The PC Build Thread

[ponder]

i just added the things as per previous response ie the combined APU enabling me to save some budget.
but you mentioned its not really the way to go in 2020
if i take the gaming element away do i still go with your CPU and motherboard?

i saw the tomahawk motherboard and happy with selection

is the ram as good as Corsair?

i was hoping to have 1 ssd and maybe two hdd in the setup

The 1600AF is an awesome value cpu, it would be my personal choice but that's just and if you might decide to add gaming to the mix you're ready. At the end of the day you'll have to decide.

The ram is fine, many happy g'skill owners out there.

If you're only gonna have 2 hard drives we can look at a cheaper b450 board as it will support 4x sata ports, you might however lose 2 ram slots which will only be an issues if you want to add more ram in future.
A budget board like https://www.wootware.co.za/asrock-b...socket-am4-micro-atx-desktop-motherboard.html will do the job.

 

[maqs]

gaming won't be the immediate. priority
media setup
home/school unit

those would be the first wins
if i had to sacrifice something it would be the gaming side

 

[Lupus]

250GB Nvme drive?

Oh right no it was the SATA ones

 

[Lupus]

Currently looking at sorting out my wife and sons PC, old I5 4530 with 12 gigs of RAM, looking at doing a 1600AF with the Asrock board and 16 gigs of the Ripjaw memory, it would bring it close to my 2600 as well.
The RX580 should tide them over for a bit longer, it's just when you looking at Afterburner and the cpu sits at 90 to 100% you know it's time.

 

[furpile]

thanks furlong, i guess i added over the budget selection
instead of the nvme should i opt for smaller ssd? 250/500gb?

then invest in 3tb hard drives... is there difference to standard and NAS hard drive?

i went with 16 gb ram as it didn't dent the budget if i rather took 8gb
if i went with the mi box it would only work with one tv at a time.. is it the best alternative or is there the telkom box that people discuss on mybb

I ordered almost exactly the same parts that ponder suggested to you earlier this week. Based on the performance difference between sata and nvme I would suggest getting a 250gb nvme boot drive. If you are going to do photo or video editing it might be worth it to bump up to 500GB. I got mine from wootware for R1000. If you go a few pages up in this thread you can see the details. I think that model is now out of stock but there is a slightly slower model that is a bit cheaper.

Then get normal HDD's for your plex library. On the mobo side, if you can get one with 6 sata ports that gives you room for expansion in future, especially if you will need a dvd drive as well. If you are going to implement Raid a bigger board will also help. The 16GB ram is fine, you don't save much going to 8GB.

The Mi box only works on 1 tv yes, will replace your roku. The Telkom Lit box is supposed to be as good, there is a thread on both of them. Your choice. I am not aware of another method to get Showmax to cast to a roku.

 

[furpile]

Currently looking at sorting out my wife and sons PC, old I5 4530 with 12 gigs of RAM, looking at doing a 1600AF with the Asrock board and 16 gigs of the Ripjaw memory, it would bring it close to my 2600 as well.
The RX580 should tide them over for a bit longer, it's just when you looking at Afterburner and the cpu sits at 90 to 100% you know it's time.

I am busy with the same upgrade now. My i5 2500 died so I am waiting for the courier. Recently got a RX570 8GB so our setups will be very similar.

 

[Lupus]

I am busy with the same upgrade now. My i5 2500 died so I am waiting for the courier. Recently got a RX570 8GB so our setups will be very similar.

Yeah just hovering over hitting the button 5k is quite a bit still :-(

 

[Lupus]

Okay pulled the trigger, prices are going to go up for this I know it. They've already gone up partially since last week already.
Now to put this all in an old CM690 case

 

[Ancalagon]

thanks
i saw the following as price guide
takealot
Ryzen 5 3400 @ 2,775
ryzen 3 3200 @ 1,900

corsair vengeance lpx 2x8 gb ddr4 3000mhz @ 1,740

msi x570 pro motherboard @ 3,700
the asus tuf 570 was a lot more

or are the b450 boards as good as the x570?
they tend to be 40% cheaper

case fractal design R4 @ 1,240

any other tips?

Just be careful - you want the G models, because those are the APUs. So, you want the 3400G and not the 3400, if a 3400 exists. Same with the 3200 - you want the 3200G, the G at the end is important.

You don't really need an X570 motherboard. Slightly more future proof but not strictly necessary. Might last you a longer time because it should be more upgradeable.

 

[Ancalagon]

The 1600AF is an awesome value cpu, it would be my personal choice but that's just and if you might decide to add gaming to the mix you're ready. At the end of the day you'll have to decide.

The ram is fine, many happy g'skill owners out there.

If you're only gonna have 2 hard drives we can look at a cheaper b450 board as it will support 4x sata ports, you might however lose 2 ram slots which will only be an issues if you want to add more ram in future.
A budget board like https://www.wootware.co.za/asrock-b...socket-am4-micro-atx-desktop-motherboard.html will do the job.

Great value CPU, but then he needs to buy a GPU, which he doesn't need.

maqs - you can drop the SSD if you want. I think they are amazing, and they are a lot cheaper than they used to be, but still not cheap.

The problem is that 6 cores would be nice, but then you must buy a CPU, which means you must buy a GPU, and that pushes up the cost a lot. I'm not sure that the extra 2 cores would benefit you, because you are looking at double the cost (when you consider the fact that you need to buy a GPU too).

EDIT: One thing you could do is buy a used GPU from Carbonite for R1000. A R1000 used GPU would be all you need, and then you can get a 6 core CPU.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

is the ram as good as Corsair?

GSkill seems to be the RAM to get for this generation. Many (if not most) of the Ryzen 3000 reviewers use GSKill memory.

 

[Joker]

Anyone know where I could take/send a motherboard with bent socket pins for an attempted repair?

 

[maqs]

will tick that off the list .. goto ram Gskill 16gb

 

[maqs]

Great value CPU, but then he needs to buy a GPU, which he doesn't need.

maqs - you can drop the SSD if you want. I think they are amazing, and they are a lot cheaper than they used to be, but still not cheap.

The problem is that 6 cores would be nice, but then you must buy a CPU, which means you must buy a GPU, and that pushes up the cost a lot. I'm not sure that the extra 2 cores would benefit you, because you are looking at double the cost (when you consider the fact that you need to buy a GPU too).

EDIT: One thing you could do is buy a used GPU from Carbonite for R1000. A R1000 used GPU would be all you need, and then you can get a 6 core CPU.

can i still then get away with the original selection of APU units and get the best bang for buck one

i still think i need some sort of SSD on top of the standard drives

 

[maqs]

Just be careful - you want the G models, because those are the APUs. So, you want the 3400G and not the 3400, if a 3400 exists. Same with the 3200 - you want the 3200G, the G at the end is important.

You don't really need an X570 motherboard. Slightly more future proof but not strictly necessary. Might last you a longer time because it should be more upgradeable.

Just be careful - you want the G models, because those are the APUs. So, you want the 3400G and not the 3400, if a 3400 exists. Same with the 3200 - you want the 3200G, the G at the end is important.

You don't really need an X570 motherboard. Slightly more future proof but not strictly necessary. Might last you a longer time because it should be more upgradeable.

noted

do you think its worth the extra R1000-1500 for the x570 over the b450?

 

[Barbarian Conan]

thanks
i saw the following as price guide
takealot
Ryzen 5 3400 @ 2,775
ryzen 3 3200 @ 1,900

corsair vengeance lpx 2x8 gb ddr4 3000mhz @ 1,740

msi x570 pro motherboard @ 3,700
the asus tuf 570 was a lot more

or are the b450 boards as good as the x570?
they tend to be 40% cheaper

case fractal design R4 @ 1,240

any other tips?

Depending on how many hard drives you need, also look at the Phanteks P300:

Phanteks PH-EC300PTG_BK Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis - Wootware

Buy Phanteks PH-EC300PTG_BK Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.

www.wootware.co.za

I have the P600, and it is really an amazing case. Its a bit more expensive, and out of stock, but the smaller P300 seems great as well, if your PSU isn't too long (which it shouldn't be) and you don't want too many HDDs.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

Depending on how many hard drives you need, also look at the Phanteks P300:

Phanteks PH-EC300PTG_BK Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis - Wootware

Buy Phanteks PH-EC300PTG_BK Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Desktop Chassis at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.

www.wootware.co.za

I have the P600, and it is really an amazing case. Its a bit more expensive, and out of stock, but the smaller P300 seems great as well, if your PSU isn't too long (which it shouldn't be) and you don't want too many HDDs.

Got to choose quick before wootware check the exchange rate lol

 

[Barbarian Conan]

noted

do you think its worth the extra R1000-1500 for the x570 over the b450?

From what I've read, the main benefit of X570 is that it might be better suited to the 12 and 16 core CPUs, and it also has PCI-e 4.0, so you gain some future proofing. If I were you I would go for B450.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

can i still then get away with the original selection of APU units and get the best bang for buck one

i still think i need some sort of SSD on top of the standard drives

Definitely. You can go for a smaller SSD, or for a SATA SSD, but buying a new PC without an SSD is a waste of money. I would rather buy a 5 year old PC and put an SSD in it, than a new one without an SSD.

 

[furpile]

Yeah just hovering over hitting the button 5k is quite a bit still :-(

Yeah, my total was R7k. The CPU had also gone up R200 from last week, and I think the prices are going to go even higher.