PC build recommendations?

It’ll be enough, but for the same amount of cash, you can find much better power supplies. I don't see why you're even asking for advice if you're just going to ignore it anyway 🙂...

swiftfalcon89 said:I said IF you're looking toward a future with a 144Hz setup, then the 3600 is definitely the way to go. You just repeated the same thing over and over like a broken record.

The RX 580 isn't permanent in your PCIe slot; you can always upgrade later. I actually picked up a 144Hz monitor back when I was still rocking an i5-6400 and a GTX 1060 3GB. Eventually, I upgraded both, and now I'm pulling over 100 FPS on most titles.

You clearly don't get it. For Battlefield games, the CPU is the most critical component. Just look at how poorly BF runs on quad-core processors paired with mid-range cards like a GTX 1060 or RX 580—it's a total mess. Please, just take the advice.😵

Comparing me to trash was a real class act. Thanks a lot!

Timothy Kim60 said:Of course you won't see much difference...

When looking at reviews, I guess you really have to check which GPU they’re actually testing with. Those massive 20%+ performance gaps usually happen when they use an RTX 2080Ti—or in some cases, maybe even an RTX 3080 if the reviewer wasn't fully equipped at the time—and those cards are easily three times more powerful...

I was thinking... maybe I should just go for the 3600 now? If things take a turn for the better—say, some unexpected cash from my aunt in America or my uncle in Australia—I could just upgrade to a beefier graphics card later.
It feels like a smarter move than starting with a 1600, then jumping to a 3600, and then finally tackling the GPU.

Look, if you aren't planning on dropping money on a beefy GPU (and judging by your posts, you won't—you're more of a casual gamer, so you probably don't care about 4K, 144Hz, or cranking everything to ultra settings), then I guess the 1600 will get the job done. If you have an extra $200 lying around and don't mind burning it on a CPU just to maybe feel a tiny difference one day—go for it.

I'll stick to this thread rather than starting a new one! A buddy of mine is breathing some life back into an old PC. He’s running an i5 2320 with 8GB of RAM (4x2GB) on an unknown motherboard. I'm wondering, would it be worth dropping my RX 570 8GB into this rig?
He's planning to pick up a new 600W power supply. His goal is just playing PUBG Lite and some older titles. Do you think the bottleneck will be too much of a headache?

Nah, it’ll be fine for older games

wiredotter14 said:It won't work, but it'll be fine for older games.

Got it, thanks!

He doesn't need 600W; a decent 400W unit should be plenty (and probably better than some cheap 600W junk you'd find at a flea market)

Roger Mitchell4 said:I don't want to start a whole new thread, but a buddy of mine is trying to breathe some life into an old rig. He's running an i5-2320, 4x2GB RAM, and some motherboard he can't quite remember... Is it actually worth throwing my RX 570 8GB into this thing?
He’s planning on grabbing a new 600W power supply. Mostly just playing PUBG Lite and some older titles. Am I going to run into a massive bottleneck?

Look, PUBG is super CPU bound. Having 8GB in Dual Channel is decent enough, assuming we're talking DDR3 or DDR4 (especially if they're Overclocking). That GPU you have is solid.
Also, the game is notoriously poorly optimized when it comes to loading times. You're definitely going to need an SSD for it—just like you would for R6S if you're aiming for Very high textures, Mordhau, or stuff like that.
An HDD just won't cut it; you won't load in time, and you might find yourself halfway through the flight path before you even spawn. It all depends on the map.
Even my own i5-7600K at 3.8-4.2 GHz—which I've got Overclocking at 5.0 GHz—barely keeps up. Moving up to the 8th gen processors really helps because of the hyperthreading and all those other little tricks Intel added to the i5 line. Honestly, an i7 is just a much safer bet.

But hey, if you're fine playing on Low or Medium settings rather than cranking everything to Ultra like I do, then yeah, it should be plenty. You can probably still max out the textures, antialiasing, and post-processing since those don't eat up nearly as much juice. You'll likely have to dial back everything else, though.
Definitely keep Shadows on High instead of Very high; the visual difference is negligible, but the hit to your performance is huge.

Personally, I've stepped away from it because I'm just not a big Battle Royale fan anymore. I might jump into the new Warzone or MW MP occasionally since it's pretty casual and gives you two chances to get back in the fight, plus the weapon balance feels okay. I'm just over the grind of trying to hit Global Elite in CS:GO and dealing with those annoying spikes. It's exhausting.

For a build like that, you don't need anything fancy for a power supply. I used a Cooler Master 600W for ten years for no particular reason, and since it was getting old, I recently picked up a 550W from Corsair. You could easily go even lower than that.

It’s about PUBG Lite. A guy I know running an Intel Core i5-2500 and an RX460 plays it without any issues at all.

Regarding my current setup...honestly, man

Would this setup be acceptable for an office build within a $2500 budget?$900?

Fortron 400W Hexa80+ Power Supply, PPA4004900
MS midi tower case
Crucial BX500 SSD 240GB, SATA3, CT240BX500SSD1
DDR4 8GB (1x8) G.Skill 3200MHz AEGIS Bulk, F4-3200C16S-8GIS
Asrock AB350M-HDV R3.0/R4.0, AM4
AMD Ryzen 3 3200G BOX, s. AM4, YD3200C5FHBOX
Logitech K120 Wired keyboard
Logitech B100 Black wired mouse
Total: $820

I would likely pair this with this specific monitor (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/monitor-asus-vp247hae.aspx), which would bring the grand total somewhere between $3100 and $3300...

If you're picking everything up Downtown, you might as well grab THIS motherboard along with 2X THIS RAM. Ryzen generally performs much better with Dual Channel memory.
Everything else looks fine.

I previously handled my builds over at AMD, but looking at these adjustments, it seems I can achieve more or less the same results working out of Downtown... https://prnt.sc/t5a9iq

Yeah, that's basically it. 👍

It’s a bit of an unbalanced build. What are you actually planning to do with this rig? If you're just gaming, that 3900X is massive overkill. Honestly, even the 3700X is way more than what you really need. I’d also swap in a Tomahawk motherboard, and you definitely forgot to include a power supply 😬

crimsonstag84 said:AMD Ryzen 5 6-Core/12-Thread 1600 (3.2/3.6GHz Boost, 19MB, 65W, AM4) box, with Wraith Stealth cooler
CRUCIAL 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3000MHz NON-ECC UDIMM Ballistix Sport LT Gray
ASRock B450M-PRO4-F, AM4

Total: $691 - Downtown

So, Smith suggested this setup to me as a "best buy" about six months ago. I'm wondering if there's anything better available now, or if I should just stick with this plan. Also, should I pull the trigger immediately, or maybe wait until Christmas to see if any big sales pop up?

I didn't end up building anything back then—between the pandemic and other expenses, the money just went elsewhere...

What I have listed below is my current rig. I’m looking to replace everything except the graphics card, so I could use some advice on finding a good value. I don't want to go overboard with the spending, but I want to be able to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Battlefield V, and Red Dead Redemption 2 at decent settings without stuttering.
Thanks.

My current specs:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/H81M-E34/Specification

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us...-2-80-ghz.html

https://memory.net/product/m378b5273...ank-x8-module/

https://www.amd.com/en/products/grap...#product-specs

What kind of budget are we actually looking at here?

Things have definitely gotten more expensive lately because of supply shortages, though some budget-friendly options like the i3 10100f still sit below $233

Another route is to grab a 4c8t Xeon from overseas via sites like eBay or AliExpress for next to nothing (we're talking under $167), then pick up two 8GB DDR3 sticks for your board. Your motherboard's official website should have a CPU support list—just cross-reference that with Intel Arc to see which ones offer 4 cores and 8 threads.

That setup would be solid enough to run modern titles and actually let you tap into the full potential of your RX 580, since right now you're leaving performance on the table. Let's be real, though: even with an upgrade, you won't be cranking max settings and high FPS in heavy hitters like RDR2

We’ve finalized this budget 😁
Regarding the first thing Smith posted, I was looking at the Ryzen 5 3600, so he’s still roughly $333 above those 2k figures, which brings us to about 3k

Timothy Kim60 said:Given where things stand right now, I think this would be your best bet:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Intel+Core+i5-10400f
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ASUS+PRIME+B460-PLUS or https://www.amazon.com/s?k=msi+b460+torpedo (Best Buy is out of stock)
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Corsair+Vengeance+DDR4+3000mhz

roughly $2600-$900

Just build what you can afford for now, and maybe one day you'll upgrade to a significantly beefier graphics card.

Maybe try picking up parts from one or two different shops (most offer free shipping on orders over $667, if you even need it).

By the way, does your case support ATX boards? Also, what kind of power supply are you running? It probably won't make a huge difference in power draw, so it should hold up fine.

OMG, I just realized I forgot to follow up on this thread and now I see I haven't answered a ton of questions. Sorry, Timothy Kim60, wasn't intentional. I'll get back to you once I know about the case and the power supply. 🙂

Oh, and I wanted to ask—regarding returns and warranties, which US retailers have you had good experiences with, and which ones were bad? Or if you haven't dealt with them personally, maybe you've heard something? Just trying to see how things stand. Thanks.