Question Building Budget Gaming PC, is custom build still the way to go?

[cowface3]

Hi everyone,

It's been quite a long time since I've built a gaming rig, and I was wondering if building custom is still the best bang for the buck in the budget gaming range? And what kind of price range am I looking at to be able to play games like Apex Legends (that's mostly what I play now) on decent graphics? I don't care that much about quality other than able to run at least 1920/1080 resolution and good fps (all the extra settings I usually turn off like shadows etc. unless it affects gameplay.) I'll post a build on here once I have a better idea of what I need. Thanks ahead of time to anyone who reads this!

 

[EliteRetard]

I was considering getting a psu tester, but I wasn't sure how accurate the cheaper ones are. I guess it's better than testing on new parts. Would a cheap one like this suffice? https://www.amazon.com/Computer-PC-...d=1&keywords=psu+tester&qid=1588386252&sr=8-2

One thing you could do before even getting a tester, use a paperclip across the green and a black pin in the 20+4 pin and turn the PSU on to see if it let's the smoke out.

If it turns on OK, then perhaps a tester like the one you linked would be a fairly cheap way to confirm the voltages are at least within range.
I was thinking something like a multimeter, but I think a cheap tester like that can at least confirm if it's safe to plug stuff in.
The real way to test a PSU is to put a large load on it, but that usually requires special equipment.

If you had a 12v device you didn't care about or another way to make a 12v dummy load you could hook it to the PSU while using the paperclip jumper method (after confirming the idle voltage)...use the switch on the back of the PSU to turn it on/off. Not worth bothering with something like this unless you actually had supplies lying around. Like I have some 12v thermo electric (TEC) devices laying around, at least one of them is 100 watts. Since I have this kind of stuff laying around that's what I would use, along with a multimeter during testing.

I don't want to make this seem like to big a deal, again I think the risk is fairly low (but not zero). If you can use even a basic tester to see if the voltages are safe then it's probably good enough to try. Once you have the computer hooked up there's usually a place to check voltages in the BIOS, if those still look good (+/- 5% from the regular 3.3v 5v and 12v [there's other odd ones like -12v or -5v that don't really matter]) then I'd say install windows and go about the basic hardware testing for new builds.

 

[mopardude87]

Honestly if anyone is building a rig that they intend on lasting years, i wouldn't look at anything less then a 3700x. I mean you could get a 3600 now then when games ask for more threads as next gen consoles are confirmed 16 thread then you spend even more money for the 3700x.

I think anyone serious about pc gaming should be looking into a 3700x and nipping it in the bud. With all the small incremental upgrades i got myself a 3900x and prob won't upgrade most likely till its 2025 or so when those
next gen consoles come out unless games suddenly tank under 60fps constant which i doubt will be a thing for at least 3 years. The 3700x has more frequency over the consoles by a considerable bit so i think the 3700x will be the chip to get soon.

The 3700x will still be fast enough i think with the 4000 stuff/Rocket but the 3700x will be discounted prob then a even better deal to get. May even become the next 3600 so to speak. The next bargain chip will be the 3700x i feel next year.

 

[cowface3]

Honestly if anyone is building a rig that they intend on lasting years, i wouldn't look at anything less then a 3700x. I mean you could get a 3600 now then when games ask for more threads as next gen consoles are confirmed 16 thread then you spend even more money for the 3700x.

I think anyone serious about pc gaming should be looking into a 3700x and nipping it in the bud. With all the small incremental upgrades i got myself a 3900x and prob won't upgrade most likely till its 2025 or so when those
next gen consoles come out unless games suddenly tank under 60fps constant which i doubt will be a thing for at least 3 years. The 3700x has more frequency over the consoles by a considerable bit so i think the 3700x will be the chip to get soon.

The 3700x will still be fast enough i think with the 4000 stuff/Rocket but the 3700x will be discounted prob then a even better deal to get. May even become the next 3600 so to speak. The next bargain chip will be the 3700x i feel next year.

I mean I already stretched my budget quite a bit (and already bought a 3600), and it's $100 difference at least. There's also always an argument to get the next best thing for future-proofing, but do I really need a 3700x to play video games at low settings a few years from now? I'm not going to be running these games at max settings, and wouldn't the video card matter more at that point?

 

[mopardude87]

I mean I already stretched my budget quite a bit (and already bought a 3600), and it's $100 difference at least. There's also always an argument to get the next best thing for future-proofing, but do I really need a 3700x to play video games at low settings a few years from now? I'm not going to be running these games at max settings, and wouldn't the video card matter more at that point?

If you could string for the 3700x it could be a nice option for next gen titles but your 3600 will be fine for a bit. I choose a 3900x which is on its way cause the upgrades to IPC and overall performance have been incremental in my experience a while and its usually the threads that have killed performance and made me upgrade before shear clock speed. The 4670 got murdered by BF1, then some titles like BF5 massacre threads so there goes the 7700k in that title and prob every major game coming out late this year and next. Gonna be the clockspeeds that kill the 3900x this time i think.

You may be just fine with your 3600, just i was looking at it from a long haul approach. I would prefer a 3600 + more money tied into a gpu then a 3700x and a lesser gpu as long as the game ran fine on 12 threads which i think is currently all the titles out now? I did hint people could get the 3600 now, then a 4000 series 16 thread chip. Maybe by the time you REALLY need 16 threads you could get a discounted 4000 series?

Enjoy your 3600, it should be a fun chip!