Need advice for building a new rig for son: Ryzen 5 3600

[tommyncal]

I'm trying to help my son finish building his new budget gaming computer.
Use: He says he mostly plays Fortnite, League of Legends, Steam games and then streaming and general surfing.
Budget: $700 to $900
Country: USA
Current parts: case- NZXT Phantom 410 Monitor- Samsung UN40EH5300 TV, 1080p, 60 Hz
No overclocking, unless turning on XMP is considered overclocking, still learning about that.
New parts: will buy in next 2 days
OS: want Windows 10 Home, just not sure which version would be best.

Here's what I have picked so far. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wcmzBb

Thanks for any advice on compatibility, better hardware at similar price, will this build be sufficient for his uses, etc.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

RX590 with 3 months XBOX game pass for PC for almost the same price

If you have an older PC with a win 7 COA sticker you can convert it to 10 for free. And with such a tight budget, and still needing a keyboard and mouse, maybe a headset or set of speakers, consider this. A Ryzen 2600 is on newegg until midnight for a $120 today, and will still make a good match for that 590. I personally would prefer to stretch the budget a bit to keep that 3600. But you are over $800 and unless you have the peripherals already it will be tight. You are good to go if you have those covered.

 

[daveybrat]

Ditch the Ryzen 3600 and go with the Ryzen 2600 like @DAPUNISHER said and with that $80 savings you can spend $40 more on the video card and get this instead of the RX 580:

https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-gtx-1660-06g-p4-1067-kr/p/N82E16814487448?Item=N82E16814487448

The GTX 1660 consumes less power and is faster than the 580 (and more modern!)

 

[tommyncal]

RX590 with 3 months XBOX game pass for PC for almost the same price

If you have an older PC with a win 7 COA sticker you can convert it to 10 for free. And with such a tight budget, and still needing a keyboard and mouse, maybe a headset or set of speakers, consider this. A Ryzen 2600 is on newegg until midnight for a $120 today, and will still make a good match for that 590. I personally would prefer to stretch the budget a bit to keep that 3600. But you are over $800 and unless you have the peripherals already it will be tight. You are good to go if you have those covered.

I should have been more specific, sorry. He has no OS, of any kind, right now. But, he does have keyboard, mouse, headset & speakers. It is a 580 on my list and would rather spend the $80 to keep the 3600. Does everything look compatible?

 

[tommyncal]

Ditch the Ryzen 3600 and go with the Ryzen 2600 like @DAPUNISHER said and with that $80 savings you can spend $40 more on the video card and get this instead of the RX 580:

https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-gtx-1660-06g-p4-1067-kr/p/N82E16814487448?Item=N82E16814487448

The GTX 1660 consumes less power and is faster than the 580 (and more modern!)

Thanks for the suggestion for the 1660. It's only $40 more , so still in my $900 budget

 

[daveybrat]

Just remember though that the motherboard you chose is not compatible with the Ryzen 3600 out of the box. You'd need to put a 1000 or 2000 series cpu in the board to flash the bios first.

The 2600 or 2600X is compatible without need for a bios update.

 

[tommyncal]

Just remember though that the motherboard you chose is not compatible with the Ryzen 3600 out of the box. You'd need to put a 1000 or 2000 series cpu in the board to flash the bios first.

The 2600 or 2600X is compatible without need for a bios update.

yikes. So when I read on the msi support page for the Tomahawk: 'supports Ryzen series 3000 CPU', it still needs a earlier generation to update bios?

 

[daveybrat]

yikes. So when I read on the msi support page for the Tomahawk: 'supports Ryzen series 3000 CPU', it still needs a earlier generation to update bios?

Yes, the motherboard does support the new Ryzen 3000 series cpu's but it requires a bios update first. Meaning that if you don't have an earlier gen cpu to flash the bios you won't get any post or video.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yes, the motherboard does support the new Ryzen 3000 series cpu's but it requires a bios update first. Meaning that if you don't have an earlier gen cpu to flash the bios you won't get any post or video.

Correction Davey, the Tomahawk has bios flashback and can be updated without a cpu or vid card in it.

Here you go, no ram needed either

 

[daveybrat]

Correction Davey, the Tomahawk has bios flashback and can be updated without a cpu or vid card in it.

Here you go, no ram needed either

Wow, thanks! I had no idea that could be done on that board.

 

[Anomaly1964]

What a pain to have to flash your bios BEFORE you can even install your new CPU. Are their motherboards that work out of the box with Ryzen 2600x?

 

[tommyncal]

What a pain to have to flash your bios BEFORE you can even install your new CPU. Are their motherboards that work out of the box with Ryzen 2600x?

Same question with Ryzen 5 3600

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Simple rule of thumb, but hopefully helpful way to look at this -

1st gen = 3 series mobo
2nd gen = 4 series mobo
3rd gen = 5 series mobo

4 and 5 should work with second gen out of the box. 3 may or may not need a bios updates for 2nd gen depending on revision and how long it has been sitting around waiting to be sold. 5 is made for 3rd gen, but they are pricier. 3 and 4 both need bios updates for 3rd gen.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Simple rule of thumb, but hopefully helpful way to look at this -

1st gen = 3 series mobo
2nd gen = 4 series mobo
3rd gen = 5 series mobo

4 and 5 should work with second gen out of the box. 3 may or may not need a bios updates for 2nd gen depending on revision and how long it has been sitting around waiting to be sold. 5 is made for 3rd gen, but they are pricier. 3 and 4 both need bios updates for 3rd gen.

Good info...thanks!