Attempting to build a new(er) PC

[HunterKYA]

A couple weeks ago, I got it in my head that I wanted to start building another PC. I've got a fair amount of money stashed away, though it isn't nearly enough to spend frivolously on the latest and greatest, but enough for some moderate gaming and other tasks. My current setup, astonishingly enough, has gone nearly 4 years without much of any hiccups, aside from a couple minor upgrades of cases, fans, and PSU. It's only been within the past year or so that I noticed my system has begun lagging, especially when it comes to more recently released games. After having watched a good number of tech videos on YouTube, I recalled hearing about a website called PCPartPicker, and felt I could give it a shot to see what I could put together, given that my budget is within the $750 range.

I originally wanted to put together an AMD build, and here's what I came up with:

Mid-range 2017 Gaming Rig Build

Then as I began to delve into it, I came to the conclusion that the AM3+ chipset, while still viable in many respects, is showing its age, in both its power-hungry CPUs and the mixed reviews of its motherboards of late. Even some of the boards manufacturers have produced within the past couple years, to fill the gap until AMD released Ryzen, are more hit-or-miss.

It wasn't until within the last day, that the thought came to mind: What if I could put together a budget-friendly Intel setup? Here's what I put together:

Budget Intro to Intel 2017

Unlike the AMD build, finding the parts were relatively simple, seeing that I transferred much of the same hardware over that was compatible between rigs. This is to act as an initial introduction to Intel, being that I've always run my computers on AMD platforms, but this will give me some flexibility, and possible future upgradability to higher end CPUs.

The PSU is a placeholder, for the time being, for a EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750 that's been running solidly since I got it about 3 years ago, and was planning to move it over to the new build, should I decide to. It's also noticeable that one of the more crucial aspects of a computer, the video card, is missing. The reason is that, after looking through the newer video cards, even the moderately priced cards of $150-225, they would've swelled my current budget beyond what I could afford, and felt the MSI R9 270 I have presently can soldier on for a few more months, until I can afford a reasonably priced 4-6 GB card to replace it. And you'll also notice, how the OS is missing as well. The reason for it is in the same vein as the video card: cost. When I have the money, I'll be looking to upgrade to either Windows 8.1 or 10.

[karamazovmm]

In truth if you arent going to wait on ryzen R5, its a no brainer to go for the intel build, its cheaper and doesnt need the aftermarket cooler, so you save another 35 bucks. A fair advice is that you dont need an aftermarket cooler for the ryzen chip as well, despite the overclock potential

Regarding PSUs, Im on the opinion that if they are working, keep it. however if you are still inclined to perform the change, to keep the other pc working, you can choose a cheaper lower wattage psu, like this one https://pcpartpicker.com/product/g63...ly-120g10650xr

For your build there is really no need for a psu over 200w actually, anything above that is just for the efficiency rating.

Actually given your parts selection, we can shove all those parts in a very very small package like a 4L case like this one http://nfc-systems.com/s4-mini/, instead of your 54L design.

Please disregard that if you arent into small things that are powerful, its a passion of mine.

[HunterKYA]

Funnily enough, the PSU you selected, was the original I'd picked for the AMD build. But when it comes to the PSUs, there's that tendency to go overkill; however, there's something comforting in choosing a unit I'll have no chance of overloading. Call me cautious, though it's better to be safe than sorry.

As far as Ryzens are concerned, from what I've seen, the lower-end R5 would be the upper echelon of what I could afford, and was debating about whether to hold off on upgrading until the R3 specs were released.

[karamazovmm]

Funnily enough, the PSU you selected, was the original I'd picked for the AMD build. But when it comes to the PSUs, there's that tendency to go overkill; however, there's something comforting in choosing a unit I'll have no chance of overloading. Call me cautious, though it's better to be safe than sorry.

Thats really a good thought, however there is basically no need at all.

You learn regarding those things when you enter the Small Form Factor (SFF) world, for example here is the next "PSU" that I want to buy



That goes in the 24 pin of the mobo, and thats it. it can provide 400w, which is enough for a i7 7700k + 980, with room to spare.

Regarding the choice for PSU, I choose simply the one that was cheaper and above 300w, knowing that you wouldnt take the 300w unit, I chose the next larger one.

As far as Ryzens are concerned, from what I've seen, the lower-end R5 would be the upper echelon of what I could afford, and was debating about whether to hold off on upgrading until the R3 specs were released.

And how much is your budget?

The R5 appear to be a fine choice as currently as it is, I'm probably going to take either the r5 1600 or the r7 1700, for my next Small Form Factor (SFF) build, however Im still waiting on the mITX boards to surface for that. And this is all going to be in a 3.24L case, with probably a GTX 1070 or a newer card.

Talking about volume we always forget how tiny things can be, here is pic that shows that 3.24L chassis



Again sorry for the SFF talk


And that pentium is fine choice for a buget conscious build.

[Love Mountain]

Regarding the power supply selection, it's not really about how many "watts" you have or going overkill. What you really want is a high-efficiency and highly-reputable power supply in order to be "safe". If your goal is to have a reliable machine that you will own for years than investing in "quality" components will involve sacrificing on performance. It's worth it though in my opinion. If it's not time sensitive I would also suggest buying parts slowly, maybe even taking up to two months to put everything together. You can find better deals and you can also increase your budget.

[karamazovmm]

Regarding the power supply selection, it's not really about how many "watts" you have or going overkill. What you really want is a high-efficiency and highly-reputable power supply in order to be "safe". If your goal is to have a reliable machine that you will own for years than investing in "quality" components will involve sacrificing on performance. It's worth it though in my opinion. If it's not time sensitive I would also suggest buying parts slowly, maybe even taking up to two months to put everything together. You can find better deals and you can also increase your budget.

High efficiency = 80+ certification - above gold there platinum and now titanium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus

reliability depends on the ODM, and truly avoid minor brands is enough these days, since the launch of haswell, the low performance psus have basically gone extinct due to the ripple control that the new atx standard demanded from that CPU family.

The ODM on that particular model EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W is FSP, which is damn good ODM and their design is usually very solid. I have bought some psu from them before and they have behaved quite well, my current one is from them.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory5&reid=442

[HunterKYA]

If it's not time sensitive I would also suggest buying parts slowly, maybe even taking up to two months to put everything together. You can find better deals and you can also increase your budget.

I'd thought of trying to get everything at once, but soon realized, once the price of the build began rising, I figured doing a little at a time was best. My idea, was to buy the components which were the least expensive beforehand, like the case, fans, CPU cooler, and maybe the CPU if I felt so inclined; then I'd purchase the motherboard, video card, PSU, and drives as time went on.

Something else I've been asking myself: Is a sound card necessary? Call me old school, but after all this time, I'm still skeptical about the quality of onboard audio and feel more apt to having a dedicated sound card instead. Last time I needed a motherboard, which was years ago, onboard audio had a terrible rep, and is one of the reasons I'm hesitant towards upgrading without a card.

[z3n]

1) AMD CPU's - be VERY careful about the number of cores that processor has. On older games or even relatively new ones you're really in for it. Definitely look into getting a better/more balanced processor with 4 or less cores (I have a 3770k for example which was top of the line back then but a 3570k was almost as good and cost significantly less at the time).

2) You don't need to mix and match graphics cards like that - AMD card + Intel CPU doesn't matter really, money is money and they're not going to GIMP their own product to make you not buy it in the future.

[HunterKYA]

1) AMD CPU's - be VERY careful about the number of cores that processor has. On older games or even relatively new ones you're really in for it. Definitely look into getting a better/more balanced processor with 4 or less cores (I have a 3770k for example which was top of the line back then but a 3570k was almost as good and cost significantly less at the time).

If I wanted to keep an AMD setup, I could easily forego a higher-end CPU, seeing that I'm already running an FX-6300, whose abilities are only limited by the video card. The trouble I've had is finding a suitable MoBo, but have run into a hitch of sorts, in that many of the 970 FX and 990 FX boards I've come across have gotten average or above average reviews.

2) You don't need to mix and match graphics cards like that - AMD card + Intel CPU doesn't matter really, money is money and they're not going to GIMP their own product to make you not buy it in the future.

I'm still playing around with finding a GPU that wouldn't break the bank. I have no preference towards NVidia or AMD, as long as it's good enough to do what I need of it.

[z3n]

Yep CPU's within the past 5 years or so have really slowed down in terms of mattering for games however if you do end up buying a new CPU don't ever go past 4 cores, 6 cores is just barely adequate and 8 cores is off the wall. Software is written to handle 4 or less cores, they just don't write it for that many cores/threads most of the time.

I'm still playing around with finding a GPU that wouldn't break the bank. I have no preference towards NVidia or AMD, as long as it's good enough to do what I need of it.

Okay cool, at first I'd thought you were one of the people who change the graphics card on an intel machine to nvidia from AMD.

[HunterKYA]

I went ahead and ordered a mid-tower case, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M, a couple of days ago. The one thing I'm left debating is whether to purchase an ATX or mini-ATX motherboard. On one side, with a mini-ATX, I have all the features I essentially need for my build, at a fraction of the price; however, with an ATX, it affords me the luxury of expanding and upgrading in the future, should I want that is.

[karamazovmm]

I went ahead and ordered a mid-tower case, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M, a couple of days ago. The one thing I'm left debating is whether to purchase an ATX or mini-ATX motherboard. On one side, with a mini-ATX, I have all the features I essentially need for my build, at a fraction of the price; however, with an ATX, it affords me the luxury of expanding and upgrading in the future, should I want that is.

There is hardly anything that the MATX doesnt offer that the ATX does. You gain a couple of slots and thats it.

Beware of the MOBO that you buy if it fits your needs, AKA, if it will have everything that you want in it, MATX is a filled with cheaper boards that have some cutdown features, however if you dont need much, they will have everything for you there.

For example mine is a gigabyte H97m D3H http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/G...-HD3-rev-11#ov

it fills my needs, I dont need another pcie x16 slot for another gpu, I have all the IO I need and thats what i bought.

[HunterKYA]

There is hardly anything that the MATX doesnt offer that the ATX does. You gain a couple of slots and thats it.

Beware of the MOBO that you buy if it fits your needs, AKA, if it will have everything that you want in it, MATX is a filled with cheaper boards that have some cutdown features, however if you dont need much, they will have everything for you there.

Throughout my research, I found that MSI seems to be making the most reliable mATX boards right now, especially with their newest B250 series. Though something else I've learned, is to avoid nearly anything made by ASRock, which can turn out a good board every now and again, but they're mostly below average with the rest.

[HunterKYA]

Since ordering the case, the only other item(s) I've ordered have been the case fans. What's kept me from ordering more, has been odds and ends that have chipped away at my personal budget, but mostly that I've been indecisive towards what hardware. I've flip flopped so much about whether to get a 4 or 6 GB video card. along with if I wanted 8 or 16 GB of memory, because I'm doing my best to make this build cost effective while not going overboard.

[karamazovmm]

Since ordering the case, the only other item(s) I've ordered have been the case fans. What's kept me from ordering more, has been odds and ends that have chipped away at my personal budget, but mostly that I've been indecisive towards what hardware. I've flip flopped so much about whether to get a 4 or 6 GB video card. along with if I wanted 8 or 16 GB of memory, because I'm doing my best to make this build cost effective while not going overboard.

in terms of future proof the 6gb GPU is going to make more sense. however it depends if it can actually use and deliver in the long term, aka, if its a 1070 or upwards it would make a difference. Although it can be said that the 1060 does offer more power if more vram is there.

check your ram usage and go from there. thats basically it.

I use 16gb of ram, but I do have 3 CAD apps open and other more resource intensive stuff, I'm actually thinking of going 32gb in the next build. But as I said, check your ram usage, and see what you need.

[z3n]

Never listen to people telling you to not future proof things, and I agree with karamazovmm 6GB is better. I still have my trusty 6GB titans which are future proofed in the sense that mass effect andromeda was using a good 3.8-4.1 GB of VRAM on ultra while people were saying 'you only need 2GB of VRAM!!!' to people back at the time.