Smith is looking to pick up a PC for some light gaming, but he really needs it for schoolwork too, so we're on a bit of a tight deadline—trying to get this sorted within two weeks. Prices are pretty wild right now, but I was thinking about putting together something like this:
XFX 570 8GB Ryzen 5 1600 af Starting off with an 8GB stick of RAM A 550W power supply Just any decent case under $117 A 1TB HDD ASRock B450M Pro4 motherboard
I'm looking at spending roughly $1667 if I hunt for parts individually from different shops to keep things cheap.
Does anyone have any advice on how to balance this build? I’d love to squeeze in an SSD since he needs it for school stuff, but then again, he'll want to game here and there, so having an HDD would be handy too.
He already has a monitor and peripherals ready to go.
Ugh, honestly? I would never touch those off-brand graphics cards with a ten-foot pole. I’m strictly looking at Dell, ASUS, or maybe even a Gigabyte if the deal is right. I might just grab the GeForce RTX 2070 super because when you break it down over a six-month payment plan, it works out to about $33 a month, which is totally doable for my budget.
Man, I really hope you didn't actually drop that much cash on it 😁
Yep, this is the one. I'm dead set on Nvidia, and since I can't find a decent deal on a 2070super, I figured I'd grab a 2060super over just a standard 2070. It’s kind of like choosing a high-end mid-range model over a base-level premium one—sometimes you just know what fits your build better.
You know what, you guys were totally spot on. After I placed the order, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole researching that Armor version and realized I’d made a mistake, so I jumped on that cancellation right away. In the end, I decided to pull the trigger on the Asus Strix RTX 2060super instead.
Thanks for the heads-up, everyone! Catch ya later!
So, I finally pulled the trigger and grabbed the MSI 2060 super Armor edition. I’m thinking this thing should hold its own and stay solid for at least the next 3 or 4 years.
It’s actually pretty wild how often Intel pushes out driver updates lately. Have you run into any weird glitches or stability issues with them? For me, the software side of things is a huge deal—I need everything to just work without a headache. Lately, I’ve been sticking with NVIDIA, and honestly, the experience has been smooth as silk. But yeah, looking at the specs, I’d say this GTX 1660 Ti can definitely hold its own against a standard RTX 2070.
Basically, you're walking away with an RTX 2060 super. When I weigh things like noise levels and power draw, I’m leaning heavily toward grabbing that Super version specifically.
Hey everyone, I haven’t seen any real back-and-forth over the last few pages regarding the showdown between the RTX 2060 and the GTX 1660 Ti.
I'm looking to pull the trigger on one of these two cards in about two weeks, but I'm honestly stuck in indecision land.
On paper, it feels like the GTX 1660 Ti would give me more bang for my buck, but man, I have such a love-hate relationship with Intel drivers. I was an Intel user for a solid decade, but at this point, I think I'd rather just switch over to NVIDIA.
So, which card should I grab?
My biggest priority is finding something with a 0dB mode for silent operation; I don't play that much, so I really don't want a loud fan whirring in my ear all the time.
So, I'm currently rocking a Ryzen 5 3600 paired with 16GB of RAM running at 3200Mhz.
The thing is, I've been really torn about my GPU lately. My gut always pulls me toward NVIDIA because, let's be honest, their driver support is just smoother, everything feels more polished, and you run into way fewer Bugs.
But looking at the current market, it seems like grabbing an RX 5700 or an RTX 2060 is probably the smarter move right now. I'm actually planning to pick up an Oculus VR headset this summer, so I'm trying to figure out which card would be the better companion for that experience. What do you guys think—should I pull the trigger on one of these two right now, or is it worth holding off for a month or two to see if prices drop a bit more?
crimsonstag84 said:It feels pretty overpriced for just an Intel Core i5-9600K and an NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti. I bet you could find something better for that money.
Where do you think I could tighten things up to make this better?
My biggest headache right now is definitely finding the right monitor. If I wasn't held up by that, I’d easily shell out the extra cash to grab an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super instead of sticking with the NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti.
Larry Ortiz5 said:The only thing that could really be considered overkill here is if the processor ends up being way too weak to keep up with the graphics card 😁
No way, you've gotta be kidding me! People are out here recommending an Intel Core i5-9600K paired with an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super? There is absolutely no way that setup is too weak. That's just wild.
So, I’ve finally decided to pull the trigger on some new parts for my build. I'm already set with an SSD, an HDD, a case, and all my peripherals. I just need help checking if this specific list is a solid move.
I know the Intel Core i5-9600K might be a bit much compared to the NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti right now, but it's kind of like buying a truck when you only have a small trailer—it gives me room to grow since I'll probably grab an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super next year.
Do you think I can find a better deal than this at $2450 (Amazon) ?
Man, looking through the absolute mountain of power supplies out there is giving me a massive headache, so I figured I’d come here and pick the brains of people who actually know their stuff.
First off, I’m not looking to cheap out too much on this part. I’m aiming for something in the 600 to $250 watt range. It’s pretty important to me that it’s fully modular, and if it can pull off that "zero RPM" thing where the fan stays silent when it isn't being pushed hard, even better.
I’m currently on the hunt for a solid gaming monitor. My big must-haves are FreeSync support and a smooth 144Hz refresh rate. From what I’ve been reading, a lot of high-end gaming screens aren't actually that great if you want to kick back and watch movies or anything like that, so my eyes have been set on this Samsung QLED model.
What’s the consensus on this specific one? I’ve hit a bit of a wall because there isn't a ton of info floating around online about it, so I could really use some expert insight. Thanks a bunch!
1) i5 8400 It's slightly faster than the Ryzen 5 1600 and 2600 in a lot of games. Costs about $567 (it's 1800 at Walmart, find it elsewhere). Pair it with a B360 motherboard.
2) A slightly better or similar AM4 board and a Ryzen 2600.
The 2600 is only $50 more expensive than the 1600, so with a similar motherboard, you'll have more cash left over (you're closer to $2833), and if you take the difference from $117 and put it into the motherboard, you'll have a much better foundation for later.
I’d go that route because the upgrade path is way better; they're dropping those new Ryzen chips on the 7nm process this year that will work on existing boards. You can easily overclock a Ryzen 5 2600 to 4.0 GHz (can go higher, but 4.0 is basically always stable). On average, it's a bit slower than the i5 8400 in games, but once you move away from stuff like Overwatch where both CPUs hit over 150FPS, the gap isn't huge—maybe 5%. Plus, the 2600 has more "breathing room" than the 8400 since it has 12 threads.
Check this review; I'd be happy with those FPS numbers compared to the i5 8400.
Might not look like a massive leap, but I'm telling you, you'll be GPU bottlenecked in most AAA titles if you push max settings, and in Fortnite etc., you'll be hitting 120+ FPS regardless.
P.S.
Check other shops for card prices; Best Buy adds a heavy markup for credit card payments.
Yeah, I think I'm probably gonna roll with that plan. I’m looking at pulling the trigger on this in about a month. If I end up having a little extra wiggle room in the budget by then, I might just go all out and grab the 2700x too, but honestly, I'll just play it by ear and see how things shake out.
I mostly stick to AAA titles, though my main rotation is usually Rocket League, Fortnite, and Dota 2. That said, I definitely want to drop some heavy hitters on there every now and then.
For Gaming, I’m looking at 144Hz at 1080p. Honestly, I don't see much point in pushing for anything higher than that right now.
So, if I decide to go with an NVIDIA RTX 2070, should I just start with 8GB of RAM and put those $167 extra bucks toward a beefier CPU instead? If I go that route, which CPU would actually be worth the upgrade?
So, I’m looking to build a new rig for some serious Gaming, and I was wondering if you guys could help me put something together for about $2333. My big priority is finally making the jump to a smooth 144Hz experience.
Here’s the stuff I’ve already got in my current setup that I’m planning to carry over:
Corsair Carbide Series case 650W power supply An aftermarket CPU cooler A 240GB SSD and a 1TB HDD
What I really need help with is picking out a new monitor, a GPU, a processor, a motherboard, and some RAM. Ideally, I’d like to keep the total cost around $2833, and I definitely want to look into financing options—monthly installments are a huge deal for me here.
Oh, one more thing! Audio quality is pretty big for me too. I’m looking for a sound card, or maybe just a motherboard with a really solid built-in audio chip, because I’m planning to upgrade to a full 5.1 surround sound system. If anyone knows exactly what hardware I should be hunting for to get that setup running perfectly, please let me know!