It's new build time!

[mycarsavw]

After years of building PCs for other people it's time to do something for myself.

I built the current PC 5ish years ago

Mobo: P8H77-M Pro
CPU: i5 3350P
Memory: 16Gb
GPU: R9 285 2Gb
PSU: HX 620w
Case: FD Define Mini
Monitors: BenQ G2420HDBL + GL2450HT

The only things I'll be carrying over are the SSD/HDDs, case and monitors.

Most things are played at 1920x1080, I play Fallout 3/4, Far Cry 2/3, Just Cause 1/2/3, Black Ops, MW3 and a few other older titles. I'm not that interested in playing the latest and greatest on extreme settings but it'd be nice to be able to build this now and not have to bother touching it for a few years.

I've got no loyalty to CPU or GPU camps and I'm out of touch with where things are at the moment so rather than suggest something, I'm open to people throwing ideas at me.

[e!] Budget is currently £700 exc. but I can push it a little higher if that's not enough.

Do your worst, please!

[DanceswithUnix]

Budget?

[kalniel]

Do you use many mods/do a lot of settlement building for fallout 4? I remember Cat mentioning single-threaded CPU demand gets quite bad if so, which might determine your CPU choice. As far as GPUs go, the 2060 and similar cards are coming soon, which might either be worth waiting for or picking up a previous gen performer like the 1070 or 1080 on offer, though to be honest, I'm gaming at max settings at 1080p on a 1060 so if there's a bargain to be had which would enable you to get the exact CPU you want then I'd do that and only replace the GPU as and when it's no good in X future title which has yet to be seen.

[mycarsavw]

Budget?

Schoolboy error, original post edited to include the budget!

Do you use many mods/do a lot of settlement building for fallout 4? I remember Cat mentioning single-threaded CPU demand gets quite bad if so, which might determine your CPU choice. As far as GPUs go, the 2060 and similar cards are coming soon, which might either be worth waiting for or picking up a previous gen performer like the 1070 or 1080 on offer, though to be honest, I'm gaming at max settings at 1080p on a 1060 so if there's a bargain to be had which would enable you to get the exact CPU you want then I'd do that and only replace the GPU as and when it's no good in X future title which has yet to be seen.

I've not scratched the surface of the mods but those I have used seem to work fine with what I have at present.

Noted re GPU/CPU - I've no plans to hold out for anything new as the prices will hurt, but as you say, if there's a bargain...

[deejayburnout]

I recommend a Ryzen 2600 for the CPU. not the best single threaded but time you get that, 16GB ram and a decent 470 Mobo, it will leave you £300 for a GPU.

[mycarsavw]

I recommend a Ryzen 2600 for the CPU. not the best single threaded but time you get that, 16GB ram and a decent 470 Mobo, it will leave you £300 for a GPU.

That gives me somewhere to start, thank you.

PC Part Picker have a build based on the 2600 here > Modest AMD Gaming Build

If I go for a modest build, the x470 boards seem a bit overkill. I don't think I've got the funds to go for a not-modest build but I'm happy to be told otherwise.

With a bit of tinkering this is where I am: PCPartPicker

Mobo: Asus Prime B450M-A
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600
Cooler: Noctua D15S (+free fitting kit)
RAM: 2 x 8Gb DDR4-3000
GPU: RX 580 8Gb
PSU: Corsair TXM 650w

About £700 inc.

Am I on the right track?

[deejayburnout]

That’s looks good to me.

The reason I went with a 470 board is when zen 2 comes out I have a better upgrade path to the new cpus. It will be the same socket and chipset good for zen 2 also

[DanceswithUnix]

Using the bundled cooler saves £70, which more than pays for the £50 extra to upgrade to a 2600X. Can always buy a new cooler at a later date, upgrading the CPU would be costly.

Edit: The graphics card is cheaper on Overclockers (who are usually pretty good for AMD cards):

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/power...gx-18l-pc.html

[mycarsavw]

The reason I went with a 470 board is when zen 2 comes out I have a better upgrade path to the new cpus. It will be the same socket and chipset good for zen 2 also

That's something I overlooked, thanks.

The only downside to this is the very limited number of mATX x470 boards. Unless I change my case, which I'm reluctant to do, they've got me over a barrel.

Using the bundled cooler saves £70, which more than pays for the £50 extra to upgrade to a 2600X. Can always buy a new cooler at a later date, upgrading the CPU would be costly.

Edit: The graphics card is cheaper on Overclockers (who are usually pretty good for AMD cards):

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/power...gx-18l-pc.html

I'd read a lot about the coolers then promptly forgot everything when I posted my parts list. The stock cooler on the 2600x is said to be very well matched. Thanks.

Revising the spec to take into account all the advice given above...

(I just realised I can copy BB code directly from the site, TIL.)

2600x + x470

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£189.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty X470 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£190.19 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£119.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£79.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £760.07

or

2600x + B450

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£189.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B450M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£74.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£119.94 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£79.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £644.87

[MrJim]

ASRock - Fatal1ty X470 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£190.19 @ Amazon UK)

You might consider the Asus ROG Strix X470 I-Gaming motherboard, which is a similar price:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-X470-I...TX+Motherboard

It has the advantage of a top-mounted M.2 slot, which is better for cooling; I know some people have had problems with underside M.2 slots causing SSDs to overheat and throttle. Obviously only an issue if you're planning to use an M.2 SSD at some point though...

[mycarsavw]

I've just worked out why all the non-ATX x470 boards available only had 2 DIMMs - it's because they're all mITX and there are no mATX boards.

A Gigabyte chap explains why they're only offering B450 and not x470 in a Reddit thread .

As I'd prefer to stick with mATX, I think I'm going to have to go with a B450 and worry about the future when it arrives.

[e!]: I've also noticed Cat's RAM warnings about Samsung B-die kits being the preferred option for less issues so I may have to adjust the RAM too. Does anyone know where/how Cat is as I've not seen him about for a while?

[MrJim]

This might help you find Samsung B die RAM:

https://benzhaomin.github.io/bdiefinder

You do tend to pay quite a hefty premium for it though...

[MrJim]

This thread might be of interest to you, if you haven't already seen it:

https://forums.hexus.net/review-my-b...-old-girl.html

Biscuit used a MATX B450 - the MSI Mortar. It's supposed to have one of the better VRM implementations using the B450 chipset...

[mycarsavw]

Cheers Jim, I followed that thread from the start but it all got a bit nerdy and I bowed out. I'll check back and see where it ended up.

As an aside, I had a look at your Youtube link; inspirational stuff!

[MrJim]

Cheers Jim, I followed that thread from the start but it all got a bit nerdy and I bowed out. I'll check back and see where it ended up.

As an aside, I had a look at your Youtube link; inspirational stuff!

Cheers man

[jimborae]

.... Does anyone know where/how Cat is as I've not seen him about for a while?

You'll find him on OcUK Forums.

Cat used this RAM and so I went for it also. Works fine on my older Gigabyte X370 Gaming 7 board & Ryzen 7 1700X.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team-...my-0a1-tg.html