Criticise my build

[Epicernie77]

Hello, before I start I just want to let you guys know that my budget is £1400 but I'm willing to go slightly over if it's worth it.

 

I want to use the pc for moderate gaming and software like blender,

 

Before I purchase a custom pre built from pc specialist, I would like to see what you guys think of it and if there is anything you would change. I'm also open to any critism, just to learn from.

 

The computer system:

 

CPU: I5 13600kf

Motherboard: GIGABYTE B660

Ram: 2x 16gb 3200Mhz (32gb in total)

GPU: rtx 3060 ti 

Storage: 1Tb PCS PCIe m.2 SSD (3300Mb/R, 2900Mb/W)

Power supply: Corsair 650W Gold

OP: windows 11

CPU cooler: PCS FrostFlow 200 series high performance 250W

 

If you need any extra information, just ask me.

 

Current price of the pc is £1349

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Epicernie77

[Pixelfie]

I highly recommend getting a better motherboard. Take a look at the MSI B660-A Pro or Gigabyte B660 Gaming X, these are generally great boards for their price. If you plan on overclocking the CPU, get the Z690 versions, as the non Z chipsets don't support overclocking the CPU.

 

Other than that, this looks pretty solid to me.

[Epicernie77]

2 minutes ago, Pixelfie said:

Other than that, this looks pretty solid to me.

Thanks for the advise, Ill consider the motherboard

[GhostRoadieBL]

Be careful with pre-built SSDs, they often downgrade to the cheapest junk drives and charge more than buying better ones new.

Might be worth comparing the price of their upgrade vs a new 1TB sabrent rocket (not Q) or crucial P3 drive which will perform better. With the parts in your build it would be a very simple install (max like 4-5 screws including the case side and GPU to take out and put back)

 

I agree with @Pixelfie get rid of the H610 for a 660 or z690 so your CPU can run at full speed. If it means swapping the cooler to move the extra$, I would say it's worth it.

[Epicernie77]

On 1/11/2023 at 6:36 PM, GhostRoadieBL said:

Be careful with pre-built SSDs, they often downgrade to the cheapest junk drives and charge more than buying better ones new.

Thanks I appreciate it , I'll do some research on my storage and make sure I'm not being ripped off. Also what do you mean by "If it means swapping the cooler to move the extra$" 

[GhostRoadieBL]

11 hours ago, Epicernie77 said:

Thanks I appreciate it , I'll do some research on my storage and make sure I'm not being ripped off. Also what do you mean by "If it means swapping the cooler to move the extra$" 

If you are on the very limit of your budget, I'd swap the CPU cooler to a cheaper air cooler or stock cooler to move the money saved to the SSD to get a higher performance one. CPU cooler swaps later in the computer's life are much more convenient than migrating a OS to a new drive.

[brob]

There is little point in putting an unlocked CPU on an H610 motherboard. H610 motherboards are intended for basic office and home systems. Unlocked CPU are intended for enthusiasts that intend to overclock.

 

Consider using an i5-13400(F) on a B760 motherboard.

[Epicernie77]

22 hours ago, brob said:

Consider using an i5-13400(F) on a B760 motherboard.

I'll take a look, thanks for your time

[Epicernie77]

23 hours ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

I'd swap the CPU cooler to a cheaper air cooler or stock cooler to move the money saved to the SSD to get a higher performance one. CPU cooler swaps later in the computer's life are much more convenient than migrating a OS to a new drive.

I'll look into the CPU cooler, thanks for helping out. If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by the statement in bold?

[GhostRoadieBL]

1 minute ago, Epicernie77 said:

I'll look into the CPU cooler, thanks for helping out. If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by the statement in bold?

swapping a CPU cooler (AIO or Air Cooler) *Usually* are a couple of screws to remove the old one, clean the CPU in the socket, and screw in the mount for the new one. No setting changes in the Bios, OS or programs. (Some coolers can be trickier if you have to swap the back-plate in older cases or the mounting hardware on AIOs needs to be screwed in before the cooler gets attached but 90% of the time you just swap some screws and are back up and running like nothing happened)

 

SSD swaps, especially OS drives are a pain needing software to migrate the OS partition, if you go to a larger capacity drive you need to use another program (or paid versions of programs) to extend the original partition so you can use the rest of the space on the new drive. You'll change Bios settings so the proper drive is being booted from, sometimes running into other settings like gen4 vs gen3 not playing nice until a setting is changed. It's not difficult to do, just takes more planning and changes to settings most people don't recognize without some Google research when something doesn't work. Unfortunately, the 'easy way' is to just reinstall the OS on the new drive and start from scratch but that can have it's own pitfalls when activating Windows and you still may end up changing bios settings and troubleshooting why Windows doesn't want to install.

[Epicernie77]

17 hours ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

swapping a CPU cooler (AIO or Air Cooler) *Usually* are a couple of screws to remove the old one, clean the CPU in the socket, and screw in the mount for the new one. No setting changes in the Bios, OS or programs. (Some coolers can be trickier if you have to swap the back-plate in older cases or the mounting hardware on AIOs needs to be screwed in before the cooler gets attached but 90% of the time you just swap some screws and are back up and running like nothing happened)

 

SSD swaps, especially OS drives are a pain needing software to migrate the OS partition, if you go to a larger capacity drive you need to use another program (or paid versions of programs) to extend the original partition so you can use the rest of the space on the new drive. You'll change Bios settings so the proper drive is being booted from, sometimes running into other settings like gen4 vs gen3 not playing nice until a setting is changed. It's not difficult to do, just takes more planning and changes to settings most people don't recognize without some Google research when something doesn't work. Unfortunately, the 'easy way' is to just reinstall the OS on the new drive and start from scratch but that can have it's own pitfalls when activating Windows and you still may end up changing bios settings and troubleshooting why Windows doesn't want to install.

I got it now, thanks for explaining it in detail.