[SOLVED] Recycling an old case for an AMD gaming build and can use some advice.

[Jeff Kaos]

I have an old tower and HDD that's in pretty good shape and I was thinking of building a gaming PC using this case and drive. I haven't built a gaming PC in about 3 years and I'm trying to keep the budget in the $500 range. This is this is the build I came up with and I was wondering what sort of performance I can expect and if this is a decent build for the money? This is also my first AMD build and I'm completely unfamiliar with their components. Any advice or suggestions would also be greatly appreciated.

Here's the link to my PCPP List:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jJHK9G

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

The ram price is from a low rated used reseller, the actual price is $75. The psu is terrible. Minimum is a corsair cx550, atm, psu prices are high due to tariffs and supply is low due to the pandemic.

If you don't have an ssd, I would highly recommend one. A 500gb ssd will be ~$60.

You really shouldn't pay that much for windows, would be better use to go to a better psu. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-cheap,5717.html

 

[Jeff Kaos]

The ram price is from a low rated used reseller, the actual price is $75. The psu is terrible. Minimum is a corsair cx550, atm, psu prices are high due to tariffs and supply is low due to the pandemic.

If you don't have an ssd, I would highly recommend one. A 500gb ssd will be ~$60.

You really shouldn't pay that much for windows, would be better use to go to a better psu. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-cheap,5717.html

Thanks for the suggestion on the PSU. I already have a 1 TB HDD that I'll use until I can update to an SSD. This is a system for my son and will be used mostly to play games together. Right now my goal is to get this rig up and running ASAP with the bare minimum spent which is why I've decided to recycle the drive and case. Originally I was going to build a micro-ITX system but I figure that I can get more bang for the buck just going with the tower I already have. I also have a key for Windows 7 on the case I'm using and I'm pretty sure it will work and upgrade to Windows 10 if I use it but I'm not sure how licensing works with Windows.

 

[madmatt30]

You can use a windows 7 key to activate windows 10 still.

Definitely a better psu.

There will very likely be an issue with the board needing updating to run that ryzen 1600 - it's the af model so is essential a ryzen 2600 rather than a gen 1 ryzen.

 

[madmatt30]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (12nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN TUF Gaming Allian 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 570 8 GB GT OC Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.97 @ Newegg)
Total: $492.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-26 14:46 EDT-0400

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite V3 400 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ Amazon)

lol, u forget to swap out that psu?


The biggest issue is that the tomahwak max comes in and out of stock very fast. Atm, it's out of stock, so gotta keep the eyes peeled.

 

[madmatt30]

lol, u forget to swap out that psu?

I did mate, and then realised lol

 

[geofelt]

Some thoughts:
The case is OK, up to a point.
With only one front intake fan, your cooling will be limited.
Whatever front fan you have now should do initially.
In time, you can buy a high rpm 14omm fan that can supply immense amount of cooling air if needed.

If you already have the 400w psu, I think that is insufficient for a RX570 card:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
You could use a similar performing GTX1650 which needs much less power.
A GTX1650 super would perform better, but will be more expensive.

My suggestion is to upgrade the current windows 7 to windows 10.
You are likely to get it activated without a problem.
If that license is registered to a microsoft account, you should be able later to move it to your new build.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

You can use a windows 7 key to activate windows 10 still.

Definitely a better psu.

There will very likely be an issue with the board needing updating to run that ryzen 1600 - it's the af model so is essential a ryzen 2600 rather than a gen 1 ryzen.

The motherboard is where I keep getting confused. Especially when I put a build in PCPP. I picked the board mostly based on price as well as the fact that I didn't get the compatibility alert I get with half the boards I try adding to my list.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

Some thoughts:
The case is OK, up to a point.
With only one front intake fan, your cooling will be limited.
Whatever front fan you have now should do initially.
In time, you can buy a high rpm 14omm fan that can supply immense amount of cooling air if needed.

If you already have the 400w psu, I think that is insufficient for a RX570 card:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
You could use a similar performing GTX1650 which needs much less power.
A GTX1650 super would perform better, but will be more expensive.

My suggestion is to upgrade the current windows 7 to windows 10.
You are likely to get it activated without a problem.
If that license is registered to a microsoft account, you should be able later to move it to your new build.

I'm not too worried bout cooling with this case. I have two fans mounted on the top so there's 4 fans all together.

 

[madmatt30]

The motherboard is where I keep getting confused. Especially when I put a build in PCPP. I picked the board mostly based on price as well as the fact that I didn't get the compatibility alert I get with half the boards I try adding to my list.

The issue is part picker is picking that up as the original 1600 I think.

The listed one is 12nm meaning it's the newer model and is really a lower clocked 2600.

In essence all B450 boards should run it, but this is not a certainty, seen asrock B450 boards run it on old bios revision but be completely unstable until the bios is flashed.

AMD kind of messed with the board manufactures a little imo releasing the af even though it's a great cpu for the money in essence.

All I can say is ask the reseller whether the board is on an upto date bios, otherwise there's no certainty it will actually boot.

 

[madmatt30]

Weirdly the ds3h is stating that the 1600af is compatible on its f1 (first revision bios)
I'm not sure how this can be, wondering if gigabyte have in fact made the same mistake.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

The issue is part picker is picking that up as the original 1600 I think.

The listed one is 12nm meaning it's the newer model and is really a lower clocked 2600.

In essence all B450 boards should run it, but this is not a certainty, seen asrock B450 boards run it on old bios revision but be completely unstable until the bios is flashed.

AMD kind of messed with the board manufactures a little imo releasing the af even though it's a great cpu for the money in essence.

All I can say is ask the reseller whether the board is on an upto date bios, otherwise there's no certainty it will actually boot.

I was thinking about this one since it was listed as "Frequently Bought Together" with the CPU on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-...BR7N9T11A8R&psc=1&refRID=QCCXCAM4GBR7N9T11A8R

 

[madmatt30]

I reckon the chances of you getting a 320 board with an upto date bios is remote.

On a better note the masterwatt 550 is $60 on amazon and its a good psu (says back in stock July 4 so keep an eye on it)


https://www.amazon.com/MasterWatt-S...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[Beretdude]

I have an old tower and HDD that's in pretty good shape and I was thinking of building a gaming PC using this case and drive. I haven't built a gaming PC in about 3 years and I'm trying to keep the budget in the $500 range. This is this is the build I came up with and I was wondering what sort of performance I can expect and if this is a decent build for the money? This is also my first AMD build and I'm completely unfamiliar with their components. Any advice or suggestions would also be greatly appreciated.

Here's the link to my PCPP List:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jJHK9G

It sounds like you have gotten some very good advice. The only thing I would add, is make sure if you need it, that you have Thermal Compound.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

I reckon the chances of you getting a 320 board with an upto date bios is remote.

On a better note the masterwatt 550 is $60 on amazon and its a good psu (says back in stock July 4 so keep an eye on it)


https://www.amazon.com/MasterWatt-S...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Added it to my cart. It looks like that SH2 board I linked to earlier will work with the Ryzen 5 1600 out of the box. A few other people asked the same question on amazon. So far I'm at $220 for the CPU, that Masterwatt PSU and the board. All I really need is some RAM and that RAM you linked me to for $60 will do the trick. I figure for the next few weeks I can use the old GTX 750 TI card I have in my old system. It should be able to play the games my kid plays at low settings and next month I'll probably get that RX 570 or maybe something a little better.