PC Building Guide and Discussion #13

[SupremeNachos]

I need to get a new CPU, but I have no idea what my MB is compatible with. I have a Asus Maximus Gene VIII and currently using a I5 6600k. Looking for a decent I7 that is around 300$.

 

[PK Cronin]

I need to get a new CPU, but I have no idea what my MB is compatible with. I have a Asus Maximus Gene VIII and currently using a I5 6600k. Looking for a decent I7 that is around 300$.

Newegg is out of their deals it seems and I can't find any others at the moment. I've been searching since I missed out on Friday.

 

[stopclickbait]

Hey @SniperHF loved your recommendations on the desktop you gave a while back, now my friends wants something similar to me but the desktop is sold out ABS Fort Gaming Desktop PC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB AMD Ryzen 7 1700X (3.40 GHz) 8-Core 16 GB DDR4 240 GB SSD 1 TB HDD Windows 10 Home 64-Bit ALA099 - Newegg.ca

Are there any good deals for something similar on Cyber Monday?

 

[Caeldan]

I swear, PC builds have got more complicated while the documentation has become much worse.

Fingers crossed that this build boots when I'm finished.

 

[SniperHF]

Hey @SniperHF loved your recommendations on the desktop you gave a while back, now my friends wants something similar to me but the desktop is sold out ABS Fort Gaming Desktop PC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB AMD Ryzen 7 1700X (3.40 GHz) 8-Core 16 GB DDR4 240 GB SSD 1 TB HDD Windows 10 Home 64-Bit ALA099 - Newegg.ca

Are there any good deals for something similar on Cyber Monday?

I reccomended an R7 1700? That doesn't sound like me

Anywho:

This is pretty swanky specs wise for $1000 CAD:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - Radeon RX 580 - 16GB DDR4 - 240GB SSD - 1TB HDD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca

For a few hundred more bucks a 512GB SSD, and a better video card:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 16GB DDR4 - 512GB SSD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca


(can't speak to the builder quality)

I need to get a new CPU, but I have no idea what my MB is compatible with. I have a Asus Maximus Gene VIII and currently using a I5 6600k. Looking for a decent I7 that is around 300$.

Most likely the best CPU you can get is an i7 7700k. NIB it's $370 right now.
If you don't/won't overclock, the i7 7700 non-k is cheaper.

You could sell your 6600k and fund the upgrade partially.

You will need to update your BIOS before hand though, I would just do it right now. Get whatever the latest is.

But what i would do is:
I'd hit up ebay and buy a gently used i7 6700k instead .
You can get one for about $220 buy it now. It's not really all that much slower than the i7 7700k and still gets you the 8 threaded CPU, which I'm assuming is your primary goal here.

I'd say get a used 7700k, but used 7700k prices are pretty dumb considering it's the best CPU on the platform, so IMO the 6700k used is the best value .

(don't buy any used CPU that says de-lided)

 

[PK Cronin]

Was able to get an i7-9700K for $300 today at Micro Center, pick up only. Pretty happy with that.

 

[SupremeNachos]

I reccomended an R7 1700? That doesn't sound like me

Anywho:

This is pretty swanky specs wise for $1000 CAD:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - Radeon RX 580 - 16GB DDR4 - 240GB SSD - 1TB HDD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca

For a few hundred more bucks a 512GB SSD, and a better video card:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 16GB DDR4 - 512GB SSD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca


(can't speak to the builder quality)




Most likely the best CPU you can get is an i7 7700k. NIB it's $370 right now.
If you don't/won't overclock, the i7 7700 non-k is cheaper.

You could sell your 6600k and fund the upgrade partially.

You will need to update your BIOS before hand though, I would just do it right now. Get whatever the latest is.

But what i would do is:
I'd hit up ebay and buy a gently used i7 6700k instead .
You can get one for about $220 buy it now. It's not really all that much slower than the i7 7700k and still gets you the 8 threaded CPU, which I'm assuming is your primary goal here.

I'd say get a used 7700k, but used 7700k prices are pretty dumb considering it's the best CPU on the platform, so IMO the 6700k used is the best value .

(don't buy any used CPU that says de-lided)

All the games that I play on high or ultra right now are ones where getting a better CPU won't make a difference. It's more for games that are CPU intensive that I want to upgrade.

 

[SniperHF]

All the games that I play on high or ultra right now are ones where getting a better CPU won't make a difference. It's more for games that are CPU intensive that I want to upgrade.

Any specific games? Also what is your video card.

 

[SupremeNachos]

Any specific games? Also what is your video card.

GTX 1070.

 

[stopclickbait]

I reccomended an R7 1700? That doesn't sound like me

Anywho:

This is pretty swanky specs wise for $1000 CAD:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - Radeon RX 580 - 16GB DDR4 - 240GB SSD - 1TB HDD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca

For a few hundred more bucks a 512GB SSD, and a better video card:
ABS Mage E - Ryzen 5 2600 - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - 16GB DDR4 - 512GB SSD - Gaming Desktop PC - Newegg.ca


(can't speak to the builder quality)

Thanks for the quick reply, reading the reviews on ABS though gotta hope all the people that are happy just aren't leaving reviews lol

 

[SniperHF]

Thanks for the quick reply, reading the reviews on ABS though gotta hope all the people that are happy just aren't leaving reviews lol

Something not ABS:
iBUYPOWER - Gaming Desktop PC - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (3.60 GHz) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 16 GB DDR4 480 GB SSD Windows 10 Home 64-bit AlphaB 3660SA - Newegg.ca

Little spendier, better parts though. Has the newest Ryzen 5, and an RTX 2060.


You might look at that website Zaide bought from a few posts ago.
Affordable Gaming PCs from NZXT - Cost Effective Price Gaming Rigs With Guaranteed FPS

I can't see what the Canada bux price is without changing my IP.

But the "Starter PC" has a 6 core i5 cpu, a GTX 1660, 16GB RAM, and an SSD. They also only use name brand stuff, no junk-o Power supplies and such.

 

[David Dennison]

What would be the recommendation for GPU ~$150-250?

580 $150-160
590 $180
1660 $200-230

Vega 56, 1070, 1660 TI seem to retail a little higher but maybe I can find a sale. Power supply isn't an issue. Do I go with a lesser brand and maybe blower on a higher card, or should I go with a better brand with better cooling on a 580/590?

 

[Prairie Habs]

Gigabyte Radeon RX VEGA 56 GAMING OC 8GB PCI-E w/ Triple HDMI, Triple DP - PCI-E Video Cards - Memory Express Inc.

Anyone have any experience with this GPU? Seems like a pretty solid deal and the reviews on this site are great, it has pretty terrible reviews on newegg though.

I went with a freesync monitor (LG 24GL600F-B 24in UltraGear Full HD 144Hz TN LED LCD w/ FreeSync - 24 Inch LCDs - Memory Express Inc.) so I'm leaning Radeon, but I might just go 1660ti instead. If anyone has seen a better deal on a 1660ti feel free to send it my way.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

My Valve Index should be here tomorrow. Super f***ing pumped .

 

[Commander Clueless]

What would be the recommendation for GPU ~$150-250?

580 $150-160
590 $180
1660 $200-230

Vega 56, 1070, 1660 TI seem to retail a little higher but maybe I can find a sale. Power supply isn't an issue. Do I go with a lesser brand and maybe blower on a higher card, or should I go with a better brand with better cooling on a 580/590?

I think the RX 580 is the best bang for buck option, but it is starting to get pretty old technology wise.

If you hold off until December 12th, AMD is supposedly releasing the RX 5500 in that range which is newer and may be more competitive....

 

[Osprey]

What would be the recommendation for GPU ~$150-250?

580 $150-160
590 $180
1660 $200-230

Vega 56, 1070, 1660 TI seem to retail a little higher but maybe I can find a sale. Power supply isn't an issue. Do I go with a lesser brand and maybe blower on a higher card, or should I go with a better brand with better cooling on a 580/590?

If I were buying one of those, I'd probably choose the 580 8GB. The 590 8GB costs 22% more for only 9% performance improvement. The 1660 costs 72% more for only 10% improvement and it comes with only 6GB.

As Commander said, though, you may want to wait a week, until the RX 5500 and RX 5500 XT are released. Even if you still prefer one of the cards above, you may save a few bucks if sellers discount them.

 

[Caeldan]

I swear, PC builds have got more complicated while the documentation has become much worse.

Fingers crossed that this build boots when I'm finished.

It did! And so far so good on getting things updated and installed!
My only benchmark I've attempted so far is total war Warhammer 2, and it was like 70+ fps at ultra settings in 2k.

Need to download destiny2 again and give that a go.

 

[Osprey]

I swear, PC builds have got more complicated while the documentation has become much worse.

I can relate. I spent all of last night fighting with my desktop PC trying to get a Windows installation to boot. The hard drive was configured for GPT, so it would only boot under UEFI, but my video card doesn't support UEFI, so Windows would boot but I'd have no video. If I switched the motherboard to BIOS (legacy) mode, I'd get video but Windows wouldn't boot. I had to figure out how to convert the hard drive from GPT to MBR without losing my installation, build a new Boot Configuration Data and copy Windows boot files before Windows would boot. Then, when I was feeling victorious and relieved, I discovered that Windows updates wouldn't install because of "an unsupported disk layout for uefi firmware" error. That required doing everything over again, and though I'm not sure exactly what I did differently, I eventually fixed that. Anyways, that's the fun that I had last night. I've been building PCs for over 25 years, but at least 20 of those were with BIOS. This transition to UEFI is cool if everything supports it (ex. if you're building a brand new PC with new parts), but can be a headache if you upgrade systems.

 

[SniperHF]

but my video card doesn't support UEFI

If you hold off until December 12th, AMD is supposedly releasing the RX 5500 in that range which is newer and may be more competitive....

I think the early reviews have it barely slower than a 580. It uses about half the power, if that kinda thing floats your boat (doesnt mine, if you do the math on it )

If the 5500 is priced exactly where the 580 is, I'd get consider a 5500. Or cheaper.
if it's slightly more expensive I'd get the 580.

Also the 5500 is 4GB only AFAIK. That's still mostly not a huge deal at 1080p though. My RX 480 4GB does fine. Most games that actually use over 4GB don't actually need it they just fill it up.

The 580 may be old but AMD doesn't drop their older cards like a hot potato like team green does
I wouldn't expect support to dry up.


TBH the RX 570 4GB for like $120(one on newegg right now) is a really good buy too for the money.
If one is in stock near MSRP, the 1650 super is a pretty good mid-low card too.

 

[Osprey]

I'm confused as to why you just quoted me there, Sniper. The two things have no relation. Well, maybe that's not true. I've been considered upgrading to an RX 580 because my non-UEFI GPU is so ancient .

 

[SniperHF]

Sniper, I'm confused as to why you just quoted me there. The two things have no relation. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I've been considered upgrading to an RX 580 because my non-UEFI GPU is so ancient .

I was probably gonna reply that there are some cards you can flash the BIOS to which one you need, but it's extremely granular on if you can or not. Ref board vs not, which manufacturer, etc.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Okay, finally got everything settled

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600x
GPU: MSI RX 580 8GB
Mobo: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
SSD: 512GB M.2
HDD: Western Digital blue 4TB
Ram: 16GB
PSU: Corsair RMx 650W, 80+ gold fully modular
Case: Fractal Meshify C black w/ tempered glass
Monitor: LG ultra gear full HD 144HZ LED LCD w/freesync
throw in an ASUS wifi adapter and some RGB for fun

The only thing I really compromised on from what I had originally planned was my GPU. I know its a two year old card, but it will meet all my needs for now and I don't have any problem upgrading in a couple years if something nice comes along at a good price. I'll also probably expand my storage as I have a rather extensive media library, but that won't be any real problem.

 

[Osprey]

I was probably gonna reply that there are some cards you can flash the BIOS to which one you need, but it's extremely granular on if you can or not. Ref board vs not, which manufacturer, etc.

Oh, so you quoted me and then forgot to reply . Yeah, I flashed the latest BIOS a couple of years ago and there isn't a newer one. I read someone suggest that my card has a button on it to switch it from BIOS mode (the default) to UEFI mode. I've never of that and haven't tried looking for it yet.

 

[SniperHF]

I read someone suggest that my card has a button on it to switch it from BIOS mode (the default) to UEFI mode. I've never of that and haven't tried looking for it yet.

Some do some don't, some are a very tiny sliding black switch at the top of the card.
Later they made the buttons more obvious. Sapphire cards for example have a button on top with the Sapphire logo.

 

[Osprey]

Some do some don't, some are a very tiny sliding black switch at the top of the card.
Later they made the buttons more obvious. Sapphire cards for example have a button on top with the Sapphire logo.

That's what I have, a Sapphire card. I was just poking around at the plastic next to the logo on top and it didn't exactly feel like a button, but it did give a little, so it might've triggered it. Yeah, it looks like it did. I wonder if it might've caused my issue in the first place. I might've unknowingly pressed the button while I was making sure that the card was seated. I might've avoided all of the hours of troubleshooting and fixing last night if I'd just known that there was a button there that I needed to re-press .