Need pro advice

[Val155]

Hi Pro’s,

It has been 6 years (2014) since I built my current desktop and I feel it is time for an upgrade. I have around $1,000 as my budget. The items below were recommended to me by an acquaintance but I wanted to get a second opinion from people more experienced with hardware.

I generally use my PC’s for 6-7 years before upgrading so I am looking for the same life cycle for my new PC. I don’t use the PC for anything in particular except for gaming (World of Warcraft), internet and email, so I won’t need to overclock etc.

For the targeted PC below, am I getting a significant upgrade from what I currently have (also below)?

A couple of questions I have is…

- I have always used an INTEL CPU and NVIDIA Graphics card. I am completely new to AMD and RADEON. Am I sacrificing quality or based on the purpose of my PC are these good enough?

- The current cost of below is roughly $1100. Are there any areas I can trim or alternate components to get down to around $950 and still maintain effectiveness?

- Will I need more fans in this case?

- AMD Ryzen 5 3600X ($209)
- ASUS B450M-Plus TUF Gaming Motherboard ($95)
- PowerColor Radeon RX 5600 XT Graphics Card ($279)
- G.SKILL Trident Z Neo (For AMD Ryzen) Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin RGB DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 ($150)
- Inland Premium 512GB NVMe SSD ($65)
- Corsair RMX Series (2018), RM650x, 650 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply ($130)
- NZXT H510 Tempered Glass Computer Case ($70)
- Windows 10 Home 64bit ($100)

- Total Cost: ~$1100

Below is my current PC specs:

- Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHZ
- ASUS Z87-A
- G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
- Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
- EVGA Geforce GTX 1060 6GB
- Random DVD/RW
- CORSAIR CX Series CX500 500W 80 PLUS BRONZE Active PFC ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply


This community has helped me tremendously in the past. Thank you all in advance for the feedback!

 

[bigtallanddopey]

Solid build, If you are wanting to save a little money you could easily drop from 32GB to 16GB and you won’t notice much difference.

I would say to think about waiting for a bit. Always get shot down for saying that as tech is always changing. But there will be new processors from AMD and possibly intel in the Autumn. And there will be new graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD in the next few months. Not sure if all of that will change anything for you but prices may come down or there could be something better at the same price.

 

[Val155]

Solid build, If you are wanting to save a little money you could easily drop from 32GB to 16GB and you won’t notice much difference.

I would say to think about waiting for a bit. Always get shot down for saying that as tech is always changing. But there will be new processors from AMD and possibly intel in the Autumn. And there will be new graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD in the next few months. Not sure if all of that will change anything for you but prices may come down or there could be something better at the same price.

Thank you! If i was to swap out AMD/Radeon with an Intel/Nvidia, which would you all recommend?

 

[bigtallanddopey]

Thank you! If i was to swap out AMD/Radeon with an Intel/Nvidia, which would you all recommend?

At your price point the 3600 is a solid chip, I wouldn’t swap it for intel at all.

Again at the price point of the 5600xt the only Nvidia card would be the 1660ti and I think they are quite similar in performance. Although I just googled and I can’t find the 1660 anywhere, not sure why that is.

 

[stompah]

Buy your windows 10 key on ebay for less than $10

 

[Val155]

Buy your windows 10 key on ebay for less than $10

I only have windows 10 on CD and my new rig isn't going to have a DVD drive, so I need a digital copy.

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

At your price point the 3600 is a solid chip, I wouldn’t swap it for intel at all.

Again at the price point of the 5600xt the only Nvidia card would be the 1660ti and I think they are quite similar in performance. Although I just googled and I can’t find the 1660 anywhere, not sure why that is.

Are upgrading Radeon drivers as easy as Nvidia drivers? I use Guru3d driver uninstaller in safe mode then reboot and install the new NIVIDIA ones now.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

I only have windows 10 on CD and my new rig isn't going to have a DVD drive, so I need a digital copy.

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -



Are upgrading Radeon drivers as easy as Nvidia drivers? I use Guru3d driver uninstaller in safe mode then reboot and install the new NIVIDIA ones now.

I think they’re about the same. Both easy. Never had any issues myself with either AMD or Nvidia.

Also, maybe I am stupid and it is fine but don’t buy windows keys off of eBay. I know a few people who have done that and had a few issues. It may be costly but a legit windows key just gives no issues if you ever have to reinstall etc.

 

[Robert17]

Are you going to retire your current system or use it for other purposes/pass it along? You can use your WinTen for the new system, just call MS and they'll issue a new key. Otherwise, stompah's suggestion. AMD is pretty good these days, no reason to change to Intel on your markup.

 

[Val155]

Are you going to retire your current system or use it for other purposes/pass it along? You can use your WinTen for the new system, just call MS and they'll issue a new key. Otherwise, stompah's suggestion. AMD is pretty good these days, no reason to change to Intel on your markup.

i'm giving my current system to my 16yr old for school

 

[JLK03F150]

I have used this site several times to buy Win10 keys.
https://www.urcdkeys.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-oem-cd-key-global_1966-20.html
They email you the key, then you go to MS to download Win10 & create a bootable Win install flash drive that is 8GB+. Very easy process.
I bought two keys once, used one & it activated just fine. I held the other key for about a year & when I went to use it, it was deemed a non-legit key by MS. $14 wasted but oh well, still using 3 keys that I got there.
The lesson is buy a key then use it. Don't hold it.

You might consider swapping your B450 mobo for a B550 of a similar price. You get the faster m.2 gen4 interface. This that Inland nvme gen4 x4 or gen3 x4?

 

[DaveB]

Again at the price point of the 5600xt the only Nvidia card would be the 1660ti and I think they are quite similar in performance. Although I just googled and I can’t find the 1660 anywhere, not sure why that is.

The pretty much equivalent GTX 1660 Super has mostly replaced the Ti variant. The GTX 1660 Super is roughly $40 cheaper than the RX 5600 XT but 20% slower. For an Intel/nVidia system:

- Intel i5-10400 6C/12T 4.3 GHz Boost ($182)
- MSI B460M Pro Motherboard ($80)
- Asus TUF Gaming GTX 1660 Super Graphics Card ($229)
- G.SKILL RipJaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin RGB DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 ($105)
- Inland Premium 512GB NVMe SSD ($65)
- Corsair RMX Series (2018), RM650x, 650 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply ($130)
- NZXT H510 Tempered Glass Computer Case ($70)
- Windows 10 Home 64bit ($100)

- Total Cost: ~$960

But as mentioned, buying a license rather than a retail win 10 saves $. Intel systems don't need higher end 3600 RAM so you save some cash there. You also could get an EVGA modular bronze 600W PSU for $75 and save another $60, bringing the cost down to $900. But you really don't need more than 400W for this system, but you want a decent brand modular so .....

 

[trents]

Use the microsoft media creation tool web site to make your own Windows 10 USB installer as others have said. Then all you need to activate it is an inexpensive product key from URcdkeys.com. You may have to use the Microsoft automated phone attendant to activate. As others have said you don't need 32 gb of RAM and with that much RAM you may have trouble getting it to run at full advertised speed.

 

[Val155]

The pretty much equivalent GTX 1660 Super has mostly replaced the Ti variant. The GTX 1660 Super is roughly $40 cheaper than the RX 5600 XT but 20% slower. For an Intel/nVidia system:

- Intel i5-10400 6C/12T 4.3 GHz Boost ($182)
- MSI B460M Pro Motherboard ($80)
- Asus TUF Gaming GTX 1660 Super Graphics Card ($229)
- G.SKILL RipJaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin RGB DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 ($105)
- Inland Premium 512GB NVMe SSD ($65)
- Corsair RMX Series (2018), RM650x, 650 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply ($130)
- NZXT H510 Tempered Glass Computer Case ($70)
- Windows 10 Home 64bit ($100)

- Total Cost: ~$960

But as mentioned, buying a license rather than a retail win 10 saves $. Intel systems don't need higher end 3600 RAM so you save some cash there. You also could get an EVGA modular bronze 600W PSU for $75 and save another $60, bringing the cost down to $900. But you really don't need more than 400W for this system, but you want a decent brand modular so .....

Thanks Dave! Is there a compatible ASUS Motherboard for that spec above? I have always purchased ASUS boards lol.

 

[DaveB]

Thanks Dave! Is there a compatible ASUS Motherboard for that spec above? I have always purchased ASUS boards lol.

Here's a list of LGA 1200 Asus motherboards from Newegg.