OK, Semi-budget gaming rig assistance...Please?

[BoomerD]

A'ight...I don't REALLY want to build myself...but I just don't trust the pre-built companies...too many bad reviews.

So...here's my list of "must haves"

I7-9700k
CPU cooler...is air still good enough, or an AIO water cooler? I like Noctua...but they're spendy
16 GB ram (would prefer 32, but...)
Quality motherboard
I'd LIKE an RTX 2080 video card, but I don't know if the price is justified.
Large (1TB?) SSD, and/or NVME SSD
VERY high quality PSU...gold or platinum, probably 650-750 watts. it's overkill, but I'd rather have twice as much PSU as I need than just -> <- that much too little.
I prefer SeaSonic or Corsair, but I'm open to other brands if they're good.
Full tower case, preferably with slots for an optical drive (yeah, I know...but I'm old) I have a Cooler Master HAF 932 case, but it needs new fans...and the front IO panel is outdated. (but I COULD add a USB 3.0 panel to it.)

I can get an iBuyPower rig with most of that, (2070 card) for $1400 from Costco...and a similar CyberPowerPC unit for $1700. From Costco, they come with 2 year warranties, and I can always buy a Square Trade warranty. (yuck...don't like Square Trade much)


And, NO, I'm NOT gonna use AMD processors or graphics cards....

Thanks.


Oh, and I should specify...this is for gaming and surfing. No work, no photoshop, etc.

 

[whm1974]

Nothing wrong with current AMD Ryzen CPU or dGPUs at all. IMHO they offer great value for at the prices they are selling for.

A 550W Gold rated PSU is fine unless you are overclocking both CPU and graphics card. And SeaSonic is one of the best PSU companies around.

 

[BoomerD]

Nothing wrong with current AMD Ryzen CPU or dGPUs at all. IMHO they offer great value for at the prices they are selling for.

A 550W Gold rated PSU is fine unless you are overclocking both CPU and graphics card. And SeaSonic is one of the best PSU companies around.

Yes, I know all that, but, as I stated, I do not want, will not build with AMD.

 

[whm1974]

Yes, I know all that, but, as I stated, I do not want, will not build with AMD.

And why not?

 

[UsandThem]

And why not?

Some people just have certain preferences, and that's OK. It's their money and their choice.

As far as some recommendations:

Fractal Design R6 case
Corsair MP510 960GB NVMe
Asrock Z390 Taichi or if you want to save a few bucks, Asrock Z390 Extreme4
Corsair RMx 650w PSU or if you want a bigger unit than that (even though you're going to give up some efficiency since you don't need such a large unit), Seasonic Focus Plus 750w
EVGA RTX 2080 (but you could choose several of them in that price range, not too much difference.

 

[whm1974]

Some people just have certain preferences, and that's OK. It's their money and their choice.

As far as some recommendations:

Fractal Design R6 case
Corsair MP510 960GB NVMe
Asrock Z390 Taichi or if you want to save a few bucks, Asrock Z390 Extreme4
Corsair RMx 650w PSU or if you want a bigger unit than that (even though you're going to give up some efficiency since you don't need such a large unit), Seasonic Focus Plus 750w
EVGA RTX 2080 (but you could choose several of them in that price range, not too much difference.

Oh I do agree. And the build you post is fairly decent.

 

[BoomerD]

Some people just have certain preferences, and that's OK. It's their money and their choice.

As far as some recommendations:

Fractal Design R6 case
Corsair MP510 960GB NVMe
Asrock Z390 Taichi or if you want to save a few bucks, Asrock Z390 Extreme4
Corsair RMx 650w PSU or if you want a bigger unit than that (even though you're going to give up some efficiency since you don't need such a large unit), Seasonic Focus Plus 750w
EVGA RTX 2080 (but you could choose several of them in that price range, not too much difference.

Thanks...FINALLY, someone with an answer...

I like the looks of the Fractal cases...not sure the R6 is as big as I want...but maybe. (I also considered the R5 linked by aigomorla (sp?) in a different thread. I like the Thermaltake Core X71 as well.

CPU cooler recommendations? Quieter is better... I've never needed water cooling, but it sounds like the i7-9700 runs hot? Corsair AIO units seem pretty popular. Any good?

Thanks.

 

[UsandThem]

The Fractal cases are quite roomy (I own two of the R5s).

I have no experience with the Thermaltake case, but looking at its specs / diagram, it doesn't appear to have fan filters (which is a no-go for me personally).

If you want a really big case, my main PC is in a Be Quiet Dark Base 900. I had a thread on my build with it in the cases and cooling forum (Link), and I love it. The power supply installation was a little......odd, buy outside of that, no complaints.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V45G2222

 

[BoomerD]

The Fractal cases are quite roomy (I own two of the R5s).

I have no experience with the Thermaltake case, but looking at its specs / diagram, it doesn't appear to have fan filters (which is a no-go for me personally).

If you want a really big case, my main PC is in a Be Quiet Dark Base 900. I had a thread on my build with it in the cases and cooling forum (Link), and I love it. The power supply installation was a little......odd, buy outside of that, no complaints.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V45G2222

Ooohh! That's purdy!

 

[UsandThem]

Ooohh! That's purdy!

I forgot to mention, but by default it has a 5.25" drive bay, but I removed it in order to install another 140mm fan before I started taking pictures of the build. However, in the Newegg link it shows it with the drive bay still in there.

 

[BoomerD]

I forgot to mention, but by default it has a 5.25" drive bay, but I removed it in order to install another 140mm fan before I started taking pictures of the build. However, in the Newegg link it shows it with the drive bay still in there.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Flayed]

CPU cooler recommendations? Quieter is better... I've never needed water cooling, but it sounds like the i7-9700 runs hot? Corsair AIO units seem pretty popular. Any good?

Thanks.

I've got my eye on a Noctua NH-U12A for my next build, it's expensive but comes with 2 of their new fans which are really good (and 30$ ea.)

 

[BoomerD]

I've got my eye on a Noctua NH-U12A for my next build, it's expensive but comes with 2 of their new fans which are really good (and 30$ ea.)

Yep. I have one of their twin fan coolers on my current build. efficient and hella quiet.

 

[Aikouka]

If I remember correctly, SeaSonic is the OEM for some companies for their PSUs. For example, I believe EVGA's PSUs are just rebadged SeaSonic units.

I used to use Corsair PSUs, but then I switched to EVGA PSUs. Although, I wasn't very happy with the last G3 PSU that I tried. It seems to have a fan profile issue if used in ECO mode (i.e. turns off the fan unless needed) where the fan will ramp up very quickly to a higher RPM. So, everything is pretty quiet, and all of a sudden, you get this loud WHIR noise that just goes away. It happens about every 5-10 minutes while playing a game. I got rid of the EVGA G3 PSU and went with a high-end SeaSonic PSU... and given that they're the same darn thing, it does the same darn thing.

 

[BoomerD]

If I remember correctly, SeaSonic is the OEM for some companies for their PSUs. For example, I believe EVGA's PSUs are just rebadged SeaSonic units.

I used to use Corsair PSUs, but then I switched to EVGA PSUs. Although, I wasn't very happy with the last G3 PSU that I tried. It seems to have a fan profile issue if used in ECO mode (i.e. turns off the fan unless needed) where the fan will ramp up very quickly to a higher RPM. So, everything is pretty quiet, and all of a sudden, you get this loud WHIR noise that just goes away. It happens about every 5-10 minutes while playing a game. I got rid of the EVGA G3 PSU and went with a high-end SeaSonic PSU... and given that they're the same darn thing, it does the same darn thing.

From what I've read over at jonnyguru.com, Seasonic does make psus for SOME companies...for some of their product lines, but MOST companies use a mix of manufacturers to do their building.

 

[BoomerD]

Well...I "wimped" out and bought a pre-built Ibuypower rig from Costco. Should be delivered next week. I7-8700k, RTX2070, 16 gb DDR4, small (240GB) SSD, 2TB HDD. DON't know what components are used, but from browsing their site, they GENERALLY use mainstream branded components...except for the cpu cooler...that's their "house brand." We'll see. I have a 90 day window to return it if it doesn't perform/work well.

 

[Muadib]

How much did Costco want for it??

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a 90 day window to return it if it doesn't perform/work well.

That's fairly generous. Is that IBuyPower's doing, or Costco's doing?

Edit: Wimp. Should have bought it from me. That would have been the "macho" thing to do. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[BoomerD]

That's fairly generous. Is that IBuyPower's doing, or Costco's doing?

Edit: Wimp. Should have bought it from me. That would have been the "macho" thing to do. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Costco has a 90 day return policy for electronics...and they extend the warranty to 2 years.

Bought WHAT from you? Whachoo gots, mang?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm just teasing. The best rigs I've got right now are an Ryzen R5 1600 w/dual RX 570 8GB cards, 32GB DDR4, and asst. drives, and an "HP Power Gaming PC" with an i5-7400, 8GB DDR4, 240GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and a GTX 1060 3GB OEM.

I only offer a 1-year warranty on new rigs from me, though, so Costco's got me beat there. Unless someone wants to pay a little extra for a 3-year extended warranty.

Seriously, though, it sounds like a really sweet high-end rig. Enjoy!

Edit: Tell me that you have, or are going to buy, a 144Hz monitor? OTherwise, you could have saved a bundle going with AMD.... jus' saying.

 

[BoomerD]

I'm just teasing. The best rigs I've got right now are an Ryzen R5 1600 w/dual RX 570 8GB cards, 32GB DDR4, and asst. drives, and an "HP Power Gaming PC" with an i5-7400, 8GB DDR4, 240GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and a GTX 1060 3GB OEM.

I only offer a 1-year warranty on new rigs from me, though, so Costco's got me beat there. Unless someone wants to pay a little extra for a 3-year extended warranty.

Seriously, though, it sounds like a really sweet high-end rig. Enjoy!

Edit: Tell me that you have, or are going to buy, a 144Hz monitor? OTherwise, you could have saved a bundle going with AMD.... jus' saying.

For now, just a 7 year old Dell 24" monitor...but I'm looking...and...from above...

Yes, I know all that, but, as I stated, I do not want, will not build with AMD.

 

[Sgt. York]

Stick to your guns, BoomBoy! Put a hook in it and raise it way up above the crowd so they can gnash their teeth while jumping up and up, higher and higher trying to tear your dream down.

 

[BoomerD]

Stick to your guns, BoomBoy! Put a hook in it and raise it way up above the crowd so they can gnash their teeth while jumping up and up, higher and higher trying to tear your dream down.

Meh...I drive Fords...you wouldn't catch me driving (or even riding in) a Honda...same kind of thing.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You do know that AMD "diffuses" (fabs) Ryzen CPUs in New York, right? And Honda has plenty of plants in the USA, mfg'ing their vehicles.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Meh...I drive Fords...you wouldn't catch me driving (or even riding in) a Honda...same kind of thing.

I drive the most american made car, the toyota Camry. I wouldn't buy a made in mexico ford. The ford trucks on the other hand are usually assembled in Dearborn so those are ok.