I guess the choice is more on which retailer is more reliable and whether Gigabyte or Asus is better.. I'm a bit out of touch so trying to gather some of the expert opinions here..
i feel brand doesnt matter as much when looking at the entry level offerings.
both b550s have quite a similar feature set; the asus board offers full 4 pcie3 lanes for the secondary m2 slot opposed to only 2 lanes on the gigabyte, while the gigabyte board trades 2 usb3s for 4 usb2s on the rear io and has
a slightly better power delivery solution (though still not great). for use with a 5600 though, the latter point is moot.
ddr4 has matured to the point where unless ur looking to tune for crazy tight timings, any kit will do fine for general use.
both psus are also just ok, though invaderpc does at least offer a somewhat affordable upgrade to the better quality silverstone et750g with 2 more years of warranty.
both ssds are qlc based and generally expected to be quite meh, though the p3 plus on invader is more widely reviewed and known vs the nq700.
the biggest difference would be the gpu choice, where the asus dual runs way cooler and quieter than the gigabyte windforce.
it seems to me the sama case from invader would be pretty good for airflow too, with 3 fans behind a mesh intake, while aftershock prefers an all exhaust setup.
ive heard quite a few horror stories regarding aftershock qc and customer service, though that could be attributed to it having a large brand presence in sg. they also only cover 3y of hardware warranty, which for some parts like ram and ssd is a shortchange as they can get 5y to lifetime warranty. invaderpc isnt perfect either but at least they give u the full hardware warranty from my understanding.
1) What if I do not need the "Wifi & Bluetooh" option for the MB, is there another b550m model option that is without them? As pc will always connected to Lan and also I already has a Bluetooth adaptor (maybe price is cheaper).
the non wifi b550m pro se isnt available locally, but u can opt for other motherboard models. for basic usage like urs, any am4 motherboard will do fine really.
2) Does the Techware Nexus Air M2 casing comes with power supply? As I saw the "fsp hv pro 550w" is listed part of the set.
And does this casing comes with the 'fans' (2x front, 1x rear)? I read online it has the 3 fans.
the case and power supply are usually separate unless specifically mentioned. power supplies that come with cases should be avoided in general as they are usually quite cheap and low quality.
the nexus air m2 doesnt come with a power supply, but it does come with the 3 fans like u mentioned.
3) Below list is my existing (still) working parts, about 6 years old. Can the
Ram & SSD be re-used, or recommended to get new ones?
- Intel G5400 3.7GHz 4MB LGA 1151
- MSI H310M Pro M2 MB
- Kingston 8GB PC2400 DDR4-DIMM (1pc)
- Transcend 240GB SSD
u can, since ur just using it as a general work/home pc, so the faster ram and ssd will not improve the experience drastically. even if they spoil, replacements are quite cheap. imo 8gb of ram isnt quite enough nowadays though, so u could get another stick of 8gb ram to just add on, but not strictly needed.
u can also consider cheap
mini pcs if u dont need the upgradability and/or indifferent to diy.
Comparing this set from Invaderpc to the DIY set in below table, if putting aside the DIY manual work requirement and price difference, which set is better?
entry level 1080p low gaming pc, total:
$471
| ryzen 5 5600g + asrock b550m wifi se | 277 | techdeals |
| gskill ripjaws v 2x 8gb 3600c18 ddr4 | 52 | tradepac |
| adata legend 710 512gb | 52 | pc themes |
| fsp hv pro 550w | 50 | pckaki |
| tecware nexus air m2 | 40 | tradepac |
u save maybe $50 vs inavderpc, which can be largely attributed to the halving of the storage. if u top up maybe $30-40 to match the 1tb storage on the prebuilt, i think that premium is well worth it for the convenience and support going invaderpc if diy is not ur thing, since both builds are very similar otherwise.
