Hey Everyone
I am reaching out to try and get some help on building a new PC. Have not bought or build in 5+ years so my current knowledge just isn't there. From what i understand i should be looking at AMD for price and performance. Looking to spend 3-4K. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks :)
I have never dabbled in those darks arts haha
Probably worth looking into if you want to get more out of your system although it will be more expensive. The Lian Li O11, is pretty much the most popular enclosure for custom watercooling builds right now after Case Labs closure, etc.
I'd definitely recommend it, the performance is great although your bang for your buck is not as good, it's very satisfying to have a custom loop, also very aesthetically pleasing and looks more cohesive.
Thank you for the advice definitely taking it onboard. What would you recommend for a Cpu, Mobo and graphics?
@Sarge28: Depends what you need, at this price range, would you need PCI 4.0? WiFi (Wifi 6)? Also your use case, is it just for games? I'd probably recommend a 3rd gen Ryzen, either 3600X - 3900X depending on your other needs (e.g. video processing, etc.)
For X570 motherboards my favourite are probably Gigabyte, because of the features as well as them having the best BIOS for me. X570 Aorus Pro is a good option and has Wifi 6, as well as the Aorus Elite. Another option is the ASRock Taichi, however I don't really like ASRock bios myself.
GPU for this money, I'd go for a 2080 or 2080Ti, Phanteks and EKWB make quite nice water blocks for them.
@Jasonissm: Excellent! Things are becoming a little less fuzzy now :) Do you have a reputable place you purchase parts from?
@Sarge28: I usually buy from whoever has the cheapest and are generally reputable. Usually this is from eBay sellers, Computer Alliance, Futu Online, Tech Mall. There are other seller like Mwave, PCCaseGear, Scorptec, PLE, Amazon AU, Umart sometimes has good deals. Depends if you are willing to wait for the parts to have the best deals and then buying them separately or paying a bit more for then all at once from a single seller.
For the regular sellers my favourite is probably PCCaseGear.
I got back in after more than ten years or so. Would not recommend anything liquid related for a new builder. Logical increments and PC Part Picker are the "gold standard" websites. They constantly look for the best combos in terms of price level and performance. Logical Increments and Pc Part picker AMD build $2800 Logical Increments has an "Enthusiast" build coming in at $3800 without delivery. Yours would probably be somewhere between the two.
Two very helpful pages! Thank you :)
No problem. Also should ask what is your intended use case. 3-4K is probably more for gamers wanting 60fps+ and perhaps 4K capability in AAA titles + "enthusiasts" as mentioned. Could be overkill. You will also need a good monitor to take advantage of a high end gpu. Eg, if the video card is going over 60fps you won't see the higher frame rate with a standard 60hz monitor. It will just discard everything over 60 fps. If you were looking at an Nvidia card, then you probably look at getting a monitor with G Sync or Freesync. An Amd would be freesync.
Looking to build something capable of gaming. But more just want to have a system that will do whatever is thrown at it to some degree whatever that may be.
@Sarge28: I think you could spend under $2k and won't have any issues with doing whatever you throw at it.
Would not recommend anything liquid related for a new builder.
What about a chillbox? No liquid there, just cold air….turning your box into a refrigerator of sorts….
Still would get condensation.
Not if you filter the air of its moisture…so it's just dry cold air…..if that's possible…but what's likeliness of condensation? Have you built a chillbox and experienced it?
@Zachary: You don't seem so sure.. but yeah it's not possible. You always get condensation around the chillbox and filter.
You don't seem so sure..
I would be more sure if I had built one myself…. But I've just heard it cools better than water and you don't have to worry about condensation from phase or liquid nitrogen cooling and as such it should be safer….unless or all those comments on them overlockers forums are false and I got bought into it like a dumb dumb….? Wasn't there an easy to follow newb friendly guide somewhere?
@Zachary: Only seen the crowdfunded chillbox just then. The results for 'chillbox' pulled up traditional nitro cooling before. Not sure if the concept would work, but then again, if it was a sound concept, then I think someone would have thought of it before. Unless the traditional pc cooling mafia made it disappear lol…
Your title almost had all the words to a site you should visit: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/builds/
Look at the recently finished builds with the CPU you're after(AMD) and within your budget and see what others have done and get inspiration from there.
I'm having a look now. Thanks for the tip. Will i be right getting most of the stuff from Pc case gear mwave etc
https://i.imgur.com/7nMaFnA.png
Here you go, don't worry about the price remember this is oz bargain so price will go down once you start useing ebay 20% off codes.
a few things to consider when building a PC
Lighting software and compatible parts
https://www.msi.com/Landing/mystic-light-rgb-gaming-pc/compa…
This is where to check for MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS
I don't recommend gigabyte there software is trash (yes my PC uses Gigabytes RGB Fusion software )
Ram, 3200mhz minimum anything else is too slow and you will loose FPS.
Sound advice. Thank you!
No problem
Curious though, do you have a use for the 3900x or are you just choosing the most expensive one? i ask as yes the 3900x is a VERY powerful multi core CPU gaming performance wouldn't be any different than say a 3800x in gaming at all.
Could also save further money by going a 240/280 AIO instead of the 360 AIO they will all cool the 3900x easily.
@Axelstrife: Honestly i have been wanting to build myself a really nice PC for a while(been 5+ years since i had a decent computer). Just want it to be capable of pretty much anything i throw at it and be somewhat future proofed
@Sarge28: Go for it then, either way it will run anything your throw at it pair with a 1440p 144hz monitor and you're set.
btw the current ebay 20% off code ends today so if you have the money ready best to buy the 2080 ti and 3900x if you're ready to start getting parts together for your build.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MSI-GeForce-RTX-2080-Ti-GAMING-X…
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AMD-Ryzen-9-3900X-12-Core-Socket…
https://www.pccasegear.com/products/48279/g-skill-trident-z-…
Get faster RAM. Don't go for 3000mhz ram
Thank you! Am i better off with CL16 or CL18 if both have same clock speed?
CL16, CL = Cas Latency, the lower the better. Whilst typically the higher the clock speed the better performing the RAM, occasionally if the cas latency is low enough, the RAM can actually perform better with a lower clock speed but a lower cas latency too. Full chart here if you’re interested.
But yes, if the clock speed is the same then go for the one with the lower cas latency.
@Zazer: Look on your selected motherboard's support page for the Hardware Compatibility List & look for ram kits in the speed rating you want.
Really you can buy anything and it can be made to work, but I assume you don't want to have to screw around with sub timings adn th like & you'd just load XMP and be done with it, so if the RAM kit is on the HCL you'll be laughing.
Have to match actual model numbers though, for example GSkill would have like 12 models with the same basic specs that have different colours or different LEDs or different heatsinks, but the actual ICs on them could be different under all that bling making the stuff that counts totally different.
I'd drop the budget to 2500 max then contact one of the system builder that advertise here (Luke at techfast) maybe, and say I have 2500 to spend on computer want an amd system that will play games at 4k has hdr10 etc will play 4k movies netflix need big ssd (1TB) and 2 TB hdd with a brand name mobo and 16 Gb od 3200 ram and big brand name psu, whats the best you can do?
Then ask the same from pc case gear Mwave etc alreasy having a quote and brand name breakdown to compare
keep 1000 for a top decent monitor and you're set
Thank you for that just messaged Luke.
Hey mate, with a budget like this I would avoid Techfast and Luke for this one. No hate against them, they do what they do fantastically, but they cater to a different market. They offer the best value build possible, but they do compromise on parts. You can pay for them to put better components in your build but then the value proposition disappears and it’s often cheaper to buy from elsewhere. What you’re looking for is no compromises.
Would second the $1000 for a monitor though.
Thank you for the conformation on that, had similar feeling on it just wasn't sure.
I hear what you're saying but Luke has access to all the name brand part that Mwave etc has, they just specialize in no brand stuff
Hey mate, given your budget and your reasoning (want it to be able to handle anything you throw at it) no reason why you shouldn’t be able to get that. Happy to throw together a build for you, just before I do, have you considered Ultrawide monitors?
Ultrawide monitors are typically $200-300 more expensive than their usual size counterparts but they can offer a breathtaking immersion that multiple normal monitors simply can’t achieve.
However, full disclosure; with Ultrawide you do compromise on some aspects; whilst most games will run flawlessly, especially the newest and the oldest games, there are a large number of games which have issues, such as UI scaling or black bars. Luckily, there is a community based around Ultrawide gaming which works together to solve these issues as quickly as they can. They used to be at WSGF.org but I believe they’ve now moved to a WSGF Subreddit.
Another compromise with Ultrawide monitors is that they typically have a slightly lower refresh rate than their counterparts, but it’s small enough to be negligible unless you’re doing competitive gaming and taking it to the extreme (think 120 vs 144 or 200 vs 240). Refresh rate is how smooth the experience is, but this has diminishing returns (increases are less noticeable) after about 144hz.
Anyway, let me know if Ultrawides sound like something you’d be interested in or not, and I’ll chuck together a build for you on PCPP (very handy PC part list website) and we can go from there based on your response.
I do love the look of the ultrawides, just quite expensive. Would be very happy for you to help. Very much appreciated.
That's true too mate. Alright, I'll put a build together for you. Quick question, do aesthetics matter to you? I personally like my PC to look nice considering the thousands of dollars I've spent on it, but does colourful RGB matter to you? It's typically not too much of a cost increase, but would you rather have it look nice or be performance-focused only?
Your Awesome! Coming from my bland node 304 case crazier the better.
@Sarge28: Fantastic. Typing up a comment right now with a draft build then I'll have to pop off for an hour or so but take a look and let me know what you think, I will be back and we can go from there.
@Sarge28: Here's my first draft. No monitor, but I'll rejig the parts to make space for one. What do you think of this?
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor | $494.00 @ Shopping Express |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler | $199.00 @ Scorptec |
| Motherboard | MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard | $307.00 @ Shopping Express |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $154.00 @ Shopping Express |
| Storage | Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $178.00 @ Shopping Express |
| Storage | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $287.00 @ Centre Com |
| Video Card | EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card | $1799.00 @ Austin Computers |
| Case | Phanteks ECLIPSE P600S ATX Mid Tower Case | $229.00 @ PCCaseGear |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $167.00 @ I-Tech |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $3814.00 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-15 10:38 AEDT+1100 |
Quick breakdown of parts:
CPU - 3700X is best value CPU, 3900X is double the price for more cores and threads; no use for gaming only productivity.
CPU Cooler - Noctua is best in class, beats out liquid coolers too.
Motherboard - went for X570 as a starter but not really needed, will probably drop down to X470 to make space for a monitor since you don't need any of the X570-specific features.
Memory - Just a regular kit of 3200mhz C16 RGB RAM. Could go a bit cheaper, but let me know if you'd rather as much performance as possible or if you'd like some RGB too.
Storage - went for 1TB NVME SSD for boot drive, fast boots. Plus an additional SATA SSD which will be slightly slower than the boot drive, for games storage. Trust me, you don't want a hard drive in 2020.
Video Card - Base EVGA 2080 Ti model. When spending thousands on a graphics card you need to know that the manufacturer will back their card if it breaks. EVGA is top notch and go as far to send you a new card before you send out yours in the case of an issue. Would not go with anyone else for a GPU.
Case - P600S is a unique one in that it has a removable side and top for when you want maximum performance no matter the look or noise, but you can keep them on when you just want a quiet, great looking PC.
PSU - Just your typical 750W 80+ Gold PSU (more efficient and trustworthy coming from a reputable brand, Corsair). 750W should be enough for a 2080Ti.
Can you help me with vide card 1650 and 1050. What different between?
Both are junk for gaming, get the 1650 SUPER as a minimum, unless you're building a HTPC or similar, or look at the RX570 or RX580 as good bang for buck options, the new RX5500XT is overpriced and performs pretty much like a RX580 or just under
Edit: they are different architectures, Pascal for the 1050 series, Turing for the 1650 series. In performance it would be from lowest to highest 1050 ~= 1050-3g* -> 1050Ti -> 1650 -> 1650 Super
Give us something real to help you. If you want it built to a price (3-4k) then there is plenty of possibilities as 3-4k isn't the challenge.
A challenge is like: I want to play (this taxing game) but I don't want to pay more than $500 for the box.
An allrounder, geared more towards performance. Don't plan on playing any specific games. Definitely needs to be as future proofed as possible. If i can get all decent peripherals and monitor within budget :)
3-4K can get you very far, looking to do full custom loop?