1st (Self-Built) PC: 1080p 144Hz Gaming?

[TechTippee]

Budget (including currency): 600-1200 USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: esports like Overwatch, going for framerate over graphics

Other details: 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (12nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	$104.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$100.00 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$79.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$146.75 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB Challenger D OC Video Card	$159.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$79.90 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link Archer T6E AC1300 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$39.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Acer XF240H 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor	$169.99 @ B&H
Keyboard	Thermaltake CHALLENGER PRIME Wired Gaming Keyboard	$29.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1086.55
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1066.55
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:12 EDT-0400

After years of laptop gaming, I'm ready to leave 30-60 fps on minimal settings behind. I'm looking to build a 1080p 144Hz setup that will be used exclusively for gaming. Low to medium graphics are enough. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to get them. Will I need something better than the stock CPU cooler, for instance?

[Perrin]

That looks pretty good. Stock cooler should work fine

[Inception9269]

Don't get a 1st gen Ryzen cpu...

will make a list in a second, but wanted to say that upfront.

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

3 minutes ago, TechTippee said:

Budget (including currency): 600-1200 USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: esports like Overwatch, going for framerate over graphics

Other details: 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (12nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	$104.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$100.00 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$79.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$146.75 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB Challenger D OC Video Card	$159.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$79.90 @ B&H
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link Archer T6E AC1300 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$39.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Acer XF240H 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor	$169.99 @ B&H
Keyboard	Thermaltake CHALLENGER PRIME Wired Gaming Keyboard	$29.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1086.55
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1066.55
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:12 EDT-0400

After years of laptop gaming, I'm ready to leave 30-60 fps on minimal settings behind. I'm looking to build a 1080p 144Hz setup that will be used exclusively for gaming. Low to medium graphics are enough. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to get them. Will I need something better than the stock CPU cooler, for instance?

get the 3300x over the 1600. much better gaming performance, of a newer generation, and 7nm zen 2 archtecture. the stock cooler will suffice. you need a better motherboard with better features and power delivery. as @5x5says, motherboards like the AsRock b450 pro 4 is the tier you should consider. the rx5500xt is overpriced, maybe go for a 1650ti, or if you can stretch your budget, a 1660 super. memory of 3600mhz is not required for your needs, 3000-3200 mhz should do.

[jtmoseley]

Hello. I would get a 3600 or the 3300x instead of the 1600. I would also get a cheaper NVME ssd like the intel 660p. 

[jtmoseley]

2 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

get the 3300x over the 1600. much better gaming performance, of a newer generation, and 7nm zen 2 archtecture. the stock cooler will suffice. you need a better motherboard with better features and power delivery. as @5x5says, motherboards like the AsRock b450 pro 4 is the tier you should consider. the rx5500xt is overpriced, maybe go for a 1650ti, or if you can stretch your budget, a 1660 super. memory of 3600mhz is not required for your needs, 3000-3200 mhz should do.

If he got rid of the wireless adapter he would have 40 more to spend on a gpu. You should be using ethernet on a desktop anyways

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

Just now, jtmoseley said:

If he got rid of the wireless adapter he would have 40 more to spend on a gpu. You should be using ethernet on a desktop anyways

@TechTippee you could go for a motherboard with prebuilt wifi if you want, but you should be using a ethernet connection, especially since youre playing esports as well

[Inception9269]

This doesn't include monitor / periphs, somethings like case can swap out with whatever interests you.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB BLACK GAMING Video Card  ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($85.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.90 @ B&H)
Total: $928.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:35 EDT-0400

 

Could save some money but still get good performance by going with the 3300x cpu like mentioned above.

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

Just now, Inception9269 said:

This doesn't include monitor / periphs, somethings like case can swap out with whatever interests you.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB BLACK GAMING Video Card  ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($85.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.90 @ B&H)
Total: $928.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:35 EDT-0400

 

Could save some money but still get good performance by going with the 3300x cpu like mentioned above.

in my opinion he really doesnt need the extra featues provided by b550, b450 should suffice.

[TechTippee]

10 minutes ago, Inception9269 said:

Don't get a 1st gen Ryzen cpu...

will make a list in a second, but wanted to say that upfront.

I would be getting the AF model, which is 2nd gen, but I couldn't find it on PCPP, so I used the 1st gen model as the placeholder.

6 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

@TechTippee you could go for a motherboard with prebuilt wifi if you want, but you should be using a ethernet connection, especially since youre playing esports as well

Ethernet would be ideal, but it would require some wiring on my part. This house is 60+ years old, so ethernet points are few and far between.

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($188.00) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($77.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Team L5 LITE 3D 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($53.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: *Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB THICC II Pro Video Card  ($269.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Thermaltake Versa H18 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($60.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.90 @ B&H) 
Wireless Network Adapter: fenvi FV-8802 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($27.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: ViewSonic VX2458-C-MHD 23.6" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor  ($139.99 @ B&H) 
Keyboard: Thermaltake CHALLENGER PRIME Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($29.98 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1063.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:43 EDT-0400

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

Just now, TechTippee said:

I would be getting the AF model, which is 2nd gen, but I couldn't find it on PCPP, so I used the 1st gen model as the placeholder.

Ethernet would be ideal, but it would require some wiring on my part. This house is 60+ years old, so ethernet points are few and far between.

oh i understand your problem. since youre playing esports ethernet would be ideal, as lower ping and latency. if its an absolute necessity, go for a cheaper wifi module

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard	ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$128.00 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$66.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$99.95 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Video Card	$329.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$58.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 500 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$79.90 @ B&H
Monitor	Acer XF240H 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor	$169.99 @ B&H
Keyboard	Thermaltake CHALLENGER PRIME Wired Gaming Keyboard	$29.98 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1018.76
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-22 00:47 EDT-0400

do note that  the 3300x price is not listed, nor is a wifi adapter. you can add a 120$ to the price list to account for the 3300x. if you can cut costs, maybe get a cheaper ssd or case and you could fit in a 3600 in there. i would go for the 3600 as it provides much more longetivity and you will not need to upgrade soon. its the same case with the 2060. instead of the 2060, you could go for a 1660 super or a 5600 xt.

 

[TechTippee]

12 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

do note that  the 3300x price is not listed, nor is a wifi adapter. you can add a 120$ to the price list to account for the 3300x. if you can cut costs, maybe get a cheaper ssd or case and you could fit in a 3600 in there. i would go for the 3600 as it provides much more longetivity and you will not need to upgrade soon. its the same case with the 2060. instead of the 2060, you could go for a 1660 super or a 5600 xt.

Yeah, being out of stock seemingly everywhere both speaks to its quality and is unfortunate. Not needing to upgrade soon is appealing; perhaps I'll go the 3600 route. In your opinion, would the stock cooler still be enough if I did so, if I'm not overclocking? I've read conflicting stuff on the effectiveness of the wraith stealth.

 

Perhaps that, in addition to the gpu upgrade would be up to @_DeXTeR_'s standards?

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

Just now, TechTippee said:

Yeah, being out of stock seemingly everywhere both speaks to its quality and is unfortunate. Not needing to upgrade soon is appealing; perhaps I'll go the 3600 route.

if you can get the 3600, please do so. its the best cpu you can get at that price range right now.

 

1 minute ago, TechTippee said:

In your opinion, would the stock cooler still be enough if I did so, if I'm not overclocking? I've read conflicting stuff on the effectiveness of the wraith stealth.

its an amazing stock cooler, helps keep the temps pretty cool. i will agree its a little lacking for a cpu of the calibre of a 3600, but it doesnt do a bad job either. ypu can put on any aftermarket air cooler that costs about 80-100$ and itll do an excellent job (the pricing may be inaccurate, sorry idk much about cpu cooling).

 

4 minutes ago, TechTippee said:

Perhaps that, in addition to the gpu upgrade would be up to @_DeXTeR_'s standards?

itll easily surpass those standards

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

Just now, PoopThatTookAPee said:

if you can get the 3600, please do so. its the best cpu you can get at that price range right now.

 

its an amazing stock cooler, helps keep the temps pretty cool. i will agree its a little lacking for a cpu of the calibre of a 3600, but it doesnt do a bad job either. ypu can put on any aftermarket air cooler that costs about 80-100$ and itll do an excellent job (the pricing may be inaccurate, sorry idk much about cpu cooling).

 

itll easily surpass those standards

@TechTippee are you into RGB? do you want it if youre willing to cut your performance a little bit?

[TechTippee]

1 minute ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

@TechTippee are you into RGB? do you want it if youre willing to cut your performance a little bit?

Nah, I'm honestly more in the anti-RGB camp. But I won't shy away from it if a cheap, quality part comes with it. Function over form. ^^

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

1 minute ago, TechTippee said:

Nah, I'm honestly more in the anti-RGB camp. But I won't shy away from it if a cheap, quality part comes with it. Function over form. ^^

oh thanks lol i think the same too. theres not much rgb in the list i had suggested, but if you do want that little touch get the steel legend instead of the pro4. maybe throw in a couple strips in there.

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

@TechTippee if youre interested in gaming other than esports and wanna enjoy story based games, youve got an rtx2060. that way you can enable rtx and have a more cinematic  experience. although RTX is not why i have suggested this card it is an extra feautre that you can make use of this way

[TechTippee]

3 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

oh thanks lol i think the same too. theres not much rgb in the list i had suggested, but if you do want that little touch get the steel legend instead of the pro4. maybe throw in a couple strips in there.

Based on current pricing, there's about a $90 difference between the two. Hopefully restocking helps that. I don't have a cpu laying around to flash the bios (again, first-time builder), so I hope I could find a pre-flashed one.

7 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

@TechTippee if youre interested in gaming other than esports and wanna enjoy story based games, youve got an rtx2060. that way you can enable rtx and have a more cinematic  experience. although RTX is not why i have suggested this card it is an extra feautre that you can make use of this way

Working all day 5 days a week, the most intensive gaming I'd be doing otherwise is Mount and Blade: Bannerlord. It might benefit.

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

4 minutes ago, TechTippee said:

Based on current pricing, there's about a $90 difference between the two. Hopefully restocking helps that. I don't have a cpu laying around to flash the bios (again, first-time builder), so I hope I could find a pre-flashed one.

about the restocking, since b550 boards are out now, manufacturers may begin to reduce b450 manufacturing. so unless you can find a b550 board for cheaper (the aorus pro is a viable option, though you dont really need the benefits that come from b550 over b450), i would say buy a good quality b450 board. dont even consider boards like the HDV or the DS3H, theyre all trash with horrible VRMs, power delivery and inadequate features

 

6 minutes ago, TechTippee said:

 

Working all day 5 days a week, the most intensive gaming I'd be doing otherwise is Mount and Blade: Bannerlord. It might benefit.

ah i see, games like control and SOTTR with rtx on will provide a nice ecperience, and you can do that now coz you got an rtx card, which is a huge step up  from the 5500xt you had initially picked out lol

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

25 minutes ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

@TechTippee if youre interested in gaming other than esports and wanna enjoy story based games, youve got an rtx2060. that way you can enable rtx and have a more cinematic  experience. although RTX is not why i have suggested this card it is an extra feautre that you can make use of this way

You're not gonna be running ray tracing with smooth frame rates until you get to a 2080 super or better, anything lower and the performance hit makes it moot anyway.

[TechTippee]

9 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

You're not gonna be running ray tracing with smooth frame rates until you get to a 2080 super or better, anything lower and the performance hit makes it moot anyway.

Fair point. I'm not planning on getting anywhere near that level of graphical goodness yet. I'm just trying to break 60 fps on low-medium, honestly. lol

[ColdPressCoconutOil]

21 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

You're not gonna be running ray tracing with smooth frame rates until you get to a 2080 super or better, anything lower and the performance hit makes it moot anyway.

you could get medium settings at 30 fps. thats a pretty playable experience

10 minutes ago, TechTippee said:

Fair point. I'm not planning on getting anywhere near that level of graphical goodness yet. I'm just trying to break 60 fps on low-medium, honestly. lol

you can go far from that, ultra settings at 90 fps on games like warzone, 120-150 on fortnite apex and overwatch

[gloop]

2 hours ago, PoopThatTookAPee said:

you could get medium settings at 30 fps. thats a pretty playable experience

So you are willing to sacrifice ultra settings and 60fps for a few more reflections on water?