Building my first PC, feedback?

[Wolfbiscuits]

1. Budget & Location

Hey everyone! This is going to be my first post here. I'm planning my first ever PC build right now and I was wondering if what I'm doing makes sense. I like to believe that I've watched enough build videos and LTT videos to know what I'm doing, but a second opinion is never a bad idea, right? I don't really have a fixed budget, but I'd be ok with spending around €1100 (I'm from the Netherlands) (give or take about €100, not counting peripherals and monitor).

 

2. Aim

The purpose of the pc will mainly be gaming (all kinds of titles, from more simple games like the Binding Of Isaac to the Witcher 3 and other demanding triple A titles). I'm not planning anything fancy like streaming or editing, mostly because of the cost associated with that.

 

3. Monitors

I was planning to go with a simple single 1080p monitor setup (maybe an upgrade to QHD later down the line). Basically something cheap.

 

4. Peripherals & OS

No fancy expensive keyboards or mice. Not straight out of the door anyway.

For the OS I'll try to use the key from my current machine (windows 10). I am however not expecting it to work, since it came pre-installed. In that case I'll be getting windows 10 from kinguin (or use an old physical copy of Windows XP that I have lying around if all else fails ).

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

The main reason I'm doing this build is because my laptop isn't doing too swell as my main rig. Full explanation in the spoiler. It basically turned into a novel, so I won't blame you if you didn't read it. TL;DR Noisy, slow, hot, broken laptop that I will not upgrade but keep as a somewhat flawed travel companion until it gives up the ghost.

Spoiler

Story on that: I currently have an MSI Apache Pro with a GTX 960M which has been temperamental ever since I bought it. After a few months of ownership one of the fins on one of the fans broke off and was creating horribly loud and obnoxious scraping noises. I could however not send my laptop away to MSI at that time since I needed it for school, so I bought replacement fans off of ebay and fixed them myself.

 

When I opened the plastic cover it cracked slightly at the front and the two screws in the front two corners are not doing anything since the plastic housing which they thread into both broke at some point (which I assume was ultimately the cause of the scraping noises and the broken fin in the first place). After replacing the fans and the thermal paste and closing the back cover, it seems that the bottom right corner of the cover doesn't close properly anymore (possibly broke a plastic clip?). That, coupled with the broken threads inside, makes it that you can easily open up the bottom right corner of the laptop with just a single finger.

 

Next problem I have with it is that it can get hot. Really hot. And before you start, yes, I applied a proper amount of thermal paste of a respectable quality (Arctic MX-4) and during normal tasks (assuming the battery plan and MSI Shift mode are both on balanced) it's fine. But as soon as you put it on high performance, or gaming mode, or just play something like Overwatch for a while, temperatures tend to reach around 80 degrees C. Which might be expected of a laptop, but the hotspot is (idiotically) right on the WASD keys, making it uncomfortable to play for extended periods unless you turn on the extremely noisy turbo fans.

 

Next issue that nags me is the lack of an SSD and the performance of the 960M. It only has a 1TB HDD. Startup seems to take a literal century. My friends told me to fit it with an SSD but I'd rather not open it up again since the plastic cover is pretty broken as is. Also the performance of the 960M is not really all that bad necessarily, but modern titles are getting harder and harder to play at decent settings above 40 FPS.

 

So instead of upgrading my laptop with an ssd like some people suggested, I'm just going to keep it as a secondary workstation for when I travel (which I do less of now that I don't go to school anymore) and just wear it out like that.

The objective:

I care about looks as much as about function. My objective is to build a gaming pc with a classy, dark and stealthy aesthetic. No RGB and flashy colors, some white LED's are fine tho, like the Aorus logo.

The parts:

Case: Fractal Design Meshify C (Dark tempered glass) - €85.00 - I fell in love with this case. I saw a video of it on youtube and that was one of the main triggers that made me want to do a build in the first place. Cable management seems really good, the styling is (in my humble opinion) the best I've ever seen in a case, airflow is great and it isn't that expensive.

Motherboard: X470 board - ~€120.00 - To go with the new generation Ryzen CPU. I'll check back on the pricing and availability in a few weeks.

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 - ~€199.00 - The Ryzen 5 2600 is a good mid range cpu and the stock cooler looks good compared to intel's.

RAM: Some ram, subtly colored 16GB (or 2x8GB) - ~€160.00 (€110.00 used) - Thinking about getting the RAM used.

GPU: Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1060 6GB - ~€370.00 (around €280.00 used) - Also thinking about getting this used. I'm still debating whether or not to buy a GTX 1050 Ti or 1070 instead.

 

CPU Cooler: AMD Wraith Spire Stock Cooler - Comes with the CPU and looks way better than intel's stock cooler.

 

PSU: Cooler Master Masterwatt 550 - €61.00 - After getting advice from here, I've decided to upgrade from a 450 to a 550W power supply.

Case fans: 4x be quiet! Pure Wings 2 120 mm - €43.80 - These are for the front of the case as intakes and one in the back as exhaust. The two Fractal Dynamic X2's that come with the case will function as top mounted exhausts. This is because of aesthetic reasons. I want uniform fans front and rear. The top fans are less visible, so they won't ruin what I'm going for.

SSD: Crucial MX500 SSD 250GB - €74.00 - Decided to downgrade from M.2 to regular SATA for the SSD

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 3 TB - €83.95 - This should be enough storage to last me a while.

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice on this build plan.

[Streetguru]

8 minutes ago, Wolfbiscuits said:

€370.00

That sounds like it's double what it should cost, grab a GTX 1050ti if it's significantly cheaper

You won't need extra fans

Buy a wireless card with an antenna you can move, and probably one that supports up to Wireless A

Wait for Ryzen 2 on April 19th, 10% performance bump

Maybe put the money saved on the GPU into an 8 core CPU.

Buy the Masterwatt 550W minimum.

[Mi26]

Get Ryzen 2 instead of the first generation since it overclocked higher than first generation 

[DocSwag]

I would suggest waiting for the r5 2600 and x470 and using the stock cooler instead. If you're gaming though, an i5 8400 would probably be a better bet, though you should probably wait for 2600 reviews. Also get a better psu like cxm grey sticker or masterwatt.

 

It sounds like you're only gaming, so save yourself some money and get a sata ssd like the mx500 instead. Nvme isn't helpful for boot times and app launch times so quite frankly it's a waste of money.

[garyhogan1991]

As said above I would scrap NVMe and go with an SSD. Boot times are similar and you could save about €50-60 straight off the bat.

And with that case the SSD can be tucked away out if sight behind back panel.

[Wolfbiscuits]

7 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

That sounds like it's double what it should cost, grab a GTX 1050ti if it's significantly cheaper

You won't need extra fans

Buy a wireless card with an antenna you can move, and probably one that supports up to Wireless A

Wait for Ryzen 2 on April 19th, 10% performance bump

Maybe put the money saved on the GPU into an 8 core CPU.

Buy the Masterwatt 550W minimum.

Hi! Thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate your feedback. I'll definitely look into getting a 550W PSU.

And since everyone seems to say the same thing online, I'll definitely go for the 2600 as well.

I'll have to consider downgrading on the gpu. I'll always be able to upgrade at a later time.

 

7 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

I would suggest waiting for the r5 2600 and x470 and using the stock cooler instead. If you're gaming though, an i5 8400 would probably be a better bet, though you should probably wait for 2600 reviews. Also get a better psu like cxm grey sticker or masterwatt.

 

It sounds like you're only gaming, so save yourself some money and get a sata ssd like the mx500 instead. Nvme isn't helpful for boot times and app launch times so quite frankly it's a waste of money.

Thanks for the tips. How's the performance of the stock cooler?

I personally think I'm going to go with Ryzen on the cpu choice though.

 

 

I appreciate you guys' assistance on the matter. I'm pretty new when it comes to PC building and general computer knowledge so I'm happy with all the cost-saving tips you guys gave me.

[DocSwag]

22 minutes ago, Wolfbiscuits said:

Hi! Thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate your feedback. I'll definitely look into getting a 550W PSU.

And since everyone seems to say the same thing online, I'll definitely go for the 2600 as well.

I'll have to consider downgrading on the gpu. I'll always be able to upgrade at a later time.

 

Thanks for the tips. How's the performance of the stock cooler?

I personally think I'm going to go with Ryzen on the cpu choice though.

 

 

I appreciate you guys' assistance on the matter. I'm pretty new when it comes to PC building and general computer knowledge so I'm happy with all the cost-saving tips you guys gave me.

It's pretty good, and comparable to a cheap air cooler like the 212 evo

[HayHay]

Few tips, don't go for the X370 if you're not going to use SLI. Sure, it gives a slight boost in performance but not enough to justify a much higher cost! If you are going to use the 1600, go with the ASRock Pro 4! It has wifi on board so you won't need the extra adapter. I honestly doubt you'd be able to get SLI to run anytime soon because of the crazy GPU prices. By the time they fall (personally I think sometime during winter this year), AMD would begin teasing Zen 2 processors and it would be better to save for an upgrade rather than extra GPU. Also, Nvidia might release a new architecture this year so keep that in mind as well. 

If you're going Ryzen 2600, get an X470 motherboard. You'd get much better performance for about the same price, especially cause those boards are meant for the 2000 series!

[Wolfbiscuits]

7 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

It's pretty good, and comparable to a cheap air cooler like the 212 evo

Nice. With the SATA and the stock cooler, I'll be able to save around €70. Not bad. €270 even if I decide to go with the 1050Ti instead.

AMD has the benefit over intel with how the stock cooler looks. The Wraith Spire is not a bad looking cooler. I'd never go with the intel stock cooler

 

7 minutes ago, HayHay said:

Few tips, don't go for the X370 if you're not going to use SLI. Sure, it gives a slight boost in performance but not enough to justify a much higher cost! If you are going to use the 1600, go with the ASRock Pro 4! It has wifi on board so you won't need the extra adapter. I honestly doubt you'd be able to get SLI to run anytime soon because of the crazy GPU prices. By the time they fall (personally I think sometime during winter this year), AMD would begin teasing Zen 2 processors and it would be better to save for an upgrade rather than extra GPU. Also, Nvidia might release a new architecture this year so keep that in mind as well. 

If you're going Ryzen 2600, get an X470 motherboard. You'd get much better performance for about the same price, especially cause those boards are meant for the 2000 series!

Thanks for that. It seems like for now X470 boards are a little on the expensive side. I still have to scrounge up part of the money for my build, so by the time I have it, I'll see what the situation is like then.

[HayHay]

Just now, Wolfbiscuits said:

Nice. With the SATA and the stock cooler, I'll be able to save around €70. Not bad. €270 even if I decide to go with the 1050Ti instead.

AMD has the benefit over intel with how the stock cooler looks. The Wraith Spire is not a bad looking cooler. I'd never go with the intel stock cooler

 

Thanks for that. It seems like for now X470 boards are a little on the expensive side. I still have to scrounge up part of the money for my build, so by the time I have it, I'll see what the situation is like then.

They aren't too much more expensive! However, if you don't start your build in the next month ish, maybe you could wait for the B450 motherboards to come out? That could be less expensive and give you all the features you need minus SLI and dual NVMe M.2!

[Streetguru]

5 minutes ago, Wolfbiscuits said:

 

If you're in the process of saving up for a PC you can always just buy a really cheap/basic R3 2200G system to get started, you'd still be on AM4 and all that.

[HayHay]

Oh, also, for the GPU, if you go with the GTX 1060 or above, you can buy it for stock price from Nvidia's site directly! Not too sure outside the U.S. but it's definitely a thing for us.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/10series/geforce-gtx-1060/

Just keep a look out for stock and you can snag it at the right time!

[HayHay]

Just now, Streetguru said:

If you're in the process of saving up for a PC you can always just buy a really cheap/basic R3 2200G system to get started, you'd still be on AM4 and all that.

It depends on the use case tbh. If they want to stream/photo & video edit, the 1600/2600 with discreet GPU is much better. 

[Wolfbiscuits]

3 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

If you're in the process of saving up for a PC you can always just buy a really cheap/basic R3 2200G system to get started, you'd still be on AM4 and all that.

Luckily I still have my laptop, so I'm not in a desperate need of a pc. I'd rather get what I want the first time. If I build a cheap system first and then upgrade to what I want, I'll spend more money in the end.

[Dah budget gamer666]

This build looks pretty decent and good, except for the GPU and the PSU.

 

For the PSU get something at minimum 500Watts, as for the GPU get a GTX 1070 used.

I am also from the Netherlands, so i can find some used GTX 1070's for you.

Here are the sites where you can buy the for cheap:

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/MSI-GTX-1070-Armor-8GB/292520687375?hash=item441b97770f:g:KrEAAOSwQltazuVU

 

This one is bang for the buck, a GTX 1070 TI for 375 euros: https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-en-software/videokaarten/m1274900513-geforce-gtx-1070-ti.html?c=be2da871b0d84f75c3056cc6db858f31&previousPage=lr

 

https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-en-software/videokaarten/m1275953028-galax-geforxe-gtx-1070-videokaatt.html?c=be2da871b0d84f75c3056cc6db858f31&previousPage=lr

 

Find many more at marktplaats from trusted sellers.

 

find here for cheap GTX 1070's and GTX 1060's: https://tweakers.net/categorie/49/videokaarten/aanbod/#filter:q1YqKMpMTvVNrFCyMjY31VEqLkhNdsvMKUktKlayqlYyMgKRZYk5SlbRSoYGhkbGSjpKlpYGxkqxtbW1AA

 

Or get this used GTX 980Ti 6GB GDDR5, GTX 980Ti is 37% faster than the GTX 1060 6GB.

https://nl.webuy.com/product-detail?id=sgranvi980tigtx6gba

 

 

[Wolfbiscuits]

48 minutes ago, Dah budget gamer666 said:

This build looks pretty decent and good, except for the GPU and the PSU.

 

For the PSU get something at minimum 500Watts, as for the GPU get a GTX 1070 used.

I am also from the Netherlands, so i can find some used GTX 1070's for you.

Here are the sites where you can buy the for cheap:

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/MSI-GTX-1070-Armor-8GB/292520687375?hash=item441b97770f:g:KrEAAOSwQltazuVU

 

This one is bang for the buck, a GTX 1070 TI for 375 euros: https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-en-software/videokaarten/m1274900513-geforce-gtx-1070-ti.html?c=be2da871b0d84f75c3056cc6db858f31&previousPage=lr

 

https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-en-software/videokaarten/m1275953028-galax-geforxe-gtx-1070-videokaatt.html?c=be2da871b0d84f75c3056cc6db858f31&previousPage=lr

 

Find many more at marktplaats from trusted sellers.

 

find here for cheap GTX 1070's and GTX 1060's: https://tweakers.net/categorie/49/videokaarten/aanbod/#filter:q1YqKMpMTvVNrFCyMjY31VEqLkhNdsvMKUktKlayqlYyMgKRZYk5SlbRSoYGhkbGSjpKlpYGxkqxtbW1AA

 

Or get this used GTX 980Ti 6GB GDDR5, GTX 980Ti is 37% faster than the GTX 1060 6GB.

https://nl.webuy.com/product-detail?id=sgranvi980tigtx6gba

 

 

Thanks for that! I've already been looking into used GPU's on sites like Marktplaats. Do you think the upgrade to 1070 would be worth the extra cost?

[Dah budget gamer666]

19 minutes ago, Wolfbiscuits said:

Thanks for that! I've already been looking into used GPU's on sites like Marktplaats. Do you think the upgrade to 1070 would be worth the extra cost?

Yes since the GTX 1070 is  almost 40% faster than the GTX 1060 6GB, and you will benefit from the extra 2GB VRAM.

gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1070-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB/3609vs3639

[Dah budget gamer666]

Here is a video about GTX 1070 vs GTX 1060:

Edit: and it will be future proof 

[Wolfbiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Dah budget gamer666 said:

Here is a video about GTX 1070 vs GTX 1060:

Edit: and it will be future proof 

I'll see if I can find a used one for a decent price then. If not I can always upgrade later.

[Dah budget gamer666]

Yes, if it fits under ur budget grab the GTX 1070, if not get the GTX 1060 6GB.

[Wolfbiscuits]

Small update, My paycheck is finally coming in, and I've got my mind set on everything but the GPU.

I already bought the Meshify C Case.

For the CPU I've decided on the R5 2600X instead of the 2600

PSU will be a 650W one with Gold 80 Plus, possibly either corsair or cooler master.

Cooling wise I've decided on going with a Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B cpu cooler, and Fractal Design X2's for case fans.

 

My main issue I have now is with choosing a GPU. I checked Amazon, and I saw multiple 980 Ti's for sale for €210 - €262 (+ €5 shipping). As a comparison, that's about the price of a new 1050 Ti, and maybe the cheapest 1060 3GB in my country.

 

So is this smart? Or should I save up for a (less powerful but newer) 1060?

[Dah budget gamer666]

On 17-7-2018 at 3:30 PM, Wolfbiscuits said:

Small update, My paycheck is finally coming in, and I've got my mind set on everything but the GPU.

I already bought the Meshify C Case.

For the CPU I've decided on the R5 2600X instead of the 2600

PSU will be a 650W one with Gold 80 Plus, possibly either corsair or cooler master.

Cooling wise I've decided on going with a Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B cpu cooler, and Fractal Design X2's for case fans.

 

My main issue I have now is with choosing a GPU. I checked Amazon, and I saw multiple 980 Ti's for sale for €210 - €262 (+ €5 shipping). As a comparison, that's about the price of a new 1050 Ti, and maybe the cheapest 1060 3GB in my country.

 

So is this smart? Or should I save up for a (less powerful but newer) 1060?

GTX 980 TI is the faster than GTX 1050 TI and GTX 1060 3GB, grab the GTX 980 TI and you will be fine.

If u want a new GPU get the GTX 1060 3GB. GTX 1050 TI is way less powerfull than GTX 1060 3GB and GTX 980 TI.