First PC Build

mikexd10 · December 13, 2021

Budget (including currency): Roughly $1700 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Apex, League, Tekken, Valorant, general games, schoolwork, and 3D modelling.

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):

Recently I've been able to purchase the RTX 3060 for retail price at BestBuy. I've spent the past couple of days doing research on which parts to buy. This is my first pc build and I just want to make sure that everything is good, as I'm not sure which parts are good or bad. I think that my list is relatively balanced so far but I would like any advice for anything that I might want to switch out. I'm fine with going slightly above the budget if it means that I will be getting better performance for a good price.

I have already purchased my mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

Here's the list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/4mtYp2

RONOTHAN## · December 13, 2021

Overall this is a great build. You can tell you put the last few days into researching what to buy. Most of what I'd change would just be personal preference.

That said, I'd probably look into going for Alder Lake instead. The 12600k is much faster than the 5600X for the same price. The motherboards, however, are a bit more expensive, and you will need to get a good cooler to be able to use it. That said, you can still squeeze it into your budget without too much issue.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/RLrQj2

The biggest disadvantages of Alder Lake are its power draw under load and that it's a bit more bleeding edge, so don't be surprised if you run into some occasional issues. That said, they'll probably be ironed out in a few months, and it performs enough better that they it's well worth it.

mikexd10 · December 13, 2021

5 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Overall this is a great build. You can tell you put the last few days into researching what to buy. Most of what I'd change would just be personal preference.

That said, I'd probably look into going for Alder Lake instead. The 12600k is much faster than the 5600X for the same price. The motherboards, however, are a bit more expensive, and you will need to get a good cooler to be able to use it. That said, you can still squeeze it into your budget without too much issue.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/RLrQj2

The biggest disadvantages of Alder Lake are its power draw under load and that it's a bit more bleeding edge, so don't be surprised if you run into some occasional issues. That said, they'll probably be ironed out in a few months, and it performs enough better that they it's well worth it.

Thanks for the advice! I'll consider going to an intel build. It all really depends on what will be hopefully on sale around Christmas time.

homcorn · December 13, 2021

First of all, I really feel jealous that you got a 3060 for a retail price. Second, I do not recomend using a cooler given from the CPU packet since my friend is experiencing 90 degrees with a 3600. I would recommend getting a Noctua cooler like this(https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-redux-1700-high-Performance-Award-Winning-Affordable/dp/B07CG2PGY6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=noctua&qid=1639365444&sr=8-3) or a liquid cooler like NZXT Kraken. Third, the SN550 might not be the best choice since it kind of lost its value after they changed it parts and the speed went down. I would recommend Samsung 980 Evo 1TB even though it is expensive since we can trust its performance. Lastly, I have no idea what monitor u purchased but I hope its a fhd 144 monitor.

I might be wrong so tell me if so.

mikexd10 · December 13, 2021

51 minutes ago, homcorn said:

First of all, I really feel jealous that you got a 3060 for a retail price. Second, I do not recomend using a cooler given from the CPU packet since my friend is experiencing 90 degrees with a 3600. I would recommend getting a Noctua cooler like this(https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-redux-1700-high-Performance-Award-Winning-Affordable/dp/B07CG2PGY6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=noctua&qid=1639365444&sr=8-3) or a liquid cooler like NZXT Kraken. Third, the SN550 might not be the best choice since it kind of lost its value after they changed it parts and the speed went down. I would recommend Samsung 980 Evo 1TB even though it is expensive since we can trust its performance. Lastly, I have no idea what monitor u purchased but I hope its a fhd 144 monitor.

I might be wrong so tell me if so.

I got lucky with the card. I went to BestBuy hours after their in-store restock event and found one of the last cards still available for purchase. As for the stock cooler, I'm not quite sure about the thermals I'll be getting with it. I've heard many people say that it's fine but I'll look into that.

I was not aware of the changes to the SN550 but I'll probably have to keep that to stay closer to my budget. But if the Samsung SSDs do drop down in price I will get those instead.

Thanks for the extra info! And yes I do have a FHD 144hz monitor.