Build Suggestions

[fantastic]

Hi folks,

 

In a month I want to purchase new PC parts and get a build going to replace my 6 year old PC.

 

Existing parts:

i5-4690K

Hyper 212 EVO

Asus Z97-A Motherboard

G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM

Asus STRIX 970 GPU

750W 80+ Gold PSU

Misc. HDDs and SSDs (SATA)

Shit case I'm going to trash

 

Okay, so here's a few questions before I go to my budget and other expectations:

1. What do people typically do with used computer parts? These are a little old so I can't imagine they'll sell for much used, and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. Do people just recycle them or something?

2. Is there anything worth salvaging with the above build? If so, please list it in the suggested build :D thanks!

 

Okay, so my budget is $2000-$2500 CAD. I want to be able to run nearly any game in 1080p with maxed settings and at least 144FPS the whole time. 1440p 60FPS would be ideal too. I would like an AIO cooler to keep things cool because I run my desktop for quite long every day and if my door is closed my room can get hot. I'm thinking of an AMD CPU for the best bang for the buck and an RTX 3070 or 3080 depending on what's left in the budget. I'd like 16GB of RAM, and an NVMe SSD for Windows and games. 

 

Any suggestions would be great, thanks  if those expectations aren't reasonable for the budget provided LMK!

[Nate.]

1. Keep the spare parts, use them to run a Linux distro and host a home web server or something of the sort.

2. Keep the PSU. Very much still fits today's standards. 

 

If I get some time I'll write up a build. 

[delirium]

Use the old parts for a "new" PC for a younger family member.

 

Keep the storage and PSU.

 

FYI: Water cooling doesn't dissipate heat as fast as its air counterpart but will get you consistently lower temps under load (probably inconsequential to your room temps at the end of the day) 

[John]

Ryzen 5 5600x and a 3070/3080. I'm telling you right now, you are not going to be able to get a 3070 or a 3080 next month. People have been attempting to buy these for months now with no luck. You gotta get really lucky when they restock or you gotta bot one. ZOTAC restocks their 3070s a lot but they aren't the ideal 3070 to get. A 3070 is a 3070 so if you want to get one, try for it. I'm in a Discord that tracks 3070/3080 drops and it pings you when a retailer restocks. If you're building or upgrading these days you are going to want to upgrade to a RTX Ampere card or the new AMD Big Navi cards. They're both extremely hard to get now because scalpers and bots are scooping up everything. You will end up paying a round $600-$700 on a RTX 3070 if you are desperate enough and can't nab one at retail. I've had a couple of offers so far for 3070s that I have turned down because I don't want to overpay too much for the card. I've been offered $600 that I absolutely regret not taking and $650 that I was more iffy on. I was also offered to buy a $560 MSRP card for $730 from some moron in the NVIDIA Discord. You just gotta get lucky... Browse /r/hardwareswap on Reddit if you want to buy one used or sealed. Like I said though, you'll be paying $600-$700 anywhere that is not retail.

 

Here's a document that will tell you everything you need to know on how to secure a 3xxx card:

 

https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/14M3rQQSWW4OPgnRkxbMr1hTEBEwPm3449KINbJJgGA8/mobilebasic

 

Good luck. I have been trying myself for a while.

 

What @deliriumsaid about watercooling is true. I thought about getting an AIO but my dear friend @vinylshowed me the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4. It is an absolute bitch to install but it's worth it. I get really good temps compared to the stock AMD cooler and it is fairly quiet. It is absolutely massive though so you might have to check if you have clearance for RAM or whatnot. oh, and find someone with tiny hands to help you install it.

 

I put this together for you.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($184.84 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($109.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB XC3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($559.99) 
Total: $1307.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-24 09:02 EST-0500

 

I put in the prices for the CPU and GPU manually because they are not in stock anywhere. It's going to be a pain to source either but it is completely worth it. No point in getting anything else if you aren't dying of desperation to get a new system. As for the case, get whatever you want lol. It's your preference and the design you like. I'm not going to shove a case down your throat. Keep your current storage and add that NVME I put in the list. I don't think I'm forgetting anything? You could look into getting another AMD Ryzen CPU. Those things are really great and you seriously can't go wrong with them. No point in getting an Intel CPU nowadays. You could also get a different motherboard. I'm not too knowledgeable on them but I picked that one based off of personal experience. Idk. Good luck, champ.

 

Adding this:

 

Ryzen 7 3700x is on sale right now for $279 at Best Buy. It is also a really good CPU and it is a nice alternative if you cannot find the 5600x. I recommend browsing /r/buildapcsales for some nice deals. Sometimes retailers make stupid errors and you can cop nice parts for stupid cheap prices. There are also times where there are just some really good sales that aren't marketed that well.

 

I'm finding a lot of really good deals on things right now like cases, storage, CPUs, etc. and it isn't even Black Friday yet. Right now and Black Friday would be the best time to buy parts if you can, @fantastic.

[BoM]

4 hours ago, John said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($184.84 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($109.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB XC3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($559.99) 
Total: $1307.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-24 09:02 EST-0500

 

I put in the prices for the CPU and GPU manually because they are not in stock anywhere. It's going to be a pain to source either but it is completely worth it. No point in getting anything else if you aren't dying of desperation to get a new system. As for the case, get whatever you want lol. It's your preference and the design you like. I'm not going to shove a case down your throat. Keep your current storage and add that NVME I put in the list. I don't think I'm forgetting anything? You could look into getting another AMD Ryzen CPU. Those things are really great and you seriously can't go wrong with them. No point in getting an Intel CPU nowadays. You could also get a different motherboard. I'm not too knowledgeable on them but I picked that one based off of personal experience. Idk. Good luck, champ.

Since there is some room in the budget I'd probably say get a Ryzen 7 if you want a little more power / have trouble getting a hold of something else. Ditch the big ass CPU cooler and stick to the AIO (don't spend more than $130-150 on it), like deli said it's not really gonna change room temps...but it will keep your CPU cooler under load...and it's easier to install + takes up less space...just make sure you have a proper case for the amount of fans coming off the AIO. Glad to see John picked 32 GB of RAM, definitely stick with that instead of just trying to ride it out with 16 GB as that is becoming the bare minimum to have soon enough. A good case is going to be the last bit of your budget and honestly spending decent money on a case is worth it not only for the aesthetics but also the ease of use / ingenuity put into higher quality cases. If it comes down to case or a Ryzen 7 over 5, commit to the case IMO.

 

For cases a lot of people will probably tell you to get a Lian Li which is fine, but I tend to default to corsair cases if only for their often preinstalled corsair fans (which are pretty well established as the industry best). My current case from corsair was admittedly a little pricey for a case, but holy fuck was it worth it: BoM's case recommendation.

[John]

Someone found links for the upcoming 3060 TI release on Newegg. These badboys are probably going to be a lot harder to get your hands on but they are cheaper at a speculated price of ~$450. NVIDIA claims they perform as well or better than the 2080 Super which is wild because the 2080S is a $750 card. I would get one if you don't want the 3070 or you can't get on. I originally planned on getting the 3060 TI but I got tired of waiting for the release. I'm going to get whatever I can get my hands on.

 

https://www.refresh.systems/hot-list/gaming/graphics-cards/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-ti

[fantastic]

14 minutes ago, John said:

Someone found links for the upcoming 3060 TI release on Newegg. These badboys are probably going to be a lot harder to get your hands on but they are cheaper at a speculated price of ~$450. NVIDIA claims they perform as well or better than the 2080 Super which is wild because the 2080S is a $750 card. I would get one if you don't want the 3070 or you can't get on. I originally planned on getting the 3060 TI but I got tired of waiting for the release. I'm going to get whatever I can get my hands on.

 

https://www.refresh.systems/hot-list/gaming/graphics-cards/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-ti

Was actually planning on getting a 3070 or 3080, wasn't sure which would fit into my budget

[John]

Just now, fantastic said:

Was actually planning on getting a 3070 or 3080, wasn't sure which would fit into my budget

Take whatever you can get :D

 

No but for real, it's going to be a bloodbath trying to get any of these. It all depends on what you want to do. I've read things that if you want to switch over to 1440p 144hz, 3080 is the way to go. 3070 is good but the 3080 will give you that umph. And, the 3080 is like $700 MSRP so if you're desperate enough to pay $650+ for a 3070, just put forward the extra cash for the 3080. 3060 TI is on par or better than the 2080S so you can go from there. Any of these cards will last you for the next couple of years.