Charlie_CaiPng
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2021
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 10
My final part list that eventually I bought and built over the weekend...
Most online builders (from Carousell) quoted this build at 2K+ and given that online retailers don't have mobo+CPU combo price and GPU cannot be bought alone at this price point, I decided to go offline and source everything from SLS.
I visited 5-7 shops including VII PC, Dynacore, Bizgam, PCThemes and Techdeals on Saturday.
I chose Techdeals because they had the most updated pricelist online and could quote and hold stock for me before I visit them.
However if I am to choose again, I would go with PC Themes. The advice and support from Yi Long was top notch that both me and my accompanying wife were feeling sorry not buying from them. PCThemes was the only shop that provided printed out quotation and stock update right away. Other shops don't have the systems to support that. PCThemes also has the best assembly fee ($10) compared to $20-30 from other shops. Highly recommended. I kept the quotations from Yi Long to remind me to come back someday.
I did try to bargain but given the shortage (11400F + GPU), the wiggle room was not great (read: non-existent).
My haul of the day and what I used for assembly:
Review of the build:
Case: Since I chose to DIY, the cheap case did give me a headache (read: almost 4 full rebuilds) as it came with a faulty power switch board (I created a thread about that). RMA is a hassle, as if I have to go to the shop to return the board+cable it would cost me almost half the price of the case! 3 included fans are set to full speed as they are connected to the molex cable. Not great but do the job, since I have a 16" standing fan next to me, I don't mind the 12 and 14cm fans in my case.
Update on the faulty power switch board: I chatted with Techdeals and they found a replacement board after a day. I will need to book a grab delivery to pick that up for me but they are not asking me to return the faulty one.
Mobo: was great out of the box. I could see in BIOS that the right XMP was detected and chosen. However the weird thing was the DRAM ran at 2666Mhz instead of 3200. Turning XMP profile off and then on again made it work. No complaint so far, all readings from the board were nominal. I'm pleasantly surprise that this mobo has quite a bunch of OC options for both RAM and CPU though I'm not using them anytime soon. Also it came with a heatsink for the SSD which is nice! I chose this (MSI B650M Pro-VDH Wifi) because of the great benchmarking in term of temp performance (as I'm not investing in cooling yet). I however wish the BIOS screen has more colors to it
CPU (stock-cooler) has been idling at ~45C and max out at 75-80C which I think is acceptable. Playing BF5 at high/ultra setting and GPU and CPU utilization were both under 40%.
GPU: not much to talk about, I just went with the cheapest 3060 TI in stock. Initially I planned to get the 3060 but found out that the difference is only $30-50 I switch to the TI version. The box and manual was simple with just a piece of paper! I was a bit worried that I might need a bigger PSU, but 650W was totally fine.
PSU: Happy to invest a bit more on this one, instead of Seasonic GM650 ($130) I chose MSI MPG A650GF ($160), yep, Gold rating + fully modular. Initially I planned for a 650W Bronze 80+ only, but the gurus here advised me to go for a better one, and finally I chose one of the top tier PSU according to linustechtip forum ranking (https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/). This PSU is multirails and is recommended for high-end builds. Plus, 10 years warranty! Super happy!
Multi-rail units - Not necessarily better than single-rail units but provide an extra layer of protection by having 12V OCP set lower than total capacity, which is especially relevant for very high capacity units (=>1kW). Pay attention to rails configuration when using with high power draw components to avoid shutdowns.
Saving tip: I already chose a MSI mobo (according to benchmark kindly shared by hwz shifus), coupling that with a MSI PSU gains me back $50 in Grab food voucher per their summer promotion. I felt quite happy getting this quality PSU at somewhat the same price with my initial planned parts.
SSD + RAM: Happy that I take the black RAM so I get an almost fully black build, I don't think there are negligible difference between RAMs and SSD of the same tier (e.g. DRAM-less SSD). Right now I'm very happy to boot to desktop in 10s.
Building outside of the case to troubleshoot:
Figured out the issue - PSU still out of case:
This is my finished build:
Lessons:
- Get the right tools: My old screwdriver was too big and the weak magnetic head did not help at all. I was struggling a lot with tiny screw that keep the SSD down. Having a voltmeter would also help me detect the problem with the case faster. I could have finished the build in around 2hrs including all manual reading instead of the actual 5-7hrs figuring the problems.
- Check the power switch by using the reset button. I was rusty and didn't realized this at first. Thanks internet (including hwz).
- The paperclip test for PSU was really helpful.
- The manuals included are ****, get the full ones from manufacturers' websites.
- PC parts are not that fragile. I realized this when I tried to remove the 24-pin cable from my mobo.
- Look out for end-user deals (like the MSI deal I found).
- Buy from PCThemes and pay their $10 assembly seems to be a better use of time and money. Though I just might DIY again for the fun of it.
This is me currently:
Most online builders (from Carousell) quoted this build at 2K+ and given that online retailers don't have mobo+CPU combo price and GPU cannot be bought alone at this price point, I decided to go offline and source everything from SLS.
I visited 5-7 shops including VII PC, Dynacore, Bizgam, PCThemes and Techdeals on Saturday.
I chose Techdeals because they had the most updated pricelist online and could quote and hold stock for me before I visit them.
| Techdeals | PCThemes | ||
| Tecware Forge M2 | 65 | 65 | |
| MSI A650GF 650W 80+ Gold Full Mod | 160 | 161 | |
| 11400F Intel Core i5 | |||
| MSI B560M PRO-VDH WIFI | 475 | 491 | |
| KLEVV BOLT X 3200MHz CL16 | 136 | 155* | *Cor Ven LPX 3200 |
| SAMSUNG 980 NVMe - 1TB | 188 | 179* | *WD SN550 |
| GALAX RTX 3060 Ti 1 Click OC LHR 8GB GD6 | 838 | 859 | |
| TOTAL | 1,862 | 1,910 |
However if I am to choose again, I would go with PC Themes. The advice and support from Yi Long was top notch that both me and my accompanying wife were feeling sorry not buying from them. PCThemes was the only shop that provided printed out quotation and stock update right away. Other shops don't have the systems to support that. PCThemes also has the best assembly fee ($10) compared to $20-30 from other shops. Highly recommended. I kept the quotations from Yi Long to remind me to come back someday.
I did try to bargain but given the shortage (11400F + GPU), the wiggle room was not great (read: non-existent).
My haul of the day and what I used for assembly:
Review of the build:
Case: Since I chose to DIY, the cheap case did give me a headache (read: almost 4 full rebuilds) as it came with a faulty power switch board (I created a thread about that). RMA is a hassle, as if I have to go to the shop to return the board+cable it would cost me almost half the price of the case! 3 included fans are set to full speed as they are connected to the molex cable. Not great but do the job, since I have a 16" standing fan next to me, I don't mind the 12 and 14cm fans in my case.
Update on the faulty power switch board: I chatted with Techdeals and they found a replacement board after a day. I will need to book a grab delivery to pick that up for me but they are not asking me to return the faulty one.
Mobo: was great out of the box. I could see in BIOS that the right XMP was detected and chosen. However the weird thing was the DRAM ran at 2666Mhz instead of 3200. Turning XMP profile off and then on again made it work. No complaint so far, all readings from the board were nominal. I'm pleasantly surprise that this mobo has quite a bunch of OC options for both RAM and CPU though I'm not using them anytime soon. Also it came with a heatsink for the SSD which is nice! I chose this (MSI B650M Pro-VDH Wifi) because of the great benchmarking in term of temp performance (as I'm not investing in cooling yet). I however wish the BIOS screen has more colors to it
CPU (stock-cooler) has been idling at ~45C and max out at 75-80C which I think is acceptable. Playing BF5 at high/ultra setting and GPU and CPU utilization were both under 40%.
GPU: not much to talk about, I just went with the cheapest 3060 TI in stock. Initially I planned to get the 3060 but found out that the difference is only $30-50 I switch to the TI version. The box and manual was simple with just a piece of paper! I was a bit worried that I might need a bigger PSU, but 650W was totally fine.
PSU: Happy to invest a bit more on this one, instead of Seasonic GM650 ($130) I chose MSI MPG A650GF ($160), yep, Gold rating + fully modular. Initially I planned for a 650W Bronze 80+ only, but the gurus here advised me to go for a better one, and finally I chose one of the top tier PSU according to linustechtip forum ranking (https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/). This PSU is multirails and is recommended for high-end builds. Plus, 10 years warranty! Super happy!
Multi-rail units - Not necessarily better than single-rail units but provide an extra layer of protection by having 12V OCP set lower than total capacity, which is especially relevant for very high capacity units (=>1kW). Pay attention to rails configuration when using with high power draw components to avoid shutdowns.
Saving tip: I already chose a MSI mobo (according to benchmark kindly shared by hwz shifus), coupling that with a MSI PSU gains me back $50 in Grab food voucher per their summer promotion. I felt quite happy getting this quality PSU at somewhat the same price with my initial planned parts.
SSD + RAM: Happy that I take the black RAM so I get an almost fully black build, I don't think there are negligible difference between RAMs and SSD of the same tier (e.g. DRAM-less SSD). Right now I'm very happy to boot to desktop in 10s.
Building outside of the case to troubleshoot:
Figured out the issue - PSU still out of case:
This is my finished build:
Lessons:
- Get the right tools: My old screwdriver was too big and the weak magnetic head did not help at all. I was struggling a lot with tiny screw that keep the SSD down. Having a voltmeter would also help me detect the problem with the case faster. I could have finished the build in around 2hrs including all manual reading instead of the actual 5-7hrs figuring the problems.
- Check the power switch by using the reset button. I was rusty and didn't realized this at first. Thanks internet (including hwz).
- The paperclip test for PSU was really helpful.
- The manuals included are ****, get the full ones from manufacturers' websites.
- PC parts are not that fragile. I realized this when I tried to remove the 24-pin cable from my mobo.
- Look out for end-user deals (like the MSI deal I found).
- Buy from PCThemes and pay their $10 assembly seems to be a better use of time and money. Though I just might DIY again for the fun of it.
This is me currently:
Last edited:
