Help a fella build his first system

[Mr-E]

Greetings everyone, I'm currently looking forward to building my very first computer with my own chosen parts, so I'm looking for some assistance from peeps with more experience than me. I'm not looking for something that's top of the line, but I'd like to have a system that can handle 1440p at 60fps or a bit more though I don't have a high refresh rate monitor. Why not 4k? Well, you could say I'm realistic. I don't expect to be able to find something like an RTX 3080 at a reasonable price, haha. Anyways, let's start filling out the required info here. I apologize if I end up making this post a bit too long, I simply wanted to be thorough just in case

 

 

Budget (including currency): Okay, so since I'm Chilean, my currency is Chilean pesos. Right now I've got 600,000 pesos set aside for this project (which is around US$852) plus another US$550 saved up as well. Yes, I've got both currencies saved up in two different places, lol. So the combination of both makes my budget around US$1.400. Budget is somewhat flexible though. If needed, I can spend another US$100~200. My idea is to find basically all components with this money, except for the GPU. If I can get good parts for less than that then great, because I'll use that towards getting a GPU. I'm gonna see if I can find some sort of deal for that one, be it second hand, trading stuff for it, get a small loan (hopefully not) or whatever.

 

Country: As stated before, Chile. I get free shipping from Amazon, so long as the item costs over US$50. Still gotta pay import fees though, so while it sometimes helps finding a better price, there's other times where buying local can be a bit cheaper

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I'd be using this machine mainly for games really. I have a laptop that can handle somewhat recent titles, but its mobile GTX 1050 has a couple issues with some of my games such as Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Read Dead Redemption 2. They're certainly playable, but there's a lot of tweaking needed to make 'em run at steady frame rates, not to mention keeping 'em higher than 30. Earth Defense Force 5 is another game I play a lot and while this one works alright for the most part, when there's tons of explosions around it just kicks my poor laptop's behind like there's no tomorrow. I plan to give Cyberpunk 2077 a try too at some point.

Emulation is also a thing I enjoy. Breath of The Wild on console was a great experience, but playing it at nearly double the fps on PC is like a new game altogether. It'd be great if I could do constant 60fps+, not to mention have it run at 1080p+ instead of just 720p

I also use HandBrake to rip DVD movies and series for my mother. She's happy playing media through her TV's USB port, but I suppose I can continue doing that with just my laptop and an external DVD drive

 

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): Let's see, I've been thinking of getting a Ryzen 5 5600X for its price/performance. I can get it here for around US$400, which beats buying it off Amazon and have it shipped here (US$369.99 + US$103.01 import fee). Boot drive I'd like it to be a Samsung 970 Evo Plus, 500 GBs. Buying + import fee would cost me US$105.33, while buying it locally would be US$200.34 (thank goodness for Amazon in this particular case!). Drive might be a bit too much maybe? If you have suggestions for similar performance at a lower price, I'm all ears. Motherboard? I'm also at a bit of a loss here, I've got an idea but I don't know if it's overkill or overspending. I'm not sure if buying one with bluetooth and WiFi is a good idea, or if I should just go for one without both and buy separate dongles for that. I want bluetooth, because I use controllers to play instead of keyboard + mouse (I play with an 8bitdo SN30 Pro+ to be precise) and I want WiFi, because the modem is downstairs and my "gaming room" is upstairs. Speaking of said room, I don't need a monitor since I've got that covered. My main display is a 50 inch QLED TV with 3 HDMI 2.0 ports, so 4K and HDR are all possible here, but again, realistically speaking I'd settle for 1440p since that's way less demanding and would need a cheaper video card. No speakers needed either, I get my audio from HDMI ARC to a small 5.1 system. Mouse is also accounted for, I've got a Logitech one that does its job. Keyboard? So long as it's not horrible, I don't really mind. Like I said before, I don't play with keyboard and mouse, so I'm not looking for anything fancy there.

 

 

The TL;DR would be this bit of a list

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X. If it's as good as the 3600 was, then I'm all for it. Plus future proofing since it's newer. I'd love it if I could keep this machine for a long while with just minor upgrades

Not sure if the stock cooler is all that good, but I don't think I'll be overclocking right away. But I do have to mention it gets hot in here during summer. Easily above 30 Celsius every single day. Currently fall (autumn?) though, so I've got time to think of better cooling (and save for it too) once the heat starts hitting us

 

Boot drive: 500 GBs 970 EVO Plus. Would it be worth it to cut that storage in half and save just US$20? I don't think so, unless those US$20 could go to something nifty, like thermal paste or maybe the needed tools to assemble a computer. Just now realized all I have are two screwdrivers that are likely a bit too big for this task

 

SSD for games storage: I'm open to suggestions, but I think something like a 1TB Crucial MX500 would suffice. Hell, maybe even a BX500 if the price is better. Don't really need blazing fast speed for this, right? And I can add more storage later on

 

Motherboard: Again, open to suggestions. Was looking at an MSI B550 Edge so I could have support for the Ryzen 5600, M.2 slots for the NVMe, USB Type C for my phone, Bluetooth + WiFi out of the box for my controller and wireless internet at home and a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for the GPU I *intend* to grab

 

*GPU*: This one is a bit tough and I'm sure you don't need an explanation about it. They're really scarce and for the most part overpriced. Seems like the non Ti RTX 3060's are going down in price just a bit here (not like US$200 off, more like US$40, but still) so that's one option. The other option would be an RX 6700 XT. Pricier, yes, but better performing apparently. And again, I'm not counting this item as a part of my budget explained above.

 

Case? PSU? RAM? Please help me with those! I believe a 650w should be enough to power this theoretical machine. 2 sticks of 8 gigs of RAM too, right? As for case and the fans it might need, I guess I gotta account for that 3060 or 6700 I'm trying to go for eventually. Availability around these parts for those two GPUs seems to be as follows: MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X and RTX 3060 Ventus 2X. As for the Team Red options, that would be MSI RX 6700 XT Gaming and Sapphire NITRO+ RX 6700 XT. Listing these two here since it's useful to know for the case dimensions. Oh, and speaking of the case and its fans, I know RGB is all the rage but personally I don't really care. I mean if it's got the lights I welcome it, but if it doesn't, it's not exactly something that'll make me upset

 

 

 

 

Ooooh boy, that was a long post. Thanks for taking the time to read and I appreciate any and all suggestions. Stay safe, everyone!

[Semper]

The 5600x should serve you well. It's a rock solid performer at a reasonable price.

If you don't plan to overclock, the stock cooler should do just fine keeping it within spec. It'll run warmer than a more well built solution, however. 30°c shouldn't be much of an issue for it.

I'd consider an MX500 for your boot drive as well. If you're looking to go M.2, the Crucial P1 is solid as well, you're talking largely imperceptible differences between the 970 EVO and the MX500. You can absolutely get by on 250gb so long as you're not trying to cram everything on your C drive. Stick to your secondary/tertiary/so on drives for storage.

I don't have a ton of knowledge on any of AMD's chipsets, so i'm going to leave that to someone else to answer. My subjective input would be that the B550 Edge seems like it will suit your needs well.

My vote here honestly would go to the 6700 XT in this situation. The 3060 isn't going to give you stellar performance with RTX enabled at 1440p, my personal input would be that skipping that for more raw performance would be better for you. Both are viable options, however.

If you're looking for a more budget case, One of my go-to's is the Metallic Gear Neo Air. It's Phanteks' budget line, and it's a solid little performer, with looks that suit my tastes.
Looks are subjective though. Look around, and come back with some designs you like. You'll likely get more feedback with some suggestions in mind already.

For case fans, my go-to's are always Noctua (multiple models), or BeQuiet (Silent Wings III) They're on the more expensive end, however. Phanteks and Arctic have some options that seem to perform fairly well for the price, as do Corsair and Cooler Master.

2x8 should be plenty, I'd say try to get a 3600 kit with good timings, seems to be the sweet spot for Ryzen 5000.

650w should be plenty. Check out the PSU Tier List and find something that fits your budget with your requirements. (I'd recommend sticking to tier B and above)


 

[Forleb]

47 minutes ago, Mr-E said:

Greetings everyone, I'm currently looking forward to building my very first computer with my own chosen parts, so I'm looking for some assistance from peeps with more experience than me. I'm not looking for something that's top of the line, but I'd like to have a system that can handle 1440p at 60fps or a bit more though I don't have a high refresh rate monitor. Why not 4k? Well, you could say I'm realistic. I don't expect to be able to find something like an RTX 3080 at a reasonable price, haha. Anyways, let's start filling out the required info here. I apologize if I end up making this post a bit too long, I simply wanted to be thorough just in case

 

 

Budget (including currency): Okay, so since I'm Chilean, my currency is Chilean pesos. Right now I've got 600,000 pesos set aside for this project (which is around US$852) plus another US$550 saved up as well. Yes, I've got both currencies saved up in two different places, lol. So the combination of both makes my budget around US$1.400. Budget is somewhat flexible though. If needed, I can spend another US$100~200. My idea is to find basically all components with this money, except for the GPU. If I can get good parts for less than that then great, because I'll use that towards getting a GPU. I'm gonna see if I can find some sort of deal for that one, be it second hand, trading stuff for it, get a small loan (hopefully not) or whatever.

 

Country: As stated before, Chile. I get free shipping from Amazon, so long as the item costs over US$50. Still gotta pay import fees though, so while it sometimes helps finding a better price, there's other times where buying local can be a bit cheaper

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I'd be using this machine mainly for games really. I have a laptop that can handle somewhat recent titles, but its mobile GTX 1050 has a couple issues with some of my games such as Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Read Dead Redemption 2. They're certainly playable, but there's a lot of tweaking needed to make 'em run at steady frame rates, not to mention keeping 'em higher than 30. Earth Defense Force 5 is another game I play a lot and while this one works alright for the most part, when there's tons of explosions around it just kicks my poor laptop's behind like there's no tomorrow. I plan to give Cyberpunk 2077 a try too at some point.

Emulation is also a thing I enjoy. Breath of The Wild on console was a great experience, but playing it at nearly double the fps on PC is like a new game altogether. It'd be great if I could do constant 60fps+, not to mention have it run at 1080p+ instead of just 720p

I also use HandBrake to rip DVD movies and series for my mother. She's happy playing media through her TV's USB port, but I suppose I can continue doing that with just my laptop and an external DVD drive

 

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): Let's see, I've been thinking of getting a Ryzen 5 5600X for its price/performance. I can get it here for around US$400, which beats buying it off Amazon and have it shipped here (US$369.99 + US$103.01 import fee). Boot drive I'd like it to be a Samsung 970 Evo Plus, 500 GBs. Buying + import fee would cost me US$105.33, while buying it locally would be US$200.34 (thank goodness for Amazon in this particular case!). Drive might be a bit too much maybe? If you have suggestions for similar performance at a lower price, I'm all ears. Motherboard? I'm also at a bit of a loss here, I've got an idea but I don't know if it's overkill or overspending. I'm not sure if buying one with bluetooth and WiFi is a good idea, or if I should just go for one without both and buy separate dongles for that. I want bluetooth, because I use controllers to play instead of keyboard + mouse (I play with an 8bitdo SN30 Pro+ to be precise) and I want WiFi, because the modem is downstairs and my "gaming room" is upstairs. Speaking of said room, I don't need a monitor since I've got that covered. My main display is a 50 inch QLED TV with 3 HDMI 2.0 ports, so 4K and HDR are all possible here, but again, realistically speaking I'd settle for 1440p since that's way less demanding and would need a cheaper video card. No speakers needed either, I get my audio from HDMI ARC to a small 5.1 system. Mouse is also accounted for, I've got a Logitech one that does its job. Keyboard? So long as it's not horrible, I don't really mind. Like I said before, I don't play with keyboard and mouse, so I'm not looking for anything fancy there.

 

 

The TL;DR would be this bit of a list

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X. If it's as good as the 3600 was, then I'm all for it. Plus future proofing since it's newer. I'd love it if I could keep this machine for a long while with just minor upgrades

Not sure if the stock cooler is all that good, but I don't think I'll be overclocking right away. But I do have to mention it gets hot in here during summer. Easily above 30 Celsius every single day. Currently fall (autumn?) though, so I've got time to think of better cooling (and save for it too) once the heat starts hitting us

 

Boot drive: 500 GBs 970 EVO Plus. Would it be worth it to cut that storage in half and save just US$20? I don't think so, unless those US$20 could go to something nifty, like thermal paste or maybe the needed tools to assemble a computer. Just now realized all I have are two screwdrivers that are likely a bit too big for this task

 

SSD for games storage: I'm open to suggestions, but I think something like a 1TB Crucial MX500 would suffice. Hell, maybe even a BX500 if the price is better. Don't really need blazing fast speed for this, right? And I can add more storage later on

 

Motherboard: Again, open to suggestions. Was looking at an MSI B550 Edge so I could have support for the Ryzen 5600, M.2 slots for the NVMe, USB Type C for my phone, Bluetooth + WiFi out of the box for my controller and wireless internet at home and a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for the GPU I *intend* to grab

 

*GPU*: This one is a bit tough and I'm sure you don't need an explanation about it. They're really scarce and for the most part overpriced. Seems like the non Ti RTX 3060's are going down in price just a bit here (not like US$200 off, more like US$40, but still) so that's one option. The other option would be an RX 6700 XT. Pricier, yes, but better performing apparently. And again, I'm not counting this item as a part of my budget explained above.

 

Case? PSU? RAM? Please help me with those! I believe a 650w should be enough to power this theoretical machine. 2 sticks of 8 gigs of RAM too, right? As for case and the fans it might need, I guess I gotta account for that 3060 or 6700 I'm trying to go for eventually. Availability around these parts for those two GPUs seems to be as follows: MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X and RTX 3060 Ventus 2X. As for the Team Red options, that would be MSI RX 6700 XT Gaming and Sapphire NITRO+ RX 6700 XT. Listing these two here since it's useful to know for the case dimensions. Oh, and speaking of the case and its fans, I know RGB is all the rage but personally I don't really care. I mean if it's got the lights I welcome it, but if it doesn't, it's not exactly something that'll make me upset

 

 

 

 

Ooooh boy, that was a long post. Thanks for taking the time to read and I appreciate any and all suggestions. Stay safe, everyone!

Here's what I would do:

• Gigabyte B550M Aorus Pro-P ($150) All the horsepower you'd ever need for this tier of system + a very solid rear IO

• 5600X ($300) Fantastic single thread performance that tops out well over Zen 2 and even beats Rocket Lake (AKA more FPS)

• 2x8GB Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz CL16 ($100) Will be just right for your game selection + your 5600X will thank you later

• 500GB 970 Evo Plus ($90) NVMe Gen 3 will be plenty for load times & responsiveness, should be enough room for your selection

• Cooler Master NR600 ($70) Virtually tool-less to build with, great airflow, and an overall user-friendly design

• upHere 120mm 6-pack ($60) Comes with a hub that makes connections & PWM a breeze, also includes an RGB cycle switch

• EVGA Supernova 650 G3 ($120) Fully modular, 80+ Gold, and the ideal wattage for this setup

• some form of an RTX 3060 ($500) I can't say you'd be safe with 1440p60 on max settings, but it should work

Final Total: $1,390

 

The 5600X's stock cooler should be just fine if you aren't overclocking it to all hell. 6700 XTs are sitting near the $900 mark lately, so that ultimately puts it out of the picture for your budget. If you get lucky and are willing to chip in that extra $200, there's a small possibility you could snag a 3060 Ti for around $700 and hover more comfortably in the 1440p60 zone; It really depends on what lengths you're willing/capable to go to for the card you want.

[SorryBella]

1 hour ago, Mr-E said:

Just now realized all I have are two screwdrivers that are likely a bit too big for this task

As long as its a #2 philips, itll be fine. I got this long chonker i use for my PC maintenance. size doesnt matter, but the bit size does.

1 hour ago, Mr-E said:

Motherboard: Again, open to suggestions.

At 190 or so, consider B550-F Strix from Asus. But if ya wanna cut down cost, B550M Aorus Elite or B550M-PLUS TUF is also a good idea. MSI always miss the agenda in VRM for their AMD boards.

1 hour ago, Mr-E said:

Boot drive: 500 GBs 970 EVO Plus. Would it be worth it to cut that storage in half and save just US$20?

Nope. 250GB is already tight for windows 10 as is, so unless you gonna save up deep in the 30-50$ range, dont bother. A budget alternative in this one would be Crucial P2, PNY CS2130, or Mushkin Pilot-E.

1 hour ago, Mr-E said:

Case? PSU? RAM? Please help me with those!

Any ATX/MATX build with good airflow and build quality that wont dice your fingers is something that i would take home. Something like Deepcool Mattrexx 55 Mesh, P300A Mesh from Phanteks, or Meshify C mini from Fractal.

 

For PSU, 650 is cutting it tight for anything high end but you can get away with it just fine up to a 3060Ti territory. Something like Enermax Revolution D.F or Superflower Leadex Gold or CX/RM series from corsair is my pick for this generation.

 

2*8 kit at 3200-3800Mhz should suit you well, favorably with dies from Samsung or Micron.

 

1 hour ago, Mr-E said:

*GPU*: This one is a bit tough and I'm sure you don't need an explanation about it. They're really scarce and for the most part overpriced. Seems like the non Ti RTX 3060's are going down in price just a bit here (not like US$200 off, more like US$40, but still) so that's one option. The other option would be an RX 6700 XT. Pricier, yes, but better performing apparently. And again, I'm not counting this item as a part of my budget explained above.

You can squeeze in a 3070 or even a 3080 in a 1400$ build. I did it, but it does have some missing creature comfort i wish i didnt omit like actual discernible 1080p performance and more storage at this price range.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-11400 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$188.99 @ B&H
CPU Cooler	FSP Group Windale 6 60 CFM CPU Cooler	$44.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock B560M Steel Legend Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$134.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda Q1 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB Founders Edition Video Card	$700.00
Case	Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case	$55.99 @ B&H
Power Supply	Corsair CX (2017) 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$88.28 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1356.22
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-05-05 03:11 EDT-0400

 

[Mr-E]

You guys are amazing, thank you very much! I'll be checking out the parts you've suggested and then compare local vs imported prices to make an informed decision later. I'll definitely post more as I start purchasing them when possible

 

8 hours ago, SorryClaire said:

As long as its a #2 philips, itll be fine. I got this long chonker i use for my PC maintenance. size doesnt matter, but the bit size does.

 

That looks really good, you can probably reach inside a case without much trouble with it. These are the two I've got at home and like I said before, I'm not sure if they'd be of much use in a case such as this. They're easy to handle and the tips are magnetic, but said tips are fairly large too.

[SorryBella]

2 minutes ago, Mr-E said:

but said tips are fairly large too

Nope, its PH2, which denotes the Philips Head #2 which is the one that youll need for most PC building.

[Mr-E]

On 5/5/2021 at 12:04 PM, SorryClaire said:

Nope, its PH2, which denotes the Philips Head #2 which is the one that youll need for most PC building.

Awesome! Thanks a lot, it's great to know this

 

 

On 5/5/2021 at 3:11 AM, SorryClaire said:

Something like Deepcool Mattrexx 55 Mesh

I like the looks of this one! And while looking for it, I found that there's this Gamdias Argus E2 Elite on sale here. Both that one and the Matrexx 55 Mesh you mentioned cost 40,000 pesos ($57.17) Which one would be the better value? Thanks

Edited May 6, 2021 by Mr-E
Asking about components, I'd rather edit than double post

[Mr-E]

Does anybody have a MSI MPG Gungnir 110M case? If so, what's it like? Would it be worth it at $71? That's the price I just found it at