Hello guys! Another lurker seeking advice. You guys may have a simple answer for a question I've put too much thought into.
My GPU has died on me in my 1st build (see sig) which was built from the collective advice of the awesome people here at Overclockers. I wondered how well my current rig would do with the new cards out there, more specifically the RX 580 8GB. I started to wonder if it would be better for me to just build another computer. TBH, I had been tinkering with the thought of reducing my current build into mATX form but the pragmatic side of me said I'm just wasting money as I would get no real value out of it. So now I am shamelessly using the GPU's death as an excuse to scratch that itch. However, that pragmatic side of me is giving me dirty looks so, I've come to ask the experts once again for advice. Should I just get a new GPU card (and replace parts as they die) or should I do a new build from scratch?
Basic Information:
I have 2 1080p monitors. While I am in love with 4k monitors until these 2 die on me, that's what I am sticking with. Besides usual mainstream PC work, I open lots of programs and leave them open, a web tab *****, leave my computer on 24/7, turning off only to restart or when I am going to be away for longer than a day, and I mainly play SC2 and LOL. I do have a few old Steam games which the ol' 7970 had no trouble handling at maxed or near maxed settings. Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion does get a bit slow going late game. Having said that, been waiting on a Dark Souls IV so I am looking at Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice and Battlefleet Gothic Armada II (which is on sale in Steam rn, btw).
I live 15 minutes away from a Micro Center. Yeah baby, yeah! GPU alone or a whole build, I plan to get everything from there. Too bad PCPartPicker doesn't include Micro Center as a storefront for parts. That would make figuring out inventory availability and pricing much easier.
Budget is ~$1k if I do the new build route and I have the peripherals. Below is a build I put together on PCPartPicker. I've seen prebuilts with similar specs around the same price point so I also wonder if that's the better way to go.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($164.89 @ OutletPC)
I've considered the Ryzen 3 2200G as a cheaper option as I wasn't sure I'd take advantage of the Ryzen 5's processing power. Plan to use stock coolers for either if the Hyper 212 EVO doesn't fit inside the mATX case. Water cooling has always scared me. Water and electronics don't mix, man!
Motherboard: MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Do I need this "gaming" mobo? Mobos at lower price points didn't have good reviews. I only need two ram slots and 3.0 USB ports. I keep sitting on the fence whether to have a 2nd PCI slot for a wifi card down the line.
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
I was actually looking at 2133 speeds but these G.Skills 2400s were at the same price point.
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.89 @ OutletPC)
This will be the only storage I need. I have a 1TB HDD, 6+ years later and I'm at 251GB. I do not store a lot of media on my computer and rely on hardcopies (paper, flash drive), cloud, or DTC services. Game-wise, I'm that guy that only plays a few games but PLAYS those few games. I did consider a M2 SSD but I do not have a need for the higher read/write speed at the higher price points.
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8 GB PULSE Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
After dropping nearly $400 on the 7970 6 yrs ago, this card is cheap to me. Ha. Any opinions on PowerColor branded cards? Micro Center has a line of their RX 580 8 GB cards going for $179.99. Based on my needs though, I felt this card might be a bit too much but nothing wrong with extra GBs.
Case: Cooler Master - N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($47.53 @ Amazon)
I wanted a case that was still a tower. My desk has a 'tower cabinet' to hold a desktop computer. I wanted an accessible 5.25 bay for the CD/DVD drive I have in my current build and 1, 2.5 tray for the SSD. No side window needed since it will be out of sight. I did want to improve on the cable management side as it's a rats nest in this Line case. While I could keep the desktop computer on the desktop it just looks cleaner without it. It also keeps it out of reach of my 4 and 3 yr olds.
TBH, the mid tower Line case I already have vs a mATX case would really make no difference. My tower can fit mATX boards, so I could shave off ~$50 there. I just figured mATX mobo so mATX case.
I could just replace all the fans instead.
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Since my 750W is 6 years old, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring it over to the new build or get a new PSU. It's warrantied for 7 years. I should at least get another year out of it. How far do you guys push the lifespan of your PSUs? I figured I should get a few more years out of it as this baby has been coasting well under 750W. This build will draw ~311W according to PCPartPicker. The new PSU doesn't need to be a powerhouse so 550W to give it some breathing room. I got the 750W in my first build because I thought I'd get a second, cheaper 7970 card as new GPUs came out but then bitcoin mining became a thing.
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($99.49 @ SuperBiiz)
New mobo = new licence, amiright?
Total: $819.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-26 14:48 EDT-0400
Thanks in advance for your time and advice.
My GPU has died on me in my 1st build (see sig) which was built from the collective advice of the awesome people here at Overclockers. I wondered how well my current rig would do with the new cards out there, more specifically the RX 580 8GB. I started to wonder if it would be better for me to just build another computer. TBH, I had been tinkering with the thought of reducing my current build into mATX form but the pragmatic side of me said I'm just wasting money as I would get no real value out of it. So now I am shamelessly using the GPU's death as an excuse to scratch that itch. However, that pragmatic side of me is giving me dirty looks so, I've come to ask the experts once again for advice. Should I just get a new GPU card (and replace parts as they die) or should I do a new build from scratch?
Basic Information:
I have 2 1080p monitors. While I am in love with 4k monitors until these 2 die on me, that's what I am sticking with. Besides usual mainstream PC work, I open lots of programs and leave them open, a web tab *****, leave my computer on 24/7, turning off only to restart or when I am going to be away for longer than a day, and I mainly play SC2 and LOL. I do have a few old Steam games which the ol' 7970 had no trouble handling at maxed or near maxed settings. Sins of the Solar Empire: Rebellion does get a bit slow going late game. Having said that, been waiting on a Dark Souls IV so I am looking at Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice and Battlefleet Gothic Armada II (which is on sale in Steam rn, btw).
I live 15 minutes away from a Micro Center. Yeah baby, yeah! GPU alone or a whole build, I plan to get everything from there. Too bad PCPartPicker doesn't include Micro Center as a storefront for parts. That would make figuring out inventory availability and pricing much easier.
Budget is ~$1k if I do the new build route and I have the peripherals. Below is a build I put together on PCPartPicker. I've seen prebuilts with similar specs around the same price point so I also wonder if that's the better way to go.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($164.89 @ OutletPC)
I've considered the Ryzen 3 2200G as a cheaper option as I wasn't sure I'd take advantage of the Ryzen 5's processing power. Plan to use stock coolers for either if the Hyper 212 EVO doesn't fit inside the mATX case. Water cooling has always scared me. Water and electronics don't mix, man!
Motherboard: MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Do I need this "gaming" mobo? Mobos at lower price points didn't have good reviews. I only need two ram slots and 3.0 USB ports. I keep sitting on the fence whether to have a 2nd PCI slot for a wifi card down the line.
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
I was actually looking at 2133 speeds but these G.Skills 2400s were at the same price point.
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.89 @ OutletPC)
This will be the only storage I need. I have a 1TB HDD, 6+ years later and I'm at 251GB. I do not store a lot of media on my computer and rely on hardcopies (paper, flash drive), cloud, or DTC services. Game-wise, I'm that guy that only plays a few games but PLAYS those few games. I did consider a M2 SSD but I do not have a need for the higher read/write speed at the higher price points.
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8 GB PULSE Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
After dropping nearly $400 on the 7970 6 yrs ago, this card is cheap to me. Ha. Any opinions on PowerColor branded cards? Micro Center has a line of their RX 580 8 GB cards going for $179.99. Based on my needs though, I felt this card might be a bit too much but nothing wrong with extra GBs.
Case: Cooler Master - N200 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($47.53 @ Amazon)
I wanted a case that was still a tower. My desk has a 'tower cabinet' to hold a desktop computer. I wanted an accessible 5.25 bay for the CD/DVD drive I have in my current build and 1, 2.5 tray for the SSD. No side window needed since it will be out of sight. I did want to improve on the cable management side as it's a rats nest in this Line case. While I could keep the desktop computer on the desktop
it just looks cleaner without it. It also keeps it out of reach of my 4 and 3 yr olds. TBH, the mid tower Line case I already have vs a mATX case would really make no difference. My tower can fit mATX boards, so I could shave off ~$50 there. I just figured mATX mobo so mATX case.
I could just replace all the fans instead. Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Since my 750W is 6 years old, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring it over to the new build or get a new PSU. It's warrantied for 7 years. I should at least get another year out of it. How far do you guys push the lifespan of your PSUs? I figured I should get a few more years out of it as this baby has been coasting well under 750W. This build will draw ~311W according to PCPartPicker. The new PSU doesn't need to be a powerhouse so 550W to give it some breathing room. I got the 750W in my first build because I thought I'd get a second, cheaper 7970 card as new GPUs came out but then bitcoin mining became a thing.
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($99.49 @ SuperBiiz)
New mobo = new licence, amiright?
Total: $819.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-26 14:48 EDT-0400
Thanks in advance for your time and advice.
