The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v2

[I Don't Like]

Would anyone like to review my parts list? It can be found here.

I'm very uncertain about what I'm doing, so I'd appreciate the perspective of anyone who is experienced or knowledgeable. My goal is to build a mid/upper mid-tier PC that balances efficiency, power, and cost. I plan to use this PC to mostly play last gen games, indies, and a few highlights from this gen. I also plan to explore some graphic design and basic 3D modeling work as a hobby. The two areas I feel most ignorant about are thermals and the case.

1. For thermals, I'm currently counting on the fan that comes with the CPU and the built-in GPU fan. I have no plans for overclocking. Do I need to find another fan? If another fan would help everything run cool and quiet, I'd be happy to buy another one.
2. For the case, I just wanted something that was plain, but I'm unsure if I chose an appropriate size for the parts I've selected.

I'm still going back and forth on the motherboard (whether I want the WiFi model or the non-WiFi; currently leaning towards the latter). I'm also a little lacking in confidence about my SSD choice, as I've heard a lot more about Samsung's SATAs than NVMEs.

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated!

Click to shrink...

Case is fine, storage is fine. I know you said gaming is last gen, indie and some of current gen - just keep in mind 1660Ti isn't gonna future proof you much especially if you decide to move more towards modern AAA titles as time goes on.

Also 550w should be fine technically speaking but 108 bucks is high for that. Difference between platinum and other ratings is negligible and given that a PSU normally ends up lasting you a couple of generations, I'd maybe bump it up to like 650 just to give yourself headroom for future and you can move down to a gold.

I have a Corsair RM750i which is an excellent gold, modular unit and you can get one for 80 bucks. Oh and it's powering a huge custom loop with a 5Ghz 7700k, a 2080Ti overclocked to shit, 3 SATA SSDs, two NVMes, fans, pump, tons of lighting and a USB hub. Has never flinched and has a zero fan mode.

Point being: don't spend 108 bucks for 550w.

 

[catpurrcat]

Case is fine, storage is fine. I know you said gaming is last gen, indie and some of current gen - just keep in mind 1660Ti isn't gonna future proof you much especially if you decide to move more towards modern AAA titles as time goes on.

Also 550w should be fine technically speaking but 108 bucks is high for that. Difference between platinum and other ratings is negligible and given that a PSU normally ends up lasting you a couple of generations, I'd maybe bump it up to like 650 just to give yourself headroom for future and you can move down to a gold.

I have a Corsair RM750i which is an excellent modular unit and you can get one for 80 bucks. Oh and it's powering a huge custom loop with a 5Ghz 7700k, a 2080Ti overclocked to shit, 3 SATA SSDs, two NVMes, fans, pump, tons of lighting and a USB hub. Has never flinched and has a zero fan mode.

Point being: don't spend 108 bucks for 550w.

Click to shrink...

Damn this is A+ advice right here.

kirbyfan407 I have a 1660ti in one of my builds and love it. Having said that, based on your latter criteria of "mid-upper tier" and that balances cost, there's nothing more cost effective right now in the video card space than the 5700 (and XT variant). To get 10% more power above the 5700XT you''d have to spend 20%+ or more. You can get a top of the line 5700 XT (i.e., a model with excellent cooling like the Sapphire Nitro +) for $440 USD.

You can save some money in your build by:
-Going with a cheaper PSU (as described by PlayALLTheGames ). I am personally familiar with EVGA PSU's and love em, rocking a 650W gold.
-The Ryzen 3700X you MAY be able to find it for ~$30 less. It's been 10% off at least once in my country. Microcenter is $10 less than your listed build. Make sure your vendor of choice includes the Gamepass + game bonus offer too.
-You can save another $25 by getting a Silicon Power (or other comparable brand) M2 drive
-Get a comparable Fractal Design case for $40 less

Hope this helps :)

 

[catpurrcat]

Pretty standard build, but any thoughts? Things look OK, or anything that could be swapped out for one reason or another? I'm kinda tempted to order it sooner rather than later. I'm sure I'd miss some deals, but any reason to think prices will drop in a meaningful way by Jan/Feb?

Stop trying to click me and click me

Click to shrink...

Good build. Triple check compatibility as pcpartpicker seems to be throwing minor warnings. The only thing that might drop in price is the video card, but not by much (if at all). Ryzen CPU's go on sale occasionally.

I'd say go for it. Also make sure your CPU vendor offers the bonus (gamepass).

 

[Kinn]

I have the white version of those, I suggest shopping around a bit on Amazon because the different color models may have different pricing. Get a 2x 8 or 2x 16 GB kit. Those can be easily overclocked to run at 3600 MHz CL16 or lower if you get lucky. They are a great choice and low profile.

Click to shrink...

Thanks.

It will either be those are the following

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16g...466-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-18-18-36-xmp-20

 

[Trisc]

Hyper 212 Black installed. My desktop is now 100% less RGB, as God intended. It's also much quieter now. So, so much quieter.

I don't know how to tag users, but shoutout to catpurrcat.

it was driving me nuts. Replaced it last week with a cooler Master hyper 212 black.

also considered dark rock but the guy at the store convinced me to pick up the cheaper 212 instead. Happy with the decision. It's very quiet. And it's not very wide so it almost touches the ram but doesn't.

Click to shrink...

I was soundly convinced this was the way to go. Not disappointed.

 

[Piercedveil]

Thank you to those that have helped so far. Here is what I have come up with:

CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z390-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 4GB (reusing from current build)

Any suggestions? I am still going back and forth on whether to go with AMD or Intel since I'll be mostly just be playing games on this machine. All in all, this comes out to ~$860 which doesn't seem too bad.

 

[catpurrcat]

Hyper 212 Black installed. My desktop is now 100% less RGB, as God intended. It's also much quieter now. So, so much quieter.

I don't know how to tag users, but shoutout to catpurrcat.

I was soundly convinced this was the way to go. Not disappointed.

Click to shrink...

Awesome! You are very welcome, happy it worked out for you!

I'm on week 2 of it now and still amazes me how quiet it is for the price and ease of install.

lol I can't stand RGB either, black everything forever IMO.

ps you can tag a user with the @ symbol before a username :)

 

[asmith906]

I've got $87 in ebay bucks. I was thinking of getting an x570 motherboard. Could someone recommend me one.

 

[Duck Sauce]

I've got $87 in ebay bucks. I was thinking of getting an x570 motherboard. Could someone recommend me one.

Click to shrink...

ASRock aqua.

 

[Trisc]

Awesome! You are very welcome, happy it worked out for you!

I'm on week 2 of it now and still amazes me how quiet it is for the price and ease of install.

lol I can't stand RGB either, black everything forever IMO.

ps you can tag a user with the @ symbol before a username :)

Click to shrink...

Good to know, thank you!

I was kind of impressed by the ease of install. The Prism Wraith was harder to install, and the mounting bracket was already in place when I got the motherboard!

 

[FHIZ]

Is a Ryzen 3800x good for 1440p/120FPS?

Click to shrink...

Yes, but as already pointed out, just get a 3700x, 1440p is more GPU dependent.

 

[RandomSeed]

Good build. Triple check compatibility as pcpartpicker seems to be throwing minor warnings. The only thing that might drop in price is the video card, but not by much (if at all). Ryzen CPU's go on sale occasionally.

I'd say go for it. Also make sure your CPU vendor offers the bonus (gamepass).

Click to shrink...

👍 All systems go. Getting a 1440p monitor sure made me upgrade sooner than I was planning, but I'm really looking forward to it. Getting the bonus for The Outer Worlds for sure...really hope that game turns out fun.

Also looking forward to tossing this i5-3570k and GTX 970 system on the living room (1080p) TV.

 

[catpurrcat]

Thank you to those that have helped so far. Here is what I have come up with:

CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z390-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 4GB (reusing from current build)

Any suggestions? I am still going back and forth on whether to go with AMD or Intel since I'll be mostly just be playing games on this machine. All in all, this comes out to ~$860 which doesn't seem too bad.

Click to shrink...

The 9600k is really good and a fan favourite for a good reason. Hopefully you can find it on sale (the 9700k appears to be discounted?).

The only recent comparable to the 9600k is the Ryzen 3600 (and 3600X) which is also very good.

Ultimately if you're used to and comfortable in the intel chipset ecosystem from previous builds stick with it.

MSI motherboards are really easy to work with.

 

[Nothing]

Sure, or maybe 8c/16t will become the bare minimum in two-three. We'll see.
The most important part of this conversation is: We finally have a choice and more than one option. We may disagree, but I'm happy that there is movement and something to be discussed when talking about gaming CPUs.

Click to shrink...

The 9600K, 9700K, and 8700K are going to be good for years too. The 8c/16t PS5 console processors are going to be cut-down and run at much lower clockspeeds too.

Or do you believe that everyone buying 3600's today is in trouble as soon as the new consoles launch in < 1 yr? *eyeroll* Do you honestly believe that PS5's are going to have CPUs that cost anywhere remotely close to $300 (3700X) inside each of them? They won't.

More cores aren't everything, and extra threads especially aren't vital. The 9700K with 8T outperforms the 8700K with 12T. The 9600K with 6T easily outperforms the 3600 with 12T. Machines don't suddenly stop working just because new hardware comes out. Perhaps you should go check out the Steam hardware survey to get more in touch with what is considered average these days and get more of a ballpark idea of what developers are coding for in the coming future.

Sometimes the enthusiast camp on here really loses touch with reality.

 

[kirbyfan407]

Case is fine, storage is fine. I know you said gaming is last gen, indie and some of current gen - just keep in mind 1660Ti isn't gonna future proof you much especially if you decide to move more towards modern AAA titles as time goes on.

Also 550w should be fine technically speaking but 108 bucks is high for that. Difference between platinum and other ratings is negligible and given that a PSU normally ends up lasting you a couple of generations, I'd maybe bump it up to like 650 just to give yourself headroom for future and you can move down to a gold.

I have a Corsair RM750i which is an excellent gold, modular unit and you can get one for 80 bucks. Oh and it's powering a huge custom loop with a 5Ghz 7700k, a 2080Ti overclocked to shit, 3 SATA SSDs, two NVMes, fans, pump, tons of lighting and a USB hub. Has never flinched and has a zero fan mode.

Point being: don't spend 108 bucks for 550w.

Click to shrink...

Damn this is A+ advice right here.

kirbyfan407 I have a 1660ti in one of my builds and love it. Having said that, based on your latter criteria of "mid-upper tier" and that balances cost, there's nothing more cost effective right now in the video card space than the 5700 (and XT variant). To get 10% more power above the 5700XT you''d have to spend 20%+ or more. You can get a top of the line 5700 XT (i.e., a model with excellent cooling like the Sapphire Nitro +) for $440 USD.

You can save some money in your build by:
-Going with a cheaper PSU (as described by PlayALLTheGames ). I am personally familiar with EVGA PSU's and love em, rocking a 650W gold.
-The Ryzen 3700X you MAY be able to find it for ~$30 less. It's been 10% off at least once in my country. Microcenter is $10 less than your listed build. Make sure your vendor of choice includes the Gamepass + game bonus offer too.
-You can save another $25 by getting a Silicon Power (or other comparable brand) M2 drive
-Get a comparable Fractal Design case for $40 less

Hope this helps :)

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the inputs. Something I should have said is that I'm looking to game at 1080p for at least the next 3-4 years, so that's my target resolution. I also don't mind being solidly in the mid-tier category; I just wrote "upper" in case people looked at my build and thought I was mislabeling it as "mid."

I hear what you've said about the GPU. I do think I'll primarily be playing games from 2018 and before, and I don't expect newer indies to really push my hardware. I've never really owned a gaming PC, as I am primarily a console gamer, so I have a looooot of older games I want to play. Some of the things that appealed to me about the 1660 Ti is it seemed to be solid for 1080p gaming and has great performance-per-dollar and performance-per-watt ratings. (Call me weird, but I really like this latter stat for some reason.) However, I do see how this card could be hitting its limits in the next couple years, perhaps faster than I'd want to replace it. (I'm currently thinking of upgrading my GPU maybe every 2-3 GPU lineup refreshes, so every 3-5 years.)

So I did look into other options, and it seemed like the RX 5700 is pretty solid in terms of performance-per-dollar and performance-per-watt. I know this would also help me coast along at 1080p for longer. If I upgraded to this GPU, I'd probably go with a 650W PSU. But for me to get a 5700, I would want to find one that runs decently cool, isn't heavily overclocked (i.e. keeps its power draw comparatively low), and is not too expensive. The GTX 1660 Ti I'd be getting is typically $280, and if I'll need to spend $100 more for a RX 5700, I'd rather just go with the cheaper option and buy a new GPU in a few years that will probably be faster, cooler, and more power efficient than either I'm looking at. So I'm now digging through the various models out there to see if I can find a 5700 that matches those criteria. I welcome any suggestions if you have them.

Thanks again for all of the inputs. I'll look into all those points about the PSU and the potential for savings.

 

[rybrad]

I just finished my 3700x build today. Well, mostly, I have some cranky ram settings that I need to sort out, but I will call it close enough to done! I hope one day those thermal pads are as good as paste because I hate doing that shit.

I'm curious if it is worth spending the time and effort trying to OC it. I don't really enjoy tinkering, but will do it if the difference is perceptible. From my limited research it seems like the consensus is there isn't much headroom for OCing on the 3000 series.

If I don't end up overclocking, I might look into undervolting. I use my PC for work and gaming so on some days it could be 15 hours of fairly heavy use. My old OCed 4770k died after about 4 years and I would like to get 5 years out of this PC if possible.

Any other settings I should think about tweaking?

 

[low-G]

I just finished my 3700x build today. Well, mostly, I have some cranky ram settings that I need to sort out, but I will call it close enough to done! I hope one day those thermal pads are as good as paste because I hate doing that shit.

I'm curious if it is worth spending the time and effort trying to OC it. I don't really enjoy tinkering, but will do it if the difference is perceptible. From my limited research it seems like the consensus is there isn't much headroom for OCing on the 3000 series.

If I don't end up overclocking, I might look into undervolting. I use my PC for work and gaming so on some days it could be 15 hours of fairly heavy use. My old OCed 4770k died after about 4 years and I would like to get 5 years out of this PC if possible.

Any other settings I should think about tweaking?

Click to shrink...

Any evidence that undervolting has any benefit to the life of a CPU, if that CPU is not already overheating all the time? It's usually going to be another component, the mobo or PSU or something that dies.

 

[Isayas]

Yes, but as already pointed out, just get a 3700x, 1440p is more GPU dependent.

Click to shrink...

I got the CPU already bro. Fuck it.

 

[rybrad]

Any evidence that undervolting has any benefit to the life of a CPU, if that CPU is not already overheating all the time? It's usually going to be another component, the mobo or PSU or something that dies.

Click to shrink...

Keep in mind that I am a dumbass about this stuff and this is coming from someone who knows a lot more than me. When my 4770k died, I got a loaner of the same chip from a friend while mine got looked at. Using his processor with no other hardware changes completly fixed the issues I was having. The guy said it seemed like it was degraded from the OCed voltage over the lifespan as the system could not run more than 30 minutes before crashing regardless of settings or other hardware. Temps were never an issue as high 70s would have been an extreme rarity. Like I said, this isn't my area of expertise so I am mainly trying to ensure I don't end up in the same situation 4 years from now!

 

[Santini]

I've got $87 in ebay bucks. I was thinking of getting an x570 motherboard. Could someone recommend me one.

Click to shrink...

Best ~$200 X570 options:

Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wi-Fi @ $209.99

or

Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi) @ 199.99

You can also go for the Aorus Elite (@ 189.99) to save money if you don't need Wi-Fi. Both have good VRM cooling if you plan on overclocking, but approach it differently in regards to phases. Gigabyte MB has Intel LAN, while the Asus MB has Realtek LAN, but does have the better Intel Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 5.0 combo. Most user comments I've seen favor Intel in regards to LAN, while others don't notice a difference with Realtek in most cases.

You could also watch these to learn about other options if you want to spend more or less money.

 

[Trisc]

With the Hyper 212 Black, my Ryzen 3700X idles around 40-45C. As far as I can tell, that's fine, though at stock clocks I would hope it would run cooler. I can potentially hook up a second fan to the heat sink, but I'm not sure if that's really worth the effort. When I use a second fan on the sink, should they both be of the same model?

EDIT: Stock clocks for the 3700X, by the way. Should I consider undervolting?

Also, I have two of those cables that let you plug in two 4-pin fans (so that they wind up both being powered by one fan plug). Are those safe to use for CPU fans? Are they safe for case fans? One of my case fans doesn't have a long enough cable to reach another pin, so I figured if I used one of those cables I could still have both fans running.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

With the Hyper 212 Black, my Ryzen 3700X idles around 40-45C. As far as I can tell, that's fine, though at stock clocks I would hope it would run cooler. I can potentially hook up a second fan to the heat sink, but I'm not sure if that's really worth the effort. When I use a second fan on the sink, should they both be of the same model?

EDIT: Stock clocks for the 3700X, by the way. Should I consider undervolting?

Also, I have two of those cables that let you plug in two 4-pin fans (so that they wind up both being powered by one fan plug). Are those safe to use for CPU fans? Are they safe for case fans? One of my case fans doesn't have a long enough cable to reach another pin, so I figured if I used one of those cables I could still have both fans running.

Click to shrink...

Those cables are safe. You don't necessarily need thew fans to be the same model, but it helps if they have similar max and minimum rpms. Because if you plug them both to the same header using one of those cables, then if the motherboard is telling them to spin at 30%, 40%, that will mean a different speeds to each if they vary a lot. If you connect them to separate headers then it doesn't matter.

 

[Cordelia]

Which one is the better motherboard to pair with Ryzen 3600? I still can't decide between MSI B450 Tomahawk Max and Asus B450-F Gaming.

Also I plan to get NZXT H500 (Oh god that case is sexy), but hear some concern with airflow, how is it?

 

[No Depth]

Also I plan to get NZXT H500 (Oh god that case is sexy), but hear some concern with airflow, how is it?

Click to shrink...

I have the 510i, which is basically the same thing. It's a really great case and I think so long as you throw in an extra fan or two(certainly add one up top at least), I can't fathom how airflow could be an issue.

 

[PepeElToro]

When do new CPU and GPU usually launch? I'm looking to upgrade but I'm not sure if I should do it now or wait til next year. I want to upgrade for RDR2 and Cyberpunk mostly.

Currently have an i5 3570K with 16gb of ram and a GTX 1080.

 

[Cordelia]

I have the 510i, which is basically the same thing. It's a really great case and I think so long as you throw in an extra fan or two(certainly add one up top at least), I can't fathom how airflow could be an issue.

Click to shrink...

Thanks. I planned to get three Corsair ML120, so hopefuly airflow won't be a problem.

 

[Isee]

The 9600K, 9700K, and 8700K are going to be good for years too. The 8c/16t PS5 console processors are going to be cut-down and run at much lower clockspeeds too.

Or do you believe that everyone buying 3600's today is in trouble as soon as the new consoles launch in < 1 yr? *eyeroll* Do you honestly believe that PS5's are going to have CPUs that cost anywhere remotely close to $300 (3700X) inside each of them? They won't.

More cores aren't everything, and extra threads especially aren't vital. The 9700K with 8T outperforms the 8700K with 12T. The 9600K with 6T easily outperforms the 3600 with 12T. Machines don't suddenly stop working just because new hardware comes out. Perhaps you should go check out the Steam hardware survey to get more in touch with what is considered average these days and get more of a ballpark idea of what developers are coding for in the coming future.

Sometimes the enthusiast camp on here really loses touch with reality.

Click to shrink...

You need to start learning to understand context. You rushed into a conversation that was about a "best budget CPU for high refresh rates". That conversation turned into "what CPU would be better for future proofing in that scenario". I suggested that a 3900x could be better for high refresh rate gaming in a couple of years than a 9900k, and I stand by that. To answer your consoles question:

PS5 and co. will have 8c/16t CPUs that will be based on zen2 or even zen2+. This is a fact. They'll run at lower clockspeeds though. My Guess would be 3.0-3.5 GHz. But, in a way, they will be similar to a 3700x, just a bit lower clocked but with other benefits and some tweaks by microsoft and sony. You see, Steam Hardware surveys are nice and fine but they are irrelevant. Believe it or not, the PC isn't the dominating force. Consoles are and devs develop their technology with consoles in mind first. Hard to swallow pill for us PC gamers, but it is true nonetheless.
Yes, I think there will be a lot of changing tech once games start to appear that were developed just for those next gen consoles. Does this mean that 9700k, 3600 etc. will turn immediately obsolet? No of course not, but high core counts could start to become relevant sooner then later and maybe more important for even frame times then slightly higher clocks.

Blindly recommending the 9900k over 3900x to people that are looking to future proof their build for 5+ years is wrong. You need to tell them that there is another options and that the future is a bit unknown. Let them make their own decision then, because we all have no idea how things are going to evolve. I'm speculating, just as you and there are two good future proofing options out there. If you even believe in future proofing in the first place.

Cheers.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

When do new CPU and GPU usually launch? I'm looking to upgrade but I'm not sure if I should do it now or wait til next year. I want to upgrade for RDR2 and Cyberpunk mostly.

Currently have an i5 3570K with 16gb of ram and a GTX 1080.

Click to shrink...

They launch all over the calendar, usually summer and winter for CPUs, while new GPUs seem to never stop coming since they keep wanting to one up each other with small revisions.

For mainstream CPUs, the new 7nm AMD Ryzen 3000 series just came out this summer, they wont be releasing a refresh anytime soon, but they still have to release a 16-core model that comes in November, and a couple other lower end SKUs. Intel's may release a refresh of what they currently have in winter, but that is still 14nm, we may not see their 10nm at all in desktops in 2020. For worktation-type CPUs AMD is releasing a refresh of Threadripper in November, and Intel also has 10th series i9s coming next month that seems like a cut in price primarily with small performance increase.

For GPUs Nvidia may release Ampere in the first half of 2020, but that's rumors as of now. AMD released their new mid tier cards recently, their high end models may come out before the end of 2019 around their threadripper 3000 launch.

I would think that you may be fine upgrading the CPU this year and depending on RDR2 requirements, keeping the 1080 until around cyberpunk's launch. Because even if there isn't a 3080 by then, there may be a 2080 Super 2 or who knows what nowadays.

 

[laxu]

Blindly recommending the 9900k over 3900x to people that are looking to future proof their build for 5+ years is wrong. You need to tell them that there is another options and that the future is a bit unknown. Let them make their own decision then, because we all have no idea how things are going to evolve. I'm speculating, just as you and there are two good future proofing options out there. If you even believe in future proofing in the first place.

Click to shrink...

I'd say both are overkill if you don't have other uses than gaming. 3600 or 3700X will do just fine for that. I don't see a reason to buy Intel at this point because the AMD stuff is cheaper at least over here and has more cores/threads for the money while having good enough clock speeds. Buying a 3900X or 9900K now doesn't seem like a good future proofing plan when you still have the Zen 3 processors coming next year for the AM4 platform. I'd rather buy a 3600 or 3700X now and then upgrade to a faster next gen CPU when and if having even more cores becomes relevant in the next 3+ years.

 

[Deleted member 4434]

Hi everyone! ヾ(°∀° )
My current PC (Asus M3N78-EM, AMD Phenom II X4 940, GeForce GTS 250, 8 GB RAM) is literally over a decade old. I know it's embarrassing, but I've been through a tough time and I managed to keep it running this long because I simply couldn't afford a new PC.
Things have finally started to look up for me now, but sadly my PC isn't doing so well. It hasn't been able to run anything demanding in these past 5 years, it's crashing a lot, and there's some hardware errors that are really annoying to deal with, though I'm really grateful it's been running so long!

I did some research and attempted to build something here and there but honestly, I was already out of the loop when I build my current PC 10+ years ago, so I'm pretty sure if I did this on my own, I'd ruin it.
If anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it very much!

I searched this thread for budget PCs and found this post. Is this still okay?
I've filled out the questionnaire from the first post in case it helps.

Spoiler: Questionnaire thingie

Thank you for reading! ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )

1. What's your budget?

€500-600? I'm sorry if it's troublesome, but if possible, I really prefer to stick close to €500.
If you can dive below that, fantastic too!
I promise I won't be demanding for this budget, and if it's still too much, then I'm okay with adjusting my wishes.


2. What do you want to use the computer for?

Aside from the usual internet browsing with half a dozen tabs open, Netflix, Photoshopping, it would be nice it it could play some of the more recent games or minimum or normal.
I'm not really looking into becoming a PC gamer again. These past years I had my OG Xbox One as a main platform and I want to keep it that way.
The only recent games that I would really like to play on it would be Frostpunk (specs) and Anno 1800 (specs).
I don't have a brand preference, and I'm fine with older parts. It doesn't have to run games in 60 fps either because I can't even get 25 out of my current PC when running Guild Wars 2 on a deserted map on medium graphics. It doesn't have to be dead silent. My current monitor resolution is 1920x1080.


3. How soon do you plan to purchase the parts and build it?

Within two, three months. I can't afford any of the latest stuff anyway, so I'm not waiting for anything.


4. Are you going to reuse any parts (upgrading) or are you building a completely new computer from scratch?

I have a brand new non-SSD 1 TB drive and I could reuse the RAM too unless that went through a revolution in the past decade?
Two bars are from Kingston and 2 more from some lesser known brand.
Also I have a Seasonic powersupply that's not too old, but it might not be powerful enough to run the new system.
I know SSD is apparently super fast but I really prefer to save money and not get one and use the new non-SSD one I already have.


5. Do you only need the computer itself or do you need accessories too such as a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers?

Just the parts and a case to put it in.


6. Are you interested in overclocking? (Overclocking is running components such as the processor or videocard at a higher speed than they come from the factory. It can give additional performance but can come with consequences such as increased heat (requiring better cooling), higher power consumption, possibly more noise, and stress testing to ensure that the overclock is stable.)

Not really, I have no experience with it. I'd rather let the parts run as they should without attempting to burn my apartment down.

Sorry to be bothersome, but it seems everyone knows so much about it, so I wanted to ask here even if it's for a simple computer.
Because I don't know what to choose, I will seriously consider every help or suggestion I get, so please don't worry about your reply being disregarded.
Thank you so much in advance! (❁´◡`❁)

 

[Gaming_Groove]

Hi everyone! ヾ(°∀° )
My current PC (Asus M3N78-EM, AMD Phenom II X4 940, GeForce GTS 250, 8 GB RAM) is literally over a decade old. I know it's embarrassing, but I've been through a tough time and I managed to keep it running this long because I simply couldn't afford a new PC.
Things have finally started to look up for me now, but sadly my PC isn't doing so well. It hasn't been able to run anything demanding in these past 5 years, it's crashing a lot, and there's some hardware errors that are really annoying to deal with, though I'm really grateful it's been running so long!

I did some research and attempted to build something here and there but honestly, I was already out of the loop when I build my current PC 10+ years ago, so I'm pretty sure if I did this on my own, I'd ruin it.
If anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it very much!

I searched this thread for budget PCs and found this post. Is this still okay?
I've filled out the questionnaire from the first post in case it helps.

Spoiler: Questionnaire thingie

Thank you for reading! ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )

1. What's your budget?

€500-600? I'm sorry if it's troublesome, but if possible, I really prefer to stick close to €500.
If you can dive below that, fantastic too!
I promise I won't be demanding for this budget, and if it's still too much, then I'm okay with adjusting my wishes.


2. What do you want to use the computer for?

Aside from the usual internet browsing with half a dozen tabs open, Netflix, Photoshopping, it would be nice it it could play some of the more recent games or minimum or normal.
I'm not really looking into becoming a PC gamer again. These past years I had my OG Xbox One as a main platform and I want to keep it that way.
The only recent games that I would really like to play on it would be Frostpunk (specs) and Anno 1800 (specs).
I don't have a brand preference, and I'm fine with older parts. It doesn't have to run games in 60 fps either because I can't even get 25 out of my current PC when running Guild Wars 2 on a deserted map on medium graphics. It doesn't have to be dead silent. My current monitor resolution is 1920x1080.


3. How soon do you plan to purchase the parts and build it?

Within two, three months. I can't afford any of the latest stuff anyway, so I'm not waiting for anything.


4. Are you going to reuse any parts (upgrading) or are you building a completely new computer from scratch?

I have a brand new non-SSD 1 TB drive and I could reuse the RAM too unless that went through a revolution in the past decade?
Two bars are from Kingston and 2 more from some lesser known brand.
Also I have a Seasonic powersupply that's not too old, but it might not be powerful enough to run the new system.
I know SSD is apparently super fast but I really prefer to save money and not get one and use the new non-SSD one I already have.


5. Do you only need the computer itself or do you need accessories too such as a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers?

Just the parts and a case to put it in.


6. Are you interested in overclocking? (Overclocking is running components such as the processor or videocard at a higher speed than they come from the factory. It can give additional performance but can come with consequences such as increased heat (requiring better cooling), higher power consumption, possibly more noise, and stress testing to ensure that the overclock is stable.)

Not really, I have no experience with it. I'd rather let the parts run as they should without attempting to burn my apartment down.

Sorry to be bothersome, but it seems everyone knows so much about it, so I wanted to ask here even if it's for a simple computer.
Because I don't know what to choose, I will seriously consider every help or suggestion I get, so please don't worry about your reply being disregarded.
Thank you so much in advance! (❁´◡`❁)

Click to shrink...

That setup is a little questionable. The build in that post relies on having access to Micro Center for in-store pricing/discounts, which AFAIK is only a US retailer. You're going to end up a little lower spec overall if you're buying online unless you have a similar deals available. As for the specs, the 2600 is probably a better value for the money based on online pricing, and the choice of a single 8GB stick is not generally a good idea unless the board only has 2 DIMM slots. 2x4GB is probably a better bet. If the memory you are trying to re-use is from the Phenom system it will not be compatible, but you can re-use the HDD. I threw in an SSD that you can use to boot from and for your most used applications and games...your 1TB drive can be re-used for mass storage. I'm in the US, so forgive my ignorance on pricing and availability. Sorry if I also overlooked which country you are in...I just used the German version of PCPartPicker. Something along these lines might be a good starting point though:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€125.89 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€81.26 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€46.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: ADATA SU630 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€31.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 580 4 GB Dual Video Card (€144.80 @ Alza)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€34.71 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (€66.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €531.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-07 12:52 CEST+0200

 

[Evolution of Metal]

That setup is a little questionable. The 2600 is probably a better value for the money, and the choice of a single 8GB stick is not generally a good idea unless the board only has 2 DIMM slots. 2x4GB is probably a better bet. If the memory you are trying to re-use is from the Phenom system it will not be compatible, but you can re-use the HDD. I threw in an SSD that you can use to boot from and for your most used applications and games...your 1TB drive can be re-used for mass storage. I'm in the US, so forgive my ignorance on pricing and availability. Sorry if I also overlooked which country you are in...I just used the German version of PCPartPicker. Something along these lines might be a good starting point though:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€125.89 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€81.26 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€46.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: ADATA SU630 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€31.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 580 4 GB Dual Video Card (€144.80 @ Alza)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€34.71 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (€66.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €531.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-07 12:52 CEST+0200

Click to shrink...

There should be a better price on a decent 500W PSU. I bought a couple of Enermax 500W for less than €50/each. PCpartpicker isn't too good at digging though the EU countries, so investigating Be Quiet, Thermaltake, Enermax options might chop 10 or even 20 money.

Perhaps the money could be used to upgrade either storage or reach 2x8GB config.

 

[Deleted member 4434]

That setup is a little questionable. The build in that post relies on having access to Micro Center for in-store pricing/discounts, which AFAIK is only a US retailer. You're going to end up a little lower spec overall if you're buying online unless you have a similar deals available.

Click to shrink...

Oh I see! I just figured I could maybe try that one if I wasn't lucky to have anyone help me build anything.

As for the specs, the 2600 is probably a better value for the money based on online pricing, and the choice of a single 8GB stick is not generally a good idea unless the board only has 2 DIMM slots. 2x4GB is probably a better bet. If the memory you are trying to re-use is from the Phenom system it will not be compatible, but you can re-use the HDD. I threw in an SSD that you can use to boot from and for your most used applications and games...your 1TB drive can be re-used for mass storage. I'm in the US, so forgive my ignorance on pricing and availability. Sorry if I also overlooked which country you are in...I just used the German version of PCPartPicker. Something along these lines might be a good starting point though:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€125.89 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€81.26 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€46.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: ADATA SU630 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€31.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 580 4 GB Dual Video Card (€144.80 @ Alza)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€34.71 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (€66.56 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €531.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-07 12:52 CEST+0200

Click to shrink...

Thank you so so much for your build, I really appreciate it a lot!
Thank you for putting the time and effort, also with keeping an eye on my modest budget.
Please don't worry about the location or prices, I didn't mention it because I thought it would be bothersome to search for parts in a specific country, so thank you again for putting the effort!
I live in the Netherlands, and some of these parts seem to be available here, and otherwise I can just order them from Germany.

The SSD you added isn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be, so I'll use my own HDD for mass storage as you suggested.
Thank you so much, you really helped me out a ton, because I was honestly really lost on what to choose!
I've been wanting to replace it for a little while now but trying to put something together (and likely failing) really put me off on it.
Work is a little hectic right now, but if all goes well, I'll begin ordering/building towards the end of October when it's a little calmer.
I'm really excited!

There should be a better price on a decent 500W PSU. I bought a couple of Enermax 500W for less than €50/each. PCpartpicker isn't too good at digging though the EU countries, so investigating Be Quiet, Thermaltake, Enermax options might chop 10 or even 20 money.

Perhaps the money could be used to upgrade either storage or reach 2x8GB config.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for your input! I could look around but in the past I've been so unlucky with power supplies and memory, so I might just go for the ones suggested by Gaming_Groove so I know for sure it'll work.
I feel I don't know enough to stray off very far from the build out of fear I screw things up.

 

[RandomSeed]

Amazon support says that a GPU listed on the AMD deal page isn't an AMD, then isn't a part of the deal. The one on the deal page.

🤔

 

[Piercedveil]

The 9600k is really good and a fan favourite for a good reason. Hopefully you can find it on sale (the 9700k appears to be discounted?).

The only recent comparable to the 9600k is the Ryzen 3600 (and 3600X) which is also very good.

Ultimately if you're used to and comfortable in the intel chipset ecosystem from previous builds stick with it.

MSI motherboards are really easy to work with.

Click to shrink...

Thank you. I think this is the way I will end up going. I've been looking up comparisons between CPUs for some games and it seems I can't really go wrong either way.

 

[BennyWhatever]

Has anyone here had any experience with using Moonlight streaming from a geforce card? Is there anything I really can't skimp on in a build if I want to use this (outside of making sure i have a good router and wired connection)?
Also is there anything similar (besides Steam Link) for Radeon, or is the tech pretty much only available for GTX/RTX cards?

I'm trying to cut some costs on my build but I want to make sure I can still make use of a service like this.

 

[spootime]

Thank you to those that have helped so far. Here is what I have come up with:

CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z390-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 4GB (reusing from current build)

Any suggestions? I am still going back and forth on whether to go with AMD or Intel since I'll be mostly just be playing games on this machine. All in all, this comes out to ~$860 which doesn't seem too bad.

Click to shrink...

If you bought a 3600 you could use the stock cooler and save yourself a hundred bucks (40 on the processor, 50 on the cooler). I'd probably do that in your shoes unless you see yourself upgrading your card in the near future and playing games at 240hz.

Still, the intel would work great and if you want to stay in that ecosystem then the build looks good.

I'd say both are overkill if you don't have other uses than gaming. 3600 or 3700X will do just fine for that. I don't see a reason to buy Intel at this point because the AMD stuff is cheaper at least over here and has more cores/threads for the money while having good enough clock speeds. Buying a 3900X or 9900K now doesn't seem like a good future proofing plan when you still have the Zen 3 processors coming next year for the AM4 platform. I'd rather buy a 3600 or 3700X now and then upgrade to a faster next gen CPU when and if having even more cores becomes relevant in the next 3+ years.

Click to shrink...

Agreed.

You should get a 9900k if money isnt a concern and you want to crank out 240hz with a 2080+.

I don't like ever suggesting the 3900x because if you're someone who actually needs those cores for work you already know it and you arent asking on forums. I don't really buy the 12 core future proofing argument. Right now the 3700x is identical to the 3900x in games - why not buy the 300 dollar CPU now and replace it with in a few years instead of buying a $550 CPU and trying to hold it for six years? Doesn't make any sense.

Also, with how good RTX streaming is, does it make sense to stream using CPU encoding even if you have a 3900x? Not sure.

 

[LordRuyn]

If you bought a 3600 you could use the stock cooler and save yourself a hundred bucks (40 on the processor, 50 on the cooler). I'd probably do that in your shoes unless you see yourself upgrading your card in the near future and playing games at 240hz.

Still, the intel would work great and if you want to stay in that ecosystem then the build looks good.



Agreed.

You should get a 9900k if money isnt a concern and you want to crank out 240hz with a 2080+.

I don't like ever suggesting the 3900x because if you're someone who actually needs those cores for work you already know it and you arent asking on forums. I don't really buy the 12 core future proofing argument. Right now the 3700x is identical to the 3900x in games - why not buy the 300 dollar CPU now and replace it with in a few years instead of buying a $550 CPU and trying to hold it for six years? Doesn't make any sense.

Also, with how good RTX streaming is, does it make sense to stream using CPU encoding even if you have a 3900x? Not sure.

Click to shrink...

It's good but the IQ is still lower compared to x264 Medium. You also have the issue of some games capping the GPU, like Apex legends

 

[spootime]

It's good but the IQ is still lower compared to x264 Medium. You also have the issue of some games capping the GPU, like Apex legends

Click to shrink...

Interesting, thanks. I hope they further improve it with Ampere.

 

[RadicalDreamer]

Hi everyone! ヾ(°∀° )
My current PC (Asus M3N78-EM, AMD Phenom II X4 940, GeForce GTS 250, 8 GB RAM) is literally over a decade old. I know it's embarrassing, but I've been through a tough time and I managed to keep it running this long because I simply couldn't afford a new PC.
Things have finally started to look up for me now, but sadly my PC isn't doing so well. It hasn't been able to run anything demanding in these past 5 years, it's crashing a lot, and there's some hardware errors that are really annoying to deal with, though I'm really grateful it's been running so long!

I did some research and attempted to build something here and there but honestly, I was already out of the loop when I build my current PC 10+ years ago, so I'm pretty sure if I did this on my own, I'd ruin it.
If anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it very much!

I searched this thread for budget PCs and found this post. Is this still okay?
I've filled out the questionnaire from the first post in case it helps.

Spoiler: Questionnaire thingie

Thank you for reading! ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )

1. What's your budget?

€500-600? I'm sorry if it's troublesome, but if possible, I really prefer to stick close to €500.
If you can dive below that, fantastic too!
I promise I won't be demanding for this budget, and if it's still too much, then I'm okay with adjusting my wishes.


2. What do you want to use the computer for?

Aside from the usual internet browsing with half a dozen tabs open, Netflix, Photoshopping, it would be nice it it could play some of the more recent games or minimum or normal.
I'm not really looking into becoming a PC gamer again. These past years I had my OG Xbox One as a main platform and I want to keep it that way.
The only recent games that I would really like to play on it would be Frostpunk (specs) and Anno 1800 (specs).
I don't have a brand preference, and I'm fine with older parts. It doesn't have to run games in 60 fps either because I can't even get 25 out of my current PC when running Guild Wars 2 on a deserted map on medium graphics. It doesn't have to be dead silent. My current monitor resolution is 1920x1080.


3. How soon do you plan to purchase the parts and build it?

Within two, three months. I can't afford any of the latest stuff anyway, so I'm not waiting for anything.


4. Are you going to reuse any parts (upgrading) or are you building a completely new computer from scratch?

I have a brand new non-SSD 1 TB drive and I could reuse the RAM too unless that went through a revolution in the past decade?
Two bars are from Kingston and 2 more from some lesser known brand.
Also I have a Seasonic powersupply that's not too old, but it might not be powerful enough to run the new system.
I know SSD is apparently super fast but I really prefer to save money and not get one and use the new non-SSD one I already have.


5. Do you only need the computer itself or do you need accessories too such as a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers?

Just the parts and a case to put it in.


6. Are you interested in overclocking? (Overclocking is running components such as the processor or videocard at a higher speed than they come from the factory. It can give additional performance but can come with consequences such as increased heat (requiring better cooling), higher power consumption, possibly more noise, and stress testing to ensure that the overclock is stable.)

Not really, I have no experience with it. I'd rather let the parts run as they should without attempting to burn my apartment down.

Sorry to be bothersome, but it seems everyone knows so much about it, so I wanted to ask here even if it's for a simple computer.
Because I don't know what to choose, I will seriously consider every help or suggestion I get, so please don't worry about your reply being disregarded.
Thank you so much in advance! (❁´◡`❁)

Click to shrink...

I agree with Gaming_Groove, shuffling spec around will get you better performance for your dollar. Ryzen 2600 is an incredible value for just a bit more money, so that is probably the better bet here. Absolutely get two sticks of RAM instead of one, 3000 would work just fine so you can probably save a bit of money there. IDK what your vendor options are, but it seems like power supplies often have a decent mail-in rebate available so you can get a good deal if you are patient (and actually mail the rebate in!). I wouldn't skimp with a cheap PSU though, make sure to read some reviews and buy from a reliable brand (go for at least Bronze but again you can usually pick up a Gold for a good price). Quality is more important than wattage headroom, IMO (though you'll obviously want enough power to run your current system stably).

Have fun! You can definitely put together a serviceable gaming PC that has an upgrade path for the future with that budget.

 

[Piercedveil]

If you bought a 3600 you could use the stock cooler and save yourself a hundred bucks (40 on the processor, 50 on the cooler). I'd probably do that in your shoes unless you see yourself upgrading your card in the near future and playing games at 240hz.

Still, the intel would work great and if you want to stay in that ecosystem then the build looks good.

Click to shrink...

Any particular motherboard you would recommend if I decide to go with the 3600? I was looking at the MSI Tomahawk Max but it seems to be hard to find at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 17289]

I have a 8700k @ 4.9 paired with a 2080ti, no need for a 9900k? Wondering what the gains will be since Black Friday is around the corner.

 

[Nothing]

Agreed.

You should get a 9900k if money isnt a concern and you want to crank out 240hz with a 2080+.

I don't like ever suggesting the 3900x because if you're someone who actually needs those cores for work you already know it and you arent asking on forums. I don't really buy the 12 core future proofing argument. Right now the 3700x is identical to the 3900x in games - why not buy the 300 dollar CPU now and replace it with in a few years instead of buying a $550 CPU and trying to hold it for six years? Doesn't make any sense.

Also, with how good RTX streaming is, does it make sense to stream using CPU encoding even if you have a 3900x? Not sure.

Click to shrink...

Yep exactly.

The advice to "futureproof" your gaming rig with a $500+ 3900X is absurd. It isn't even the best gaming chip today.

 

[laxu]

I have a 8700k @ 4.9 paired with a 2080ti, no need for a 9900k? Wondering what the gains will be since Black Friday is around the corner.

Click to shrink...

Unless you can get a helluva deal, I'd say don't bother. While some games just barely manage to make use of 8 cores, if you play at anything higher than 1080p then you are unlikely to see any real benefit.

 

[Nothing]

You need to start learning to understand context. You rushed into a conversation that was about a "best budget CPU for high refresh rates". That conversation turned into "what CPU would be better for future proofing in that scenario". I suggested that a 3900x could be better for high refresh rate gaming in a couple of years than a 9900k, and I stand by that. To answer your consoles question:

PS5 and co. will have 8c/16t CPUs that will be based on zen2 or even zen2+. This is a fact. They'll run at lower clockspeeds though. My Guess would be 3.0-3.5 GHz. But, in a way, they will be similar to a 3700x, just a bit lower clocked but with other benefits and some tweaks by microsoft and sony. You see, Steam Hardware surveys are nice and fine but they are irrelevant. Believe it or not, the PC isn't the dominating force. Consoles are and devs develop their technology with consoles in mind first. Hard to swallow pill for us PC gamers, but it is true nonetheless.
Yes, I think there will be a lot of changing tech once games start to appear that were developed just for those next gen consoles. Does this mean that 9700k, 3600 etc. will turn immediately obsolet? No of course not, but high core counts could start to become relevant sooner then later and maybe more important for even frame times then slightly higher clocks.

Blindly recommending the 9900k over 3900x to people that are looking to future proof their build for 5+ years is wrong. You need to tell them that there is another options and that the future is a bit unknown. Let them make their own decision then, because we all have no idea how things are going to evolve. I'm speculating, just as you and there are two good future proofing options out there. If you even believe in future proofing in the first place.

Cheers.

Click to shrink...

The best budget CPU for high refresh rates are the Intel chips. It has always been the Intel chips. Which anybody knows if they've watched or read any comparative reviews of CPUs in gaming performance benchmarks. It's just that people refute that it matters because most of them aren't running expensive setups at 1080p and their frame rates are GPU-bound instead. They are running 1440p and 4K and the extra computing power doesn't result in a measurable frame rate uptick with the rest of their components. In which case Ryzens are just fine. So your initial premise is off. Ryzen has never been better for higher refresh rates in gaming. The answer would have been the 9600K as a budget option or else the 9700K in the next ~$300 tier.

 

[Isee]

The best budget CPU for high refresh rates are the Intel chips. It has always been the Intel chips. Which anybody knows if they've watched or read any comparative reviews of CPUs in gaming performance benchmarks. It's just that people refute that it matters because most of them aren't running expensive setups at 1080p and their frame rates are GPU-bound instead. They are running 1440p and 4K and the extra computing power doesn't result in a measurable frame rate uptick with the rest of their components. In which case Ryzens are just fine. So your initial premise is off. Ryzen has never been better for higher refresh rates in gaming. The answer would have been the 9600K as a budget option or else the 9700K in the next ~$300 tier.

Click to shrink...

9600k over 3600.

Okay then. Have a nice day.

 

[Lo-Volt]

FYI, this might be one of the few times it makes sense to get a Ryzen 3600X for U.S. shoppers near a Micro Center. It's on sale for $219 at Micro Center and this processor is the least expensive Ryzen 3XXX CPU that qualifies for a game promotion (The Outer Worlds or Borderlands 3, but not both). *curious face*

 

[Nothing]

FYI, this might be one of the few times it makes sense to get a Ryzen 3600X for U.S. shoppers near a Micro Center. It's on sale for $219 at Micro Center and this processor is the least expensive Ryzen 3XXX CPU that qualifies for a game promotion (The Outer Worlds or Borderlands 3, but not both). *curious face*

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's actually an amazing time to buy a 3600X or 3700X for one free game, or the 3800X right now for the new 2-game promotion. The 3600X and 3800X are recommended purchases for the very first time now with that added value. Can anyone confirm if you receive a product code on your receipt or something? Or is it the weird AMD account tying thing again where it has to scan your system for the relevant hardware in order to activate the games. (See quote below for the promo) It goes through the Epic Game Store with these games now.

ELIGIBLE PRODUCTS:

Get 2 Games + XBOX Game Pass:

• AMD Ryzen 9 3950X/3900X
• AMD Ryzen 7 3800X

Choice of 1 Game + XBOX Game Pass:

• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
• AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
• AMD Ryzen 7 2700

XBOX Game Pass Offer Only:

• AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
• AMD Ryzen 5 2000 Series

Click to shrink...

 

[Lo-Volt]

I'm pretty sure it's the latter regrettably, judging by my Radeon 5700XT experience.

 

[Zafir]

I got the 3700X last month and it was through the silly AMD account app thing, yeah. I had to do it over 3 days because it kept failing at different stages. First it wouldnt accept my created account, then I redeemed the code but it didn't give me my game pass months.