[SOLVED] Prebuilt or first build advice

[KyleM123]

I have a budget of about $2100 and I'm only focused on gaming. What would be the best parts/prebuilt to spend my money on? I've done a bit of research over the past few days but still feel like a complete noob when it comes to building a good pc.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Don't buy a pre-built. Keep your GPU cost to about 1/3 of the PC (not including monitor keyboard etc) ie a 3080 ($700) or 6800 XT ($650). Keep the CPU cost to about half the GPU (since it's for gaming), you should be fine with a 5600X ($300). Get fast storage, a good SSD (eg: 860 Evo, MX500, WD Blue, or even faster like 970 Evo depending on money left). An efficient and good enough PSU is required for a GPU like the 3080 ie 750W (I would recommend the Corsair RM750x or something of similar quality). For the motherboard, buy either B550 or X570, but buy a good quality one with good VRMs to keep potential for OC open, such as Strix E/F or Aorus Master/Pro. Since this is Ryzen, try getting 3600Mhz RAM (Trident Z Neo works best for Ryzen, but Corsair makes better looking RAM imo). Buy a good case such as the Lancool II Mesh with good airflow ($100-120)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/X2CmDc

In this list, in the total price, add $1000 for CPU+GPU because they're out of stock and price won't show

 

[PCMDDOCTORS]

I have a budget of about $2100 and I'm only focused on gaming. What would be the best parts/prebuilt to spend my money on? I've done a bit of research over the past few days but still feel like a complete noob when it comes to building a good pc.

I would follow this list: It fits your budget and you get a ball'in new PC to last for years to come.

New PC Build

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($233.33 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($156.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($158.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB SC2 Gaming iCX Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P360A ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.43 @ Amazon)
Monitor: MSI Optix G32CQ4 31.5" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor ($355.73 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Redragon K551-RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2083.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[Prad_Bitt]

I would follow this list: It fits your budget and you get a ball'in new PC to last for years to come.

New PC Build

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($233.33 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($156.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($158.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB SC2 Gaming iCX Video Card ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P360A ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.43 @ Amazon)
Monitor: MSI Optix G32CQ4 31.5" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor ($355.73 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Redragon K551-RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2083.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

1080 for $650?
That's overpriced even for 2016!

 

[KyleM123]

Don't buy a pre-built. Keep your GPU cost to about 1/3 of the PC (not including monitor keyboard etc) ie a 3080 ($700) or 6800 XT ($650). Keep the CPU cost to about half the GPU (since it's for gaming), you should be fine with a 5600X ($300). Get fast storage, a good SSD (eg: 860 Evo, MX500, WD Blue, or even faster like 970 Evo depending on money left). An efficient and good enough PSU is required for a GPU like the 3080 ie 750W (I would recommend the Corsair RM750x or something of similar quality). For the motherboard, buy either B550 or X570, but buy a good quality one with good VRMs to keep potential for OC open, such as Strix E/F or Aorus Master/Pro. Since this is Ryzen, try getting 3600Mhz RAM (Trident Z Neo works best for Ryzen, but Corsair makes better looking RAM imo). Buy a good case such as the Lancool II Mesh with good airflow ($100-120)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/X2CmDc

In this list, in the total price, add $1000 for CPU+GPU because they're out of stock and price won't show

What would you recommend for a cooler? Would the MSI MEG x570 UNIFY be a good mobo with potential OC in mind? Thank you by the way.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

What would you recommend for a cooler? Would the MSI MEG x570 UNIFY be a good mobo with potential OC in mind? Thank you by the way.

It's a good motherboard, compare the price with the one I included, I usually prefer Asus/GB because I've heard bad stories about MSI repair and RMA. And I included the cooler in that list, check it out, Corsair H115i Elite Capellix, be sure to mount the cooler on the top of the case, and if possible get a couple fans to feed air into the GPU because there are fan slots top of the PSU shroud. I'd recommend something cheap without RGB. Also, mind you, the cooler I included comes with an RGB controller and fan hub that is not compatible with the case fans (cable management hell) , in which case you could go for a cheaper cooler without RGB fans: Corsair H115i RGB pro XT

 

[KyleM123]

It's a good motherboard, compare the price with the one I included, I usually prefer Asus/GB because I've heard bad stories about MSI repair and RMA. And I included the cooler in that list, check it out, Corsair H115i Elite Capellix, be sure to mount the cooler on the top of the case, and if possible get a couple fans to feed air into the GPU because there are fan slots top of the PSU shroud. I'd recommend something cheap without RGB. Also, mind you, the cooler I included comes with an RGB controller and fan hub that is not compatible with the case fans (cable management hell) , in which case you could go for a cheaper cooler without RGB fans: Corsair H115i RGB pro XT

Would it be worth it to buy new cpu and gpu thermal paste? I'm not sure how much a performance increase replacing the paste is or how much of a pain it is to do it.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Would it be worth it to buy new cpu and gpu thermal paste? I'm not sure how much a performance increase replacing the paste is or how much of a pain it is to do it.

GPU thermal paste? No, you don't use any. On CPU you could, but it's not really necessary since you're not doing some crazy overclock, and you've got a nice case (L2Mesh) so no need, it does take a while to do it because you have to remove it fresh off the CPU block on the AIO, just save yourself the time and labor

 

[Joseph_138]

If you're going to buy a prebuilt, make sure it doesn't have a weaksauce power supply. You're going to need a minimum 400W and one 6-pin PCIe power connector to run even a mid-range video card. There are lots of prebuilts out there with Core i7 processors that can only run a 75W video card because the power supply is too weak for anything else. Don't get stuck with one of these. Some don't even have a PCI-e x16 slot, sticking you with whatever onboard video is on the CPU forever. Some will only come with 1 or 2 memory slots, at most. These are usually business class machines assigned to low level employees to do their work on and nothing more. Don't be fooled into thinking you can buy one of these machines and upgrade it later. Some you can, but there are always obstacles to impede you from doing that. They don't want to sell you a computer for $300 and then you keep it for 10 years because they made it too easy to upgrade. They want you coming back in a year or two for a computer again.

 

[coxbw]

You could also go with a semi-prebuilt. Places like Micro center will let you pick the parts and they will build for a fee and give you a warranty