Need help for building a pc to max out these games.

[Reiidar]

So the other day I made this post. tl:dr, I'm on a budget for 1440p gaming (the cheaper build are 1080p more on that later.)
After computing the expenses of the build suggested the $1200( He didn't include the OS with his build to technically around $1300) build cost ~$1600 due to tariff. So I though of theses builds using the price list from retailers in the my country (Philippines). I play Dota 2 most of the time but I am also a fan of RPGs like Skyrim and Witcher and I am looking to play AAA titles more in the future.. Anyway, here are the builds I came up with for 3 price points. (This is a new build so I included a monitor and OS with budget, though peripherals are not included as I have mine from my old system.)
GOALS:

1. To build a PC that could (hopefully) max out currently the most demanding game in my library (Witcher 3) at 1440p.
2. To build a PC that could stay relevant within the next 4 years (I'm not into upgrading my hardware every time there is a new release, also I have budget issues.)
3. To build a PC that could handle light to medium content creation.
4. To build a PC that could satisfy the above statements at a reasonable cost. (This is why I made a draft for 3 price points.)
   *I made a 1050ti build just in case worst comes to worse, basically I want also want to know how these would perform.
   *There is distrust with the Bureau of Customs so ordering online to save money is a no for me.
   *Part of the reason why this particular builds are more expensive is because I had to fit in a monitor and OS with my budget.

With this in mind, these are the following Questions I want to ask:

1. What would be the optimal build to satisfy the statements above (emphasis on 1440p gaming)?
2. What performance should I expect for each build?
3. How would the cheapest build (Build 3) perform the tasks above?

Build 1

Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 Mid Tower @ ₱3,700.00            

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 3.20-3.60Ghz 6-Core Processor   @ ₱11,040.00         

MOBO: MSI B350M PRO-VDH @   ₱4,550.00            

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1070 Aorus 8GB (GV-N1070AORUS-8GD) @  ₱26,000.00         

RAM: GSkill 8GB Single DDR4 2133 SoDimm (F4-2133C15S-8GRS)  @  ₱4,300.00            

HDD:  Western Digital WD Caviar Blue 2TB 64MB WD20EZRZ  @ ₱3,600.00            

SSD: Crucial MX300 M.2 275gb (CT275MX300SSD4) @ ₱5,500.00            

PSU: Corsair CX600 600W 80Plus Bronze Power Supply  @   ₱3,540.00            

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 HOME 64-bit oem   @ ₱5,900.00            

Monitor: Viewsonic VX3209-2K 32" QHD 2560x1440 IPS  @   ₱16,700.00         
TOTAL: ₱84,830.00 or ~$1700
Build 2

Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 Mid Tower @ ₱3,700.00

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.20-3.40Ghz 4-Core Processor @ ₱8,590.00

MOBO: MSI B350M PRO-VDH  @  ₱4,550.00

GPU: MSI GTX 1060 6GT OCV2 GDDR5  @ ₱15,450.00

RAM: GSkill 8GB Single DDR4 2133 SoDimm (F4-2133C15S-8GRS) @  ₱4,300.00

HDD: Western Digital WD Caviar Blue 2TB 64MB WD20EZRZ   @  ₱3,600.00

SSD: Crucial MX300 M.2 275gb (CT275MX300SSD4)  @  ₱5,500.00

PSU: Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 500W 80 Plus White  @  ₱2,950.00

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 HOME 64-bit oem  @ ₱5,900.00

Monitor: Monitor Samsung 23.5 LC24F390FHEXXP Curve Black Monitor   @  ₱10,400.00

TOTAL: ₱64,940.00 or ~$1300

Build 3

Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 Mid Tower           ₱3,700.00

CPU: Intel Pentium G4600 3.60 GHz Kabylake Processor            ₱3,990.00

MOBO: MSI H110M Pro-VH PLUS              ₱3,100.00

GPU: Asus GTX 1050 Ti Phoenix 4GB (PH-GTX1050TI-4G)           ₱7,200.00

RAM: GSkill 8GB Single DDR4 2133  ₱4,300.00

HDD:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB WD10EZEX         ₱2,350.00

SSD: Adata SU800 128GB sata 6GB/s 3D SSD  ₱3,200.00

PSU: Corsair VS450 Power Supply        ₱1,750.00

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 HOME 64-bit oem              ₱5,900.00

Monitor: Samsung 21.5 LS22F355FHEXXP Black Monitor    ₱5,700.00

TOTAL: ₱41,990.00 or ~$840

[dizmo]

• For 1440p I wouldn't go with anything less than a 1070.
• You have 2133mhz RAM on all builds with Ryzen. That's a poor choice, as it really favors faster RAM to get decent performance.
• The G4600 system uses an H110 board. You have to make sure the BIOS accepts the not only the newer chips, but that the board you get has the updated BIOS otherwise it won't work.
• IIRC the 2TB Caviar Blue is a 5400RPM drive. Not something I'd want to be booting games from.

Build suggestions:

• If you're importing, wait for Black Friday.
• Look at the Phanteks P300 case. Still tempered glass, cheaper price.
• iirc you can download Windows for free from Microsoft, if you don't mind only having one unchangeable background and a small notification at the bottom of the screen.

 

[Reiidar]

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

• For 1440p I wouldn't go with anything less than a 1070.
• You have 2133mhz RAM on all builds with Ryzen. That's a poor choice, as it really favors faster RAM to get decent performance.
• The G4600 system uses an H110 board. You have to make sure the BIOS accepts the not only the newer chips, but that the board you get has the updated BIOS otherwise it won't work.
• IIRC the 2TB Caviar Blue is a 5400RPM drive. Not something I'd want to be booting games from.

Build suggestions:

• If you're importing, wait for Black Friday.
• Look at the Phanteks P300 case. Still tempered glass, cheaper price.
• iirc you can download Windows for free from Microsoft, if you don't mind only having one unchangeable background and a small notification at the bottom of the screen.

 

Basically I need to go with a higher speed ram, at what speed does it generally have to be before it reaches diminishing returns?
Would the notification you are talking about be the Windows 8 pro build 9200(this is on my friend's laptop) or the activate windows go to PC settings to activate Windows watermark on the bottom left?
*I do not know how to download windows for free, could I have a link? or an elaboration of the process.

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, Reiidar said:

Basically I need to go with a higher speed ram, at what speed does it generally have to be before it reaches diminishing returns?
Would the notification you are talking about be the Windows 8 pro build 9200(this is on my friend's laptop) or the activate windows go to PC settings to activate Windows watermark on the bottom left?
*I do not know how to download windows for free, could I have a link? or an elaboration of the process.

I think 2933mhz or 3000mhz is the sweet spot.

Yes, the watermark is correct.

I'm not entirely sure, @Princess Cadence mentioned it once. She can probably point you in the right direction.

[epic_ziver_D]

First of all im quite sure you choose some RAM that is uses a SODIMM connector and I would recommend getting regular DIMM (they aren't compatible unless you buy some adapter). Second to install windows for free you go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 then click Download Tool Now (Do this on a computer with windows ofc), If you scroll down a bit on the webpage you will have instructions on using the tool (Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC) (You also have instructions on how to install windows to a new PC if you don't know). Then while installing skip anywhere you are prompted for a Key and you will have windows with the watermark unchangeable background and personalization settings locked.

[Princess Luna]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

I think 2933mhz or 3000mhz is the sweet spot.

For Ryzen you "defeat" the Infinity Fabric limitation once you reach 2933mhz which is the more precise number for 3000mhz frequency, Ryzen can still see performance increase up to 3666mhz but once you pass 3200mhz it is almost impossible to get the timings right to still benefit.

 

Intel based systems overclock memory much easier, even a decent 2666mhz stick could potentially be overclocked to 3200mhz which also is the sweet spot for Intel.

 

Bottom line is get either 3000mhz or 3200mhz sticks and try running it at 3200mhz, but if you end up locked on 2933mhz you're already getting the most fps bump you could be getting.

 

Intel once you go over 4000mhz you start actually hurting performance as timings get all over the place, for Ryzen as stated performance starts getting hurt past 3666mhz even though getting there by itself is bloody difficult already.

[just_dave]

1 hour ago, Reiidar said:

MSI B350M PRO-VDH

ahem

get asrock ab350m pro4

[Ordinarily_Greater]

Get something better for the motherboard like AsRock X370 Gaming X

[Reiidar]

10 hours ago, dave_k said:

ahem

get asrock ab350m pro4

I've checked with the retailer and the only asrock board they have is for the X370, however they do have higher end b350 boards from MSI , Asus, and Gigabyte. What should I be looking for? (After all you wouldn't recommend getting a better board without a reason)

[Reiidar]

8 hours ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

Get something better for the motherboard like AsRock X370 Gaming X

I'm on a budget and am not really in need for an X370 board. Would a higher end b350 be doable as well?

[just_dave]

1 minute ago, Reiidar said:

I've checked with the retailer and the only asrock board they have is for the X370, however they do have higher end b350 boards from MSI , Asus, and Gigabyte. What should I be looking for? (After all you wouldn't recommend getting a better board without a reason)

Get ATX mobo, bcoz you have ATX case.

Look for Asus Prime B350 Plus

[Reiidar]

11 hours ago, epic_ziver_D said:

First of all im quite sure you choose some RAM that is uses a SODIMM connector and I would recommend getting regular DIMM (they aren't compatible unless you buy some adapter). Second to install windows for free you go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 then click Download Tool Now (Do this on a computer with windows ofc), If you scroll down a bit on the webpage you will have instructions on using the tool (Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC) (You also have instructions on how to install windows to a new PC if you don't know). Then while installing skip anywhere you are prompted for a Key and you will have windows with the watermark unchangeable background and personalization settings locked.

Okay I did not notice that I picked out a non-regular ram my bad. So basically I could hold on getting a licensed version of windows to have more money to spend on getting better RAM and Motherboard? (tl:dr save getting licensed copy later, use money for better parts.)

[Sanctorum]

Get a Coffee Lake i3 or Ryzen 5 1400 with a GTX 1070. Those are going to be the best components for 1440p to keep the cost down. An RX 580 or 6GB 1060 would be absolute minimum for GPU, but 1070 is by far the better option.

[Reiidar]

4 minutes ago, dave_k said:

Get ATX mobo, bcoz you have ATX case.

Look for Asus Prime B350 Plus

Okay I managed to find one for ~$20 more. To sum it up I would need to get faster memory and HDD, an ATX mobo, then I could hold on getting a licensed windows so I can spend more on better components. Cooling wise would AMD's stock cooler be enough for this? (My current workload does not demand overclocking)

[just_dave]

1 minute ago, Reiidar said:

Okay I managed to find one for ~$20 more. To sum it up I would need to get faster memory and HDD, an ATX mobo, then I could hold on getting a licensed windows so I can spend more on better components. Cooling wise would AMD's stock cooler be enough for this? (My current workload does not demand overclocking)

Yep. It it is nice and even can do some small OC

[Reiidar]

7 minutes ago, dave_k said:

Yep. It it is nice and even can do some small OC

Okay so my concern now is the monitor, above (Build 1) I found a 32" Viewsonic 2560 x 1440 60Hz for around $335, 27" AOC 1080p 144Hz for $345, and a 27" Viewsonic 1080p 144Hz with f-sync for $380. I've never experienced using a 144Hz monitor before with this tentative build what would be the best choice? (After all it's significantly harder to upgrade a monitor than a cpu, ram, cooling, etc.)

Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 Mid Tower @ ₱3,700.00            

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 3.20-3.60Ghz 6-Core Processor   @ ₱11,040.00         

MOBO: Asus Prime B350 Plus @   ₱5,700.00            

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1070 Aorus 8GB (GV-N1070AORUS-8GD) @  ₱26,000.00         

RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 16gb 2x8GB 3200Mhz   @  ₱9,450.00            

HDD: Seagate Firecuda 2TB 7200rpm 64MB @ ₱5,650.00            

SSD: Crucial MX300 M.2 275gb (CT275MX300SSD4) @ ₱5,500.00            

PSU: Corsair CX600 600W 80Plus Bronze Power Supply  @   ₱3,540.00            

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 HOME 64-bit oem  (License on hold so no cost for now)       

Monitor: TBD
Current total: ₱70,580.00 or ~$1411

[Ordinarily_Greater]

10 hours ago, Reiidar said:

I'm on a budget and am not really in need for an X370 board. Would a higher end b350 be doable as well?

a Asus B350-F Strix is top of the line B350 board at the Asrock X370 Gaming X Price