Help Me Pick Parts for an Interim PC (No GPU) Build around 1k

I want to build my first pc for gaming and programming, I know its a particularly bad time for GPU pricing at the moment so I have decided to build the rest of the PC and then get a gpu when prices settle down. My budget is around $1000 (the lower the better of course) with an upper limit of around $1200, this is purely for the PC as I already have a monitor and peripherals.

Aesthetics are not that important to me but if it fits within the budget without sacrificing performance I will gladly take it. WIFI is a must.

I have thrown together a build on pcpartpicker: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/kK3v8J so hopefully you guys can point out any mistakes or changes that need to be made.

One other thing, I have read that the i5 11400 supports 3200mhz ram but is that the upper limit? I have put 3600mhz ram in the build because the price difference is so small but if it cant utilize it then I may as well save some money. Thanks in advance for your help

Comments

  • +2

    https://www.bpctech.com.au/product/skc2500m8-500g-kingston-k…

    I would replace your SSD with this as it's much better for the price.

    • Changed it, thanks for that!

  • +2

    Just noting that you have a micro-ATX mobo and ATX case. It'll still work but there is a size difference.

    Do you know what GPU you will get?
    650W is potentially underpowered future-proof wise.

    I've got a rm850x (currently $180 at amazon) paired with a 5600x+3070. It is overpowered but the benefit is that the PSU fan won't turn on and generate noise and dust.

    • +2

      I changed the mobo to an ATX one (ASRock Z590 Steel Legend) as it will probably fit the case better and not look out of place. As for the GPU, I am leaning towards a 3060/ti or a 6600xt, would you say 650W is fine for that?

      • +2

        As long as you're buying a proper PSU of a known brand a 650w psu is plenty for a midranger

        Official recommendation for the 3060ti is 550w.

        • I was comparing an MSI and a gigabyte one, decided the MSI one was the better pick as that specific model from gigabyte apparently has a tendency to explode lol. Thanks for the advice!

  • +2

    A total of 1.5TB of storage seems really on the low end of things, especially if you want to use it for gaming. Although I guess it's always easy to add more storage in the future, for an extra $50 you can jump to a 3TB drive - https://www.umart.com.au/product/western-digital-3tb-blue-3-…

    And I would go with the faster RAM. While it's officially 3200, you can overclock it getting a higher base speed and utilise the RAM (especially since you have a decent cooler there). It won't be an earth shattering speed difference but every little bit helps.

    Also keep in mind when going through so many different stores that you'll be paying a load of shipping. Often it's a good idea to find a decent bundle.

    The 11600K is also $269 through ShoppingExpress at the moment - https://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/intel-core-i5-10600kf… and they have some pretty good motherboard prices - https://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/gigabyte-b560-aorus-p…

    • I typically don't install a lot of games and I've barely touched the 1tb ssd on my laptop so I don't think storage will be much of an issue at the moment. As for shipping, I can order everything except the case on Amazon with free shipping so I got pretty lucky there. I'm not in a rush to order anything just yet so I will definitely keep an eye out for better deals and bundles. Thanks for the advice!

      • +3

        Fair enough. I'm just projecting because I have 3TB of games installed, most of which I will absolutely never play and don't need installed at all. I did start playing the halo collection though, and that clocked in at 150GB.

        Also keep in mind nvme is great for games these days, the load times are fantastic when tied to a good CPU. Especially with DirectStorage coming down the pipeline (which requires a 1TB NVME drive).

        • Ok ill keep that in mind.

  • +1

    I just put together an i5 11400 last night.

    Went with this board which got decent reviews and doesn't thermal throttle.

    MSI B560M PRO-VDH
    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184912229603

    Under $100 on ebay atm. By all means go the larger board if you want, personally i dont see the point.

    Save some $$ of the cooler as well. Have had a 212 on an old build. The GAMMAXX400k is just as good at half the price.
    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B077Q4DZVY/

    i5 is running happily at 4400 all cores and the fan is hasn't gone over 700rpm yet.

    • +1

      Congrats on your build, hope everything is running well! I was looking at the mobo you mentioned when I was putting the part list together but unfortunately I need Wi-Fi due to the ethernet port in my room being in an awkward spot, so I decided to go for different mobo. I will also look into the cooler that you mentioned.

      • +1

        Was a bit worried when it wouldnt boot. Got it running with an old gpu, did a firmware update and it was happy with my regular card. Crisis averted.

        Would EoP be a better option for you?
        https://www.amazon.com.au/TP-Link-TL-PA4010PKIT-Powerline-Et…

        • I don't think EoP would work well for me as I have mesh Wi-Fi with limited ethernet ports, and I prefer having onboard Wi-Fi just in case. Thanks anyway tho!

  • +1

    I put together a very similar build for a friend recently. Agree with the above for the storage- consider a 1TB NVME drive.

    One annoying thing I found out with the same Mobo + RAM combo you have is that msi mystic lights software does not play nice work rgb control on crucial RAM. I couldnt not find a way to resolve it- what it meant is that the RAM will light up but you would not be able to control the lighting- it will just do it's default colour cycle.

    Hopefully you are tech savvy enough to figure out a fix, but if addressable RGB on the RAM is important to you then consider switching to Kingston/thermaltake RAM.

    All the best.

    • I hope your friend is having a great time with his new PC despite that weird rgb issue, I will try and find a good deal on larger drive. I already changed the mobo to an ASRock Z590 as it fit the build better and has a GPU sag preventer, but I had no idea that the msi + crucial issue even existed so thankyou for pointing it out!

  • +1

    I'm not entirely sure GPU prices will settle to be honest. It has been pretty high and pretty stable. I would also up the HDD to 2tb.

  • You should be able to put together decent i5 11400 for under 1k and a Ryzen 5 5600X for around 1200.

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