Computer Build Recommendations

themadman on 11/07/2018 - 12:43
Last edited 11/07/2018 - 12:43

Thinking of going with this as my build and curious to get some feedback (both on quality and price)

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 ~$250
GPU: GTX 1060 6GB ~$350
RAM: CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 16GB Kit 3000MHz C15 ~$240 on Amazon AU
Mobo: Asrock AB350 Pro4 (Heard this has some issues, any other suggestions? May also end up going with mATX board depending on the case) ~$100
PSU: 550W Supernova G2 (Found a used one for ~$100)
Case: Looking for a nice white one <$100 (preferably mATX, but ATX is ok). Eyeing off the white BitFenix Nova TG mid-tower.

I have an existing Sandisk 240GB SSD + 1TB HDD that I'll be transferring over to this. I'm a little hesitant to spend $250 on RAM (price is ridiculous at the minute!) so I may end up going with a $150 8GB Kit, but for a cost difference of <$100 is it really worth hanging out for a price drop?

Total cost is roughly $1100. I'll be using it for gaming, but also media (keeping it in lounge area) and app development and general use by my partner. Any recommendations to improve on this are appreciated!

Computing

Comments

  • Godric on 11/07/2018 - 12:55
    +3

    I would never purchase a second hand PSU, but that's up to you.

    EVGA PSU brand new aren't even that $$, and are very reputable for their quality.

    • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 13:18

      Why is that? I checked with the guy and it's a year old and used for gaming (but nothing serious)

      • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 13:29
        +4

        Because EVERYTHING is plugged into the PSU, and a bad PSU doesn't mean just replacing the PSU, it could mean replacing everything it's just fried as well.

        Of all the components, PSU is the one you should definitely NOT cheap out on. Plus - your components aren't that demanding in terms of power, and you can get really good PSUs new for around $100 too. I refer to this list:

        https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-up…

        For what PSUs are reliable. For my recent build, the Corsair RM550x is only $40 more:

        https://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=rm550x&spo…

        And is a tier 1 PSU, and also 80PLUS Gold and fully modular too.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:27

          Mmm, maybe I'll look around. The used PSU has a 10-yr warranty on it, so if I do get it I should have another 7-8 years out of it, but I get what you're saying. Do PSU warranties cover any damage covered by a PSU fault to other parts? I'm reluctant to spend more than $100 on a build of this price (I can appreciate its worth it for a $2000+ build, obviously).

        • Hybroid on 11/07/2018 - 14:32

          @jakem742: Doubt you'll find cover for other parts. You can get a brand new 600W PSU for $100 easily. Little extra if you want modular maybe $120-130. It's certainly not something skimp out on as others have said.

        • pinchies on 11/07/2018 - 15:13
          +1

          It is this reason that I would rather buy a good second hand PSU than a cheap new one.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 15:38

          @pinchies: What do you mean sorry?

        • pinchies on 11/07/2018 - 15:40

          @jakem742:
          There is such a big difference between high quality and low quality power supplies, that I think it is a greater risk to buy a cheap no-name power supply, then to buy a used one from a good reputable brand with a long-term warranty.

        • Richardc on 11/07/2018 - 16:43

          @jakem742: If you buy 2nd hand, make sure the warranty will still apply on you.

  • Robot JP on 11/07/2018 - 12:58

    i'd swap that Ryzen 5 for a i5 8400 for gaming.
    Other than that you should be good considering you dont game above 1080p

    Edit: Also, see this link

    • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 13:20

      I have heard the i5 is slightly better when looking single core, but that's against a stock 2600, right? I figure the veeeery slight difference can be recouped with an OC if I want to get a cooler for it, but I'm interested in having this as an all-rounder hence I figured the ryzen might perform better?

      • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 13:31

        Yeah, for purely gaming your build is going to be GPU bottlenecked in 99% of titles anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.

        Edit: And budget wise, AMD stock coolers are better than Intel ones - better cooling, quieter, can even mildly OC on them. Not too much for the Ryzen 2600 though, because it's got the smallest stock AMD cooler (Wraith Stealth).

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:18

          Mmm, I've heard they're decent coolers for a very basic OC. I'll probably see what I can do without buying a new cooler and potentially go down that path down the line.

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 14:23
          +1

          @jakem742: Yeah AMD have good stock coolers, they kind of just gimped the 2600 package. The previous gen 1600 came with the (middle-of-the-range) Wraith Spire cooler, with lower models (Ryzen 3s and Ryzen 5 1400(?)) getting the lower Wraith Stealth cooler.

          But the 2600 got downgraded from the Wraith Spire to the Wraith Stealth cooler, and you have to go up to the 2600X to get the Wraith Spire cooler now. You can still OC a bit, but it's a 65W TDP cooler cooling a 65W TDP CPU (at stock) so the thermal headroom isn't massive.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:40

          @HighAndDry: Oh right! I think I must've looked at the 1600 reviews and assumed they carried the cooler over. I guess stock will get me by, but handy to know.

  • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 13:03

    It looks fine. I agree with above, re. swapping out the Ryzen 5 for an i5 8400 if you plan on only using it for gaming, but either way, the differences are small and you definitely won't notice any differences between the two CPUs unless you have your frame counter on (which I never do when actually gaming). My personal opinion is that the Ryzen 2600 is a little more versatile and fun. You can overclock it, which is a great weekend hobby, and it has SMT (basically AMD's equivalent of Hyper-Threading), which makes it a bit better in workloads that can make use of that. Again, I stress that either way is fine.

    Also, another option you might wish to consider is the last gen Ryzen 7 1700, which you can pick up from those 20% off eBay sales for around the same price as a Ryzen 5 2600, but you get two extra cores (at the expense of lower IPC and clocks). My suggestion would be to go with the Ryzen 7 2700, which you can pick up for around $120 more. Not only do you get two extra cores, but it also comes with a much better cooler, which you can actually do a bit of overclocking with, so it's really convenient.

  • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 13:22

    Mmm, I'm on a bit of a budget otherwise the 2700 would definitely be an option. Appreciate the feedback! I've heard good things about the ryzen processors so far. I must confess I have been a little concerned about potential incompatibilities with it though (ie. Ram, software, drivers etc). It's a lot less stable than Intel, yeah?

    • Richardc on 11/07/2018 - 13:30

      may be use the old case to save a bit?

      • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:28

        I will be doing that in the short term, but I would like to sell the old build for some cash, so I'll need a new case. It's also big, cheap and clunky looking so I don't like having it out in the living area.

    • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 13:35

      Nah, 2nd gen Ryzen has most of its kinks worked out already and RAM/etc compatibility is better too. Oh, before I forget, if you're getting a B350 chipset motherboard, make sure the shop flashes the bios to a newer one, otherwise it won't support (literally won't boot) 2nd Gen Ryzen CPUs. That was the only issue I had, and was an oversight because I even had it on my to-do list when buying the parts.

      As to case…. you can cheap out a little, but if you're building yourself, you want a good case unless you like headaches and small cuts and scrapes… plus if the thing is in the lounge room you probably want it to look presentable at least. I still second Fractal Design cases. Good looking, quiet (another important thing if it's in the lounge I'd think), well-thought out in terms of cooling, and easy to both build in and cable manage.

      • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:24

        Good to know about compatibility! I had heard about the BIOS issues but forgot about it aha! I'm not sure if I can request something like that from an ebay/online store purchase? They'd have to open it. :/ Any suggestions for dealing with that without buying extra parts?

        Mmm, I don't want to cheap out, but I don't want to go crazy on the nicest cases out there. I figure ~$70 should get me something decent?

        • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:40

          You can request it, they may charge. When I bought my B350 board and a Ryzen 2700, my local computer store (CPL in North Melbourne) were happy to update the BIOS for free. You can also scan your receipt and send it to AMD and they will send you a loan processor to update the BIOS with, which you have to send back in a week or two. I do recall there being that option, but definitely check it out before relying on my word.

          Worst comes to worst, you could also go with an X470 board if you want to avoid the headaches.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:45

          @p1 ama: Ok, cheers! Even taking it into a different store than where I bought it from? ie. bought online from ebay, taken into local family-owned tech store? At least the loan CPU gives some options.

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 14:51

          Yeah, I bought on a Saturday, ended up paying MSY (not who I bought it from) to flash the bios because they were the only shop open on a Sunday. Sigh.

          You can generally ask the seller to flash it, most sellers will do it for free if you buy it from them. You can ask AMD, but their boot kit takes 2 weeks to arrive (supposedly - I didn't wait), and they ask for a tonne of information such as copies of correspondence showing you asked your vendor first, then your motherboard manufacturer, (and they both refused), and photos of your retail package, and photos of the chip itself. Now that sounds like a pain.

          Also, flashing a bios isn't rocket surgery but it can still brick your mobo, so definitely better to have the seller do it before they ship it, that way you avoid that risk and/or won't have to argue too much for a replacement if you get a bricked one.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:59

          @HighAndDry: How much did it cost, out of curiosity?

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 15:05

          @jakem742: $20 for labour - since it's MSY I'd say that's on the low end.

        • azz on 10/09/2018 - 18:23

          @HighAndDry:

          Just posting here in case people need this info in future - Umart and Computer alliance will update mobo BIOS for free if you bought it from them.
          If you bought elsewhere, Umart charges $30 and Computer Alliance charges $25

    • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:37
      +2

      It's a lot less stable than Intel, yeah?

      I use an Intel i9 7960X at home and a Ryzen 2700 at my office. I don't see any difference in stability between the two platforms. People on forums will complain about everything, but that's mostly because they're tinkerers. If you buy the right parts, put it together and don't tinker with it or try to run any exotic configurations, everything will work well.

  • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 13:23

    Nice. Almost identical to a recent build I put together, except I went with a mini-ITX build.

    For macro-ATX, look at the Fractal Design Define C Mini for the case.

    Mobo - I actually like AsRock mobos, but if not, get an ASUS ROG B350 model.

    I'd definitely stay with 16GB of RAM.

    Also - if you're using it in the lounge, fast boot-up times are going to be a godsend, so look into getting a fast M.2 NVMe drive. Even just 120GB for just Windows (and your current SSD for programs/games) will help. The best on the market by speed are Samsung 960/970 Evos (or Pro, but those are pricey).

    • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:20

      Cheers for the case suggestion! It's going to be fairly visible (living in a granny flat, so only a small living area) so I want it to look nice. I have got an Asrock in my old gaming computer, but I've had no end of troubles (currently not working and thinking I'll have to replace it). I don't know if I just got unlucky. I just read something on another Ozbargain thread about the AB350M having serious freezing problems though, so that's put me off a little!

      I'll check out the NVME drive. I figured it was fast, but not noticeably so over an SSD for bootup?

      • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 14:39

        I've always liked Fractal Design cases because living in an apartment growing up, needing a good but quiet case was pretty important. They're also very minimalist which suits my style, and not bling-bling like gaming cases tend to be.

        AsRock admittedly aren't on the same quality/service level as brands like MSI/ASUS/Gigabyte(?). They've recently closed the gap significantly though, but I can understand the peace-of-mind factor.

        As to SATA SSD vs NVMe… you might be right. I felt a considerable speed difference in boot up times from my old SATA SSD boot drive (Kingston 120GB) to my current Samsung 970 EVO 500GB drive, but that might actually just be the difference between a 5 year old windows install vs a clean windows install. A quick search shows almost negligible difference, so could probably skip that upgrade.

        • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:42

          I felt a considerable speed difference in boot up times from my old SATA SSD boot drive (Kingston 120GB) to my current Samsung 970 EVO 500GB drive, but that might actually just be the difference between a 5 year old windows install vs a clean windows install. A quick search shows almost negligible difference, so could probably skip that upgrade.

          I would agree - I have a Samsung NVME SSD in my home computer and a Samsung 850 Evo SATA SSD in my office computer. I don't see any difference in boot up times.

    • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:38

      I'm also a little curious about whether it's worth going down to mini-ITX. How have you found it? It would be incredibly good in a living area. You would struggle to get a GPU in it though, right? And you'd have problems with cooling if you ever want to OC anything…? I'm not that worried about extra PCI-E / USB ports, and as long as I can fit 2 sticks of RAM and a decent GPU (1060 mini?) and it has wireless it might not be a bad option!

      • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:43

        Personal decision really, do you like small form factor? How important is it to you? I would say that since you're on a budget, to stick with mATX, you get better bang for buck.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:46

          I've actually never had anything below ATX, so I have no idea. You're probably right about mATX being better value. Also gives a bit more flexibility I guess. Is there much to worry about space wise with mATX builds?

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 15:08

          @jakem742: With an mATX case, probably only two things to worry about: Max length of graphics card (I don't think any GTX1060 card would give you issues), and Max PSU length. Most mATX cases can fit full size PSUs, and I don't think any case will have trouble fitting 1 SSD + 1 HDD.

      • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 14:57

        Mini-ITX is amazing. Some cases are absolutely tiny (and make for great media PCs). I went with a Define Nano S (Fractal Design again) which is on the bigger side for a mini-ITX case.

        The biggest downside is honestly price - mini-ITX motherboards are almost all at least $50 more than ATX or even mATX motherboards, AND they have less expandability - you only get 2 RAM slots so harder to upgrade in the future (you can't just add two more sticks, you'll have to buy all new RAM), only one PCIe slot (no SLI or Crossfire, though I don't know anyone who still does that), usually only one M.2 slot (ASUS ROG Strix B350i comes with two).

        Mini-ITX cases also have less harddrive slots, but honestly you can usually fit 2x 2.5" SSDs and at least 1 or 2x 3.5" HDDs so not an issue unless you're looking to build a server. Also might not have a slot for an disc drive, if that's important.

        • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 15:12

          2xSSD + 1x3.5" HDD would be plenty for me. I assume you can't really fit any decent CPU coolers in there, but what are they like for holding a GTX 1060 mini or similar? I'm not too bothered about the limited RAM slots, especially if I go with 16GB. DVD drive could be a pain for media use though, but I guess USB connected drives are an option. I do have quite a few old disc based games, but I'm sure I could figure that out.

  • daalinz on 11/07/2018 - 13:38

    I'd suggest altering your RAM choice to a clock speed specifically supported by your CPU and motherboard combo. Eg: No point getting 3000MHz if you can only support 2400MHz. You can save a few dollars here.

    • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 13:43

      Nah, Ryzen CPUs are notorious for needing high speed RAM to reach their potential. 3000MHz RAM will only get downrated to I think 2933MHz with standard XMP profiles on almost all AMD A4 mobos with 2nd Gen Ryzen CPUs, so it's a good choice.

      OP could go down to 2400MHz and not see too much of a difference if he wants to save some money though - can save about $70 if he goes with Geil 2x8GB kits I think.

    • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 14:22

      Yeah, I've been reading up and apparently 3000 is worth it for Ryzen CPU's. That said, I'm torn between 1x8GB stick and 2x8Gb sticks at present. I don't really know if prices are going anywhere in the next year or so, because if they aren't I'm thinking I might as well just buy a kit now. It's basically the most expensive part in my build though, haha!

      • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:46

        Yeah, I've been reading up and apparently 3000 is worth it for Ryzen CPU's.

        There's a performance increase, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's "worth it" - The difference between a 3000 speed and 2400 speed kit is around the same as an upgrade to the Hyper 212X cooler. Better cooler, you'd eek out maybe 200 MHz more on your core clock, I don't know which would give you better performance.

      • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 15:00

        Yeah - RAM prices are crazy. Because of that, I settled for 2x 8GB 2400Mhz sticks just because it was almost 30% cheaper than 3000MHz RAM. I'm not planning to OC (at all) and I also only got a GTX1060 so it's unlikely my CPU will be the bottleneck as opposed to the GPU (for gaming). Just on a cost/benefit basis didn't feel like it was worth the extra cost.

      • themadman on 11/07/2018 - 15:44

        Thanks guys, sounds like a smart decision. $250 for RAM in a $1100 build seems pretty ridiculous so maybe I'll look into that. Hopefully the upcoming deals have some good prices!

        EDIT: That said, staticice shows that the cost for 2400 vs 3000 is actually WORSE at present (the Amazon AU price for the corsair memory is incredible at ~$240)

      • daalinz on 12/07/2018 - 13:41

        I assume you'll be running later than Windows 7. If Windows 7, I'd suggest 8GB RAM would be OK to start with. But I'll assume you are running Windows 10. You could potentially look on Gumtree or ask around your friend/family network if anyone has recently upgraded and not keeping their old memory.

        Windows 10 seems to want about ~4GB RAM for system use. I'd calculate whatever the requirements are for games you'll be playing as the extra on top. I've got Win 7 with 16GB RAM in my gaming PC and haven't noticed a game needing over 6GB RAM.

        If your budget is tight, you could get 1 stick of 8GB (or 2x4GB whatever is cheaper) and a stick of 4GB.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 21:28

    https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/AMD-6Core-Ryzen-5-1600-3-6G-8GB-1T…

    Keep an eye on PC Byte, if they participate in eBay plus 25% off sale and don't price jack this will be like $890. It's 1600 not 2600 though.

    https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/AMD-Ryzen-5-2600X-4-2GHz-6-Core-1T… or possibly this. Would be closer to $1,300 though, but 1080 + 2600x.

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