[SOLVED] building a midrange gaming tower

[sapuizait]

Hi y all

I would like to try and build my very first gaming desktop pc.
Before starting I need to say that I have 0 experience with building a desktop so I am open to advice and if you guys think I am better of with buying a prebuilt pc then I ll just consider doing that.

There are several reasons I would like to build my own desktop

1. I cannot find exactly what I want but I also dont know what is it I want - this is one of the reasons I made this thread
2. I would like to build a model within 2020 which will have 2019-2020 components that will last at least 5-10 years (if possible)
3. I dont want to pay for the OS or the extra cost a shop will charge me to simply assemble the components and "verify" that the pc is in working order - ok that sounds cheap but comeon I can do these checks myself

I know that I d like my future pc to have a gtx 1660 card (I think thats a very decent graphic card and at a reasonable price) and I would like an i7 intel ( but I am open to suggestions) and 16GB ram I assume....

Thus I would really love to hear your suggestions for a good (but not insanely expensive) motherboard and the accompanying components and if its possible (or better) to buy a motherboard with an already installed processor and cooling system and simply start adding the rest of the components

Thanks in advance,
S

 

[logainofhades]

Follow this, and reply back. It will make it easier to suggest things. I am going to say, from the start, that your best price/performance is AMD's Ryzen series.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-new-build-or-upgrade-advice.528714/

 

[DSzymborski]

Unless you're using Linux instead of Windows, you have to choose whether to pay for the OS or to have a watermark/fewer personalization options.

As for the parts, it's futile to make recommendations without knowing your budget.

The greater your budget, the longer the components will stay relevant. If you're trying to make a gaming PC that lasts a very long time without having to spend additional funds, for example, starting with a good midrange card like a GTX 1660 is probably inadequate for this goal.

 

[cryoburner]

I would like to build a model within 2020 which will have 2019-2020 components that will last at least 5-10 years (if possible)

At around what point "within 2020" were you intending to build the system? If it's later in the year, then there will likely be new CPUs and GPUs available when you go to buy your components, and prices will have changed, so recommendations made right now might not be all that relevant then.

I know that I d like my future pc to have a gtx 1660 card (I think thats a very decent graphic card and at a reasonable price) and I would like an i7 intel ( but I am open to suggestions) and 16GB ram I assume....

What sort of budget were you targeting, and what country are you located in? And also what resolution/refresh rate monitor were you planning on using? Do you plan on playing graphically demanding games at high settings?

I personally would not consider an i7 to be a good match for a GTX 1660 in a new gaming system. Generally, graphics card performance will be a lot more important that CPU performance in most demanding games, so you should spend more on your graphics hardware than on your processor, not the other way around. Something like a 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 3600, or maybe one of the upcoming i5s, paired with a somewhat higher-end graphics card, like an RTX 2060 or RX 5700 would probably be a better distribution of the budget.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

At this point, the intel i7 is not a good value. If you're going intel, you really need to be looking at i9. Otherwise, Ryzen is your better bet. Depends on your budget. 1660 is ok for today, but within a couple of years you'll want to upgrade. I just bought a 1660 super. I expect it will last me maybe 2 years. By the end of that, you'll probably be wanting to move up. So your best bet in my opinion, build something upgradeable, and upgrade as you can.

I think that today, hardware is just moving so fast, asking a PC to last 5-10 years is going to be hard to hit. Not that it can't be done. But when Ryzen launched for example, it was something like a 40% performance jump from their previous lineup. Things seem to be accelerating now.

 

[sapuizait]

HI everyone thanks for all the replies - ok to make this a bit easier for everyone here is the template:



Approximate Purchase Date: around summer depends on my

Budget Range: 600$

System Usage from Most to Least Important: midrange gaming, e.g. No man's sky, SW fallen order, MGS the phantom pain, divinity 2

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: starting from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: No - will install myself dual ubuntu & windows

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: no idea

Location: I live in France at the moment, can order components from anywhere i guess?

Parts Preferences: nvidia graphic card, Ryzen processor

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: dont know what that is

Your Monitor Resolution: using my samsung tv as monitor my guess for resolution is 1440x900 (for demanding games) up to 1920 x 1080

Additional Comments: software to use mentioned above - i occasionaly may wanna work on it which means running an R analysis and therefore i ll need a decent processor

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: cant play games at the moment, i m playing no man's sky as at a resolution of 1080x720, which is below human standards -and the game keeps crushing-

Include a list of any parts you have already selected with descriptively labeled links for parts. Please do not post only links.
nvidia GTX 1660
Ryzen processor, not sure which to choose based on my budget

 

[DSzymborski]

Do you already have the 1660? It doesn't make sense given your goals and it doesn't make sense to even choose -- let alone buy -- a GPU in January for a build you're not making until the summer. Also, does the budget include the 1660, if you haven't bought it yet?

 

[sapuizait]

no, no, sorry. I have no parts yet. I mentioned the 1660 because I assumed its a good buy with a budget of 600$ in total.
Sorry for the confusion and my ignorance

 

[norcalsc]

IF you plan on building yourself which I wholeheartedly encourage you to do. I would spend the next couple months educating yourself, watch as many tutorials and product reviews as possible (take all the info in with a grain of salt) when it comes time to put it together you will be glad you did. while not difficult by any means, building a PC can be frustrating and/or potentially catastrophic if a mistake is made if you're not sure what to do in certain situations. parts and prices are irrelevant at the moment as you aren't ready for a couple of months. good luck

 

[sapuizait]

OK cool but can you give me some ideas where to start: should I focus on MSI motherboards and Ryzen 5 or ASUS motherboards and Ryzen .... etc etc - if I want upgradability. I aint saying I ll start building it now but I d like to start looking and hypothetically if I was to start building it tomorrow which components would you suggest me to go for?

 

[cryoburner]

For the processor, a Ryzen 3600 would probably be a good option right now. When it comes to the motherboard, currently the B450 "MAX" motherboards from MSI tend to be a good option, as they support Ryzen 3000-series processors out of the box without requiring a BIOS update. By summer, there should be a wide selection of newer B550 motherboards out for these processors though. The prior generation Ryzens like the 2600 and 2600X might also be worth considering if you want to direct a bit more money toward things like graphics hardware, but the 3600 offers around 15% more CPU performance than those models, which may help keep performance smoother in more demanding games down the line.

Of course, there should also be newer Intel CPUs out by summer, which are expected to match the current Ryzens in terms of thread-counts at roughly similar price points, so it's possible that one of those upcoming i5s might be a good option too. And maybe AMD's Ryzen processors could see their prices lowered a bit to counter them. Again, it's still too early to say for sure.