Advice on building a new gaming PC

[Caleb045]

Hey All,

I am new here so please be gentle. It has been a very long time since I have built a rig of any type. So I am not hugely familiar with new hardware and other than the research I have done myself on watching endless videos and looking into a million different benchmarks I am pretty outdated. I would like some advice and help on this topic. Please keep the overall cost nearly the same(can downgrade one item and upgrade another if you believe it will help). Keep in mind this will be a gaming/streaming pc. So overall gaming performance is not the only top priority since I need it to multitask and edit. I took this into account when deciding so, I know I could up fps and gaming performance while downgrading multitasking. But anyways I will leave this up to the professionals you guys. The overall price is around 1,250 w/o case or PSU

MOBO: Gigabyte x570 Aorus Elite w/wifi

CPU: Ryzen 7 3700x

CPU fan: Gammaxx 400

GPU: MSI-Geforce RTX 2060 Gaming

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 2x8gb

Storage: Samsung 970 Evo
WD Gold 8TB

I would like a recommendation on case since I do not mind to lower cost on it as long as it breathes and is quiet. I do prefer a window case and rgb to look sexy. I just want my hardware to be safe also which brings me to my next question. What PSU do you recommend that is reasonable price and rated good. Let me know if I left anything out it is 4 in the morning so half asleep. Thank you

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Is there any reason you want an x570 motherboard? From the things I read now is that they're really expensive compared to X470 / B450 and the last review I read showed that it doesn't really improve performance, I'm not sure if they were right about that.

However, going for an X470 or B450 might give you the budget to buy an RTX2070(S) instead of the 2060.

As for the case, personally I use the Phanteks P600S and I love it. It doesn't have RGB but I replaced the front fans with 3x Corsair LL120 fans. It's really quiet as well, and it gives the option to swap between silent or cool modes.

Unfortunately I don't think I can say anything about a power supply since I'm too unexperienced for that. I'm using a Be Quiet Pure Power 11 myself.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I've looked a bit into Ryzen as I do every generation considering a new build. Bear in mind I dont own any Ryzen products so my opinions are based only off what I've read, although I do read a fair amount

In your place I wouldnt buy that CPU cooler. The Wraith spire that comes with the 3700X is sufficient if you dont want to overclock. Just make sure you have some case fans in and out. If you want something substantially better than the Wraith you'll have to spend a little more.

The Samsung 970 EVO is a good drive but as I understand it they can be a little overpriced. Some alternatives in this thread, any money saved can be put towards a higher tier GPU.

Consider an AMD 5700XT. I have one of these. Its faster then a 2070 and about the same price as a 2060 Super. I was in the same position and looking at benchmarks I think its a generation to early for raytracing on Nvidia, only the most expensive cards 2080+ are really able to perform well with ray tracing on in gaming.

There's been some fuss about the AMD GPU drivers recently, but IMO it was overblown and AMD haven since fixed at least some of the issues people were getting. If you'd rather not take the small chance a 2060 or 2070 is also a great card. I'd suggest looking for a quiet model of whatever you choose, as they all perform around the same.

Certainly consider what @Inspireless Llama said and look into a B450 board. I understand the MSI B450 Tomahawk is a good option. PCI-E 4 on X570 at the moment is really for high speed storage which shows no benefits to gaming uses. Truth be told theres very little advantage to NVME over even SATA SSD's for loading times in games

As far as PSU's go, you wont really need any more then 500 to 600 watts. Seasonic Focus, Corsair RMX, Fractal Design Ion series are where >I would start looking. Its hard to find a named brand complete lemon these days but never neglect the PSU and do some web searches for whatever model you look into first.

Cases are subjective aesthetically, but I'd suggest something that has decent airflow, a lot these days are solid tempered glass and RGB hot boxes, or maybe I'm just old

There are gaps in what Ive said other will fill in. But hopefully some of that helps.

 

[Caleb045]

Are the older models 4.0 that was the only reason I was going with it for the Pcie 4.0. To be honest I just researched what paired the best and it gave me that lol.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

They are not its new with X570

 

[Caleb045]

Is there much of a difference in performance. If I could save in that area and go towards something that would increase performance and it would be more beneficial for my needs then I would go that route.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I found 1 review that benchmarked differences in a GPU in PCIe 3.0 or 4.0. I didn't see FPS differences that were more than 5 there after quickly looking over it.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/pci-express-4-0-performance-scaling-radeon-rx-5700-xt/24.html

As for SSD's I can't find anything really, except that SSD's aren't build yet on reaching the max 4.0 speed.

Consider an AMD 5700XT. I have one of these. Its faster then a 2070 and about the same price as a 2060 Super. I was in the same position and looking at benchmarks I think its a generation to early for raytracing on Nvidia, only the most expensive cards 2080+ are really able to perform well with ray tracing on in gaming.

I was so sad when 2 weeks after I got my 2060 the S versions were announced haha. That was literally just too late for me to refund my card

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

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Is there much of a difference in performance. If I could save in that area and go towards something that would increase performance and it would be more beneficial for my needs then I would go that route.

Apparently you can at least partially enable PCI-E 4.0 on certain B450 and X470 boards with a BIOS update. Sorry for the misinformation. The only graphics cards that use it currently are RX5700/XT and as @Inspireless Llama said it makes no difference to their performance. Its unlikely to make any difference to any GPU in the systems lifetime.

Its for storage and as a home user it wont be a noticeable difference, AFAIK unless youre transferring terabytes between drives on the daily.

 

[Caleb045]

Thank you all for the responses. Actually the 5700XT was my first choice but since I wouldn't strictly be gaming and will be used to stream, multitask and edit I thought 2060 would do better due to Nvidia having a better quality and faster encoder. I researched it and many articles stated the same and that it ran cooler and quieter with less consumption. Please correct me if i am wrong since I am sure you all are far more up to date then I am. I read the Gammax was a recommendation since it could handle overclocked speeds and I'll have that option if I wish plus the article said the fan curve can sometimes cause noise and make it run hotter than it should. I would love any input into this though.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I knw youre probably hoping for someone else to confirm stuff But IMO go with the 2060 then

If you will overclock, pay more attention to the motherboard you select, specifically its VRM. Heres a handy list by people cleverer then me.

CPU coolers become a bit of a minefield. As well as the dimensions of your cooler. Youll need to know:

How tall a cooler your case can accept.
How tall your RAM is.
How far your PCI-E slot is from the CPU socket.

The Deepcool Gammax is a 120mm 4 heatpipe solution of which there are many. Hyper EVO 212 is another and they all perform similarly given the same fans. I think for 5 or 10 more depending on where you are and where you shop you can likely find something next tier. But all that is dependent on all the above. Some possiblilities would include the Cryorig H5/Universal, Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B, or Thermalright Macho amongst others.

If you actually get into overclocking you'll probably find yourself wishing you'd bought something better, If you dont then I guess the Gammax 400 will at least be quieter then the Wraith Spire, but dont expect miracles.

 

[Caleb045]

Not at all cause you seem to definitely know your stuff and that is exactly what I am looking for. Cause I have not built one in quite sometime so in that regard you'll be far superior. Thank you for all the information that will definitely help me in my decision. Any recommendations for the case by any chance. I have thought about the coolermaster silencio 352, fractal design define R6, Corsair Carbide series 100r silent edition, NZXT S340 Elite, or be quiet! Silent 800. But if I can skimp a little on the case to have better hardware then I am okay with that as long as it is not shotty design with no airflow nor protection. I would love for it to look good as well, but I do not know how far cases have come since I use to build. As in the windows especially in front and rgb lights would create far more heat. I just love how some of these rigs look that I have seen online but, now I am thinking if it causes to much trouble or money to get the light show then I dont care if it looks like a brick as long as it runs great with less noise. I also care nothing about optical drives sense they are pretty much a thing of the past or atleast in my opinion they are especially since I can just buy a usb one if I really needed it. That is one reason I thought about coolermaster since they have some great ones with huge fans in front.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I've said it in a previous post but I really like my Phanteks P600S. It's not the cheapest case, it's full metal and glass.

Here's a picture of my current idle temps using the case including RGB fans. I've hidden the CPU temps in speccy because it fails to show proper temperatures. Also, the 2GB 2060 is a bug from Speccy. As for my graphics card, while monitoring I haven't seen it running hotter than 67 degrees (Celsius).

Second picture is of the case (it's not my build), it shows that you can remove the front panel for better airflow and to show RGB on front.

I think you still could look into cutting on your motherboard and go for a better graphics card, although I'm not sure how much impact that would have on your total budget.

Spoiler

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Caleb045
The aesthetics of cases are completely subjective so its hard to recommend for your taste. @Frindis case there looks nice. I'd say pick an upper budget limit and check out some case roundups from the last year or two. Choose the case you like the look of the most and then look at some reviews or videos to make sure it doesnt have any glaring issues and you'll be alright.

I have a Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, its functional, well made and I understand Fractal cases are still popular today for what that's worth. Sorry I cant be more helpful with that. I'm partial to the Parvum Systems aesthetic tyo throw a wildcard in there. But they are a bit expensive and I'd rather spend my fun money elsewhere, for the moment

 

[Frindis]

The case @Kaamos_Llama is referring to by quoting me is the H500. Got good airflow/mesh and from what I have heard it is easy to build in and good value for the money you invest.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Frindis actually I was meaning to refer to @Inspireless Llama but I am a scatterbrained mess and screwed up. Sorry.
It was a happy accident though because that's a decent option for @Caleb045 too.

 

[Caleb045]

Yes I think that would be a great option and I love for look of the H500 from everything I have read it has great reviews. Plus on newegg they have it for 120 and most other places price it close to 200. Thank you I am glad for that accident lol.

 

[Rubber Desk@Home]

Buying a new computer always get a really good psu because they never change the standard in over 30 years
first the AT then ATX and have never changed it
can always keep psu and use it again and again