CLOSED Advice wanted: My 1st PC, ~$1000US

[greenlotad]

So I'm looking to replace a laptop I bought for school a couple years ago for school that has been a pain the entire time (mostly from stability issues and maybe some overheating). Rarely used it in class so I've decided to replace it by building a desktop. This is my first time and I'm not that knowledgeable though. This is for school, not just gaming, and I also play around with some low-level audio production. Considering trying out streaming and/or video editing too. I'm thinking a white-sorta aesthetic would be nice but I'm not that picky. I'm somewhat basing this on PC Gamer's middle & budget PC build guides, but adjusting as I like. Just estimating on the listed prices. I'm not that decisive on anything, so any advice, especially on the GPU, Case, and Mobo would be appreciated. Also deals on parts.

 

CPU -- Ryzen 1600. $220. I'm not interesting in overclocking for now so I didn't think the 7600K in the build guide was worth it. I kinda want to be a hipster by going with the underdog brand, but I'm not sure.

GPU -- GTX 1050 TI. $150. I realize this is an odd pairing, but I'm not paying for this myself and I don't want my parents to think I'm wasting their money on video games so I'm not going to buy a high-end card. My standards aren't all that high anyway, my current laptop doesn't even have a GPU and I've been sorta making due. I would have gone with and Rx 570/580 or GTX 1060, but the prices are all on steroids at the moment. I figure this will be the first thing I upgrade. Also, I'm considering skipping out on a GPU for now and going with an i5-7500 because of the integrated GPU, and buying a better GPU as soon as I have my own cash. And again, this isn't a full gaming build.

RAM -- Not sure if I want 8GB or 16GB; DDR4 of course. $120. Don't really care about the brand or speed. I probably only need 8, but my current laptop has 12 and I don't want to feel like I'm downgrading. Dumb? Yes, I know.

SSD -- Samsung 850 EVO 500GB. $175. Pretty sure I want and SSD, not an HDD, and pretty sure I want 500GB since it seems like the best balance of price and capacity. This is just a best seller on Amazon; I'm open to a cheaper one form another reliable brand. Also, if anyone has a persuasive argument, I could be convinced to buy an HDD with an Intel Optane stick.

PSU -- EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze. $25. As far as I know this should be all I need, although I'm not really doing any of the math. It's semi-modular.

Case -- $100? Here's where I have no idea what to do. I kinda like the idea of a small-form factor PC. Mini-ITX or micro-ATX. But does that drive the price up? Or maybe down? Or is it more difficult to build? I kinda like the idea of a tempered glass case, maybe some LEDs, but I'm also partial to a more low-key look. I like the Thermaltake Core P1, but it's kinda expensive and doesn't look too protective. I'm concerned about it being protective because I don't really know the roommates I'll be moving in with next semester too well. I know they are also gamers, but they might also be the type to play football in the apartment. I'll take pretty much any advise on the case.

Motherboard -- $100? I'm pretty much clueless on motherboards too. I know I want built-in WiFi because my school apartment probably won't have access to an Ethernet cable in the room (which is good enough for me since I don't really play online multiplayer). I'm not really sure what else to look for though. It seems like the most complicated part, but I'm not that knowledgeable, so all motherboards look kinda the same to me. 

Fans -- $10. I'll just get whatever cheap fans fit in the case.

Display -- $130. I don't have a display. Looking for something simple, 1080p, 60fps, reasonable size, decent color accuracy. Saw this in another thread: Acer R240HY. Looks good?

Keyboard -- $20. I do not have a keyboard, but I'll probably just buy a cheap wireless Logitech keyboard so I can use the same receiver that I use for my cheap wireless Logitech mouse and only take up one USB port. I know that's probably heresy to a lot of you, but it'll do for now. Again, I don't have high standards. I'll probably replace it with something better soon, but I'm lazy and I play from the couch a lot anyway.

 

Alright that's all I can think of. I know I'm a mess, but all serious advice will be welcome. Thanks y'all.

 

Edit: Wow, this turned out really long. Sorry.

 

Edit 2: pcpartpicker link: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bnwhpb

includes items I'm relatively certain about

upgraded PSU to 500 watts on advise

also added a windows licence

[Castdeath97]

Try placing your build in pcpartpicker.com it will make your build easier to check.

[cj09beira]

5 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Try placing your build in pcpartpicker.com it will make your build easier to check.

i agree with most of your picks

although get a better power supply, i know we all wanna do it to save a couple bucks but power supply is the only component in your system that can blown others if it dies , 500w for you is just fine as your components at most will use about 300w

[greenlotad]

Alright, made a pcpartpicker link. Also upgraded PSU. Thanks!

[greenlotad]

Also, is that PSU even going to fit in a small form factor case? It said ATX

[cj09beira]

7 minutes ago, greenlotad said:

Also, is that PSU even going to fit in a small form factor case? It said ATX

yes it should fit

[Septimus]

Get a 120GB Samsung 850 Evo and then a 1TB HDD. That will lower your costs a little bit and possibly help you towards getting a better GPU. 

[cj09beira]

6 minutes ago, Septimus said:

Get a 120GB Samsung 850 Evo and then a 1TB HDD. That will lower your costs a little bit and possibly help you towards getting a better GPU. 

currently were will he find a gpu over the 1050 ti that isn't inflated  

[Zando_]

A bit over budget, but I tweaked the list:

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($126.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($94.24 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($154.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: *Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($92.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: *Acer - R240HY bidx 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1124.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 09:42 EDT-0400

[greenlotad]

17 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

A bit over budget, but I tweaked the list:

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($126.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($94.24 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($154.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: *Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($92.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: *Acer - R240HY bidx 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1124.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 09:42 EDT-0400

Only question I have is whether the mobo has onboard wifi, cuz I kinda need that and I didn't see it on the product page

[Zando_]

4 minutes ago, greenlotad said:

Only question I have is whether the mobo has onboard wifi, cuz I kinda need that and I didn't see it on the product page

Nope, you gotta pay a lot more for onboard wifi. 

 

EDIT: Cheapest on is $130: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LgmxFT/asrock-x370-killer-sliac-atx-am4-motherboard-x370-killer-sliac

[greenlotad]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

Nope, you gotta pay a lot more for onboard wifi. 

Oh, only high-end boards have that? So I guess and external adapter is the solution? Cuz I'll be moving back to school in a couple months and I doubt my apartment will have a router in the room.

[DocSwag]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($83.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($141.56 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Mini Video Card  ($264.89 @ B&H) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($26.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte - GC-WB867D-I REV 4.2 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Acer - KN242HYL 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1037.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 10:09 EDT-0400

 

I changed out most of the parts  

 

I changed the ram because it's faster and cheaper, I got a cheaper ssd since you're unlikely to notice the difference between this and the 850 evo except when video editing, I switched the gpu to a GTX 1060 with money saved from other things, I got the p400s for the case (if you want a sff pc I can make some changes to accommodate), I got a better (and cheaper) psu, I switched the monitor for a cheaper one that's still 24" and IPS, and I added a wifi adapter since you said you need wifi.

 

I removed windows from the list because you can get it from kinguin.net for $30 or just run windows without a product key (you just can't change the background and there's some things in settings for example that tell you windows isn't activated, that's it). That'll save a lot of money.

29 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

A bit over budget, but I tweaked the list:

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KYq3D8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($126.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($94.24 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($154.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: *Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($92.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: *Acer - R240HY bidx 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1124.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 09:42 EDT-0400

You're paying $94 for a 120gb ssd tho...

[greenlotad]

10 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($83.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($141.56 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Mini Video Card  ($264.89 @ B&H) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($26.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte - GC-WB867D-I REV 4.2 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Acer - KN242HYL 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1037.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 10:09 EDT-0400

 

I changed out most of the parts  

 

I changed the ram because it's faster and cheaper, I got a cheaper ssd since you're unlikely to notice the difference between this and the 850 evo except when video editing, I switched the gpu to a GTX 1060 with money saved from other things, I got the p400s for the case (if you want a sff pc I can make some changes to accommodate), I got a better (and cheaper) psu, I switched the monitor for a cheaper one that's still 24" and IPS, and I added a wifi adapter since you said you need wifi.

 

I removed windows from the list because you can get it from kinguin.net for $30 or just run windows without a product key (you just can't change the background and there's some things in settings for example that tell you windows isn't activated, that's it). That'll save a lot of money.

You're paying $94 for a 120gb ssd tho...

This looks pretty good. Although if you don't mind, I'd love to see the small form factor you can come up with it. And yeah, I just looked up that deactivated win10 thing. I'm interested.

[Zando_]

17 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

You're paying $94 for a 120gb ssd tho...

He had a Samsung 850 Evo, so I stuck with that. Your build is the best value so far, but why a 480GB Sandisk SSD?

[DocSwag]

8 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

He had a Samsung 850 Evo, so I stuck with that. Your build is the best value so far, but why a 480GB Sandisk SSD?

I mean.... you're paying more for that 120gb ssd than some decent 250gb ones...

 

Because it's decent, and boot times and app launch times won't be affected. You're saving $30 and for the most part the difference won't be noticed.

[Billy_Mays]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PsBZyf 

A little bit better and stays under $1000 

[DocSwag]

4 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PsBZyf 

A little bit better and stays under $1000 

Psu eh... and ram is a bit overpriced.

 

Also those vrm heatsinks look more like decoration that something that's actually useful which worries me  

[Billy_Mays]

3 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Psu eh... and ram is a bit overpriced.

 

Also those vrm heatsinks look more like decoration that something that's actually useful which worries me  

oh well oh well but its under $1000

[greenlotad]

Alright, so--humor me here, I've probably lost my mind. There's a very small chance that I'll actually get this--I found this build on the front page of pcpartpicker. Ignoring the lack of monitor, it's only ~$100 more, and it's comparable in some aspects and pretty decked out in others. Does anyone see any drawbacks?

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/yDFfrH/great-amd-gaming-build

[Ordinarily_Greater]

25 minutes ago, greenlotad said:

Alright, so--humor me here, I've probably lost my mind. There's a very small chance that I'll actually get this--I found this build on the front page of pcpartpicker. Ignoring the lack of monitor, it's only ~$100 more, and it's comparable in some aspects and pretty decked out in others. Does anyone see any drawbacks?

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/yDFfrH/great-amd-gaming-build

I would change the Case and motherboard

 

to Fractal Design Focus G and B350 Fatal1ty

[greenlotad]

3 minutes ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

I would change the Case and motherboard

 

to Fractal Design Focus G and B350 Fatal1ty

Is there a particular reason for the changes? It's slightly more expensive that way and doesn't make it any smaller. 

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, greenlotad said:

Is there a particular reason for the changes? It's slightly more expensive that way and doesn't make it any smaller. 

I think the mobo is fine, but defo don't get the Turbo version 1080 (unless you're water-cooling, then you'll want a better case). 

[greenlotad]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

I think the mobo is fine, but defo don't get the Turbo version 1080 (unless you're water-cooling, then you'll want a better case). 

Oh, it requires water cooling? Is that why this 1080 is so cheap? 

[Ordinarily_Greater]

3 minutes ago, greenlotad said:

Is there a particular reason for the changes? It's slightly more expensive that way and doesn't make it any smaller. 

The MSI is being said as board with long post times, i don't think you will mind that but if you are still going for MSI it is okay

 

case ($49 price tag in Focus G)