[SOLVED] First PC build, any sugggestions, sub $1500

k1nationIG

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Apr 9, 2020
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So I am building my first PC ever. Any changes I should make on it? Also can someone suggest a good quality, sub $400 240hz monitor?

PC parts list
 
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Solution
omg, this is getting annoyting. I just saw that that the tomahawk max has no displayports? if i plan on getting a high refresh rate monitor, I need a displayport right?
You'll be using the DisplayPort on the GPU (2070S), no worries. The one on the motherboard works only for the iGPU (integrated graphics unit) on the CPU, if it has one and the Ryzen 3700X doesn't.

WildCard999

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k1nationIG

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Apr 9, 2020
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This is my recommendation for a $1,500 1080P/240hz build including the monitor. The monitor is Freesync but should work with the 2070S as long as you use the newest drivers, DisplayPort cable & follow the directions below. Also disregard the error message as the MSI MAX boards ship with a updated BIOS.

I will compare it to your list once you set your list as public.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tJcRMc

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html
try again
 

k1nationIG

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Apr 9, 2020
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This is my recommendation for a $1,500 1080P/240hz build including the monitor. The monitor is Freesync but should work with the 2070S as long as you use the newest drivers, DisplayPort cable & follow the directions below. Also disregard the error message as the MSI MAX boards ship with a updated BIOS.

I will compare it to your list once you set your list as public.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tJcRMc

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html
Also, I can have a max budget of like $1950 if we are including monitor and keyboard. I already have a mouse.
 

WildCard999

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PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($292.14 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($68.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($37.15 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.99 @ Walmart)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1394.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:35 EDT-0400
 
Does anyone have tips or suggestions for certain parts that can help me cut down on pricing? All comments will super helpful but especially ones that don't regard the CPU or GPU. Thank you

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/k1nation/saved/zNBk6h
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($292.14 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Patriot Viper RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($68.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB STRIX GAMING Advanced Video Card ($449.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400S ATX Mid Tower Case ($91.78 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1462.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:37 EDT-0400

That RMx unit is way overpriced, Seasonic is just as good, better IMO.

I’d change the motherboard to a solid mid level X570 with newer tech.

I’d also save by not buying a license for windows 10. You can use it free if you don’t mind a watermark on the desktop, or you can find a license key cheap if you look around that works perfectly fine despite what some people on this site will tell you. I paid like $15 and mine has worked flawlessly for 2 years
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
12
95
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($292.14 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($68.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($37.15 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.99 @ Walmart)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1394.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:35 EDT-0400
If you have some time, can I question you on why you changed the case and motherboard. I understand the power supply and HDD and GPU
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
12
95
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($292.14 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Patriot Viper RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($68.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB STRIX GAMING Advanced Video Card ($449.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400S ATX Mid Tower Case ($91.78 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($109.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1462.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:37 EDT-0400


That RMx unit is way overpriced, Seasonic is just as good, better IMO.

I’d change the motherboard to a solid mid level X570 with newer tech.

I’d also save by not buying a license for windows 10. You can use it free if you don’t mind a watermark on the desktop, or you can find a license key cheap if you look around that works perfectly fine despite what some people on this site will tell you. I paid like $15 and mine has worked flawlessly for 2 years
Are you sure about the windows option. Also why get the x570, aren't the benefits non applicable to my build because of PCI4. I see what you meant about the powersupply.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
If you have some time, can I question you on why you changed the case and motherboard. I understand the power supply and HDD and GPU
The case was overpriced, should be $74.99 and if you are going to spend more then the Fractal Design is a better quality case but cases don't really matter as long as they have decent airflow.

As for the motherboard the B450 Tomahawk MAX is a solid choice for price to features and will handle a modest overclock.

Actually it appears to be back in stock. Pretty much my favorite B450 board that supports 3rd gen Ryzen out of the box is the ASRock B450M A/C. It can handle some higher end CPU's (good vrms) for such a small board, comes with Wifi/Bluetooth built in and is much cheaper then many of the other comparable boards.

PCPartPicker Part List
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $93.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:54 EDT-0400
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
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S
The case was overpriced, should be $74.99 and if you are going to spend more then the Fractal Design is a better quality case but cases don't really matter as long as they have decent airflow.

As for the motherboard the B450 Tomahawk MAX is a solid choice for price to features and will handle a modest overclock.

Actually it appears to be back in stock. Pretty much my favorite B450 board that supports 3rd gen Ryzen out of the box is the ASRock B450M A/C. It can handle some higher end CPU's (good vrms) for such a small board, comes with Wifi/Bluetooth built in and is much cheaper then many of the other comparable boards.

PCPartPicker Part List
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $93.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-17 12:54 EDT-0400
So i understand the case, but still don't understand the motherboard lol.

whats wrong with the

MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC ATX AM4 Motherboard

and what are the cons of having a micro atx board. There has to be some. Also some other guy said I should upgrade to a x570, agree or disagree?
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
There's nothing wrong with that MSI B450 Pro Carbon AC but you were asking for suggestions for lowering the price so that's what I did, find something similar for cheaper that could support your current parts. Also by lowering the price on that it allows for you to get the 2070 Super.

Some of the cons for a MATX board is less connections and usually poor vrms but this ASRock has good vrms, also the M.2 for the NVMe and a few SATA ports for more storage. Some go for the X570 for the PCIE 4.0 slot but there's no current GPU that could utilize those speeds so essentially it's wasted but some people want the "very best" so they'll buy into something they really don't need. Later this year AMD should be releasing the B550 boards which will have those newer features for cheaper but like I said it's kind of wasted currently and the SSD's that can utilize those speeds via PCIE are super expensive. That being said M.2 NVMe SSD's are fast and are reasonably priced nowadays.
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
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There's nothing wrong with that MSI B450 Pro Carbon AC but you were asking for suggestions for lowering the price so that's what I did, find something similar for cheaper that could support your current parts. Also by lowering the price on that it allows for you to get the 2070 Super.

Some of the cons for a MATX board is less connections and usually poor vrms but this ASRock has good vrms, also the M.2 for the NVMe and a few SATA ports for more storage. Some go for the X570 for the PCIE 4.0 slot but there's no current GPU that could utilize those speeds so essentially it's wasted but some people want the "very best" so they'll buy into something they really don't need. Later this year AMD should be releasing the B550 boards which will have those newer features for cheaper but like I said it's kind of wasted currently and the SSD's that can utilize those speeds via PCIE are super expensive. That being said M.2 NVMe SSD's are fast and are reasonably priced nowadays.
I appreciate the insight. Probably going to be my last question, I looked it up and it says that the tomahawk and the ASRock don't support 3600 ram, is that true.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
The Tomahawk MAX supports 3600mhz, the older Tomahawk board doesn't. The ASRock supports 3200mhz. While AMD Ryzen does perform better with faster memory 3200mhz is fine, it was the 2133 & 2400 speeds that caused horrible performance. I did some testing myself and the difference between 2133 & 3200 was almost 30 FPS or if it was similar the FPS dips on the 2133 were frequent and were drastic (like 15-20 FPS). I've heard 3rd gen works well with 3600/CL16 or 3733/CL17 however I haven't seen any recent data seeing how much of an improvement those are over 3200mhz. With 2nd gen going from 3200 to 3466 or 3600 was very minimal but it could be higher with 3rd gen.

BIOS updates though could change those numbers. I own the ASUS B450-F motherboard and when I bought it the max was 3466 but now it states up to 4400mhz. I have yet to confirm this with ASUS since I've been working/busy. And unlike MSI, ASUS didn't come out with a newer version like the MAX boards so it must be due to the BIOS updates.
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
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95
The Tomahawk MAX supports 3600mhz, the older Tomahawk board doesn't. The ASRock supports 3200mhz. While AMD Ryzen does perform better with faster memory 3200mhz is fine, it was the 2133 & 2400 speeds that caused horrible performance. I did some testing myself and the difference between 2133 & 3200 was almost 30 FPS or if it was similar the FPS dips on the 2133 were frequent and were drastic (like 15-20 FPS). I've heard 3rd gen works well with 3600/CL16 or 3733/CL17 however I haven't seen any recent data seeing how much of an improvement those are over 3200mhz. With 2nd gen going from 3200 to 3466 or 3600 was very minimal but it could be higher with 3rd gen.

BIOS updates though could change those numbers. I own the ASUS B450-F motherboard and when I bought it the max was 3466 but now it states up to 4400mhz. I have yet to confirm this with ASUS since I've been working/busy. And unlike MSI, ASUS didn't come out with a newer version like the MAX boards so it must be due to the BIOS updates.
Yep so my final decesion is to get the tomahawk max, thanks
 

k1nationIG

Great
Apr 9, 2020
163
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Your welcome.

To make sure the memory is running at the correct speed for that board make sure there in the A2/B2 slots and that AXMP (or XMP?) is enabled in the BIOS. This sets the memory at the rated speed, voltage & timings.
omg, this is getting annoyting. I just saw that that the tomahawk max has no displayports? if i plan on getting a high refresh rate monitor, I need a displayport right?
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
omg, this is getting annoyting. I just saw that that the tomahawk max has no displayports? if i plan on getting a high refresh rate monitor, I need a displayport right?
You'll be using the DisplayPort on the GPU (2070S), no worries. The one on the motherboard works only for the iGPU (integrated graphics unit) on the CPU, if it has one and the Ryzen 3700X doesn't.
 
Solution
Are you sure about the windows option. Also why get the x570, aren't the benefits non applicable to my build because of PCI4. I see what you meant about the powersupply.
Depends how long you plan to keep the computer. You never know when you might want pcie 4. It also has AX WiFi capability. It has a better VRM as well. The B450 will need a bios update to work. The X570 will give you better future CPU support as well if you decide to upgrade. Just some things to think about.