Build Advice Build advice for kids PC, what chip and motherboard to use?

[t3x]

Hello

I need to get a couple of pc's for my kids, nothing too crazy but with at least a 4gb graphic card that can run most games comfortably. Something similar to a I5-4460 @3.2ghz which is what I currently use with a 4gb graphics card, but it is a very old system I'm sure there is better out there for a reasonable price, maybe even AMD Ryzen.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you !!

 

[rustigsmed]

Which country are you in?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($118.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Neo Forza FAYE 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($57.49 @ Newegg Sellers)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($215.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Montech X3 Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $646.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-07 22:24 EST-0500

can be made cheaper with a non wifi mobo - slower lesser cpu (eg 5500/5600g), a lesser gpu etc but i think this will go the distance for a while this build (those 5600's are such a good deal with cheap mobos to match). also you could easily change a case to taste.

cheers

 

[Darkbreeze]

When you say "run most games comfortably", what games, exactly, are you talking about? Are we talking light browser type games, eSports games, Minecraft, light FPS games, or what? Because most of the popular modern AAA games aren't going to run very well on a 4GB card unless you are running at a low resolution with very accommodating quality settings.

And an 8 year old CPU is going to make it an even less enjoyable experience. Certainly there are a number of very inexpensive systems that can be put together that can work pretty decent at 1080p or lower, but we really need to know what type of games specifically you will be targeting, what kind of quality settings you expect to be able to run and what resolution the display is going to be?

Also, knowing a budget for each PC would be very helpful as well as what country you are in?

And are you talking a prebuilt system, or used parts, or entirely new parts?

 

[umeng2002_2]

Low end new parts are better than high-end old parts if their performance in comparable. Better software support for the new stuff.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Of course they are, but it's hard to convince some people that used hardware is almost always a bad idea. For more reasons than just software support.

 

[t3x]

When you say "run most games comfortably", what games, exactly, are you talking about? Are we talking light browser type games, eSports games, Minecraft, light FPS games, or what? Because most of the popular modern AAA games aren't going to run very well on a 4GB card unless you are running at a low resolution with very accommodating quality settings.

And an 8 year old CPU is going to make it an even less enjoyable experience. Certainly there are a number of very inexpensive systems that can be put together that can work pretty decent at 1080p or lower, but we really need to know what type of games specifically you will be targeting, what kind of quality settings you expect to be able to run and what resolution the display is going to be?

Also, knowing a budget for each PC would be very helpful as well as what country you are in?

And are you talking a prebuilt system, or used parts, or entirely new parts?

Thank you for taking the time to reply, so basically running Minecraft and fps shooter games like Counterstrike, Overwatch, Fortnight.

My concern was price so I was thinking a 4gb card as I need to get two pc's and I am running a 4gb pc which has allowed me to play a lot of games comfortably like gta5 for example.

I have a budget of $1000AUD per Pc, I am in Australia.

Thank you !!

 

[t3x]

Which country are you in?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($118.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Neo Forza FAYE 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($57.49 @ Newegg Sellers)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($215.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Montech X3 Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $646.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-07 22:24 EST-0500

can be made cheaper with a non wifi mobo - slower lesser cpu (eg 5500/5600g), a lesser gpu etc but i think this will go the distance for a while this build (those 5600's are such a good deal with cheap mobos to match). also you could easily change a case to taste.

cheers

Thank you very much, that's a very reasonable price for a great pc it seems, I am in Australia so I will see how much that will run here.

I should have included my budget, about $1000 for just the tower.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What graphics card are YOU currently running, that is able to do what you think it needs to do, just for a point of reference?

What resolution are these kids systems going to be running at?

 

[rustigsmed]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.00 @ Centre Com)
Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.00 @ Centre Com)
Memory: Neo Forza FAYE 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($99.00 @ MSY Technology)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($69.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($329.00 @ PCByte)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($55.00 @ Umart)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $998.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-08 16:31 AEDT+1100

-note that the motherboard will need to have the bios updated - centrecom etc can do this for you

 

[Darkbreeze]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.00 @ Centre Com)
Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.00 @ Centre Com)
Memory: Neo Forza FAYE 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($99.00 @ MSY Technology)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($69.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($329.00 @ PCByte)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($55.00 @ Umart)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $998.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-08 16:31 AEDT+1100

-note that the motherboard will need to have the bios updated - centrecom etc can do this for you

Why do you have multiple memory kits included on this build? LOL.

Why are you including a very crappy Thermaltake Smart series power supply? Terrible choice, regardless of the capacity or the graphics card being used.

This build could work, in a pinch, but there are definitely better options and having to automatically take it to somebody in order to have the BIOS flashed just to get the CPU to be recognized, is a very bad way to start off a build IMO. No offense, but I don't think this is well thought out.

 

[t3x]

Why do you have multiple memory kits included on this build? LOL.

Why are you including a very crappy Thermaltake Smart series power supply? Terrible choice, regardless of the capacity or the graphics card being used.

This build could work, in a pinch, but there are definitely better options and having to automatically take it to somebody in order to have the BIOS flashed just to get the CPU to be recognized, is a very bad way to start off a build IMO. No offense, but I don't think this is well thought out.

I am running a Geforce Gtx 970 and resolution would 1080p

 

[rustigsmed]

yes, ram double up was pcpartpicker moving from usa to aus. thanks for pointing it out with such class.

I disagree, the build was fine for a lower end pc. centrecom offer the service and it is a fantastic price for a supported am4 mobo.
in an ideal world a higher order psu would be preferred but the psu will be fine for a low level non oc pc. however now that you have kindly pointed out my error with the ram, we can make some tweaks to wifi b550 mobo and a better psu under $1000aud.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.00 @ Centre Com)
Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($159.00 @ Centre Com)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($69.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($329.00 @ PCByte)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($55.00 @ Umart)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $999.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-08 16:58 AEDT+1100

 

[t3x]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.00 @ Centre Com)
Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.00 @ Centre Com)
Memory: Neo Forza FAYE 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($99.00 @ MSY Technology)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($69.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Silicon Power A60 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($329.00 @ PCByte)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 40 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($55.00 @ Umart)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart BM2 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($79.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $998.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-08 16:31 AEDT+1100

-note that the motherboard will need to have the bios updated - centrecom etc can do this for you

Thank you,

So basically a
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor
Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card

for the main components is a good start? prices are very reasonable definitely in my budget especially for an 8gb card.

 

[rustigsmed]

yes, a ryzen 5600 is an excellent option. as is the RX 6600 but you could choose another graphics card to suit your circumstance - possibly an nvidia 3050 or a perhaps even a rx 6500 would work. you can take a look on youtube search for RX 6600 game benchmarks, or compare to see performance - possibly with those games you could get a lesser option. For the motherboard a B550 would generally be a preferred option as you are less likely to require a bios update to enable the 5000 series AMD cpu's working (but still may need one).

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do you have a preference between AMD and Nvidia on the graphics card? Some people don't care, while others are very adamant about one camp or the other.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Slightly over your established budget, but with good reason as many of the parts are moderately better quality, a little more storage capacity, much better case and for AMD cards I greatly prefer Saphire over most other brands. They are pretty much the EVGA of AMD cards when it comes to quality and customer service.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($175.00 @ PCByte)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($149.00 @ JW Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($89.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($50.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.00 @ Umart)
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($329.00 @ BPC Technology)
Case: Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.83 @ JW Computers)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Total: $1012.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-08 17:27 AEDT+1100


Clearly any of these builds would work, but I'd probably avoid the B450 boards at this point. Sure, they are a bit cheaper, but they also lack some features that are present on the B550 chipset models. Even some of the X570 boards, high end models, lack some of the features that even the budget B550 boards have. Also, I have seen a fair number of problems with Silicone power products, especially their storage devices. They are as bad as PNY in my opinion, and PNY is on my short list of brands to avoid for anything other than workstation cards.

Either way, you have a few different options here. Kind of nice to have integrated graphics on the 5600G, which is actually a little cheaper than the 5600, for troubleshooting or so that if anything ever happens to the graphics card you can still use the system and even do some light gaming as it's iGPU is quite capable for lower resolutions so long as it's not a very demanding type AAA game.

 

[t3x]

@rustigsmed @Darkbreeze

Thank you so much for taking the time to help, that will definitely help me figuring out what to get

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure thing. Anytime man.

 

[t3x]

I think I might have to downgrade a bit because I would not be building these pc's myself, what do you think a good option for a 4gb graphics card would be trying to keep the amount under $800AUD.

 

[Darkbreeze]

And lets' be honest, this is still a system that will kick the crap out of your system in CPU performance:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2230vs3481/Intel-i5-4460-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3600

And has very similar 3d performance as your GTX 970. Maybe even better in some areas.



PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.00 @ PCByte)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B550M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($139.00 @ PCByte)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($89.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Storage: Patriot Burst Elite 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.00 @ Umart)
Video Card: MSI MECH 2X OC Radeon RX 6500 XT 4 GB Video Card ($195.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.83 @ JW Computers)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 500 500 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($89.00 @ Computer Alliance)
Total: $806.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-09 14:26 AEDT+1100

 

[t3x]

Amazing, to be honest my current pc allows me to play anything I want at very reasonable quality so if this is even better for such a good price then it's really all my children need.... for now

Thanks again mate.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure thing.