[SOLVED] New Gaming Pc $2400 budget

[Youngguns]

Hello I am trying to put together a gaming pc for my self and I was wondering what hardware is best for my price.
Please help me I really dont know what im doing and im scared im going to buy the wrong stuff and every time i talk to stores i get the feeling they are offering me outdated stuff for a high price. my budget is around 24hundred & i need:

Full gaming pc to play both high cpu and gpu taxing games. I play all types. FPS, MMO, STRTGY ect
Else from that it would be nice to have warranty or a build that just lasts because i use it a lot.
A decent Monitor is needed also.
I live near Sydney CBD and there are stores like MSY,IJK (that i know of) were i can pick up from.

Thanks.

 

[InfoSponge16]

Are you going to be doing more than gaming?

 

[Youngguns]

Are you going to be doing more than gaming?

I intend to try out streaming on twitch and might upload a video or two to youtube a week.

 

[InfoSponge16]

I put an AMD system together here for the price.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J4c6ZR

It's PC partpicker so its mail order.

 

[InfoSponge16]

That one shouldn't have an issue streaming.

 

[InfoSponge16]

I would email Team group to make sure those 4gig sticks are single rank.

If they are not, you could substitute with Crucial, I know for a fact they have single rank 4 gig sticks.

I prefer to populate all channels with smaller cap single rank sticks. But that's just a preference.

Here is my logic, by comparison, a typical setup is

2x8 for 16gig so 288 pins times 2=576 channels/memory lanes

My preference is below

4x4 for 16 gig or 288 pins times 4=1152 channels/memory lanes.

There is also corsair or other brands. But I like a combo of speed and bandwidth.

 

[Youngguns]

Thank you, you sound like you know what you are talking about. i certainly dont. I will use this buy list to get the best prices i can.


can you tell me a little more about this build, pros and cons?

 

[Youngguns]

https://imgur.com/OzdagXI


This is what ive got so far what would you do to this and what have i missed?

 

[InfoSponge16]

The AMD build I put together should be a great system for any purpose. It has an EVGA 2080, so the games are covered. I chose a 1440p 27" 165 hz Gsync monitor to go with the card.

The 2700X is AMD's current flagship for the AM4 platform, its performance numbers are really good.
It is an 8 core processor with SMT so you get 16 threads. It will support DX12's current and upcoming games for a good while.

Windows 10 home is included in the build.

The build also features a corsair 240 AIO thats rgb, so the processor will stay cool under load. The 2700X auto over clocking shouldn't have issues stretching its legs.

You still get the stock rgb cooler that comes with the processor, can be used when the AIO needs maintenance.

It should also work well to render with the single and double core max freq. It should also run max multi core boost for games or content creation.

The 750 watt modular power supply is a proven EVGA unit. At the systems estimated 400w power consumption, that puts the power supply right in the sweet spot of its efficiency, its also gold rated.

The build also features an nvme boot drive, a 500 GB sdd for games, and a 2tb drive for everything else. Media or mass storage.

The case is a mid tower so it shouldn't be too huge, it looks good, has rgb, and good flow for most cases available in the closed front style that is has.
The case itself is also rgb. Can support a full custom liquid cooling loop.

The case comes with a single rgb fan in the front, but I added two additional Corsair ML 120 fans to put in the front. The ML series fans are high performance with a broad adjustment range. They are fairly quiet for the speed they can run. The one that comes with it can do exhaust duty in the rear location to feature the rgb, and the corsair aio cooler can be located in the top for exhaust work and to feature the rgb fans it comes with.

The memory is 3000 speed and fully populates the memory slots for full memory bandwidth. So long as they are single rank modules, there won't be issues running them at or above rated speeds.

The motherboard is an MSI unit that features everything needed to make the hardware work, the only thing I didn't check, was whether or not the board has enough fan output connectors, that can be easily taken care of with a few fan cable splitters. The board has good reviews as do most of the rest of the components. I have had good luck with MSI.

The system is also color coordinated in a subdued set of colors, it should look good with any combo of rgb you come up with.

Those are most of the pros of the system. It would be tough to beat many of the prices from pcpartpicker. That EVGA 2080 was 680-688$ at the time of the build.

The con's.

You probably can't overclock the CPU past 4.2Ghz all core.

It's single thread performance is still bested by Intel's best processors. But at 4.1-4.2 the 2700X is still a monster.

Another con is that all of the memory slots are populated, so if you want more than 16Gigs of capacity, you need all new memory.

Not many people need more that 16gigs at the moment.

Can't really think of any more con's at the moment.

27" 165hz 1440p Gsync monitor driven by a 2080
that won't really be choked by the 2700X sounds good to me. It could be a con that its not 4k, but you also play fps so the high frame rate should be a plus.

Another con, it doesn't support 8 sticks of memory, but it's as close as you can get to a workstation without spending workstation prices. I wouldn't even waste my time with 32 gig memory capacity, I would skip right to 64gb capacity of memory for truer workstation numbers. That's why I chose a 4x4 setup. But you would find 3000 MHz at full bandwidth tough to beat. 32 gb of memory capacity means you will likely be running duel rank memory, so when all slots are populated, you may not get the full speed. 16bg sticks are also single rank. So all slots populated at the boards capacity of 64gigs will still give you full memory speed.

 

[InfoSponge16]

Young guns, visit userbenchmark, you can plug in all of the components you have chosen, and do a comparison with all the components from the build I put together.

As for what I would do with the build you have started, its tough for me to say.

You give a budget of $2400 including monitor. The monitor I chose is over $400.

You have started a high end Intel build with the board you chose. If I were to build a system based off of the board, and also wanted gsync to go with a 2070, it would be difficult to make the budget. At 4k gsync is less of a worry though.

The board I chose is about $100.

I prefer to run as nice of a board as possible, but for say $1950, its tough to beat 8 core 16 thread with 2080 driving a 27" 165hz 1440p gsync monitor, with a system that is rgb and AIO cooled with all fan spots populated and fast storage.

You want to game, you also want to twitch, for twitch, you need threads..So i7 7700k at min. That's $350-$425. The plus is single core freq.

You also chose memory modules I would never bother with, not to say that they aren't good, because they are. But they could have their downside.

As mentioned, user benchmark is a great place to do build comparisons. You can get an estimate of performance and do price comparos. You can buy componentry anywhere, but PCpartpicker is competitive with pricing, and they do a watt estimation, that helps me choose the right power supply. Good luck!

 

[g-unit1111]

I put an AMD system together here for the price.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J4c6ZR

It's PC partpicker so its mail order.

Never, ever mix and match sets of RAM. If you're doing 32GB make sure it's a 4 x 8GB set, do not buy 2 x 2x8GB sets.

You also chose memory modules I would never bother with, not to say that they aren't good, because they are. But they could have their downside.

I'd take the Corsair over the Team Elite any day of the week especially for an AMD rig.

The motherboard is an MSI unit that features everything needed to make the hardware work, the only thing I didn't check, was whether or not the board has enough fan output connectors, that can be easily taken care of with a few fan cable splitters. The board has good reviews as do most of the rest of the components. I have had good luck with MSI.

I normally have had good luck with MSI but my B450 Tomahawk didn't last very long. I replaced it with an Asus ROG B450 and it is a million times better.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I would email Team group to make sure those 4gig sticks are single rank.

If they are not, you could substitute with Crucial, I know for a fact they have single rank 4 gig sticks.

I prefer to populate all channels with smaller cap single rank sticks. But that's just a preference.

Here is my logic, by comparison, a typical setup is

2x8 for 16gig so 288 pins times 2=576 channels/memory lanes

My preference is below

4x4 for 16 gig or 288 pins times 4=1152 channels/memory lanes.

There is also corsair or other brands. But I like a combo of speed and bandwidth.

I have no idea where that logic comes from but not only are dual rank ICs faster but Ryzen can have issues with all 4 DIMMs populated.....At an equal cas 15 DDR4 2933 dual rank is faster than DDR4 3200 single rank. So that's terrible memory advice.

Newer generation Intel system are in fact faster with all 4 DIMMs populated and don't have the issues Ryzen does. Ryzen is slower with 4 DIMMs. It's a latency thing.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I put an AMD system together here for the price.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J4c6ZR

It's PC partpicker so its mail order.

For future reference when the OP is in Australia...

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/

 

[InfoSponge16]

G unit,.sorry to heat you had an issue with your tomahawk. They have good reviews, and I have had good personal luck with an MSI board.

As far as the memory I chose. That is 4X4 with two sets of the same 2x4. Not really mix and match there. As long as the part numbers the same, he will be fine.

Its not 2X4 and 2x8...

Anort, I know he's in au, I just used that source as a reference for the op. But now he and I know they have an au site.

I don't really want to discuss single rank vs double rank that in depth. But as far as AM4 compatibity, I am fully aware of the issues the platform had with earlier Agesa coding.

That said, I have done ALOT of research about memory in general. AMD probably did their early coding for the platform with memory that uses 2 sticks of 8gb memory as that is the most common setup people buy with 16gig cap, and it was probably Samsung B die. Which is why they probably had the least compatibity issues with that specific ic.

Among the ton of research I have done about memory, I also followed very closely the launch of ryzen and Am4. If you are willing to spend the time looking at several QVL lists, you will see that other than Samsung B die, the single rank kits also had the least incompatibility issues.

As mentioned, I have done a lot of research about memory, speed, latency, single rank vs duel rank.

If you have a system with a single stick of 8gb, or a system with 2 sticks of four, the 8gb is duel rank, and the other is single rank.

Say you have a render image that uses 6gb total. Both systems use 3000Mhz speed, how do you think the single stick is faster at the same speed?

Both systems need to access multiple memory addresses for the full 6gb render. The 8gb stick has 4gb per side.

So now you have a single channel getting flooded,
Where the two sticks have double the bandwidth.

That is where my logic comes from. Latency is also directly related to heat. So in instances like that, multiple sticks are better.

Why do miners like AMD cards compared to Nvidia? Because of bandwidth. I am not however advocating data mining, I am firmly against it, and that's another subject.

We all have our opinions about what we like.
In a build where I had a board with only two slots, and I wanted as much capacity as possible, that is the scenario where I would go with two eights of duel rank.

The corsairs mentioned are proven good sticks. They also use proven on AMD Samsung bdie.
So do Gskill Flare X, Triton Z. Among others.

Just so there is an understanding that I am not a complete newb when it comes to memory, take a look at my HWBot wall. Check out my PiFast scores. I am Rob173n, watch my score climb with each entry. But my CPU core clock only increases only every few entries. The difference in score comes from manually altering memory timings.
My AMD 750k is the fastest 750k on air.

 

[g-unit1111]

G unit,.sorry to heat you had an issue with your tomahawk. They have good reviews, and I have had good personal luck with an MSI board.

There's two things I've learned doing this as long as I have:

1) Just because the motherboard has good reviews doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good product. If you're reading the store reviews a lot of times bad products get very highly rated if only because of that fresh out of the box feeling.

2) Just because *YOU* personally had a good experience with a product, doesn't necessarily mean that the next person who uses that product will. There's way too many variables that go into a PC that could mean that a person has a good experience or a bad experience. It could also mean a shoddy build too and that doesn't always go your way.

As far as the memory I chose. That is 4X4 with two sets of the same 2x4. Not really mix and match there. As long as the part numbers the same, he will be fine.

That is until you go to overclock. Once you start overclocking or enabling XMP / DCOP then you can run into serious trouble when you use sets that don't match. Either buy 32GB of RAM in a 4 x 8GB configuration, or don't.

Among the ton of research I have done about memory, I also followed very closely the launch of ryzen and Am4. If you are willing to spend the time looking at several QVL lists, you will see that other than Samsung B die, the single rank kits also had the least incompatibility issues.

A QVL is just a guideline. It's mainly there to make sure that it's compatible with voltages and timings. As long as you have that, you're good. Not every set of RAM modules is included because manufacturers don't have the time and/or resources to test every product out there, nor do they want to. A QVL is mainly just to get a feel for what works and what doesn't, but it shouldn't be the be-all, end-all.

 

[yonsnad]

Pre-built alternative from MWave - their store is located in Sydney - so you can pop in to check them out, ask questions and if you do buy from there, can pick up the system to save the hassle of shipping.

Heres an example of one of their pre-built systems you can purchase.

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/mwave-s57a-gaming-pc-rtx-2070-edition-ac21092

 

[InfoSponge16]

Here is a build with many of the components I chose. I used the memory substitution I mentioned. Notice how well they score. And at 2400 MHz, not 3000. The build is all UFO.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/PCBuilder/Custom/S94328-M475904.586860.494033.160390.90226vsS0-M?tab=MBD

And it looks like 4,700 other people have had good luck with the tomahawk.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/MSI-B450-TOMAHAWK-MS-7C02/94328


1167 probably enjoy those modules. I have spoken with Crucial about these specifically in an email correspondence.

https://ram.userbenchmark.com/Crucial-Ballistix-Sport-DDR4-2400-C16-4x4GB/Rating/3561

 

[InfoSponge16]

Yonsnad, decent looking pre built, it should have some sort of warranty the op was concerned with. That's the benefit.

Rather than having to RMA an individual component.

Buts its slightly over budget...he could go in and ask what the 2400 can get him.

 

[g-unit1111]

Here is a build with many of the components I chose. I used the memory substitution I mentioned. Notice how well they score. And at 2400 MHz, not 3000. The build is all UFO.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/PCBuilder/Custom/S94328-M475904.586860.494033.160390.90226vsS0-M?tab=MBD

Read this - it explains why having faster RAM is important. And if you're spending $2K or more and running a 2nd gen Ryzen without at least DDR4-3000, you're doing it wrong. That will prove to be a bottleneck in high end gaming and high end monitor resolutions.

https://bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/cpus/amd-2nd-gen-ryzen-7-2700x-and-ryzen-5-2600x-review/8/

And it looks like 4,700 other people have had good luck with the tomahawk.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/MSI-B450-TOMAHAWK-...

4,700 is a large sample size. And I hate to sound like marketing copy, but really the only sample size that matters is you. You can point stats all day long but in the end it's your personal preferences that matter over everything else. The Tomahawk may be a decent board, sure, but the Asus ROG is a superior board in every way, shape and form and is only an extra $30, and in this case it's worth it.You don't want to spend $2,000+ on a build only to have it marred by a sub par motherboard that can't handle high end overclocking.

1167 probably enjoy those modules. I have spoken with Crucial about these specifically in an email correspondence.

https://ram.userbenchmark.com/Crucial-Ballistix-Sport-D...

Again, how many people are "probably enjoying" these modules doesn't matter. If you are paying that kind of money for high end components, don't slow them down with RAM that just meets the bare minimum requirement. If you do, you're doing it wrong.

 

[InfoSponge16]

So I guess you didn't notice that the Team Group Ram that I recommended is 3000Mhz?

The build I chose also includes a $440 dollar monitor, and a copy of Windows 10 home for around $100.

As far as those 2400Mhz modules being a bottle neck. They are top percentile. Look at the builds they are on. What do you think top percentile means?

The OP asked for a recommendation on a build for X dollars, plus a monitor would be nice. I also included the copy of Windows. Many times when asked for a build, people don't include the OS or a monitor.

The build I recommended is actually an $1850 build.

Here is a comparison between a 2x8

https://ram.userbenchmark.com/Corsair-Vengeance-LPX-DDR4-3000-C15-2x8GB/Rating/3546

And the 4x4

https://ram.userbenchmark.com/Crucial-Ballistix-Sport-DDR4-2400-C16-4x4GB/Rating/3561

For the build i recommended 16gb total, not 32gb.

But take a look at the comparison, both are 16 GB capacity. The corsairs are 3000Mhz, the crucial at 2400Mhz. Which scored better? Bottle neck?

As mentioned, the original kit I recommended would be a 4x4 at 3000Mhz. They should be better than the Crucials.

If you go to team groups website, you will also see that they can run 3200Mhz on Ryzen 1st gen.

So compatibility is also not a worry.

 

[g-unit1111]

So I guess you didn't notice that the Team Group Ram that I recommended is 3000Mhz?

The build I chose also includes a $440 dollar monitor, and a copy of Windows 10 home for around $100.

As far as those 2400Mhz modules being a bottle neck. They are top percentile. Look at the builds they are on. What do you think top percentile means?

Define "top percentile". On default, sure, a motherboard and even current gen Ryzen motherboards will default to DDR4-2133 and on XMP (DCOP on AMD boards) and get the full speed of the RAM and you should absolutely do that. But does that make it "top percentile"? Maybe on Userbenchmarks.com it does, but if you look at other review sources and especially the ones that use professional testing equipment, they will get much different results than someone who posts a score on Userbenchmark.com.

And the RAM you chose is 2 sets of 2 x 4GB when you should be buying a single set of 2 x 8GB and as I have said you should never mix and match sets, there's too many variables that can go into when one set of RAM is manufactured and the other set is.

The OP asked for a recommendation on a build for X dollars, plus a monitor would be nice. I also included the copy of Windows. Many times when asked for a build, people don't include the OS or a monitor.

Because most of the time they either will already have these parts or include them in a separate budget. I will give you the operating system because most people don't take that into consideration when buying a rig and will resort to other, non kosher methods of obtaining an OS. Even for $1850 you can definitely get better parts, like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($302.09 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - A80 128 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($131.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.00 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($85.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.16 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($706.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1818.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-29 12:56 EST-0500

That's $1800 *WITH* an operating system and you still have money left over for a nice monitor. You could even move to a decent X470 board like the Asus Prime or MSI Carbon and still come in under $1850.

But take a look at the comparison, both are 16 GB capacity. The corsairs are 3000Mhz, the crucial at 2400Mhz. Which scored better? Bottle neck?

These scores are pretty meaningless. Read beyond the user reviews and look up some actual professional reviews with people who have access to testing equipment. You don't know certain variables like whether or not they were running on default settings (most AM4 boards default to 2133) and you don't know if they overclocked or not. Professional reviews will give you a much better picture.

As mentioned, the original kit I recommended would be a 4x4 at 3000Mhz. They should be better than the Crucials.

Populating all the RAM slots isn't going to guarantee that your build will perform faster.

So compatibility is also not a worry.

That was not the concern in the first place. The concern was a 2nd gen Ryzen CPU performing with RAM slower than DDR4-2666. You keep recommending DDR4-2400 when you should have at least 3000 or better.

 

[InfoSponge16]

You put a decent build together. That's what the op was looking for. Not a discussion about this part or that.

And no, I recommended 3000Mhz ram.

The fact is, I didn't really use my preference for what I like other than liking memory bandwidth.

More of my preference, I would scratch the rgb and use that towards a 470 rather than a 450.

The op didn't specify brand, just price, with monitor.

The fact is, and believe me, I have seen many benchmarks, but you have several times argued against not only me, but yourself.

Such as, testing equipment with benchmarks.
And then,.user benchmark is meaningless. LOL
Why is user benchmark called user benchmark?

So as mentioned, you put a decent build together,
Mine also includes a 500 GB sdd for games.
No tempered glass, but better cooling with all fan ports populated. I included two Corsair ML 120s

Now at least, the poster has three build recommendations.

Don't hijack, make your own thread to debate brand vs brand.

 

[g-unit1111]

You put a decent build together. That's what the op was looking for. Not a discussion about this part or that.

And no, I recommended 3000Mhz ram.

The fact is, I didn't really use my preference for what I like other than liking memory bandwidth.

More of my preference, I would scratch the rgb and use that towards a 470 rather than a 450.

The op didn't specify brand, just price, with monitor.

The fact is, and believe me, I have seen many benchmarks, but you have several times argued against not only me, but yourself.

Such as, testing equipment with benchmarks.
And then,.user benchmark is meaningless. LOL
Why is user benchmark called user benchmark?

So as mentioned, you put a decent build together,
Mine also includes a 500 GB sdd for games.
No tempered glass, but better cooling with all fan ports populated. I included two Corsair ML 120s

Now at least, the poster has three build recommendations.

Don't hijack, make your own thread to debate brand vs brand.

This discussion has gone on long enough. If you want to, we can continue this discussion in PM. But don't go accusing someone of hijacking a thread, that will not end well.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Don't hijack, make your own thread to debate brand vs brand.

It takes two to tango my friend.

Part of our jobs as moderators is to ensure users are getting correct advice. What I see here are long posts of sometimes questionable advice and rebuttals from two moderators. At this point the OP hasn't replied for a while so why don't YOU take a break and allow for the OP to review the presented information. This is now your second warning this week so I suggest you take a step back and review your behavior before you go throwing stones in glass houses.

 

[Youngguns]

Toms hardware - were people FIGHT over helping you! Cant get the right advice? Come down to Toms Hardware and people will be tearing at each others throats to give you advice. Lmao I really appreciate all the input guys... im going past my new house to do some installations and assemble my new gaming chair ill have a read through soon. Much love to you people. ttyl