Advice on new build and where/how to trim cost

[Kryten2340]

Hi,

 

Looking for feedback on the below build that I am planning next week.

Budget pretty much what is in the screenshot below but would like to trim wherever possible.  Main reason for this is my current rig (AMD FX 8370) is not sufficient to run Half Life Alyx and its on its last legs.  Other than Half Life Alyx my main purpose of using this will be gaming.

I mainly game single player and like to have video content (be that Netflix/Youtube etc) on a 2nd screen whilst I am in game.  My current machine struggles when I do both.

I already have an AOC 1080P 144Hz screen but will be looking at 4k in the future.

I know the Ryzen 9 is probably overkill for my needs but I am an IT engineer so would like to have the flexibility of spinning up some VM's for study lab purposes when needed as well as future proofing as much as I can.  However I don't currently have a VR headset and the thought of waiting another month or two to get one in order to play HL is excruciating (so far I'm managing to keep away from the gameplay videos).  So is there any room to chop the below down just enough to be able to fit in an Oculus Rift S headset as well whilst still having a decent enough machine?  Or am I better off sticking with the build I've got and wait for VR.

No other peripherals or Windows OS needed.  I have secondary storage to add into the new case as well (3 SSD's and 1 3.5" HDD).

[2011PCGuy]

18 minutes ago, Kryten2340 said:

Hi,

 

Looking for feedback on the below build that I am planning next week.

Budget pretty much what is in the screenshot below but would like to trim wherever possible.  Main reason for this is my current rig (AMD FX 8370) is not sufficient to run Half Life Alyx and its on its last legs.  Other than Half Life Alyx my main purpose of using this will be gaming.

I mainly game single player and like to have video content (be that Netflix/Youtube etc) on a 2nd screen whilst I am in game.  My current machine struggles when I do both.

I already have an AOC 1080P 144Hz screen but will be looking at 4k in the future.

I know the Ryzen 9 is probably overkill for my needs but I am an IT engineer so would like to have the flexibility of spinning up some VM's for study lab purposes when needed as well as future proofing as much as I can.  However I don't currently have a VR headset and the thought of waiting another month or two to get one in order to play HL is excruciating (so far I'm managing to keep away from the gameplay videos).  So is there any room to chop the below down just enough to be able to fit in an Oculus Rift S headset as well whilst still having a decent enough machine?  Or am I better off sticking with the build I've got and wait for VR.

No other peripherals or Windows OS needed.  I have secondary storage to add into the new case as well (3 SSD's and 1 3.5" HDD).

If you want to save some money, you could possibly downgrade to a 8 core Ryzen. It will offer optimal performance and the 3900X is just overkill. What about a Ryzen 7 3700X,

[Tristerin]

If you are looking to save money on a decent rig you are spending far to much on case and fans.  Id spend $50 on case and a lot a lot a lot less on fans.

[2011PCGuy]

Just now, Tristerin said:

If you are looking to save money on a decent rig you are spending far to much on case and fans.  Id spend $50 on case and a lot a lot a lot less on fans.

I just saw the case! It's 229$!

[Tristerin]

2 minutes ago, 2011PCGuy said:

I just saw the case! It's 229$!

Almost $100 on 4 fans as well.  Someone asking to trim costs should look at these places first (if specifically seeking performance for value).  Id also suggest a diff video card but AIO cooled must be what he wants.

[dizmo]

Next time you post a build, link it, don't just take a picture of the image, that way we can click on it instead of having to populate it ourselves.

Where can you save money:

• Air cooling instead of an AIO; it also increases reliability and lowers risk
• Get cheaper RAM
• Clearly, the case can be downgraded to something cheaper
• Don't get fancy RGB fans
• You can get away with a 650w PSU easily
• Get a Sabrent Rocket instead of that SSD
• Honestly, this close to a new release I'd just use your old video card until they come out. Don't spend money on a high end one now.

Welcome to the forum.

 

4 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

If you are looking to save money on a decent rig you are spending far to much on case and fans.  Id spend $50 on case and a lot a lot a lot less on fans.

I mean, I get saving money, but $50 gets you a really shit case

I'd say $100ish is more the sweet spot. But $300 like this one is...a little ridiculous if he's worried about what he's spending.

 

[Sileni]

I don't think the 3900x is really necessary; could cut that processor price in half and get a 3600. Could also reduce the cooler to a Hyper 212 or Noctua, probably not a good idea to overclock the 3600 long term past what those coolers can take anyway.

Cases are personal preference, but I love my Meshify C, and it's significantly cheaper than what you have listed.

An x570 board is only really necessary if you care about the PCIe 4.0. x470 boards are almost half the price. I like the x470 Taichi from ASRock.

 

The 2080s could be reduced to a 2070s, but it would probably be a noticeable drop in performance.

Beyond that, it's more pennies you're picking up. You could find cheaper fans (Arctic P12s come to mind), and you could reduce the NVMe size and get a larger hard drive for long term storage.

 

[KaitouX]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  (£397.97 @ Laptops Direct)
CPU Cooler: Scythe FUMA 2 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£50.73 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£189.95 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£139.29 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£129.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  (£638.46 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£129.40 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£94.99 @ AWD-IT)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM 64.92 CFM 140 mm Fan  (£18.68 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1789.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-18 21:46 GMT+0000

 

You can get the Noctua D15 for more cooling or get a different case if you want a different look.

[Dedayog]

Please don't use that term.  Future proofing is not a thing.  

 

Cut the 9900X since even if you do VMs... you'llbe able to run them with a 3700X or even a 3600 much better than you were with the FX.

 

The case and the fans are a solid chunk of money.  $300 for your case in total.  

 

Are you really wanting to trim?  Your choices say otherwise.

 

[Kanna]

56 minutes ago, Kryten2340 said:

Hi,

 

Looking for feedback on the below build that I am planning next week.

Budget pretty much what is in the screenshot below but would like to trim wherever possible.  Main reason for this is my current rig (AMD FX 8370) is not sufficient to run Half Life Alyx and its on its last legs.  Other than Half Life Alyx my main purpose of using this will be gaming.

I mainly game single player and like to have video content (be that Netflix/Youtube etc) on a 2nd screen whilst I am in game.  My current machine struggles when I do both.

I already have an AOC 1080P 144Hz screen but will be looking at 4k in the future.

I know the Ryzen 9 is probably overkill for my needs but I am an IT engineer so would like to have the flexibility of spinning up some VM's for study lab purposes when needed as well as future proofing as much as I can.  However I don't currently have a VR headset and the thought of waiting another month or two to get one in order to play HL is excruciating (so far I'm managing to keep away from the gameplay videos).  So is there any room to chop the below down just enough to be able to fit in an Oculus Rift S headset as well whilst still having a decent enough machine?  Or am I better off sticking with the build I've got and wait for VR.

No other peripherals or Windows OS needed.  I have secondary storage to add into the new case as well (3 SSD's and 1 3.5" HDD).

The case seems way to expensive and the power supply can easly be downgraded to a 650w and no need to get a 1tb ssd i would go for 500 gb ssd and a 2tb for games and the one for games doesn't need to be a ssd it can be mechanical  it will still cut some cost also maybe getting cheaper fans might help