Advice for buying a gaming PC!

crimsonstag84 said:Not really. That power supply is bottom-of-the-barrel stuff; you should look at at least an EVGA 400W. Honestly, I don't think it makes sense to drop an extra $400 on a Ryzen 5 1400. You’d get much more bang for your buck by putting that money toward a better power supply, a solid motherboard, some faster RAM, or even a case with USB 3.0. Also, I’d steer clear of those 120GB SSDs—you can grab one twice that size for just a tiny bit more. $67 It's on the pricier side. You might want to look into picking up a used hard drive instead.

I've been looking into the MSI B350M PRO-VD plus. It's an AM4 socket board, specifically model 7B38-004R.
I’m looking at the AMD Ryzen 3 1200 BOX. It’s running at 3.10GHz with an 8MB cache on the AM4 socket. Just checking out the specs on this one.
PNY CS900 240GB SSD, SATA 3.0, SSD7CS900-240-PB
MS HUNTER Mid-tower case.
I’m looking at a single 8GB stick of DDR4 RAM—specifically the Kingston HyperX Fury CL15, part number HX424C15FB2/8. It runs at 2400MHz with a latency of CL15. Just wanted to get this on the record.
I’m running a Galax GTX 1060 EX with 3GB of GDDR5 and a 192-bit bus, clocked at 1733/2000MHz. For power, I've got an EVGA 400W unit that meets the ATX 2.4 standard.
Akyga 120mm AW-12B-BL LED Fan (Blue, 3-pin)

Total: 5$155

Will my current setup handle the new Call of Duty: WWII without any issues? That’s actually the main reason I was looking into getting a Ryzen 5.

Could someone please help me squeeze the absolute best value out of a $5,500 budget? I want to be able to run the new Call of Duty: WWII smoothly, and ideally, I’d like to have enough breathing room with my RAM and GPU so I don't have to worry about upgrades for at least two or three years.

It’s frozen, though it doesn't seem to be stuttering much 😉 Just keep in mind that this game is pretty notorious right now for how it hogs VRAM and RAM, so you might have to be smart about how you balance your settings to avoid any frame drops.

What is your assessment of this setup:

CPU: Intel Core i5-7400
RAM: 1 x 8GB DDR4 2133MHz (expandable up to 32GB)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6GB GDDR5
SSD: 240GB
HDD:
ODD:
Network: 1x Gigabit LAN
Case: Midi tower
PSU: 550 W
Rear Ports: 2x PS2, 2x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, HDMI, DVI-D, 3x DP, 1x RJ-45, HD Audio out
Front Ports: 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, Headphone jack, Mic jack

This is a configuration from a local shop, though it doesn't list the motherboard. The price tag is $2133

No

It’s not just about the motherboard, but they probably didn't include a high-quality power supply in the build. That’s just how it goes with most pre-built PCs.

That’s quite pricey! You can definitely find much better value for that amount of money.
For instance, you could build a high-quality setup featuring:

1x Intel Core i3-8350K (8MB Cache, 4.00GHz)
1x AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB GDDR5, 256-bit

I would suggest avoiding those older i5 series processors, as they just aren't worth the investment anymore.

I guess the Intel Core i3-8350K isn't really worth it either... maybe go with the Intel Core i3-8100 or just jump up to an 8600K or 8700K.

Personally, I’d much rather see 4.0GHz than 3.6GHz, so I am more than happy to pay $167 a premium. 😁
I imagine that’s exactly how they designed these computers.

Richard Diaz52 said:I’d much rather see 4.0GHz than 3.6GHz, so I’m willing to pay $167 a premium. 😁
That’s basically what these machines are built for.

At that price point, you're looking at the territory of an AMD Ryzen 5 1600, or maybe slightly more for an i5 8400.
The i3 8100 makes sense if it stays under a couple hundred bucks.

Richard Diaz52 said:Overpriced. You can secure much better performance for that kind of cash.
For instance, a high-quality build centered around:

1x Intel Core i3-8350K (8MB Cache, 4.00GHz)
1x AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB GDDR5, 256-bit

Avoid those outdated i5 series processors; they simply aren't worth the investment anymore.

Right, I'd be looking at spending about 6 $167. That means the processor you mentioned should be sufficient, but regarding the GPU, does having 6 GB of VRAM actually matter, or is it negligible? What about the rest of the components? Is a 550W power supply enough?

I wouldn't go with that setup above... honestly, just skip the pre-built configurations.

Kingston SSD 120 GB A400, 2.5", sučelje sat 3, TLC, 500 MB/s read, 320 MB/s write
Gigabyte Z370P D3 motherboard, LGA 1151
Intel Core i3-8100 processor (6MB Cache, 3.60GHz), LGA 1151, BX80684I38100
8GB DDR4 (1x8) PC4-19200 2400MHz Crucial CL17, CT8G4DFS824A
MSI GTX 1060 Aero 6 graphics card OC ITX, 6GB GDDR5, 192-bit, 1759/2000MHz, GTX_1060_AERO_ITX_6G
Zalman R1 mid tower case
600W FSP Fortron/Source Hyper power supply, ATX 2.31, HP600, PPA6003302
1TB WD Blue HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 64MB Cache, SATA3, WD10EZEX

Total: $2.25 - Adm (includes free shipping and assembly)

That sounds reasonable. Thank you. 👍

redcanyon12 As stated by:
Yeah, I’d probably end up dropping about 6. $167The processor you mentioned will be more than sufficient for my needs. As for the graphics card, I am considering something with 6 GB of VRAM, though I wonder if that specific capacity actually matters much in practice. Regarding the rest of the components—would a 550W power supply be adequate to handle the load?

A 300W 80+ power supply is perfectly sufficient. It will remain adequate well into the future, given that component power consumption is steadily trending downward.

mellowtiger83 said:A 300W 80+ power supply is plenty. It'll stay enough for the future too, since components just keep drawing less and less power.

It’s on a Z370 platform, so you could drop an 8700K in there down the road. Better to leave some headroom now if you can.

Does anyone know who handles the shipping for Adm? Apparently, Overseas is a total mess right now—they aren't even delivering things properly anymore, they just toss the packages into some random pile...

Andrew Peterson2 said:Who handles the Adm? Overseas is having issues lately; they don't deliver promptly, they just toss packages onto a pile

Oversras is in trouble🙂, just one thing—I bought a Lego Jurassic Park set for my kid for Christmas, and naturally, he didn't find it under the tree because Oveseas lost the package!

Don't gamble with fate. It's better to just pay them to deliver via HP- or just walk it over themselves.🙂

Hey everyone!

I see you guys are absolute pros at helping people pick out rigs, so I’m hoping you can work your magic for me too...
So, here's the deal: we need a new desktop that the whole family can jump on. We've got two kids (one's 11 and the other is 6.5) who are diving headfirst into the gaming world, so it’s super important that this machine can actually keep up with their growing needs. For us parents, it’s all about smooth internet browsing, movies, shows, music, sports, and basically anything where we can stream without the whole thing lagging while we try to watch a game. Our work stuff isn't anything crazy right now, just standard Microsoft Office tasks. Oh, and we'll definitely need peripherals too—a really solid monitor is a must...
We haven't set a hard budget yet. We could probably stretch it a bit if paying cash upfront makes more sense for getting a better deal. Since I'm a total newbie when it comes to PC hardware, I really want to grab a solid, mid-to-high-end machine that won't become a paperweight anytime soon. I'm looking for something that'll last us at least another 5 or 6 years before we even have to think about buying something new...

Thanks in advance!

Without setting any kind of rough budget, you might get suggestions ranging from $1667 all the way up to 15 $0.00. Generally speaking, if you don't establish a spending limit, you'll mostly just end up with 😬.

BTW, are the kids playing "real" games (the ones you actually have to install) or just some random browser games online?

Timothy Kim60 said:If you don't have a ballpark budget set, you could get anything from some guy at Best Buy $1667 all the way up to $15 $0.00. But honestly, without a rough idea of what we're spending, you're probably just gonna end up with 😬
.
Btw, are the kids playing "real" games (like, stuff you actually install on a PC) or just those random browser games they find online?

Haha, let's aim for just a little bit above that bottom limit you mentioned. I want something decent, but since it's for the kids, let's not go overboard.

They aren't really into the hardcore gaming stuff yet, but I'm sure that won't last long!

Let's lay down some solid groundwork for future upgrades... I doubt this setup will actually last five years if someone's trying to run heavy, demanding titles by then. But... I guess you could swap out the CPU, GPU, and RAM in about three years to squeeze a few more years of life out of it.

Corsair mid Tower case Black, ZAL-R1
EVGA video card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
SSD AD 120GB SU700 SATA 3D Nand
Western Digital Blue (3.5", 1TB, 64MB, SATA III-600)
EVGA 500W Power Supply
Samsung monitor LR60/S24F
Genius KB-125, keyboard, black, USB
Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse - EMEA - GRAY
2x Crucial DDR4 4GB 2400 MHz P/N: CT4G4DFS824A
MSI Main Board Desktop B350 (SAM4, 4xDDR4, PCI-Ex16, 2xPCI-Ex1, USB3.1, USB2.0, 4xSATA III, M.2, Raid) B350M_Bazooka
Intel Core 3 1200

Total: $2003 - Centro(New York City)

Gameplay across 11 games:

crimsonstag84 said:Let's lay down some solid foundations for future upgrades... this setup definitely won't last 5 years if you're planning on playing heavy, demanding titles by then. But... swapping out the CPU, GPU, and RAM should be a breeze in about 3 years, which would extend its lifespan even further.

Corsair mid Tower case Black, EVGA video card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
EVGA video card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB/128bit, 1196MHz/7000MHz, PCI-E 3.0 x16, DP, HDMI, DVI
SSD AD 120GB SU700 SATA 3D Nand
Seagate Barracuda Desktop (3.5", 1TB, 64MB, SATA III-600). WD10EZEX
EVGA 500W Power Supply
Samsung monitor LR60/S24F
Genius KB-125, keyboard, black, USB
Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse - EMEA - GRAY
2x Crucial DDR4 4GB 2400 MHz P/N: CT4G4DFS824A
MSI Main Board Desktop B350 (SAM4, 4xDDR4, PCI-Ex16, 2xPCI-Ex1, USB3.1, USB2.0, 4xSATA III, M.2, Raid) B350M_Bazooka
Intel Core 3 1200

Total: $2003 - Centro(New York City)

Gameplay in 11 games:

Come on, grab a nicer mouse already, that Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse gives me the creeps 😬