NEW ATX MID TOWER GAMING PC for my friend. We want your thoughts before we pull the trigger!

[AceyIRL]

Hi All,
I'm helping my friend build a new PC and this is what we talked out over discord. 
Was wondering if y'all had any better ideas on the components? He seemed to be very happy with the case and red fans. 

I also noticed that PC Part picker was flagging a potential incompatibility with the BIOS needing to be flashed before it can use the CPU.
I'm not sure if that will be an issue as I've heard that the mobos BIOS are usually up to date when purchased. 

If you all have any idea on that please let me know. I told him to hold off till we get a few comments or suggestions from LTT. 

Thanks again, I'm looking forward to seeing what wizardry you might have in mind.

Budget (including currency): ~$1000

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 
Steam, Games. Nothing much from what i gather from my friend.
He mostly plays Hearts of Iron and other RTS style games.

 

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): 
MD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-core, 12-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08166SLDF?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 $199
Noctua NH-U9S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-A9 92mm Fan (Brown)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TBHYYFK?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 $59
Gigabyte B450 AORUS M (AMD Ryzen AM4/M.2 Thermal Guard/HDMI/DVI/USB 3.1 Gen 2/DDR4/Micro ATX/Motherboard) & Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Desktop Memory Kit - Black
https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-B450-AORUS-Thermal-Motherboard/dp/B08BPL3GMY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3505CCK531ZU4&keywords=Gigabyte%2BB450%2BAORUS%2BM%2BMicro%2BATX%2BAM4%2BMotherboard&qid=1660104018&s=electronics&sprefix=gigabyte%2Bb450%2Baorus%2Bm%2Bmicro%2Batx%2Bam4%2Bmotherboard%2Celectronics%2C67&sr=1-1&th=1 $150
Acer SA100 960GB SATA III 2.5 Inch Internal SSD - 6 Gb/s, 3D NAND Solid State Hard Drive Up to 560 MB/s - BL.9BWWA.104
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-SA100-960GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B08YYTNSP7/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1F5DMBHGB2SDS&keywords=Acer+SA100+960+GB+2.5%22+Solid+State+Drive&qid=1660106533&s=electronics&sprefix=acer+sa100+960+gb+2.5+solid+state+drive%2Celectronics%2C73&sr=1-3 $64
Silicon Power 1TB - NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 SSD (SP001TBP34A60M28)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZGJVTZK?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 $67
PowerColor Fighter AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 8GB GDDR6 Memory, Powered by AMD RDNA 2, HDMI 2.1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BY57MT3?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 $299
hermaltake Versa N27 Shadow Blade ATX Gaming Mid Tower Computer Case with 3 Red LED Riing Fan Pre-installed CA-1H6-00M1WN-02, Black/Red
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07146XXBH?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 $79
EVGA 650 GQ 210-GQ-0650-V1 80+ GOLD 650W Modular EVGA ECO Mode Power Supply
https://www.newegg.com/evga-650-gq-210-gq-0650-v1-650w/p/N82E16817438059?Item=N82E16817438059 $70
APEVIA 212L-DRD 120mm Silent Black Case Fan with 15 x Red LEDs & 8 x Anti-Vibration Rubber Pads (2 Pk)
https://www.amazon.com/APEVIA-212L-DRD-Silent-Anti-Vibration-Rubber/dp/B01M0K0W1C/ref=sr_1_15?crid=1DGQCY38SXHG3&keywords=RED%2BLED%2B120%2Bmm%2Bfans%2B2%2Bpack&qid=1660105790&s=electronics&sprefix=red%2Bled%2B120%2Bmm%2Bfans%2B2%2Bpack%2Celectronics%2C76&sr=1-15&th=1 $13

total is ~$1200

[Ryuikko]

I'm assuming you only want to buy from Amazon? 

I'll try to be in the middle of the budget you listed and the price of the total parts

I'm seeing a reddish black theme?

About what id reccommend 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4R2JpH

Seems Amazon has some overpriced cpus with both the 5600x and the 12400f being pretty high, but the 12400f is cheaper so I'll go with that Instead

Cheap aftermarket cooler to keep the cpu cool with a ~red accent 

Good board for the price

Cheapest kit of 16gb ram that happens to have some red on it

Cheap 2tb storage

6700xt which is a pretty decent improvement over the 6600xt

Cheap case with rgb fans and a decent 750 watt psu

You can change the case back if you want, since that's more of a personal preference

 

[AceyIRL]

Thanks, I did update the listing for ease of reading. I'll look this over tomorrow thank you for being so clear!

 

[AceyIRL]

red black yea

[Marexn]

With in US, I'd say your friend has probably good chance to come up with some decent sale from Outlets or returned products if necessary to get through the pinch to stay at the 1000 Dollar mark.
Here's a list I've come up for ya'. Link: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3D6JpH

I can personally vouch for the case, I built my sisters PC in and it was absolute breeze to build in even for beginner.
Comes with 3 fans, could buy few Arctics to go along with it since those are excellent and cheap.
Check out something like r/buildapcsales or CamelCamelCamel to kind of get a sense what prices the components should be going so you don't accidentally over pay.
Ebay is also fine for some components I've been told but you're taking the buyers risk there so... Just what ever ya'll do take your time, manage your budget and make sure all of components fit in the case and are compatible with each others and have the necessary headers.
Gl, hf.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8r9kH2

¯\_ (ツ) _/¯ 

[Jonathan Lee]

Intel i5-12400 build to ignore Bios compatibility problems:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($193.95 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING SE-224-XT Basic 76.16 CFM CPU Cooler  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B660-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($52.69 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Mushkin Enhanced Pilot-E 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($169.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 XT 8 GB Fighter Video Card  ($299.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($94.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA G5 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1026.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-08-10 02:36 EDT-0400

 

Pretty much similar recommendation to others, just added a nicer NVME with a dram cache

[mariushm]

I would say get a better motherboard, with B550 chipset. That board would work, but it's based on B450.

I would say get a single 2 TB SSD instead of a nvme and a SATA only SSD.

Ryzen likes fast memory, 3000 Mhz is fine, but 3200 or 3600 mhz would be even better.

 

yeah 12400f may be cheaper, but good cheap B660 motherboards are a myth, you lose features on the motherboard like usb connectors, audio etc.

 

[venomtail]

51 minutes ago, mariushm said:

I would say get a better motherboard, with B550 chipset. That board would work, but it's based on B450.

I would say get a single 2 TB SSD instead of a nvme and a SATA only SSD.

Ryzen likes fast memory, 3000 Mhz is fine, but 3200 or 3600 mhz would be even better.

 

yeah 12400f may be cheaper, but good cheap B660 motherboards are a myth, you lose features on the motherboard like usb connectors, audio etc.

 

Ryzen 3000MHz isn't fine. For 10 cents saving by going 3000MHz over 3200MHz you're losing 5-10% FPS.

[AceyIRL]

Wow thanks everyone we have a lot to look over. I'll let ya know what we come up with soon.

[AceyIRL]

So after some debate we went with this project.
I'll let ya know when we get all the peices and begin to build it.
Our only concern is the CPU fan maybe needs a mount from the PCPP website but I it looks like that mount comes with the fan.

Thanks all for giving us great ideas!

[AceyIRL]

Well it's done. 
We made it yesterday and are very proud of the completed product!

What I can say is that the first warning was legit. the mounting for the CPU fan was needed as what was provided was too small. We didn't have time to get the mount sent to us. So I came up with the idea to simply "cut" the female housing ends off and thus make them free to screw into. The solution worked and we got the CPU fan mounted with no problem. It posted without issue once all the PSupply cables were connected and voila! 

The PC has two M.2 slots one under a heat sink I didn't see that at first. When he got it home I talked him through on how to dismount the GPU and insert the m.2 under the heat shield. and then the re-assemble of the GPU etc.


Special thanks to those that contributed their ideas, and to Linus and staff that cultivated a love for PC culture and building. 

Sincerely,

Josh