Help with first ever build

[Mayoralink]

Budget (including currency): Aprox. $1000-1500 USD

Country: Mexico

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: EU4, CK3, HoI4, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Rocket League, Fall Guys

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

• ASUS AM4 TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi) ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, Dual M.2, 12+2 with Dr. MOS Power Stage, HDMI, DP, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Aura Sync RGB Lighting

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core 3.7 GHz Socket AM4 65W 100-100000065BOX Desktop Processor

 

Hey there! As the title gives it away, this will be my very first time I build a computer. I have never actually had built computers, only an MSI GE70 (which I still currently use but it keeps screaming for it to die in peace).

 

This build is something I'm working through NewEgg and I've watched hundreds of LTT videos but still have no idea of what I'm doing, regarding how to select the best parts for my build.

 

The ASUS AM4 TUF Gaming X570-Plus Motherboard I selected is the one I think fits best my future upgrading needs (or so I think). To my understanding, it is a fairly recent motherboard, with the latest AMD socket or chipset (idk). I was originally aiming for a not so recent CPU, but seeing the price difference I opted to go for the 5600X. 

 

However, I reached the part were I need to select the RAM for it. I know I will put in x2 8GB sticks but, and here goes my main concern, I wasn't able to figure out the speeds supported by the ASUS motherboard. Additionally, I don't know if the RAM speed has to match the core speed or if there are some other things I need to lookout for. Can you help me figuring out the total speed ranges I can use and what would be the best speed for it and why? I want to learn and not just build it so if you can help me with detailed information I will very much appreciate it. Do you also think the MB or processor are overkill? Do you recommend a different MB or processor?

 

Thanks in advance everyone!

[Brooksie359]

Remember that without a graphics card a computer with the 5600x will not function as it has no integrated graphics. Also for memory the ideal speed is 3600 mhz and because the 3000 and 5000 series of amd cpus have fairly good memory controllers they don't have issues with running higher speed ram like it was the case for the 1000 and 2000 series. As for why you would want 3600 mhz ideally is well because the infinity fabric is connected to the memory speed so the faster the memory speed the more bandwidth and the faster the infinity fabric runs results in less core to core latency as the infinity fabric is what connects some of the cores together. Before I think 3733 mhz or something similar the ratios of infinity fabric to memory speed is 1 to 1 but after 3733 you end up being 1 to 2 instead meaning you effectively halved the speed so most people just run 3600 mhz to avoid that. You can also choose 3200 mhz if there is a significant price difference and you need to save some money as the difference won't be huge in performance. 

[Mayoralink]

Thank you! And I was actually not aware that without integrated graphics the PC won't even turn on, so I appreciate your detailed response!

 

Do you have any feedback regarding the Motherboard and/or processor selected? Any personal RAM recommendations or configs? Thanks again!

 

Edit: And also, forgot to ask, is it recommended, like, I get RAM modules rated higher than 3600 instead of just the 3600? Does that give me more control or would there be any particular reason why to do or not do that besides price? This is a build that will take me anywhere between 8-16 months to build.

 

Edit 2: And also, what is CAS latency? How would that be relevant for the build?

[Jayzer]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$6363.51 @ Newegg Mexico
Motherboard	Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard	$5848.46 @ Newegg Mexico
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$2833.26 @ Newegg Mexico
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$2162.51 @ Newegg Mexico
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$1961.83 @ Newegg Mexico
Video Card	MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$6595.00
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case	$2747.19 @ Newegg Mexico
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$2367.30 @ Newegg Mexico
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$30879.06
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-25 18:39 CST-0600

 

If you don't really need the PC now, then you could wait for GPU prices to drop.

I switched the processor to a 3600 because there's not much of a performance increase with the 5600X.

I added some good 3600MHz RAM.

I did try to get a better PSU but I would have gone overbudget.

[Mayoralink]

You' be surprised to hear that for 700 MXN extra (aprox. 35 USD) I can get the 5600X, but I do thank you for the additional input!

 

Indeed, I think the graphics card will be the last piece I purchase, mostly due to the scarcity and prices. Regarding the RAM, is there any particular advantages if I actually select a higher rated RAM speed but set it up to 3600? Or would that just be a waste of money as I'm not using it completely? I really don't understand the relations I have to make in order to take advantage of the confi + the RAM speed. Do you also see any potential bottleneck issues with the current setup?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS: Sorry for the huge quote, I'm getting the hang on how to use forums.

1 hour ago, Jayzer said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$6363.51 @ Newegg Mexico
Motherboard	Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard	$5848.46 @ Newegg Mexico
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$2833.26 @ Newegg Mexico
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$2162.51 @ Newegg Mexico
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$1961.83 @ Newegg Mexico
Video Card	MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$6595.00
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case	$2747.19 @ Newegg Mexico
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$2367.30 @ Newegg Mexico
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$30879.06
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-25 18:39 CST-0600

 

If you don't really need the PC now, then you could wait for GPU prices to drop.

I switched the processor to a 3600 because there's not much of a performance increase with the 5600X.

I added some good 3600MHz RAM.

I did try to get a better PSU but I would have gone overbudget.

 

[Jayzer]

19 minutes ago, Mayoralink said:

Regarding the RAM, is there any particular advantages if I actually select a higher rated RAM speed but set it up to 3600? Or would that just be a waste of money as I'm not using it completely?

No, there won't be any advantages because it'd still be clocked at 3600. And yes, you'd be wasting your money.

 

24 minutes ago, Mayoralink said:

Do you also see any potential bottleneck issues with the current setup?

According to this site that I searched for - https://pc-builds.com/calculator/Ryzen_5_3600/GeForce_GTX_1660_SUPER/0U9155/

It's a tiny bottleneck, only 6.8%. You won't really see it while playing, so the bottleneck won't be that discernable.

[Brooksie359]

2 hours ago, Jayzer said:

No, there won't be any advantages because it'd still be clocked at 3600. And yes, you'd be wasting your money.

 

According to this site that I searched for - https://pc-builds.com/calculator/Ryzen_5_3600/GeForce_GTX_1660_SUPER/0U9155/

It's a tiny bottleneck, only 6.8%. You won't really see it while playing, so the bottleneck won't be that discernable.

Websites like that are totally unreliable. Bottleneck totally depends on the situation and in most cases you will have a bottleneck regardless as a perfectly balanced system is pretty much impossible. You sorta have to go by the use case and use judgments based on benchmarks and other data to see if it would be a bottleneck issue. Let's say you are running a r5 3600 and a 3080 at 1080p then you can assume you have a cpu bottleneck but if you are playing at 4k then it would be a gpu bottleneck. Also that doesn't even take into account what games you are playing as some games even at 4k are so easy to run that it could still result in a cpu bottleneck. 

[Jayzer]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Websites like that are totally unreliable.

Alright, my bad.

 

But in general, the bottleneck window between a Ryzen 5 3600 and a 1660 Super is very close.

2 hours ago, Jayzer said:

You won't really see it while playing, so the bottleneck won't be that discernable.

So again, repeating what I said here, you won't really notice it, and it's not a very big bottleneck.

 

 

[Brooksie359]

4 hours ago, Mayoralink said:

Thank you! And I was actually not aware that without integrated graphics the PC won't even turn on, so I appreciate your detailed response!

 

Do you have any feedback regarding the Motherboard and/or processor selected? Any personal RAM recommendations or configs? Thanks again!

 

Edit: And also, forgot to ask, is it recommended, like, I get RAM modules rated higher than 3600 instead of just the 3600? Does that give me more control or would there be any particular reason why to do or not do that besides price? This is a build that will take me anywhere between 8-16 months to build.

 

Edit 2: And also, what is CAS latency? How would that be relevant for the build?

I would honestly take a look at Intel pricing as well as I have had many times where the Intel cpus are a better deal simply because they have better stock. Also it could allow you to build the pc without a gpu from the start so long as you don't pick an F sku cpu such as the i5 10400F. If Intel turns out to be the same or lower price then I think it is a fair alternative if you don't want to wait to start the build. As for memory I would stay away from trying to buy a higher end kit and then putting at lower frequency as it would be much more of a hassle to do and you likely wouldn't see a ton of benefits. Sure if you buy a high end kit you might be able to get better timings at 3600 resulting in lower latency but that isn't guaranteed and you would have to put those timing in yourself through trial and error vs simply plug and play when you buy ram that you want to run ar its rated speed. 

[Brooksie359]

4 minutes ago, Jayzer said:

Alright, my bad.

 

But in general, the bottleneck window between a Ryzen 5 3600 and a 1660 Super is very close.

So again, repeating what I said here, you won't really notice it, and it's not a very big bottleneck.

 

 

I agree there its just that alot of people take bottlenecks a bit to seriously as its not a big deal when it happens. For the most part you just don't want a super unbalanced system compared to what you want it to be used for. The problem is that those calculators generally don't take use case into account which is a big issue as it can be the difference between someone spending to much on the cpu if they are planning on running it at 4k rather than buying a better gpu by purchasing a less expensive cpu. And at a certain fps you can say that the bottleneck probably doesn't matter at some point. Like I run overwatch at anywhere from 240 to 320 fps and I am cpu bottlenecked but it really isn't an issue as my game runs super smooth. 

[Mayoralink]

11 hours ago, Brooksie359 said:

I would honestly take a look at Intel pricing as well as I have had many times where the Intel cpus are a better deal simply because they have better stock. Also it could allow you to build the pc without a gpu from the start so long as you don't pick an F sku cpu such as the i5 10400F. If Intel turns out to be the same or lower price then I think it is a fair alternative if you don't want to wait to start the build. As for memory I would stay away from trying to buy a higher end kit and then putting at lower frequency as it would be much more of a hassle to do and you likely wouldn't see a ton of benefits. Sure if you buy a high end kit you might be able to get better timings at 3600 resulting in lower latency but that isn't guaranteed and you would have to put those timing in yourself through trial and error vs simply plug and play when you buy ram that you want to run ar its rated speed. 

My main concern to start the build is getting the money lol. I will be getting like a part every 1 or 2 months. Thanks for the RAM feedback!