PC Building Guide and Discussion #13

[SniperHF]

Planning to build a new computer? Don't know where to start? Read Here first!

Ask questions in this thread about upgrades and new system builds. Read through the OP and compare it to your own situation.

Things to remember: These builds do not include any OS, Keyboard, Mice, Speakers or Monitors. That is up to the builder to choose.

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Desktop PC Builds
Click the list link at the top of the build to purchase.


My Build - Price Range: $1200
Targeting: 1080p gaming at ultra settings or entry level 1440p.
Emphasis: modularity, upgradability, quality.

CPU	Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$259.99
CPU Cooler	Scythe - FUMA Rev.B 79 CFM CPU Cooler	$44.99
Motherboard	Asus - PRIME Z390-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$189.99
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200	$84.99
Storage	Crucial - MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$119.99
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB	$279.99
Case	Fractal Design - Meshify C	$85.99
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Power Supply	$109.99
Total		$1,175.92

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

More builds to be added.

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Common PC questions

Processors (CPU's)

Different types of Sockets

Installing your Heatsink?: Use a proper thermal compound application

Liquid vs Air Cooling

Video Cards:
Can't decide which video card to buy?:
Compare them by year
2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Performance Per Dollar by Techpowerup


Want to upgrade your video card? Check here first

Memory:
Ensure your Dual channel memory is appropriately configured. (Dated but relevant)

What are Memory Timings?



Software

Backup, copy, and restore your computer:
Acronis True Image
Western Digital Drive Backup Software
Use Windows 10 to backup your computer.

Put your new system to the test:
Benchmark it with Unigine: Heaven, Superposition - 3dmark - Final Fantasy XV


Differences between Windows 10 versions

Never Installed Windows before?: Watch this video

Storage:

Tom's "Best SSD for the money 2019"

Motherboards
Newegg's Motherborad Buying Guide
Guide to Motherboard Selection

Power Supplies (Or PSU's):

2019 Power Supply guide

PSU reviews: Anandtech - Jonnyguru

Think your PSU is bad?: test it here. (post in the thread if you need assistance)
They now also make testers you can buy

Want to save money?: Don't cut corners on the PSU.

Power supply Efficiency levels


How much power do I need?
Power requirement estimator #1(uses data from trusted review sources)
Power requirement estimator #2 (less accurate but more part options)

How to choose a power supply
Power requirements for video cards


Video Tutorials on PC Building
Short video, more up to date on building a PC (20 minutes)

This series is much longer but also older, you'll learn more watching it than the shorter one.
Pt.1 Basic PC introduction and Component selection.
Pt.2 Assembling your system
Pt.3 Installing your OS, other odds and ends.


Thread Updated as Hardware is Released

I use NewEgg as a reference for PC components. Please shop around and find the best prices if they can be found elsewhere. In my experience NewEgg has fair prices though.

Prices might not be 100% accurate. Check them carefully. Some items include additional mail in rebates as well. Those savings are not reflected in my prices so your build may actually be cheaper in the end.

Click to read more...

 

[Hammettf2b]

What kind of pc hardware is needed to achieve this


Or is this not a good comparison? I take it its not just the SSD because I can't get instant loads on my pc like in the tweet.

 

[SeidoN]

I suspect theres more going on with those Spiderman load times than just the SSD

 

[Hammettf2b]

I suspect theres more going on with those Spiderman load times than just the SSD

Exactly why I'm intrigued.

 

[Commander Clueless]

PCIe 4.0 SSDs? Dun dun dunnnn!!!

 

[SeidoN]

5700 and 5700xt finally confirmed, and boy they seem priced well for the performance. Exactly what I was hoping for

 

[Bocephus86]

I think this is the first time I've seen the first page of this thread. Has that resource always been listed as the first post? It's great. Too bad I've already sunk so much into my PC over the last 2-3 years.. I'm probably 3-4 years out on a new build (even more, if I'm being honest).

Every so often I get the itch and pretend I'm doing a build though, and that resource will be great to look at.

 

[flyingkiwi]

I'm about to leave my PC behind for a year+ as I move into a really tiny studio in France next month, so I'm gonna get a new laptop. Really torn between portability and power, as I don't quite have the budget for a nice light ultrabook that'll give both.

 

[PK Cronin]

It's been 8 years since I upgraded my CPU, mobo, and RAM and I'm looking for any recommendations to upgrade now. I'm looking at getting an i9-9900k or an i7-9700k cpu, and some DDR4 RAM, but I'm not sure which mobo I should get. There's an ASUS Prime H370M-Plus that's an option, but it doesn't have a lot of reviews on newegg so I figured I'd ask here. I have a GTX 970 gpu and don't really want to upgrade that at the moment, unless there's a reason I'm not thinking of that would force me to do so. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SniperHF]

It's been 8 years since I upgraded my CPU, mobo, and RAM and I'm looking for any recommendations to upgrade now. I'm looking at getting an i9-9900k or an i7-9700k cpu, and some DDR4 RAM, but I'm not sure which mobo I should get. There's an ASUS Prime H370M-Plus that's an option, but it doesn't have a lot of reviews on newegg so I figured I'd ask here. I have a GTX 970 gpu and don't really want to upgrade that at the moment, unless there's a reason I'm not thinking of that would force me to do so. Any help would be appreciated.

What is your current CPU?

I probably wouldn't bother with the i9. I don't like the value proposition on Intel's beyond the i5 right now. (the slightly older 8700k isn't too bad though bang for buck wise.) They are good CPUs though for sure.

The 9400F is a good value CPU right now but it's only 6 thread. Still for $160 I'd consider one.

Hard to recommend boards. There are too many. I'd want a slightly higher end board in the $150 bracket or so but I also overclock.



That H370M won't be able to overclock your K series CPU. To that end you could get a non-k i9 9900 and save a few bucks: Intel Core i9-9900 Coffee Lake 8-Core, 16-Thread, 3.1 GHz (5.0 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I99900 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630 - Newegg.com
Or a non-k 9700:
Intel Core i7-9700 Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.0 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I79700 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630 - Newegg.com

If you did want an mATX board that's reasonably priced and can OC a K series CPU, this seems like a reasonable option.
GIGABYTE Z390 M GAMING LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z390 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

What are you doing with the CPU? Just gaming/desktop stuff? Other things?


Also what games are you playing on the 970? If you're happy with the performance then that's one thing, but the 970 is starting to drag ass a bit in some titles.

 

[Zodiac]

had the new Vega 56 delivered a couple weeks ago. seems nice so far ...no complaints. runs quiet and cool ...i did an undervolt in Wattman so that helps too. kept the first 3 p-states @ default, and then went 1020, 1030, 1040, p7 = 1050 mv (down from the default 1200 @ p7). put the hbm2 memory up from 800mhz to 900mhz ...default voltage. also bumped up the power limit to 50%.

thats the first time i ever did an undervolt, but from that i read around the net ...i went with those settings. didn't really try to tinker or fine tune it any more since those settings seem to be working alright.

during benchmarks and gaming the driver reports temps around 60c and the 'hot spot' via sensor is up around 70c to 72c at most ...using GPUZ. so pretty happy with that. just using the auto fan setting in the drivers.

tried a few games (Far Cry Primal, GTAV, Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 3 ...some console emulators ie, Dolphin and PPSSPP) all run very well. didn't try the free games that came with it yet (The Division 2 Gold, and World War Z) ...but those free games always help sweeten the deal a little.

Was really impressed with Dark Souls 3 ...since my old GTX680 4gig would chug and drop lots of frames in certain parts ... was really noticeable in the DLC, and dropping the resolution and detail didn't help much. now i can play it perfectly smooth @ 1440p, max detail and 60fps ...no drops at all no matter where in the game. good stuff, since that's probably like, my favorite game.

just checked amazon.ca to see if the price had dropped any lower on my card, because last week it had dropped another $5 from the time when i bought it. i paid around $423 for the Sapphire card and last week it was around $418 ...but now its up to a crazy $679. like ...that's nuts. hopefully that's just some screw up on amazon's end. https://www.amazon.ca/Sapphire-1127...words=vega+56&qid=1560851189&s=gateway&sr=8-2

there's another vega 56 on there for $424 ...which is more like it ... https://www.amazon.ca/PowerColor-56...words=vega+56&qid=1560851189&s=gateway&sr=8-4

but yeah, i like the card. i'll probably get a new Ryzen cpu sometime in the coming few months. going all AMD ...never thought that'd happen ...heh.

 

[PK Cronin]

What is your current CPU?

I probably wouldn't bother with the i9. I don't like the value proposition on Intel's beyond the i5 right now. (the slightly older 8700k isn't too bad though bang for buck wise.) They are good CPUs though for sure.

The 9400F is a good value CPU right now but it's only 6 thread. Still for $160 I'd consider one.

Hard to recommend boards. There are too many. I'd want a slightly higher end board in the $150 bracket or so but I also overclock.



That H370M won't be able to overclock your K series CPU. To that end you could get a non-k i9 9900 and save a few bucks: Intel Core i9-9900 Coffee Lake 8-Core, 16-Thread, 3.1 GHz (5.0 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I99900 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630 - Newegg.com
Or a non-k 9700:
Intel Core i7-9700 Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.0 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I79700 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630 - Newegg.com

If you did want an mATX board that's reasonably priced and can OC a K series CPU, this seems like a reasonable option.
GIGABYTE Z390 M GAMING LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z390 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

What are you doing with the CPU? Just gaming/desktop stuff? Other things?


Also what games are you playing on the 970? If you're happy with the performance then that's one thing, but the 970 is starting to drag ass a bit in some titles.

I have an old i5-2500k Sandy Bridge CPU right now. I'm gaming and doing graphic design on the machine. It's kind of funny, I can play everything I want to with my graphics card but I get lag on certain games (CS: GO, PUBG) that I believe is due to the CPU but have no issues on some other titles (Doom, RE2, Overwatch, etc.). I've never overclocked before but it's something I'm definitely interested in.

 

[SniperHF]

PUBG

Yeah a 2500k will choke on PUBG for sure.

 

[flyingkiwi]

Ended up going for an i7 16gb Zenbook. I’ll miss my old HP Probook. Been running 4 years and still just as snappy as day 1. I wouldn’t have bothered replacing it if I wasn’t leaving my desktop behind.

 

[SniperHF]

just checked amazon.ca to see if the price had dropped any lower on my card, because last week it had dropped another $5 from the time when i bought it. i paid around $423 for the Sapphire card and last week it was around $418 ...but now its up to a crazy $679. like ...that's nuts. hopefully that's just some screw up on amazon's end. https://www.amazon.ca/Sapphire-1127...words=vega+56&qid=1560851189&s=gateway&sr=8-2

It's probably not a screw up. Coin prices are going up again, crank up the mining rigs.

 

[Commander Clueless]

It's probably not a screw up. Coin prices are going up again, crank up the mining rigs.

Just when the new Radeons are hitting the market, too...

Coincidence, or general hate from the universe towards PC enthusiasts? You decide!

 

[Zodiac]

the price is down again ...
https://www.amazon.ca/Sapphire-1127...words=vega+56&qid=1560851189&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Was:	CDN$ 679.88
Price:	CDN$ 421.31 & FREE Shipping.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

good to see.

edit: ...was down to $416 and now its back up to $550. if they could keep the vega56 around $400 with 2 free games, it'd be nice value and great bang for the buck.

 

[PK Cronin]

I received official approval from the accounting department (my wife) to move ahead with computer upgrades. There was an attempt to sneak in a new GPU, but that was rejected.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I received official approval from the accounting department (my wife) to move ahead with computer upgrades. There was an attempt to sneak in a new GPU, but that was rejected.

Freakin' bean counters take the fun out of everything...but they do give us what we need..and sometimes a little extra on our birthdays, eh?

 

[Blueblood9]

So i decided i wanted to build a pc and started pieceing one together. My Original intention was to go with the I5 processor but found that the Ryzen 7 was on sale on newegg and decided to go that way instead.

Case	DIYPC Gamemax Case
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7
Motherboard	MSI B450M
Memory	CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 8GB
Graphics Card	Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1660
Hard Drive	WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB PC SSD
Power	MasterWatt Lite 500W 80 Plus Power Supply

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Thats what i came up with. Gonna start ordering this week.

 

[HabsQC]

So i decided i wanted to build a pc and started pieceing one together. My Original intention was to go with the I5 processor but found that the Ryzen 7 was on sale on newegg and decided to go that way instead.

Case	DIYPC Gamemax Case
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7
Motherboard	MSI B450M
Memory	CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 8GB
Graphics Card	Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1660
Hard Drive	WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB PC SSD
Power	MasterWatt Lite 500W 80 Plus Power Supply

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Thats what i came up with. Gonna start ordering this week.

There is supposed to be a number after the Ryzen 7. (For example 3700X) It would tell us a little more about your build. Also, there should be a speed after your RAM, for example 3200 MHz.

 

[Blueblood9]

There is supposed to be a number after the Ryzen 7. (For example 3700X) It would tell us a little more about your build. Also, there should be a speed after your RAM, for example 3200 MHz.

My bad new to the whole building your own pc game

Heres the processor: AMD RYZEN 7 2700 8-Core 3.2 GHz (4.1 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 65W YD2700BBAFBOX Desktop Processor - Newegg.com
and the Ram: Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model BLS2K8G4D32AESEK - Newegg.com
Motherboard:MSI B450M PRO-VDH AM4 AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com
Grapics card:GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G Graphics Card, 2 x WINDFORCE Fans, 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6, GV-N166TOC-6GD Video Card - Newegg.com

 

[SniperHF]

My bad new to the whole building your own pc game

Looks good to me, depending on what you are doing with it you might find 500GB a little limiting.
Remember that Windows will suck up somewhere between 40 and 60 GB of that.

 

[SeidoN]

me: "ill probably get a Vega 56 or 64 at some point"

sees 5700 XT benchmarks

"oh"

 

[SniperHF]

me: "ill probably get a Vega 56 or 64 at some point"

sees 5700 XT benchmarks

"oh"

I haven't really found anything that I want to play that makes me want something more than my 480 yet. Had it almost 3 years.

I think the longest I ever had a card was my 9800 GTX, about 4 years, purchased on first release. Beast of a card.