Upgrading / building new PC. (CPU. RAM and Motherboard) Need advice.

Mar 27, 2018
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Budget: 650 USD but if possible cheaper - Location: Sweden, going to buy from this site https://www.netonnet.se Use (gaming, rendering, etc): Gaming 1080p 60hz and watching Netflix.

I have already bought everything on the list except motherboard, ram and processor. The budget listed is for those 3 things. I also have a SSD but could not find it with pcpicker so its not in the list. KFA2 Gamer SSD L 240GB. Ram are Ryzen edition.

[PCPartPicker part list] (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nMk29J

Is it worth buying 1600x instead of 1600 if you have your own cooler like I have or is it still more worth buying 1600 and overclock it as some say? It is 23$ difference. Also wonder if it's overkill to buy 1600 with a gtx 1050 Ti? There was someone who wrote that the graphics card will limit so you get the same fps with a 1300x as with a 1600x? Also wondering about the memories, they are not included on QVL on any of the cheap B350 motherboards, but they are basically the only 3200mhz memories available from where im buying, do you think it can work anyway? It's also strange, on corsair's website if you look at motherboard compatibility on those memories, there are only x99 and z170 with intel motherboards, but they are called Ryzen in the product name? Anyone know more?

Some say its more worth buying a R3 1200 or 1300X instead of a 1600 and put the money on the graphics card and upgrade to 1060. What do you think about that?

When it comes to motherboards, which of these would you have taken ?:

ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS

Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3

MSI B350 TOMAHAWK

Or would it be more worth buying intel for gaming? Intel seem to have better singlecore performance but much worse in terms of multicore / multiple threads? What is the best? I have not looked much myself on Intel and i dont really know much about it but if its better and fit My budget ill gladly take suggestions on Intel builds as well.

Is it important with the speed of the ram, does it make a difference 2666mhz versus 3200? Is it worth spending the extra 50-60$ to get a ram of 3200mhz instead of 2666mhz? Also wondering if I should return the mechanical hard drive and take a hybrid instead, Seagate Firecuda 2TB 7200rpm 64mb cache hybrid costs 11$ more but has 1Tb less space. Is it worth it? What I will do from the hard drive is to install and run games that dont fit on the SSD. Big difference in games with a hybrid? Otherwise I will Keep the One i have for the extra storage. Also do you think 450 watt psu is enough ? According to pcpicker at least it seems like its enough.
 
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CPU: The only time a 1600x is worth the extra money is if one of the following applies. You are not willing to overclock, you get a motherboard which can't overclock or you buy an OEM PC which can't overclock. If you are going to overclock. The 1600 and 1600x are the exact same CPU. Plus or minus your luck in the CPU lottery.

CPU Cooler: The Hyper 212 Evo is not a very good cooler by today's standards. Get a Cryorig H7 or Be Quiet! Pure Rock Slim for a budget cooler. If you get the Ryzen 1600 don't bother with those coolers as they aren't much better than what is included. If you want a good mid range cooler. Get a Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B or Thermalright Macho Direct. They actually perform very close to that of the Noctua NH-D15.

RAM: If you want 2933 Mhz (3000 actual) or 3200 Mhz. Stick with the QVL. Otherwise you might be stuck with expensive memory at 2133/2400 Mhz or spend hours tweaking timings and voltage. Take a look at the ASUS B350 boards. They have extensive and up to date QVL. You might have an easier time finding the right memory. Odds are if it works on the ASUS with a B350 chipset it will work on the Gigabyte. Stay away from Corsair Memory. Even with the QVL it only guarantees a specific revision.

Motherboard: I'd take the Gigabyte. The audio chipset and connectors are much better than the ASUS. It has more useful headers than the ASUS. It also has a better customer review average. I don't care for the MSI.

Intel/AMD: Each has their benefits. Unless you are running a GTX 1080 at 1920x1080. You aren't likely to see a difference between an i5-8400 and Ryzen 5 1600 (max OC).

RAM Speed: It makes a difference. You likely won't notice much going from 2666 to 3200. You'd do better spending that on a higher end motherboard, good quality CPU cooler or even stepping up to a Ryzen 1700.

HDD: Firecuda/Hybrid drives are a bad buy. You'd be better off spending the money on a larger HDD (greater data density equal better speed). Since you have an SSD already to use as a boot drive. The Firecuda won't offer much benefit. For someone with no SSD. A 120GB SSD plus 1TB HDD usually costs the same as a Firecuda with far greater performance benefits.
 

neiler0847

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Mar 25, 2015
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You don't mention whether you plan to overclock. I would suggest starting with the Ryzen 5 1600 and the stock cooler. See what temperatures you get and experiment with the overclocking.

Personally, I like the ASRock AB350 Pro4 motherboard. But I have not tried to use really fast RAM on it. I've used the Corsair Vengeance 2667 MHz and the G.Skill FlareX 2400 MHz. I have always found that the 3200 MHz RAM is just way too expensive.

You have an SSD, so use that for the operating system and put a standard HDD in for storage.

That is definitely a budget PSU. I always tell people to protect their systems with the best PSU they can afford.

 
Mar 27, 2018
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I'm going to return my 1050 Ti and switch to a 1060 6GB and now new Ryzen has been released but I do not really know what to buy.

Thinking of one of the following:

Either ASUS TUF X470 PLUS GAMING + AMD Ryzen 5 - 2600X + Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 Black 3200MHz CL16 Ryzen edition.

Or Intel Core i5-8600K + Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO + Aorus by Gigabyte Z370 Gaming K3 + KFA2 Hall Of Fame Extreme 16GB 4000MHz CL19.

If I get the Intel, I'll get Far Cry 5 for free, since Gigabyte has a promotion until April 30, where you get a free Far Cry 5 key if you buy an Aorus motherboard. Intel's motherboard supports higher memory speeds as well.

What would you choose for games in 1080p 60 hz? I will not stream, not use any demanding software, etc. All i will do is play games, watch Netflix and surf the web. Some of the games I will play are Battlefield 1, Cod Ww2, Pubg, Cs Go, Witcher 3, Wolfenstein 2, Far Cry 5, Middle Earth Shadow of War, Ghost Recon Wildlands and GTA 5. What would you choose and why?



I already have the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO and regarding Corsair ram, from the site I'm buying from Corsair ram is basically the only option they have for 3000-3200mhz 16gb ram.
 


Well you've been warned. You may never get close to 3000/3200 Mhz with that RAM. Maybe you'll luck out and get a Ryzen compatible revision.

As for the Intel. There is no reason based on your stated uses to spend the extra money on such fast RAM. You'll never see the difference in gaming. There are very few uses where RAM speed matters. The only reason why it matters so much for Ryzen is the Infinity Fabric in Ryzen works at the clock rate of the installed RAM. Directly affecting CPU performance. Intel doesn't suffer from that.

At 1920x1080 and 60 Hz. Really any resolution at 60 Hz. It isn't going to matter which CPU you choose. Either can push games past 60 FPS. Since you will be using a GTX 1060 6GB. It will be a hindrance before the CPU. At 1920x1080 and 60 Hz it shouldn't matter. As the GTX 1060 6GB should be able to push just about any game past 60 FPS with High settings.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1613-amd-ryzen-2700x-2600x/page3.html

Considering how much more DDR4 4000 usually costs than DDR4 3000/3200. That extra money spent would be put to far better use towards a GTX 1070 rather than your GTX 1060 plans.
 
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