Build Advice New PC Build for my nephew

[regiment96]

Hi all,

I'm building my nephew his first PC and wanted to know if you could take a look and offer any tweaks or recommendations. He's price conscious...I plan to buy him his GPU as a birthday gift, but he's paying for everything else.

Please let me know what you all think!

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400
Motherboardd: ASRock Z690 Extreme WiFi
Memory: Corsair Vengeance (I'm undecided between DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200. Seeing about a $40 difference to go with DDR5...worth it?)
SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 1GB
GPU: nVidia RTX 3060 Ti Founder's Edition
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin
Case: Meshify 2 Compact Gray
PSU: Corsair RM750 (would 650 do?)


Any responses would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just a thumbs-up!!

THANK YOU!

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If you can afford ddr5 go for it. I say this just because going forward all the platforms will start going to that so unless you have an existing hood kit of ddr4 or you are very strapped on the budget I suggest ddr5.

On the gpu, you may take a look at the rx 6700xt as you may find it cheaper and it’s about the same performance except ray tracing.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Prett solid build. All components really complement each other and are well balanced.

For the PSU the RM are really good. So dropping down to a 650w in this case is fine for that build.

I'd agree with @ohio_buckeye , going DDR5 if you can afford is prob a good idea. It just gives you the extra options when this build falls behind (which it won't any time soon for gaming at 1080p/1440p). With your current combo, you will still be able to upgrade one more time for even better performance. With a bios update you will be able to stick a Raptor Lake CPU 13600k/13700k/13900k etc) and along with that, when faster DDR5 comes out, simply swap the DIMMs out for another bump in performance.


Edit: getting the 750w PSU now, give you room to add on those processors I've listed above and stronger GPU's too. So, it's not a bad idea at all to go 750w


The 12400 is a stellar gamer for the price.

 

[regiment96]

Thanks for the feedback! Appreciate the sanity check and recommendations!

 

[regiment96]

Upon further review, it looks like the ASRock Z690 Extreme WiFi doesn't support DDR5. I might need to make a change there.....

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Upon further review, it looks like the ASRock Z690 Extreme WiFi doesn't support DDR5. I might need to make a change there.....

What's the budget and where do you buy from?

 

[regiment96]

What's the budget and where do you buy from?

I'd like to keep it around $200, but could move up to $230-240 if i need to. There won't be any overclocking, just want a good option to support DDR5 and the rest of my build.

I can buy from anywhere. I do have a MicroCenter close by, and would make the trip if it was worth it.

Thank you!

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Okay, in that case, I'd suggest going for B660 as opposed to the Z690, seeing as your CPU is a non-K variant (it doesn't OC).

Something like this would be a good match: MSI B660M MAG Mortar WiFi D5 Intel LGA 1700 microATX Motherboard - Micro Center

 

[regiment96]

Thank you! Looks like B660 will definitely get the job done.

BTW, I just finished The Dark Tower series. Definitely appreciate your user name and image!

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Thank you! Looks like B660 will definitely get the job done.

BTW, I just finished The Dark Tower series. Definitely appreciate your user name and image!

Hile Gunslinger!

Thankee Sai!

Oh, wow! What did you think? I'm on my third read at the moment. There are just so many things I missed even though I've read it twice already Slightly off topic, I know, but I think the mods would not disapprove of this discourse 😉

Yes, this B660 is pretty darn good. A little on the high side in terms of expense, But the MSI MAG are really good IMO. Really nice match with your current processor, but will still take a Raptor Lake CPU, and faster ram down the line. Good choice.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I know this might be a bit outside of budget. Saw an ad the other day from microcenter, buy a ryzen .7 7000 series or higher and get a free ddr5 6000 32gb ram kit. The one local to me also appeared to have a micro atx board for 159. When I put it in the cart and added the cpu it knocked 50 off the board and total was at 509. Plus if they’d give me the ram. I don’t need to upgrade but man if they are still running that deal after Christmas I may have to consider since my 5900x would probably fetch about 300 by itself. Maybe just sell my old b350 board, the 32gb of ram I’ve got and cpu as a set for 350. On the other hand sell the 5900x, drop in a 5600g and toss into a new case for my wife’s home office.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Yes, that's right. I saw that article, and thought it was a great deal. We don't get that in Europe, let alone Ireland, where I live.

 

[regiment96]

Whoa, looking at this, it might be worth it to go with this Ryzen 7 7000 deal.

Can anyone recommend a solid motherboard to go with this?

 

[regiment96]

Looking into this, I think it's untenable. It's going to cost quite a bit more for hardware, and we will want to take cooling much more seriously with the Ryzen CPU. It's a good idea, but also an opportunity to teach my nephew discipline and value.

Thanks again!

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I was looking because I could probably sell my old cpu. But ryzen 5000 parts and Intel 12th and 13th gen are great values.