PC Pc Gaming/building thread

[dwwaino]

Already got my eye on a couple with tempered glass, LED strips and mirrors

 

[dwwaino]

Just a pointless update: installed Witcher 3 last night, set everything to ultra, including hair works at 1440p and with a steady 70-100 fps range. Finally hit 100% GPU usage at 73c peak temp with CPU hanging around 80-90%. Was getting a little concerned I might have a gremlin in the system but clearly BF1 is just either very CPU intensive, not as well optimised or the new Crysis. Still going to splurge on a new CPU when 8th gen is out because why the hell not.

 

[Gold Member]

Just a pointless update: installed Witcher 3 last night, set everything to ultra, including hair works at 1440p and with a steady 70-100 fps range. Finally hit 100% GPU usage at 73c peak temp with CPU hanging around 80-90%. Was getting a little concerned I might have a gremlin in the system but clearly BF1 is just either very CPU intensive, not as well optimised or the new Crysis. Still going to splurge on a new CPU when 8th gen is out because why the hell not.

Aha BF1!
There's your problem, there's hundreds of forum threads to help you fix high/100% CPU usage in BF1..

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

With my iMac (I know, I know, lynch me if you must) starting to look very old I'm beginning to look into PC builds, whether they're pre-built or a project for me.

The problem is I have no idea what I should be looking for or what the various numbers and letters people keep throwing at me mean.

I've been a Mac & console guy for most of my life because you just plug it all in and it works and I've never felt the drive to commit to learning more. So as you'd expect, I'm coming from a very low knowledge base.

With that said, I don't want to skimp on a PC, and if I'm going to spend a bit of money on a build I'd very much like to learn and research it thoroughly before I pull the pin.

Console will remain my gaming platform of choice for a number of reasons, so high-end gaming machines aren't really for me. However, I'll probably dabble from time-to-time, so something capable of playing most things at a good, stable level is important. I'm not chasing the best possible settings - more looking for the best I can get and the knowledge that I can play pretty much anything if the temptation strikes without blowing out the price. I mean if you can keep the price reasonable I'm not going to complain about great visuals/performance for gaming, but it's not an absolute necessity.

Primarily, day-to-day use will be dedicated to streaming, browsing, word processing, researching and the like. With that said, I'm also starting to learn the Unreal Editor as a hobby and would like to get into that more. I've also been known to fool around with other forms of editing/designing software, programming, and I imagine with a good PC there I would seek to open myself up to PC gaming more, as outlined above. I do tend to multitask and run a bunch of programs at once as well.

In essence what I'm looking for is a good quality workstation that can dabble in gaming, editing and other more intensive operations without having to worry about checking specs and contemplating whether I can run what I'm trying to all the time.

One of the biggest things for me is longevity. I don't want to feel pressured to replace everything in two years, nor do I want it falling apart or slowing down considerably in this period of time. I'm not an idiot, I know I'm going to have to deal with it at some point, but if I can prolong that as much as possible without breaking the bank it would be a major plus.

I love the idea of building my own PC but admit I'd have to learn a lot more before I'd be capable - so I suppose the question is whether what I save in cost, and gain in personalisation and other advantages (versus pre-built / custom builds professionally done) is worth the loss of convenience and the increased risk of me blowing up my house.

In terms of cost I don't really know what to expect. I would suggest that my absolute hard cap is $3k (including monitor) but if we can keep it closer to $2k my bank account would shed far fewer tears. I don't want to say "the cheaper the better" for obvious reasons, but I'm not interested in mindless additional upgrades just to get to my hard cap, if that makes sense.

To summarise my questions:

1. Would you recommend a pre-built PC, a custom-built one, or to build one myself?
2. Any recommendations for any of the above options, given what I need it for?
3. On the other hand, if recommending I build one or get one custom made, can you recommend some resources to help me figure out what I need / choose parts?
4. How much is it likely to cost?
5. Any recommendations for monitors?
6. What other things do I need to consider before making decisions?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

(PS: thanks for the thread - please do feel free to create more PC gaming related threads as you think of them, as we are seeking to grow in this area - we are at present quite a console-centric board and would like to change that.)

 

[Long Live HFC]

large collection of questions with many pros, cons and caveats, so will just stick with the definitive easy one

1. Would you recommend a pre-built PC, a custom-built one, or to build one myself?

unless you're keenly interested in learning how things work/what plugs go where, there's little benefit in 2017 to building your own. i've built maybe 8 systems in the last 25 years and even with all my supposed experience, the guy in the shop does a much better job of it, and in less time. sure, it costs you a bit extra, but that's a pittance when compared to worrying whether your components are broken or if you just didnt plug something in properly (and being new, not really knowing how to troubleshoot it).

i would favour a custom-built one, but that will require a bit of research into the pros and cons of different components. pre-built ones from reputable sites like PC Case Gear and Scorptec are a good option if you're not that interested in the research part. they'll be competitive and capable systems.

obviously, avoid all mainstream retailers such as harvey norman like the plague.

with scorptec you can select all the components you want and they'll put it together for you. this is how i will buy my next gaming PC.

https://www.scorptec.com.au/systems/custom_system
https://support.scorptec.com.au/hc/...How-may-I-order-for-a-custom-build-PC-system-

 

[dwwaino]

Even without building it yourself and getting someone like Scorptec to build it you will still learn all about it by researching your build. I know what I'm doing but love Scorptec builds so I have got them to do complete builds in the past. However currently I'm building it over time as I get the parts and want to add some lighting and other bling so doing this one myself.

To try and give you a headstart, first you have to decide on your CPU. If you want current generation AMD (eg: Ryzen 5 1600x) then you will be looking at an AM4 socket motherboard. If you want current generation intel (eg: i5 7500k) then you will want a 1151 socket motherboard. 8th gen intel should be out within a month and again on 1151 socket but Z270/H270 motherboards won't be compatible. If you want to know more about that specifically feel free to ask. Motherboard specs state the RAM type but I'm pretty sure all current stuff is DDR4 so that's the RAM you want.

Then for the graphics card do you want to game in 1080p, 1440p or 4k? For 1080p or medium setting 1440p you can save a few bucks (more like a few hundred) by grabbing something like a GTX 1060. If you want to cover yourself for the next few years at least or want to run 1440p with sexy settings then you'll want a GTX 1080 instead. I've always been an Nvidia man so unfamiliar with AMD's offerings. Also note that if you're comfortable with 1080p then 8GB of RAM will be plenty, but if you want to run higher resolutions then imo you will be better off with 16GB RAM to help load those bigger textures.

Then you have things like power supplies, case and any coolers. That's the fun stuff to tick off at the end. Feel free to ask anything and we can go from there.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Thanks for the help lads, I'll answer some of the questions later. Did a bit of research last night so have a bit better idea of what I want but still a lot of work to be done.

 

[Gold Member]

With my iMac (I know, I know, lynch me if you must) starting to look very old I'm beginning to look into PC builds, whether they're pre-built or a project for me.

The problem is I have no idea what I should be looking for or what the various numbers and letters people keep throwing at me mean.

I've been a Mac & console guy for most of my life because you just plug it all in and it works and I've never felt the drive to commit to learning more. So as you'd expect, I'm coming from a very low knowledge base.

With that said, I don't want to skimp on a PC, and if I'm going to spend a bit of money on a build I'd very much like to learn and research it thoroughly before I pull the pin.

Console will remain my gaming platform of choice for a number of reasons, so high-end gaming machines aren't really for me. However, I'll probably dabble from time-to-time, so something capable of playing most things at a good, stable level is important. I'm not chasing the best possible settings - more looking for the best I can get and the knowledge that I can play pretty much anything if the temptation strikes without blowing out the price. I mean if you can keep the price reasonable I'm not going to complain about great visuals/performance for gaming, but it's not an absolute necessity.

Primarily, day-to-day use will be dedicated to streaming, browsing, word processing, researching and the like. With that said, I'm also starting to learn the Unreal Editor as a hobby and would like to get into that more. I've also been known to fool around with other forms of editing/designing software, programming, and I imagine with a good PC there I would seek to open myself up to PC gaming more, as outlined above. I do tend to multitask and run a bunch of programs at once as well.

In essence what I'm looking for is a good quality workstation that can dabble in gaming, editing and other more intensive operations without having to worry about checking specs and contemplating whether I can run what I'm trying to all the time.

One of the biggest things for me is longevity. I don't want to feel pressured to replace everything in two years, nor do I want it falling apart or slowing down considerably in this period of time. I'm not an idiot, I know I'm going to have to deal with it at some point, but if I can prolong that as much as possible without breaking the bank it would be a major plus.

I love the idea of building my own PC but admit I'd have to learn a lot more before I'd be capable - so I suppose the question is whether what I save in cost, and gain in personalisation and other advantages (versus pre-built / custom builds professionally done) is worth the loss of convenience and the increased risk of me blowing up my house.

In terms of cost I don't really know what to expect. I would suggest that my absolute hard cap is $3k (including monitor) but if we can keep it closer to $2k my bank account would shed far fewer tears. I don't want to say "the cheaper the better" for obvious reasons, but I'm not interested in mindless additional upgrades just to get to my hard cap, if that makes sense.

To summarise my questions:

1. Would you recommend a pre-built PC, a custom-built one, or to build one myself?
2. Any recommendations for any of the above options, given what I need it for?
3. On the other hand, if recommending I build one or get one custom made, can you recommend some resources to help me figure out what I need / choose parts?
4. How much is it likely to cost?
5. Any recommendations for monitors?
6. What other things do I need to consider before making decisions?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

(PS: thanks for the thread - please do feel free to create more PC gaming related threads as you think of them, as we are seeking to grow in this area - we are at present quite a console-centric board and would like to change that.)

Fair bit of info here & a good starting point.
https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/gaming-pc-build-approx-2000-june-2017.1168895/

Create your own PCCG login and you can make as many wishlists as you like...


edit. fixed link

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

large collection of questions with many pros, cons and caveats, so will just stick with the definitive easy one



unless you're keenly interested in learning how things work/what plugs go where, there's little benefit in 2017 to building your own. i've built maybe 8 systems in the last 25 years and even with all my supposed experience, the guy in the shop does a much better job of it, and in less time. sure, it costs you a bit extra, but that's a pittance when compared to worrying whether your components are broken or if you just didnt plug something in properly (and being new, not really knowing how to troubleshoot it).

i would favour a custom-built one, but that will require a bit of research into the pros and cons of different components. pre-built ones from reputable sites like PC Case Gear and Scorptec are a good option if you're not that interested in the research part. they'll be competitive and capable systems.

obviously, avoid all mainstream retailers such as harvey norman like the plague.

with scorptec you can select all the components you want and they'll put it together for you. this is how i will buy my next gaming PC.

https://www.scorptec.com.au/systems/custom_system
https://support.scorptec.com.au/hc/...How-may-I-order-for-a-custom-build-PC-system-

Even without building it yourself and getting someone like Scorptec to build it you will still learn all about it by researching your build. I know what I'm doing but love Scorptec builds so I have got them to do complete builds in the past. However currently I'm building it over time as I get the parts and want to add some lighting and other bling so doing this one myself.

I must admit, the idea of learning to build one myself is pretty exciting/interesting. With so much that could potentially go wrong though, and without the troubleshooting knowledge as you've mentioned, I'd say I'm leaning towards going the custom built route at the moment.

To try and give you a headstart, first you have to decide on your CPU. If you want current generation AMD (eg: Ryzen 5 1600x) then you will be looking at an AM4 socket motherboard. If you want current generation intel (eg: i5 7500k) then you will want a 1151 socket motherboard. 8th gen intel should be out within a month and again on 1151 socket but Z270/H270 motherboards won't be compatible. If you want to know more about that specifically feel free to ask. Motherboard specs state the RAM type but I'm pretty sure all current stuff is DDR4 so that's the RAM you want.

I've only really looked into CPU and GPU at the moment, so I'm not really sure what I'm looking for with the motherboard yet.

The two CPUs you've mentioned - Ryzen 5 1600x and i5 7500k are the ones I'm tossing up between at this early stage. The guide video I watched said something about Intel being better for single-threaded processes but AMD far superior for multi-threaded processes - translation? And should I wait for the next generation or go with current?

Then for the graphics card do you want to game in 1080p, 1440p or 4k? For 1080p or medium setting 1440p you can save a few bucks (more like a few hundred) by grabbing something like a GTX 1060. If you want to cover yourself for the next few years at least or want to run 1440p with sexy settings then you'll want a GTX 1080 instead. I've always been an Nvidia man so unfamiliar with AMD's offerings.

I'd probably say 1440p with a good, solid FR as well. Nvidia my preference as well based on a bit of research. My plan at the moment is to budget for a GTX 1060 and then bump it to a 1080 if I can afford it.

Also note that if you're comfortable with 1080p then 8GB of RAM will be plenty, but if you want to run higher resolutions then imo you will be better off with 16GB RAM to help load those bigger textures.

I think I'd like to play it safer and budget for 16GB. 32GB would be massive overkill for my needs I presume?



Thanks for the link by the way Gold Member - will have a read through.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

My biggest challenge is going to be not blowing my entire budget on colourful lights and sexy cases

 

[Gold Member]

If you can insert AA batteries into your tv remote then you can build a PC.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

If you can insert AA batteries into your tv remote then you can build a PC.

Which way does the plus side have to face again?

 

[Long Live HFC]

I must admit, the idea of learning to build one myself is pretty exciting/interesting. With so much that could potentially go wrong though, and without the troubleshooting knowledge as you've mentioned, I'd say I'm leaning towards going the custom built route at the moment.

honestly, if it interests you then i say go for it! it has never been easier to put a machine together. almost everything only plugs in one way etc. im just never going to do it again after my water cooler installation debacle of 2013

the other benefit you get from a professional built is cable management. i don't have the patience for that shit so the insides of my machine are pretty ugly

The two CPUs you've mentioned - Ryzen 5 1600x and i5 7500k are the ones I'm tossing up between at this early stage. The guide video I watched said something about Intel being better for single-threaded processes but AMD far superior for multi-threaded processes - translation? And should I wait for the next generation or go with current?

both are good choices. i understand that intel still have a small lead in most games, but AMD destroy them when more cores are in use (games that use more than 4-6 cores, multitasking, live-streaming while playing etc). if you wait for the next generation, you'll never be able to buy- there's always something just around the corner! the intel CPUs have only been about 10% faster each generation, so you're not really missing out on much by buying now. my CPU is more than 4 years old and is still more than adequate.

I'd probably say 1440p with a good, solid FR as well. Nvidia my preference as well based on a bit of research. My plan at the moment is to budget for a GTX 1060 and then bump it to a 1080 if I can afford it.

fair decision, i feel like you don't need us much if at all if you go with the 1060, make sure you get the 6GB version. it doesn't make games run faster, but it does prevent you hitting the 3GB limit and suffering a micro-stutter as your card loads new textures into memory. you are right to ignore the 1070 at current prices, cryptocurrency miners have pushed them way too high. i bought a 1080 a few months ago for the price 1070s are going for now. ridiculous.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

honestly, if it interests you then i say go for it! it has never been easier to put a machine together. almost everything only plugs in one way etc. im just never going to do it again after my water cooler installation debacle of 2013

the other benefit you get from a professional built is cable management. i don't have the patience for that shit so the insides of my machine are pretty ugly

Hahaha yeah cable management would drive me mental as well. Plus I want a windowed case so I'd have to make it look respectable.

I think I'm going to pick the components, get a quote, and then weigh up the price of custom built vs. self-built.

both are good choices. i understand that intel still have a small lead in most games, but AMD destroy them when more cores are in use (games that use more than 4-6 cores, multitasking, live-streaming while playing etc). if you wait for the next generation, you'll never be able to buy- there's always something just around the corner! the intel CPUs have only been about 10% faster each generation, so you're not really missing out on much by buying now. my CPU is more than 4 years old and is still more than adequate.

Out of curiosity, are you (or anybody else) able to turn the distinction between the Ryzen 5 1600x and i5 7500k into something more tangible? What I mean is that my reading on here and elsewhere suggests that the Intel CPUs do indeed have "a small lead in most games," compared to the AMD one which blows the i5 out of the water when it comes to multiple core processing. But to a layman, what does this actually mean? Does it run them faster, at better quality? What kind of games/activities would each one have the edge in?

From what I do know, I would suggest that I'm leaning towards the AMD one. I don't need absolute top of the line performance in games, but it's not uncommon for me to have a bunch of Chrome tabs and documents open simultaneously while also streaming music/TV shows/movies or running a game in the background, which I am led to believe lies more within the Ryzen's strengths. Have I got the right idea? I also read somewhere that the AMD CPU is probably a little bit more future proof as games requiring more than four cores become more prevalent, but I don't know how accurate that is.

fair decision, i feel like you don't need us much if at all if you go with the 1060, make sure you get the 6GB version. it doesn't make games run faster, but it does prevent you hitting the 3GB limit and suffering a micro-stutter as your card loads new textures into memory. you are right to ignore the 1070 at current prices, cryptocurrency miners have pushed them way too high. i bought a 1080 a few months ago for the price 1070s are going for now. ridiculous.

That's really great advice, thanks a lot. 1060 6GB is the go I think. Until I change my mind later.

 

[dwwaino]

On my phone so not going to try and do all the quoting, but as for the Ryzen 1600x vs 7500k thing it just depends on what your purpose is. These are mid range bang for buck CPUs. Due to the Ryzen running extra cores it is going to destroy the intel offerings on multitasking. Base clock speeds are pretty much on par and while the intel CPUs generally bench test better than the AMDs you honestly won't see real world differences if it's just for gaming. I still think it's a while off before every new game fully utilises every core on a CPU and the intel stuff wins out on pure horsepower and overclock potential. This extra power will cost you in the hip pocket though which is why Ryzen is so attractive right now.

On paper the multi threading scores of the 1600x even compares with the 7700k but if you're like me and only game and nothing else that means squat. Intel's 8th gen is a decent shot at AMD though as even the 8500k is increasing the cores by 2 (but only 6 threads) however matching Ryzen on the L3 cache. The extra cores are why I'm waiting for the 8700k: 6C/12T with a 12mb L3 cache and should be able to clock it high 4s, nearly if not 5ghz. Intel chipsets have traditionally had better driver support too as well as stuff being better optimised for them but AMD is back in a big way and I'm sure they will make up the lost ground in no time if they haven't yet already.

I think GPU prices have normalised somewhat since the mining crap. I recently got my MSI 1080TI Gaming X recently for $1199 from Scorptec which seems about right. You can EVGA TIs now for a little under $1100 which is crazy. Regular 1080s are around the ~$750 which is where XX80 series cards tend to sit. This is personal opinion and subjective to level of graphics whore you are (I indeed am) but the 6gb 1060 is fine for 1440p with non-ghetto settings now but I don't trust it to be for long. However Nvidia's Volta line should be out early to mid next year which will be using DDR5 and a massive step up to the current stuff. So maybe you could save a penny now with the 1060 then next year you can upgrade the card. But the price of a 6gb 1060 wouldn't be far off a 1080 which is 8gb anyway.

Just quickly on aethetics, most cases now you can remove both side panels and you can shove cables under where the motherboard is mounted. You can then neatly feed the cables to drive bays, GPU etc. some even entirely tuck away the PSU so you don't see anything.

And yes, 32gb RAM is way overkill. I'm currently running a 1080TI, i5 4690 (locked) with 16GB RAM at 1440p and jack every setting I can go ultra. The max RAM usage I have seen any game chew so far* is 9500gb (Battlefield 1). *PUBG doesn't count.

I guess what you can take from all these responses is that there is no right or wrong, just an understanding on what everything is and that way you can tailor your system to your own tastes. If you get caught up on benches, what is the best, what should/shouldn't I get, how far is away is the next version etc, you'll never get anywhere. Sounds like you've got a grasp of it anyway

 

[Long Live HFC]

Hahaha yeah cable management would drive me mental as well. Plus I want a windowed case so I'd have to make it look respectable.

I think I'm going to pick the components, get a quote, and then weigh up the price of custom built vs. self-built.

Sounds like a plan!

Out of curiosity, are you (or anybody else) able to turn the distinction between the Ryzen 5 1600x and i5 7500k into something more tangible? What I mean is that my reading on here and elsewhere suggests that the Intel CPUs do indeed have "a small lead in most games," compared to the AMD one which blows the i5 out of the water when it comes to multiple core processing. But to a layman, what does this actually mean? Does it run them faster, at better quality? What kind of games/activities would each one have the edge in?

as far as gaming is concerned, it's virtually always a frames-per-second comparison, higher being better, obviously. now, a PC gamer with a 144hz monitor might claim that his games need to reach 144 frames per second or the world is ending, but for us normal people 60 is great. indeed, consistency tends to be more important than top speed (eg 60 constantly is perfect, but going from 75 to 60 at times is noticeable in first-person games in my experience). that said, i've been playing on a 60hz TV for more than a decade, so might not be up on all the new cool stuff.

otherwise, benchmarks tend to measure how long it takes a CPU to do a task (such as compress a media file), or crunch number widgets. i've only ever cared about gaming performance though, so can't really comment on those.

From what I do know, I would suggest that I'm leaning towards the AMD one. I don't need absolute top of the line performance in games, but it's not uncommon for me to have a bunch of Chrome tabs and documents open simultaneously while also streaming music/TV shows/movies or running a game in the background, which I am led to believe lies more within the Ryzen's strengths. Have I got the right idea? I also read somewhere that the AMD CPU is probably a little bit more future proof as games requiring more than four cores become more prevalent, but I don't know how accurate that is.

yeah, i think your reasoning here is spot on. as per the above- if a top of the line intel CPU is pushing 10 extra frames per second, say 100 vs 110, do you really give a shit? not likely.

as for the bolded, that claim tends to pop up a lot each new cycle. i'd love it to happen (it'd be an excuse to upgrade!) but we've been hearing this optimism for a while now. ultimately it's dependent on games developers designing games with 6, 8 or 10 threads in mind, and it just hasn't happened for the most part. honestly, i don't even know if many games are utilising 4 properly yet. this is pretty much the only reason why intel CPUs are still a bit ahead in terms of games.

That's really great advice, thanks a lot. 1060 6GB is the go I think. Until I change my mind later.

hahaha, that's the spirit! i tell family/friends never to come to me for advice- i will always tell them to buy better than they really need

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the help.

I think I've settled on the Ryzen 5 1600X CPU and narrowed my GPU search down to the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB vs. the GeForce GTX 1080 8GB (damn you dwwaino ), so there's a start at least. Motherboard is next which honestly seems overwhelming, haha.

This is probably a remarkably dumb question, but do you have to buy a case that specifically has room for an optical drive? I know you buy it separately but with a lot of the cases I'm scrolling through on the Scorptec website I struggle to see where it would actually fit.

 

[Long Live HFC]

This is personal opinion and subjective to level of graphics whore you are (I indeed am) but the 6gb 1060 is fine for 1440p with non-ghetto settings now but I don't trust it to be for long. However Nvidia's Volta line should be out early to mid next year which will be using DDR5 and a massive step up to the current stuff. So maybe you could save a penny now with the 1060 then next year you can upgrade the card. But the price of a 6gb 1060 wouldn't be far off a 1080 which is 8gb anyway.

can you explain the bolded? cards already use ddr5?

 

[Long Live HFC]

This is probably a remarkably dumb question, but do you have to buy a case that specifically has room for an optical drive? I know you buy it separately but with a lot of the cases I'm scrolling through on the Scorptec website I struggle to see where it would actually fit.

not dumb at all! i suspect some case manufacturers are sending optical media the way of the disk drive. normally though there are several bays at the front where you can install whatever you like. if you search the models on youtube, if it's popular you should get a review or three.

 

[dwwaino]

can you explain the bolded? cards already use ddr5?

Typo! Volta coming on DDR6 so will be the biggest GPU performance jump we've seen in a long time and probably the start of genuine 4k gaming.

 

[Long Live HFC]

Typo! Volta coming on DDR6 so will be the biggest GPU performance jump we've seen in a long time and probably the start of genuine 4k gaming.

yeah right, thanks! i almost asked if it was a typo, but had no idea 6 was in the pipelines. is this likely to impact regular ram at all? as i understand it 4 isn't really any better than 3?

 

[dwwaino]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the help.

I think I've settled on the Ryzen 5 1600X CPU and narrowed my GPU search down to the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB vs. the GeForce GTX 1080 8GB (damn you dwwaino ), so there's a start at least. Motherboard is next which honestly seems overwhelming, haha.

This is probably a remarkably dumb question, but do you have to buy a case that specifically has room for an optical drive? I know you buy it separately but with a lot of the cases I'm scrolling through on the Scorptec website I struggle to see where it would actually fit.

Mobo is easy. They're broken up into two groups per type: if they can overclock or not. After that it's features. Don't care about SLI, fancy isolated audio chips, on board wifi/Bluetooth, RGB lighting, dust shielding etc? Then stuff them and save some cash. Mobos have no impact on performance so you can't get it wrong.

Cases are my dilemma at the moment. So many ATX mid towers I like but they don't have external drive bays. I'm happy to connect my current one up to the mobo to install windows and then remove it but I like to listen and rip my CDs (I listen to a lot of underground death and black metal that you still have to buy physical copies of) so I still may have to invest in an external. I actually like the Corsair Obsidian 750d but it's just way too big for my single GPU build. At the moment trying to find the right mid tower with tempered glass and top mount 240mm radiator with front intakes that aren't completely blocked by drive bays. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Gold Member]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the help.

I think I've settled on the Ryzen 5 1600X CPU and narrowed my GPU search down to the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB vs. the GeForce GTX 1080 8GB (damn you dwwaino ), so there's a start at least. Motherboard is next which honestly seems overwhelming, haha.

This is probably a remarkably dumb question, but do you have to buy a case that specifically has room for an optical drive? I know you buy it separately but with a lot of the cases I'm scrolling through on the Scorptec website I struggle to see where it would actually fit.

**** optical drives. Everything is now downloadable. I built my rig in 2013 & haven't missed it at all. If you really must have an optical drive get an external one that plugs into a USB port and you can shove in a drawer to gather dust forever!

 

[dwwaino]

yeah right, thanks! i almost asked if it was a typo, but had no idea 6 was in the pipelines. is this likely to impact regular ram at all? as i understand it 4 isn't really any better than 3?

Don't think it will impact regular RAM. Honestly I haven't seen any RAM discussions outside of memory size except for a Linus Tech Tips video talking about needing high speed RAM to feed Ryzens to get the most of out them. As for on the GPU then definitely. It's an extra multiplier and will be essential in rendering 4k fast enough.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Mobo is easy. They're broken up into two groups per type: if they can overclock or not. After that it's features. Don't care about SLI, fancy isolated audio chips, on board wifi/Bluetooth, RGB lighting, dust shielding etc? Then stuff them and save some cash. Mobos have no impact on performance so you can't get it wrong.

Cases are my dilemma at the moment. So many ATX mid towers I like but they don't have external drive bays. I'm happy to connect my current one up to the mobo to install windows and then remove it but I like to listen and rip my CDs (I listen to a lot of underground death and black metal that you still have to buy physical copies of) so I still may have to invest in an external. I actually like the Corsair Obsidian 750d but it's just way too big for my single GPU build. At the moment trying to find the right mid tower with tempered glass and top mount 240mm radiator with front intakes that aren't completely blocked by drive bays. Decisions, decisions!

Of the mobo features you've outlined, are there any you'd recommend as being worthy investments?

To be honest, my case browsing so far has been limited to, "Which one looks good and has enough of a window to make LEDs effective?"