Getting back into it, 13 years on.

[pinkurpledino]

Hi all,

 

Going to purchase the new pc soon - just wanted a last look over the component choice. Help received also from r/buildapc.

 

Historically I last had a proper gaming rig around 2009, life then took over and I games on mediocre laptops with no dedicated graphics. I've finally got into a position where I can return to gaming (think: COD: MW, GTA V, Apex, PUBG, CS:GO) along with some older ones and occasional VM use. Relative future proofness for games is also a must. The budget has already been broken, I'm hoping for everything (incl keyboard mouse and monitor and accessories) to be at most £1000.

 

The only remaining thing is what monitor to purchase - I've had eyes on a couple of 75Hz IPS displays - 5ms response time. Is it worth going for a higher refresh rate monitor and especially one with Freesync compatibility (if the 2060 will support Freesync/VRR - if so does this work both over HDMI/DP or just DP?)

 

Thanks very much to you all!

 

PD

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£147.98 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£87.98 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£70.70 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (£58.65 @ CCL Computers) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£51.25 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB OC Video Card  (£289.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Case: BitFenix Nova TG ATX Mid Tower Case  (£40.00 @ AWD-IT) 
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  (£64.38 @ Aria PC) 
Keyboard: Corsair K55 + HARPOON RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse  (£64.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Custom: Headphone Mic Splitter 1M,Headphone Splitter For Computer 3.5mm Female to 2 Dual 3.5mm Male Headphone Mic Audio Y Splitter Cable Smartphone Headset to PC Adapter(3Ft/1M)  (£6.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Custom: Gaming Mouse Pad, Large Mouse Pad, Gaming Mouse Pad Large 800x400x3 mm, Gaming Mouse Mat, Extended Mouse Pad, Gaming Met XL Galaxy Blue Designed for Gaming Surface/Office Desk, Durable Stitch  (£9.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £892.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 13:23 GMT+0000

[Meganter]

9 minutes ago, pinkurpledino said:

 

Hello,

 

Made 2 minor changing :

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	£147.98 @ Aria PC
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	£87.98 @ Box Limited
Memory	Kingston HyperX Fury 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	£70.70 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	£58.65 @ CCL Computers
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	£51.25 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	PowerColor Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB Video Card	£254.99 @ Amazon UK
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case	£50.99 @ AWD-IT
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	£64.38 @ Aria PC
Keyboard	Corsair K55 + HARPOON RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse	£64.98 @ Amazon UK
Custom	Headphone Mic Splitter 1M,Headphone Splitter For Computer 3.5mm Female to 2 Dual 3.5mm Male Headphone Mic Audio Y Splitter Cable Smartphone Headset to PC Adapter(3Ft/1M)	£6.99 @ Amazon UK
Custom	Gaming Mouse Pad, Large Mouse Pad, Gaming Mouse Pad Large 800x400x3 mm, Gaming Mouse Mat, Extended Mouse Pad, Gaming Met XL Galaxy Blue Designed for Gaming Surface/Office Desk, Durable Stitch	£9.99 @ Amazon UK
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£868.88
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 13:41 GMT+0000

 

Better case for airflow and better GPU for less. The 2060 you've selected seems overpriced to me and is not better than the 5600XT which is cheaper too.

[nick name]

Hello and welcome.

 

I wouldn't switch to an AMD card as recommended above because of their current driver woes.  

 

Everything really seems fine for the titles you're going to play.  

[pinkurpledino]

1 hour ago, Plouffe said:

Made 2 minor changing

Hi Plouffe,

 

Why the change of case? Just the PSU shroud?

 

Cheers,

[Meganter]

1 minute ago, pinkurpledino said:

Hi Plouffe,

 

Why the change of case? Just the PSU shroud?

 

Cheers,

It offers a really better airflow and the build quality is very nice too

[pinkurpledino]

42 minutes ago, nick name said:

Hello and welcome.

 

I wouldn't switch to an AMD card as recommended above because of their current driver woes.  

 

Everything really seems fine for the titles you're going to play.  

I have heard the issues plaguing the AMD drivers and cards, hence the 2060 choice.

 

The GAMING MAX motherboard states it supports memory speeds up to 4000+ however completely missed the 3600 speed in its documentation. I guess this is an oversight as this speed is used in an LTT build on this exact motherboard?

[Xiee]

1 minute ago, pinkurpledino said:

The GAMING MAX motherboard states it supports memory speeds up to 4000+ however completely missed the 3600 speed in its documentation. I guess this is an oversight as this speed is used in an LTT build on this exact motherboard?

3600 speed is overkill anyway for gaming. You're fine with 3200. It's the sweet spot for most AMD systems.

[nick name]

1 minute ago, pinkurpledino said:

I have heard the issues plaguing the AMD drivers and cards, hence the 2060 choice.

 

The GAMING MAX motherboard states it supports memory speeds up to 4000+ however completely missed the 3600 speed in its documentation. I guess this is an oversight as this speed is used in an LTT build on this exact motherboard?

WHICH version of the GAMING MAX says it supports speeds up to 4000+?

[nick name]

1 minute ago, Xiee said:

3600 speed is overkill anyway for gaming. You're fine with 3200. It's the sweet spot for most AMD systems.

Wut?

[Meganter]

5 minutes ago, nick name said:

WHICH version of the GAMING MAX says it supports speeds up to 4000+?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/Specification

Here 4133MHz for Zen 2.

 

6 minutes ago, Xiee said:

3600 speed is overkill anyway for gaming. You're fine with 3200. It's the sweet spot for most AMD systems.

Yes for Zen+ but Zen 2 sweet spot is 3600MHz but the difference will be marginal in gaming indeed.

[pinkurpledino]

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

Monitor wise, is choosing a FreeSync compatible 75hz display overkill, or just look for just 75Hz? I know that Nvidia supports FreeSync panels, just over DP or HDMI too?

 

Been told an IPS panel is best but their response times are all 5ms+ unless you go extremely top end - is IPS overkill for a casual gamer?

 

I.e. this is one I was considering: https://www.ebuyer.com/838787-aoc-24v2q-23-8-full-hd-ips-monitor-24v2q

[boggy77]

39 minutes ago, pinkurpledino said:

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

Monitor wise, is choosing a FreeSync compatible 75hz display overkill, or just look for just 75Hz? I know that Nvidia supports FreeSync panels, just over DP or HDMI too?

 

Been told an IPS panel is best but their response times are all 5ms+ unless you go extremely top end - is IPS overkill for a casual gamer?

 

I.e. this is one I was considering: https://www.ebuyer.com/838787-aoc-24v2q-23-8-full-hd-ips-monitor-24v2q

75hz, 5ms, freesync and IPS sounds perfectly reasonable. nothing sounds overkill.

[trevb0t]

6 hours ago, pinkurpledino said:

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

Monitor wise, is choosing a FreeSync compatible 75hz display overkill, or just look for just 75Hz? I know that Nvidia supports FreeSync panels, just over DP or HDMI too?

 

Been told an IPS panel is best but their response times are all 5ms+ unless you go extremely top end - is IPS overkill for a casual gamer?

 

I.e. this is one I was considering: https://www.ebuyer.com/838787-aoc-24v2q-23-8-full-hd-ips-monitor-24v2q

Given that your general game choices seem to be FPS titles, I'd grab a VA 144hz 1ms freesync panel. 

IPS is better for color accuracy, but if AAA gaming isn't really your thing, I wouldn't overspend.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	£147.98 @ Aria PC
Motherboard	MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	£79.98 @ Amazon UK
Memory	Kingston HyperX Fury 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	£70.70 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Crucial MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	£62.48 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	£43.19 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB OC Video Card	£289.98 @ CCL Computers
Case	BitFenix Nova TG ATX Mid Tower Case	£40.00 @ AWD-IT
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	£64.98 @ AWD-IT
Monitor	ViewSonic XG2401 23.6" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor	£149.99 @ Amazon UK
Keyboard	Cooler Master Devastator 3 Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse	£41.99 @ Amazon UK
Custom	Headphone Mic Splitter 1M,Headphone Splitter For Computer 3.5mm Female to 2 Dual 3.5mm Male Headphone Mic Audio Y Splitter Cable Smartphone Headset to PC Adapter(3Ft/1M)	£6.99 @ Amazon UK
Custom	Gaming Mouse Pad, Large Mouse Pad, Gaming Mouse Pad Large 800x400x3 mm, Gaming Mouse Mat, Extended Mouse Pad, Gaming Met XL Galaxy Blue Designed for Gaming Surface/Office Desk, Durable Stitch	£9.99 @ Amazon UK
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£1008.25
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-02 22:40 GMT+0000

I made a few adjustments:

• A-Pro has the same VRMs as the Gaming Plus for a better price. Solid board for a 3600.
• $4 more for the MX500. Much better SATA SSD quality!
• I shave $10 on this Ultrastar HDD. If you're a Seagate guy, obviously there's nothing wrong with going back
• I have a Harpoon mouse, an S101 mouse, and a Devastator 3 mouse. I honestly like the weight of the Devastator the best. It's a savings for a unit I personally like more.
• As suggested; 1080p 144hz 1ms Freesync.

[pinkurpledino]

Thanks everyone who contributed, i've bitten the bullet and ordered everything. Good shout on the Devastator keyboard/mouse combo, it's £29.99 at Box. Found an XG2401 (TN Panel? but fantastic reviews) on Amazon for £137 (Warehouse deal) - New are showing 1-3 months shipping. I feel this is going to be an expensive hobby!

 

One little fubar on my part, I forgot to replace the Gaming Plus for the A-Pro in my basket before ordering - and after the rigmarole with my credit card company over purchases from "a new ip address" i'm not worrying over £8 something.

 

Thank you so much for everyones contributions you're all a massive credit to the community  and to Linus/Jayz2Cents/Bitwit and the others!

[trevb0t]

10 hours ago, pinkurpledino said:

Thanks everyone who contributed, i've bitten the bullet and ordered everything. Good shout on the Devastator keyboard/mouse combo, it's £29.99 at Box. Found an XG2401 (TN Panel? but fantastic reviews) on Amazon for £137 (Warehouse deal) - New are showing 1-3 months shipping. I feel this is going to be an expensive hobby!

 

One little fubar on my part, I forgot to replace the Gaming Plus for the A-Pro in my basket before ordering - and after the rigmarole with my credit card company over purchases from "a new ip address" i'm not worrying over £8 something.

 

Thank you so much for everyones contributions you're all a massive credit to the community  and to Linus/Jayz2Cents/Bitwit and the others!

Congrats! Have fun building!

The Gaming Plus is still a solid board. (I've got one myself.) So if you're not sweating the $8, don't sweat a bit!

[pinkurpledino]

3 hours ago, trevb0t said:

Congrats! Have fun building!

The Gaming Plus is still a solid board. (I've got one myself.) So if you're not sweating the $8, don't sweat a bit!

All the parts are coming for next Tuesday (and i'm away for the day! ), so next Wednesday it will be done. It's like waiting for my birthday - just getting all my games downloaded ready so I can copy them across, and also trying to find a suitable desk/chair.

 

For the hassle I had verifying that yes it was indeed me purchasing stuff, i'm not going to cancel the entire order and re-order for £8 - knowing my luck the other items would go out of stock...