PC gaming system under $1k

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brianmav

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Dec 11, 2017
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Would love some opinions on the following PC build. History here.. I am a long time PC professional, and have been working in the IT biz for years, but have really lost touch with modern gaming systems, and with all the in's and out's. My 13yo son is a console (Xbox) gamer, and is really now starting to look for something more. Its been mentioned several time his FPS on our 3yo laptop "SUCKS". We are going to do a PC build and needed to keep it under $1k only because of the lack of knowledge, and him really not knowing what games he would want to play right now. I understand the need for the future, and I tried to pick components that can be considered sufficient for a beginning PC gamer allowing for the need to upgrade as needed.. Here is the build... Please feel free to blow holes in it (pun intended).....

- AMD Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6 Core AM4 Boxed Processor with Wraith Spire Cooler (179.00)
- ASUS PRIME B350-PLUS AM4 ATX AMD Motherboard (59.99)
- ASUS GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Phoenix 4GB GDDR5 Video Card (159.99)
- Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB DDR4-2400 PC4-19200 CL15 Single Channel (94.99)
- Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB 3D V-NAND SATA 3.0 6.0 GB/s 2.5" Internal SSD (79.99)
- Seagate Barracuda Pro 4TB 7,200RPM SATA III 6Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (89.99)
- PowerSpec 650 Watt 80 Plus Bronze ATX Power Supply (44.99)
- Cooler Master Masterbox Lite 5 RGB ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case - Black (59.99)
- TP-LINK 450Mbps Wireless N PCI-E Adapter (29.99)
- Cooler Master Devastator 3 Gaming Combo with RGB Keyboard and Mouse (39.99)

Total components $838.91
-$10 rebate (motherboard)
-$10 rebate (GTX 1050 Ti)

Total less rebate $818.91

PLUS
- Dell 23.6"LED monitor (99.99)

Thought... Comments appreciated.. Thanks..


 
Solution
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I would consider switching from a 1050ti to a 1060. a 1060 is basically the ideal price/power card for 1080p gaming and will last quite a while, whereas a 1050ti will struggle with some current AAA games as well as many future ones.

Looks fine other than that, but just a word of caution on the powerspec power supply. Powerspec looks like (from minimal digging) Micro centers brand of PSU which are rebranded Inland and use the same materials as Thermaltake, both are pretty notoriously sub par. You also really don't need a 650W PSU with that set up, consider switching to a 550 and going with a name brand like corsair, EVGA or seasonic.

You can always use this website to get an estimate on what size PSU you will need. Keep in mind PSU...
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eflam

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Dec 3, 2011
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I would consider switching from a 1050ti to a 1060. a 1060 is basically the ideal price/power card for 1080p gaming and will last quite a while, whereas a 1050ti will struggle with some current AAA games as well as many future ones.

Looks fine other than that, but just a word of caution on the powerspec power supply. Powerspec looks like (from minimal digging) Micro centers brand of PSU which are rebranded Inland and use the same materials as Thermaltake, both are pretty notoriously sub par. You also really don't need a 650W PSU with that set up, consider switching to a 550 and going with a name brand like corsair, EVGA or seasonic.

You can always use this website to get an estimate on what size PSU you will need. Keep in mind PSU are most eficient when running at 50% load, but the bronze ones guarantee at least 80% which should be fine

https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

Something like this would work: https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Bronze-Certified-Modular-CP-9020102-NA/dp/B01B72W0A2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513005622&sr=8-1&keywords=550w

I'm sure you can find something +/- $10-15 with similar specs depending on whether you want modular or not.

I also hate that keyboard bundle but that is my own personal vendetta, there's really nothing wrong with it.

Hope that helps.
 
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lperreault21

lperreault21

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Sep 8, 2017
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.49 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($127.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Dual Video Card ($227.89 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell - SE2416H 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor ($144.99 @ B&H)
Total: $989.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-11 10:36 EST-0500

1. 4tb is overkill. Get a HDD when SSD fills up
2. PSU is crap and overkill. Seasonic is better
3. 4c/8t CPU is FIne. Games don't use 6c/12t normally and will only see difference in rendering.
4. Better GPU 1060 3gb
5 Case is better, temperd glass and RGB ligting
6. Better monitor, ISP display.
7. No need for a Wifi Card. It is built in
8. Better SSD. (M.2)
 
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GraySilencer

GraySilencer

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Jun 25, 2016
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Best bang for your buck. Buy cheap DDR4 1.2V RAM, then configure it to 1.35V in the BIOS and overclock it manually to 2933+ or higher and save ~$40. 1ms 1080p monitor included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.49 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin - Silverline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Toshiba - P300 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.88 @ Other World Computing)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: DIYPC - DIY-BG01 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.96 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte - GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($35.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus - VP247H-P 23.6" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor ($129.99 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Cooler Master - Devastator II Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1007.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-11 23:51 EST-0500
 
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lperreault21

lperreault21

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Sep 8, 2017
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'
why did you downvote my comment, it is a fine build i think?
 
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GraySilencer

GraySilencer

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Jun 25, 2016
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Not being harsh, I just felt the budget was being wasted in certain areas.

■ 16GB of RAM could be put into the budget with some tinkering.
■ You don't need any NVMe drives for storage as there is absolutely no speed benefit for loading games. The main benefit for those is content creation builds, when you are constantly copying large files.
■ A IPS monitor is not needed for gaming, waste of money. IPS is better for builds where you are editing photos and video and can benefit from reduced glare.
■ The M12II is a very old group regulated model and lacks OTP protection. Also, the rated power will reduce from 100% to 80% at 50°C and the wattage down to 416W. The CXM is a better quality modern choice.
■ The 6GB GTX 1060 could be fit into the budget with some tinkering, the 3GB version has less CUDA cores and will micro-stutter when VRAM usage gets high.
■ The case is a good choice for a high end build, but too expensive for this budget IMO and money should be saved wherever it can.
■ You stated that Wi-Fi was built in, but it's actually not built in to that motherboard and a Wireless Network Adapter is still required.
 
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brianmav

Prominent
Dec 11, 2017
2
0
510
Thanks all for the great advice. The build went well. I would totally agree with the 1060 over the 1050ti for the initial build. Also would consider a larger SSD, since 1/2 of the 250GB is already gone, and another stick of 8GB DDR4.

Any advise on how to save on space for the systems drive, maybe relocating some systems files like page, and hiberfil.sys

Overall my son is happy getting his feet wet with the current config. What was great about this is the options for future upgrades with a custom build. Learned a lot about patience. Basically had to run through the build twice, first time we got no display. Something was not right, so a complete breakdown and start from scratch with the following thread as a guideline
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems ...and yes READING the motherboard manual... ;-)
 
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