My first pc build. Need suggestions and advice on what parts to change (possibly for a lower price).

[TheFurball]

Budget (including currency): ~$800-900 usd

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: I'll mostly be using this for gaming. I'm relatively new to pc gaming so I'm not quite sure what I'll be playing. I'm not really into triple A competitive games. I'm not sure what I'll be playing because I've been to scared to spend my money on a game that might not be able to run on my current pc.

Other details: Windows computer. I already have a keyboard, mouse, and 1080p monitor. I'm upgrading from an old retail pc from 2015 that costs less than $500 (very bad). I plan on building sometime before August or September. I want to play games at 1080p and 60fps. I don't care too much about fancy peripherals or rgb, just that it perform well enough. I don't plan on getting a 2nd monitor anytime soon. I'm hoping that this pc will last me a few years before I need to build a new one (might upgrade a few parts in the future). Looking for suggestions to lower the price. This is my first pc build, any help?

 

Pc part picker link with the parts I picked out so far.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/N8JTMp

[Middcore]

Intel 12400 build will perform pretty comparably now and give you a better future upgrade path.

 

Spend a bit more to get a decent case. That Apevia only comes with a single rear fan, and has very little airflow through the front. 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/R8ykwc

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kdf98r

 

Same thing @Middcore suggested, but also swapped the GPU to an RX 6600 XT since it's a bit faster for $50 more (the RX 6600 is also an option, it's still faster than the 1660 Super for $300, just not as fast and not as good a value), and cost optimized everything else. If you don't case that much about aesthetics, go for the black version of the P360A, it's $20 cheaper. 

[Pixelfie]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($169.94 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B660-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($52.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Crucial P2 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ Adorama) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 8 GB PULSE Video Card  ($299.00 @ Newegg) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P360A ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($57.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $944.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-13 13:03 EDT-0400

 

• The 12400F will perform similar, is cheaper and has a better upgrade path in the future.
• The Freezer 34 eSports is a great cooler. If you don't mind the pc being loud, the stock cooler would work too but I think it would be worth getting a cooler like this.
• The difference between 3200mhz and 3600mhz isn't too noticeable and not worth almost $30 extra.
• Unless you're writing a lot of big files you won't notice a difference between the P2 and 970 Evo Plus.
• RX 6600 is a lot faster than a 1660 Super for the same price. The 1660 Super doesn't have any extra Nvidia features anyway.
• The P360A has better airflow, so I recommend that over the case you chose.
• The PSU you chose originally is good.

[JoHeJo06]

40 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kdf98r

 

Same thing @Middcore suggested, but also swapped the GPU to an RX 6600 XT since it's a bit faster for $50 more (the RX 6600 is also an option, it's still faster than the 1660 Super for $300, just not as fast and not as good a value), and cost optimized everything else. If you don't case that much about aesthetics, go for the black version of the P360A, it's $20 cheaper. 

And if you take that card, I would strongly recommend a b550 board for newer features, like pcie 4.0 for possible upgrades in a few years. An 750W EVGA GQ psu is also more future proof for about 10 bucks more

[TheFurball]

I'm really thankful for the quick responses so far but what I'm really looking for is a decrease in total cost

[Middcore]

17 minutes ago, TheFurball said:

I'm really thankful for the quick responses so far but what I'm really looking for is a decrease in total cost

 

Take @Pixelfie's build above, drop the eSports 34 Duo cooler and just use the stock Intel cooler. Switch to the mATX version of the board to save another $10. Switch to the black version of the P360A, you had a white case in your original list so we assumed that was what you wanted, but the black model is $20 cheaper. Slightly uglier but identically specced RAM saves us a final three bucks.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XqFGjZ

 

 

 

[TheFurball]

7 hours ago, Middcore said:

 

Take @Pixelfie's build above, drop the eSports 34 Duo cooler and just use the stock Intel cooler. Switch to the mATX version of the board to save another $10. Switch to the black version of the P360A, you had a white case in your original list so we assumed that was what you wanted, but the black model is $20 cheaper. Slightly uglier but identically specced RAM saves us a final three bucks.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XqFGjZ

 

 

 

I'm really happy with this list, and fine with switching to a black case (even though I thought white looked better), but I'm worried about the compatibility warnings listed bellow.

 

The first one says something about the motherboard needing a specific BIOS version to support the CPU.

Another warning saying that the motherboard has a power connector that the power supply can't connect to because it doesn't have enough connections.

 

Are these big problems? and if it isn't too much to ask, how can they be fixed?

 

 

[Middcore]

1 minute ago, TheFurball said:

I'm really happy with this list, and fine with switching to a black case (even though I thought white looked better), but I'm worried about the compatibility warnings listed bellow.

 

The first one says something about the motherboard needing a specific BIOS version to support the CPU.

Another warning saying that the motherboard has a power connector that the power supply can't connect to because it doesn't have enough connections.

 

Are these big problems? and if it isn't too much to ask, how can they be fixed?

 

 

 

The BIOS compatibility message is wrong. MSI's support page shows that board has been compatible with the 12400F since its very first BIOS release, 7D43v10

 

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B660M-A-DDR4/support#cpu

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B660M-A-DDR4/support#bios

 

The other message says that the motherboard has an extra 4-pin CPU power connector besides the normal 8-pin one and the PSU doesn't have a cable for it. The extra 4-pin is completely unnecessary unless you were trying to set overclocking records on liquid nitrogen or something, which obviously nobody is going to do on a B660 board that can't overclock at all. Board manufacturers just started putting those extra connectors on there to look badass and now PCpartpicker brings up a warning about it every fucking time and confusing newbies for no reason. 

 

 

 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kTtnGL

Ryzen is just cheaper

 

Board wise you should be getting used b450/x470 as those can go <60$, get something more midrange like the b450 pro 4 or something like that and not a bottom tier pile of garbage like any 2dimm b450 board like the b450 hdv

 

Case is just straight up not important especially at this budget so you can get a 3$ or free (depending on where you look) scrap office case or a 5-10$ office case in good condition and run w/o sidepanel or a ~30$ case with perforated/mesh front for airflow (generic 12cm fans are ~1$ used)

 

You can get a better psu if you buy used, look around for used 600-850w 80+ gold units, though if you wish to go cheaper and encounter offbrand psus there are some guidelines ive figured out for buying these used (esp offbrand) psus, 12v no more than 100w lower than the psu rating, only 1 12v rail (single rail psu), and no generic chinese psus

 

So youll prob have ~450-500$ for gpu so you can get a 6600xt or 3060ti

[ahmad13610]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400F 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING SE-214-XT ARGB 68.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.98 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B560M DS3H AC Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($49.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB MECH 2X OC Video Card  ($475.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($64.81 @ Amazon) 
Total: $904.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-14 01:27 EDT-0400

 

os, buy from here: https://deltakeys.in/store/windows/single-time-use/windows-11-pro-lifetime-key/

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kTtnGL

Ryzen is just cheaper

 

Board wise you should be getting used b450/x470 as those can go <60$, get something more midrange like the b450 pro 4 or something like that and not a bottom tier pile of garbage like any 2dimm b450 board like the b450 hdv

 

Case is just straight up not important especially at this budget so you can get a 3$ or free (depending on where you look) scrap office case or a 5-10$ office case in good condition and run w/o sidepanel or a ~30$ case with perforated/mesh front for airflow (generic 12cm fans are ~1$ used)

 

You can get a better psu if you buy used, look around for used 600-850w 80+ gold units, though if you wish to go cheaper and encounter offbrand psus there are some guidelines ive figured out for buying these used (esp offbrand) psus, 12v no more than 100w lower than the psu rating, only 1 12v rail (single rail psu), and no generic chinese psus

 

So youll prob have ~450-500$ for gpu so you can get a 6600xt or 3060ti

The R5 5500 is pretty crap though. That gets outperformed by an i3 12100 in most games. I would just avoid that cpu.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, ahmad13610 said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-11400F 2.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING SE-214-XT ARGB 68.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.98 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B560M DS3H AC Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($49.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB MECH 2X OC Video Card  ($475.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($64.81 @ Amazon) 
Total: $904.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-14 01:27 EDT-0400

 

os, buy from here: https://deltakeys.in/store/windows/single-time-use/windows-11-pro-lifetime-key/

Oh god no.

[Unedited_Mind]

A bit over budget but a whole heck better at gaming.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 Memory  ($47.74 @ Amazon)
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB MECH 2X OC Video Card  ($475.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $932.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-14 07:28 EDT-0400

[Middcore]

10 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kTtnGL

Ryzen is just cheaper

As already pointed out, the Ryzen 5500 is crap. The 12100 is better than it and it's even cheaper. These cheap AM4 boards you're recommending will also have a worse upgrade path.

 

10 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Case is just straight up not important

Maybe not to you. Most people don't want to look at an ugly piece of junk on their desk every day.

 

10 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

especially at this budget so you can get a 3$ or free (depending on where you look) scrap office case or a 5-10$ office case in good condition

No. Stop. Most office PC cases will be from SFF-ish prebuilts by the likes of Dell and HP which you can't easily transfer standard components into. Even if it's possible it will be a miserable experience for a first time builder. 

 

10 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

You can get a better psu if you buy used, look around for used 600-850w 80+ gold units,

Stop encouraging people to judge PSU's by wattage and 80+ rating. 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 hour ago, Middcore said:

Maybe not to you. Most people don't want to look at an ugly piece of junk on their desk every day.

Does everyone put their pc on their desk?

Even then a 3$ scrap case is literally just a placeholder anyways just so its not a complete mess

 

1 hour ago, Middcore said:

No. Stop. Most office PC cases will be from SFF-ish prebuilts by the likes of Dell and HP which you can't easily transfer standard components into. Even if it's possible it will be a miserable experience for a first time builder. 

Ive only seen those smaller simbadda or other oem standard cases and not dells (those are overpriced actually), cooler wont fit under the sidepanel but you need to yeet the sidepanel anyways

 

1 hour ago, Middcore said:

Stop encouraging people to judge PSU's by wattage and 80+ rating. 

Then by what to judge? My decade old dazumba 450w still runs and its 360w on 12v rail, has not shown any signs of dying or anything like that and puts up with my oc shenanigans just fine, cant really judge by brand other than if its a cheap chinese garbage brand, and most offbrand stuff i find here in indo seems pretty decent judging by the wattage table (some dirt cheap powerex rex iii 700w psus going for 23$ but no 80+ rating)

 

1 hour ago, Middcore said:

These cheap AM4 boards you're recommending will also have a worse upgrade path

If its a 12400 and up then no point even bothering with 13th gen and just wait for the next gen after for an upgrade, i myself am looking at an x470 fatal1ty gaming k4 and im pretty sure that vrm will do fine with a 5950x (not like ill even bother getting any better than a 5900x if i even bother upgrading on the same platform in the first place), though tbf it is a near top end board and since its t top i gain performance from running 4x8 (though asrock boards are apparently mostly t top for their older ones, even the ab350 pro4). If you can find a decent x470 with somewhat beefy vrms for sub 80$ then youll still have a decent upgrade path

[Middcore]

24 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Does everyone put their pc on their desk?

People who don't put their PC's in $3 pieces of junk do. Putting the PC on the floor makes it more susceptible to dust, not to mention being kicked, and the depredations of kids and pets. 

 

He has a $900 budget. That's enough to afford a real case. This isn't a destitute FB marketplace special. 

 

24 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Then by what to judge?

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent. 

 

24 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

If you can find a decent x470 with somewhat beefy vrms for sub 80$ then youll still have a decent upgrade path

Your upgrade path is, best case, CPU's that are already outperformed by Intel 12th gen now, let alone 13th gen.

 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

8 minutes ago, Middcore said:

He has a $900 budget. That's enough to afford a real case. This isn't a destitute FB marketplace special. 

Guess thats just upto op to decide if looks > performance or the other way around

 

9 minutes ago, Middcore said:

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent. 

Laughs in 11 year old 450w dazumba that has been working flawlessly for the past year for my 775 and x58 oc shenanigans

 

10 minutes ago, Middcore said:

Your upgrade path is, best case, CPU's that are already outperformed by Intel 12th gen now, let alone 13th gen.

Thing is i can get the board for 23$ untested and a 5500 is at 151$, though if i was building for pure sensibility then yep a 12100f would be better but i like ocing my sht and i wanna make vids on ddr4 oc shenanigans, also since the 5500 is just a 5600g w disabled igpu that means i can run 4600+ ram while sync fclk, and better imc which means the already light micron rev e is gonna run even faster in 4x8 so 4400+ may not be unreasonable considering the t topology and the imc being ludicrous on these apus

 

Also should give me closure on an actually safe max ram voltage for imc cause i have no idea if its 1.7v or its 1.8v, or maybe even 1.65v

[TheFurball]

Thanks to everyone who responded. This pc was meant to be budget for now, but upgradable in the future. I'll most likely be going with this setup unless anyone has any last inputs.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/MKKkf7

 

Thank you to all who helped, I'll probably start buying parts in the next couple days

[Unedited_Mind]

3 hours ago, TheFurball said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. This pc was meant to be budget for now, but upgradable in the future. I'll most likely be going with this setup unless anyone has any last inputs.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/MKKkf7

 

Thank you to all who helped, I'll probably start buying parts in the next couple days

No objections, it is a lovely build, enjoy.

[Quickstrike]

3 hours ago, TheFurball said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. This pc was meant to be budget for now, but upgradable in the future. I'll most likely be going with this setup unless anyone has any last inputs.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/MKKkf7

 

Thank you to all who helped, I'll probably start buying parts in the next couple days

This just in: according to Jay's 2 cent, AM4 is not dead...

[Guest]

17 hours ago, TheFurball said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. This pc was meant to be budget for now, but upgradable in the future. I'll most likely be going with this setup unless anyone has any last inputs.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/MKKkf7

 

Thank you to all who helped, I'll probably start buying parts in the next couple days

You don't need the extra thermal paste. The stock cooler has paste already applied.

 

Make sure you don't actually pay $133.98 for that psu. It is listed in stock for much less elsewhere (EVGA and Amazon).

[VEXICUS]

This can be an option....

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($169.94 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B660M-G DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 Memory  ($47.47 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8100 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 6600 XT 8 GB Speedster SWFT 210 Video Card  ($359.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: KOLINK Citadel Mesh RGB MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($61.79 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $884.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-15 07:48 EDT-0400

[ahmad13610]

19 hours ago, TheFurball said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. This pc was meant to be budget for now, but upgradable in the future. I'll most likely be going with this setup unless anyone has any last inputs.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheFurball/saved/MKKkf7

 

Thank you to all who helped, I'll probably start buying parts in the next couple days

nice and shine