in NZ Dollars from NZ sites

[Zando_]

10 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

Ok, are the prices in NZ similar to those in the US? You'll be fine if I give you $1600 USD worth of parts from US sites? Or would you prefer if I gave you parts in NZ Dollars from NZ sites

Massive difference between NZD and USD, OP can just give the budget in straight NZD easily since PCPartPicker has a New Zealand site: https://nz.pcpartpicker.com

EDIT: Google says $1600 USD is about $2500 NZD:

[boey]

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

Massive difference between NZD and USD, OP can just give the budget in straight NZD easily since PCPartPicker has a New Zealand site: https://nz.pcpartpicker.com

OP said he wanted to stay in USD, i'm fully aware of PCP NZ so that's why I asked him

 

[Tucci149]

7 hours ago, _d0nut said:

OP said he wanted to stay in USD, i'm fully aware of PCP NZ so that's why I asked him

 

NZD will be alright. Thank you all for being so helpful. Thanks for the awesome link @Zando Bob. Cheers.

[GoldenLag]

6 hours ago, Tucci149 said:

NZD will be alright. Thank you all for being so helpful. Thanks for the awesome link @Zando Bob. Cheers.

Could you list you budget in NZD or not?

[boey]

6 hours ago, Tucci149 said:

NZD will be alright. Thank you all for being so helpful. Thanks for the awesome link @Zando Bob. Cheers.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$344.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Motherboard	MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$224.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Memory	Team T-FORCE VULCAN TUF Gaming Allian 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$147.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Storage	Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$119.00 @ Paradigm PCs
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$74.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 8 GB PULSE Video Card	$654.35 @ PB Technologies
Case	Phanteks P300 ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$144.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Monitor	MSI OPTIX MAG271CQR 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$802.29 @ Paradigm PCs
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2609.14
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-01 19:46 NZDT+1300

REASONS FOR EACH PART

 

CPU -> Insane bang for the buck. 6 cores, 12 threads cheaper than Intel's offering of 6 cores 6 threads. It's part of AMD's Ryzen 3000 line of CPUs, which have been superb performance wise, while being cheaper than other CPUs. I did not choose Intel because you will not use Adobe software that much, and Intel's CPUs, despite performing better in Adobe software, are more expensive for the amount of performance you get. Also, at 1440p, your CPU is not loaded as much as your GPU is, so CPU choice is not as important(still important though). Difference in performance between CPUs is reduced at this resolution.

 

Motherboard -> One of the best motherboards to fit with mid-range Ryzen CPUs. Great power delivery for the price. Ignore the error PCPartpicker gives you, this motherboard should support Ryzen 3000 out of the box, as it's from MSI's MAX line of Motherboards

 

Memory -> Ryzen loves fast memory, so 3200MHz - 3600MHz is strongly recommended. Remember to enable XMP in the BIOS to run the memory at the stated speed. Also, I chose 16GB because it is the preferred amount now, more than enough to run games and editing software. 8GB is barely enough(and sometimes not enough), while 32GB is hugely overkill. I chose 2 sticks of 8GB instead of 1 stick of 16GB because 2 sticks actually doubles your memory bandwidth, and Ryzen loves memory bandwidth(that's why fast memory is recommended). 4x4GB is just more expensive than 2x8GB and doesn't provide extra benefits.

 

Storage -> SSDs are pretty much crucial in any PC that's not dirt cheap. Installing windows on an SSD makes you boot several times faster, and your PC will feel a lot faster in general. An SSD upgrade is often the best and cheapest upgrade to make an old computer feel brand new. Video files can tend to get quite large, so fast storage is recommended when transferring these videos around. Also, many games tend to boot a LOT faster on SSDs than hard drives(ie GTA V is a common example) As for the Hard Drive, it can be used for miscellaneous files that don't require fast storage(ie pictures, notes, small games/programs etc.)

 

Video Card -> Mainly chose this video card based on budget restrictions, but it is a very powerful graphics card(and has huge bang for the buck). Should be able to run 1440p High-Very High at over 60FPS(I'd say you'd probably get close to 100FPS and even over 100FPS in most games)

 

Case -> Pretty standard case, decent airflow and cheap.

 

Power Supply -> I used the PSU Tier List to determine this, as this was the cheapest highly rated PSU. 550W should be more than enough to power this system.

 

Monitor -> Since you've moved from console, I figured you haven't experienced anything above 60Hz. Trust me, it's life-changing. Cheapest 1440p 144Hz monitor I could find, and 27" is just perfect for this resolution. Have heard many great things about it too(Just something to read about, MSI has had a monitor stop a bullet, and still worked perfectly fine after)

 

 

[Tucci149]

On 10/1/2019 at 7:58 PM, _d0nut said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$344.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Motherboard	MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$224.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Memory	Team T-FORCE VULCAN TUF Gaming Allian 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$147.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Storage	Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$119.00 @ Paradigm PCs
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$74.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 8 GB PULSE Video Card	$654.35 @ PB Technologies
Case	Phanteks P300 ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.50 @ 1stWave Technologies
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$144.00 @ 1stWave Technologies
Monitor	MSI OPTIX MAG271CQR 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$802.29 @ Paradigm PCs
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2609.14
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-01 19:46 NZDT+1300

REASONS FOR EACH PART

 

CPU -> Insane bang for the buck. 6 cores, 12 threads cheaper than Intel's offering of 6 cores 6 threads. It's part of AMD's Ryzen 3000 line of CPUs, which have been superb performance wise, while being cheaper than other CPUs. I did not choose Intel because you will not use Adobe software that much, and Intel's CPUs, despite performing better in Adobe software, are more expensive for the amount of performance you get. Also, at 1440p, your CPU is not loaded as much as your GPU is, so CPU choice is not as important(still important though). Difference in performance between CPUs is reduced at this resolution.

 

Motherboard -> One of the best motherboards to fit with mid-range Ryzen CPUs. Great power delivery for the price. Ignore the error PCPartpicker gives you, this motherboard should support Ryzen 3000 out of the box, as it's from MSI's MAX line of Motherboards

 

Memory -> Ryzen loves fast memory, so 3200MHz - 3600MHz is strongly recommended. Remember to enable XMP in the BIOS to run the memory at the stated speed. Also, I chose 16GB because it is the preferred amount now, more than enough to run games and editing software. 8GB is barely enough(and sometimes not enough), while 32GB is hugely overkill. I chose 2 sticks of 8GB instead of 1 stick of 16GB because 2 sticks actually doubles your memory bandwidth, and Ryzen loves memory bandwidth(that's why fast memory is recommended). 4x4GB is just more expensive than 2x8GB and doesn't provide extra benefits.

 

Storage -> SSDs are pretty much crucial in any PC that's not dirt cheap. Installing windows on an SSD makes you boot several times faster, and your PC will feel a lot faster in general. An SSD upgrade is often the best and cheapest upgrade to make an old computer feel brand new. Video files can tend to get quite large, so fast storage is recommended when transferring these videos around. Also, many games tend to boot a LOT faster on SSDs than hard drives(ie GTA V is a common example) As for the Hard Drive, it can be used for miscellaneous files that don't require fast storage(ie pictures, notes, small games/programs etc.)

 

Video Card -> Mainly chose this video card based on budget restrictions, but it is a very powerful graphics card(and has huge bang for the buck). Should be able to run 1440p High-Very High at over 60FPS(I'd say you'd probably get close to 100FPS and even over 100FPS in most games)

 

Case -> Pretty standard case, decent airflow and cheap.

 

Power Supply -> I used the PSU Tier List to determine this, as this was the cheapest highly rated PSU. 550W should be more than enough to power this system.

 

Monitor -> Since you've moved from console, I figured you haven't experienced anything above 60Hz. Trust me, it's life-changing. Cheapest 1440p 144Hz monitor I could find, and 27" is just perfect for this resolution. Have heard many great things about it too(Just something to read about, MSI has had a monitor stop a bullet, and still worked perfectly fine after)

 

 

Hi @_d0nut thank you so much, I've been studying the info you sent me, took me while tho and I have been learning a lot. It's been amazing to find so much selfless help. I have a question tho, Do I need to buy extra fans, air cooling or water cooling?

Cheers.

[boey]

6 hours ago, Tucci149 said:

Hi @_d0nut thank you so much, I've been studying the info you sent me, took me while tho and I have been learning a lot. It's been amazing to find so much selfless help. I have a question tho, Do I need to buy extra fans, air cooling or water cooling?

Cheers.

Air cooling should be provided with the CPU. The cooler isn't great, but the CPU does not produce much heat so it will be fine. Water cooling is unnecessary here, unless you would like to spend more for the aesthetic of it.

 

Extra fans can help with temperatures and airflow, but if your ambient temperature is not hot then you will be fine. I'd recommend spending maybe $40 on a few fans(the case comes with one, and fits 4 so 2-3 more should be fine)

Also, thermal paste usually comes pre-applied onto the cooler. It's basically a paste between your CPU and CPU Cooler which fills in air gaps, to improve heat transfer. There is a small chance it is dried out(especially if the cooler has been sitting on the shelves for a decent amount of time), so spending a little on some quality paste should be a recommendation too. 

 

I'd say you should change out your thermal paste every 1-2 years so it does not cure and dry out, although the one I've linked is one of the best in terms of thermal conductivity(that's not metal-based) and only comes with 1g, which should be enough for maybe 3 applications?

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste	$14.95 @ Mighty Ape
Case Fan	CRYORIG QF120 Performance 83 CFM 120 mm Fan	$24.99 @ PB Technologies
Case Fan	CRYORIG QF120 Performance 83 CFM 120 mm Fan	$24.99 @ PB Technologies
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$64.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-06 22:18 NZDT+1300

 

[Tucci149]

12 hours ago, _d0nut said:

Air cooling should be provided with the CPU. The cooler isn't great, but the CPU does not produce much heat so it will be fine. Water cooling is unnecessary here, unless you would like to spend more for the aesthetic of it.

 

Extra fans can help with temperatures and airflow, but if your ambient temperature is not hot then you will be fine. I'd recommend spending maybe $40 on a few fans(the case comes with one, and fits 4 so 2-3 more should be fine)

Also, thermal paste usually comes pre-applied onto the cooler. It's basically a paste between your CPU and CPU Cooler which fills in air gaps, to improve heat transfer. There is a small chance it is dried out(especially if the cooler has been sitting on the shelves for a decent amount of time), so spending a little on some quality paste should be a recommendation too. 

 

I'd say you should change out your thermal paste every 1-2 years so it does not cure and dry out, although the one I've linked is one of the best in terms of thermal conductivity(that's not metal-based) and only comes with 1g, which should be enough for maybe 3 applications?

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste	$14.95 @ Mighty Ape
Case Fan	CRYORIG QF120 Performance 83 CFM 120 mm Fan	$24.99 @ PB Technologies
Case Fan	CRYORIG QF120 Performance 83 CFM 120 mm Fan	$24.99 @ PB Technologies
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$64.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-06 22:18 NZDT+1300

 

Great! thank you, do you know if the system is able to overclock and if it can be upgraded later on?

Cheers

[BigRom]

2 hours ago, Tucci149 said:

Great! thank you, do you know if the system is able to overclock and if it can be upgraded later on?

Cheers

All the AMD chips are overclockable (unless you're using an A320 chipset motherboard), how much depends on the motherboard's capability such as its power delivery (VRMs) and the ability to cool said VRMs

 

Just a heads up that the Ryzen 3000 series chips don't have too much headroom for overclocking, you could probably get maybe 200Mhz ish more at most compared to the factory boost clock

 

Upgrade path depends, you could slot in a higher end 3700X or 3900X later  down the line assuming the motherboard is capable of powering the power-hungry 8/12-core CPUs. AMD has pledged support for the AM4 socket until 2020.

[boey]

18 hours ago, Tucci149 said:

Great! thank you, do you know if the system is able to overclock and if it can be upgraded later on?

Cheers

Don't bother with CPU overclocking, the stock clock formula is already very good. As for GPU, it can be overclocked a little, although AMD supposedly limits the clock on the 5700

 

AMD has promised support for the AM4 socket until 2020, so you should be able to upgrade to next year's Ryzen CPU.