Graduation Present/Lockdown Pay build

[CoffeeLoki67879]

I'm graduating college with my Bachelors in Physics, and for a graduation present to myself I want to build a 1080p/1440p gaming setup. I have never built a gaming pc before and wanted to get some feedback on my planned rig to make sure I'm not overspending on something, or creating a bottleneck that will ruin everything.

1: Budget & Location

Utah, USA. Budget: Sub $900 (just pc parts. I have other plans for OS and peripherals)

2: Aim

I want to do High 1080p/Low to Mid 1440p gaming. Lots of skyrim mods, fallout 4 mods, starcraft 2, elden ring (when it comes out), and likely whatever Star Wars games come out in the next 2-3 years.

3: Monitors

I currently have a Vizio d24f-f1 24" 1080p 60Hz tv that I plan to use as my monitor (24ms response time), and would like to buy a 27"-30" 1440p (max 120Hz) monitor in the future. I've never experienced high refresh rate gaming, and have never run anything better than an Xbox One S in my life.

4: Peripherals

I have a mouse, and plan on buying a cheap (~$20) logitech keyboard from walmart or best buy when my parts get here. My plan is to copy all my files (including OS) from the 500GB SATA ssd in my laptop to my new computer, but i have no clue if that's possible or will work. If it doesn't I plan on using the pirate windows 7 then upgrade to windows 10 loophole, but am open to other suggestions.

5: Why am I upgrading?

I've never had a gaming pc (i currently have an xbox one s that I use to play with my friends and a Dell Inspiron 15 5565 with an A12-9700P, 8 gigs of ram, integrated graphics and an ssd I had Geek Squad put in.) I want to run games that neither of those can, such as starcraft 2, heavily modded skyrim/fallout, elden ring (eventually), MCC on windows, as well as some light AutoCAD when i want to design something like a shooting target or a fence. The AutoCAD does't happen often.

 

Can't decide between a Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 5 1600AF for my CPU (i plan on using the included cooler)

I'm thinking an RX 5600 XT for my GPU, though it wouldn't take much convincing to get me to go with a RTX 2060 KO (though I don't have much use for ray tracing. I don't like battlefield or minecraft, and I've never played tomb raider)

16 GB (2X8GB) G.Skill Aegis DDR4 3000 RAM

Western Digital Blue SN550 NVMe M.2 500GB SSD

Seagate BarraCuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING AM4 AMD Motherboard

Seasonic S12III 550W 80+ Bronze power supply

Fractal Design Focus G Black ATX Mid Tower Case (comes with 2 fans)

 

Also anywhere I can bet cheap 120mm fans would be appreciated.

 

Linked below is the link to my Newegg wishlist

https://secure.newegg.com/wishlist/sd/dehxwp/81GjnVPwQC5bVlA==

 

Some help deciding between the 2600 and the 1600AF would be great, as well as pointing out any bottlenecks or overlooks. 

Thanks!!!!!

[ShinRamen]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$169.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$99.99 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$68.95 @ Adorama
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$50.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 5700 8 GB MECH OC Video Card	$309.99 @ B&H
Case	Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case	$45.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$62.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$898.86
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$878.86
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 18:49 EDT-0400

 

 

Although I would go with a 1TB SSD and get a HDD for storage later when you have some money to spare. With an mATX build you can even get a 5700XT in your build. This should be a great performer at 1080p or 1440p - much better than the 1600AF/2600 route you were contemplating.
 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$169.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$85.86 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ B&H
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card	$349.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$49.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$74.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$910.79
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 18:53 EDT-0400

 

[CoffeeLoki67879]

5 minutes ago, ShinRamen said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$169.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$99.99 @ B&H
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$68.95 @ Adorama
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$50.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 5700 8 GB MECH OC Video Card	$309.99 @ B&H
Case	Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case	$45.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$62.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$898.86
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$878.86
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 18:49 EDT-0400

 

Do you know if that case comes with fans? And is a 450W power supply able to reliably power those parts? Everywhere I've looked at a RX 5700 says the recommended PSU is 750W.

[ShinRamen]

2 minutes ago, FLUFFY_BATMAN said:

Do you know if that case comes with fans? And is a 450W power supply able to reliably power those parts? Everywhere I've looked at a RX 5700 says the recommended PSU is 750W.

The Cougar case comes with 1x120mm fan IIRC. Get the 550W version of that PSU model, my bad. It should be fine with 450, but I intended to list the 550W model like in the second build I suggested (I edited the original post, check it again if you haven't seen it yet).

[CoffeeLoki67879]

23 minutes ago, ShinRamen said:

Although I would go with a 1TB SSD and get a HDD for storage later when you have some money to spare. With an mATX build you can even get a 5700XT in your build. This should be a great performer at 1080p or 1440p - much better than the 1600AF/2600 route you were contemplating.
 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$169.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$85.86 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$69.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ B&H
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card	$349.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$49.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$74.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$910.79
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 18:53 EDT-0400

 

A 500GB SSD and 2TB HDD come to the same price as that 1TB SSD, and I'd rather have the extra storage.

How much of an advantage does the Ryzen 5 3600 really buy me over a ryzen 5 2700 for 1080p/1440p gaming? From what I've seen in reviews and side by side comparisons its about 80FPS vs 90FPS at 1440p, and I don't see myself buying more than a 75Hz monitor anytime soon.

[Firewrath9]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$129.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	MSI X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$74.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$119.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card	$349.99 @ Newegg
Case	NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 600 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$89.90 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$954.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 19:16 EDT-0400

This is a little over budget, but its a great platform, with plenty of upgrade capability. I'd advise against a cheap case and PSU, as a quality case and PSU will stay with you across many upgrades. Ditto with SSDs under 1TB, with such low SSD prices, no point in buying low capacity or spinning rust (unless you need like 4TB+ of storage). In addition, Crucial E-die overclocks very well, so I'd get some crucial ram as opposed to some random ram that you don't know who manufactured the ICs.

[CoffeeLoki67879]

7 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$129.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	MSI X470 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$74.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$119.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card	$349.99 @ Newegg
Case	NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 600 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$89.90 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$954.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 19:16 EDT-0400

This is a little over budget, but its a great platform, with plenty of upgrade capability. I'd advise against a cheap case and PSU, as a quality case and PSU will stay with you across many upgrades. Ditto with SSDs under 1TB, with such low SSD prices, no point in buying low capacity or spinning rust (unless you need like 4TB+ of storage). In addition, Crucial E-die overclocks very well, so I'd get some crucial ram as opposed to some random ram that you don't know who manufactured the ICs.

I'm not worried about my case quality as when I upgrade I will (hopefully) have a job where I can use my degree and make enough money to buy a pretty one with all the RGB. Also, how much does it buy me to have a better rating on my psu? I haven't been able to figure that out. Some people say its the difference between a meh system and a great system, but others say to save your money on buying a Gold certified by buying a bronze certified and spendit elsewhere.

[ShinRamen]

17 minutes ago, FLUFFY_BATMAN said:

A 500GB SSD and 2TB HDD come to the same price as that 1TB SSD, and I'd rather have the extra storage.

How much of an advantage does the Ryzen 5 3600 really buy me over a ryzen 5 2700 for 1080p/1440p gaming? From what I've seen in reviews and side by side comparisons its about 80FPS vs 90FPS at 1440p, and I don't see myself buying more than a 75Hz monitor anytime soon.

Fair enough - both configurations are the same, if you prefer to have the mass storage right away, then go for it.

You can find countless benchmarks online comparing the two CPUs, from the top of my head I can't give any exact numbers, but I'd say your example is realistic (which is >10% increase in performance)

 

 

[CoffeeLoki67879]

1 minute ago, ShinRamen said:

Fair enough - both configurations are the same, if you prefer to have the mass storage right away, then go for it.

You can find countless benchmarks online comparing the two CPUs, from the top of my head I can't give any exact numbers, but I'd say your example is realistic (which is >10% increase in performance)

 

 

Sweet. Thanks for the input. I didn't realize I could save that much by going micro ATX, and it'd be nice to have the 5700 XT over the 5600 XT. 

[L1am335]

Tried to get the best of both worlds in here. 5700xt + 3600. A little over budget but I'd personally not buy a power supply without a rating.

Could go MATX as well or grab a 1600af ($85 on Amazon, pretty similar to a 2600) if you want to save there and upgrade later.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Green 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card  ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec P82 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ B&H)
Total: $946.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 20:34 EDT-0400

[Firewrath9]

1 hour ago, L1am335 said:

Tried to get the best of both worlds in here. 5700xt + 3600. A little over budget but I'd personally not buy a power supply without a rating.

Could go MATX as well or grab a 1600af ($85 on Amazon, pretty similar to a 2600) if you want to save there and upgrade later.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Green 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB CHALLENGER D OC Video Card  ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec P82 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ B&H)
Total: $946.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 20:34 EDT-0400

WD green SSDs are shit. They use planar NAND from like 2013, a crappy controller that was outdated by the time it came to market, and iirc no dram cache. That makes WD greens probably the worst ssd you can get. I'd rather have a decent larger 7200RPM hdd than a wd green.

[CoffeeLoki67879]

3 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

WD green SSDs are shit. They use planar NAND from like 2013, a crappy controller that was outdated by the time it came to market, and iirc no dram cache. That makes WD greens probably the worst ssd you can get. I'd rather have a decent larger 7200RPM hdd than a wd green.

Not only that, I need more than 450GB of storage anyway. I plan on going with some sort of cheap SSD with good reviews and a 2TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD.