[SOLVED] New PC Build (Looking for advice)

[robertlyuan]

I'm new to building PCs and am looking for some advice/opinions on what I have. I am wondering whether all my parts are compatible and that there aren't any parts are the bottle-necked or bottle necking others. Also, I've decided to use the stock cooler that comes with the CPU, would you recommend buying a separate cooling system? I am mainly looking to use my PC for gaming. Let me know if there's anything you would change or if its good the way it is. Thanks!

Build:
Case:
Corsair Carbide SPEC-Alpha Mid-Tower Gaming Case- Black/Gray
CPU:
Intel Core i5-8400 Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 300 Series 65W
Motherboard:
MSI PRO Series Intel 8th Gen LGA 1151 M.2 D-Sub DVI DP USB 3.0 Gigabit LAN CFX ATX Motherboard (Z370-A PRO)
GPU: ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 Twin Fan 6GB GDDR6 192-bit Gaming Graphics Card, Super Compact, IceStorm 2.0, ZT-T20600F-10M
Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Desktop Memory Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)
Storage: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (WD10EZEX)
Storage:
Samsung 970 EVO 250GB - NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD (MZ-V7E250BW)
Power Supply:
CORSAIR TXM Series, TX650M, 650 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Semi Modular Power Supply

 

[mdd1963]

NVME drives are awesome for fast boot times, rapid Windows installs from USB, and fast shutdowns, but, 250 GB for an OS drive does not go very far, and, this would normally mean installing your games on much slower spinning hard drives...

YOu might instead simply opt for a 1 TB SSD for about $147.... (COrsair MX500 is about $10 less, and is also great)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147673&ignorebbr=1

 

[Hellfire13]

Modified for better performance...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Walmart)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($65.91 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($67.95 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC BLACK GAMING Video Card ($349.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair - SPEC-05 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1033.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-11 02:20 EST-0500

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't recommend storing your game files on the same drive as the operating system ANYHOW, unless you have no choice. Much easier thing to have to reinstall only the OS and your game loader, than your actual game files especially since these days is often not a question of IF you'll have to reinstall the OS at some point, only WHEN. And, those areas of the game that WILL benefit from faster storage will appreciate being installed on an SSD rather than a HDD.

250GB is plenty for the OS drive unless you plan to install all your game files on the same drive, or install a lot of very large applications. I've been using a 250GB OS drive for quite a while now, and I have many other SSDs that are much larger with a couple of 1TB SSDs and several 4 and 8TB HDDs, and have never come close to running out of space on the OS drive even with quite a few professional applications installed for video encoding and editing, 3D rendering, several graphics programs including full 32 and 64 bit Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, a bunch more Adobe applications, Corel Paint shop pro, many audio editing and recording programs, Handbrake and other ripping and converting applications, full Microsoft office suite 2010 and on and on, which doesn't even use 60% of my OS drive.

If you keep large game files on another drive, it's a non-issue for most users.

Also, there would be little point in using a Z370 motherboard with an i5-8400, since that's a locked CPU and Z370 is an unlocked chipset.

@Hellfire, you realize that's a single fan card right? I wouldn't recommend that, unless it was a REALLY tight fit or a small form factor build.


I'd do something like this probably, and if you have about another 100 bucks to throw at it, not sure what your budget actually is since you didn't list one, but you could easily upgrade to an RX 2070 at around 450 bucks.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($98.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.85 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($379.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair - SPEC-05 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1056.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-11 02:43 EST-0500

 

[Hellfire13]

@Hellfire, you realize that's a single fan card right? I wouldn't recommend that, unless it was a REALLY tight fit or a small form factor build.

They are pretty fine, unless you are in a relatively hotter region or putting full load on it 24x7. I have myself used some of those extensively.

 

[Darkbreeze]

When there is only a 30.00 difference between one of those, and a normal card, I can't see any justification for doing that, but to each his own I suppose.

 

[robertlyuan]

I don't recommend storing your game files on the same drive as the operating system ANYHOW, unless you have no choice. Much easier thing to have to reinstall only the OS and your game loader, than your actual game files especially since these days is often not a question of IF you'll have to reinstall the OS at some point, only WHEN. And, those areas of the game that WILL benefit from faster storage will appreciate being installed on an SSD rather than a HDD.

250GB is plenty for the OS drive unless you plan to install all your game files on the same drive, or install a lot of very large applications. I've been using a 250GB OS drive for quite a while now, and I have many other SSDs that are much larger with a couple of 1TB SSDs and several 4 and 8TB HDDs, and have never come close to running out of space on the OS drive even with quite a few professional applications installed for video encoding and editing, 3D rendering, several graphics programs including full 32 and 64 bit Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, a bunch more Adobe applications, Corel Paint shop pro, many audio editing and recording programs, Handbrake and other ripping and converting applications, full Microsoft office suite 2010 and on and on, which doesn't even use 60% of my OS drive.

If you keep large game files on another drive, it's a non-issue for most users.

Also, there would be little point in using a Z370 motherboard with an i5-8400, since that's a locked CPU and Z370 is an unlocked chipset.

@Hellfire, you realize that's a single fan card right? I wouldn't recommend that, unless it was a REALLY tight fit or a small form factor build.


I'd do something like this probably, and if you have about another 100 bucks to throw at it, not sure what your budget actually is since you didn't list one, but you could easily upgrade to an RX 2070 at around 450 bucks.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($98.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.85 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($379.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair - SPEC-05 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1056.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-11 02:43 EST-0500

Thanks for the suggestion! Can I swap out the Corsair SPEC-05 for the Corsair SPEC-ALPHA or is there a specific reason you chose that case? I just think that the SPEC-ALPHA looks cooler.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Actually, I didn't choose that case, and probably wouldn't unless it was the best of a set of very limited options. I just offered a revision of an earlier build that was posted.

I'm not sure in fact that I'd even go that way at all. What is your actual budget and what country are you in, in order to look at options MOST relevant to you?