Thoughts on this potential PC build?

After my MSI GS43VR decided to die on me after three years (most likely a broken GTX 1060), I've decided to try building a desktop for my next rig. I was hoping that my gaming notebook would last me until the next gen of GPUs came out, but it wasn't meant to be. Building a desktop is completely new to me, so any advice is welcome!

I'm used to gaming maxed out (or nearly maxed out) at 1080p 60fps, and I'd like for my new build to achieve somewhat better results without breaking the bank (my budget is roughly US $1000 to $1100) - 1080p 60fps is fine, though I wouldn't mind dipping my toe into 1440p 60fps gaming too. So I'm planning to get a 1660TI, with hopes that the motherboard, CPU, and PSU will be "future proof" enough that I won't need to upgrade them when I buy a next-gen GPU like the eventual RTX 3060. I'd appreciate any insight into whether the below components are likely to reach that goal. Note that I already have a 4K 60ps display and speakers, and I don't plan to upgrade them at this time. I also have a full tube of IC Diamond Thermal Compound and some Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

I've included links to the Newegg postings with each item below. Also, here is the Newegg wishlist: https://secure.newegg.com/Wishlist/SharedWishlistDetail?ID=R94GRPpH5H+pflcD+wJsAQ==

• CPU: Ryzen 5 3600X 3700X with included Wraith Spire Wraith Prism cooler - 8 core/16 threads, 3.6 to 4.2GHz, AM4 ($250)($320) [Newegg link]
  
  
• Mobo: ASRock X570M PRO4 - micro-ATX, AM4 ($186) [Newegg link]
  
  
• GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660Ti 6GB GDDR6 SC Ultra Gaming - dual fan, overclocked boost clock to 1845mz (+75mhz vs reference card), metal backplate ($280 with discount) [Newegg link]
  
  
• RAM: 16GB (8GB x 2) CORSAIR Vengeance LPX - DDR4 3200mhz ($70) [Newegg link]
  
  
• PSU: Seasonic Focus PLUS Gold 750W 650W 80+ Gold Power Supply, Semi-Modular ($104) ($100) [Newegg link]
  
  
• Case: SilverStone Redline Series SST-RL06BR-PRO - micro-ATX/ATX mid-Tower, includes 4 120mm fans (3 intake in front at 1400rpm, 1 exhaust in rear at 1000rpm), dust covers on top and bottom ($102 on Amazon, out of stock on Newegg) [Newegg link]
  
  
• Storage: I already own a brand new 1TB 860 Evo SATA SSD (I was planning on putting in my GS43VR right before it died). I'm also planning on putting in my older 500GB 850 Evo M.2 SSD.
  
  
• Wi-fi: I'd like to salvage the Intel AC Wireless 8260 from my GS43VR and use it.

Total cost (excluding storage and wifi I already have): US $1058. I have about another $50 or so I could work with if necessary.

Any feedback on this build would be very much appreciated (does everything look good? or are there any bottlenecks, products with bad reputations, or incompatibilities that I missed? or any recommendations for something different?). Again, my goal is to get to 1080p/60fps+ on max or 1140p/60fps+ on high or medium, and for all components except for the GPU to hopefully be good enough, and last long enough, to handle a next-gen RTX 3060 or higher when that releases.

Thanks!

 

Congrats on getting into desktop PC gaming & PC building, part of the fun is choosing your parts & building it, not to mention optimising the airflow (case fan layout, optimal fan rpm to noise ratios) and overclocking!

I quite like your choice of components, but I'd do a few things different. I'd choose an 8 core AMD CPU rather than the 6 core you chose - 6 core 12 thread is just good now, but not optimal now, and that's not counting the future either. Yeah, so I'd go for the 3700X probably. I was having the same debate over CPU choice when I built my system in Nov 2016, and I was tossing up between a 4 thread 6600K and an 8 thread 6700K - boy am I pleased I chose the latter, my PC would be close to useless for my gaming needs if I had gone with the 6600K! You've not chosen a CPU cooler, so I guess you're using the cooler that comes with the CPU - they do come with a cooler right (?), and how good is that cooler? PSU, I've got a 650W PSU and it's more than enough, so you could maybe save some money by getting a good 650W PSU rather than 750W, unless you're planning on installing a massive "non-standard" GPU like the 2080ti Lightening that is capable of very high power consumption and running higher volts than regular cards. Or if you're gonna run x2 GPUs (sli or crossfire) then you want a high wattage PSU. So, you could transfer some of the budget from the PSU to the CPU, or just use your $100 buffer to get the 3700X and keep your 750W PSU.

What's the case like? It looks like a pretty high air flow case - which I think is good, I like the design of the fan intakes and fan layout. Did Gamers Nexus say anything about that particular case?

Oh yeah, GPU, you chose 1660ti, how about an even cheaper second hand used GPU to tide you over until next year - as long as it plays your games fine for the next year then who cares if you're gonna be upgrading it anyway next year when NVidia release their 3xxx cards.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

I think you're absolutely right. I want my CPU to last 4+ years, or a few GPU generations. And with the new Xbox and PS5 coming out and apparently taking advantage of 8 cores, I don't want to be left behind. I'll replace the 3600X with a 3700X for $80 more.

Ryzen comes with an included "Wraith" cooler. I had assumed (perhaps wrongly?) the included cooler would be adequate. I'll do some more research on that. Any suggestions on what to look out for when cooler shopping?

Great insight. I'll look for a decent 650W PSU that's less expensive. Although I wonder, does wattage tend to go up significantly over GPU/CPU generations? I'm hoping the PSU will be the "most" future proof, so I'm wondering if I should go overboard a bit (but then, maybe 650W is already going overboard enough?)

I took your very helpful advice from earlier and actually discovered this case via Gamers Nexus. It's a bit noisy, but supposedly not too bad, and the air flow is supposed to be excellent compared to pretty much every other case at this price point.

This one might take some convincing me on, though I'm open to it, and saving $ is always desirable (especially if I'm getting a more expensive CPU and cooler). I'm a bit skittish after my GS43VR's GTX 1060 died, and I'd hate to pick up a second-hand GTX 1070 or something only for it to die on me over the next 1 - 1.5 years while I'm waiting for Ampere GPUs to come out. Do you have any suggestions on where to look/what to look for if I'm buying second-hand, so that I'll hopefully get a quality card?

Thanks again, super helpful I hope building this thing will be as fun as figuring out what's going in it.

 

Yes, I think you would regret buying a 6 core CPU, get the 8 core version.

CPU Cooler. This is an interesting one, and really comes down to how good the wraith cooler is at cooling a stock (rather than overclocked) CPU - a say stock because AMD CPUs do not benefit from overclocking, it's advised to leave the latest generation of AMD CPUs at stock and let them 'boost' themselves. Have a look to see if you can find reviews of the wraith cooler with an 8 core CPU - make sure it's at least cooling it enough to allow the CPU to 'boost' itself. If you get an aftermarket CPU cooler then you've got the choice between (I'd say) a big air cooler or an AIO liquid cooler. I'm a fan of the former, I've got a Noctua NH-D14, it's a real beast - the benefit of air coolers is better reliability and lower noise levels if you get a good one, no pumps to wear out, no pumps making noise, no water leaking or slowly dissipating over a number of years. For a big air cooler ensure that it will fit in the case and that your RAM is not too tall that it impacts the fins of the air cooler.

PSU. Guru3d recommend a 650W PSU even for their most power hungry cards, RTX 2080ti ( https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_rtx_2080_ti_founders_review,9.html), but they do recommend 750W if you were gonna overclock CPU & GPU, provided you're talking the power hungry RTX 2080ti. If you know you're not gonna be buying a flagship GPU in the future - ie the most power hungry ones, then 650W PSU will be fine.

Case. Yeah, getting one with good airflow is paramount, you'll get the most performance from your CPU & GPU that way. It looks like a good case.

GPU. Buying a second hand GPU, you know I've never bought a second hand GPU, but I would tend to just buy a new GPU 'at the right time', but in your case for building now and then upgrading to 3xxx NVidia GPU later, then I think second hand makes sense. In terms of what to look out for - I'd be after information like temperatures reported from the user (provided you don't want to take the card apart and repaste & repad, blow out dust from the heatsink). I'd be after screenshots showing recent performance in benchmarks, along with temperatures, but with an understanding of what kind of case and environment they're running in - because that would affect the GPU temperatures reported. It's probably a lot to ask of them, they'd have to be a 'power' user to answer most of the questions, maybe I'm asking too much of them. Oh, sh*t, I'm about to run late, need to get off to work!

 

The Wraith Prism cooler that's included with Ryzen X CPUs is plenty adequate.

 

Yeah, so for 3900X you only gained 2.5% performance improvement using the 360mm AIO vs the Wraith Cooler, and that was in strenuous 100% CPU loaded tasks, gaming was virtually no difference. Also, the 3900X is a 12 core part, and Prototime is considering the 8 core 3700X which will be even easier to cool, so I think the Wraith Cooler is a no brainer then. It might not be as quiet as a premium cooler, that's the only disadvantage, but you'd have to look into how loud/quiet the Wraith Cooler is with a 3700X. He didn't say it was unacceptable with 3900X, so it should be totally fine with the 3700X. If it turns out it's not good enough noise wise, then he can always buy a premium cooler for it as an upgrade.

 

Thanks guys, this has been extremely helpful. I'm now eyeing a Ryzen 3700X and a Seasonic Gold Plus 80+ 650W PSU (it's not much cheaper than the non-Plus 750W, but it's fully modular, has better cooling, and has a longer 10 year warranty).This is all still in my budget. I'm a bit nervous about acoustics with the case, but it has such good cooling according to reviews I think it'll be worth it.

Unless there's any other big points you'd recommend I consider, I think I'm going to start ordering parts soon.

 

I wouldn't be too nervous about the acoustics of the case, one benefit of high airflow cases is that you can turn down the case fans to lower rpm's because the fans don't need to spin as fast to offer the same (or better) cooling when compared to a restrictive low air flow case. I have my case fans tied to CPU temperature with idle and light internet browsing resulting in the slowest fan speed possible (ie at any lower % rpm figure they would not spin), and then as CPU temperature rises during gaming or other tasks then the case fans spin up automatically to a maximum of 70% fan speed (or was it 75%) - I chose the upper figure to be the loudest I was happy with running it combined with testing it's effect on CPU/GPU temperatures - so I tried to choose an optimal upper level there. Let us know what you choose and how the build goes.

 

FYI, my i5-6700 + Radeon R9 390 can run most games at 1440p/60fps without issue. Just sayin'...

 

It turns out my GS43VR isn't so dead after all. A defective RAM stick was refusing to let the laptop POST; now that it's gone, the laptop has been resurrected. I've gotten so excited about building this new desktop rig, I may just do it anyway - especially because this is the second component in my GS43VR in a little over a month that failed (I also had to recently swap out the battery), and it seems to be running a bit hot these days despite repasting. So I'm not convinced it's going to be around too much longer anyway, and having a desktop is a very appealing idea. I'm going to mull over my options some more. For the time being, I'm glad to have learned so much through this process, and I'm grateful for everyone's feedback - especially @Robbo99999 for offering so much of it!

I'll follow up on this soon.

 

Well that's good news! Now that your laptop is working again you might want to delay building your desktop until the next generation of NVidia cards come out, that way you can save some money by not having to buy a "tide you over card" now. That's assuming the price of other components doesn't rise substantially between now and then - I think SSD prices are still falling (but you're not buying one of those now that I think about it), RAM prices are still falling.

 

I'm watching this video now, make sure you choose RAM carefully to get the most of the CPU/gaming performance:
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3508-ryzen-3000-memory-benchmark-best-ram-fclk-uclock-mclock

Even kits rated for the same speed and latency performed better or worse on certain motherboards. Steve says check the QVL listing for the motherboard to make sure you're choosing a RAM kit that is actually listed on the list.

You probably want to get at least a 3600Mhz kit judging by their results.

 

Nice! At least this buys you some time.

 

Yup, I've decided to hold off on building a desktop until the next-gen GPUs come out or my GS43VR dies for real. If the latter happens, I'm glad I now have my parts picked out and have gotten some great feedback on it. If my laptop holds out long enough for Ampere GPUs to come out, I'll probably make a few changes to my parts list and come back to this forum for some more advice.

This has been a great learning experience and I'm now more confident than ever in building my eventual rig. Thanks, all!

 

That's great, it's worked out well timing wise that you don't have to build right now! Yes, give us an update on your prospective build when the next gen NVidia GPUs come out (or your laptop dies), resurrect this thread!