Need help with my first ever pc build!

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

Hey guys! This is my first time building a PC and I really need your opinion/suggestions. I am trying to build a PC within a budget of £500-600 (I am based in the UK). Hence I try to buy used parts for some components or opened but never used parts online. This is my build so far and what I have purchased already:

AMD Ryzen 3 1300X
ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS MOTHERBOARD
Samsung EVO850 250 GB - A guy is selling it brand new for £50
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 (4GBx2)- £40 (Purchased already, new but opened)
RX 480 4GB (10 months old, I can get it for £185)
Seasonic S12II-520W PSU
Phanteks P400S Tempered Glass Case (Some guy willing to sell a brand new one for £60)
ASUS monitor 60HZ (10/10 condition available for £55)

I know it's not great buying used parts but I think I can get away with buying a used GPU, used RAM sticks, used CPU, used monitor and probably a used SSD too? I'm buying the MOBO and the PSU completely new, no matter what.

SoggyTissue · Oct 1, 2017

ryzen and a single ram stick? i'll see you back here next week with a problem. ... ryzen needs a pair/matched set along with the high freq.

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

Yeaaaaaah... about that ram, you probably should have asked here first before buying it.
Anyway, swap the Ryzen 1300x for the cheaper 1200 since its the same thing, just lower clocked.
As for the gpu, if you can find one at a decent price then sure, but remember that most used RX 580s and RX 570s have been in 24/7 full load use by miners and might not be too reliable.

parani · Oct 1, 2017

No used "ssd " or "RAM" .I suggest you to invest the money in new memory instead buying an used ssd .It doesn't helps in better performance. It only decrease the boot time ,game loading and data transfer stuffs and yeah ,u can oc the rysen 1200 with any b350 mobo so no need to buy rysen 1300x

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

SoggyTissue :

Forgot to mention its actually two ram sticks (4GBx2)

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

Finstar :

It's a double stick 4GBx2, sorry i forgot to mention that.
Also, won't I have to invest in a good cooler then? I'm completely noob at this so that's why I was trying to stay away from overclocking the CPU just incase I damage it cause of my ignorance.

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

parani :

Wait, buying a used SSD will decrease the boot time??? I'm trying to avoid overclocking cause I will have no idea what I'm doing.

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

limbu_forever_san :

You really don't need an aftermarket cooler for any of the 4 core Ryzens.
The 1300X is faster if you don't overclock, but overclocking is really easy and you won't damage anything as long as you don't touch the voltage.
There's also a lot of guides on how to do it.

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

Finstar :

limbu_forever_san :

You really don't need an aftermarket cooler for any of the 4 core Ryzens.
The 1300X is faster if you don't overclock, but overclocking is really easy and you won't damage anything as long as you don't touch the voltage.
There's also a lot of guides on how to do it.

There isn't much price difference, Ryzen 1200 is £99, and Ryzen 1300X is £115. What if I OC 1300X, surely it'll be faster than the OC'd 1200? Wouldn't it be better to just get the 1300X?
Also which MOBO would you recommend to pair up with the CPU?

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

limbu_forever_san :

Finstar :

There isn't much price difference, Ryzen 1200 is £99, and Ryzen 1300X is £115. What if I OC 1300X, surely it'll be faster than the OC'd 1200? Wouldn't it be better to just get the 1300X?
Also which MOBO would you recommend to pair up with the CPU?

All Ryzens generally go to around 3.9-4GHz. You might get 0.1 or 0.2GHz more out of the 1300x but then there's the Ryzen 5 1400 which is £136 and has 8 threads.
As for mobo, i personally really like ASRock, so:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/yBtWGX/asrock-ab350-pro4-atx-am4-motherboard-ab350-pro4
Would be my recommendation.

madmatt30 · Oct 1, 2017

^ with Finstar on the board - the pro 4 is a best buy IMO (own it myself)

Between the 1200 & 1300x there is virtually no difference , same cooler , the 1200 can be overclocked to 3.5/3.6ghz incredibly easily.
A £15 saving is a £15 saving.

I don't have an issue with any of the parts you've bought or listed .
I would absolutely NOT buy a second hand RX 480 for £185 though , that's more than they retailed for new originally.
In fact unless I knew the seller & the cards history I wouldn't buy a second hand GPU personally , open to way too much abuse.

Re PSU - seasonic is fine , cx450/m is also a good choice for around the £40-45 mark

Case up to you , good price for that p400 , there are decent cases available for £40-45 though if you need to save money.

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

Finstar :

limbu_forever_san :

All Ryzens generally go to around 3.9-4GHz. You might get 0.1 or 0.2GHz more out of the 1300x but then there's the Ryzen 5 1400 which is £136 and has 8 threads.
As for mobo, i personally really like ASRock, so:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/yBtWGX/asrock-ab350-pro4-atx-am4-motherboard-ab350-pro4
Would be my recommendation.

limbu_forever_san :

That MOBO is hella sexy! I'm definitely buying that one.
Choosing the CPU is such a headache

Since you brought up the R5 1400, now I'm thinking is the R5 1600 worth the upgrade over the 1400?

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

madmatt30 :

You're right, £15 saving is a saving.
I might have to look into overclocking if it's easy!
Going for that motherboard now thanks to you two

Also, do you think the R5 1400 or the R5 1600 is worth the money over the R3 1200/1300x?

UPDATE:
I found a Sapphire Nitro + 4GB for £175, 3 weeks old, selling due to quitting PC Gaming.
I'm planning to buy it, should I?
What were the original retail price for the RX480? Is there a better GPU for a similar price?

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

limbu_forever_san :

madmatt30 :

You're right, £15 saving is a saving.
I might have to look into overclocking if it's easy!
Going for that motherboard now thanks to you two

Also, do you think the R5 1400 or the R5 1600 is worth the money over the R3 1200/1300x?

UPDATE:
I found a Sapphire Nitro + 4GB for £175, 3 weeks old, selling due to quitting PC Gaming.
I'm planning to buy it, should I?
What were the original retail price for the RX480? Is there a better GPU for a similar price?

The R5 1600 is definitely worth it.
As for the RX 480, i have my suspicions.
Ask for the buyer to show it running some benchmarks like Time spy or Furmark for some time before making a decision.

madmatt30 · Oct 1, 2017

No way its 3 weeks old mate , 480's were discontinued production wise over 6 months ago , they've been out of shop stock for far longer than that.
Replaced by the 570 & 580 & they've been OOS aswell for a long long time.

Re - CPU's - the 1600 is the best price to performance chip currently on the market IMO

If you can squeeze one in budget then you should.

Re gpu's - just a compete free for all on pricing at the minute mate as I said above , the mining craze caused that & its still ongoing.

You will not find an amd GPU at a reasonable price , the closest competitor to the 480 4gb is the 1060 3gb which details around £200 new.

I've had 8gb 580's on pre-order at Amazon for a couple of months now at £205 each although I doubt stock will ever resurface.

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

Finstar :

limbu_forever_san :

The R5 1600 is definitely worth it.
As for the RX 480, i have my suspicions.
Ask for the buyer to show it running some benchmarks like Time spy or Furmark for some time before making a decision.

He's a 14 year old kid, so I really hope he's not lying. He claims he "bought it during the huge time, brand new from the stores for £270."
I might have to stretch my budget out and just get the R5 1600, would the MOBO pairing still be fine? I've heard really good things about the B350-F Strix too.

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

limbu_forever_san :

Finstar :

He's a 14 year old kid, so I really hope he's not lying. He claims he "bought it during the huge time, brand new from the stores for £270."
I might have to stretch my budget out and just get the R5 1600, would the MOBO pairing still be fine? I've heard really good things about the B350-F Strix too.

The ASRock board is fine for the R5 1600.
I can't say much about the RX though since i haven't seen it's condition.

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

madmatt30 :

He said he bought it months ago but has only been used for 3 weeks and stopped. 14 year old kid, I highly doubt he has used it for mining 24/7. He's sold all his parts due to quitting PC gaming and going into console gaming, only has to sell the GPU as it's the last part left. He doesn't have the box, "parents probably threw it away whilst cleaning the house". Seems like a genuine kid to be honest, had a conversation with him too.
Amazon does GIGABYTE GTX1060 3 GB for £175/180. Do you think that would be a better buy?
As for the 580s, good luck man!

Finstar · Oct 1, 2017

limbu_forever_san :

madmatt30 :

He said he bought it months ago but has only been used for 3 weeks and stopped. 14 year old kid, I highly doubt he has used it for mining 24/7. He's sold all his parts due to quitting PC gaming and going into console gaming, only has to sell the GPU as it's the last part left. He doesn't have the box, "parents probably threw it away whilst cleaning the house". Seems like a genuine kid to be honest, had a conversation with him too.
Amazon does GIGABYTE GTX1060 3 GB for £175/180. Do you think that would be a better buy?
As for the 580s, good luck man!

It's up to you if you trust him.
Hope for the best, expect the worst.

madmatt30 · Oct 1, 2017

Well a 14 year old with a lot of moneys worth of PC stuff & his parents are letting him sell it off himself & deal with people online ??

Mmm, may just be me but I'd be hearing alarm bells personally.

I'm a 40 something year old cynic but honestly I'd just buy a brand new 1060 3gb instead personally.

If you can see it in person up & running & check its actually a 480 (not a 460 or 470 because they look virtually the same physically) with gpu-z then maybe !? :-/

limbu_forever_san · Oct 1, 2017

madmatt30 :

Haha fair enough, you have a good point!
How do you check whether its a 480 and not something else?
And someone earlier asked me to run the benchmarks, what will I be looking for here?

madmatt30 · Oct 2, 2017

Gpu-Z shows card specs in detail.

Rop/Tmu's & Shaders are what you should be looking at & should be same as the image above

32 Rop
144 Tmu
2304 Shaders

The 470 has 32/128/2048 .

To test for artifacting you can just give a 5 minute run of furmark.

Need help with my first ever pc build!

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