First Time PC Build, 1440p - Help?

[Zen Cygnus]

Hello, so I am trying to plan out a PC build, but this is my first time even planning any of this out. I was hoping I could get some tips on what I should switch out in my current list to optimize for gaming at 1440p, as well as music production. I can play with the graphics settings a bit, but I would like to be able to go at least high graphics (out of low, medium, high, and ultra). My budget for the PC components, including the additional case fan, mouse, keyboard, monitor, and network adapter, is $1000 USD, but it may be able to stretch to $1100. Below is my list (using pcpartpicker.com).

 

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400

MOBO: ASRock - A320M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard

RAM: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory

STORAGE:

       SSD: ADATA - Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

       HARD DRIVE: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

GPU: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card

CASE: Zalman - ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case

       Extra Case Fan: Enermax - UCTB12N-BL 53.0 CFM 120mm Fan

PSU: EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

WIRELESS NETWORK ADAPTER: Netgear - A6100-100PAS USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter

MONITOR: Lenovo 1440p

KEYBOARD: DREVO 84-Key Gramr (Red Switch)

MOUSE: Logitech - G602 Wireless Optical Mouse

 

Currently, this build comes out to $962. Does anyone have any helpful advice for a total newbie on how to future-proof and optimize this machine?

[ARMANl]

I personally think it’s worth it to jump to r5 1600

[ARMANl]

Also, that monitor is a poor choice for gaming. I’m not completely knowledgable about all of this stuff but a 1440p 4ms 60Hz monitor wont be a great option for gaming. If I were you I’d go down to 1080p 1ms 144Hz... but that’s just me.

[Zen Cygnus]

3 minutes ago, ARMANl said:

I personally think it’s worth it to jump to r5 1600

But then what about bottlenecking? According to lots of things on google, the 1060 3GB doesn't really have 1440p capability at even high settings. If I make that upgrade, wouldn't the CPU be limited by the GPU?

Edited September 28, 2017 by Zen Cygnus

[Jurrunio]

Link to whole build pls

 

Just by looking at it though, gaming at 1440p is out of reach for you at this budget unless it's older games like csgo, rocket league, dota 2, bioshock infinte etc.

[Zen Cygnus]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

Link to whole build pls

 

Just by looking at it though, gaming at 1440p is out of reach for you at this budget unless it's older games like csgo, rocket league, dota 2, bioshock infinte etc.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d4mjd6

 

I do play mainly Rocket League, but I also play Overwatch, Warframe, Geometry Wars 3, and Naruto Storm 3.

[ARMANl]

2 minutes ago, Zen Cygnus said:

But then what about bottlenecking? According to lots of things on google, the 1060 3GB doesn't really have 1440p capability at max settings. If I make that upgrade, wouldn't the CPU be limited by the GPU?

As the guy before said, 1440p is way out of your reach. I’m not super smart when it comes to this stuff but I do have some knowledge. If you plan on gaming at 1440p on High you’ll need to expand your budget.

[Thinkfreely]

So that graphics card isn't going to do well for 1440p. A 1070 would be my bottom rung for that because even a 1060 or 580 won't be able to get 60FPS on high settings with certain games at 1440p

[minervx]

1 minute ago, ARMANl said:

Also, that monitor is a poor choice for gaming. I’m not completely knowledgable about all of this stuff but a 1440p 4ms 60Hz monitor wont be a great option for gaming. If I were you I’d go down to 1080p 1ms 144Hz... but that’s just me.

 

He also said it was for music production, and if you are producing music, you do want to have a larger real estate.  It depends on whether OP finds extra gaming performance more important or extra space in a DAW more important.

 

1 minute ago, Zen Cygnus said:

But then what about bottlenecking? According to lots of things on google, the 1060 3GB doesn't really have 1440p capability at max settings. If I make that upgrade, wouldn't the CPU be limited by the GPU?

 

For 1440p gaming maybe.  But down the road, games will utilize more cores and you can replace the 1060 with a better card.

[ARMANl]

1 minute ago, minervx said:

 

He also said it was for music production, and if you are producing music, you do want to have a larger real estate.  It depends on whether OP finds extra gaming performance more important or extra space in a DAW more important.

 

I agree, but what is his priority? That’s the thing I wasn’t too sure of. If music production is a side hobby I would definitely rather pick up a better monitor. 

[Zen Cygnus]

2 minutes ago, ARMANl said:

I agree, but what is his priority? That’s the thing I wasn’t too sure of. If music production is a side hobby I would definitely rather pick up a better monitor. 

I did say gaming, but I am casual. As long as I can get to 1440p 60 Hz at the very least, I'm good. Things is, I am going to be doing some CAD and such on here as well, and gaming is demanding in the 3D world as well. Music production is just a side hobby, but I am on a budget of $1100.

[Jurrunio]

What is the model of the monitor? There are many 1440p from Lenovo.

[Misanthrope]

You can stretch quite a bit more with 1100:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($195.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($71.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($155.01 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: ADATA - Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.69 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($204.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Zalman - ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.49 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Netgear - A6100-100PAS USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($30.03 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Enermax - UCTB12N-BL 53.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($9.88 @ OutletPC) 
Mouse: Logitech - G602 Wireless Optical Mouse  ($34.99 @ Best Buy) 
Other: DREVO 84-Key Gramr (Red Switch) ($40.00)
Other: Lenovo 1440p ($190.87)
Total: $1092.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-27 20:32 EDT-0400

 

1600 and the extra ram and the slight overclock capable motherboard make a big difference. This will still require upgrading to a 1070 eventually for 1440p. The games you mention would be ok at 1440p but assuming new ones later or AAA games the 1060 3gb will be insufficient. But can't get a decent 1440p GPU at this time anyway (1070 prices are still too high, Vega56 even worst) so I'd go with this with a plan to upgrade GPU within 1 to 2 years.

[ARMANl]

2 minutes ago, Zen Cygnus said:

I did say gaming, but I am casual. As long as I can get to 1440p 60 Hz at the very least, I'm good. Things is, I am going to be doing some CAD and such on here as well, and gaming is demanding in the 3D world as well. Music production is just a side hobby, but I am on a budget of $1100.

Again, 1440p is stretching it. I don’t think you could get solid frames at 1440p high with this rig, especially with newer games.

[Zen Cygnus]

3 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

You can stretch quite a bit more with 1100:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($195.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($71.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($155.01 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: ADATA - Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($45.69 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($204.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Zalman - ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.49 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Netgear - A6100-100PAS USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($30.03 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Enermax - UCTB12N-BL 53.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($9.88 @ OutletPC) 
Mouse: Logitech - G602 Wireless Optical Mouse  ($34.99 @ Best Buy) 
Other: DREVO 84-Key Gramr (Red Switch) ($40.00)
Other: Lenovo 1440p ($190.87)
Total: $1092.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-27 20:32 EDT-0400

 

1600 and the extra ram and the slight overclock capable motherboard make a big difference. This will still require upgrading to a 1070 eventually for 1440p. The games you mention would be ok at 1440p but assuming new ones later or AAA games the 1060 3gb will be insufficient. But can't get a decent 1440p GPU at this time anyway (1070 prices are still too high, Vega56 even worst) so I'd go with this with a plan to upgrade GPU within 1 to 2 years.

I redid some stuff, so would this work?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/djDyYr

[Misanthrope]

Just now, Zen Cygnus said:

I redid some stuff, so would this work?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/djDyYr

That's also better but you really don't want to get an A320 motherboard: you should get at least a B350 with headsinks. Even if it means cutting down somewhere else. You're talking a difference between 3.2ghz and 3.7ghz just with like 10 to 15 more bucks for the motherboard.

[ARMANl]

1 minute ago, Zen Cygnus said:

I redid some stuff, so would this work?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/djDyYr

Don’t forget about tax btw, his build is a big upgrade from your original but keep taxes in mind

[Jurrunio]

2 minutes ago, Zen Cygnus said:

I redid some stuff, so would this work?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/djDyYr

This motherboard does not support overclocking at all. Bad choice since a B350 mobo can give noticeably more performance out of the CPU.

[Jurrunio]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GxJXD8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GxJXD8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($195.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($56.67 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Toshiba - P300 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($41.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Mini Video Card  ($268.89 @ Amazon) 
Case: Zalman - ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($23.49 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ Newegg) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - Archer T2U USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Mouse: Logitech - G602 Wireless Optical Mouse  ($34.99 @ Best Buy) 
Other: Lenovo 1440p ($200.00)
Other: DREVO 84-Key Gramr (Red Switch) ($40.00)
Total: $1072.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-27 20:50 EDT-0400

 

Edited multiple times....

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jurrunio