New Build: Feels like i'm overspending

[Rocetmal]

Hi all,

Feels like i might have gotten carried away with this new build (monitor I already own). I'm simply looking for a long-lasting machine (current build lasted me 9 years) that plays games that are not very demanding: League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League. Probably what you'd consider a budget gaming rig. My 9 year old PC handled these games pretty well at medium settings (RL was a bit lower) so I feel like I don't need to go crazy. I thought a Mini build might be fun and save some space, but willing to move up to Micro or Full if necessary, I don't mind much. My wife's only stipulation is that I don't have anything glowing under the door the way my current case's green LEDs do :lol:

Anyway I think I've fallen into the trap of a lot of small increases. Just $20 more for 500 GB SSD, just $30 more for i5 over Ryzen, only another $20 for an H mobo instead of B...

Y'all I need help scaling back, I'm not trying to play hardcore games. Any advice? Feels like I don't need to be spending $700.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - H310I PRO Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($117.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($159.99 @ B&H)
Case: Cooler Master - Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus - VH226H 21.5" 1920x1080 Monitor
Total: $692.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-07 14:00 EDT-0400

Proposed Mini-ITX Build

Thanks in advance!

 

[Eximo]

Way less then I typically spend.

Nothing in there particularly stands out that could be had for less. Certainly cheaper 500GB SSDs, but the 860 Evo is the common recommendation.

If you want it to last 9 years, eh, not sure it has that going for it. A GPU upgrade here and there should keep it relevant for a long time though.

Perhaps spend more on the power supply? Corsair RMx 550W will have a ten year warranty, and be a little more efficient.

The build could be made more silent with an aftermarket CPU cooler like the Cryorig C7.

 

[jay32267]

Actually....I think your build is conservative and I would be spending a lot more...although I'd go with a full case because they are easier to work on and they cool better.

 

[madmatt30]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($80.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($169.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.61 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: ARCTIC - Arctic F12 PWM 57.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus - VH226H 21.5" 1920x1080 Monitor
Total: $651.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-07 13:58 EDT-0400

That would be me personally

 

[Rocetmal]

Way less then I typically spend.

Nothing in there particularly stands out that could be had for less. Certainly cheaper 500GB SSDs, but the 860 Evo is the common recommendation.

If you want it to last 9 years, eh, not sure it has that going for it. A GPU upgrade here and there should keep it relevant for a long time though.

Perhaps spend more on the power supply? Corsair RMx 550W will have a ten year warranty, and be a little more efficient.

The build could be made more silent with an aftermarket CPU cooler like the Cryorig C7.

Heh, well as you know the sky is the limit with builds. Current build is an i3 with a Radeon 5750. It has treated me well. After passing age 30, my gaming has tapered off and I expect it to continue a slow decline. So I'm not worried about "will this build support the release of a new game in 2023?" The finite life of SSDs has be a bit worried. Yes, HDDs are slow, but you can rewrite almost infinitely. While I am an SSD newbie, a lot of sites indicate that the shelf life is only about 5 years.

 

[madmatt30]

Even a cheap ssd should outlive any traditional drive.

There are no moving parts or latters to damage or degrade

 

[Eximo]

The Ryzen build looks good as well. Though maybe a case without a side panel? Slightly less glowy that way.

I have SSDs pushing 6 or 7 years old without issues. Drives can fail at any time though. Your 500GB SSD should be backed up to an external HDD on a semi-regular basis if you want to avoid having to re-install everything upon failure.

TLC SSDs haven't been around long enough for any conclusive EOL prediction. But they still have MTBF ratings in many years. Unless you are reading and writing to the drive constantly, they should last a long while.

Don't remind me. More and more I am finding the games coming out to be the same old thing with new graphics. I find myself playing titles for nostalgia in emulators more than AAA gaming.

 

[logainofhades]

Cheaper, and with a faster GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($80.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card ($215.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill - FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.90 @ Newegg Business)
Monitor: Asus - VH226H 21.5" 1920x1080 Monitor
Total: $676.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-07 14:24 EDT-0400

 

[Rocetmal]

A lot of Ryzen recommendations here. On another forum a couple months back before I *needed* a new build and was just tinkering around, the community was crazily anti-Ryzen since Intel was the "gaming chip."

At the end of the day with a dedicated GPU, I just need a CPU that won't bottle neck my video performance. Or vice versa.

 

[engineer5261]

That's a decent build, I wouldn't think you are overspending according to my standards.

Ryzen 5 1600 looks interesting to me as well at that price point.

 

[Eximo]

A lot of Ryzen recommendations here. On another forum a couple months back before I *needed* a new build and was just tinkering around, the community was crazily anti-Ryzen since Intel was the "gaming chip."

At the end of the day with a dedicated GPU, I just need a CPU that won't bottle neck my video performance. Or vice versa.

Interesting. Until coffeelake came out with the B and H series boards Ryzen was my #1 recommendation. More upgradeability, longer socket support life, and competent gaming, especially at high res. The Ryzen refresh basically brings the i5-8400 and the Ryzen 5 2600 in direct competition. And the Ryzen chip offers better productivity options.

Intel has always been the recommendation for high frame rate builds since their IPC is still better. And there were some sales on Kabylake for a while that skewed people that way. I think the i7-7700k was $250 for a while.

Since Ryzen came out, it has been my budget recommendation of choice. R3-1200 now, R7 - 2700X later, or possibly 3000 series. The most upgradeability you get with Intel is two generations, which isn't usually wide enough to bother with.

Still hard to argue against an i7-8700k for a good mix of the two though.

 

[Rocetmal]

Since Ryzen came out, it has been my budget recommendation of choice. R3-1200 now, R7 - 2700X later, or possibly 3000 series. The most upgradeability you get with Intel is two generations, which isn't usually wide enough to bother with.

Think I could get away with an R3 or i3 for my purposes?

I could also go with the RX 560 gpu instead of the GTX 1050. I've heard that while the 1050 has the edge, they're not worlds apart and it's a $50 difference.

 

[Eximo]

Well, an i3-8100 is a pretty decent CPU in and of itself. The equivalent of previous generations i5.

If you think an RX560 will last you a while, sure. But the idea behind picking latest model mid-range components now is that they should be relevant for a good number of years.

 

[Rocetmal]

Well, an i3-8100 is a pretty decent CPU in and of itself. The equivalent of previous generations i5.

If you think an RX560 will last you a while, sure. But the idea behind picking latest model mid-range components now is that they should be relevant for a good number of years.

Thanks. I don't want to go overboard, but don't want to save $40 if it means hamstringing my system.

Built my wife's PC with an i3-8100. The onboard video is awful. I always have to roll back her driver or her monitor will intermittently flash. But with a dedicated GPU I will avoid that.

 

[g-unit1111]

Since Ryzen came out, it has been my budget recommendation of choice. R3-1200 now, R7 - 2700X later, or possibly 3000 series. The most upgradeability you get with Intel is two generations, which isn't usually wide enough to bother with.

Still hard to argue against an i7-8700k for a good mix of the two though.

If it were a strictly gaming rig I wouldn't recommend anything but the i7-8700K or i5-8400. Those are still bar none the best gaming CPUs on the market. I do love the Ryzens, one of my rigs has an R7-1700 and I may eventually upgrade that to the 2700X. And for a budget CPU you definitely can't go wrong with the R5-2600.

 

[Rocetmal]

If it were a strictly gaming rig I wouldn't recommend anything but the i7-8700K or i5-8400. Those are still bar none the best gaming CPUs on the market. I do love the Ryzens, one of my rigs has an R7-1700 and I may eventually upgrade that to the 2700X. And for a budget CPU you definitely can't go wrong with the R5-2600.

Thanks! Yes it's a rig I'm building for gaming, but as the OP states, the games arent the most intense in the world. I think that's what really caused me to step back and wonder... should I just go with the i3? Or, will a Ryzen 3 or 5 be sufficient? After all, Overwatch and League of Legends really just aren't that demanding of a system, so I don't need to build to the moon.

 

[Rocetmal]

Upon further review, I realized PCPartPicker no longer shows MicroCenter as an option. There's one near me, they have an i5-8400 and R5-2600 for basically the same price, $10 difference. Kind of takes the fun out of it, but now you all had me start to lean toward the R5 as a cheaper option that still would get me where I want to go!

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks! Yes it's a rig I'm building for gaming, but as the OP states, the games arent the most intense in the world. I think that's what really caused me to step back and wonder... should I just go with the i3? Or, will a Ryzen 3 or 5 be sufficient? After all, Overwatch and League of Legends really just aren't that demanding of a system, so I don't need to build to the moon.

You really can't go wrong with either the i5-8400 or the R5-2600, both are solid CPUs for the price range. The biggest advantage would be that if you go with the R5 there will be slightly cheaper motherboards but you can always get that with the Intel CPUs as well.

Upon further review, I realized PCPartPicker no longer shows MicroCenter as an option. There's one near me, they have an i5-8400 and R5-2600 for basically the same price, $10 difference. Kind of takes the fun out of it, but now you all had me start to lean toward the R5 as a cheaper option that still would get me where I want to go!

That usually just means that Micro Center is out of stock on that particular item. You can always check with them for availability.

 

[madmatt30]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/5000150/amd-ryzen-5-1600,-asrock-ab350m-pro4-cpu-motherboard-bundle

If you're near a microcenter store I can't even begin to describe what a deal that is.

 

[Rocetmal]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/5000150/amd-ryzen-5-1600,-asrock-ab350m-pro4-cpu-motherboard-bundle

If you're near a microcenter store I can't even begin to describe what a deal that is.

Care to elaborate, I feel like I'm missing something? CPU: $140 + Mobo: $70 = $210. Microcenter offers $30 off any CPU/Mobo combo so that additional discount can be had outside of this bundle.

Generally speaking, no issues from your perspective getting a 1600 instead of a 2600?

 

[bmockeg]

Its actually $220 for them both anywhere else and,the r5 1600 was $165 a couple days ago.

 

[Rocetmal]

Its actually $220 for them both anywhere else

$210, $220... point is, I think the amazing deal portion is simply that Microcenter offers $30 off combos, but they do that for all cpu/mobo combos not just this specific pair.

But hey that's why I'm looking at Microcenter!

 

[madmatt30]

It's $50 cheaper than the cheapest 2600 bundle (which is oos anyway) & the cheapest i5 8400 bundle (which has a lower end board)

So yeah irregardless it's a great deal.

The 2600 is stronger generally , the i5 is stronger at straight gaming fps.

The 1600 is still,a very good cpu & paired,with anything less than a 1070 & a 144htz screen will perform exactly the same as either.

If I was,USA based & still building systems for sale I'd be snatching that combo up by the bucket load!

A 6c/12t gpu with a good,motherboard for that price ?? 2 years ago something with the same performance would have cost you over $400 .it'll see you out for 5 years+ without a doubt.

 

[g-unit1111]

Care to elaborate, I feel like I'm missing something? CPU: $140 + Mobo: $70 = $210. Microcenter offers $30 off any CPU/Mobo combo so that additional discount can be had outside of this bundle.

Generally speaking, no issues from your perspective getting a 1600 instead of a 2600?

The first generation Ryzen CPUs had lots of problems with RAM speed utilization. They got that mostly worked out with the Ryzen 2000s. There isn't much of a price difference between the 1600 and the 2600, always go with the new generation if you can afford it.

 

[madmatt30]

The boards & the fact it was a brand new cpu gen were the issue with ram.

Bios updates solves this.

I'm 2 updates behind on my pro 4 with a Ryzen 1700.

Both ballistix 2666 & patriot viper 2800 run at 2933 rock solid stable.

The price difference is $50 with that microcenter combo, which is consider substantial really.