Build Advice Looking for feedback on beginning gaming PC

[DavidKyhn]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next few days

Budget Range: $700-750

System Usage from Most to Least Important: This build is a beginning build for my son. He currently plays GW2 and Battlefront II, so we're looking to meet Battlefront II min specs while giving him room to upgrade in the future. He's 16, so this will probably grow into the machine he takes to college.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: New build

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No prefrence

Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan, US

Parts Preferences: No preference

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Why Are You Upgrading: New build for gaming, room to upgrade later

I figure he can get away with the bare minimum RAM because it'll be easy for him to save and add more. Best to focus on mobo, cpu, and gpu. What we've come up with so far:

AMD:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor | $238.68 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.98 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston ValueRAM 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 Memory | $19.98 @ Amazon
Video Card | ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Challenger D Video Card | $259.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case | $64.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | \*SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $69.00 @ B&H
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $732.61
| \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-09-11 09:06 EDT-0400 |

Or Intel:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-12600 3.3 GHz 6-Core Processor | $229.98 @ B&H
Motherboard | ASRock B660 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $109.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Kingston ValueRAM 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 Memory | $19.98 @ Amazon
Video Card | ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Challenger D Video Card | $259.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case | $64.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Thermaltake Smart BX1 550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $35.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $720.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-09-11 09:08 EDT-0400 |

Any feedback or advice is appreciated!

 

[Lafong]

I don't see hard drives. Try to stick with SSDs if your budget allows.

Most would tell you to use 2 sticks of RAM in a single "kit". Ideally 16 GB total. Two sticks of 8 each for one price.

You'll probably get suggestions on other power supplies. I'm not sure you need 650 watts.

 

[DavidKyhn]

I don't see hard drives. Try to stick with SSDs if your budget allows.

Most would tell you to use 2 sticks of RAM in a single "kit". Ideally 16 GB total. Two sticks of 8 each for one price.

You'll probably get suggestions on other power supplies. I'm not sure you need 650 watts.

Ah, thanks! I forgot to put in the OP that we have a 1TB ssd I recently added to a laptop that has unfortunately died. So I plan to use that in this build.

I’ll take a look at the power supply. Didn’t realize I’d specced that high. 500W should be good for room for future upgrades, right?

Thanks so much for the feedback.

 

[Bob.B]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next few days

Budget Range: $700-750

System Usage from Most to Least Important: This build is a beginning build for my son. He currently plays GW2 and Battlefront II, so we're looking to meet Battlefront II min specs while giving him room to upgrade in the future. He's 16, so this will probably grow into the machine he takes to college.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: New build

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No prefrence

Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan, US

Parts Preferences: No preference

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Why Are You Upgrading: New build for gaming, room to upgrade later

I figure he can get away with the bare minimum RAM because it'll be easy for him to save and add more. Best to focus on mobo, cpu, and gpu. What we've come up with so far:

AMD:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor | $238.68 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.98 @ Amazon
Memory | Kingston ValueRAM 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 Memory | $19.98 @ Amazon
Video Card | ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Challenger D Video Card | $259.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case | $64.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | \*SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $69.00 @ B&H
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $732.61
| \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-09-11 09:06 EDT-0400 |

Or Intel:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-12600 3.3 GHz 6-Core Processor | $229.98 @ B&H
Motherboard | ASRock B660 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $109.99 @ Newegg
Memory | Kingston ValueRAM 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 Memory | $19.98 @ Amazon
Video Card | ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Challenger D Video Card | $259.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case | $64.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Thermaltake Smart BX1 550 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $35.98 @ Newegg
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $720.90
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-09-11 09:08 EDT-0400 |

Any feedback or advice is appreciated!

Intel.
Get a 2x8GB@3200 ram kit at the start trying to add ram to existing ram in the future may cause problems.

If that's a budget problem consider dropping back to a 12500 cpu.

 

[Lafong]

Ah, thanks! I forgot to put in the OP that we have a 1TB ssd I recently added to a laptop that has unfortunately died. So I plan to use that in this build.

I’ll take a look at the power supply. Didn’t realize I’d specced that high. 500W should be good for room for future upgrades, right?

Thanks so much for the feedback.

I've noticed that good PSUs right at 500 watts are not common.

Seems that 550 watts is seen a lot more frequently.

Get confirmation on how many reliable watts you need for that card. I don't think it is high powered, but.....confirm.

 

[DSzymborski]

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G7 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ EVGA)
Total: $69.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-09-11 10:43 EDT-0400

If there's ever going to be a GPU in it, get something that's at least decent.

This is FSP-made, but it's a better topology than the active-clamp reset forward ones that they've been using in some of the lesser EVGA products. The price makes it hard to beat. Only thing it wouldn't work well with is higher-end 30 (and almost certainly 40) series that need something more robust.

 

[geofelt]

Some thoughts:

For a pc that is intended to be upgraded, start with the PSU.
The wattage you need is largely determined by the graphics card.
For a RX6600, this chart would indicate a 550w unit:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

The most likely upgrade for any gaming pc that runs fast action games will be the graphics card.
To that end, I would suggest at least 650w, and perhaps 750w or even 850w.
You will find only a small increase in price between tiers.
For example, the Seasonic Focus GM650w uni is $ 117, the 850w unit is $138 and the 850w unit is $139
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-650-gold-ssr-650fm-650w/p/N82E16817151202?Item=9SIAD6HBKT4864

Seasonic FOCUS GM-750, 750W 80+ Gold, Semi-Modular, Fits All ATX Systems, Fan Control in Silent and Cooling Mode, 7 Year Warranty, Perfect Power Supply for Gaming and Various Application, SSR-750FM - Newegg.com

Buy Seasonic FOCUS GM-750, 750W 80+ Gold, Semi-Modular, Fits All ATX Systems, Fan Control in Silent and Cooling Mode, 7 Year Warranty, Perfect Power Supply for Gaming and Various Application, SSR-750FM with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-foc...0-750w/p/N82E16817151231?Item=N82E16817151231
The units come with a 7 year warranty which is a reasonable indicator of quality.
Here is an older tier list of psu quality.
$35 thermaltake smart is tier 6 on the list:

PSU Tier List [OLD]

Credit to @Starelementpokeand @Energycore for helping out with this long-awaited refresh of the old PSU tier list by Aniallation (who previously went several months without logging in), leaving the old list in need of help. This is simply an update of the list that was flawed in creation by the P...

linustechtips.com

A psu will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.

At one time a decent rule of thumb was to budget about 2x the cost of the cpu for the graphics card. That went out the window with the graphics crunch due to mining.
But, graphics card prices are getting back to normal.
How strong is appropriate for a graphics card? If the game is fast action, then the graphics card is all important.
A 6600 seems like a good value in the $250 price category.
But, plan for a future upgrade to a $500 card like a rtx3070 or better.

Most games can not effectively use more than 6-8 processing threads. Multiplayer would be an exception.
If the game is cpu dependent like a sim, mmo or strategy game, then single thread performance becomes all important.
Here is a chart of single thread performance as measured by cpu-Z bench:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/0gt9vb/1
The 12600 you listed would be a touch slower than the 12600K.
The K suffix allows a processor to be overclocked.
Usually, the non K version will have a slightly lower turbo capability.
Gamers will not overclock because the normal turbo mechanism will boost a few cores higher than an all core overclock will permit.
I like the 12600 as a processor pick, but I think a 12400 or 12500 would do equally well.
Here is a review of the 12400:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-core-i5-12400-review
And of the 12600K
https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i5_12600k_processor_review,21.html

In ram, 8gb is not enough.
And, do not plan on adding 8gb more.
It may not work. Ram must be matched for proper operation.
16gb is plenty for gaming so long as no other heavy multitasking is going on.
Buy a 2 x8gb kit so you can run in faster dual channel mode.
Most any speed is ok for Intel.
Ryzen is picky about ram and depends on fast ram for performance, 3600 speed is about the sweet spot.

I like the Focus G case. It comes with two front 120mm fans.
Filters will keep your parts cleaner.
It allows for a 165mm tall cpu cooler in the event that you want a stronger/quieter cooler than stock.

Definitely use your ssd. I will never again build without a ssd as the C drive.

 

[Cookiezaddict]

You do not want anything less than 650w when trying to build a system which may get an upgrade in the future, because now you put RX 6600, and an upgrade above that would be 6800xt, or 3080 range minimum. Or say, 4070 or 7700

You wanted to build a good base, starting with PSU, then CPU and Motherboard, the rest can follow.

Motherboard, a B550 for amd or B660 for intel would be the minimum, go find a deal!!

CPU you could try 5800x only very slightly more expensive than 5600x, and offers significant strength on multi core which may needed for some college works.. and it is better than i5 12600, unless, you go for 12600k which is ONLY $30 more, and it worth every cent over 12600 NON K or over 5800x.

RAM, get yourself cheap 3200mhz 16 gb, much better than upgrading a stick that may cause problem.

Try to consider this, hopefully this is helpful

System Builder

pcpartpicker.com

That list above cost $770, before case, but trust me, you’d figure this set up will last forever and completely plug and play for GPU as powerful as 6800xt or 3070ti and perhaps will still cover new NVDIA 4060 or AMD new 7700.

Always good to stretch just a little bit, but stick with certain amount, $50 extra won’t end ya. Haha