[SOLVED] Building 2 gaming pcs on a strict budget...

[devestator_x]

Ok, so Im upgrading two pcs (for myself and my wife) and am on a very strict, limited income. These both need to be purchased one part at a time, so it's a very slow process and both have slightly different goals in the end. Hers is a 1080p machine, while mine will hopefully end up a low end 4k/high end 1440p machine.

Current specs are...
Mine-
i5-7500, MSi B250M Bazooka, GTX1060 6gb, 16gb 2400mhz

Hers-
Ryzen 3 2200g, ASRock B450M PRO4, GTX1660 Super (buying this week as piece #1 to replace her ancient HD7770), 8gb 2666mhz

Her current mobo is capable of running a 3000 series cpu, so I was thinking of a Ryzen 5 3600 for her. I was also thinking of the same for myself with a mobo swap to a B550 chipset. My gpu would be upgraded to a GTX 3070 later on when the craziness dies down a bit.

Does going from the i5-7500 to the Ryzen 5 3600 make sense since no matter what I have to swap my board out? I mean, the price of an i7-7700 is the same as buying an R5 3600 and a new board and Im still stuck swapping everything later on. With her machine it feels like a no-brainer since we dont have to swap out the board and it saves us that cost upfront (and we could potentially swap out the board in a year or two when the 650 chipsets hit the market as long as they continue that backwards compatibility).

 

[SteveRX4]

In another few weeks the new Ryzen CPUs will be released. There should be bargains on old stock now.

R5 3600 for both is a good idea. You should look at also getting better than stock CPU coolers as well - down the track

You don't need a B550 for a 3600.

Have you both good good PSUs that can power bigger graphics cards?

 

[devestator_x]

In another few weeks the new Ryzen CPUs will be released. There should be bargains on old stock now.

R5 3600 for both is a good idea. You should look at also getting better than stock CPU coolers as well - down the track

You don't need a B550 for a 3600.

Have you both good good PSUs that can power bigger graphics cards?

I know I dont need a B550 for the 3600, however, if AMD sticks with its current model of backwards compatibility, I am banking on the 5000 series cpus working with it, so I will only have to upgrade the cpu in two or three years, then wait another year and upgrade the mobo again while using the newer cpu. Basically leap frogging between the two and never having to buy both at the same time (as long as AMD continues to play nicely).

Yes, we both have adequate psus. She has a 550w XFX TS and I have a 600w EVGA. I know the 600 is lower than Nvidia's recommended for the 3070, but I think I might be able to squeak by, or who knows, maybe one of the new Navi cards might be better in terms of power consumption.

As far as cooling goes, I prefer to not OC my systems and both are currently running on stock coolers with temps well below anything you could consider hot. Our house is air conditioned to 76F (24.4c) all day long. I think I might see 71c on my gpu while gaming right now and the cpu never climbs higher than 65c.

I am hoping the prices will continue to fall as we wont be able to purchase her cpu until next month at a minimum, possibly even two months from now. Like I said, we just bought her GTX 1660 (went non-super to save a little more money, like I said, budget is TIGHT), so we need to pay that off before we can buy the next piece of the puzzle. Once we have her 3600, we will focus on my machine, swapping the mobo and cpu over to AMD.

 

[SteveRX4]

OK. It looks like your plan is then to have a R5 3600 on each PC.
And use a B550 motherboard. Have you worked out which one?
See

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxczZChFaZI

You might need a CPU cooler with the 3600s. Just see once you get them.
In a couple of months you might be able to find the 3600s for a good price on eBay.
The 1660 Super will be fine with the XFX 550.
I'm not sure about the 3070 with the EVGA. When they are relased, we'll find out. I think you should use a PSU from Tier A in https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/ - it's sort of like insurance.