[SOLVED] New Build OK?

ssavo

Reputable
Oct 25, 2017
14
1
4,515
Hi, all. I’m building a new gaming PC (WoW, mostly) and would love if someone knowledgeable and helpful could eyeball and let me know if there are any issues or any suggestions. The PSU & SSD are leftovers from my last build.

I’m most concerned about compatibility problems (none, per PCPartPicker) or inefficiency/system chokepoints in some way.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Mobo: B450 MSI Tomahawk MAX
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3200
PSU: RaidMax Vampire 700
SSD: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500 GB
Case: NZXT H510
Other: Gammaxx400 CPU cooler; Arctic MX-4 thermal paste; case dust filters; zip ties; ESD strap


Really, really appreciate any advice. Thanks for reading.
 
Solution
Specs seem good enough. Personally not a fan of AMD after a bad experience, but maybe you will do better with it.

My own personal suggestion is to make sure it can be upgraded later. This is a good build for 2021, but in 2 or 3 years you might want to boost it. Make sure you can put more RAM if you decide it is needed and make sure that the CPU is a modern enough architecture that it can be rapleaced should the need arise. Upgrading is far cheaper than rebuilding.
Mixing RAM kits is not guaranteed to work so the idea of planning to add more RAM could be problematic. In 2-3 years all platforms will use different sockets and DDR5 RAM so there is no way to build a system now with an upgrade path to newer CPU’s in 2-3 years. The...
Specs seem good enough. Personally not a fan of AMD after a bad experience, but maybe you will do better with it.

My own personal suggestion is to make sure it can be upgraded later. This is a good build for 2021, but in 2 or 3 years you might want to boost it. Make sure you can put more RAM if you decide it is needed and make sure that the CPU is a modern enough architecture that it can be rapleaced should the need arise. Upgrading is far cheaper than rebuilding.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ssavo
Hi, all. I’m building a new gaming PC (WoW, mostly) and would love if someone knowledgeable and helpful could eyeball and let me know if there are any issues or any suggestions. The PSU & SSD are leftovers from my last build.

I’m most concerned about compatibility problems (none, per PCPartPicker) or inefficiency/system chokepoints in some way.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Mobo: B450 MSI Tomahawk MAX
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3200
PSU: RaidMax Vampire 700
SSD: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500 GB
Case: NZXT H510
Other: Gammaxx400 CPU cooler; Arctic MX-4 thermal paste; case dust filters; zip ties; ESD strap


Really, really appreciate any advice. Thanks for reading.
Looks good other than you want a B550 board for an upgrade path. Not a big fan of that psu but if its all you have it is what it is.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007625 601292786 601352805 <---- B550 boards
 
  • Like
Reactions: ssavo
Thanks, Richard!

I built my last PC in 2012 (for Diablo 3!), and it has served faithfully since then with just a GPU upgrade a few years ago. This time, I replaced the GPU again (to GTX 1660 ti) but didn't get the performance jump I needed, and found I couldn't really upgrade it further; mobo wasn't compatible with modern CPUs and didn't take DDR4, for example.

Hoping next time this build will give me some room for growth -- its CPU/GPU benchmarks are ~5x of the old -- but I'm not quite sure how to tell whether I'll be able to easily upgrade when the time comes.

Old Build
CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU: GTX 660
RAM: 16GB DDR3 800 MHz
PSU: RaidMax Vampire 700
SSD: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500 GB
 
Specs seem good enough. Personally not a fan of AMD after a bad experience, but maybe you will do better with it.

My own personal suggestion is to make sure it can be upgraded later. This is a good build for 2021, but in 2 or 3 years you might want to boost it. Make sure you can put more RAM if you decide it is needed and make sure that the CPU is a modern enough architecture that it can be rapleaced should the need arise. Upgrading is far cheaper than rebuilding.
Mixing RAM kits is not guaranteed to work so the idea of planning to add more RAM could be problematic. In 2-3 years all platforms will use different sockets and DDR5 RAM so there is no way to build a system now with an upgrade path to newer CPU’s in 2-3 years. The whole concept of ‘future proofing’ is generally flawed. I think getting a cpu better than you need today can be good for a longer useful life but it’s not word spend too much extra for or sacrificing other components to achieve.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ssavo
Solution
Thanks so much for the replies.

Can you please recommend a reasonable PSU for this build? There's room in my budget to upgrade.
Depends on budget. If budget is tight usually the Corsair CX550 is a reasonable choice. If you have the budget a Corsair RM550x or Seasonic Focus PX 550 are top quality units. The 650w equivalents of these PSU’s would give extra headroom for future gpu upgrades.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me and ssavo
Thanks so much, Sizzling! I'll look into these.

Will I need to confirm the PSU I decide on has connection cables compatible with each of the other components of my system, or are the connections standardized & any of the ones you've mentioned will give me what I need?
 
None of this is needed.
Arctic MX-4 thermal paste; case dust filters; zip ties; ESD strap

Cooler comes with paste the case comes with 10 zip ties and has dust filters.

Thanks! Already bought them, but thankfully they're all super cheap (~$20 together).

My thinking was -- not that I know what I'm talking about -- I'd heard that the Arctic thermal paste is better than the stock stuff on the cooler, I'll want some extra zip ties because I assume I'll have to clip them a couple of times as I move things around, and an ESD strap is a good idea. Also got the extra dust filters because I have a golden retriever & dust/hair is a constant problem.
 
Thanks! Already bought them, but thankfully they're all super cheap (~$20 together).

My thinking was -- not that I know what I'm talking about -- I'd heard that the Arctic thermal paste is better than the stock stuff on the cooler, I'll want some extra zip ties because I assume I'll have to clip them a couple of times as I move things around, and an ESD strap is a good idea. Also got the extra dust filters because I have a golden retriever & dust/hair is a constant problem.
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-core-series-core-gm-550-550w/p/N82E16817151243?Item=N82E16817151243&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https://pcpartpicker.com/&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-TaMkpejBUwJz3sR7gdwyJw

One of the best prices on a PSU comes with a 7 year warranty.

EDIT or 10 bucks more for the fully modular model. https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-core-series-core-gx-550-550w/p/N82E16817151246

The past that came with the cooler you could of used and probably would show within 1C of the extra you bought.
 
I would go for best CPU you can buy right now Which is 10600k for gaming thats close to your price range. You can never go wrong with Intel for gaming dont trust AMD for gaming you been warned
 
Hi, all. I’m building a new gaming PC (WoW, mostly) and would love if someone knowledgeable and helpful could eyeball and let me know if there are any issues or any suggestions. The PSU & SSD are leftovers from my last build.

I’m most concerned about compatibility problems (none, per PCPartPicker) or inefficiency/system chokepoints in some way.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Mobo: B450 MSI Tomahawk MAX
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3200
PSU: RaidMax Vampire 700
SSD: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500 GB
Case: NZXT H510
Other: Gammaxx400 CPU cooler; Arctic MX-4 thermal paste; case dust filters; zip ties; ESD strap


Really, really appreciate any advice. Thanks for reading.
Might I ask, have you already purchased the video card and if not what is the price on that card.