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zacheddington

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Oct 2, 2017
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Hey everyone,

This is my first time building a PC. I know quite a bit about computers, but not much about building one... Using pcpartpicker.com I built out what I think will be a really good setup that I can use for a long, long time.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XXT2JV

I have a couple questions. First, are there any suggestions as to things I should or shouldn't add/take off/change with this setup? I only have 16GB RAM, but I plan on increasing it to 64 in a little while, which is why it's one stick instead of 2 8GB sticks. That's also one of the reasons I got the ASUS motherboard with room for 64GB RAM.

Second, I want to know whether or not all of this stuff is compatible? If not, what needs to be changed?

Third, I literally have NO clue as to what kind of case to get. Honestly, I couldn't care less what it looks like. I would be totally fine with a super cheap case, as long as it does the job. Any recommendations would be welcome, but I would love to really know what is the cheapest, too.

Thanks for any input!
 
Solution
madmatt30
In the interests of giving you another option (& one that I feel is a more sensible use of your budget & far better balanced generally)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($195.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 KILLER SLI/ac ATX AM4 Motherboard ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba - 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video...
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gaius_iulius

gaius_iulius

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Sep 6, 2017
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Coffee Lake comes out on 5 Oct ... Thursday.

Most good cases come with USB 3 front ports ... but not for 40 bucks. If you want to build a PC to last you for some years, don't be stingy on the case. Spend 80 to100 bucks and you'll get something really good. Have a look at the be quiet! Pure Base and Silent Base series, the Corsair Carbide series and at the NZXT 340 series ... that should give you a broad variety of good cases.

Something else ... why spend money on 64GB of RAM?
If you plan to do "normal" things like browsing the web, MS Office apps, watching movies and listening to music, plus gaming of course, 16GB will be more than enough.
If you plan to do heavy-duty video rendering or CAD work, you'll need 32GB.
There is no scenario which requires a desktop PC to have 64GB of memory. It's just vanity and wasted money.

Go for 16GB of RAM (or 32, if you must), and use the money you save for a good case, or maybe think about a larger screen ... 21.5" is okay, but for gaming you'll enjoy a larger screen.

Cheers,
Gaius
 
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Z

zacheddington

Prominent
Oct 2, 2017
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510
@Gaius,

Thank you for the suggestions! I'll definitely look at those cases tomorrow and update my loadout.

I totally understand why you would recommend against 64GB of RAM, and after looking back at my post, I shouldn't have said "in a little while". While I do utilize most of my RAM now, (around 12-14GB of 16GB), I mostly wanted the freedom to add up to 64GB of RAM to "future-proof" my build. I don't want to end up needing more RAM slots in a few years and have to get a whole new motherboard. The additional RAM will be a "buy-as-needed" kinda thing.

@vapour,

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check them out!
 
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Z

zacheddington

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Oct 2, 2017
8
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510
@All

Thanks for all the input! I liked the be quiet! Pure Base case, but it's classified as a mid tower. Is that going to be big enough for the stuff I have? The dimensions are 19.37" x 8.66" x 18.50".

@madmatt30,

I'm not a gamer, actually, but a programmer, and I use the RAM with SQL, C# and Java dev, and occasional Linux VM. I'd like to get into gaming, and I know 8GB is typically enough for most games, but I have no doubt games are only going to get more hardware-intensive, and I'm sure 16GB requirements will become the "standard" soon enough (Just look at Forza 3!) Again, I just want to future-proof my machine! What I haven't future-proofed are my monitors haha! :)

 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Jan 1, 2013
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In the interests of giving you another option (& one that I feel is a more sensible use of your budget & far better balanced generally)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($195.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 KILLER SLI/ac ATX AM4 Motherboard ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba - 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card ($399.89 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($46.48 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: AOC - G2460PF 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor ($205.04 @ Amazon)
Monitor: AOC - G2460VQ6 24.0" 1920x1080 75Hz Monitor ($149.98 @ B&H)
Total: $1794.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-02 11:05 EDT-0400

Those monitors are identical aesthetically apart from one is a 144htz panel (which you could use primarily for gaming) , & the other is a straight 75htz panel.
 
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gaius_iulius

gaius_iulius

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Sep 6, 2017
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16GB will do for all of that, including gaming.
It will allow you to run VMs, too.

You'll never have a need for 32GB of memory, never mind 64GB.

Better to use that money on a nice screen, since you said that is the weak point in your system.

Cheers,
Gaius
 
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Stefan_10

Stefan_10

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Dec 28, 2015
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I'm a programmer as well, it depends what you code. I mostly work with embedded systems so I work with killo and mega bytes. Yeah, 8gb is enough, but 16 should be plenty for coding huge programs, and also future proofing for games.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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"Never" is a strong word.
I have 32GB, and often use 20+GB. The host OS and a couple of VM's adds up quickly.
 
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gaius_iulius

gaius_iulius

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Sep 6, 2017
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"A couple of VMs", yes.
But no need to run more than one simultaneously.

OP does coding, works with databases, and occasionally uses a VM instance for a Linux distro.
8GB RAM is enough for that, 16GB is plenty, 32GB is totally unnecessary.

I have 32GB, too, and the only occasions RAM usage exceeds 12GB is when I do heavy video editing.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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VM #1 = WinServer 2012+SharePoint
VM #2 = Win 7 client, to connect to and visualize what the server is doing
VM #3 = Win 10 client, doing the same
Often, all 3 of those at the same time.

VM #4 = Linux, almost always running in the background to check out sketchy websites that appear here...:)


Anyway...use cases differ. Never is a strong word.
But for the OP? 16GB is fine.
 
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