1080p gaming/web browsing/office work/music/movies

Citrus_8

Hi guys, I'd appreciate if someone have a look at the below build I'm thinking to purchase and give some thoughts as I keep upgrading or downgrading my choices as struggling to make a final decision.

I'd get a 1080p 144Mhz 24-inch IPS monitor separately (thinking of AOC 24G2U/BK or ASUS TUF Gaming VG259Q).

A PC would be for:

- Games: Mafia 3, GTA 5, Tropico 6, Cities Skylines with a some mods and I may be listening Spotify while playing.
- Chrome or Firefox would be always opened with around 15-25 tabs and listening music while browsing or playing Netflix in the background.
- Watching Netflix same time while using Excel, Word and Outlook with also a few pdfs and jpgs keep opening and closing.

A budget for PC (excluding a monitor price) is between 1200 and 1500 Eur, flexible to 1700 or even 1800 Euro if I change to 27inch 1440p, but I don't see a big need for that and rather save some money.

1. I want to stick with AMD CPU and GPU can be AMD 5600XT or NVidia 1660Ti or even 2060.
2. I'm mostly concerned about a CPU (3600 vs 3600X vs 3600XT vs 5600X or even take a 3700X)? With a 3700X I could stretch a budget to 1700 or 1800 Euro, but do I really need 3700X?
3. I've read that 3600XT tends to have higher temp comparing to 3600X or even 3700X, but not too sure if it's true. Either way I'm taking air cooler Noctua as I want it to cool everything well and be fairly quiet.
4. I could take RAM 3200MHz, but don't know if it's worth to spend extra money on that.
5. I'll use M.2 for Win10 and the question about HDD which I'd use for all files and games: I've read that Ironwolf is much more reliable comparing to Barracuda but should I spend extra for NAS thinking it's better? I was keep thinking about a secondary drive to be between 2TB and 4TB and whether or not HDD or SSD. If I take HDD, I'd prefer Ironwolf, if SSD - Samsung. I finally decided that 2TB should be enough to me... Is Ironwolf ok to use in a desktop PC used for around 10-12 hrs daily but always being shut down for a night? Or better to put sleep with NAS HDD in a PC?
6. PSU I've chosen 750W just because it's RMx, but maybe I should save a bit and take a 550W TXm?
7. About a sound card at first I thought to get an Asus Xonar 7.1, but changed the mind as I saw someone recently in this forum suggested that a built in 5.1 is good enough in general.
8. About WiFi I'm also finding hard to choose between INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 and ASUS PCE-AX58BT 802.11ax. Currently I have at home a Virgin Media up to 500mbps/50mbps wifi which mostly is just around 150-300mbps/45mbps. I need a reliable bluetooth with a wifi card too and struggled to find if INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 has a bluetooth? I was trying to compare online INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX20 vs ASUS PCE-AX58BT 802.11a but couldn't find much. My wifi modem is downstairs in the far end of the house and thinking that Asus would be better in my case.
9. Should I get extra case fans? I've chosen a CORSAIR 275R purposely because of a decent price and 2x 120mm front fans included + 1x 120mm rear fan included. Maybe I should take an extra 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Fan for front or top?

Many thanks!

Citrus_8

Case
CORSAIR 275R AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5600 XT - HDMI, DP, DX® 12
Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Samuel T. Cogley

Looks okay. I'd want faster RAM and a larger, lower speed SSD (still go NVMe) if it were me. Where are you thinking of buying it?

Slutmonkey57b

You're much better off getting a 2tb sata hard drive than splashing on a 500gb pcie4 one + 2gb of rust.

Amazon are doing the crucial mx500 for 150, I would go for faster (or more) ram with the savings.

djan

Given your proposed use case, I would consider lowering the budget. Unless you want to spend it all.

A ryzen 3600, 16GB 3200 CL16 RAM, a B450 motherboard would be the core for my reccomendation.

Use a basic matx case such as Cit Seven from ccl UK computers and a solid bronze rated psu.

For Graphics I would not go lower than a Rtx 2060 or something from the lower end of rtx 3000 line-up (if you can source it/wait).

This would come in around 700 euro with plenty to get a 1TB ssd and potentially extra media storage HDD. Getting nvme drives etc. Is IMO a waste of money unless you need it for extreme volumes of data transfer. In normal use you won't notice the difference.

Citrus_8

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Looks okay. I'd want faster RAM and a larger, lower speed SSD (still go NVMe) if it were me. Where are you thinking of buying it?

Good idea about RAM speed, changed it from 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB) to 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 3600MHz.

I'm in Ireland and I was looking for options everywhere but finally settled with PC Specialist. TBH I cannot finding anywhere cheaper who'd be reliable and well known with such an easy to use website to build what I want.

I haven't bought it yet as still thinking about a complectation, looking around in Custom PC, Torque PC, Legion PC, Scan Uk, Overclockers Uk, Amazon Uk. I've never built a PC myself and not keen to do so but also don't like already prebuilt options as from Curries/PC Word, LittleWoodsIreland, DID electrical and such, because these are normally with stock coolers, slower RAM, cheeper mobo etc.

Citrus_8

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

You're much better off getting a 2tb sata hard drive than splashing on a 500gb pcie4 one + 2gb of rust.

Amazon are doing the crucial mx500 for 150, I would go for faster (or more) ram with the savings.

Good thinking about just SATA HDD. But I have one big problem: I have zero patience and I want fast Windows, also I might instal one or two games in this M.2 SDD. I'm not sure if I'm thinking right

Citrus_8

djan wrote: »

Given your proposed use case, I would consider lowering the budget. Unless you want to spend it all.

A ryzen 3600, 16GB 3200 CL16 RAM, a B450 motherboard would be the core for my reccomendation.

Use a basic matx case such as Cit Seven from ccl UK computers and a solid bronze rated psu.

For Graphics I would not go lower than a Rtx 2060 or something from the lower end of rtx 3000 line-up (if you can source it/wait).

This would come in around 700 euro with plenty to get a 1TB ssd and potentially extra media storage HDD. Getting nvme drives etc. Is IMO a waste of money unless you need it for extreme volumes of data transfer. In normal use you won't notice the difference.

I'm not too fancy about 3600 since there's already 3600X and 3600XT. I've read good reviewed about both of these and even 5600X is on my list. I know it may sound it crazy as I don't need it

My logic would be that 3600X and XT are a bit faster.

I'm thinking of 3600X as it's the sweet spot between the 3600 and XT.

But the 5600XT has just been launched will great reviews. I was thinking of getting 5600XT too with an idea to upgrade after a few years getting a 27-inch 1440p monitor and changing a GPU to a better one. A CPU 5600XT would still be good with all that while a 3600 wouldn't be as great with that. I'm still thinking if it's worth to "invest" in a better CPU for a "future proove" when after a few year there will be even better option and 5600XT will cost much less. But I will probably drop this idea and stick with 3600X.

Currently I'm thinking of a CPU 3600X or 3600XT and GPU AMD 5600X or NVidia 2060. I'm strugling to decide if it's an AMD or NVidia GPU I should focus to.

Also, B450 motherboard - I'm not too fancy about this one. I've compared Asus PRIME B450-PLUS audio (Realtek® ALC887-VD2) with ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (Realtek ALC S1200A 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC) and the B550 Plus has a much better integrated audio. Also B450 max RAM is only up to 3200MHz, while B550-PLUS max is 4600MHz. Actually, I've only spotted this now and decided to up my RAM to 3600MHz

I would probably change HDD Ironwolf to an old good Barracuda to safe some money as I've read more today and thinking that NAS HDD is not necessary in a Desktop PC. I was just concerned about Barracuda's reliability, but people say Barracuda is now better that 8 years ago.

Thank you for the input! Much appreciated.

Citrus_8

After all of your guys thoughts this is what I have came with:

• saved 90 Euro from the original,
• CPU changed from 5600XT to 3600X,
• RAM speed changed from 3200MHz to 3600MHz (is this much of a difference? Maybe I should go back to 3200 here?), RAM itself stay same 16 GB,
• GPU changed from AMD 5600XT to NVidia 2060,
• SSD changed from faster, but less storage 500GB M.2 Samsung 980 Pro to slower with more storage 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD. Kept same HDD.

All the rest is same. I'm pretty happy with this build except that RAM speed 3200MHz or 3600MHz is still niggling me.

A monitor is going to be AOC 24G2U/BK 23.8 Inch Widescreen IPS LED 1 m/s 144 Hz.

Thanks everyone!

Citrus_8

Case CORSAIR 275R AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
Storage Drive 2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz

Slutmonkey57b

Citrus_8 wrote: »

After all of your guys thoughts this is what I have came with:

• saved 90 Euro from the original,
• CPU changed from 5600XT to 3600X,
• RAM speed changed from 3200MHz to 3600MHz (is this much of a difference? Maybe I should go back to 3200 here?), RAM itself stay same 16 GB,
• GPU changed from AMD 5600XT to NVidia 2060,
• SSD changed from faster, but less storage 500GB M.2 Samsung 980 Pro to slower with more storage 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD. Kept same HDD.

All the rest is same. I'm pretty happy with this build except that RAM speed 3200MHz or 3600MHz is still niggling me.

A monitor is going to be AOC 24G2U/BK 23.8 Inch Widescreen IPS LED 1 m/s 144 Hz.

Thanks everyone!

IMO 32GB of ram is more likely to be useful than 400mhz ram speed. Web browsers eat memory for breakfast. You are unlikely to notice the difference between NVME and SATA SSD speed in normal use, however you WILL see a massive difference keeping the spinning rust. Unless you're keeping video rips there is no point keeping any storage magnetic. Also no point buying the X or XT processors where a non-x is available, they're the same silicon and Ryzen doesn't have massive overclocking headroom anyway. Save the money.

Samuel T. Cogley

The advantage of faster RAM is the ability to increase the fabric clock on the Ryzen processor - they top out at about 1800Mhz the same speed as 3600 datarate RAM. There should be very little difference in price.

No point in going for a X or XT processor.

Citrus_8

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The advantage of faster RAM is the ability to increase the fabric clock on the Ryzen processor - they top out at about 1800Mhz the same speed as 3600 datarate RAM. There should be very little difference in price.

No point in going for a X or XT processor.

• Changed CPU from 3600X to 3600. Just one problem that PC Specialist currently are out of stock of 3600 and will be in only after 13/12/2020. I suppose I'll wait but keep looking around to buy somewhere else in the meantime.
• Changed RAM from 16GB MHz 3600 to 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB).
• Changed HDD to 2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W).
• Changed Samsung M.2 to a cheaper and slower 512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W).

After the changes the whole build seems to be more balanced, closer to what I need and still sticking to the budget (just 25 Euro more than the original one). I guess since I changed RAM from 16 to 32, I could also cut the expense and stay with SDD + HDD, but I'll probably stay to more quiet and faster option SSD + SDD.

Citrus_8

Case CORSAIR 275R AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU
Motherboard ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
Storage Drive 2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive 512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz

€1,579.00 inc. VAT

Pangea

FYI The MSI X570 Tomahawk has wifi/ bluetooth built in.
I am currently looking for a similar PC for all the uses you mentioned.
I too am debating over the CPU and GPU. I am a novice so I am only learning.
I have heard of people having problems with the AMD GPU drivers so it kind of put me off.
I am looking to get into PC gaming and the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z has good reviews, i don't know if I can justify spending that much on a GPU though , the GTX 1660 S would probably suffice i guess.

Samuel T. Cogley

Price seems kinda high to me.

For example:
https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-raider-5600x-six-core-4.6ghz-nvidia-rtx-2060-dual-6gb-desktop-pc.html

Citrus_8

Pangea wrote: »

FYI The MSI X570 Tomahawk has wifi/ bluetooth built in.
I am currently looking for a similar PC for all the uses you mentioned.
I too am debating over the CPU and GPU. I am a novice so I am only learning.
I have heard of people having problems with the AMD GPU drivers so it kind of put me off.
I am looking to get into PC gaming and the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z has good reviews, i don't know if I can justify spending that much on a GPU though , the GTX 1660 S would probably suffice i guess.

Great mobo, but not sure about their built in wifi quality. I think it depends on the motherboard. All the boards with integrated wifi weren't the greatest compared to a wifi card. Though, I have heard good things about the newer boards.


I now got an idea to actually get MSI X570 Tomahawk with wifi, not take a wifi card, but get a Powerline Adapter so a built in wifi would be just a back up in case adapter fails (which TBH is a rear case).


Wifi with external antennas allows more flexible positioning and upgrading when wifi standards change.

So I'm still reading reviews, thinking and looking around.

Andrew76

Citrus_8 wrote: »

Great mobo, but not sure about their built in wifi quality. I think it depends on the motherboard. All the boards with integrated wifi weren't the greatest compared to a wifi card. Though, I have heard good things about the newer boards.


I now got an idea to actually get MSI X570 Tomahawk with wifi, not take a wifi card, but get a Powerline Adapter so a built in wifi would be just a back up in case adapter fails (which TBH is a rear case).


Wifi with external antennas allows more flexible positioning and upgrading when wifi standards change.

So I'm still reading reviews, thinking and looking around.

That would be my choice - get a better board and use the built in wifi rather than using up a PCIe slot (the better board will have other improvements too I guess). I just got an ASUS ROG Strix B550i that comes with a little antenna and am really impressed with the wifi on it, granted the PC is sitting a few feet from the router so that helps.

Citrus_8

Andrew76 wrote: »

That would be my choice - get a better board and use the built in wifi rather than using up a PCIe slot (the better board will have other improvements too I guess). I just got an ASUS ROG Strix B550i that comes with a little antenna and am really impressed with the wifi on it, granted the PC is sitting a few feet from the router so that helps.

Unfortunately, my Virgin Media broadband modem is downstairs and PC would be upstairs. Between a modem and a PC would be 2 walls. Furthermore, a PC would be in the opposite side of the house than the modem so in the furthest room. The only good thing is that it's up to 500Mbps/50Mbps speed with 2.4 and 5GHz options, and my smartphone captures between 50 to around 180 Mbps download speed and nearly always around 40-45Mbps upload. Taking into account all that, I'm looking for the best option I could get to keep a decent speed (minimum of 80Mbps). I unfortunately not in a position to relocate a PC somewhere closer to a modem at the moment. That's why I was thinking to get an ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS mobo but pricier Wifi network card ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz.


But maybe I should get and try with my old grandpa laptop one of these Powerline Adapters if it's not a waste of money?

Andrew76

Citrus_8 wrote: »

Unfortunately, my Virgin Media broadband modem is downstairs and PC would be upstairs. Between a modem and a PC would be 2 walls. Furthermore, a PC would be in the opposite side of the house than the modem so in the furthest room. The only good thing is that it's up to 500Mbps/50Mbps speed with 2.4 and 5GHz options, and my smartphone captures between 50 to around 180 Mbps download speed and nearly always around 40-45Mbps upload. Taking into account all that, I'm looking for the best option I could get to keep a decent speed (minimum of 80Mbps). I unfortunately not in a position to relocate a PC somewhere closer to a modem at the moment. That's why I was thinking to get an ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS mobo but pricier Wifi network card ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz.


But maybe I should get and try with my old grandpa laptop one of these Powerline Adapters if it's not a waste of money?

Powerline would certainly be a cheaper way to test out what speeds you can get in the locations needed. I never found them that great but I'm convinced the wiring in my house is a bit crap and I was also getting interference from the neighbours house when I used them (semi-d here) - but lots of folks recommend them so worth a try imo.

I'm on the Virigin Media 360mb package for a few years now but even as I was planning on switching over to it I had ordered a decent router to use inatead of their Hub - even before this crappy pandemic I worked from home so needed to make sure the wired and wireless were up to the job (also had enough of Eir's e-fibre garbage). The Hub and router sit in an upstairs bedroom where I work from but the router gives great signal all over the house - a quick speedtest from the phone downstairs just gave me 366 down, 40 up.

But everyone's situation is different as you say, shame there isn't a simple one stop solution for everyone.

Slutmonkey57b

Citrus_8 wrote: »

Unfortunately, my Virgin Media broadband modem is downstairs and PC would be upstairs. Between a modem and a PC would be 2 walls. Furthermore, a PC would be in the opposite side of the house than the modem so in the furthest room. The only good thing is that it's up to 500Mbps/50Mbps speed with 2.4 and 5GHz options, and my smartphone captures between 50 to around 180 Mbps download speed and nearly always around 40-45Mbps upload. Taking into account all that, I'm looking for the best option I could get to keep a decent speed (minimum of 80Mbps). I unfortunately not in a position to relocate a PC somewhere closer to a modem at the moment. That's why I was thinking to get an ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS mobo but pricier Wifi network card ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz.


But maybe I should get and try with my old grandpa laptop one of these Powerline Adapters if it's not a waste of money?

Your router signal is going to be the problem, not your network card in your PC.

Citrus_8

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Your router signal is going to be the problem, not your network card in your PC.

So I bought a powerline adapter from Amazon for a very good price and tested a speed. Although wifi 5Ghz gives me a good speed, but not a stable signal. While a powerline adaptor supports only 2.4Ghz and only gives around 50Mbps stable signal on my old laptop, a 5Ghz wifi gives me between 80 and 150 Mbps download speed. With an ethernet cable it gives me 50Mbps. But I got confused - I can swear that a browser, youtube and everything related to the internet works faster on cable from a powerline adapter, rather than 100Mbps 5Ghz wifi. I guess it's because the speed with cable is stable, when with wifi it's very jumpy. So I'm sticking with cable. And this also helped me to decide that I'm going to buy whether a mobo with wifi or an internal ax wifi card, I'll see what's cheaper. Thank you everyone for your comments above and the help. I'm now just waiting for the right moment to buy a pc (cpu 3600, gpu 2600, 32gb... and a 1080p 144 ips monitor).

Samuel T. Cogley

Latency - a boosted wifi signal probably has much higher latency than a powerline connection. It's a bit like the turbo in a car.