First entry-level build (with some future prep?)

[NinjaSquirrel34]

Budget (including currency): My budget I am shooting for is around $1000 US. Could be flexible a little above for the right modification, but would like to stick really close otherwise.

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: My goal is for a family level PC for my wife to use when I am not for very low level operations and then for myself to use to get into PC gaming. I play video games all the time on Xbox One, Wii U, and dabble on other platforms. I'm wanting to start out with some generic games (nothing specific) with good HD and maybe go to 4K someday. I do not have a great monitor yet, nor plan on one yet, but am looking to also future prep my system to handle other upgrades later. I will only be using one monitor right now, hopefully 2 someday.

 

I know the PSU is probably quite overrated for what I'm at right now, but that is my future prep plan for upgrading to a much better graphics card someday.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Best Buy
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$29.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$179.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$88.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$107.97 @ Amazon
Video Card	PowerColor Radeon RX 550 - 512 4 GB Red Dragon Video Card	$207.98 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case	$94.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Gigabyte P GM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$118.95 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$988.85
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$978.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-15 14:46 EDT-0400

 

[curiousmind34]

Would switch the power supply to a cxm 750 (don't get gigabyte power supplies), would get rid of the z490 board and go for b460, and the video card you chose is pretty weak, would wait for better card and use igpu

[Pandora1]

I suggest just getting a Xbox Series X and then play on that until the pandemic is over and when the shortage is over and then you can maybe sell it and by that time maybe you'd have more money to spend on a Pc because a $1000 Pc will kind of be the same as of a $500 Xbox series X.

[PapaTDaddy]

9 minutes ago, NinjaSquirrel34 said:

Budget (including currency): My budget I am shooting for is around $1000 US. Could be flexible a little above for the right modification, but would like to stick really close otherwise.

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: My goal is for a family level PC for my wife to use when I am not for very low level operations and then for myself to use to get into PC gaming. I play video games all the time on Xbox One, Wii U, and dabble on other platforms. I'm wanting to start out with some generic games (nothing specific) with good HD and maybe go to 4K someday. I do not have a great monitor yet, nor plan on one yet, but am looking to also future prep my system to handle other upgrades later. I will only be using one monitor right now, hopefully 2 someday.

 

I know the PSU is probably quite overrated for what I'm at right now, but that is my future prep plan for upgrading to a much better graphics card someday.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Best Buy
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$29.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$179.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$88.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$107.97 @ Amazon
Video Card	PowerColor Radeon RX 550 - 512 4 GB Red Dragon Video Card	$207.98 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case	$94.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Gigabyte P GM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$118.95 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$988.85
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$978.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-15 14:46 EDT-0400

 

There isn't anything wrong with that build! Getting a big PSU isn't a bad choice either. It makes it more energy efficient and will save you the hassle of having to rerun the cables when you change out the GPU.

[IkeaGnome]

Don't spend that much on that GPU. Since you're going Intel I'd wait on the GPU. Play off the integrated graphics in that CPU until you can get a GPU at a decent price.

[tishous]

15 minutes ago, PapaTDaddy said:

There isn't anything wrong with that build! Getting a big PSU isn't a bad choice either. It makes it more energy efficient and will save you the hassle of having to rerun the cables when you change out the GPU.

While it can give better efficiency, max efficiency happens at around 50% load. In this case, around 400W, which this system wouldn't pull.

 

To OP, I would suggest getting a 650W from EVGA or Corsair. It will be more than enough for pretty much any GPU you would want to put in it. I would not get the rx 550 even if it wasn't $200. A 1650 Super or something along those lines would be a better buy, but with an i5-10400f, you'd be fine up to a 3060ti to be honest, though it does depend on the games you're going to play.

[NinjaSquirrel34]

27 minutes ago, curiousmind34 said:

Would switch the power supply to a cxm 750 (don't get gigabyte power supplies), would get rid of the z490 board and go for b460, and the video card you chose is pretty weak, would wait for better card and use igpu

Sounds fine to me. I'm not particular on the psu, but I was mostly trying to stick with 80+ gold over a bronze rating. Why switch the MBs?

[curiousmind34]

1 minute ago, NinjaSquirrel34 said:

Sounds fine to me. I'm not particular on the psu, but I was mostly trying to stick with 80+ gold over a bronze rating. Why switch the MBs?

Motherboard is just overkill, the main feature of z series boards are cpu overclocking and your CPU doesn't support it.