Need to Catch Up With the Times

[subiedude7]

Hello All,

My build is roughly 8 years old at this point (still on an i5 750 lol). I am havnig too many issues that I cannot seem to pinpoint to a source, so I think it's time to rebuild.

This PC will be mostly for gaming and surfing (no streaming, editing, etc). I have been mostly playing League of Legends lately on my toaster, but I'd like to have the option of trying out some of the newer more GPU demanding competitive/single player games.

Are games mostly using 2 cores still these days? Any other CPU tech that games are demanding? I would imagine I could get away with an entry level CPU and just invest in a mid range Nvidia card.

The option to overclock would be nice, but I really do not plan to, and if I can save some money on the CPU/mobo then so be it (I know, blasphemy).

Definitely going to need help with the case and power supply. This go round, I do not want to make the mistake of a sea of wires. Can someone recommend something that is idiot proof as far as cable management/setup goes (modular would be nice for the first time).

8GB of ram should be good I would imagine.

Can't think of anything else atm. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[deathman20]

Hello and welcome!

As for old PC, whew yeah this be a little dated, but its amazing what some of these older rigs can do these days. I'm sure we can figure out some idea's for a new rig for you no issues at all. So gaming and surfing the web as a primary aspect of the PC so that shouldn't be an issue.

Few questions here:
For resolution are we looking at 1080p / 1440p? Guessing older setup its probably 1080p but just wanting to confirm this, as well probably 60Hz panel?
Do you have any brand loyalty? AMD/Intel vs AMD/NVidia?
Price range your considering? We can go hog wild or even moderate wild and come up with something that might be out of your price consideration.


So just generalization of some idea's here starting off.
CPU - Quad Processor (4core) as a minimum. I'm an Intel guy so I'll just say it will be a i3 or i5 proc with the 8000 series.
RAM - 8 GB Ram minimum. 16 GB can be nice, it might not hurt in games now to use 8GB but future proofing you might want to consider more. Some games will chew up a ram and it will have to dump its ram to Swap file on your HDD/SSD/NVMe drive. This is sort of a odd one IMO. Majority of things can easily work on 8GB but start getting into gaming and it can use more. Heck just 10 tabs open on my browser right now uses 3.4GB of ram.
GPU - Ok a AMD 580 or NVidia 1060 (6GB) one will hold their own with graphics at the 1080p level and even a little more.
PSU - With lower wattage components here you won't need anything huge by any means, a nice modular PSU will last a long time and help clear up some of those cable issues you mentioned. (Maybe EVGA G3 550-600W?)
Case - Really personal preference on this one. There are lots of good ones in the $50-75 that come with case fans, window side panels, etc. Though depending on the case, please stay away from ones that come with a PSU (personal recommendation)
CPU Cooler - Leave this one up to the pro's but $25-40 and you'll get a good cooler these days typically that will handle some OCing. Do note some CPU's do not include cooling so you might need to do this anyways.
Storage Space/Drives - Now you didn't didn't mention anything about storage. If get a NVMe drive or at very least a SSD will help with game load times of a traditional spinning HDD.

 

[subiedude7]

I would prefer to go Intel and Nvidia.

I have a 1080p ASUS panel.

I dont have a specific budget but I'd like to spend as little as possible and still be able to play the games with no hiccups.

 

[trents]

More and more games are using at least four processor cores and some are beginning to use more processing threads than that. But with an Rx 580 or an Nvida 1060 the video card will most often be the bottleneck. So given that, you would have plenty of CPU power with an 8th generation i3 8350k. You want the k chip for overclocking. Non k chips don't overclock. A 500 watt PSU would be plenty for any rig with one video card, especially the ones you have referenced. EVGA makes great PSUs. Get 16gb of DDR4 2400 RAM. Faster RAM than 2400 will pay almost no real world performance dividends. You want to get a "Z" class motherboard. They are the only ones that will permit overclocking. Most any Z class motherboard would be adequate for overclocking an i3 8750k. Don't spend a bunch of money on the motherboard.

 

[EarthDog]

If overclocking isnt a priority, id rather you not overclock and get a locked quad with hyperthreading instead of a quad without. I5 8400 sounds about right. A quad is a minimum these days fkr a new build IMO.

Id also say 8gb is a minimum with 16gb preferred. There are already enough titles out which can easily eclipse 8gb RAM use.

I agree on getting a better gpu... rx vega 56 or gtx 1070 for 1080p gaming.

You keep things for a while so it makes sense to me to spend more up front. I cant imagine a quad core, 8gb ram, gtx 1060 system lasting 4 years, none the less 8 as this system has.... also running a quad core, note.

 

[subiedude7]

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/subiedude7/saved/#view=Lc2Ft6

So this is what I threw together quickly so far. Maybe you guys could critique this if you are bored. Just a few points/concerns:

1. @EarthDog, I do not believe this CPU supports hyperthreading
2. I have a Samsung 840 EVO SSD in my current rig. Is there better SSD tech that warrants more money dumped into this build.
3. I have an 8 year old ASUS 1080p display. Any recommendations for a newer display? Doesn't need to be bigger than 21.5". Do not want to spend a lot on this.
4. The RAM packages had varied CAS figures. I just picked one with a reasonable price and reviews...

 

[trents]

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/subiedude7/saved/#view=Lc2Ft6

So this is what I threw together quickly so far. Maybe you guys could critique this if you are bored. Just a few points/concerns:

1. @Earthdog, I do not believe this CPU supports hyperthreading This is true. The i5 series does not support HT. But the good news is that Coffee Lake i5s have six cores instead of the four cores that previous generation i5s had.
2. I have a Samsung 840 EVO SSD in my current rig. Is there better SSD tech that warrants more money dumped into this build. Don't waste money on upgrading this. You won't really see hardly any real world performance improvement by doing so.
3. I have an 8 year old ASUS 1080p display. Any recommendations for a newer display? Doesn't need to be bigger than 21.5". Do not want to spend a lot on this. Lots of good choices here. 24-27" is the sweet spot price wise. Get one with a 5 ms response time or faster and with a wide viewing angle.
4. The RAM packages had varied CAS figures. I just picked one with a reasonable price and reviews... That's fine. CL difference make little to none difference with Intel CPUs.

Oh yes, you can save about $40 if you get your Windows 10 Pro OEM from here: https://www.kinguin.net/software

I've used kinguin many times. You won't get the media. You have to download the ISO file and make your own installer.

 

[deathman20]

So was busy this weekend wanted to step back into the talk but seems like some answers have been mentioned above

My take on the hardware:

CPU - Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor:
Good selection, maybe consider the 8500 or 8600 (non K) since these are non OC CPU's. I do believe you can get it to lock to the Turbo frequency for all cores though

Motherboard - ASRock - B360 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Looks like a solid board. Personal note I like my ASRock board that I purchased with my system a while ago and others that I've recommended this brand too. Good functions/features for a decent price.

Memory - Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
I'm more partial to G.Skill memory myself but you can get faster memory and better timings for similar pricing, or even RGB on the ram if you want a little color. IMO its not a drastic effect in gaming but there are cases where the 3000-3200 range ram can spike up performance in gaming a little. These below are just examples of some faster ram, there are G.Skill models in the $150 range as well for DDR4-2400 and DDR4-2666
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...m_re=g.skill_ddr4_16gb-_-20-232-498-_-Product - RGB DDR4 3000 ($190)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231937 - DDR4 3000 ($175 red / $180 black)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231941 - DDR4 3200 ($180 black)

GPU - EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card
Solid GPU, actually have 2 myself. Do note these can get a little loud when gaming due to the fact its a small board with a single fan. If you can have outside air blowing directly onto the card it can drop temps by a good 5-10C easily! Might consider spending a tad more to get one with a 2 or 3 fan version to help with the noise, unless noise doesn't bother you too much. With that a link below shows one for just a few $$ more
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...75&cm_re=evga_1060_6gb-_-14-487-275-_-Product

Case - NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Solid case, the basement function in the newer cases are nice IMO, hides all those cables.

Power Supply - EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Solid choice! More than enough to power your rig and even if you wanted to drop in a larger GPU in the future.

The other options.
OS - Yeah defiantly take up the deal on that for the cheaper one. You get the exact same product and save $$ to place else where in the system.
Monitor - Totally up to you on this. Its something that can also always be gotten later since its external to the case. A nice 100-144Hz panel would be great for higher speed gaming, and with a NVidia card, G-Sync monitors go with it but you pay the price for them sadly.
Storage - With that 840 you have really its good. Only need to upgrade to say a newer version is more space since most SSD's are capped because of the SATA III channel. Otherwise you get NVMe drives which are quick, but every day performance probably wouldn't notice to much change.

Edit: Guess 5th try at posting works... no 404 errors whew.

 

[subiedude7]

The NZXT sold out at the last minute so I ended up going with the Fractal Design Define R6.

I took your advice and swapped out the RAM to Gskill. I also picked up the ASRock H370 Pro4 board instead.

Also threw in a Samsung 970 EVO NVMe drive and wooee the startup times are FAST!

I picked up the GTX 1060 with 2 fans instead per your advice. Doesn't seem like the fans even spin unless the GPU hits high temps because mine aren't spinning but I haven't exceeded 60 degrees yet.

 

[Vishera]

Just some advice: If you get another itch, instead of rebuilding your system, or tricking out the fans, or watercooling, I would highly suggest selling your 1060 and buying a 1070 or 1070Ti for high refresh 1080p, maybe even 2560x1080 if you're interested in 21:9 (cheaper than 2560x1440 monitors, but not that much quality loss due to the very close pixel count). the jump from 60Hz to even just 120Hz is astronomical. My monitor bumps up to 75Hz, and even just that little bit makes a difference in fluidity.

 

[subiedude7]

Rather than open a new thread, I might as well just ask this here since it pertains to the build. Fractal does not have a standoff pre-installed in the circled location on the attached pic of my board. I overlooked this when doing my build. After watching some Design R6 builds on youtube I noticed that people did not bother installing a standout here. Should I pull everything out and slot one in, or do you think it's not necessary.

 

[EarthDog]

Not needed.

 

[deathman20]

Its nice but agree'ed its not needed.
If it was me I'd probably rip it out and do it, but, thats just me

 

[EarthDog]

That isn't even an ATX spec hole IIRC... its just there for compatibility purposes.

 

[subiedude7]

@EarthDog sounds good. Funny thing is, I didn't even realize that they make some ATX boards bigger than others. I was literally sitting there scratching my head as to why there were an additional 3 standoffs aligned vertically a bit to the right of my board. Then I googled the Z370 Pro4 and realized the board is much bigger than mine LOL

 

[subiedude7]

I just started playing PUBG and was finally able to get the GPU temps over 60 so the fans do indeed work. This game pushes the GPU as high as 77 degrees Cel. Is this safe for longevity in your opinions?

 

[Vishera]

I just started playing PUBG and was finally able to get the GPU temps over 60 so the fans do indeed work. This game pushes the GPU as high as 77 degrees Cel. Is this safe for longevity in your opinions?

That's a bit warm, but PUBG is fairly intensive due to bad coding, so it's not unexpected. Maybe bump your fans up to constantly run at something like 50%? Most people make what's called a fan curve, so the fans ramp up and down at certain temperatures, but don't change unless the temperature changes to the pre-determined values in the curve. I personally prefer to just throw the fan on max and leave it there.

 

[EarthDog]

I just started playing PUBG and was finally able to get the GPU temps over 60 so the fans do indeed work. This game pushes the GPU as high as 77 degrees Cel. Is this safe for longevity in your opinions?

77C is fine.

I personally prefer to just throw the fan on max and leave it there.

thats...loud. louder than it ever needs to be for no reason anyway.

 

[Vishera]

Can't hear it over my TV or headphones anyways.

 

[deathman20]

Whew... yeah I never crank a GPU fan to 100% for any length of time unless testing something out. One its loud but just thinking of the life of the bearings/fan itself... like it to last a while. GPU temp is fine, as if its factory set it will work out.

With that being said I typically setup my fan curve on my GPU fans to mimic the temperature. So if its say 40C and under I'll have it set to 20-30% fan speed. But as soon as it hits 45C on the GPU its matched at 45%, or 50C to 50%, etc. I match it degree for degree till 80C then I max out the fan. Personally I've never gotten my 1080TI above 70C and thats with increasing the power limit, slightly more voltage and a decent clock added.