After a few years I finally have the space for a Desktop computer again.
Unfortunately I’ve never really built a computer by myself. I know how to replace parts and how to put everything together just not which parts I should get.
The primary OS will be Linux. Maybe Windows in Dual-boot if light gaming under Linux sucks but its unlikely.
As a main investment I would love to get a Ryzen 5 3600 and to “future-proof” my build I would go with a X570 Chipset Motherboard.
The MSI X570-A PRO looks like great deal to me but i could be totally wrong. I do not plan to Overclock my System.
I do run a few virtual machines so I would love to have 32GB of RAM but I am willing to reduce it to 16GB if its way out of my budget otherwise.
The Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB(CMW32GX4M2C3200C16) seems nice. But I might be wrong here too.
Since heavy gaming is not my main focus and I am on a tight budget I think the RX 590 would be a good start but I do not know what the go-to brand is. That is where I probably need most of your help. I am totally open to change the GPU as long as its below 200€ and has good Linux compatibility.
Three Full HD monitors would be a dream. Gaming is of course only on one monitor. If I intent to do heavier gaming I might invest more into a decent GPU in the future.
As an SSD i would just throw in a cheap ~500gb NVMe SSD. And a couple SSDs I already own. (Recommendations are appreciated.)
I want to reuse my cheap ATX-Case and the 500W (Corsair CX500) Power Supply.
If you don’t plan to oc any board will work and any performance change between the two won’t be a thing in normal workloads. If the board be has the features you want then don’t hesitate to get it.
Basically what Mutation said. But also, you won’t really be future proofing with x570 - AM4 ends with the next generation of Ryzen - so that only gives you a single generation jump as an upgrade path - which is very unlikely to be worth it. More likely, when your ready to upgrade CPU, you’ll want the next chipset. Furthermore, it doesn’t sound like you’ll benefit from the pcie 4 - so I’d say get high(er) end B450 instead of the cheapest x570 - maybe MSI carbon or tomahawk max. And really you don’t even need to spend that much if you plan to run completely stock.
For RAM you want 3200 or better, with tight timings if possible (cl 14-16), but beyond that I don’t think it matters much.
Sapphire puts out quality GPUs, and that’s what I looked at first. However I found a deal on a used powercolor rx580 red devil and am happy with it… absolutely fine with “light gaming” - can actually run Red Dead 2 @ 60fps @ around medium settings with a few tweaks (slightly lower reflections, etc). I run DS3 and witcher3 on max, Tombraider on high, and Sekiro might be on medium; not 100% sure on those but something like that.
Also, runs great in/on linux (I mean, about anything should on a recent kernal, but…) - I do at least half of my gaming in ubuntu. Nice to have windows on another ssd, because it’s much more convenient than tinkering if I just want to play a game, or run adobe illustrator, or something.
Thank you for your answer!
Didn’t know that there is gonna be a new socket soon…
Since I plan to run that system for at least five years I guess I just go with B450 then and invest a bit more in RAM?
Here is Work in progress pcpartpicker list “2TbZdm” (I can not post links, sorry. Change country to germany)
Would you recommend 2x16GB modules or 4x8GB if I have no intentions to go over 32GB? Does it make a big difference in performance or none at all?
I will most likely run arch linux again on the new system with the latest kernel. I don’t really have any applications that need windows. And if a game does not run under Linux i’d rather not play it and stay with Linux. Haven’t used Windows in the last 6 years.
Someone more knowledgeable will maybe answer about RAM, and I’m mobile atm/not looking anything up, but I think B450 boards don’t support quad channel, so go dual. Performance difference is negligible for most applications from what I’ve seen, anyway.
As far as windows, I didn’t use for 10 yrs, until about a year ago. What changed: started gaming more, getting more into graphics type stuffs; also you can run win10 unregistered/free now - just have to deal with a little watermark type thing on the bottom right of screen. I don’t bank or do anything else sensitive there, but easily worth having on a spare ssd.
So do you use the configuration you linked? @astra recommended to get at least 3200MHz RAM how does it perform?
Regarding the new ryzen 3 3100(x): Would it be better than the 5 3600? (The naming is still confusing) Is it worth to wait especially if you have 4 weeks of free time ahead of you starting tomorrow? 50 to 80$ is a lot of money that I can use somewhere else in the system…
I built a Ryzen 7 3700X system last year. I have 32 GB of RAM, but I have not done any virtualization. I have a 1 TB NVME drive and a Vega 56 GPU (144Hz, 2560x1440 display). My RAM is 3200 MHz. 3000MHz will not be much slower, anything 2666MHz and up is good.
The Ryzen 3 3100/3300X have two fewer cores than the Ryzen 5 3600/3600X. So 4 cores/8 threads versus 6 cores/12 threads. The single core performance will be quite similar, it is just the multi-threaded performance that will be different.
If you do not need the extra cores, you might want to wait for the new 4 core cpus. You will also have access to the newer B550 boards… sometime this month hopefully.
Thank you all for your answers so far.
I do not want to wait for the new CPU and Mainboards.
I will sit at home for the next (at least) four weeks with nothing to do otherwise. No console, no friends to go out with (Lockdown and stuff) and a laptop that starts to melt when I watch a youtube video.
Also there is currently a sale going on at the shop I want to order.
CPU for 159€ (ryzen 5 3600 )
GPU for 196€ (8GB XFX RX 590 FATBOY OC+ )
Mainboard for 99,50€ (MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX )
32 GB RAM for 132,81 ( 32GB G.Skill RipJaws V )
Here is the pcpartpicker list brdcrV ( I can’t post links:( )
Seems okay. RAM is Compatible and everything is well under budget so maybe I get a nice new monitor
Just make sure the B450 board will accept the Ryzen 2 (3000 series) cpu. Really old stock might not have updated bios’. You might be able to email the retailer and ask them.
One store here charges $50 (CAD) to update the bios. If they charge for an update, you might as well get a X570 board.
No, the PCI 4 bandwidth will not make a difference for that GPU… as far as I know.
I think it is possible to update the bios without a cpu/ram/anyting on that board on a specific usb port.
Google: “msi bios flash without cpu”
Edit: Do you think that mainboard is okay? @stconquest
Also RAM is not in the compatibility list. Damn.
Edit2: Got that whole Compatibility list thing wrong. So it might actually work fine.
Also I Downgraded to a “8GB XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Core” For even cheaper. Think that will be enough for light full hd gaming.
The board does not have a greatly capable VRM (meaning it won’t be able to push a lot of clean energy to the CPU). Fortunately, the Ryzen 3000 CPUs are low power. That weak VRM should be fine.
What would be the worst that could happen? I will not overclock anything. The 5 3600 will be a big jump from my old AMD fx 6120 heating element anyway.
Nothing will happen. If the CPU does not get the power it needs, it will cause errors. You would have to underclock the CPU… hypothetically.
Buildzoid (overclocker) went through the B450 boards and stated that the previous gen 6 core CPUs will be fine on them, and the eight core CPUs might have a little trouble getting the juice they require.
The current generation is more power efficient. It should be fine.
Could you tell us what your ideal budget is, and in which country you are located. That would be a great start for us to be able to really maximize your build. Generally speaking, what you’ve identified has been fine thus far though. I would definitely recommend going with dual channel DDR4 3200 with a CAS latency of 14 if you can afford it. As for good and cheap NVME drives, it’s hard to go wrong with the Intel 600p series.
The only concern I really have is that I prefer to have around 150w-200w of headroom minumum with my PSU, but yours will likely be under that. It shouldn’t be a problem, but I would recommend upgrading your PSU if you plan to make upgrades in the future.
I am located in Germany.
I have a budget of around 800 €. Less is of course better because it means I could buy a nice case or monitor.
CL14 is way more expensive than CL16 and I don’t really know if it will pay off for me in the end. I mean does it really matter for non gaming? Yes I want to play games. But nothing really new. I might start WoW again which will probably run in the background 24/7 a some CS:GO every now and then. Also some “Story games” like witcher, Fallout 4. Cyberpunk would be nice but not a must.
I also have a 750W PSU in another PC that I rarely use and I might just use this.
If it’s significantly more expensive then I wouldn’t worry about it as the difference would be marginal. You could compare the prices of say 3600 CL16 with 3200 CL16 as well. If it’s were only 5-10 Euros more to get the 3600, that would be worth it in my opinion. But the rest seems pretty sound, and the 750W would be more than enough for this.
