Gaming PC

Jwilks · August 6, 2018

1. Budget & Location

For the whole build minus the GPU and Ram, I'd like to be under 550$. I live in the US, in Florida.

2. Aim

The aim of the PC is to play causal games on steam, along with games like pubg, and rocket league. I would like the PC to be good for web browsing and just basic day to day workflow as well.

3. Monitors

I already have a monitor that is at 1920x1080 60hz 21.5 inches, and I don't plan on getting more monitors in the future.

4. Peripherals

Mouse and keyboard are already purchased. I already have windows as well.

Additional Notes:

I have a part listing here. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LxbMTB and I was just wondering what Graphics card and ram should I buy because I don't want to bottle neck this PC. Is this a good build in general or is there some improvements I could make. I plan on getting a 1060 or 1070 for the GPU, and 32 GB of ram for memory.

Any help would be great! Thank you.

pcmr2066 · August 6, 2018

43 minutes ago, Jwilks said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LxbMTB

There are quite some issues with this build.

1.) The i5-6400 is a 6th gen Processor and is kinda weak for today's standards. We are already at Intel's 8th gen, and going 9th gen this year. The 8th gen right now isn't much more expensive than 6th gen, but is a lot faster.

2.) The chosen CPU cooler isn't good for the build. The temps would be better than stock, but it won't lead to any performance gain at all. As a rule of thumb, locked i5 CPUs don't really need aftermarket coolers.

3.) A Z series motherboard is not a good fit for this kind of system. Their main highlight is the ability to overclock unlocked processors, but you're choosing a locked processor apparently. I would suggest that you get a cheaper board on the revision.

4.) You will be wanting an SSD. Even the bare minimum 120gb would make a loads ton of difference in the general snappiness of the system.

5.) Your chosen PSU is in the range of bad per se. It would work okay, but I'd recommend spending the little extra for a much better PSU.

43 minutes ago, Jwilks said:

I plan on getting a 1060 or 1070 for the GPU, and 32 GB of ram for memory.

16gb is the sweet spot for almost anything you would do to a PC. 32gb is quite too much right now.

I've made you a draft build below to consider. I didn't include a monitor anymore since you said you have one already.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - T-Force Delta RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Inland - Professional 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - Radeon RX 580 8GB DUAL Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool - DUKASE V2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $757.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-06 18:32 EDT-0400

Some OC notes about this build:

1.) 3.6 to 3.7ghz is a reasonable overlock for this build. You can try 3.8, but that's probably not the best idea.

2.) Make sure that the RAM is running at it's rated speeds through bios. I would suggest that you manually input the frequency and timings instead of using XMP. You would usually find the timings on the sticker sticked on the packaging.

3.) As for the GPU, just OC it the normal way

Queen Chrysalis · August 6, 2018

5 minutes ago, pcmr2066 said:

There are quite some issues with this build.

1.) The i5-6400 is a 6th gen Processor and is kinda weak for today's standards. We are already at Intel's 8th gen, and going 9th gen this year. The 8th gen right now isn't much more expensive than 6th gen, but is a lot faster.

2.) The chosen CPU cooler isn't good for the build. The temps would be better than stock, but it won't lead to any performance gain at all. As a rule of thumb, locked i5 CPUs don't really need aftermarket coolers.

3.) A Z series motherboard is not a good fit for this kind of system. Their main highlight is the ability to overclock unlocked processors, but you're choosing a locked processor apparently. I would suggest that you get a cheaper board on the revision.

4.) You will be wanting an SSD. Even the bare minimum 120gb would make a loads ton of difference in the general snappiness of the system.

5.) Your chosen PSU is in the range of bad per se. It would work okay, but I'd recommend spending the little extra for a much better PSU.

16gb is the sweet spot for almost anything you would do to a PC. 32gb is quite too much right now.

I've made you a draft build below to consider. I didn't include a monitor anymore since you said you have one already.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - T-Force Delta RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Inland - Professional 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($24.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - Radeon RX 580 8GB DUAL Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool - DUKASE V2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $757.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-06 18:32 EDT-0400

The 2600 is only 10 bucks more and its a pretty notable upgrade. Also, that SSD is gonna be slow. Go with something at least from Patriot or Team. Also, i'd go with the b350 m Pro4 mATX with a coolermaster masterboxc lite 3.1. Otherwise this is a decent build. Then again there are better 580s that would be close in price. The XFX black core is pretty decently priced, as is the lesser XXX edition. The sapphire nitro has also been pretty decently priced as of late. Even a gigabyte windforce would perform better than that asus dual.