Entry-level Gaming Rig - Advice Please!

[raptor03]

Hi everyone,

Am putting together a entry level rig, and would appreciate any general advice you have on the below setup.

Aim is to play newer FPS (e.g. COD MW) on decent settings.

Two questions in particular I have are whether upgrading the AMD processor to a R5 would be useful? And RAM-wise would I require that much?

AMD Ryzen Gen 3 - R3 3200G
Gigabyte B450M DS3H SOC
Palit GTX1660 Super Stormx 6GB GDDR6
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (Ryzen) 16GB
Crucial MX500 2.5" SATA 500GB
Corsair CX650M 650W 80+ Bronze (5yrs)
Fractal Design Focus G Black w Window ATX
Windows 2019

 

[zhihao57]

Can consider changing PSU to some other brands, you'll be able to get 80+ GOLD standard for similar price range. E.g. Superflower or EVGA PSU.

Your RAM is perfect. 16GB sort of like the sweetspot right now.

Of cos Ryzen 5 3600 would be better imo.

 

[Rapt0r]

AMD Ryzen Gen 3 - R3 3200G change to R5 3600
Gigabyte B450M DS3H SOC
Palit GTX1660 Super Stormx 6GB GDDR6
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (Ryzen) 16GB
Crucial MX500 2.5" SATA 500GB change to M2 nvme ssd
Corsair CX650M 650W 80+ Bronze (5yrs) 550W enough already,refer to this list to choose link
Fractal Design Focus G Black w Window ATX
Windows 2019

 

[raptor03]

Thanks guys

Was just wondering for my purposes if the R5's price increase over the R3 would be justified

Am looking to keep it within 1k

 

[didymus]

sorry to hijack your thread

i'm looking to build entry level desktop too.. mainly watching 4k60fps videos/desktop experience. can play 1080p latest games on mid-highest levels.. no need 1440p gaming..

thanks~

budget around 800-1200 (reuse case maybe? psu? no need windows/monitor lol)

currently on ryzen3 gen1 i believe and Palit GTX 1060 3GB (find it abit slow and lagging when 4k desktop/videos)

 

[-Synchronicity-]

Get the 1660 super if possible. Around 30 bucks more for about 20-30% extra performance is quite worth it

Regular sata ssd is good enough for your usage.

4 cores vs 6 cores 12 threads is a big difference in gaming. This is especially so if you opt to have better gpus in the future as 4 cores is showing its age now in games like battlefront.

 

[averdant]

No point getting a 3200G when you have a dedicated graphics card.

Either go for Ryzen 5 2600 + 2x4gb/2x8gb 3000mhz/3200mhz ram (do not get 3600mhz because you won't be able to run it at that speed due to the weaker IMC of Ryzen 5 2600, likely you'll be stuck at 2933mhz)

or Ryzen 5 3600 + 2x4gb/2x8gb 3200mhz or 3600mhz ram.


2x4gb is the minimum recommended ram for people on a tight budget doing an entry level PC and only for those buying from overseas because local don't sell 4gb fast speed rams (only 2666mhz and below), 2x8gb is the recommended amount of ram for your PC to be future-proof plus if you want local fast speed ram (3000mhz and higher) then this is probably your only way to go.


For Ryzen 5 2600 vs 3600, the performance gap is slightly lesser than 20%. If you can get the Ryzen 5 2600 for >30% cheaper than the 3600 then you'll be able to get better performance per dollar value out of it. Plus you'll save some more from ram since you won't need the 3600mhz ram.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2019-system-requirements/

A Ryzen 5 2600 (performance equivalent to Ryzen 5 1600X) and your GTX 1660 will meet the requirements for COD MW at 1080p 60fps.


If you are going for the Ryzen 5 3600, make sure you check with your motherboard seller that the BIOS has already been updated for you to the latest version that supports Ryzen 3000. If it's not already done, make them do it for you. If they ask for extra charges (sometimes they may do that if you're only getting 1 or 2 items from the shop and not the full rig), buy it from another shop who'll do it for free instead.

 

[raptor03]

Thanks all - this has been really helpful. Made some changes below with prices
1) Ryzen R5 2600 2nd Gen instead of Ryzen R3 3rd Gen
2) Palit 1660 Super Gaming instead of standard 1660
3) 550W Gold PSU instead of 650W Bronze
4) Changed RAM to 3000MHz (instead of 3600MHz given CPU restrictions)

Will a place like Fuwell be willing to fix it up for free if I bought most of the components from there?

AMD Ryzen Gen 2 - R5 2600G - $160 Amazon
MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max - $110 Amazon
Palit GTX1660 Super Gaming Pro OC 6GB GDDR6 - $355 Fuwell
Gskill. RipJaws V 3000MHz CL16 - $109 Fuwell
Transcend MTS830S M2 SATA 512GB - $99 Fuwell
CoolerMaster MWE 550W 80+ Gold - $99 Fuwell
CoolerMaster MasterBox E500L ATX w/Window - $69 Fuwell
Windows 2019 - $3 Taobao/Lazada
Total = $1,004

 

[Zijin_]

Thanks all - this has been really helpful. Made some changes below with prices
1) Ryzen R5 2600 2nd Gen instead of Ryzen R3 3rd Gen
2) Palit 1660 Super Gaming instead of standard 1660
3) 550W Gold PSU instead of 650W Bronze
4) Changed RAM to 3000MHz (instead of 3600MHz given CPU restrictions)

Will a place like Fuwell be willing to fix it up for free if I bought most of the components from there?

AMD Ryzen Gen 2 - R5 2600G - $160 Amazon
MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max - $110 Amazon
Palit GTX1660 Super Gaming Pro OC 6GB GDDR6 - $355 Fuwell
Gskill. RipJaws V 3000MHz CL16 - $109 Fuwell
Transcend MTS830S M2 SATA 512GB - $99 Fuwell
CoolerMaster MWE 550W 80+ Gold - $99 Fuwell
CoolerMaster MasterBox E500L ATX w/Window - $69 Fuwell
Windows 2019 - $3 Taobao/Lazada
Total = $1,004

most people here will recommend PC theme instead. and most item are price quite similarly. can ask them for slight discount to match fuwell pricing.

For the mobo+cpu, pctheme sell it only $16 more expensive than amazon from your list(not sure if that includes shipping). suggest you getting it locally if the diff is not big

 

[andymarsh]

I advise buying cpu and mobo local.
2600 or 2600x with stock cooler
B450, any preferred brand (no need to get msi MAX series since you not using ryzen 3000 series)

GPU 2nd hand market (carousell) will be much cheaper (e.g. Gtx1070), but I can understand the concern for a first time builder/buyer

 

[raptor03]

Got it - PC Themes doesn't seem to carry the Palit Super Gaming 1660 so I swopped it for a MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X. Seems to have similar performance.

Changed RAM to a 3000MHz one as well to cut some dollars off.

All parts below from PCThemes then - suppose they do a free setup if you get everything there right..?

AMD Ryzen Gen 2 - R5 2600G - $147
MSI B450M Pro-VDH PLUS - $139
MSI GTX 1660 6GB GAMING X - $369
Gskill. RipJaws V 3000MHz CL16 - $109
WD Green 480GB SSD - $89
CoolerMaster MWE 550W 80+ Gold - $99
CoolerMaster MasterBox E500L ATX w/Window - $69
Total = $1,021

 

[th3pr0]

Got it - PC Themes doesn't seem to carry the Palit Super Gaming 1660 so I swopped it for a MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X. Seems to have similar performance.

Changed RAM to a 3000MHz one as well to cut some dollars off.

All parts below from PCThemes then - suppose they do a free setup if you get everything there right..?

AMD Ryzen Gen 2 - R5 2600G - $147
MSI B450M Pro-VDH PLUS - $139
MSI GTX 1660 6GB GAMING X - $369
Gskill. RipJaws V 3000MHz CL16 - $109
WD Green 480GB SSD - $89
CoolerMaster MWE 550W 80+ Gold - $99
CoolerMaster MasterBox E500L ATX w/Window - $69
Total = $1,021

looks good. they probably have 1660 super just havent update their pricelist. remember to ask for discount.

 

[jq75]

Hi everyone,

Am putting together a entry level rig, and would appreciate any general advice you have on the below setup.

Aim is to play newer FPS (e.g. COD MW) on decent settings.

Two questions in particular I have are whether upgrading the AMD processor to a R5 would be useful? And RAM-wise would I require that much?

AMD Ryzen Gen 3 - R3 3200G
Gigabyte B450M DS3H SOC
Palit GTX1660 Super Stormx 6GB GDDR6
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (Ryzen) 16GB
Crucial MX500 2.5" SATA 500GB
Corsair CX650M 650W 80+ Bronze (5yrs)
Fractal Design Focus G Black w Window ATX
Windows 2019

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[-Synchronicity-]

Just wondering, where u get the price of r5 2600? Pc themes is showing it at close to 200 bucks. Also, I would say invest a little more and get msi b450 tomahawk max for a atx board or the mortar max for a matx board.

Not only do they have great vrm and heatsinks for better overclocking, they have something which I think is very important for troubleshooting and they are the only brand which includes this on b450 boards - debugging led.

So let's say your cpu cannot boot up, the debugging led will give you hints on what's wrong like faulty ram or something similar which is super useful compared to troubleshooting part by part.

 

[raptor03]

Just wondering, where u get the price of r5 2600? Pc themes is showing it at close to 200 bucks. Also, I would say invest a little more and get msi b450 tomahawk max for a atx board or the mortar max for a matx board.

Not only do they have great vrm and heatsinks for better overclocking, they have something which I think is very important for troubleshooting and they are the only brand which includes this on b450 boards - debugging led.

So let's say your cpu cannot boot up, the debugging led will give you hints on what's wrong like faulty ram or something similar which is super useful compared to troubleshooting part by part.

It's an implied number - I just deducted the motherboard price from their bundle price ($286 - 139 = $147). You're right that they're showing $193 to be the standalone R5 2600 price and correct me if I'm mistaken that their bundle price is 286.

Thanks for the tip on debugging led.

On the topic of mATX, any nicer cases to recommend? Looking at NZXT H500, Coolermaster Silencio 400, or Thermaltake level 20 VT... but gotta up the budget a little

 

[averdant]

Got it - PC Themes doesn't seem to carry the Palit Super Gaming 1660 so I swopped it for a MSI GTX 1660 Gaming X. Seems to have similar performance.

Changed RAM to a 3000MHz one as well to cut some dollars off.

All parts below from PCThemes then - suppose they do a free setup if you get everything there right..?

AMD Ryzen Gen 2 - R5 2600G - $147
MSI B450M Pro-VDH PLUS - $139
MSI GTX 1660 6GB GAMING X - $369
Gskill. RipJaws V 3000MHz CL16 - $109
WD Green 480GB SSD - $89
CoolerMaster MWE 550W 80+ Gold - $99
CoolerMaster MasterBox E500L ATX w/Window - $69
Total = $1,021

The way you distributed the price is weird and makes people think you're paying more for a mobo than you should be. Use the Ryzen 5 2600 as the constant in your price equation instead of the mobo.

Ryzen 5 2600 base price - $193
+ $93 for MSI B450M Pro-VDH PLUS
+ $142 for MSI B450M Mortar MAX
+ $157 for MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX

The two MAX mobos are obviously better, but considering you're getting an entry PC I'll suggest just getting the $93 MSI B450M Pro-VDH PLUS to help keep costs down.

If you had the budget for a full mobo + CPU upgrade, I would suggest going for MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX + Ryzen 5 3600.

Also no WD Green 480gb, get a Crucial MX500 500gb SSD instead (not on price list, but can ask them if have). If don't have can get Crucial P1 500gb NVMe as well, faster than the Crucial MX500 SATA 500gb but you won't really see the real world speed difference and the TBW (TB written endurance) is also much lower for P1. MX500 500gb has 180TB TBW and P1 500GB has 100TB TBW. Personally I lean closer towards the slower MX500 with higher TBW but realistically most ppl won't be able to finish up 100TB TBW within 5 years anyway.

Graphic card would be good for you to note that zotac and palit have 5 years warranties (need to register warranty after purchase within X no. of days).

Not going to comment too much on PC cases as it's a lot on your own preference. But tecware has decent looking budget cases, if you have higher budget can look at NZXT H500 or Fractal Meshify C etc.