So-
I have been rocking my current combo for a while since roughly 2015. I upgraded my GPU this year however, after my 290x was unable to keep up in VR. But- for this project, I will be upgrading my current rig, as well as building a new mid-tier PC. I will completed both of these builds for < 1,000$.
Goals:
This started out as a project to build my step-son a new gaming PC. Since my PC is due for an upgrade, I took the opportunity to both upgrade my PC as well as building a fairly high-end build for him. My current processor is able to power through every workload I have thrown at it, so, it will be a perfect fit for his PC.
- Upgrade my current gaming / development PC back to high-end specs.
- Build a new PC for the step-son capable of playing any current game with max settings at 1920×1080.
Current specs / Original PC:
- Processor: Intel i5-4690k
- Processor Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
- Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1866MHz (16GB total)
- Motherboard: ASUS z97-e
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070
- SSD1 (OS): Seagate 600 240GB SATA ST240HM000
- SSD2 (Games): Crucial BX200 480GB SATA CT480BX200SSD1
- DVD: Who cares. It reads, and it writes.
- Case: Rosewell Thor V2
- PSU: EVGA SuperNova 80+ GOLD 750w
- Keyboard: Geezer Mechanical Keyboard.
- Mouse: Logitech M150 Mouse
Build 1: My high-end gaming / development PC.
- Processor: Ryzen 5 3600
- Processor Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 X 8GB) DDR4 3600
- Motherboard: MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus
- GPU: (No change) GeForce RTX 2070
- SSD1 (OS): Samsung 970 EVO NVME M.2 500GB
- SSD2 (Games): Samsung 970 EVO NVME M.2 500GB
- DVD: (No Change) The same one I had before. Not replacing.
- Case: Fractal Design Define R6
- PSU: EVGA SuperNova 80+ GOLD 750w
- Keyboard: Geezer Mechanical Keyboard
- Mouse: Logitech M150 Mouse
Total Price: 822$
Existing parts were not factored into the pricing.
Build 2: A capable mid-tier gaming PC.
- Processor: Intel i5-4690k
- Processor Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
- Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1866MHz (16GB total)
- Motherboard: ASUS z97-e
- GPU: XFX Radeon RX 570 RS
- SSD1 (OS): Seagate 600 240GB SATA ST240HM000
- SSD2 (Games): Crucial BX200 480GB SATA CT480BX200SSD1
- DVD: Undetermined.
- Case: Thermaltake V200 Tempered Glass RGB Edition
- PSU: ROSEWILL 80+ GOLD 500w
- Keyboard: Redragon S101
- Mouse: Redragon S101
Total Prices: 312$
Existing parts salvaged from the original PC were not factored in.
The only new parts required: Keyboard, Mouse, PSU, Case, GPU.
Q&A around production decisions
Q: Why not choose the R5 3600x or the R7?
A: Overlocked performance of the R5 3600 is equal to the 3600X. Not enough performance improvement to offset the additional cost of the R7.
Q: Why not Intel?
A: Because AMD is ahead of the game right now. Intel can’t compete on the price / performance mark currently.
Q: Why the case (For the gaming PC)?
A: Because it is simple, and sleek. I don’t need flashy lights everywhere. I prefer smaller, and simpler. I nearly got the variant without a window.
Q: Why the case (For the budget gaming pc)?
A: Because it is flashy. I can almost guarentee that a 10 year old is going to love flashy lights, and LEDs everywhere.
Q: Why do you use such a shitty keyboard? (Chinese geezer mechanical)
A: I have actually preferred this 20$ amazon keyboard over my Logitech G10 keyboard sitting behind my screen. For 20$, I have been using this keyboard for a while now. Just… don’t expect support. I don’t even think you can buy it still.
Q: Why the RX 570 for the budget gaming PC? Why not a GTX 1050 or RX 560 or RX 580?
A: It costed 10$ more then the RX 560, and offers very good gains. In the price range, the 2060 was not even close to the price / performance. Since his current gaming PC contains a HD6870, this will be a MASSIVE improvement, and will be able to play any non-VR game at close to maximum settings for a very reasonable price.
My Expectations
I expect to over double in processor / compute performance. As well, the new Samsung M.2 NVMe SSDs will out perform my current existing SSDs by a very large margin. I expect my boot times to go from 6 seconds, down to around 3 seconds. Game load times may increase as well. I don’t expect game performance to improve much for most games, since my limitation is 1080p @ 60FPS. However- CPU intensive games such as Oxygen Not Included will likely benefit alot.
Stay tuned for a post detailing the build. Each PC will have a separate build post. This content should be available by this weekend.
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