Good start for 1080p work/gaming PC...?

[Anomaly1964]

I want to be able play mostly shooters, 1080p, high or max settings...

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails?ItemList=Combo.3885225&Description=2600x combo

Of course I need to add GPU, Storage (have PSU and case)...

$850 max budget US...

 

[Anomaly1964]

It doesnot look like this MB would support an M2 NVme SSD with the included processor in the bundle...does it?

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's only a $4 savings on that combo? HAH! Ignore that, it's too small a savings (especially on a 3-item combo) to matter.

You can often do better buying individual parts, with promo codes, than you can combos, unless the combo discount is significant (like $30-40 or more off).

BTW, 3rd-Gen Ryzen is out. Availability may be spotty, but I suggest getting a Ryzen R5 3600 or 3600X CPU, and then check for combos on the CPU's pages under "Combos", for mobo + CPU combos (maybe + RAM too), of $20 or more off.

Also, check the rotating banners on the front page of Newegg, they have a few that lead to some more combos, and I think that they have some 3600 + B450 or X470 combos, as well as the X570 combos.

X570 really matters only if you want PCI-E 4.0 for dGPU or M.2 NVMe drives, and/or want to run two RAID-0 NVMe SSDs. (I have that on my Asus ROG STRIX B450-F ATX board, with my Ryzen 7 2700 @ 4.0Ghz, 1.350V, and a pair of Intel 660p 1TB NVMe PCI-E 3.0 x4 SSDs.)

I know for a fact that the Gigabyte AORUS PRO WIFI B450 ATX board has a BIOS (F40) that will support the new 3rd-Gen Ryzen CPUs. It's also on sale from time to time for $110. So, $200 for the Ryzen R5 3600 (or $250 for the 3600X), $110 for the board, and there are some 32GB kits of DDR4-3200 for roughly $150-160. So maybe $500 inc. taxes and shipping from Newegg for CPU/mobo/RAM.

I can't tell you until I get my 3600 in my mobo and get a PCI-E 4.0 x4 SSD, if that combination will allow for running a PCI-E 4.0 NVMe SSD, but I am hopeful that it might.

For PCI-E 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs, there's the venerable HP EX920 and EX950, and the new Patriot Viper 1TB one, that's currently $130 on Newegg, it's a Phison E12 controller with TLC NAND, supposed to do 3500MB/sec read / 3200MB/sec write, I think. One of the faster PCI-E 3.0 drives.

Cheapest 1TB NVMe, is Intel 660p 1TB for $87 or so, or 2TB for $177, on sale. Those are slower, sort of, but still decent overall, and way faster, than SATA, while not really costing any more than a decent SATA drive. Plus, they're from Intel, which means that they should be reliable as any other 1st-party SSD.

Edit: After looking at the combo deal pricing, that you linked, it's not awful, really, but I would personally choose better parts, and the 2600X price is so close to just getting a brand-new 3rd-Gen Ryzen R5 3600, that I would spring the extra $20-30 for the 3600. If you can find one, I think that the lowest 6C/12T Ryzen 3rd-Gen CPUs have better availability.

 

[Anomaly1964]

What do you think of this build?

Cart Item List:

Qty.Product DescriptionSavingsTotal Price1

ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING AM4 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813119140
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$129.99
$119.99

1

Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 3D2, QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNW010T8X1
Item #:N82E16820167462
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$94.99

1

EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti SC ULTRA GAMING, 06G-P4-1667-KR, 6GB GDDR6, Dual Fan, Metal Backplate
Item #:N82E16814487446
Return Policy: Replacement Only Return Policy
$279.99

1

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVRB
Item #: N82E16820231977
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

AMD RYZEN 7 2700 8-Core 3.2 GHz (4.1 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 65W YD2700BBAFBOX Desktop Processor
Item #: N82E16819113498
Return Policy: Replacement Only Return Policy
-$100.00 Instant
-$8.00 Combo
$374.98
$266.98


Grand Total:$761.95

 

[VirtualLarry]

Looks pretty good. Pretty similar to one of my tertiary rigs here.

I've got a 2700, in an Asus ROG STRIX B450-F ATX, with an Intel 660p 1TB (well, two of them in RAID-0).

Only have an older GTX950 2GB as a GPU, as it's a crunching, not gaming, rig.

That build looks fine. Though, I have my reservations about getting a 2nd-Gen Ryzen CPU, when 3rd-Gen is out finally.

Also, what's the price on that 2700, after all discounts? I paid around $205 for mine, at Newegg.

If it comes out closer to $300, get the 3700X instead.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Looks pretty good. Pretty similar to one of my tertiary rigs here.

I've got a 2700, in an Asus ROG STRIX B450-F ATX, with an Intel 660p 1TB (well, two of them in RAID-0).

Only have an older GTX950 2GB as a GPU, as it's a crunching, not gaming, rig.

That build looks fine. Though, I have my reservations about getting a 2nd-Gen Ryzen CPU, when 3rd-Gen is out finally.

Also, what's the price on that 2700, after all discounts? I paid around $205 for mine, at Newegg.

If it comes out closer to $300, get the 3700X instead.

I'll keep checking, I really want the best bang for the but at no greater than $850 - but remember, I'm going from an i5-2500k and 970GTX - currently rating at about 64% compared to most newer PC - but hey, it lasted EIGHT years

 

[mopardude87]

If it comes out closer to $300, get the 3700X instead.

Wouldn't that board need a bios update to run the 3700X? I didn't check but some boards and maybe that one will require a cpu to even post to do the update?

Also if my build i would go with the much cheaper 1600 and get the 5700 Navi or 2060 Super. The Navi does have a reference blower and its pretty meh but if you can deal with the noise then all the power to you. The $117 1600 will be alright wouldn't it? Not a massive difference between it and the $200 plus 2700 and the savings can go right into a better gpu.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wouldn't that board need a bios update to run the 3700X? I didn't check but some boards and maybe that one will require a cpu to even post to do the update?

Yes, you most likely would have to get the board flashed somehow, either borrow an older 1st-Gen Ryzen CPU, or pay someone to flash it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The $117 1600 will be alright wouldn't it? Not a massive difference between it and the $200 plus 2700 and the savings can go right into a better gpu.

See TechSpot "Price per Frame" graph here:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...urrah-in-gaming.2555339/page-25#post-39866059

 

[mopardude87]

Yes, you most likely would have to get the board flashed somehow, either borrow an older 1st-Gen Ryzen CPU, or pay someone to flash it.

Wasn't there a time some chips would include a cheapo cpu just for the purpose of doing the flash? Not sure on the exact details but i remember this was a thing. Maybe not retail chips but these sold somewhere?

 

[mopardude87]

See TechSpot "Price per Frame" graph here:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...urrah-in-gaming.2555339/page-25#post-39866059

So it is a legend when it comes to bang for buck. Nice.

Edit: Never saw the chart before but i have heard many rave about this and i believe its got the most reviews on Newegg. The thing is selling like hot cakes. I went for the 8700 non k due to ideas of 144hz 1080p gaming but since then have jumped to 4k. If i had to do it all over i would have been on the 1600 for sure.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wasn't there a time some chips would include a cheapo cpu just for the purpose of doing the flash? Not sure on the exact details but i remember this was a thing. Maybe not retail chips but these sold somewhere?

AMD was sending out "loaner" A4/A6/A8-whatever Bristol Ridge APUs, to flash AM4 board BIOSes.

I don't know how that's going to work out anymore, if they're even still doing that, as modern AM4 BIOSes have dropped support for Bristol Ridge, to focus on newer Zen-architecture CPUs and APUs.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Wouldn't that board need a bios update to run the 3700X? I didn't check but some boards and maybe that one will require a cpu to even post to do the update?

Also if my build i would go with the much cheaper 1600 and get the 5700 Navi or 2060 Super. The Navi does have a reference blower and its pretty meh but if you can deal with the noise then all the power to you. The $117 1600 will be alright wouldn't it? Not a massive difference between it and the $200 plus 2700 and the savings can go right into a better gpu.

Can you be more specific, 1600 what? Ryzen 1600?

 

[mopardude87]

Can you be more specific, 1600 what? Ryzen 1600?

Yeah the Ryzen 1600.