First Time Build: Mid-Range PC for Streaming and Video Editing

[Will_oftheWind]

I'm a first-time builder looking for advice and opinions on the parts I've chosen. I'm currently working on building a desktop PC that will primarily be used for gaming, live-streaming, and video editing. I want to be able to live-stream at 1080p at 60fps while making full use of programs, and plan to edit video footage starting at 1080p but potentially moving up in resolution in the future to as much as 4k. I also want to have the capability to do 3D modeling and design work in the future, as that's something I have interest in doing. I have two old office-type 1080p monitors at the moment, but I'd like to upgrade one of them in the future to a higher-refresh 1440p or above monitor. 

 

My total budget for this build is about $1,300 USD; this is about the highest I can justify going at the moment. My ideal aesthetic is monochrome black and white with few highlights. I believe I've covered everything I'll need below, but if there may be cables or items I haven't considered. I'm really just looking to make sure everything I have will go together well and work before I buy. As I don't yet have the experience to know a lot of this stuff on my own, I'm hoping to find help here. If anyone has revisions they think would be more optimal for my core parts or information I might not know, please let me know! Any help would be appreciated. 

 

Here's what I have so far (pcpartpicker list here):

 

For my CPU, I've chosen the Ryzen 7 3700X. From my research, it seems to provide more than enough power for anything I'd regularly throw at it while still having enough in reserve for multitasking and running future programs. It's a recent and very well-rounded chip that lies at the threshold of my budget.

• CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (~$300 US)

For my CPU cooler, I chose one that got fair ratings for the price point and matches a black and white aesthetic. I think it should be able to handle the 3700X's 65 watt TDP.

• ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler (~$50 US)

I wanted a graphics card that would be able to handle most loads very well but not destroy my bank account. For a moderate price and good looking specs on paper, I chose to get a variant of the GTX 1660 Super.

• GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB DUAL EVO OC (~$240 US)

I figure 16 GB of DDR4 RAM should be enough for now, and that's an easy upgrade if I ever feel I need 32. I've picked out a well-priced kit with a sleek look. The only thing that gives me slight pause is the lack of reviews for this product, so any opinions on this choice would be appreciated.

• Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory (~$95 US)

Since I'm going into content creation, I know I'll have to work with a lot of large programs and heavy files. I've chosen a 500GB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVME drive to act as a boot drive and to store programs and frequented files. I'm also going to add a large hard drive for storing files I'm not currently working on. I'll add extra storage and backup drives if my plans work as intended, but can't afford to purchase them now.

• Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (~$90 US)
• Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (~$90 US)

Knowing what I want to put on it, I chose my motherboard. I'm not very experienced at picking these, but I wanted to choose one with future upgrades in mind. Due to that, I thought it would be best to go with an X570 board. I also wanted one with a mostly black and white aesthetic and without too much RGB or colored highlighting. I thought that this Asus board would fit well.

• Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard (~$145 US)

Since I'd found myself favoring a black and white clean aesthetic, I wanted my case to conform to that as well. I also wanted one with solid airflow and sleek design that could make a statement but not be obnoxious whilst sitting on my desk. The Fractal Design Meshify C in white ticked all of those boxes.

• Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (~$90 US)

As for my power supply, I wanted something at least semi-modular but not too pricey, since my build was beginning to stress the budget I had set forth. I chose this one, which seemed to be a good deal, but I'm not sure how ideal it is for this build. I think this is the one item I'm most likely to change out if a better option is found.

• EVGA BQ 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (~$85 US)

Add on a Windows 10 key (~$100 US) and a tube of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (~$8 US).

 

In total, the build is looking to cost me approximately $1,282 before any sales tax. This is right about the threshold of my budget, and I don't think I can justify going any further at the moment without good reason. With that said, please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything I'm missing here. Also, please let me know if there are any obvious ways to save money that I may have missed. I'll shop around for bargains once my parts list is finalized. Cheers!

[WaggishOhio383]

This looks like a really good build to me. I have the Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB RAM, and it works great for me. The base Crucial Ballistix RAM shouldn't be much different. One thing I noticed though. Did you remember to budget for fans? I don't see them on the list. Depending on what quality fans you want to get, they can be be anywhere between $50 and $100 for a good set (unless you want to go cheap like me and get a low-end set for $35 and upgrade them later). You'll also need to get fan splitters, but those aren't that expensive. Also, if you don't plan on using ethernet, you'll need to get an external WiFi adapter because your motherboard doesn't have one built in. Those are just a few things I noticed. Otherwise, it looks great!

[ShinRamen]

If you are willing to make some compromises you can get a better performing setup with your budget. If you are near a microcenter, the 3700X can be had there for $280. I would go with at least a 2060 Super (or even better 2070 Super) if you are considering upgrading to a 1440p monitor in the near future - GPU is usually the most expensive part in a system and you don't want to upgrade that as soon as you get a new monitor. 
 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.63 @ Walmart
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$69.99 @ B&H
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$89.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC 3X Video Card	$499.99 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case	$62.87 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$59.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1317.44
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1297.44
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-01 14:20 EST-0500

 

[Will_oftheWind]

Thanks for the advice so far! I appreciate the suggestions a lot!

 

I've added on a wireless network card and a couple of 140mm fans. I think I'll stick with the case and memory I had, since I'm willing to pay the extra $40 for a pleasing aesthetic and faster memory speed. Because I'm planning on using my M.2 SSD frequently for file transfers, I think I'll also keep the Samsung 970 Evo. Maybe it's a foolish thing, but I trust that drive more for the purpose. It should also pack a bit more speed.

 

For the time being, I think I'd rather wait to upgrade my graphics card and monitor until I can spare the money for both at once. I'll stick with the 1660 Super for now.

 

I would switch to a cheaper power supply, but the motherboard I have includes a second power connector for use in more intensive builds. While my current build likely wouldn't need it, I want to have full compatibility in case any future upgrades I make increase power draw to that point. The unit I have right now is one of the cheaper ones with two connectors.

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.63 @ Walmart
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler	$46.98 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Silicon Power A80 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$74.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$89.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB KO ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$323.98 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$86.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	BitFenix Formula Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$89.00 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1277.51
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 08:40 EST-0500

 

[Will_oftheWind]

After heavy consideration, I've decided to upgrade my graphics card to an RTX 2060 Super. I think I'll appreciate having an RTX card and the reassurance that my PC will be able to run with better monitor specs. The 2060 Super seems to lie at a point for price-to-performance diminishing returns to not hit it too heavily. Here's my new full config:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.63 @ Walmart
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler	$47.22 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste	$7.97 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$85.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC WHITE Video Card	$409.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$86.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	BitFenix Formula Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$89.00 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$99.99 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter	Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$31.59 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1512.32
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 12:53 EST-0500

Extra cost here is due to purchase of a windows install, wireless adapter, and a few quality of life/aesthetic choices. I think this will be my final parts list unless there's anything else I've missed.

[ShinRamen]

3 minutes ago, Will_oftheWind said:

After heavy consideration, I've decided to upgrade my graphics card to an RTX 2060 Super. I think I'll appreciate having an RTX card and the reassurance that my PC will be able to run with better monitor specs. The 2060 Super seems to lie at a point for price-to-performance diminishing returns to not hit it too heavily. Here's my new full config:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.63 @ Walmart
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler	$47.22 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste	$7.97 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$85.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC WHITE Video Card	$409.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$86.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	BitFenix Formula Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$89.00 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$99.99 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter	Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$31.59 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1512.32
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 12:53 EST-0500

Extra cost here is due to purchase of a windows install, wireless adapter, and a few quality of life/aesthetic choices. I think this will be my final parts list unless there's anything else I've missed.

Build is solid. Three things I'd like to mention:

 

1. The 3700X comes with a cooler. It's free and you'll get it anyway - why not give it a try before you invest $47 in a different cooler?

2. You can get a windows license for a couple of bucks elsewhere. No strings attached.
 

14 hours ago, Will_oftheWind said:

For the time being, I think I'd rather wait to upgrade my graphics card and monitor until I can spare the money for both at once. I'll stick with the 1660 Super for now.

 

3. If you upgrade both monitor and GPU and the same time, you'll have wasted quite a bit of money on a mainly 1080p card - the 2060 Super can do 1440p, yes - but for the money saved with the two points above you can afford a 2070 Super and be ready for 1440p at high refresh rates.

Just a couple of points to think about

[WaggishOhio383]

1 hour ago, Will_oftheWind said:

After heavy consideration, I've decided to upgrade my graphics card to an RTX 2060 Super. I think I'll appreciate having an RTX card and the reassurance that my PC will be able to run with better monitor specs. The 2060 Super seems to lie at a point for price-to-performance diminishing returns to not hit it too heavily. Here's my new full config:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.63 @ Walmart
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO CPU Cooler	$47.22 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1g 1 g Thermal Paste	$7.97 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$85.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB GAMING OC WHITE Video Card	$409.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$86.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	BitFenix Formula Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$89.00 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$99.99 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter	Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$31.59 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1512.32
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 12:53 EST-0500

Extra cost here is due to purchase of a windows install, wireless adapter, and a few quality of life/aesthetic choices. I think this will be my final parts list unless there's anything else I've missed.

This looks good to me. One thing you could do, if you want to avoid figuring out how to put in the internal WiFi adapter is get a USB WiFi adapter. Here's the one I use, and would highly recommend: USB WiFi Adapter - $28

 

It can be plugged directly into the computer, or you can use the extension cable and base to get stronger signal. As long as you have an open USB 3.0 port, it gets just as fast signal as the internal card. Just something to think about.

 

 

[m0oble]

for 1k this will do you pretty good unless you want to overclock if so get a better psu

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor	$214.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard	$144.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	$85.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$259.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$86.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA BR 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$44.00 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1032.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$1017.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 18:11 EST-0500

1440p also might be a little difficult to run on a 1660ti but idk honestly

[Will_oftheWind]

6 hours ago, ShinRamen said:

1. The 3700X comes with a cooler. It's free and you'll get it anyway - why not give it a try before you invest $47 in a different cooler?

I saw a review of the Wraith Prism cooler that comes with the 3700X that said it was decent but recommended getting something more powerful for certain use cases.  However, you're right; I really should test it in my own configuration before I buy another cooler. I'll give that a go!

 

6 hours ago, ShinRamen said:

2. You can get a windows license for a couple of bucks elsewhere. No strings attached.

I've seen windows keys for sale at around $30 US, but the websites that sell them look a little suspect--I've heard mixed things. Are those what you're talking about? If so, have you tried one yourself? I do trust you, but I'm not so sure I trust certain websites. If I can safely get Windows for less, though, I definitely would be glad to find out more! Please let me know what I can do.

 

6 hours ago, ShinRamen said:

3. If you upgrade both monitor and GPU and the same time, you'll have wasted quite a bit of money on a mainly 1080p card - the 2060 Super can do 1440p, yes - but for the money saved with the two points above you can afford a 2070 Super and be ready for 1440p at high refresh rates.

If I do decide to go with a 2070 Super, I think one of these two would be my choice. The former is a dual fan while the latter is a triple fan unit very similar to the 2060 Super I was going to get.

1. Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card
2. Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Gaming OC 3X Video Card

What are the advantages and disadvantages of two fans versus three? In particular, which card would most likely run quieter?

 

5 hours ago, WaggishOhio383 said:

This looks good to me. One thing you could do, if you want to avoid figuring out how to put in the internal WiFi adapter is get a USB WiFi adapter. Here's the one I use, and would highly recommend: USB WiFi Adapter - $28

Noted. I'll keep this in mind as an option--thanks for the recommendation!

 

I've also gone ahead and purchased my CPU; I had a chance at a decent deal with an old gift card I had, so that's now locked down. Once I have the graphics card issue resolved, I'll plan to get everything else and start building! Thanks to everybody who has already given me input. I'm still just a beginner, so your feedback helps me make smarter comparisons!

[eth_jones]

8 hours ago, Will_oftheWind said:

I've seen windows keys for sale at around $30 US, but the websites that sell them look a little suspect--I've heard mixed things. Are those what you're talking about? If so, have you tried one yourself? I do trust you, but I'm not so sure I trust certain websites. If I can safely get Windows for less, though, I definitely would be glad to find out more! Please let me know what I can do.

Hi mate,

Other people in this thread know a lot more than me about the hardware, so I won't comment on that! But when it comes to Windows 10, I purchase keys solely from eBay. In the UK at least, the OEM keys are literally £2-3. I've been using my key for over 2 years and never had any "Unlicensed" messages or issues at all. I've even upgraded my boot drive and so installed Windows on the new one, and the license key has just transferred over.

Only difference as far as I know with OEM is that you don't get Microsoft support, but you can ask yourself whether you really need it when answers to everything are just a google away

[boggy77]

9 hours ago, Will_oftheWind said:

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Gaming OC 3X Video Card

three fans means more airflow from lower fan speeds, means lower noise.

[Will_oftheWind]

12 hours ago, eth_jones said:

...when it comes to Windows 10, I purchase keys solely from eBay. In the UK at least, the OEM keys are literally £2-3. I've been using my key for over 2 years and never had any "Unlicensed" messages or issues at all. I've even upgraded my boot drive and so installed Windows on the new one, and the license key has just transferred over.

Thank you! I've used Windows media creator tool before, so I think I'll just install windows off a flash drive and use an activation key from ebay. You're right; the prices are great! Thank you so much for telling me about this! 

 

12 hours ago, boggy77 said:

three fans means more airflow from lower fan speeds, means lower noise.

Thank you! That's how I thought it worked, but I wanted to make sure before I bought one.

 

Now that I've saved money by cutting out the overpriced Windows 10 install, I'll officially be going for an RTX 2070 Super! It'll be nice to not have to sweat over this when I upgrade my monitor setup. Since I like having things run more quietly overall and because the aesthetic matches, I'll go with the second one I mentioned above. It's also got a nice overclock. I did see one review mentioning minor coil whine on their card, but I don't think that'll be too noticeable.

• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Gaming OC 3X Video Card

Thanks again for all the help