[SOLVED] Does this pc build seem good for entry level gaming? Are the components compatible and reliable?

[Shortbread]

With the Christmas holiday coming up I wanted to build my first pc. Does this build seem pretty good for gaming. Also are the parts reliable and durable and is everything compatible . Thank you so much for anyone who can help me out. All this pc stuff is getting me stressed out, and any help is greatly appreciated.

The 9 Components You’ll Need for Building a Gaming PC

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www.popularmechanics.com

 

[Nemesia]

Do you have a maximum budget for the tower only?

 

[Vic 40]

There are better options, more balanced ones. Why the question above so people can make a pcpartpicker list for you with a more balanced system.

What is the system used for?

 

[Shortbread]

There are better options, more balanced ones. Why the question above so people can make a pcpartpicker list for you with a more balanced system.

What is the system used for?

Primarily just gaming. Possibly school work as well but nothing too crazy.

 

[Vic 40]

And what is your max budget? Is the build in US dollars fine or are you not from the US?

The 3700 is a good cpu, but for gaming is the 3600(X) an evenly good option for instance which would give more money for a gpu, why i said it's not very balanced. Not Talking abiout the 5600X which is even a better choice, just hard to get.

 

[Shortbread]

Do you have a maximum budget for the tower only?

1

And what is your max budget? Is the build in US dollars fine or are you not from the US?

The 3700 is a good cpu, but for gaming is the 3600(X) an evenly good option for instance which would give more money for a gpu, why i said it's not very balanced. Not Talking abiout the 5600X which is even a better choice, just hard to get.

Around $1000 USD

 

[Vic 40]

Something as a possibillity, but depends if you can get that gpu for that price,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($168.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock B460 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($54.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Kingston A2000 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card ($419.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo Air ATX ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic CORE GM 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $993.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-14 16:49 EST-0500

And this is without windows.

 

[Shortbread]

Something as a possibillity, but depends if you can get that gpu for that price,

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($168.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock B460 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory ($54.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Kingston A2000 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card ($419.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Metallic Gear Neo Air ATX ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic CORE GM 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $993.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-14 16:49 EST-0500

And this is without windows.

Thanks for the help, I’ll consider this build. Out of curiosity why do you think this build is better than the other one. Also do you know of any possible replacements for gpu in case this one remains sold out. The only option now is Amazon, but it’s significantly more expensive there.

 

[geofelt]

I like the build Vic40 proposed.
A balanced gamer will budget 2x the cost of the processor for the graphics card.
That is spot on.
I would use a single 1tb intel 665p for storage and omit the HDD.
https://www.newegg.com/intel-665p-series-1tb/p/N82E16820167469?&quicklink=true

Graphics cards prices have been jacked up and are hard to buy today.
But, budget about $400 for a graphics card.
Here is tom's gpu performance hierarchy list:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
If the 5700XT is not available, look for something in the same performance class.

If pushed, you can always start with integrated graphics which is included, but that is not suitable for fast action gaming.

Another option is to buy a lesser EVGA card to start with and plan on using the free 90 day trade up option if you want something stronger.
Perhaps a GTX1070FTW:
https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-gtx-1650-04g-p4-1457-kr/p/N82E16814487514

 

[Vic 40]

Just an m.2 ssd is an option, depends on your game library as well. I myself also only use ssd's so get the point.

About that gpu, hard to say what else, gpu prices are a mess right now. Looked at several and none have this performance for that price. Maybe consider what geofelt said, but would look at used in that case. That said i don't know about that "trade up" option so if that works is it an alternative.

I think my build is better for the performance as a whole, theh pc at the top has an expensive cpu and a cheaper, now lower end, gpu where the balance could be better, but that is my opinion.

 

[Shortbread]

[/QUOTE]

Just an m.2 ssd is an option, depends on your game library as well. I myself also only use ssd's so get the point.

About that gpu, hard to say what else, gpu prices are a mess right now. Looked at several and none have this performance for that price. Maybe consider what geofelt said, but would look at used in that case. That said i don't know about that "trade up" option so if that works is it an alternative.

I think my build is better for the performance as a whole, theh pc at the top has an expensive cpu and a cheaper, now lower end, gpu where the balance could be better, but that is my opinion.

What do mean by the ssd is an option depending on your library of games? Also how much storage should I go for on the pc. You and geofelt both recommended 1tb. Would that last me a decent amount of time, or would I possibly need to upgrade in the future? I understand that download sizes for games, but not sure about other software I may need to install on pc

 

[Shortbread]

I like the build Vic40 proposed.
A balanced gamer will budget 2x the cost of the processor for the graphics card.
That is spot on.
I would use a single 1tb intel 665p for storage and omit the HDD.
https://www.newegg.com/intel-665p-series-1tb/p/N82E16820167469?&quicklink=true

Graphics cards prices have been jacked up and are hard to buy today.
But, budget about $400 for a graphics card.
Here is tom's gpu performance hierarchy list:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
If the 5700XT is not available, look for something in the same performance class.

If pushed, you can always start with integrated graphics which is included, but that is not suitable for fast action gaming.

Another option is to buy a lesser EVGA card to start with and plan on using the free 90 day trade up option if you want something stronger.
Perhaps a GTX1070FTW:
https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-gtx-1650-04g-p4-1457-kr/p/N82E16814487514

Thanks for the help. Why do you think an ssd would be better than an hdd? Is it worth paying the extra money as it’s a bit more expensive

 

[geofelt]

The only redeeming quality of a HDD is the lower cost per gb.
A 1tb HDD is perhaps $40.
A 1tb m.2 nvme ssd is twice that, around $95.
A ssd will be 40x faster in small random I/O. That is what windows does 90% of the time.
It makes everything go quicker.
A pcie m.2 ssd will be some 10x faster sequentially.
And without any moving parts, a ssd should be quieter and more reliable.
Believe me, once you use a ssd, you will never be without one.

As to capacity, that depends on what you do.
If you tend to play a few games repeatedly, then 1tb will hold a modest number.
If you are buying and keeping a game a week, you are going to fill up storage.
But, at least, a ssd for windows is a must.
If, in time, you need more storage, it is very easy to add some later when you need it.

 

[Shortbread]

The only redeeming quality of a HDD is the lower cost per gb.
A 1tb HDD is perhaps $40.
A 1tb m.2 nvme ssd is twice that, around $95.
A ssd will be 40x faster in small random I/O. That is what windows does 90% of the time.
It makes everything go quicker.
A pcie m.2 ssd will be some 10x faster sequentially.
And without any moving parts, a ssd should be quieter and more reliable.
Believe me, once you use a ssd, you will never be without one.

As to capacity, that depends on what you do.
If you tend to play a few games repeatedly, then 1tb will hold a modest number.
If you are buying and keeping a game a week, you are going to fill up storage.
But, at least, a ssd for windows is a must.
If, in time, you need more storage, it is very easy to add some later when you need it.

Great, thanks for the advice! Also I planned on building this pc myself. I know this doesn’t really go with what parts to use, but do you think I could figure out how to build it by watching yt videos and doing research online. I don’t have any experience and I don’t really know anyone that knows about this sort of stuff.

 

[geofelt]

Yes, you can.
MY build process:

Before anything, while waiting for your parts to be delivered, download
and read, cover to cover your case and motherboard manual.
Buy a #2 magnetic tip philips screwdriver.
I find it handy to buy a power switch like this for testing.
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E168121..._switch-_-12-119-009-_-Product&quicklink=true

1. I assemble the critical parts outside of the case.
That lets me test them for functionality easily.
A wood table or cardboard is fine.
2. Plug in only the necessary parts at first. Ram, cpu, cooler, psu.
Do not force anything. Parts fit only one way.
Attach a monitor to the integrated motherboard adapter if you have one, otherwise to the graphics card.

1. If your motherboard does not have a PWR button, momentarily touch the two pwr front panel pins with a flat blade screwdriver.
2. Repeatedly hit F2 or DEL, and that should get you into the bios display.
3. Boot from a cd or usb stick with memtest86 on it. memtest will exercise your ram and cpu functionality.
4. Install windows.
5. Install the motherboard cd drivers. Particularly the lan drivers so you can access the internet.

Do not select the easy install option, or you will get a bunch of utilities and trialware that you don't want. Drivers only.

1. Connect to the internet and install an antivirus program. Microsoft defender is free, easy, and unobtrusive.
2. Install your graphics card and driver if you tested with integrated graphics.

You will need to remove the graphics card later to install your motherboard in the case.
As a tip when screwing the motherboard into the posts, give the screw a small counterclockwise turn until you feel a click.
That lets you know that the screw will engage properly.
Make a note of how the graphics card latches into the pcie slot.
The mechanism will be hidden under the card and may be difficult to work if you have not previously checked how.

1. Update windows to currency.
2. Only now do I take apart what I need to and install it in the case.
3. Now is the time to reinstall your graphics card.

 

[Vic 40]

Watch some video's, as said read the manuals!, and mostly take your time, it doesn't have to be build in an hour.

to me is using memtest right at the start abit much, would only use that if you really get into problems. And when in the bios make sure to enable XMP so that ram runs as fast as possible.