I was thinking about the RX 6650 XT, but maybe someone has a better idea.
I'm not sure about the budget... maybe around $300-$500.
We aren't sure if you already have these parts and just need the graphics card, or if you're buying everything from scratch? Also, what's the main use for this PC?
If gaming is the goal, you definitely want a better balance. You won't be very happy at 2K resolution with anything less than a 3060Ti or 6750XT. If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking at an RTX 4070, though that starts closer to $670.
rapiddriver11 said:Hey experts, I'd love to get your take on this PC build from the link:
Is it actually worth it, or should I just put that much cash toward building something better?
Thanks. 😉
This is way better—absolute horror value for nearly $2,200.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 x box. No cooler included. (4.70-5.30GHz, AM5), 100-100000593WOF. Xilence M705D cooler for Intel/AMD AMD Gigabyte B650M gaming x AX, featuring the AMD B650 chipset, AM5 socket, and DDR5 support. Patriot DDR5 16GB (2x8) kit, 5600MHz, Viper vena, PVV516G560C40K Samsung SSD 1TB 980 M.2, PCIe 3.0 x4, MZ-V8V1T0BW, 600TBW Fractal Midi Tower design Core 2500 Black, FD-CA-CORE-2500-BL Seasonic 650 w G12 GM 650, 80 PLUS Gold, G12-GM-650 MSI RTX4070Ti Ventus 3X 12G OC, 12GB, GDDR6X, V513-001R
The total comes out to $1,975.50 via PayPal (that’s with the cash/direct deposit discount applied).
Going with the AM5 platform here feels like a questionable value proposition, especially when you look at how much those motherboards and DDR5 RAM kits are going for. You could probably shave a couple hundred bucks off the total by just sticking with an AM4 setup instead.
Around $650 gets you a Ryzen 5500, 16GB of RAM, a 500GB SSD, and an RX 6600. It’s a solid build for that kind of cash, but I wouldn't go any lower than that.
Overall, The GIGABYTE P650B is just a mediocre unit. It doesn't really excel at anything, and honestly, it has some serious flaws. Between its shaky Build quality, passable voltage regulation, and alright Transient Load performance, it still fails when you look at its awful DC output quality and inconsistent noise levels. The GIGABYTE P650B is essentially the textbook definition of a sour mixed bag.
You don't need a Ryzen 7 for gaming; even if you went with a Ryzen 5 5xxx series, it would work fine since you have the budget... though honestly, the 5xxx series still offers way better value than the 7xxx line.
Just check if the case looks good to you aesthetically.
Raymond Turner7 said:I'd love some feedback on this new build. My old rig finally kicked the bucket, so this would be the replacement. Unfortunately, I don't have the cash for a new monitor right now, so I'll just stick with my old one. Looking for recommendations or tweaks, provided the total stays under $1,800.
1. Do you really need a Ryzen 7 7th gen? You could find much cheaper options using different combinations from the 5th gen, depending on what you're actually going to use the PC for. 2. Any money saved in step #1 should be moved over to the GPU, assuming gaming is your main priority. 3. This whole mess with the SSDs that @Michael Jackson10 mentioned—if you need a ton of space for archiving or storage, it's better to go with at least a 7200RPM HDD plus one larger NVMe SSD. Or even better, take the savings from step #1 and just get a single 2TB SSD-only setup. 4. A cooler with only two heatpipes for $30 is a big no-no. But again, that depends on which CPU you pick; you can adjust the cooler accordingly.
Overall, this could be done a lot better, but we need to know what the primary use case for this computer is.
wanderingbison9 said:Am I living in some parallel universe? We went from struggling to run old junk for Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Excel to talking about 4K video... But what are you even doing with 4K? Editing, adding effects, or just scrolling through files? What’s the point of 4K if you don't have a 4K monitor? I'm worried the GeForce GT 1030 won't cut it because of the VRAM, though it really depends on how the software utilizes the GPU and whether it supports hardware decoding. I've got a 1600X on this board and I can't install Windows 11; the processor is just too outdated. I need to check which older Ryzen chips are actually supported.
You can definitely install it. I have a 1600AF (which shouldn't be any different), and people were bugging me to install it every other day. 😬 You probably just haven't enabled fTPM in your BIOS, or your motherboard lacks a dedicated TPM chip.
If you don't feel like messing around with a BIOS update (you can always have them do it at a local shop in ten minutes if you want, though it's not a huge time sink), you could just grab the Ryzen 3600. It'll work right out of the box on a B450 motherboard, and honestly, it's way cheaper by about $100.
EDIT: On second thought, there's a chance even the Ryzen 3600 might give you trouble if you're having a run of bad luck. Since the B450 was originally designed for the Ryzen 2000 series, going with one of those is your only 100% guarantee. You can find a Ryzen 2600 for around $85; it's a pretty lousy deal compared to the Ryzen 3600, but if you absolutely need to be certain it works out of the box, that's your only real option.
Intel really knocked it out of the park with the AM4 platform, if you aren't already aware 😁 If you have one of those first-gen AM4 motherboards, like the 3xx series (A320/B350/X370), you can actually still drop in a near-latest fifth-gen Ryzen processor (Ryzen 5xxx). You're currently sitting on a second-gen motherboard (B450). Basically, even that first generation of boards supports five generations of processors (from Ryzen 1xxx all the way up to Ryzen 5xxx)—that's like five years of support right there!
So thanks to Intel, what you've got isn't some "old junk" by any means. Just pop a Ryzen 5600 in there, which is an absolute beast for the price. If you want to game, you can throw in pretty much any graphics card you want without worrying about bottlenecks; you'll end up with a total monster for gaming. If your focus is more on photo or video editing, you could go even bigger with something like a Ryzen 5700/5800 X3D, though that’ll cost you well over $150.
Regarding the BIOS update, it's very likely you'll need one for the Ryzen 5600 since it came out in 2022—about three or four years after you bought your rig. To do that, you'd either need to borrow an older Ryzen from someone to run the update yourself, or just take it to the shop where you're buying the new Ryzen and have them handle it for you. Looking at the BIOS list for that specific board, version 4.60 from 2020 supports Ryzen 5000 processors. You're probably running an older version 🕺
It’s a pretty decent platform. If you were looking to sell it, you could probably pull in some decent cash, but like you mentioned, you're just missing the CPU. Within that budget, you can easily fit in a Ryzen 5600. The graphics card should be fine for what you need; honestly, regardless of which CPU with integrated graphics you pick, you aren't going to see much of an upgrade.
You'll really only notice that NVMe speed during tasks involving moving files back and forth where those Read/Write speeds actually matter. For everyday computer use, you won't feel any practical difference at all.
Richard Lee47 said:Maybe the mounting isn't quite right. You might have to strip it all down and start over from scratch.
Yeah, most likely. Reviews suggest the cooling performance is solid. It’s either an installation issue on your end or you just caught a lemon with a faulty pump.
Like Jure said, liquid cooling is a total waste for anyone who isn't out there chasing world records. For the average user, the only real reason to go that route is for the aesthetics.
You might be able to find some used replacement part on eBay, but honestly, putting any money into something this ancient is just throwing cash down the drain. Even if you score something on eBay, it’s probably going to be about 10 years old anyway, so who knows when it’ll finally give up the ghost. For around $300, you can grab something brand new, modern, and way faster for whatever you need to do, so just let this one go.
wiredotter14 said:Those are usually the 4GB versions, which still clearly outperform the GTX1650. They're perfectly fine for 1080p. The 8GB models run a bit more expensive.
It's funny how differently everyone interpreted what velvetlynx3 meant by "old crap." 🤣🍿🎉🍿
The RX580 might be old, but it still smokes all those other cards in its class when you look at pure value.
The GTX1650 is just old junk—it's decent for an OEM PC if you can snag one for $500-$200
As for the RTX 3070... people on this forum or browsing Craigslist don't really care how much Ronald Bishop58 paid for his 3070 years ago.
Regarding the RX6500, that card uses PCIe x4. So, if someone doesn't have a motherboard and CPU that both support PCIe 4.0, the card gets throttled down to PCIe 3.0 x4. That's basically like running on PCIe 2.0 x8... which limits it so much that the performance can actually drop below an RX580.
There's a high chance a buyer picking up that card won't have PCIe 4.0, making it a pretty terrible choice.
An RX6400 would be a decent pick for around $400 new; otherwise, it's a total joke.$167
This guy just brought some order to a complete clusterfuck of misinformation. 🙂
It’s definitely not a mistake, but this specific Seasonic series is just a tier above when it comes to build quality and efficiency.
ironhound95 said:Thanks for the advice!
Here is how it looks now: ASRock RX 6650 XT B550M Steel Legend - microATX - I don't mind the microATX size, and it should fit fine in any ATX case, right? AMD Ryzen 5 5600 box - lost the G😁 Is this stock cooler alright? Or should I grab a separate one? DDR4 16GB (1x16) Kingston Fury Renegade C16 - I'm wondering if I should jump straight to 32GB or if that's overkill for me? EVGA 600W Hydro K Pro Phanteks Midi Tower Eclipse P400 - I stumbled upon this in another thread, and people on the internet seem to love it. It looks spacious, and the price difference is minimal.
Total cost - $1,125
For now, I'll stick with my current drives—installing Windows on the SSD, and keeping indie games on the HDD since the loading times aren't really an issue there. 🙂
Does this look better?
For just two bucks more, you get a stronger GPU, the RX 6700 Epic find 🙂 The cooler will be fine, and the motherboard is good too. If the cooler ends up being a bit noisy for your liking, you can always add something like an LC CC 120 later on. I'd say 32GB is still overkill for gaming, even though I've seen a title or two listing it under recommended specs already.🙂
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 box instead of the 5600G. The motherboard seems overpriced to me; you could easily grab something cheaper like the B550M Steel Legend, which offers much better value. That RAM is definitely overkill—you really don't need 4400 MHz. A solid 3600MHz kit that's more than half the price will work perfectly fine. EVGA is okay, but honestly, a Seasonic unit is likely a better way to future-proof your build for just a little extra cash. I'd swap out the SSD too; that OCZ drive is ancient and tiny. Once you install Windows, you'll barely have room for one or two games, so I'd toss in a modern NVMe terabyte drive. Just hang the HDD on the wall 😬 . As for GPU brands, it doesn't matter all that much. Just pick the cheapest model that has at least dual fans. I'm not sure what your budget looks like, but once you factor in these changes, see if you can still fit a 6700XT, 6750XT, or a 3060Ti into the plan. The case looks alright, just add another fan inside because it looks like it only comes with one pre-installed.
You can definitely stick with your current case if you aren't looking for something fancy or expensive, and the power supply is fine too, provided the build isn't pulling huge wattage (like this one here). I went with 32GB of RAM and a solid SSD since you mentioned video editing. From what I've read, NVIDIA and their CUDA cores tend to be better for editing, though that usually depends on which software you're running.
Total $575.00 via Newegg + $820 graphics = $1,395.00
+ graphics card
This one focuses on gaming—specifically the GPU. I included a new power supply because your old one is cutting it way too close. The 6-core/12-thread Intel Core i5-12400 will give you more or less the same gaming performance as the i7-12700K (8-core/16-thread). Less RAM and a slightly slower SSD here. You can definitely keep your current case; I see it supports cards up to 375 mm, and this one is only 313 mm.