Posts by boldharbor7

Kimberly Gomez34 said:boldharbor7, honestly, paying that much for an R5 3600 just doesn't make sense...
Plus, that AsRock Challenger is just a basic, entry-level cooler; it’s definitely not cutting it for a 5700XT. Look, my advice? Stick with Intel. You aren't losing any gaming performance, and you'll walk away with extra cash in your pocket for an RTX 3060Ti. Just don't get ripped off—keep an eye on the Links for something around $3,900-$1333

It's a strange market right now, but Intel and Nvidia are actually the more budget-friendly and practical moves. 😁

That’s the plan! Thanks, everyone! 👍

wiredotter14 said:I've got a TX650M; solid unit. A high-quality 550W is plenty.
Personally, I’d grab the 3060Ti. It’s a tier above the 5700XT. On paper, you're looking at an R5 3600 vs a Core i5 10400F, probably because of motherboard price gaps. If forced to choose between those two CPUs, I'm going with the 3600.
Just a heads-up: watch out for shops like those overseas retailers that ship from abroad. They can be cheap, sure, but customer service and returns can be a total nightmare.

You could also look at this one:
It isn't modular like the one pictured and availability is iffy, but it's a Seasonic Bronze with a 5-year warranty. For the price, it's a decent deal.
https://www.newegg.com/p/seasonic-power-supply...61540/product/

P.S.

Looking at it now—you're picking the R5 3600 for $667? Just because of credit card fees? $667 is way too much for that chip.

It's not about the card payment; it's just the only one they actually have in stock, according to PCPartPicker. I'm planning to pay cash, which will obviously be much cheaper. If I could find it for around $120-$130, I’d probably grab both the R5 3600 and the 3060Ti.

Alexander Moore67 said:Don't even think about grabbing a low-end power supply; 650W $93 is a stretch, but honestly, just avoid the cheap junk. It'd be better to grab a higher-quality motherboard for the Ryzen 5 3600, though if you aren't planning on overclocking, the basic one works fine.

So, should I just go with the same wattage from a different brand?
Any suggestions?

Based on all the feedback I’ve received, I decided to do a little digging myself.
I'd love to hear what you guys think about this!

https://files.fm/u/gy6j49gy3

Are we strictly talking about Intel here?
It’s not bad, though it feels a bit pricey; I might consider it.
I was doing a little digging myself—maybe one of these would work?

Thanks!

To be honest, this PC is about 8 years old now. And if I’m being even more blunt, I don't actually know which GPU or motherboard is in here. But yeah, it's definitely an old socket. I did some digging into the Intel Core i5-10400F and honestly, it looks pretty solid. There are minor frequency differences, sure, but the performance feels just as good, if not better. Personally, I’d rather grab an NVIDIA RTX 3060 to slightly overkill my resolution for now, just so I have the headroom to upgrade to a better monitor later—which is exactly what I'm planning to do. My only real question is about the motherboard. I'm no tech genius, but I was wondering: wouldn't it be smarter to go with a B550 (like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/ma...-s2h/product/))? It's a newer socket and all. I'm just not sure about the supported frequencies. Generally speaking, I wouldn't mind building a setup with an Intel Core i5-10400F and an NVIDIA RTX 3060, paired with 16GB of 3200MHz RAM, so that's why I'm asking.

Also, thanks for the info on the stores! I'll try to pick things up in person at a local shop as much as possible.

To be honest, I'm aiming for 1080p at 60Hz—though I might upgrade to 144Hz once I save up enough. 1440p is definitely a long-term goal. My current rig is honestly a headache; it keeps shutting down and acting up, plus it's getting pretty old.
Yeah, you're right. Comparing a 2700X to an Intel Core i5-9600K... there's maybe a 5fps difference? Man, I really messed that one up! I was fully expecting prices to drop even lower for Black Friday and stuff.
I'm not sure if you could recommend any other ways to cut costs from my list, besides what you already mentioned regarding the CPU and GPU.

I know, right? It’s honestly such a bummer. Back when I could actually manage my own builds, I could put everything together for about $2.25, but now we're looking at basically 8000. I really kicked myself for not grabbing anything during Black Friday.
I was originally thinking about picking up an Intel Core i5-12400, but the price has jumped to around 2800; besides, the Intel Core i5-9600K isn't much of a bottleneck if I pair it with one of those RTX 30 series cards anyway.
I noticed Best Buy has an NVIDIA RTX 3060 for 4400 here:
I'm just a little suspicious, though, because I haven't heard much about Palit. I've just noticed that their stuff is always the first to sell out whenever something new drops.
My total budget is 8000.

Hey everyone! This is my very first time building a PC, so I wanted to reach out and ask for some advice, warnings, or anything else you might have for me.

Here’s the parts list I'm looking at:
Intel Core i5-9600K (it was supposed to be $567 at Links, but they're sold out—lowest price is $2000 right now)
RX5700xt ( I originally wanted the Powercolor Red Dragon, but Home Depot is out of stock and Links doesn't have it either.
ASUS Prime (
500Gb SSD(
16Gb RAM (
650W Power Supply(
ANTEC NX100 Gray (
Do any of you have experience with these specific parts that you could share?
Also, does anyone know where I might find these components a bit cheaper? Keep in mind, if you happen to know a place that offers financing, that would be amazing. I know how messy shipping and warehouse stock can be lately, but if you can help, please do!

Thanks in advance!