Build Advice $750 Budget Gaming Build for a friend - Upgradable

thhetopham

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Hello World!

Looking to put some builds together. Budget is $750 - purpose is gaming. Aiming to start with the best case, motherboard, and CPU since those are the hardest to upgrade later. Then will upgrade memory and GPU later.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($166.89 @ Walmart)
Motherboard: WAITING FOR B550 Tomahawk $179.99
Memory:
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS XXX ED Video Card ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ B&H)
Total: $893.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-14 02:59 EDT-0400


I was concerned about the microATX case and motherboard as I won't be able to upgrade those at a later date and they won't fit a full size graphics card. Also does not include an optical drive for disks.

Interested in a Ryzen 7 and compatible motherboard and case. Will upgrade post with specs as I come across ideal gear.

EDIT: Updated CPU, Mobo, Case, PSU. Slightly over budget $143, but build is looking solid with quality products that will last through upgrades.
 
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I would tell my friend, to wait. Right now is not a good time, in fact, it's probably the absolute WORST time in over 20 years, to be building a system. Most hardware isn't even available right now and what IS available is about 100% more expensive than what it normally sells for. Wait a few weeks and then revisit it to see if retail inventory starts looking more like normal again.

You have to consider, most PC hardware manufacturing is in China and most, maybe all of those facilities were not producing anything for many weeks, possibly months, and nothing was being shipped out either, to anywhere. Now that things are going again it is going to take a few weeks for supply to begin catching back up with the demand.
 

thhetopham

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I would tell my friend, to wait. Right now is not a good time, in fact, it's probably the absolute WORST time in over 20 years, to be building a system. Most hardware isn't even available right now and what IS available is about 100% more expensive than what it normally sells for. Wait a few weeks and then revisit it to see if retail inventory starts looking more like normal again.

You have to consider, most PC hardware manufacturing is in China and most, maybe all of those facilities were not producing anything for many weeks, possibly months, and nothing was being shipped out either, to anywhere. Now that things are going again it is going to take a few weeks for supply to begin catching back up with the demand.

You are right, the markup on some of these items is crazy right now!
 
I would not pay $150 for a Ryzen 2600, or $200 for a 2600X. The newer Ryzen 3600 can be up to 15-20% faster than either, and assuming you are in the US, is just $167 at a number of online stores, making those other options not worth considering. It should also be compatible with DDR4 3600 memory, so that shouldn't be a concern.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9nm323/amd-ryzen-5-3600-36-thz-6-core-processor-100-100000031box

As for the motherboard, B550 boards should be out very soon, so I would look toward getting one of those instead. Between the supply issues and increased demand over the last couple months, along with manufacturers undoubtedly winding down B450 production, those boards have been in short supply lately.
 
Right now is not a good time, in fact, it's probably the absolute WORST time in over 20 years, to be building a system.
I would disagree. Most of the hardware is priced reasonably enough, and availability is mostly fine, with the only possible exceptions being motherboards and power supplies. It's not anywhere remotely near as bad as it was just a couple years ago, when shortages caused both RAM and graphics cards to more than double in price for many months on end. That was probably the worst time to build in recent years.

AM4 motherboard availability is likely to improve quite a bit after B550 launches. They might cost a bit more than their B450 counterparts, but part of that's because they add some higher-end features, and there will likely be a number of decent options available in the sub-$150 price range. Power supplies might take a little longer to recover, but I think we may be seeing demand settle down a bit now that we are moving into summer.
 
You can't possibly be serious? How the frack are you going to build ANY system without a motherboard and power supply, arguably, the two most important components in the system for most builds, when availability is slim to none and prices are double or more than what you'd normally see? Disagree all you want, it doesn't change anything.

Where do you think those B550 motherboards are made? There is no greater demand than there has ever been, it is simply the fact that there is no supply. When container ships don't come from China, EVERYTHING goes out of stock.

Show me a B450 or X570 motherboard under 175 dollars that is ACTUALLY in stock somewhere commonly accessible online right now.

Show me a recommendable 550w Gold rated power supply from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, EVGA or anybody really, that is in stock right now, or any reputable 550-650w power supply that can be conscionably recommended that's under 100 dollars, whereas, even like the CX550w models that you could get for 50-60 bucks a few months ago, are now over 100 dollars IF you can find one in stock.

Without those, the rest of the hardware is pretty much useless unless you simply want to get it now and wait for the rest.
 
There is no greater demand than there has ever been, it is simply the fact that there is no supply. When container ships don't come from China, EVERYTHING goes out of stock.
This is not true. Some tech news sites have looked into it, and manufacturers have claimed that demand for new computer hardware has been much higher than expected for this season, in some cases up near Christmas shopping season levels at what would normally be the slowest time of the year, due to people being stuck at home and on their computers more. They also claimed that demand went up further when people started getting their stimulus checks in the mail, which many used to buy a new computer system. Because of this, manufacturers were caught off-guard and didn't have the supply on hand necessary to meet the abnormally high demand.

For B450 boards, they probably expected to have plenty to last them until the B550 launch, so they likely stopped producing them months ago and switched over to B550 production, as they wouldn't want to be stuck with an excess of old boards after the new series comes out. Especially since the original plans were to break B450 compatibility with the 4000-series processors.

Of course, there has certainly been some trouble getting hardware from China, as the Chinese new year break was extended an extra month or so. From the sound of it, manufacturing capacity largely got back on track, but then there was a backlog of supply to get out at the shipping yards that holds precedence over new shipments, so things like new orders of power supplies can only arrive in small batches, which quickly sell out to those waiting on them. This could potentially affect B550 shipments as well, but presumably orders of those would have been planned for some time. It's also likely that these shipping delays may work themselves out before too long.

Show me a B450 or X570 motherboard under 175 dollars that is ACTUALLY in stock somewhere commonly accessible online right now.

Show me a recommendable 550w Gold rated power supply from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, EVGA or anybody really, that is in stock right now, or any reputable 550-650w power supply that can be conscionably recommended that's under 100 dollars, whereas, even like the CX550w models that you could get for 50-60 bucks a few months ago, are now over 100 dollars IF you can find one in stock.
Newegg has a bunch of B550 motherboards that can be pre-ordered with a June 16th release date. And I suspect they wouldn't have those models up for sale if they didn't already have them in stock.

As for power supplies, the best units might be kind of hard to come by at the moment, but there are some "okay" units for not that much more than $100. Paying a $50+ premium for a somewhat less than ideal power supply (or checking daily for new stock to arrive) is arguably not nearly as bad as needing to pay hundreds of dollars extra for a graphics card and RAM. And again, people will likely be getting out more for the summer, and going back to work as restrictions ease, so demand for PC hardware may be getting back to more typical levels relatively soon.
 
Ok, demand has been a bit higher because of everybody being stuck at home and wanting to upgrade their systems. True enough.

The rest, is just wrong. B450 boards, like the MSI Tomahawk, and ALL of the Max models including some that HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN RELEASED yet but were expected to be, like the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon Max, are still being manufactured. How can anybody possibly believe that manufacturers are going to stop production on models that aren't even released yet? That's just nonsense. Board manufacturers have typically always continued manufacturing motherboards from any given chipset for many months after the newer chipset models are released. In some cases, as much as a year or two, but in greatly reduced numbers. They aren't going to stop manufacturing for something they're already set up for with tooling and production just because something newer comes along. That would be like Walmart discontinuing the sale of pants once summer arrives and most people are wearing shorts. Or getting rid of 87 octane gas because most cars these days are calling for higher octane fuels.

As for Newegg, get real dude. Newegg SHOWS inventory for a BUNCH of hardware on PCPP and then when you actually go to Newegg, it shows "arrives between June and August". Yeah, Newegg is NOT the Newegg of old. You do realize they've been bought out by a Chinese consortium of investors and have been accused of all kinds of shady practices since that came about, right? I had to fight with Newegg for a full month to get a tempered glass side panel that they sent me completely shattered, with zero protective packaging, replaced, and that was just this last November. No chance, at all, that I'd EVER trust anything coming out of Newegg's mouth. If a single motherboard from the B550 series gets into any normal users hands before the end of June, I'll be greatly surprised. Considering it's 3 days away until the 16th anyhow, and they can't even supply stuff they SAY they have in stock on time, that's a snipe hunt.

You can pay over 100 dollars for an "ok" unit. I'm not going to. And I'm not going to recommend that ANYBODY else do so either, when they can wait a few weeks and most likely get a GOOD unit for less than a hundred bucks, or at the very least, a good unit for around a hundred bucks. Paying 120 dollars for an "ok" power supply is just stupid in my opinion. You are, of course, entitled to your own opinion, as always.

Finally, we have this.

It's also likely that these shipping delays may work themselves out before too long.

Which is my WHOLE point, so thanks for making it for me. My exact words were "Now that things are going again it is going to take a few weeks for supply to begin catching back up with the demand. "

So waiting a couple of weeks, even a week or two, could be the difference between getting what you actually want, at a reasonable price, or getting what you are somewhat able to "settle" for, at a substantially higher price. And for the record, while it's just mainly motherboards and power supplies that are completely out of stock for most popular models, cases, fans and a lot of CPU coolers are also not currently available for prices anywhere near suggested retail, if at all for some models. Memory, storage devices and just about anything primarily not coming from China, since most of the DRAM, NAND and display panel technology are Korean products, are mostly available.
 
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thhetopham

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So if my friend was going to get one in a few weeks, what would you recommend as best parts assuming supply chain comes back and parts are readily available? The 3600 Ryzen and B550 look like a good start.
 
Yes, I'd agree. A 3600 with a Thermalright True Spirit Direct 140 cooler (About 42 bucks, and well worth it), some flavor of B550 motherboard, 16GB of G.Skill Ripjaws Trident Z 3600mhz CL16 or 3200mhz CL14 memory, a good power supply (See recommendations here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...t-to-avoid-and-psu-discussion-thread.3212332/ ) but I'd ditch that HEC case. In fact, unless there is a VERY compelling reason to go with a micro ATX case, I'd opt for a mid tower ATX case. Micro ATX can serious limit your options when it comes to motherboards, graphics cards, CPU coolers and power supplies.

If you HAVE to have a micro ATX case, I'd look at something like the Fractal design Focus G mini or Define Nano S, although there are quite a few decent microATX cases out there. HEC doesn't typically top the list of favorites though.

Better would be something mid tower, like the regular Focus G, or something from the Define series like the Define S2, or Define R6/R7. Even the meshify C is pretty decent. Corsair and Phanteks also have some very appealing cases with good features and terrific quality.
 

thhetopham

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Yes, I'd agree. A 3600 with a Thermalright True Spirit Direct 140 cooler (About 42 bucks, and well worth it), some flavor of B550 motherboard, 16GB of G.Skill Ripjaws Trident Z 3600mhz CL16 or 3200mhz CL14 memory, a good power supply (See recommendations here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...t-to-avoid-and-psu-discussion-thread.3212332/ ) but I'd ditch that HEC case. In fact, unless there is a VERY compelling reason to go with a micro ATX case, I'd opt for a mid tower ATX case. Micro ATX can serious limit your options when it comes to motherboards, graphics cards, CPU coolers and power supplies.

If you HAVE to have a micro ATX case, I'd look at something like the Fractal design Focus G mini or Define Nano S, although there are quite a few decent microATX cases out there. HEC doesn't typically top the list of favorites though.

Better would be something mid tower, like the regular Focus G, or something from the Define series like the Define S2, or Define R6/R7. Even the meshify C is pretty decent. Corsair and Phanteks also have some very appealing cases with good features and terrific quality.
Thank you!!! Was definitely leaning towards a mid or full size case. Fractal Design Meshify C looks great. The Ryzen 3600 comes with a heatsink, if he isn't overclocking do you think the Thermalright is worth it?
 
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Board manufacturers have typically always continued manufacturing motherboards from any given chipset for many months after the newer chipset models are released.
For some models, sure, but typically motherboards are produced in large batches, then not produced again for a while, as the same equipment is used for the manufacture of other boards. So if a manufacturer has a bunch of B550 and Intel's LGA 1200 motherboards launching around this time, then they have undoubtedly been focused on manufacturing those in recent months, not the last generation models, especially if they expected those models to see a big drop-off in demand once the new ones arrived, and not a big increase in sales prior to them coming out.

That would be like Walmart discontinuing the sale of pants once summer arrives and most people are wearing shorts.
Actually, that's pretty much what happens. : D Not necessarily pants in general, but for most clothes, a store gets a batch of new designs in for the season, then they sell those until they run out or the next season arrives. At that point, any remainder of the old designs gets clearanced out and replaced with the new models. There are some exceptions for certain kinds of clothes where a particular style may be kept around for years on end, but for the most part, clothes are produced in limited batches, then never produced again as they move to the next season's styles. So, that's probably not the best analogy. : P

...when they can wait a few weeks and most likely get a GOOD unit for less than a hundred bucks, or at the very least, a good unit for around a hundred bucks.
And that's more or less what I said... "or checking daily for new stock to arrive". Just because someone is asking for advice on a build doesn't necessarily mean they are buying their components within the next couple days. I was simply pointing out that saying it's the "absolute WORST time in over 20 years" to build a system is arguably an exaggeration compared to other shortages that caused significantly higher price hikes to the overall cost of a system. It can of course make it hard to make recommendations when product availability may change from one day to the next though.

As for Newegg, get real dude. Newegg SHOWS inventory for a BUNCH of hardware on PCPP and then when you actually go to Newegg, it shows "arrives between June and August".
That sounds more like an issue with PCPartPicker than anything. If there are discrepancies between what a store page shows for availability and what they show, then that's up to them to work out. In any case, B550 boards are not even listed on PCPartPicker yet. If you check the listings on Newegg itself though, some models show up as "Out of Stock", while others show up for pre-order, with "Release Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Limit 1 per customer." One might assume that they probably have stock for those models. It's possible that they could oversell pre-orders compared to the supplies they have on hand, but I'm rather sure that at least some people will be getting them, and it would not surprise me if there were at least some inventory still on hand after they start shipping in a couple days.
 
No, it's a Newegg problem. There is no such problem with that issue on other retailers sites and I spoke with Ryan Marinelli over at PCPP and he agreed that it was due to some shady page content on Newegg's part, because PCPP pulls from specific information to populate stock and inventory details from vendors and Newegg has intentionally not been showing parts which aren't in stock, as not in stock, instead showing in stock but noting that the shipping and delivery dates are MANY weeks to more than a month out.

That's on them, not anybody else.