First Build after 8+ years...

[truepusk]

After a long run my i5 760 from 8.5 years ago seems to be dying. This is my main desktop at home and I'm sort of happy on some level to upgrade my system. The reason is sort of stupid, but I want to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 so I can have bluetooth support for my XBoxOne controllers when I play Rocket League (Microsoft only supports Windows 10+) and that hasn't been a good enough excuse in the past to shell out money. Plus, with how computer hardware finally sort-of plateaued around a decade ago, I've gotten WAY more life out of this system than anything in the past. Just a few upgrades here and there - more hard drives, more memory, a new RX 480 GPU just before the bitcoin price surge ~2.5 years ago.

On to the questions -
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

This is my main home desktop. I use it for a lot of multi-tasking: browsing, streaming, my main music hub (playing mp3s, etc.), playing ridiculous amounts of Rocket League. I'm sure I'll be checking out Red Dead Redemption 2 if it ever comes out for PC (I've played Witcher 3, Fallout games, etc., etc. in the past). General office use - Word, Excel - whatever.

I'll say I do like to multitask a bit. I might be watching/streaming something while playing Rocket League on the other monitor, as an example or listening to music while playing a more resource intense game. My old i5 760 has always handled this, no problem.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

I can spend whatever if it's worth it. Right now, as you can see from below, it looks like I'm coming in around $600 - $700 which is fine.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

US. I have a Microcenter near by for their hot CPU deals.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Not really. If I were getting a new GPU (I don't think I am) I'd probably lean towards nVidia since I always seem to have soe bugs or issues with ATI. I like quality and quiet components (like Seasonic PSUs), but my fanboydom is out of date - quality changes over time and I've been out of the scene (I remember we all swore by Seagate HDDs - quiet, dependable, etc. - and then all of a sudden the quality dropped off and they started dying).

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

See below, current parts denoted in blue.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Probably default unless overclocking is just so easy to do these days that everyone does it, with an expectations of noticeable performance boost without concerns of reduced life.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

Gaming in 2k - 2560x1440

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

ASAP. My computer is down so I want to make decisions quickly.


Here is what I'm thinking. I see you all are using this part picker tools so maybe I'll try to put my stuff in there later, but for now:

• CPU $240 core i5 9600k
  I'm good with my current i5 and tempted by the gaming single-processor advantage of the new i5. The cheaper price of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700, plus the overall multi-core processing advantage is tempting but I don't know if I need it. Right now I'll play Rocket League while streaming on Netflix on my old system which works just fine. Maybe I could see playing music while playing Read Dead Redemption 2, whenever it comes out for PC, but I think the either CPU would be fine with either.
• CPU Cooling $? TBD. I haven't looked into this yet, but a quieter (generally larger) fan is important to me.
• Motherboard $100? I need to spend more time looking at this.
  • 6 Sata would probably be good. Maybe I could survive w/ less
  • I think I want that SSD M support, but that seems pretty standard
  • I think one PCIe GPU slot would be fine
  • 3 - 4 PCIe peripherals for future expansion is plenty
• RAM ~$100 or less, TBD. 16GB (4x4 or maybe 8x2)
• SSD - $100+ 1TB SSD, maybe that M form factor? I need to research this - it will be my first home SSD (my work laptops have had them for the past ~decade)
• HDD - Various other Hard Drives from my old system.
• CD/DVD - From my old System
• Windows 10 Pro $110 - Wireless bluetooth XBoxOne support for Rocket League is very important so I need Windows 10
• PSU - Can I stick with my current PSU or is it a bad idea to reuse it after 8+ years of heavy use? This is all assuming I don't discover it's part of why my old system died. Also, I will need to review and make sure it's good enough for the power requirements of my existing system once everything shakes out. SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W
• Case - Reuse my current case unless I find something won't fit in it (unlikely) - Thermaltake Armor A60
• GPU - From what I can tell what I've got is plenty good performance compared to newer options out there - I would either need to spend a moderate amount (like $250+) for modest performance improvements at best or spend a crazy amount - MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB
• Monitor - Dell U2515H (2560x1440). No special GPU sync support features.
• Monitor - some run-of-the-mill 1920x1020. No special GPU sync support features.

Total - ~$650+?

Thanks - this site and the community always been amazing and helped me put together some awesome systems at some awesome prices! You guys rock.

 

[truepusk]

Sounds like reusing the PSU might be a bad idea, so that will be another $100, give or take...

 

[misuspita]

I'd go for a NVMe drive for boot and storage that need fast acces (like games). A 256 or 512 gb won't break the bank. A 1TB ssd for second drive and you are all set. Add more when needed.

Ram better 8x2 because you can use the double speed, further improving your sistem. Get the fastest one you can afford.

In cpu department, it's kind of personal, but I'd go with AMD this round, they seem to have better future proof socket compatibility. Get a 2600x now and a 3xxx after 2 years and simply by changing cpu, you get a longer life. If rumors are correct, the new AMD processors will have 12cores and 16 cores, which will prolong the life of your computer to similar lifespan to this one.

PSU is old and can destroy other components when it goes, so best to add a new one.

 

[truepusk]

I'd go for a NVMe drive for boot and storage that need fast acces (like games). A 256 or 512 gb won't break the bank. A 1TB ssd for second drive and you are all set. Add more when needed.

Any reason to do 256 and 1TB versus just 1TB? At the 1TB stage, the PCIe versus SATA interface doesn't seem to make a very big difference in price. From some quick googling, I'm not sure what the advantage (price, performance, etc.) of doing what you described would be and I'm pretty out-of-the-loop on SSD decisions in general.

Ram better 8x2 because you can use the double speed, further improving your sistem. Get the fastest one you can afford.

Awesome, thanks.

In cpu department, it's kind of personal, but I'd go with AMD this round, they seem to have better future proof socket compatibility. Get a 2600x now and a 3xxx after 2 years and simply by changing cpu, you get a longer life. If rumors are correct, the new AMD processors will have 12cores and 16 cores, which will prolong the life of your computer to similar lifespan to this one.

This insight is very helpful, very convincing, thanks!

 

[truepusk]

Okay, so someone on Ars suggested the Ryzen 5 2600X, which looks enticing.

• CPU $175 Ryzen 5 2600X
• CPU Cooling $? TBD. I haven't looked into this yet, but a quieter (generally larger) fan is important to me. Maybe stock is fine.
• Motherboard $100. TBD.
  • 6 Sata would probably be good. Maybe I could survive w/ less
  • I think I want that SSD M support, but that seems pretty standard
  • I think one PCIe GPU slot would be fine
  • 3 - 4 PCIe peripherals for future expansion is plenty
• RAM ~$100 or less, TBD. 16GB (2x8GB)
• SSD - $100+ 1TB SSD, maybe that M form factor? I need to research this - it will be my first home SSD (my work laptops have had them for the past ~decade)
• HDD - Various other Hard Drives from my old system.
• CD/DVD - From my old System
• Windows 10 Pro $110 - Wireless bluetooth XBoxOne support for Rocket League is very important so I need Windows 10
• PSU - $100. TBD
• Case - Reuse my current case unless I find something won't fit in it (unlikely) - Thermaltake Armor A60
• GPU - Use what I've got - MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB
• Monitor - Dell U2515H (2560x1440). No special GPU sync support features.
• Monitor - some run-of-the-mill 1920x1020. No special GPU sync support features.

Green = Reusing hardware I already own.

Total: ~$685+

 

[truepusk]

I'd go for a NVMe drive for boot and storage that need fast acces (like games). A 256 or 512 gb won't break the bank. A 1TB ssd for second drive and you are all set. Add more when needed.
.

Any reason to do 256 and 1TB versus just 1TB? At the 1TB stage, the PCIe versus SATA interface doesn't seem to make a very big difference in price. From some quick googling, I'm not sure what the advantage (price, performance, etc.) of doing what you described would be and I'm pretty out-of-the-loop on SSD decisions in general.

Is this the *big* advantage of doing what you suggested?:
https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/store-mi

 

[truepusk]

Ram better 8x2 because you can use the double speed, further improving your sistem. Get the fastest one you can afford.

So what happens if I go for the 8GBx2 and then later on get two more 8GB sticks to use all four DIMs? I loose something versus going 16GBx2? How does this work?

My understanding, way back in the day, when it came to dual channel memory was that the following were basically equally good:

• Channel A:
  • 4GB
  • 4GB
• Channel B:
  • 4GB
  • 4GB

• Channel A:
  • 8GB
• Channel B:
  • 8GB

 

[VirtualLarry]

Any reason to do 256 and 1TB versus just 1TB?

Well, the NVMe "Premium", for the "truly speedy" NVMe drives, rather than just the middle-of-the-road "budget" NVMe drives.

For example, the 970 PRO.

I myself had to make this decision recently. I saw some "open-box" 660p 1TB NVMe SSDs for $88, so I bought them. Not nearly as fast as a 970 EVO/PRO, but... I decided that I wanted to go with "one big drive" if I could, or at least, for OS and important stuff (and I do some blockchain stuff), and then keep the HDD in my rig as a backup/archive drive. (And I have some NAS units as well.)

One of the reasons that I felt comfortable making this decision, was, I was currently on a (decent) SATA 2.5" SSD, and I was perfectly happy with the performance of it, and this NVMe drive seemingly offered decent mainstream performance as well, mostly always faster than SATA performance.

1800MB/sec read/write was enough faster than SATA, and faster than the 800MB/sec reads that my 256GB 600p SSD (a dog of NVMe drives) was capable of, and at times, the 600p was no slouch, but its fixed SLC cache, and the fact that it had no bypass mechanism to write directly to the rest of the NAND when the SLC cache ran out, rather, it had to copy from SLC cache to NAND every time, empty SLC cache, refill, etc., made it very slow to write ISO images in bulk to. The 660p on the other hand, supposedly maintains around 100MB/sec or better, even when SLC cache is exhausted, which is more acceptable for me, since my Gigabit LAN NAS units can only read at 114MB/sec max anyways, so it's a good match, I feel.

 

[fralexandr]

So what happens if I go for the 8GBx2 and then later on get two more 8GB sticks to use all four DIMs? I loose something versus going 16GBx2? How does this work?

My understanding, way back in the day, when it came to dual channel memory was that the following were basically equally good:

• Channel A:
  • 4GB
  • 4GB
• Channel B:
  • 4GB
  • 4GB

• Channel A:
  • 8GB
• Channel B:
  • 8GB

Sort of. When moving from dual channel 2 dimms to 4 dimms, you might drop from 1T to 2T command rate.

https://www.tweaktown.com/guides/6899/ddr4-memory-overclocking-report-beginners-guide/index3.html

Typically since 2x8gb is similarly priced I'd go with that. It gives you more upgradeability. It's only worth starting with more dimms if the larger capacity ram is noticeably more expensive or you need to hit dual/tri/quad channel in a certain budget.

Command rate/clock rate/latency usually have negligible effects on gaming compared to doubling ram.

 

[truepusk]

Here is where I'm at:

• CPU $175 Ryzen 5 2600X
• CPU Cooling $? TBD. I haven't looked into this yet, but a quieter (generally larger) fan is important to me. Maybe stock is fine.
• Motherboard $94. ASRock Fatal1ty B450 GAMING K4 AM4 AMD B450
  • Acceptable SSD M suppport
  • I like the number of PCIe and SATA ports.
  • I like the lack of (OC) for the memory speed I'm going for with the Pinnacle family CPU, but I just don't fully understand what that means and how much it matters.
  • I don't love the ASRock brand name - I wouldn't mind spending a little more to get a brand name with a better rep for quality OR hearing from others that ASRock is fine quality compared to spending a touch more.
• RAM $78 CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2933 (PC4 23400) 16GB (2x8GB)
• SSD - $120 Inland Premium 1TB SSD 3D NAND M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive
  • EDIT: I'm not sure how to feel about the quality of this piece. R/W speed VS price is better than it's peers.
• HDD - Various other Hard Drives from my old system.
• CD/DVD - From my old System
• Windows 10 Pro $110 - Wireless bluetooth XBoxOne support for Rocket League is very important so I need Windows 10
• PSU - $27. CORSAIR VS Series, VS550, 550 Watt (550W) (after $15 rebate)
  • I love the price
  • I'm really hoping it's quiet (it's got a 120mm fan) but I'd happily pay 2-3x the price if there are concerns
  • Same thing goes for quality rep - I'd happily pay more if there are concerns
• Case - Reuse my current case unless I find something won't fit in it (unlikely) - Thermaltake Armor A60
• GPU - Use what I've got - MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB
• Monitor - Dell U2515H (2560x1440). No special GPU sync support features.
• Monitor - some run-of-the-mill 1920x1020. No special GPU sync support features.

Green = Reusing hardware I already own.

Total: ~$604+

 

[fralexandr]

If you want a nicer psu, Newegg has the seasonic m12ii 620w for $40 after $20 rebate. Exp 5/6

https://m.newegg.com/product/N82E16817151095?m_ver=1

Not "haswell ready" so may need to disable low power state c6-8 if your mobo defaults those to enabled. Most motherboards default with these off already.

 

[truepusk]

Okay, a few changes:
1. I am thinking the MSI B450 Gaming Plus over the ASRock, really just because of the brand name. Although I'm not sure if it supports booting from the M.2!?
2. Power Supply
3. Windows 10 is more expensive than I thought. I want to make sure I get a legit key and I think I have a preference for USB over DVD.

• CPU $175 Ryzen 5 2600X
• CPU Cooling $? TBD. Stock for now, maybe something bigger later if I think it's not quiet enough for me.
• Motherboard $95. MSI PERFORMANCE GAMING B450 GAMING PLUS AM4 AMD B450 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
  • Acceptable SSD M.2 suppport
  • But can it boot from the M.2 port?
  • I like the number of PCIe and SATA ports.
  • I don't understand if there are any ramifications of the FSB speed for the 2933 I'm looking for: "Supports 3466/ 3200/ 3066/ 3000/ 2933/ 2800/ 2667 MHz (by A-XMP OC MODE), 2667/ 2400/ 2133/ 1866 MHz (by JEDEC) "
• RAM $78 CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2933 (PC4 23400) 16GB (2x8GB)
• SSD - $120 Inland Premium 1TB SSD 3D NAND M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive
  • I'm not certain on quality but Inland SSDs seem to get general good reviews at various sites. R/W speed VS price is better than it's peers.
• HDD - Various other Hard Drives from my old system.
• CD/DVD - From my old System
• Windows 10 Pro $139 - Windоws 10 Pro English USB Flash Drive| NEW| 32/64 bit Pro Full Version
• PSU - $40 (after $20 rebate). SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91
• Case - Reuse my current case unless I find something won't fit in it (unlikely) - Thermaltake Armor A60
• GPU - Use what I've got - MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB
• Monitor - Dell U2515H (2560x1440). No special GPU sync support features.
• Monitor - some run-of-the-mill 1920x1020. No special GPU sync support features.

Green = Reusing hardware I already own.

Total: ~$646+

 

[truepusk]

It seems more often than not you can assume modern motherboards can boot from M.2 I think? - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-mobo-with-m-2-slot-capable-of-booting-off-it.3375677/
Also, this line in the MSI motherboard's manual seems to imply it: "If your system currently boots to M.2 SSD RAID and you delete the RAID volume in
the UEFI BIOS, your system will become un-bootable."

 

[misuspita]

Any reason to do 256 and 1TB versus just 1TB? At the 1TB stage, the PCIe versus SATA interface doesn't seem to make a very big difference in price. From some quick googling, I'm not sure what the advantage (price, performance, etc.) of doing what you described would be and I'm pretty out-of-the-loop on SSD decisions in general.

No reason, just money. If you can afford 1TB M2 NVMe, go for it. I'm having 256gb NVMe, trying to get rid of all spinning stuff, I have a Asrock B450M Pro4 motherboard with 2 M2 slots, one NVMe, one SATA, so I bought one M2 NVMe 256GB drive for windows and stuff that requires fast access (work and a few games) and 1TB M2 SATA drive, which is for "slower" files. They are stupid small, it's mind boggling how a device like that holds 1TB and is no bigger than my finger, and it's all attached on the motherboard. The system is really speedy, a long shot from my last one.

I also have a HDD from the last system, for music and movies, just things that don't need speed. In the future I will probably expand by use of 1-2tb ssd, no moving parts.

And yes, a good cpu cooler is nice, I have a Arctic ac 33 penta, which I like because it stops working at low temperature, so it's not spinning, therefore no noise from it when system is idling. But I have 2 system fans that move air inside, but they are set to move at low rpm, so în fact I am pretty happy with the silence department. On ram I got 2x8gb 3000 gskill ram, and it clocks at 3000, I'm happy. Prices got down a lot since I got the ram, so probably I would try a higher speed.