[SOLVED] Mid-range gaming PC advice for new build

[Sanegency]

So I've been saving up for a while, and I finally have enough to get myself a pretty decent gaming PC. I'll be assembling it myself at home and driving it to college. I've been really diving into build advice videos and such for a bit now, so I feel like I'm probably pretty well off in terms of being able to get it built safely, but I thought I'd ask a forum of people who've actually build computers before and see if I've missed out on anything important. This PC is mostly for gaming, though I'll very likely be using it when I go into the workforce. If it helps with any CPU/GPU/MOBO advice you may have, the games I'll be playing the most include The Witcher 3, Warframe, Rainbow Six Siege, DOTA 2 and Cities Skylines.

I'll post all my relevant info below, along with the full list of parts I've put together on PCPartPicker.

Approximate Purchase Date: March 18

Budget Range: Under $1600 including peripherals and after shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, CAD/Engineering programs, websurfing

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 10 Home

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, Newegg, or OutletPC

Location: Washington State, USA

Parts Preferences: AMD AM4 compatible

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: will be 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Absolutely zero interest in RGB of any type or a cool looking case. The case is just a box to hold the parts and thus doesn't need any fancy accessory lighting.

~~

PARTS LIST

-CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B06X3W9NGG

-CPU Cooler: Cryorig M9a Mini Tower
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0177GTUE6

-Motherboard: MSI B350 Tomahawk
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B06WVFFXXL

-GPU: ZOTAC GeForce RTX 2060 6GB
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B07MBKKQPW

-Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8)
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0143UM4TC

-Storage 1: Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0781Z7Y3S

-Storage 2: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM HDD
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B01IEKG402

-PSU: EVGA 550 B3
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B071XS597S

-Monitor: Not decided yet, minimum 120Hz @ 1920x1080 a requirement, DisplayPort 1.4 preferred but optional.

-Case: Not decided yet, not extremely important as long as the airflow is good and it's an ATX Mid Tower form for under $100.

-Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B017K61ZIW

-Mouse: Already owned, will be upgrading to a MOBA mouse in the near future.

-Extra Case Fans: Rosewill 120mm
https://amazon.com/gp/product/B00KB8CB9O

~~

I guess my main questions are:

1. Is there anything wrong or missing on my parts list? Is there an area where I'm spending money I don't need to, or where an upgrade would be extremely useful?
2. Is my power supply good enough? The estimated load wattage according to this calculator is 398 Watts.

Any help with the above questions or tips for assembly would be greatly appreciated as this is my first time building a PC and I don't have a lot of cash for replacement parts. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hellfire13]

Something like this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($249.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($128.90 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ Newegg Business)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($498.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake - Core G21 Tempered Glass Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell - S2719DGF 27.0" 2560x1440 155 Hz Monitor ($357.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $1568.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-25 05:50 EST-0500

 

[assasin32]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3 GHz 8-Core Processor ($168.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: MyDigitalSSD - BPX Pro 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card ($459.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - 270R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($82.95 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: AOC - G2590FX 24.5" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1336.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-25 11:06 EST-0500

Same monitor I have and use with a 1050 GTX as it's gsync compatable, it's bright though. I haven't fine tuned the settings yet I was used to a darker monitor. There's little if any premium for freesync monitors which you can use with Nvidia so I highly recommend doing that.

 

[Sanegency]

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't looking for system builds, just places where I could optimize my budget. I did get some good ideas from the buildsets though, and have made the following changes to my parts list:

• Switched from Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM to Crucial Ballistix 16GB RAM, as the Ballistix is sub-$100 and runs at 2666 MHz, which is the highest my processor supports in base.
• Added the Corsair 270r as my case, looks clean and is cheap too.
• Went up from a 550W PSU to a 650W as I'm paranoid about system failure and my original question about my PSU has not been answered.
• Changed from ZOTAC's RTX 2060 to Gigabyte's RTX 2060 in order to gain a third cooling fan on the GPU.
• Added the AOC monitor to my considerations, not sure if I'll get it as I like to see a monitor in person before I buy it.

Any other responses would be very much appreciated.

 

[g-unit1111]

Switched from Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM to Crucial Ballistix 16GB RAM, as the Ballistix is sub-$100 and runs at 2666 MHz, which is the highest my processor supports in base.

For a 1st generation Ryzen, you need at least DDR4-3000 or DDR4-3200, and preferably RAM like G Skill Trident Z which uses Samsung B-Die. You do not want to skimp or compromise in this area with slightly cheaper parts. Just do a Google search for Ryzen 1st generation memory issues.

Added the Corsair 270r as my case, looks clean and is cheap too.

That's fine. Anything from Corsair, NZXT, or Phanteks are usually my go-to cases.

Changed from ZOTAC's RTX 2060 to Gigabyte's RTX 2060 in order to gain a third cooling fan on the GPU.

That doesn't really matter - having either one is fine. It doesn't really make too much of a difference in cooling having a third fan on your GPU.

Went up from a 550W PSU to a 650W as I'm paranoid about system failure and my original question about my PSU has not been answered.

That B3 is not a bad unit, per se. When selecting a PSU you should be more concerned about build quality than stated wattage. Wattage is important, sure, but the build quality is even more important. You want at minimum 550W for a single GPU system. But make sure that it is a quality PSU from someone like Seasonic, EVGA, or Corsair.

 

[Sanegency]

For a 1st generation Ryzen, you need at least DDR4-3000 or DDR4-3200, and preferably RAM like G Skill Trident Z which uses Samsung B-Die. You do not want to skimp or compromise in this area with slightly cheaper parts. Just do a Google search for Ryzen 1st generation memory issues.

So I'm buying the RAM because of the BDie? I'm not sure I see the point in buying RAM for the speed alone if it's much faster than my chip can handle

 

[Sanegency]

Last question and then I'll consider this solved.

In reference to the memory issue mentioned above, am I correct in assuming that using any 3200MHz RAM set I can find on this B-Die finder will allow me to circumvent the problem?

 

[mdd1963]

Many MB manufacturers have compatibility lists with certain RAM kits they've tested, settings, etc....; doesnt mean a RAM kit not on the list won't work, but, having RAM known to have worked/'certified' is a good start!)

I'd try hard to utilize that list, especially if pondering a first gen board... (Better to jump to B450, known to work at high speeds, IMO...)

 

[g-unit1111]

So I'm buying the RAM because of the BDie? I'm not sure I see the point in buying RAM for the speed alone if it's much faster than my chip can handle

Pretty much any X370 / B350 board should be able to handle it, and once you get it built you can run a BIOS update and then you will be able to get the full speed of the RAM. But you definitely don't want to get slower than DDR4-3000 for a 1st generation Ryzen setup.