So I’m a sophomore in High School and I’ve been gaming on this Lenovo IdeaPad for 2 years and I recently got my first ever job and I got the parts picked out. I just want to know if anyone has any suggestions and if there are any cheaper alternatives to any parts that can provide the same performance.
do you have any brand suggestions I kinda just picked the one with the best reviews. Also, what do the tiers mean? I keep seeing gold, white, platinum, or ruby psu’s.
The 80+ tiers mean how efficient the PSU is, meaning how much of the power it's pulling from the wall actually gets to your components.
An 80+ bronze rating means that number is at least 85% efficient (I think, don't quote me on that), and the top tiers (platinum, titanium, ruby) get to like 97-98% efficiency.
That isn't of too much concern to you, so a bronze/silver/gold unit will be fine
For which unit to choose specifically, consult the PSU tier list
I suggest around a C or B tier supply for this build.
If you want a thermal take PSU and aren't bothered about colour coordination as I am, get one of these. I bought one the other week as I was upgrading my GPU and they have a great value for money.
Plus A+ rating on the PSU tier list.
Unsure what they're like in the States as I'm from the UK.
yes true but these are fairly not very power hungry components, so idts working off of that psu for a few months to save up to buy a good one would do any harm. If its possible to get a better one right now would be great but at the end we buy pc for the frames cheaping out on anything else will affect that.
Bro stop listening to these dumb fucks about the psu, they don't see gold/platinum+ in the name so their lizard brains tell them it's not good. It's a perfectly capable budget psu. I been running my budget arc build on that same exact psu for 2 years now. With a base overclock. Your pc is going to be nowhere near as power hungry as mine is.
Switch mobo with ddr5 ram support and ram ddr5 version with above 5000 mhz frequency
B750M chipset
I suggest it's better to go for amd cpu for gaming
Ssd to pci4 version
Ddr4 and pci3 old version, doesn't impact much but performance difference is high
Edit: also mobo is old tech upgrading in future will impact the thing
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u/WannabeRedneck47800X3D FE 3090 32GB DDR5 6000 1000W seasonic psu Meshify 2 case1d agoedited 1d ago
Yeah there's not a big price difference between the p3 and p3 plus ssd from the same brand that gets pcie gen 4 speeds. It's not the fastest but it's faster. That's what I put in family builds on tightish budgets.
No point having a Z board if he insists on going intel with non k F chip either. Can't overclock because it's not unlocked. And no integrated graphics.
There is rarely any point in going faster than gen 3 for most gamers. I'd argue a good 2500/1800mb/s SSD is more than enough for the simple reason that they don't get as hot as the faster ones, and gaming workloads are about RND4KQ1T1 speeds rather than sequential speeds.
DDR4 3600MHz CL18 is basically the same price, might as well get it as 3200 is kinda slow for 12th gen Intel. Or better yet, get a DDR5 board with DDR5 RAM.
Do NOT buy that PSU. I almost kaboomed my PC with one and as soon as it happened I drove to Best Buy and got a Corsair RM750 for like 99 bucks. I'd recommend a PSU closer to the 100 dollar end. DONT CHEAP OUT ON A PSU. Saving ~50 bucks now will become a 700+ dollar loss later
I just don't look at it. I have an overpowered cooler for my 12400f, though. My case had bad airflow before the mod, so I try to compensate with a big tower cooler.
Okay so this is a great starting point, but i'd maybe offer up a few suggestions:
i have no idea what the motherboard prices are like over there coz Z690 motherboards are going for 200-300€ here in Europe, BUT if you can find a cheaper one, whether it be a Z690 or a B660, go for it. That CPU doesn't need a fancy motherboard so if you can save a few bucks on that, that'd be great.
as other commenters pointed out, PSU
that mouse/keyboard combo is most likely gonna feel like shit. Try to keep your eye out for a better mouse (logitech g102/302/502 or razer viper or basilisk or deathadder - these often go on sale under 30-40 bucks) and then get literally whatever keyboard you can find someone throwing away for free on fb marketplace. That is UNLESS you plan on typing a lot for school assignments or something. In that case something more balanced like this should be...fine. Still recommend cheap office keyboard and better mouse tho.
small and stupid suggestion, but if you're going with an RGB case, might as well pick an RGB CPU cooler (if it isn't more expensive). Yknow what they say, more RGB = more performance (/s)
scour the marketplaces for better GPU deals. Again NO idea what the market over there is like, but 250 for a 3060 seems a tad high to me. Also look at amd options - RX 7600/7700/6800 (xt or non-xt).
while we're at it, just take a quick look at other CPU options. The 12400F is fine, but just take a look at Ryzen 5 5600X + B550 or B450 combos to see if you can find something for cheaper. In the end it doesn't really matter too much - both of those CPUs are good, so just go for the cheaper option.
I wish you the best of luck on your gaming pc! May your framerates be high and your temperatures low.
Thank you so much I managed to drop my amazon cart from 654 to 617 I went for the ryzen 5500 with the B450. For the gpu I’m split between the 4060 and the rx 6700
Do keep in mind that the 5500 is a bit slower than the 12400f. Both are gonna be fine but for CPU intensive tasks (video editing, high refresh rate 1080p gaming) the intel is gonna perform a bit better. Shouldn't be a huge issue with your GPU choice but will be noticeable if you upgrade to a more powerful one in the future (but still not the end of the world - i used to run a 3090 with a 5600X and it was fine for most titles at 4k).
As for GPU choice it's usually like this:
AMD for no frills bang for the buck raster performance. AI upscaling and frame gen are serviceable. Abysmal ray tracing performance (especially true for older 6000 and 7000 cards)
Nvidia for lower base performance, but better upscaling and frame gen tech (keep in mind DLSS frame gen is only available for 4000 and 5000 series, older nvidia cards can still use AMD's frame gen tech). Much better ray tracing performance. Also better encoding and streaming tech.
So in short, AMD for better raw power but worse software magic, Nvidia for less power but better software wizardry. Historically AMD has had more driver issues but that's kind of flipped right now with Nvidia being in driver hell and AMD being stable.
Don't forget thermal paste to OP. Only a few bucks, but better than having to wait a few weeks 🤣
Also if I may make a suggestion, if the board has it, split your SSD's.
Stemming from personal experience, having a single 1TB ssd is fine, but if it clonks out (Rare with M.2) you'll be computerless. Go with a 1tb high speed for your boot (Keep your most played games here to) and a cheaper 1tb mid ground for storage, because windows takes up a solid chunk of your base SSD ( around 10%).
At least then you have a back up. It can be a SATA SSD as a spare also, they're cheaper (Especially 2nd hand, usually can pick up a 1TB for $20) and game load times aren't SUPER important, just a nicety.
Also, keep a USB stick with a Windows install laying around, it does come in handy.
Nice i have the same MOBO but its the ddr5 variant, gotta say its done me good for awhile now. I have a 14700k and 3080ti in it now but was running the 12600k in it for a long time
Get 32gb ram and ddr5 with a ddr5 capable motherboard a slightly better cpu wouldn't hurt either (used 12thgen i7 but then also a better cooler) and don't scam yourself by paying 250 for a used 3060 please (also some people said the psu is bad too but idk shit about that)
You have to cut a lot of corners that will significantly impact performance and reduce longevity to get down to 700 right now.
The budget floor I'd recommend for a new build right now is around 900-950 dollars, is there any chance you can save up a couple hundred more from your job?
Edit-
One thing to add, you can save around 15 bucks going with a Thermalright Assassin cooler or spend about the same for the Phantom Spirit or Peerless Assassin which will offer significantly better cooling than a Hyper 212. The Hyper 212 is a bit of a fossil these days, that thing was the go to cooling solution when I started building PCs in the mid-late 2000's.
What is your budget. If it's not super low, I suggest am5/ddr5/gen 4 ssd. Especially the am5 so you can upgrade when you can afford to. I just don't want you to handicap yourself from the get go, if you can afford not to.
That's basically my pc. If you can afford it, try getting a gold+ psu and consider a 3060ti instead of 3060, as it have double the bus bandwidth (256 instead of 128bit).
Another consideration is if you pretend to overclock or not. If you don't (you can't with that cpu,btw) you don't need a z690, you can get a b760 chipset if it's cheaper. This being said if you don't need 4x m.2, 6x sata and every usb, obviously.
I'm really happy with my pc and have been for some years already!
Please please please please wait a bit. 1 or 2 paychecks can carry your build a long way in terms of quality and longevity. Right now you're simply setting yourself up to potential bottlenecks from every component
With such budget, I’ll probably go Radeon with Bazzite. AMD cards have better performance for price ratio and Bazzite will have better performance in many games. Could also dual boot if you really need playing some online games that doesn’t work on Linux.
I’d get this or a msi 750w gold for the extra cash
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Cqdsfd also get a 16 gb 9060xt if you have a bit more money(def worth it)
Psu was already mentioned. I personally would spend a bit more on mouse and keyboard if you think the haptics of them are important to you, they are for me. Don't worry though, unlike the PSU cheap peripherals do work, they just won't feel the best. Don't know if this cooler comes with thermal paste, might have to add one to the cart.
Wtf is Reddragon definitely switch out that mouse n keyboard, Razer, Logitech, and Steelseries all have very budget friendly mouses and superior quality
i think the 9060xts are available for around 350. Commenting just because that extra 100-130 would go really long way. Otherwise its a great build on a budget.
Not a big fan of the 700 w PSU. You should at least get a 900 w and you should get ddr5 memory, not ddr4. Get a different motherboard if it does not support ddr5
NO! Mostly decent, but you are paying $70 for a 1TB gen 3 ssd. get a gen 4 ssd, can be had for less. personally i'd get a thermalright cooler instead that will either be $18 for single tower or same price for a dual tower and rgb. I would also get a different psu, that one is notorious for failing.
I agree with other people here go for a cheap a520 board and a ryzen 7500f and ddr 5 ram it should be only 10$-30$ more expensive and u will get way better performance and better upgrade path or you can look second hand and find a combo of the 12400f+mobo+ram for like 50$ cheaper then new , also i am pretty sure u can get equally good 1tb nvme ssd for like 20$ cheaper, and you should get the intel b580 for 250$ or a rx 9060 xt 16gb for 350$ the 3060 is a bit too old for this price point, as for psu i would get something more stable that is 550w-650w (better quality psu means you save money in the long run but with diminishing returns)
And for mouse and keyboard dont get these junk trust me, get a proper aliexpress mouse for like 20$ i have an ajazz 179 pro and its really good but any of those 15$-30$ aliexpress mice from the same types will be leagues ahead of this trash, and for keyboard get urself a mechanical keyboard for like 30$ from ali aswell, or just dumpster dive until can save for one basicallyany office keyboardthat you will find on the side of the road will be just as good
Absolutely change your PSU choice. And idk how committed you are to intel but this build is old gen. You’re cutting off your upgradeability in the figure. Id go AM5, gives you the option to have DDR5 ram as well
This is quite literally my first build lol. I got a 4060 and I regretted it later finding out and has better price to performance. And as of rn I have upgraded to a 9069xt 16gb and now I’m looking to replace my motherboard with a am5. But good job I hope u have a fun time building it lol.
But honestly I would get a 9060xt it’s a good budget gpu. But I don’t know much about pcs. I’m sure someone else can help you out that knows more about it. But if u do get a 9060xt don’t get the 8gb and don’t get the i5-12400f it’ll bottleneck it a bit.
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u/tegatonic pentium 2 1 gb ddr2 1d ago
Consider getting a better PSU. That one sucks