PC Building Guide and Discussion #11 (everything is expensive...)

[Kestrel]

So, using the System Builder I found reading through this thread this is what I've come up with and according to site there are no compatibility issues. If anyone can offer advice, like get a better CPU or such, please let me know. I'm hoping to put CentOs on this as a guide I saw said the card is RedHat compatible

PCPartPicker part list: System Builder - FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, Gamemax-BK ATX Full Tower - PCPartPicker
Price breakdown by merchant: System Builder - FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, G... - Prices By Merchant - PCPartPicker

CPU: AMD - FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($112.59 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-970A-DS3P FX (rev. 2.1) ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.63 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card (No Price, but of course I already have the card)
Case: DIYPC - Gamemax-BK ATX Full Tower Case ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $460.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-26 17:41 EST-0500

I'm thinking something more like this list:

System Builder - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, Gamemax-BK ATX Full Tower - PCPartPicker

That actually comes in a little cheaper, but you have room to go higher if you need to. $35 to $40 will bump you up from a 4 core 4 thread CPU to a 4 core 8 thread CPU... it wouldn't take much more to go to a 6 core 12 thread CPU. Or you could increase the RAM.

Sniper might have suggestions from the Intel world. My understanding is that the GPU is going to be doing most of the grunt work though, so maybe a heavily multithreaded CPU might not be a big deal?

 

[Led Zappa]

I'm thinking something more like this list:

System Builder - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, Gamemax-BK ATX Full Tower - PCPartPicker

That actually comes in a little cheaper, but you have room to go higher if you need to. $35 to $40 will bump you up from a 4 core 4 thread CPU to a 4 core 8 thread CPU... it wouldn't take much more to go to a 6 core 12 thread CPU. Or you could increase the RAM.

Sniper might have suggestions from the Intel world. My understanding is that the GPU is going to be doing most of the grunt work though, so maybe a heavily multithreaded CPU might not be a big deal?

Is this site messed up for anyone else. I would have posted much earlier if I could.

Since I got a larger budget I ended up with this: My Custom Build I - Led_Zappa's Saved Part List - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

Let me know if you think somethings not right, like the MB is crappy or something.

I already purchased the case, cooler and card of course.

PCPartPicker part list: System Builder - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker
Price breakdown by merchant: System Builder - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6... - Prices By Merchant - PCPartPicker

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Corsair)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.89 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($204.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($97.50 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $992.34

 

[flyingkiwi]

Is your gaming with AAA titles? I don't think you need an expensive motherboard, but I do like going with one that has a bit of a premium built in as opposed to a rock bottom motherboard - but I do think 4 GB of RAM might be a little painful depending on the games. I like to throw 16 GB into new builds, but last I checked, I don't think 16 GB really gives you much advantage over 8 GB yet in most scenarios.

@LilWayneJetski This video has an interesting perspective on the RAM, that you can get away with less the better your GPU is. 4GB is ruled out though.
According to their testing 8GB is starting to fall behind.

 

[SniperHF]

Is this site messed up for anyone else. I would have posted much earlier if I could.

Since I got a larger budget I ended up with this: My Custom Build I - Led_Zappa's Saved Part List - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core, GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB, MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

Let me know if you think somethings not right, like the MB is crappy or something.

Total: $992.34

You'll definitely be happier with a Ryzen than the cheaper build before with an FX 8350. If nothing else the FX CPU sucks power like crazy.

It should be fine, I might want a higher quality motherboard for something going 24/7 but the budget is the budget .

If as you said the graphics card is doing most of the work, I doubt the water cooler on the CPU is going to help much. A custom loop system with a water block on the Titan might.

This video has an interesting perspective on the RAM, that you can get away with less the better your GPU is. 4GB is ruled out though.
According to their testing 8GB is starting to fall behind.

All true.

Too bad you have to give up dual channel to run 12GB. Doubling the cost of RAM just for an extra gig or two is annoying when building. Most games that take more than 8 only do so by a gig or so and even then it's only due to the OS's demands.

 

[Bocephus86]

Kind of a random question: Is RAM speed really that important? As a note, basically all I do is game on the PC. When I built my current rig, I went with the "slowest" DDR4 out there (2133) because everything I read said there wasn't really any difference. But now that I'm paying more attention to other peoples builds, it seems everyone goes higher on the ram speed.

As a note, I have an i5 skylake & 16 gig DDR4 @ 2133 (running in dual channel, as of a few months ago, as I was originally an idiot and didn't read the MB instructions correctly during the initial build)

It's not something I'm going to address now or even in the foreseeable future; more something i want to file away in the back of my brain for the next major MB/CPU upgrade in a few years.

 

[SeidoN]

Kind of a random question: Is RAM speed really that important?

TLDR not a huge difference and certainly not worth upgrading after the fact

 

[Kestrel]

Kind of a random question: Is RAM speed really that important? As a note, basically all I do is game on the PC. When I built my current rig, I went with the "slowest" DDR4 out there (2133) because everything I read said there wasn't really any difference. But now that I'm paying more attention to other peoples builds, it seems everyone goes higher on the ram speed.

As a note, I have an i5 skylake & 16 gig DDR4 @ 2133 (running in dual channel, as of a few months ago, as I was originally an idiot and didn't read the MB instructions correctly during the initial build)

It's not something I'm going to address now or even in the foreseeable future; more something i want to file away in the back of my brain for the next major MB/CPU upgrade in a few years.

Seidon's video might have already covered this, I didn't watch it - but there is more to your RAM than just the MHz... there is also the latency, and faster RAM will usually have slower latencies, somewhat offsetting the speed advantage. I doubt you would notice a difference going with faster RAM.

 

[Bocephus86]

Very helpful video - thank you. Also, I learned that I say "Asus" very wrong (or he does). "A-suese" is correct vs "ace-us"; time to correct that haha.

 

[KingBran]

Very helpful video - thank you. Also, I learned that I say "Asus" very wrong (or he does). "A-suese" is correct vs "ace-us"; time to correct that haha.

I have and will always says "Ace-us" It's like people calling it "jiff" instead of "gif". And I could care less what the creators of either say. I say it, and people understand what I am saying. I had a friend once that pronounced 'memes' as "Mee Mee's". I WTF'd a few times but I knew what he was talking about so no harm / no foul IMO.

 

[God King Fudge]

Thanks for the info boys. I guess I'm gonna shoot lower on my MB and try to scoop up 8GB of the RAM.

Think I'll end up going with:

ASUS PRIME H270M-PLUS/CSM LGA1151 DDR4 HDMI DVI VGA M.2 H270 mATX Motherboard with USB 3.1

and

Viper Elite Series DDR4 8GB (2 x 4GB) 2400MHz Kit (Red) PVE48G240C5KRD

Going a few bucks over budget, but not getting a bottom end MB and managing to get 8GB up front. Will certainly get me by for a year or so until I look to get a high end CPU.

 

[Led Zappa]

You'll definitely be happier with a Ryzen than the cheaper build before with an FX 8350. If nothing else the FX CPU sucks power like crazy.

It should be fine, I might want a higher quality motherboard for something going 24/7 but the budget is the budget .

If as you said the graphics card is doing most of the work, I doubt the water cooler on the CPU is going to help much. A custom loop system with a water block on the Titan might.



All true.

Too bad you have to give up dual channel to run 12GB. Doubling the cost of RAM just for an extra gig or two is annoying when building. Most games that take more than 8 only do so by a gig or so and even then it's only due to the OS's demands.

 

[Led Zappa]

You'll definitely be happier with a Ryzen than the cheaper build before with an FX 8350. If nothing else the FX CPU sucks power like crazy.

It should be fine, I might want a higher quality motherboard for something going 24/7 but the budget is the budget .

If as you said the graphics card is doing most of the work, I doubt the water cooler on the CPU is going to help much. A custom loop system with a water block on the Titan might.

Can you recommend a motherboard and waterblock for the titan. What more popular card than titan is the same form factor? Hard time looking things up for Titatn.

Thanks!

 

[KingBran]

So I have never done this before and I have heard varying results but what are your guys' opinion on using two different brand of RAM in your desktop?

I currently have 16GB (2x8) ddr4 2400mhz PNY. I was looking to add 16GB more and grabbing andother 2x8 and from my understanding as long as I do ddr4 (of course) and its 2400mhz it should be fine right? I mean the system should just read the lowest speed so as long as they are both the same I should get a full 32GB right?

 

[Led Zappa]

So I have never done this before and I have heard varying results but what are your guys' opinion on using two different brand of RAM in your desktop?

I currently have 16GB (2x8) ddr4 2400mhz PNY. I was looking to add 16GB more and grabbing andother 2x8 and from my understanding as long as I do ddr4 (of course) and its 2400mhz it should be fine right? I mean the system should just read the lowest speed so as long as they are both the same I should get a full 32GB right?

Yes, it will just limit the speed to the lowest speed. I've never had a problem mixing manufacturers. I don't even remember the last system where the size had to match. 4GB + 8GB would get you 12GB.

 

[SniperHF]

Can you recommend a motherboard and waterblock for the titan. What more popular card than titan is the same form factor? Hard time looking things up for Titatn.

Thanks!

I can look at it later a little more in depth. I'm pretty sure the 780 ti is the closest Titan Black equivalent.
They had versions of that card which came with water blocks from the factory:
EVGA - Articles - EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN Black

If you're getting a waterblock you're getting a pump/radiator and tubing. So you'd have to figure out if that crap will fit in the case. There might be a way to rig it up to the H100i but I'm not sure.

Given that the 7xx series was a few generations ago it might be hard to come by a waterblock for them now.

A few I found quickly:
Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 780 Ti Full Coverage Liquid Cooling Block - Copper / Acrylic (23584) - FrozenCPU.com

 

[KingBran]

Yes, it will just limit the speed to the lowest speed. I've never had a problem mixing manufacturers. I don't even remember the last system where the size had to match. 4GB + 8GB would get you 12GB.

Yeah I have mixed size before but never brands. Thank you.

 

[Led Zappa]

Final Build. Still looking at GPU Cooler, but that can be added on later. I got what I need to install OS and hand over. Not bad for $1500. Could have been cheaper if I went with various vendors, but delivery time was important and knowing that the chances for delivery when said was important. The one item I did not go to Amazon for (The CPU Cooler bought from Corsair) told me after I paid for expedited shipping that they may take up to 3 days to even process order. Yeah, not happy with them.

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $106.29)
Motherboard: MSI - X370 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard (Purchased For $136.24)
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $218.00)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $99.99)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $223.44)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $141.69)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card (Purchased For $399.99)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - M12II 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $129.82)

Total W/Taxes: $1455.46

 

[SniperHF]

Heh, I was just writing up a reply. I'll post it anyway cause why not.

FTR that X370 Gaming Plus has the same power delivery system (RT8894A) as the one below.

Can you recommend a motherboard and waterblock for the titan. What more popular card than titan is the same form factor? Hard time looking things up for Titatn.

Thanks!

MSI B350 GAMING PRO CARBON

MSI B350 GAMING PRO CARBON AM4 AMD B350 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com

Best power delivery in the budget range which ='s greater reliability and lower temps.
It's a bit more money but not a ton. And you get a $30 rebate card, woohoo.

If you want to stick in the lower <$100 range that Gigabyte looks as good as any from what i can tell.

 

[Kestrel]

Got my Seasonic 650w PSU last night - man, that thing is built like a brick! I think it's just about as heavy as my 17.3" gaming laptop.

Edit: I'm just realizing how big a nerd I am to get excited over a PSU

 

[God King Fudge]

Prices on RAM are absolutely insane right now. Keep seeing I should wait until after the holidays to see if prices level out, but is that realistic? I see people saying they paid upwards of $100 dollars less for the same RAM in the first half of the year on RAM posts in /r/buildapcsales

 

[SniperHF]

Prices on RAM are absolutely insane right now. Keep seeing I should wait until after the holidays to see if prices level out, but is that realistic? I see people saying they paid upwards of $100 dollars less for the same RAM in the first half of the year on RAM posts in /r/buildapcsales

I don't think it's going down any time soon TBH. I'd guess Summer 2018, supposedly the manufacturers are increasing their output but that could take awhile.

 

[Kestrel]

Prices on RAM are absolutely insane right now. Keep seeing I should wait until after the holidays to see if prices level out, but is that realistic? I see people saying they paid upwards of $100 dollars less for the same RAM in the first half of the year on RAM posts in /r/buildapcsales

I'm planning a build for when Ryzen 2 is available - and I'm having an internal debate as to whether I want to bite the bullet and put 32 GB in my system, or save myself a good $200+, and go with 16. I really want 32 (for no particularly good reason) but I think I'll be going 16.

 

[Kelly]

Just went through something odd;

I came home this afternoon and my computer kept power cycling, wouldn't stay on longer for 5 minutes.. Within those 5 minutes I was checking my CPU temps, and it was getting up to ~75-80 Celsius, and was running @ like 90-100% utilization.. So i figured my fan wasn't working or whatever, so unplugged it, removed my cpu fan and cleaned it (it was dusty as all hell)... plugged it back in and rebooted and same thing happened.. at this point I was getting pissed, thought my PC was just f***ed. Thankfully in my fit of rage I noticed one of my two GPU fans weren't spinning, so unplugged, removed the GPU, fixed the problem, plugged it back in and voila it's now working.... but oddly all my CPU speeds and temps are back to normal... which I found weird, admittingly I'm not the most intelligent in all of this...but would anybody know why my CPU would be affected by one of my GPU fans? Or is that likely just coincidence?

Sorry if this is a dumb question btw

 

[SniperHF]

Just went through something odd;

I came home this afternoon and my computer kept power cycling, wouldn't stay on longer for 5 minutes.. Within those 5 minutes I was checking my CPU temps, and it was getting up to ~75-80 Celsius,
and was running @ like 90-100% utilization

Any overclock?

.. So i figured my fan wasn't working or whatever, so unplugged it, removed my cpu fan and cleaned it (it was dusty as all hell)... plugged it back in and rebooted and same thing happened.. at this point I was getting pissed, thought my PC was just ****ed.

Was the fan spinning either time?

Thankfully in my fit of rage I noticed one of my two GPU fans weren't spinning, so unplugged, removed the GPU, fixed the problem, plugged it back in and voila it's now working.

What model of video card? The full model (meaning like Sapphire Dual-X Rx 480) not just the type. Some video cards have fans that shut off on idle so it might not be a problem.

... but oddly all my CPU speeds and temps are back to normal... which I found weird, admittingly I'm not the most intelligent in all of this...but would anybody know why my CPU would be affected by one of my GPU fans? Or is that likely just coincidence?

Sorry if this is a dumb question btw

Do you have an intel CPU? Are you using the stock cooler?

What are the temperatures now if you push your CPU? Run a game or something.

 

[Kelly]

Any overclock?

Nope, no overclock.

Was the fan spinning either time?

I didn't realize until after the fact, but I doubt it... though it seems like my problem wasn't the GPU fan, I'm now having the same problem...


What model of video card? The full model (meaning like Sapphire Dual-X Rx 480) not just the type. Some video cards have fans that shut off on idle so it might not be a problem.

Sapphire - Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card

khennig - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker Canada b>

Do you have an intel CPU? Are you using the stock cooler?

Yep, intel CPU, and also using the stock fan.

What are the temperatures now if you push your CPU? Run a game or something.

Will try this, and edit... just wanna send this post through in case my pc crashes.

Thanks for the help, answers in bolded.

CPU temps got to 100 degrees, and my GPU was at 59 degrees max

WIll buying an aftermarket cooler/fan really fix it to that degree? Whats standard temps when running a game anyway?