€2k gaming PC with some scavenged parts

[FancyHandsy]

Hello MMOC. The time has finally come to replace my museum piece.

I wish to keep the following from my current PC:
- PSU (Corsair VS650 650W) unless that's like, too weak
- GPU (AMD Radeon RX 7600)
- Hard drives
- Peripherals

By my count, that means I would need:
- Motherboard
- CPU (no Intel/AMD preferences)
- Cooling
- Case (I have plenty of space)
- RAM (I currently have 2x8GB)

Starting with the parts I'm keeping (edited out PSU parts - it's a Corsair VS650). My GPU is an AMD Radeon RX 7600 (quite new), which I am told goes well with my 1080p monitors (that's why I bought it). But, when the day comes to upgrade the GPU and the monitors, I don't want to find out my new motherboard can't support the new GPU, if that's a possible concern. My hard drives are two SSD drives and one uh, regular.

I suppose I don't strictly need to replace motherboard and case, but they are like fifteen years old by now, so might as well, eh?

I play:
- WoW
- Real-time RPGs (first and third-person)
- Some RTS/MOBAs

So with regards to the new equipment, first of all I don't care to have a spaceship looking case. Or at least I don't care to spend any significant amount extra on it. I don't do overclocking, so that should mean I'll be fine with regular mortal cooling setups, though do note I like my fans quiet (and I don't trust myself with water cooling). But when it comes to RAM and CPU, go mildly nuts with my money. In fact, if the RAM solution "extends" well, in the sense that I buy 2 sticks now and could get 2 more later and they will work together nicely, that would be awesome. Go nuts with money I don't even have yet!

I will be purchasing parts from komplett.se (can't post links), so I appreciate if recommendations are based on their selection. Reminder that my budget is €2k. Prices on that site are in SEK - you can just assume 10 SEK = 1 Euro. It may be wrong, but that's what my €2k statement is based on to begin with, so :P

Thank you in advance.

[Venara]

Starting with the parts I'm keeping. I don't know the specifics of my PSU, but I remember when I bought it I was told it's much stronger than my current PC needed. I could open her up if it's important (Device Manager doesn't seem to know it, which makes sense when I think about it).

PSUs often have very large labels that will tell you the model / wattage. You should have a look and include this info.

A more powerful build may require a bigger PSU. Without this information anyone giving you advice would probably need to include a PSU in their recommendations because they simply don't know if what you have can support what they are recommending.

My GPU is an AMD Radeon RX 7600 (quite new), which I am told goes well with my 1080p monitors (that's why I bought it). But, when the day comes to upgrade the GPU and the monitors, I don't want to find out my new motherboard can't support the new GPU, if that's a possible concern. My hard drives are two SSD drives and one uh, regular.

GPUs are typically PCI-E, which is unlikely to vanish from motherboards any time soon. This shouldn't be a concern.

I suppose I don't strictly need to replace motherboard and case, but they are like fifteen years old by now, so might as well, eh?

Oh but you do. Well, maybe, but probably yes.

Your CPU will determine which type of motherboard you need, as different CPUs require different sockets. If your current MB is 15 years old, it's pretty much a guarantee that the socket is incompatible with any current CPU.

You may also want to provide an indication if you have any strong feelings about AMD/Intel. A lot of people tend to have preferences when it comes to this. Grand if you don't, you'll get a broader range of recommendations, but if you do you should mention it.

Lastly, you should definitely indicate if you have a preference for the size of the case - i.e. mini tower, mid tower, full tower. Perhaps your home / office / desk has limited space and you can only fit a certain size. This will affect the options for components - motherboards come in different form factors that depend on case size. Similarly, a smaller case may not be able to fit your current GPU (I suspect the Radeon RX 7600 will need a mid tower at the very least).

[FancyHandsy]

Hi, thank you. My PSU is a Corsair VS650, which seems to be 650W.

I have no strong feelings about AMD vs Intel. Should I?

I have plenty of space. My current PC is under my desk, which is more of a glorified table. There's 70cm of height to use, which should be more than enough. Failing that, it could be beside the desk. I suppose I prefer one that fits under the desk, but unless cases have grown dramatically without me noticing, that shouldn't be a concern. I don't care what size category that falls into =)

[Gaidax]

With that PSU, your only real option is AMD CPU. Intel just too power hungry.

As far as CPU goes then - 7800X3D is the choiciest choice for gamers at the moment, but you won't be able to use that RAM you have with it. So, you'd need 32GB DDR5 RAM.

Then get some decent B650 chipset motherboard that has the slots and ports you need. Hit the reviews there are plenty. The rest of the components, again hit the reviews, you will quickly get together a decent list.

You should be able to fit within budget decently well, maybe even throw in a better PSU for future GPU upgrade, if you have spare $$. That 650w PSU ain't going to cut it if you will upgrade to any sort of performance grade GPU down the road.

[FancyHandsy]

Thank you. I had thought this PSU that was overkill for my current setup would be sufficient for my next one, but seems not. Say I give up on the idea of scavenging that, what are my options? Because that suggestion doesn't seem to use up the budget.

For some perspective, that CPU would cost me ~€500 and a 1000W PSU would be ~€200.

[Gaidax]

Thank you. I had thought this PSU that was overkill for my current setup would be sufficient for my next one, but seems not. Say I give up on the idea of scavenging that, what are my options? Because that suggestion doesn't seem to use up the budget.

For some perspective, that CPU would cost me ~€500 and a 1000W PSU would be ~€200.

You still need motherboard, RAM, case and cooling. That would put you over 1k already with the quoted stuff.

The rest of $$ you can stash away for a GPU upgrade in a year or so, when new gen comes out.

[FancyHandsy]

Okay, so this is my list at present.

CPU: The recommended AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F
RAM: Kingston FURY Beast RGB DDR5 5200MHz 2x32GB - the motherboard is listed as specifically supporting 5200MHz, whatever that support means. And yes, I went with twice your recommendation :P
Case: Phanteks XT Pro Ultra Mid Tower

Does anything here sound like a bad combination? If not, that's €1.1k. Still need PSU and cooling, but I don't know what to look for there. Do I just pick some high wattage PSU, get one case fan and one CPU fan and ride off into the sunset?

How high can I go with RAM before it's just bragging rights with no practical effect?

[rogoth]

Okay, so this is my list at present.

CPU: The recommended AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F
RAM: Kingston FURY Beast RGB DDR5 5200MHz 2x32GB - the motherboard is listed as specifically supporting 5200MHz, whatever that support means. And yes, I went with twice your recommendation :P
Case: Phanteks XT Pro Ultra Mid Tower

Does anything here sound like a bad combination? If not, that's €1.1k. Still need PSU and cooling, but I don't know what to look for there. Do I just pick some high wattage PSU, get one case fan and one CPU fan and ride off into the sunset?

How high can I go with RAM before it's just bragging rights with no practical effect?

because of how AMD chips work with RAM speed, it's recommended to get 6000 MT/s DDR5 kits, if you get the bottom-of-the-barrel speed kits which are objectively cheaper in cost, you not only leave a huge amount of performance on the table, but it can cause stability issues with your CPU long term.

outside of that your setup looks totally fine for the job you want it to perform.

[Gaidax]

Okay, so this is my list at present.

CPU: The recommended AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F
RAM: Kingston FURY Beast RGB DDR5 5200MHz 2x32GB - the motherboard is listed as specifically supporting 5200MHz, whatever that support means. And yes, I went with twice your recommendation :P
Case: Phanteks XT Pro Ultra Mid Tower

Does anything here sound like a bad combination? If not, that's €1.1k. Still need PSU and cooling, but I don't know what to look for there. Do I just pick some high wattage PSU, get one case fan and one CPU fan and ride off into the sunset?

How high can I go with RAM before it's just bragging rights with no practical effect?

You don't really need 64GB RAM, 32GB is plenty enough for years to come for gaming and if for some reason it's not - you have 2 more slots for upgrade down the road. Get better RAM rated as suggested above, with cl 30 or 32 latency. Make sure it has an EXPO profile supported, it should be specified in the product description.

For specific PSU/Cooling solution just hit the reviews. Do a bit of a research.

There are a lot of decent ones out there and it also depends on what you can order. PSUs - Seasonic and Corsair are usually good (but there are various models with different quality levels, you don't need super mega Platinum+ whatever, but don't just buy cheapest trash either and make sure you buy recent models not some 7 years old model - hit the reviews as usual).

For cooling there are zillion options, just cross reference recent top mainstream picks lists to find a few suitable units and then check the reviews for them.

Then the remaining 500 eurobucks or so, stash for a GPU upgrade in a year or so. I bet after you get all this shit together, you will start itching to drop your current GPU, as it will be the weakest link by far in the setup.

[FancyHandsy]

Ok so,

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RGB 32GB
2x16GB, DDR5, 6000MHz, AMD EXPO

this then? I'm guessing MT/s = MHz? Because I've never seen an MT/s specification on a RAM stick before.

The motherboard has this for supported RAM speeds: 4800 MHz, 5000 MHz, 5800 MHz (O.C.), 6000 MHz (O.C.), 6400 MHz (O.C.), 5600 MHz (O.C.), 6200 MHz (O.C.), 5200 MHz

I figured O.C. meant overclocking something, which sounded scary... do I still just plug and play those RAM sticks?

[rogoth]

Ok so,

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RGB 32GB
2x16GB, DDR5, 6000MHz, AMD EXPO

this then? I'm guessing MT/s = MHz? Because I've never seen an MT/s specification on a RAM stick before.

The motherboard has this for supported RAM speeds: 4800 MHz, 5000 MHz, 5800 MHz (O.C.), 6000 MHz (O.C.), 6400 MHz (O.C.), 5600 MHz (O.C.), 6200 MHz (O.C.), 5200 MHz

I figured O.C. meant overclocking something, which sounded scary... do I still just plug and play those RAM sticks?

when these sorts of components were a new thing, the nomenclature of using MHz to refer to RAM speed was factually incorrect, unfortunately, it was used for decades by the market to advertise RAM speed when buying products, and is a hangover from those days, the correct nomenclature for RAM speed is how many transfers per second it can perform, hence 'mega transfers per second'.

to answer your first question that's a fine RAM kit, and to answer your second question, most products these days are basically factory overclocked out of the box, due to the current wall that exists in terms of performance gain from generation to generation, when you plug your RAM into your motherboard and boot up for the first time, you will need to go into the BIOS and set up the EXPO profile, making sure your RAM is running at 6000MT/s because generally manufacturers will have it set to the lowest default speed out of the box.

[FancyHandsy]

Thanks for all the help! I think I can wrap it up from here. Couldn't have done this alone. I would have done things wrong that I didn't even know you can do wrong =)