Craigslist Build Sanity Check

[Ketravoire]

Budget (including currency):  300 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming and Programming

Skyrim; Modern Warfare (2019), Far Cry 4

Other details 

.I’m buying the following used For around 120:

* Lian li lancool 205m microatx case
* AsRock b450m Pro4 AM4
* NZXT Kraken x53 240mm radiator 
* Corsair case fans 
* 500w power supply 

 

 I plan on using and old Radeon HD 7670 until I can save up for a decent GPU. 

Need a sanity check on the parts I’m buying and help picking out a decent CPU and a strategy for upgrading the GPU

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FJcYW4

EDIT: SSD is a separate purchase and can be returned. Not buying dans separately, was listing them in PC part picker.  

Edited June 13, 2022 by Ketravoire
Updated parts listing

[Middcore]

The 6670 (or 7670, same thing) won't play any semi-modern games even passably. You would be better off to get a Ryzen APU like a 2400G, 3200G, or 3400G and use the integrated graphics for light gaming until you can upgrade. 

 

The Kingston A400 is a very failure-prone SSD, if memory serves.

 

I realize it comes as part of the package, but the NZXT AIO is totally unnecessary for a build like this. The stock AMD Wraith Stealth coolers will be fine for any of the CPU's you're likely to end up with. I would try to resell the Kraken and put that money towards a bigger, better SSD. 240GB won't hold much with the size of modern games.

 

It doesn't seem necessary to buy another case fan when the case on your list comes with some and you say you're also getting additional Corsair ones in the bundle?  

[maartendc]

5 minutes ago, Ketravoire said:

Budget (including currency):  300 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming and Programming

Skyrim; Modern Warfare (2019), Far Cry 4

Other details 

.I’m buying the following used For around 120:

* Lian li lancool 205m microatx case
* AsRock b450m Pro4 AM4
* NZXT Kraken x53 240mm radiator 
* Corsair case fans 
* 500w power supply 

 

 I plan on using and old Radeon HD 7670 until I can save up for a decent GPU. 

Need a sanity check on the parts I’m buying and help picking out a decent CPU and a strategy for upgrading the GPU

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FJcYW4

 

I mean, are you buying the CPU used or new? Does your budget include the whole build?

 

In case of buying used, you should be able to get something like a 3600X for a good price, and that will be a solid CPU still for gaming. You still need RAM, shoot for 16GB of 3200Mhz DDR4. Don't go slower than 3000 Mhz if you can.

 

The GPU, that will be a tough one. Prices used and new are still relatively high, even though they are coming down. The games you are targeting are fairly old, so depending on which settings you want to run at, you could get away with something like a GTX 1070 or even 1060 6GB, or a 2060 or even an RX580. Those should do you well for 1080p, or even 1440p in the case of the 1070 or 2060.

 

Good luck.

[Ketravoire]

11 minutes ago, Middcore said:

The 6670 (or 7670, same thing) won't play any semi-modern games even passably. You would be better off to get a Ryzen APU like a 2400G, 3200G, or 3400G and use the integrated graphics for light gaming until you can upgrade. 

 

The Kingston A400 is a very failure-prone SSD, if memory serves.

 

I realize it comes as part of the package, but the NZXT AIO is totally unnecessary for a build like this. The stock AMD Wraith Stealth coolers will be fine for any of the CPU's you're likely to end up with. I would try to resell the Kraken and put that money towards a bigger, better SSD. 240GB won't hold much with the size of modern games.

 

It doesn't seem necessary to buy another case fan when the case on your list comes with some and you say you're also getting additional Corsair ones in the bundle?  

good catch, I’m not buying additional fans so you can ignore than thankfully. Not sure I can update that Part picker list so may make a new one or an account. 
 

as for the SSD; I can return that as that was a previous purchase for another project but hasn’t been opened yet. Didn’t realize how prone to failure they were. Now that I have something with a PCI m.2 slot; should I get m.2 storage? Good idea on selling the AIO if I buy a new with cooler cpu. 

[trevb0t]

1 hour ago, Ketravoire said:

Budget (including currency):  300 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming and Programming

Skyrim; Modern Warfare (2019), Far Cry 4

Other details 

.I’m buying the following used For around 120:

* Lian li lancool 205m microatx case
* AsRock b450m Pro4 AM4
* NZXT Kraken x53 240mm radiator 
* Corsair case fans 
* 500w power supply 

 

 I plan on using and old Radeon HD 7670 until I can save up for a decent GPU. 

Need a sanity check on the parts I’m buying and help picking out a decent CPU and a strategy for upgrading the GPU

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FJcYW4

EDIT: SSD is a separate purchase and can be returned. Not buying dans separately, was listing them in PC part picker.  

For the gear you're getting $120 is a solid price ~assuming that it is all working~

Make sure the PSU isn't a total firecracker, 

The 7670 might hold you over on the listed titles at low settings, but a sizeable upgrade shouldn't cost too much. For example: I'm seeing GTX 970 4G on ebay for ~$100, and there are several substantial upgrades out there within a reasonable range. 

[Ketravoire]

1 hour ago, trevb0t said:

For the gear you're getting $120 is a solid price ~assuming that it is all working~

Make sure the PSU isn't a total firecracker, 

The 7670 might hold you over on the listed titles at low settings, but a sizeable upgrade shouldn't cost too much. For example: I'm seeing GTX 970 4G on ebay for ~$100, and there are several substantial upgrades out there within a reasonable range. 

Yeah, dude was a little iffy on the power supply; but I’ll give it a shake and a sniff and hope for the best. Might try it with an old system first to make sure it works. 

[Vishera]

2 hours ago, Middcore said:

The 6670 (or 7670, same thing) won't play any semi-modern games even passably. You would be better off to get a Ryzen APU like a 2400G, 3200G, or 3400G and use the integrated graphics for light gaming until you can upgrade. 

 

The Kingston A400 is a very failure-prone SSD, if memory serves.

 

I realize it comes as part of the package, but the NZXT AIO is totally unnecessary for a build like this. The stock AMD Wraith Stealth coolers will be fine for any of the CPU's you're likely to end up with. I would try to resell the Kraken and put that money towards a bigger, better SSD. 240GB won't hold much with the size of modern games.

 

It doesn't seem necessary to buy another case fan when the case on your list comes with some and you say you're also getting additional Corsair ones in the bundle?  

I have an entire collection of AMD RADEON HD 6000 cards,

The only cards that can play modern games in the HD 6000 series are the HD 6970 and the HD 6950,and that's a stretch.

As matter of fact i am in the process of testing as many modern games as i can on a SAPPHIRE HD 6970 TOXIC 2GB GDDR5.

 

I don't recommend buying one of those since there are issues with some games due to the limited 2GB of VRAM,lack of DX12,Vulkan and driver support.

 

Here are some screenshots with MSI after burner overlay with the FPS:

Quote

 

 

 

 

[Ketravoire]

3 hours ago, Vishera said:

I have an entire collection of AMD RADEON HD 6000 cards,

The only cards that can play modern games in the HD 6000 series are the HD 6970 and the HD 6950,and that's a stretch.

As matter of fact i am in the process of testing as many modern games as i can on a SAPPHIRE HD 6970 TOXIC 2GB GDDR5.

 

I don't recommend buying one of those since there are issues with some games due to the limited 2GB of VRAM,lack of DX12,Vulkan and driver support.

 

Here are some screenshots with MSI after burner overlay with the FPS:

 

Wow that’s incredibly helpful! Interesting that you hit near 60fps and struggle with what looks like doom (not 100% sure). 

[Vishera]

5 hours ago, Ketravoire said:

Wow that’s incredibly helpful! Interesting that you hit near 60fps and struggle with what looks like doom (not 100% sure). 

In most modern games it's pretty much a 30 FPS card.

And it doesn't struggle with DOOM,What you see in the screenshot are the frametimes,

The FPS counter is cut from the screenshot because screenshoting in DOOM is very buggy with the driver i use.

Here is another screenshot i took in DOOM,but this time with the FPS counter present (screenshot is very buggy,but the game doesn't look like that in reality):

[Ketravoire]

19 hours ago, maartendc said:

I mean, are you buying the CPU used or new? Does your budget include the whole build?

 

In case of buying used, you should be able to get something like a 3600X for a good price, and that will be a solid CPU still for gaming. You still need RAM, shoot for 16GB of 3200Mhz DDR4. Don't go slower than 3000 Mhz if you can.

 

The GPU, that will be a tough one. Prices used and new are still relatively high, even though they are coming down. The games you are targeting are fairly old, so depending on which settings you want to run at, you could get away with something like a GTX 1070 or even 1060 6GB, or a 2060 or even an RX580. Those should do you well for 1080p, or even 1440p in the case of the 1070 or 2060.

 

Good luck.

Seems prices from 3200g all the way to 3600x used are basically a within 10s of dollars of each other. Is there any 2xxx series that I should look at or just go with the 3600x?

[Middcore]

8 minutes ago, Ketravoire said:

Seems prices from 3200g all the way to 3600x used are basically a within 10s of dollars of each other. Is there any 2xxx series that I should look at or just go with the 3600x?

 

If you buy a 3600X (or any Ryzen CPU without a G on the end) you must buy a discrete GPU. This could turn out to be more money for less performance than buying one of the APU's. 

 

The GPU's mentioned in the post you're replying to will cost you, at minimum if you're lucky, ~$150 and up. 

[maartendc]

41 minutes ago, Ketravoire said:

Seems prices from 3200g all the way to 3600x used are basically a within 10s of dollars of each other. Is there any 2xxx series that I should look at or just go with the 3600x?

2000 series CPU's are also OK for a modest build. A 2600 (X) won't hold you back with the GPU's you are looking at.

30 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

If you buy a 3600X (or any Ryzen CPU without a G on the end) you must buy a discrete GPU. This could turn out to be more money for less performance than buying one of the APU's. 

 

The GPU's mentioned in the post you're replying to will cost you, at minimum if you're lucky, ~$150 and up. 

Is a Ryzen APU much better than a very very cheap used GPU though?

 

So basically you still need a GPU, RAM and CPU:

- Ryzen 2600 comes to about $90 on Ebay looking at sold listings. Solid value.

- RX570 sells for just under $100 if you look around. I would not go any lower than that, but this was a very capable budget GPU not too long ago.

- RAM 8GB 3000 Mhz DDR4: $29 new, or can shop around used. You can add more RAM later.

 

So total build comes to $338.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X53 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $120.00)
Memory: OLOy 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory  ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 570 4 GB GAMING Video Card  ($100.00)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $338.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-14 11:10 EDT-0400

[Ketravoire]

2 hours ago, maartendc said:

2000 series CPU's are also OK for a modest build. A 2600 (X) won't hold you back with the GPU's you are looking at.

Is a Ryzen APU much better than a very very cheap used GPU though?

 

So basically you still need a GPU, RAM and CPU:

- Ryzen 2600 comes to about $90 on Ebay looking at sold listings. Solid value.

- RX570 sells for just under $100 if you look around. I would not go any lower than that, but this was a very capable budget GPU not too long ago.

- RAM 8GB 3000 Mhz DDR4: $29 new, or can shop around used. You can add more RAM later.

 

So total build comes to $338.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($90.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X53 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $120.00)
Memory: OLOy 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory  ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 570 4 GB GAMING Video Card  ($100.00)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GA 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $338.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-14 11:10 EDT-0400

Thanks for this; looks like a solid card based on YouTube benchmarks. 

[trevb0t]

22 minutes ago, Ketravoire said:

Thanks for this; looks like a solid card based on YouTube benchmarks. 

I wouldn't buy a single RAM stick for Zen+ CPU. It needs dual channel.

Here's a dual channel kit:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mhtKHx/patriot-viper-4-blackout-8-gb-2-x-4-gb-ddr4-3000-memory-pvb48g300c6k

 

The 2600 at that price is good value.

As for the GPU the RX 570/580 are solid, GTX960/970/1050(ti)/1060 series are all approximate in performance if you can find a better price between any of those units.

[Ketravoire]

1 hour ago, trevb0t said:

I wouldn't buy a single RAM stick for Zen+ CPU. It needs dual channel.

Here's a dual channel kit:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mhtKHx/patriot-viper-4-blackout-8-gb-2-x-4-gb-ddr4-3000-memory-pvb48g300c6k

 

The 2600 at that price is good value.

As for the GPU the RX 570/580 are solid, GTX960/970/1050(ti)/1060 series are all approximate in performance if you can find a better price between any of those units.

Hmm just found that microcenter has 4600g’s in stock for 140 -25$ coupons bringing to just 115. That would give me time to look for a GPU with that CPU doing a decent job potentially. But I suppose my nvidia 6xxx will tide me over. Thanks for the reply. 

[trevb0t]

52 minutes ago, Ketravoire said:

Hmm just found that microcenter has 4600g’s in stock for 140 -25$ coupons bringing to just 115. That would give me time to look for a GPU with that CPU doing a decent job potentially. But I suppose my nvidia 6xxx will tide me over. Thanks for the reply. 

That's a good idea  I didn't realize they were so cheap. The Vega graphics on those is something around a GTX 750Ti, which still works for most 1080p gaming, and then you've got a pretty decent CPU when you upgrade the graphics.

 

I'd then invest in like 16GB (2x8gb) 3200mhz (or 3600mhz if you can find a kit.) ram at least to bring your total around $300.

[Ketravoire]

Just an update, looks like it’s an Aresgame 500w power supply. Googled them and their website got hacked so that’s fun. 
 

based on the tier list, should be good enough for a iGPU. 

 

[jaslion]

On 6/13/2022 at 11:30 PM, Ketravoire said:

Yeah, dude was a little iffy on the power supply; but I’ll give it a shake and a sniff and hope for the best. Might try it with an old system first to make sure it works. 

What model is it? If its a bad unit its not even worth bothering

[trevb0t]

11 hours ago, Ketravoire said:

Just an update, looks like it’s an Aresgame 500w power supply. Googled them and their website got hacked so that’s fun. 
 

based on the tier list, should be good enough for a iGPU. 

The forum sentiment is often to err on the side of caution and to promote good PSUs, but honestly I have put together many $300 PCs with inexpensive used power supplies that I have gotten in bulk parts deals, and not one has ever come back to me with issues. 

 

I wouldn't run a new $300+ GPU on this. But given the budget and the likely performance, I would personally use it until I was ready to upgrade to a GPU.