Mid-range PC Build Advice

[mrwiscrz]

Budget (including currency): 1500 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BG3, heavily modded sims, Civil 3D. Watching youtube in combination with the listed programs.

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): Building PC for friend who currently uses a Dell Inspiron. Hoping to put together a PC that can run BG3 at max settings at minimum 60 fps. They want to build in the Terra by Fractal. They want to use two monitors, unsure of resolution the cost of these is not included in the budget. No peripherals other than the OS (windows). Upgrading because the laptop is struggling to run desired programs on low settings. I've attached a photo of the build I've put together so far, looking for recomendations on where I should cut/spend more.

 

Partpicker Link: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KDjqDZ

 

[Starelementpoke]

36 minutes ago, mrwiscrz said:

Budget (including currency): 1500 USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BG3, heavily modded sims, Civil 3D. Watching youtube in combination with the listed programs.

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): Building PC for friend who currently uses a Dell Inspiron. Hoping to put together a PC that can run BG3 at max settings at minimum 60 fps. They want to build in the Terra by Fractal. They want to use two monitors, unsure of resolution the cost of these is not included in the budget. No peripherals other than the OS (windows). Upgrading because the laptop is struggling to run desired programs on low settings. I've attached a photo of the build I've put together so far, looking for recomendations on where I should cut/spend more.

 

Partpicker Link: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KDjqDZ

 

BG3 and sims more often than not are CPU based. Build should be adjusted to account for that. Obligatory, used market is flush with good AM4 era hardware atm. Take a look at Hardware swap if you want some nasty good deals and are comfortable with buying used. I'm going to presume the ITX case was a request by your friend. Unless your friend really wants to set their background through the default windows feature, save some more cash and just get the ISO off Microsoft's site.

 

CPU: 5600x should be the 3D variant if you can get it from a microcenter near you or the 5700x3d. You can find them from $160ish on aliexpress, but if you want to stick to purely PCPartpicker then its about $210 from any of the other retailers.

 

Cooler: NHL9a meant for 65 W max. Would be okay with the old 5600x but since we're bumping up the CPU we need to bump of the cooler instead for something rating for a higher tdp. Luckily the AXP90-X47 is rating for a 145W tdp at 47 nm which should still keep us in the clear. 

 

Memory: I have no clue your reasoning on wanting to spend so much on 32 GB of ram when you can get reasonably fast kits of it for about half the price. Not to mention the extra height from the rgb on the spreaders for the Vengeances are more likely than not going to give you clearance headaches. Choosing a cheaper 32 GB kit with smaller spreaders for this reason.

 

GPU: There is a 4070 for $300 right now of Amazon from Gigabyte and it pains me greatly we can't get one for the case because its probably cutting it too close for clearance. If you must stick to all new I would say try to convince them on a different case but incase not, GPU changed to the 4060 Gigabyte windforce because its a few bucks cheaper AND is slightly smaller, giving us a big more space in the case for clearance. From what I could tell current GPU makes the power cable for it a bit of a tight squeeze.

 

PSU: Make sure to get that rebate.

 

OS: See above. Only thing they really lose without a license is some customization features. Get the ISO off Microsoft's webpage and have em spend $5 on wallpaper engine if they want one. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZT3sz6

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 3 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($208.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP90-X47 42.58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($22.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock A520M-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($48.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN580 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Western Digital) 
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB Video Card  ($299.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($179.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master V SFX Gold ATX 3.0 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1030.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-07 00:28 EDT-0400