[SOLVED] Thinking of buying this system?

[KingC12]

So im looking at buying a completely second hand system (buying all second hand parts and having a system) im looking at around about a £500 budget as i dont play many games and only really esports titles with a few single player games thrown in. I also dont really care about 4k or 1440p gaming i just have a 144hz monitor and aim to get that at 1080p on stuff like overwatch. I had this with a 1060 system last year but then i sold it on.

Im looking at a system around the lines of:

CPU: 1800x
Case: Any nice looking budget case i can find
Mobo: B450 Tomohawk
RAM: 3200mhz Corsair
GPU: Im looking at the RX 580/90 which ever one i can get the better deal on or for a bit more the 1660S or the 1660TI (not as many on the second hand market)
PSU: Any 500W

 

[ProgamerIV]

I wouldn't get that config.

The CPU is really not for gaming: 1st gen Ryzen is great at productivity, but gaming was never a strong point, and you're looking at the top of the range 1st gen Ryzen 7, which is especially not built for gamers.

I would instead get a 3rd gen Ryzen 3100, you could get one new for the same price or similar, and it would perform way better in gaming. Notice how the Ryzen 3100 has the amount of cores that i7 processors used to have up until 7th gen, it may be the 'entry level Ryzen', but it packs a great punch. Or, if you can go higher, get the Ryzen 3 3300X.

GPU: The RX 580 is a great deal on the used market, can't really get better price/performance in that range. The 1660S and 1660Ti are a tier above the RX 580.
Since you have a 144Hz 1080p(?) monitor, the RX 580 (nor the 1660Ti or 1660S) will not be enough to get you 144fps maxed out in AAA demanding titles, it can get around 40-50fps with games like RDR2.

However, for eSports titles, the RX 580 will be fine for 144Hz as long as you're willing to lower the settings a bit - which competitive gamers always do anyway.

PSU: Don't cheap out on the PSU! Get some quality 500W unit, it's the one part you should not save money on.

Memory: Make sure it's dual-channel (two identical sticks). Ryzen performs best that way.

 

[King_V]

I'm in nearly full agreement with @ProgamerIV on this.

A few addendums to that comprehensive post, though:
Ryzen 3 3300X - It's an excellent bang for the buck processor, better than the 3100. However, its downfall has been problems with availability. It's just hard to find! But if you can get it for a reasonable price, I'd highly recommend doing so.

If your monitor has FreeSync, and you don't need to hit high frame rates in everything, then the RX 580/590 are good deals, though the latter is power hungry. Turn on FreeSync, cap your frames at 60 for the games that really tax the GPU, and enjoy. I've seen the GTX 1660 occasionally come down to around RX 580 prices (we're talking new) - I don't know what the used market is like for the 1660/1660 Super. At one point, there were one or two 1660 models available on NewEgg for $189.99 (after rebates, though)

Once, an MSI RX 5600 XT dipped down to $219.99 after rebates, etc. Were I looking for a card at the time, I would've snapped that right up.

PSU: Don't cheap out on the PSU! Get some quality 500W unit, it's the one part you should not save money on.

This! This cannot be emphasized enough. A PSU is a safety device that contributes to the longevity of your other components. Unfortunately, prices are elevated on PSUs sine the pandemic began.

Still - read the first link in my signature. It is a MUST READ with regard to power supplies.

A good PSU, if something goes bad enough that there's a problem, will, in the worst case, kill itself, but protect the rest of your PC in the process. A low-quality PSU, can be slowly killing your parts with irregular power, and if things go bad, might die and take out other components with it. A low-quality PSU might also just get overwhelmed and catch fire. And, there are PSUs with high wattage ratings that are still utter dumpster fires.

 

[KingC12]

I'm in nearly full agreement with @ProgamerIV on this.

A few addendums to that comprehensive post, though:
Ryzen 3 3300X - It's an excellent bang for the buck processor, better than the 3100. However, its downfall has been problems with availability. It's just hard to find! But if you can get it for a reasonable price, I'd highly recommend doing so.

If your monitor has FreeSync, and you don't need to hit high frame rates in everything, then the RX 580/590 are good deals, though the latter is power hungry. Turn on FreeSync, cap your frames at 60 for the games that really tax the GPU, and enjoy. I've seen the GTX 1660 occasionally come down to around RX 580 prices (we're talking new) - I don't know what the used market is like for the 1660/1660 Super. At one point, there were one or two 1660 models available on NewEgg for $189.99 (after rebates, though)

Once, an MSI RX 5600 XT dipped down to $219.99 after rebates, etc. Were I looking for a card at the time, I would've snapped that right up.


This! This cannot be emphasized enough. A PSU is a safety device that contributes to the longevity of your other components. Unfortunately, prices are elevated on PSUs sine the pandemic began.

Still - read the first link in my signature. It is a MUST READ with regard to power supplies.

A good PSU, if something goes bad enough that there's a problem, will, in the worst case, kill itself, but protect the rest of your PC in the process. A low-quality PSU, can be slowly killing your parts with irregular power, and if things go bad, might die and take out other components with it. A low-quality PSU might also just get overwhelmed and catch fire. And, there are PSUs with high wattage ratings that are still utter dumpster fires.

I really worded the PSU part wrong, i just meant the cheapest i can find on the high tier list on this forum, ive always used the PSU tier list here and never had a problem, just meant the cheapest i can find used.

I have swapped the 1800x for the 3100 on my list, about the same price new as the 1800x is used, and If the 1800x isnt a gaming CPU then thats even better. Im mainly looking for a PC to get me through the next 1-2 years. I did also have a look into the 3300x and 3300 and youre right i cant find them used anywhere but I will keep looking, Im not in a rush to build the system or anything just trying to get a idea on what my options are in this budget, my monitor does have freesync which is why i was learning more towards the RX cards, but I had massive problems with my first ever gaming rig a few years ago with the RX 480 Saphire card, which really put me off their cards.. However, im willing to give them another shot.

 

[King_V]

I can only speak from my own experience. In my over 20 years of playing around with this stuff, the majority of video cards, new and used, have been ATI/AMD. I know people have had complaints about the drivers.

I have never had any such issues. In modern times, I've always used DDU to completely remove drivers when swapping cards, even if both cards are from Nvidia or both from AMD, and would thus use the same drivers.

Strangely, I've had problems INSTALLING the drivers for Nvidia - sometimes the GUI would white-screen, and not show the progress steps and buttons to click (Cancel, Next). Killing the installer then restarting the installation resolves it, though.

 

[ProgamerIV]

I can only speak from my own experience. In my over 20 years of playing around with this stuff, the majority of video cards, new and used, have been ATI/AMD. I know people have had complaints about the drivers.

I have never had any such issues. In modern times, I've always used DDU to completely remove drivers when swapping cards, even if both cards are from Nvidia or both from AMD, and would thus use the same drivers.

Strangely, I've had problems INSTALLING the drivers for Nvidia - sometimes the GUI would white-screen, and not show the progress steps and buttons to click (Cancel, Next). Killing the installer then restarting the installation resolves it, though.

+1 on the driver part. I've built many gaming rigs in the past decade, and even though I have definitely experienced some driver issues with AMD graphics cards, I did with Nvidia as well.

The key is not to use beta drivers with AMD, they usually have problems, while on Nvidia, beta drivers are more stable in general. However, most AMD driver issues could always be resolved by removing them with DDU and then installing a previous version, while with Nvidia cards I did have more stubborn issues (if I recall well, that was with the 900 series when it was new). Never since then, though.

I just think you get more value with AMD cards, unless you're going high-tier. You can have the RX 580 4GB used for around the price of a GTX 1060 3GB, and the 4GB RX 580 mops the floor with the 3GB 1060 any day. You can buy the 8GB version as well, of course, but in 1080p (and that's what these cards are good at), you'll barely ever use more than 4GB VRAM anyway. The occasional driver issues are easily solved with AMD, so I just recommend that for low-tier and mid-tier systems all the time.

I have swapped the 1800x for the 3100 on my list, about the same price new as the 1800x is used, and If the 1800x isnt a gaming CPU then thats even better. Im mainly looking for a PC to get me through the next 1-2 years. I did also have a look into the 3300x and 3300 and youre right i cant find them used anywhere but I will keep looking, Im not in a rush to build the system or anything just tryin

Good decision with the 3100. As @King_V mentioned, the 3300X is an even better purchase if you can find one for a good price, that one has all the gaming power you'll need from a CPU at this level for years to come.

Usually when I build a PC from second-hand parts, the only brand new parts I get are the case and the power supply. Case to look new, and the PSU to be reliable. If you can find one that surely wasn't abused and is a good model, then go forward, but I always go new on them.