Getting Brother into PC under $1k

[kail]

Guess I should have mentioned, he has zero intention in playing WoW. Off the top of my head, he's looking to play OW, w/e Battlefield game is the latest (he's a fanboy with that series), and occasional role playing game that have low requirements, not sure what else. MMO's have rarely been his thing.

Also while I may do some OCing for him when I visit for the build, he'll probably never touch it after that.

[Temp name]

Guess I should have mentioned, he has zero intention in playing WoW. Off the top of my head, he's looking to play OW, w/e Battlefield game is the latest (he's a fanboy with that series), and occasional role playing game that have low requirements, not sure what else. MMO's have rarely been his thing.

Also while I may do some OCing for him when I visit for the build, he'll probably never touch it after that.

Yeah I'd definitely stick with a Ryzen chip then. Right now the 2600/x is the best value, but that'll probably change on the 7th, depending on how well the new generation does

[kail]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B365M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA - SU655 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB XC GAMING Video Card ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill - FBM-06 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg Business)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12III 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($41.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer - XB241H bmipr 24.0" 1920x1080 180 Hz Monitor ($270.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $862.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-15 04:57 EDT-0400

862.00 with a 180hz gsync monitor, plenty of budget left for keyboard and speakers etc. Intel 9400f will outperform ryzen cpu's in WoW, even when they are overclocked (ive tested this myself). Nvidia gpu's also perform a lot better in WoW than AMD cards, and you have the budget for a 1660.

Interesting, my snippet here is the monitor is just shy of a 1440p dell monitor. I've also initially browsed for an AMD card because the FreeSync tech on monitors seems to have lower price ranges than G-Sync monitors where I feel it's just a brand name instead of actual practicality (from what I've seen the two are nearly the same).

However, I did just recently discover of the new NVidia update that allows their cards to use FreeSync from some monitors. Not sure how reliable the update is so far.

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There is a good deal on amazon where you can get 2700 for $210, 8 core 16 thread is all you need. Sorry but i'd never buy that intel build, you get only 6c 6t, no overclock support, and you should definitely go for 16 gigs of ram. Also 1660s extra 40-50$ is not worth negligible performance boost.

Is it worth the $60 difference from the 2600? For gaming alone, I'm not seeing it and the most he's going to multi-task with is Netflixing while browsing.

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I would pick a GTX 1660 over a RX 580/590 any time, the 1660s is very cool and quiet and the cheap RX 580 running very hot and go under heavy load up to 40+ db.

Under consideration, will probably pick a cheaper PSU to make headroom for the 1660. For $1k, if I can get him adaptive sync somehow with a 144hz+ monitor I know he will be blown away and not look at his XB1 for a while. PSU's I'm looking at now is the Seasonic Evo 620. I am too biased on fully modular PSUs but and this one looks to fit the bill for $65.

[Temp name]

Interesting, my snippet here is the monitor is just shy of a 1440p dell monitor. I've also initially browsed for an AMD card because the FreeSync tech on monitors seems to have lower price ranges than G-Sync monitors where I feel it's just a brand name instead of actual practicality (from what I've seen the two are nearly the same).

However, I did just recently discover of the new NVidia update that allows their cards to use FreeSync from some monitors. Not sure how reliable the update is so far.

Basically any Freesync monitor that isn't complete garbage supports Gsync now.
Also, again, 8GB of RAM is a bit little, I'd really, truly, suggest going 16. The next step up is 32GB which is ridiculous amounts of overkill, so there's no real reason going for that if you're on any kind of budget

Is it worth the $60 difference from the 2600? For gaming alone, I'm not seeing it and the most he's going to multi-task with is Netflixing while browsing.

Even if watching netflix, gaming, and browsing at the same time, 6c/12t should be enough.

Under consideration, will probably pick a cheaper PSU to make headroom for the 1660. For $1k, if I can get him adaptive sync somehow with a 144hz+ monitor I know he will be blown away and not look at his XB1 for a while. PSU's I'm looking at now is the Seasonic Evo 620. I am too biased on fully modular PSUs but and this one looks to fit the bill for $65.

I wouldn't skimp on the PSU too much. Seasonic usually makes pretty great stuff, but their EVO lineup is some of their less good ones. It won't blow up, but it won't blow your socks off either.

[Fascinate]

Interesting, my snippet here is the monitor is just shy of a 1440p dell monitor. I've also initially browsed for an AMD card because the FreeSync tech on monitors seems to have lower price ranges than G-Sync monitors where I feel it's just a brand name instead of actual practicality (from what I've seen the two are nearly the same).

However, I did just recently discover of the new NVidia update that allows their cards to use FreeSync from some monitors. Not sure how reliable the update is so far.

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Is it worth the $60 difference from the 2600? For gaming alone, I'm not seeing it and the most he's going to multi-task with is Netflixing while browsing.

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Under consideration, will probably pick a cheaper PSU to make headroom for the 1660. For $1k, if I can get him adaptive sync somehow with a 144hz+ monitor I know he will be blown away and not look at his XB1 for a while. PSU's I'm looking at now is the Seasonic Evo 620. I am too biased on fully modular PSUs but and this one looks to fit the bill for $65.

I actually own the dell 1440p gsync monitor, the reason i suggested a 1080p version is really you need at minimum a rtx 2060 level card to push it. Games recently have gotten quite demanding, i used to have a 1060 with 1440p but todays games need to be ran on low settings to get 100+ fps with that level card, which isnt ideal.

Id just also like to note since you mentioned overwatch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynFQSfIE9H4

WoW isnt the only game intel has massive leads in. Again you cannot I REPEAT CANNOT go simply by core count and clockspeeds to estimate a processors performance, the way intel builds CPU's for the desktop market is way different than how amd does it (intels are purpose built consumer chips that perform better in everyday tasks than amd's hand me down server architecture). TLDR: A 9400f is going to run MOST games better than a ryzen 2600, 2600 is only a better choice for your brother if he has use for hyperthreading (aka renders a lot of youtube videos or something on a daily basis).

[Agrossive]

Take your time and do it smart. follow the subbreddit /r/buildapcsales. I've been buying piece by piece for my pc until ryzen 3000 on 7/7 and I've saved $300 total so far cashing in on the amazing deals they post there.

[Wermys]

Read above and the test i did.

Lets take motherboards out of the conversation for a second, are you really going to pay 250 dollars for a 3600x when you can get a 2700 for 209? At that point why would you not get a 9600k and overclock it to 5ghz if IPC is that important?

To me ryzen 3000 is not exciting at all, and given that we have zero benchmarks outside of what AMD themselves provided my real world experience with ryzen and intel hold more water in real world titles that people actually play. Yes amd does fine in a lot of games but there are the few popular games that they perform terribly in, this isnt stated enough in reviews/videos.

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Because im smart and know that the VAST majority of games on the market wont see even a 1 fps difference between 8gb's and 16gb's of memory? If he wants to spend another 40 bucks on ram go ahead, but i would first test to see if 8 is enough. Ram is the easiest upgrade you can do on a PC.

The fact of the matter is that spending money now is stupid, when prices WILL go down reguardless on 7/7. And the price to performance metric looks to be strongly in amd's favor given benchmarks that have been published which show the new processors meeting Intels equivelent cores with hyperthreading vs intel which will not have hyperthreading at those price points, not taking into account fixes that are being applied to Windows 10 scheduler which will make a difference on ryzen speeds, and fixes applied to intels own processors which could cause them to slow down slightly. Which means amd will likely pull ahead in ipc. But as always wait for bench's from places like gamers nexus, hardware unboxed, l1tech etc. Also this only takes into account gaming out 1080p anything above this it makes no difference since the GPU will be the bottleneck anyways.

[Fascinate]

The fact of the matter is that spending money now is stupid, when prices WILL go down reguardless on 7/7. And the price to performance metric looks to be strongly in amd's favor given benchmarks that have been published which show the new processors meeting Intels equivelent cores with hyperthreading vs intel which will not have hyperthreading at those price points, not taking into account fixes that are being applied to Windows 10 scheduler which will make a difference on ryzen speeds, and fixes applied to intels own processors which could cause them to slow down slightly. Which means amd will likely pull ahead in ipc. But as always wait for bench's from places like gamers nexus, hardware unboxed, l1tech etc. Also this only takes into account gaming out 1080p anything above this it makes no difference since the GPU will be the bottleneck anyways.

The ryzen 7 2700 isnt going down in price on the 7th, its likely to go up soon. You can also buy a ryzen 5 1600 at microcenter for 79.99 with 30 bucks off a compatible motherboard. Buying ryzen cpu's at launch is a really really bad idea as they usually lose half their value within a few months-a year, its always been this way. I dont recommend anyone buy a ryzen 3000 on july 7th.

[Wermys]

The ryzen 7 2700 isnt going down in price on the 7th, its likely to go up soon. You can also buy a ryzen 5 1600 at microcenter for 79.99 with 30 bucks off a compatible motherboard. Buying ryzen cpu's at launch is a really really bad idea as they usually lose half their value within a few months-a year, its always been this way. I dont recommend anyone buy a ryzen 3000 on july 7th.

Did I ever say anything about Ryzen 7 2700? I keep repeatedly stating wait till July 7th so we cna see the new processors. I HIGHLY recommend buying Ryzen on 7/7 for the new skews. The performance difference is great enough to make it worth it at that time. This "always been this way" is bullshit. Always have and always will. The point each and every one of us is making is that if you want the best bang for the buck. The new Ryzens are that good if the benchmarks confirm what amd has already published. They are significantly faster then the current gen ryzens and look to be faster then Intels current offering. If your argument is best bang for the buck then the Microcenter deals are good. But that isn't the point you were arguing.

[Fascinate]

Did I ever say anything about Ryzen 7 2700? I keep repeatedly stating wait till July 7th so we cna see the new processors. I HIGHLY recommend buying Ryzen on 7/7 for the new skews. The performance difference is great enough to make it worth it at that time. This "always been this way" is bullshit. Always have and always will. The point each and every one of us is making is that if you want the best bang for the buck. The new Ryzens are that good if the benchmarks confirm what amd has already published. They are significantly faster then the current gen ryzens and look to be faster then Intels current offering. If your argument is best bang for the buck then the Microcenter deals are good. But that isn't the point you were arguing.

You really are lost in the hype train lol. Listen a ryzen 5 3600x at 250 bucks is a BAD DEAL. This is why i keep bringing up the ryzen 7 2700 at amazon right now for 209.99 bucks. While ryzen 3000 is a decent uptick in performance its not worth the price premium over last gens discounted parts, not at the MSRP they are asking.

You dont pay premium prices for AMD products, that is and will forever be intel territory. AMD is for budget builds, you would be much better off buying a 9600k and overclocking it than a 3600x, you will see this once the benchmarks hit.

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Id just like to note that AMD is consistently ~4 years behind intel in gaming performance. Keep an eye when the benchmarks hit, my guess is 3600x max overclocked might lose to a max overclocked 6700k from 2015. Dont believe me? Ryzen 2nd gen can barely stay ahead of a 4790k from 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbqnnemJfLo

[Wermys]

You really are lost in the hype train lol. Listen a ryzen 5 3600x at 250 bucks is a BAD DEAL. This is why i keep bringing up the ryzen 7 2700 at amazon right now for 209.99 bucks. While ryzen 3000 is a decent uptick in performance its not worth the price premium over last gens discounted parts, not at the MSRP they are asking.

You dont pay premium prices for AMD products, that is and will forever be intel territory. AMD is for budget builds, you would be much better off buying a 9600k and overclocking it than a 3600x, you will see this once the benchmarks hit.

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Id just like to note that AMD is consistently ~4 years behind intel in gaming performance. Keep an eye when the benchmarks hit, my guess is 3600x max overclocked might lose to a max overclocked 6700k from 2015. Dont believe me? Ryzen 2nd gen can barely stay ahead of a 4790k from 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbqnnemJfLo

Umm, no. Once again, i am pointing out waiting because of the IPC improvements for the new release. I am not debating on the previous ryzen iteration. Which you seem to be focused on. Further this only matters when the CPU is the bottleneck. And that only happens in 1080p scenarios. Which the new Ryzen will be equal to the newest intel offering in IPC if the current published benchmarks are to be believed.

Hype train? Notice every time I make a statement I have stated to wait for benchmarks first. That in the end show whether or not its a good decision to purchase AMD vs Intel. You really need to let your anti Amd bias go. Frankly we are trying to advise the best way to spend the persons money. And pointing out waiting is the smart decision because of a future release is what everyone has advocated but you. And you shitting on AMD about past products when we keep pointing out time and again that what has been published by AMD for the upcoming 7/7 release makes the purchasing decision you are advocating pretty idiotic. Unless AMD is lying about the benchmarks which is why myself and others have stated to say wait and make a decision then. Rather then purchase something now where you are throwing money away in a price/performance ratio. Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxPBXNuX6Xs to the amd presentation with benchmarks included. To save you some time go to around the 31 minute mark where it has benchmarks comparing a 9700k vs an 3800x. Which shows that in case dealing with IPC like Counterstrike which loves intel processors they are equal to each other. Mind you this system is not patched with the scheduler update Microsoft is doing which could change the results slightly. And the Intel system are not patched with any of the mitigation either which lower the performance of there processors.

Also as a final note. I would stick to Nvidia as far as the GPU is concerned the reason to wait is that Nvidia is also looking to be lowering the prices on the current lineup and releasing a "super" variant so the RTX 2060 card is going to look real good by waiting. Especially if they lower the price by about 30-50 dollars.

[Wermys]

https://slickdeals.net/f/13154326-ov...?src=frontpage

[Hotchocolate]

https://slickdeals.net/f/13154326-ov...?src=frontpage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWHlPH23P-w

[Temp name]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWHlPH23P-w

Yeah, it's a shit value at full price. At 899 though? That's acceptable. As long as you're fine with reformatting your HDD and possibly plugging in your GPU. If your performance suffers you can buy a 50-60 dollar case on top and be better off.

The OP gaming computers failed *MASSIVELY* so they're trying to get rid of stock, which means selling at a loss

[Wermys]

I know, this at 1800 dollars is laughably bad. This at 900 dollars is actually pretty good even with the sub par components. Especially given you have a warranty on the full system anyways.


Lets say 350 dollars for the 1080. Processor is around 300. Motherboard lets say 60, ram about 120 or so, case about 50 bucks. PSU about 20 bucks. Windows 10 oem about 30 bucks if you go the cheap. And ssd for 40 bucks. The whole system can be had for under what you could reasonably assemble using cheap parts. But the difference here is that its all together. So very little assembly. Not going to say no assembly however given Linus and Gamers Nexus experience with it. Anyways point is, its a good value even with its noticable flows. Not worth 1800, but if you are looking for something around under a 1000. It will be difficult to beat this buying off the shelf parts.

[Temp name]

I know, this at 1800 dollars is laughably bad. This at 900 dollars is actually pretty good even with the sub par components. Especially given you have a warranty on the full system anyways.


Lets say 350 dollars for the 1080. Processor is around 300. Motherboard lets say 60, ram about 120 or so, case about 50 bucks. PSU about 20 bucks. Windows 10 oem about 30 bucks if you go the cheap. And ssd for 40 bucks. The whole system can be had for under what you could reasonably assemble using cheap parts. But the difference here is that its all together. So very little assembly. Not going to say no assembly however given Linus and Gamers Nexus experience with it. Anyways point is, its a good value even with its noticable flows. Not worth 1800, but if you are looking for something around under a 1000. It will be difficult to beat this buying off the shelf parts.

"Difficult to beat this buying off the shelf parts".. I decided to check
Taking the cheapest components of the same calibre, so same storage and same RAM, whatever, you get this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Qb7Z6s Which is 1100. Could drop the cooler and save 19 dollars, but.. Yeah. Also it's a 2070 not a 1080, because 1080's were like 200 dollars more. If you wanted to cheap out a bit more, a 9600kf could be gotten for around 50 dollars cheaper, but you'd be losing the 6 extra threads, or drop to 16gb of RAM..

[Temp name]

Intel is about to slash prices when the new AMD series releases. Let him know that he needs to wait a month and he'll be able to get a PC that performs 20-30% better for the same price. As for GPU, I'd definitely get the 580 8 GB Armor

Why wait a month, when Ryzen 3000 is launching in 4 days? Intel has no answer for it, if the leaked benchmarks are to be believed anyway. The benchmarks have them beating intel at every price point, handily

[Ahovv]

Intel is about to slash prices when the new AMD series releases. Let him know that he needs to wait a month and he'll be able to get a PC that performs 20-30% better for the same price. As for GPU, I'd definitely get the 580 8 GB Armor

I wouldn't expect Intel to drop their prices any more; they've already cut them A TON recently.

[Wermys]

I wouldn't expect Intel to drop their prices any more; they've already cut them A TON recently.

Pretty much. If Intel is capacity constrained which they are. Then lowering the price is pointless. They just need to lower it enough so they have low shelf life inventory. Just because Intel is more expensive doesn't mean Intel is not going to be able to sell all their parts. If Intel did not have supply issues then a drop in price might be expected but that isn't the case fortunately for Intel.