Light Gaming/General Use system on a budget

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bladeturner

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I'm putting together a system for my son (13) who is currently using a 6 year old laptop for his digital art (using a wacom tablet) and light gaming (Terraria, Guild Wars 2, minecraft, etc...).

I'd like any recommendations for parts changing. Some parts I don't know much about and just chose brands I recognize, others like the CPU cooler and MB brand are parts I have used and liked. Are there any places where I'm pinching pennies for no good reason, or spending where I don't need to? I choose the K version of the processor because the price difference was minimal and I've been told that the higher quality parts tend to get put in the K line. Feel free to disabuse me of that notion if I'm wrong.

Right now the laptop does the job for the digital art, but is slow and clunky for gaming. I'd like to put together a system for him around a spare GTX 960 video card I have lying around. The parts I picked are as follows:

Component Selection Price
CPU
Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
$224.09 Buy

CPU Cooler
Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
$28.99 Buy

Motherboard
MSI - Z270-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
$109.99 Buy

Memory
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
$69.99 Buy

Storage
Western Digital - Blue 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
$89.88 Buy

Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$59.99 Buy

Case
Corsair - Crystal 460X ATX Mid Tower Case
$102.99 Buy

Power Supply
EVGA - SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
$84.99 Buy

Operating System
Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
$92.99 Buy
Total: $863.90


Thanks,
David
 
Solution
Hellfire13
This will not only game better, but will last way longer as well as cheaper for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($197.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($83.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card ($149.89 @ OutletPC)...
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Hellfire13

Hellfire13

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This will not only game better, but will last way longer as well as cheaper for you.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($197.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($83.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card ($149.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Corsair - SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case ($42.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $714.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-10 13:42 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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1) CASE - be sure you want a case with tempered glass as it can look ugly with the wrong parts, and the lights flashing around the room can be very annoying.

That case also doesn't support a DVD/BD drive.

2) PCPARTPICKER is very useful for looking at components.

3) 16GB is more future proof really, unless you game AND want web browsing open. It's not a bad idea since it can be a hassle to update the PC later so the R5-1600 would be my top choice with 16GB memory.

So again, more than 8GB is more future proofing, and the 6-core R5-1600 will be better utilized over time but there may be minimal benefit over that i5-7600K now. (lots of people agree on the R5-1600 setup in general)

4) GTX960 isn't too bad. I could almost max out Guild Wars 2 at 60FPS, 2560x1440 resolution with a similar card.

5) Windows 10 license will be needed as well.
- people I trust have gotten cheap at Kinguin (dot net) for $25USD or so.
- to do this you would get W10 via MS media creation tool (download, run the tool, burn to 8GB USB stick)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

OTHER:
- run MEMTEST86 for full pass prior to W10 install www.memtest86.com
- NVidia drivers for GTX960 after install
- get Fan Control software from motherboard site and setup an optimal profile
- PCPartpicker for AM4 socket CPU fans (or start with the default R5-1600 and worry about overclocking and better CPU cooler later)
- I trust Samsung SSD's the most
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J2Cs3F

Possibly ignore W10 for the reason in my above post.

The only thing I'd consider changing is the case, though again I'd be careful with the tempered-glass cases as they might not look great in person. You can FILTER by "front USB3" and "external 5.25" (BD/DVD drive bay) to limit to only what you want.

*The CPU Cooler I list says it is AM4 compatible, however there are AM4 upgrade kits (many of these coolers came before Ryzen motherboards). So be careful choosing AM4 coolers as you may need to order the upgrade kit separate.
 
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bladeturner

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I think I have a block against buy AMD CPUs after a few bad experiences. Also, cases with bad cable management, and PSU that are not modular are off my list.




 
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photonboy

photonboy

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bladeturner,
AMD Ryzen is different than previous CPU's so you may want to at least investigate that. The i5-7600K will work well though if that's any concern, but you'll get more life out of the R5-1600 setup. Heck, if the parts last all you need is a simple graphics card upgrade (for video games) and it should be good past high school.

Here's a SUMMARY page to the R5-1600 review:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_5_1600_review,24.html

Update:
The "X" Ryzen series don't have CPU coolers. R5-1600 has a cooler. R5-1600X does not. Again, many/most CPU coolers you buy separate for Ryzen (AM4 socket) seem to have upgrade kits but they don't come with the kit.

So.. if that's the case it may make sense to build with the stock cooler then buy a separate cooler later if you overclock and if need be order the upgrade kit from the manufacturer (i.e. Cryorig).

THIS cooler is arguably overpriced but it is native AM4 (hence AM4 in the name) so no upgrade kit needs to be ordered (I think upgrade kits are free from most companies BTW): https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7dTrxr/noctua-nh-u12s-se-am4-cpu-cooler-nh-u12s-se-am4
 
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Hellfire13

Hellfire13

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Thats not true about Ryzen. Also the case included is very good at that price point as i have personally built in that case. I would suggest that you do some more research into it.
 
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