Help with a microATX build

[JUJUJ]

Budget (including currency): £900 - £1000

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Competitive shooters. Music Production.

Other details Own a 27" Dell S2721DGFA 165Hz Monitor.

Looking at an mATX, AM5 build. Perhaps with something like a PowerColor Radeon RX 6700 XT 1. Ryzen 5 7500F / 7600. MSI PRO B650M-P Motherboard.

First time build. The thing that I get hung up on the most is which Motherboard to buy.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Dedayog]

10 minutes ago, JUJUJ said:

Budget (including currency): £900 - £1000

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Competitive shooters. Music Production.

Other details Own a 27" Dell S2721DGFA 165Hz Monitor.

Looking at an AM5 build. Perhaps with something like a PowerColor Radeon RX 6700 XT 1. Ryzen 5 7500F / 7600. MSI PRO B650M-P Motherboard.

First time build. The thing that I get hung up on the most is which Motherboard to buy.

Any help appreciated.

 

Literally ANY B650M board.  N.  E. 

 

What features you want, is the deciding factor.

 

I like the ASRock B650M PG Lightning on the budget side. 

 

Something along these lines...

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£187.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M PG Lightning Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£116.11 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£106.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£56.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 309 Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card  (£340.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Montech AIR 100 ARGB MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (£55.47 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£89.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £952.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-25 17:02 GMT+0000

[leclod]

29 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Motherboard: ASRock B650M PG Lightning Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£116.11 @ Amazon UK)

I'd change motherboard for the Wifi/BT version (I have no idea where the antennas go though) :

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/b8P8TW/asrock-b650m-pg-lightning-wifi-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-pg-lightning-wifi

 

or the slightly nicer :

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/QcvD4D/msi-b650m-gaming-plus-wifi-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-gaming-plus-wifi

Edited March 25, 2024 by leclod

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, leclod said:

I'd change motherboard for the Wifi/BT version :

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/b8P8TW/asrock-b650m-pg-lightning-wifi-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-pg-lightning-wifi

Good point, especially for only 5 more.  Nice.

[JUJUJ]

Thanks both. I'm slowly going through the parts suggested.

This board is currently on offer. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-tuf-gaming-b650m-plus-socket-am5-ddr5-micro-atx-motherboard-mb-6k3-as.html

Anything that puts it above the ones suggested? (other than it looks cool).
*edit* Just noticed it doesn't have built in wifi.

What would be the main features you'd both be looking out for when shopping for motherboards?

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, JUJUJ said:

Thanks both. I'm slowly going through the parts suggested.

This board is currently on offer. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-tuf-gaming-b650m-plus-socket-am5-ddr5-micro-atx-motherboard-mb-6k3-as.html

Anything that puts it above the ones suggested? (other than it looks cool).

What would be the main features you'd both be looking out for when shopping for motherboards?

The one you picked has better VRM cooling (actual heatsinks) and heatsinks for the M.2.  It's a better featured board, you're paying for a better board is all.

 

IMO, the motherboard is like the 4th or 5th consideration for a build.  CPU, GPU, RAM, PSU... then motherboard.  I'd get it but it impacts budget, and I wouldn't skimp on something else to get a better board.

 

[leclod]

3 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

The one you picked has better VRM cooling (actual heatsinks) and heatsinks for the M.2.  It's a better featured board, you're paying for a better board is all.

 

The Asrock  board has Wifi, 3 M.2 slots (1 Gen 5, 1 Gen 4, 1 "Gen 3") and a very good price. I'd buy this one except if you've got money to spend.

[JUJUJ]

51 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

The one you picked has better VRM cooling (actual heatsinks) and heatsinks for the M.2.  It's a better featured board, you're paying for a better board is all.

 

IMO, the motherboard is like the 4th or 5th consideration for a build.  CPU, GPU, RAM, PSU... then motherboard.  I'd get it but it impacts budget, and I wouldn't skimp on something else to get a better board.

 

That's interesting to know. Well I'm set on either of the AMD 7500f or 7600 . Probaby the 7600 as the 7500f isn't easy to pick up over here (or even outside China?).

 

GPU, doesn't have to be anything crazy (as far as I know) to play games like play Apex,Valorant,CS:GO,Warzone. Though I would like to finally make use of my monitors 165Hz... Would the 6700 XT hold me back there at all?

[leclod]

6 minutes ago, JUJUJ said:

That's interesting to know. Well I'm set on either of the AMD 7500f or 7600 . Probaby the 7600 as the 7500f isn't easy to pick up over here (or even outside China?). GPU, doesn't have to be anything crazy (as far as I know) to play games like play Apex,Valorant,CS:GO,Warzone. Though I would like to finally make use of my monitors 165Hz... Would the 6700 XT hold me back there at all?

Remember there are others, here's a list :

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#sort=price&V=10000,9000,8000,6000&f=7

If you want cool, there are others

 

This one for example is an odd one, cheap and cool :

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/kvWJ7P/asrock-a620m-pro-rs-wifi-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-a620m-pro-rs-wifi

 

 

[Dedayog]

1 hour ago, JUJUJ said:

That's interesting to know. Well I'm set on either of the AMD 7500f or 7600 . Probaby the 7600 as the 7500f isn't easy to pick up over here (or even outside China?).

 

GPU, doesn't have to be anything crazy (as far as I know) to play games like play Apex,Valorant,CS:GO,Warzone. Though I would like to finally make use of my monitors 165Hz... Would the 6700 XT hold me back there at all?

That's a 1440p monitor?  A 6700XT will  be great with that.   Apex should hit your max FPS pretty well, on low/medium/high mix that people seem to play at competively..

 

 

 

[JUJUJ]

Little update. There was an offer on The Fractal Torrent Compact for just shy of £100 ($126) so i've ordered that case.

It seems to review really well with great thermal results. Not an mATX build but it was a good offer and the case isn't huge.

 

So for a motherboard i'm thinking, MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi ATX (think that's the ATX version of the one you recomended by leclod?). Right now I can pick that up for £136 ($172). My other thought was the ASRock AMD B650M PRO RS WIFI. I realise this is a mATX board but that has come on offer for as little as £110 ($139). My slighty more expensive choice is the Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX V2. Again this has come up on offer over here for under £150/$190.

Unfortunately the ASRock B650M PG Lightning wifi recommended isn't available in the UK right now. I'd have to import from the US which could open open issues with potential warranty claims.

And yep, the monitor is 1440p.

[BahnStormer]

+1 vote for decent DDR5 6000 CL30 RAM, personal preference is GSkill FlareX5.