PC build thread

[casterofdreams]

Two 8GB sticks of DDR4 memory cost me close to $200 last December. It was more like $180. Speed is 3000mhz and it’s got pretty lights on it

[marlowe221]

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

I really don't NEED 16GB of RAM like I have now. I've never done anything that used all of it - or any combination of things for that matter. My PC is primarily a box that plays games, so 8GB is probably plenty for now. I will definitely look into 2x 4GB sticks though. If prices do fall back to near "normal" levels, upgrading to 16BG won't be a big deal at all.

In the meantime, any particular reason to pick Intel or AMD when it comes to the CPU?

[marurun]

Depends on your price range. At lower price ranges AMD makes CPUs with more bang for the gaming buck. But generally speaking, Intel does better on games at the mid-range. AMD does better for multi-threaded content creation and productivity tasks, especially for the price. How much are you looking to pay for a CPU? Intel is also having to patch their CPUs more than AMD is due to security issues. AMD is also being hit, but Intel CPUs look to be taking a larger performance hit when patched.

[casterofdreams]

Shoot I forgot to add: I’ve seen videos about how modern gaming uses RAM.

I think overall, depending on the GPU there is no real difference between 16 and 32GB for gaming purposes so they recommended sticking with 16GB unless you want to “future proof” your rig. But there was a noticeable improvement from 8 to 16GB.

What comes down to it is the types of games you would run. Deus Ex MH requires a large amount of RAM from my experience. I’ve seen usage in the 10-12 range with a 1060 6GB version. Dishonored 2 uses a decent amount of memory. Those are extreme examples I think.

It’s not an easy decision to make especially with tight budgets and stuff so mybad if I threw a wrench in that.

[isiolia]

Far as I know, most games right now still work fine on an 8GB configuration, with some outliers that will use quite a lot if it's available (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided being one, as noted). Generally they'll still be tuned around what the console versions will have available though.

Intel vs AMD I think is really a matter of what you prioritize or simply prefer. Intel still has an edge for IPC, and purely for gaming will pull ahead by a little bit fairly often (for example using the two CPUs I mentioned earlier, or here's an article covering the same two).
Impression I get is, if you just want to run stock everything, and really only game, then Intel is the way to go. For all-around performance and robustness, however, Ryzen is excellent. As mentioned, AMD has been faring much better with the CPU exploits of late. You still get more threads for the dollar, a better stock cooler, solder on the heat spreader instead of a pad, more PCIe lanes, and so on. Probably more appealing if you want to tinker with it.

[marurun]

You also want to look at cost. AMD is really competing aggressively on cost. It's worth looking at your price range and seeing which CPUs are available. You might be able to get a nicer AMD CPU for the same cost.

[marlowe221]

I'm trying to keep the total under $350. That almost certainly means a CPU less than $200.

[marurun]

I'm trying to keep the total under $350. That almost certainly means a CPU less than $200.

https://techguided.com/best-gaming-cpus/#3

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... or-gaming/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be ... ,3986.html

At right around $200, the Intel Core i5-8400 looks like the winner for gaming performance, although with Intel chips you tend to need a 3rd party cooler if you want low noise and high performance. But you can get away, probably, with a motherboard like the MSI H310-A PRO for about $75, leaving you a little extra room for a CPU cooler, and not enough for memory. Meaning maybe $200 is too high an estimate.

If you don't already have a good graphics card, consider the Ryzen 5 2400G. At about $150 it's a decent CPU with graphics built-in, and I'm sure there are available motherboards in the $75 range that are sufficient, leaving you with $125-ish for memory.

Alternately, if your graphics card is fine, by your estimates, consider an i3-8100 for $120, but again, Intel coolers leave a lot to be desired for noise and efficacy, so you might have to throw in another $15 to $20 to get a good cooler. Still, that leaves you a little more headroom for memory, and you can use it with the $75 MSI H310-A PRO mentioned above, leaving you a little more available cash for memory.

Either way, it can feel like a difficult decision, but really it's about which ecosystem you want to swim in. Most PC parts these days are dead reliable, so there's not much to worry about.

[marlowe221]

I'm trying to keep the total under $350. That almost certainly means a CPU less than $200.

https://techguided.com/best-gaming-cpus/#3

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... or-gaming/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be ... ,3986.html

At right around $200, the Intel Core i5-8400 looks like the winner for gaming performance, although with Intel chips you tend to need a 3rd party cooler if you want low noise and high performance. But you can get away, probably, with a motherboard like the MSI H310-A PRO for about $75, leaving you a little extra room for a CPU cooler, and not enough for memory. Meaning maybe $200 is too high an estimate.

If you don't already have a good graphics card, consider the Ryzen 5 2400G. At about $150 it's a decent CPU with graphics built-in, and I'm sure there are available motherboards in the $75 range that are sufficient, leaving you with $125-ish for memory.

Alternately, if your graphics card is fine, by your estimates, consider an i3-8100 for $120, but again, Intel coolers leave a lot to be desired for noise and efficacy, so you might have to throw in another $15 to $20 to get a good cooler. Still, that leaves you a little more headroom for memory, and you can use it with the $75 MSI H310-A PRO mentioned above, leaving you a little more available cash for memory.

Either way, it can feel like a difficult decision, but really it's about which ecosystem you want to swim in. Most PC parts these days are dead reliable, so there's not much to worry about.

That's interesting. I've been looking at the Ryzen 5 1600, the 2600, and the i5-8400 mostly.

Whatever I get will be paired with my existing GTX 970

[marurun]

If you can find a way to spring for the i5-8400, that's going to have the longest legs on it and pair well with the GTX-970. The problem will be the need for an extra cooler and trying to find budget for memory.