Build or prebuilt PC for my needs

[The Franchise]

I couldn’t find the “Build Your Own PC” thread, so I figured I’d create my own.

Haven’t had a gaming PC in a long time. I mostly play PS4. I’m looking into getting a desktop PC that can handle gaming (both on a monitor and a TV), Photoshop and Illustrator and then as a media PC that I can play movies. I’m looking into burning all of my DVDs to a hard drive so that I can play them in my media room or downstairs on my main TV.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Should I go prebuilt or build my own? Keep in mind that I’ve never built my own.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

And fans versus water cooled? What are your thoughts?

I wouldn't bother with water cooled, unless you just want it to look fancier. Just get a decent CPU fan and it'll be fine. Make sure you have decent airflow through your case. A case fan in the front pulling air in, and another in the back pushing hot air out. I overclock my GPU, and still have never had any heat issues.

[Pants]

I went with an AIO water cooler for the CPU on my current build (8400k OCed to 4.8GHz) and I honestly think that was a waste of money. A good air solution would probably do a better job. It does look very nice and clean but that doesn't make it worth it at all.

I thought I would be able to hit 5Ghz with water AIO. The results were hilarious.

[The Franchise]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LbP6b8

I looked up completed builds and found this guys. He had 32 gb of ram so I changed it to 16 gb because I’m not sure if I need that much.

Are the amount of fans overkill?

[jd1020]

I built my Ryzen fall of last year and unless something has changed I would stay away from MSI X570 motherboards. Everything I read and watched was nothing but terrible in regards to their performance in OCing, if that matters to you, and temperatures.

EDIT: https://youtu.be/rD65w5RVmtY

I guess MSI is making changes after it was a unanimous stay the **** away review from launch.

[bowener]

Ryzen 5 3600 would be plenty for photoshop and illustrator btw, but if you're cool with dropping $1500 here is one that will do far more than you need.

Head over to PCpartpicker and swap different components in and out until you get what you want.

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X $325
ASRock X570 Pro4 $130
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR4-3200 $65
Intel 660p 1TB NVMe SSD $98
MSI RTX 2080 Super Ventus OC $720
Fractal Design Meshify C $90
Corsair RMx 650 W 80+ Gold $95
Total $1523

Prices are probably outdated btw.

edit: For what it's worth, I am probably going to go with something similar to that $1500 build for nearly the same uses as you.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LbP6b8

I looked up completed builds and found this guys. He had 32 gb of ram so I changed it to 16 gb because I’m not sure if I need that much.

Are the amount of fans overkill?

Nah, fans are fine. That will give you great airflow. Just make sure you mount them so they blow in the correct direction through the case.

That case is ugly as hell though. No offense..

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Fish

Nah, fans are fine. That will give you great airflow. Just make sure you mount them so they blow in the correct direction through the case.

That case is ugly as hell though. No offense..

Find me a prettier case then, asshole.

[jd1020]

I really like what Phanteks is doing.

https://www.newegg.com/black-phantek...82E16811854086

One of the few cases that you can still find with a mesh front panel that doesnt look like your typical box but also isn't overly "gaming." There's a cheaper version that's slightly smaller called the P300A but its sold out everywhere.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Pants

That's a good point, man.

I have this https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator...s%2C158&sr=1-1 but paid much more. That is an incredible deal. This is a thing of beauty. The design is dumb but the PQ is out of control.

Have you done a lot of research on VA vs TN vs IPS?

Are you happy with your monitor? That does seem like a good price.

We’ve read up a bunch on VA, TN, IPS. Near as I can tell VA or IPS are both very good for gaming with IPS having better viewing angles not ghosting and VA having slightly better refresh rate and but slightly slower response times and subject to ghosting in some circumstances.

In the end it seems either will work and for me it’s not a definition factor.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LbP6b8

I looked up completed builds and found this guys. He had 32 gb of ram so I changed it to 16 gb because I’m not sure if I need that much.

Are the amount of fans overkill?

Good choice on NZXT. I’ve built three rigs with NZXT cases. Love them. Solid build, good cabling, good looking. If you move up from the 510 to the 710 you’ll get a case that comes with four 120mm fans already installed instead of the two that come on the 510, which is all you need. The 710 is $70 more but you can take those two $90 fans off your list.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I really like what Phanteks is doing.

https://www.newegg.com/black-phantek...82E16811854086

One of the few cases that you can still find with a mesh front panel that doesnt look like your typical box but also isn't overly "gaming." There's a cheaper version that's slightly smaller called the P300A but its sold out everywhere.

They make some good looking cases. And their reviews seem to be good too.

I like this one better. The black/red. Customizable light scheme that looks cool, and not too flashy: https://www.newegg.com/black-phantek...82E16811854046

[Pants]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Are you happy with your monitor? That does seem like a good price.

We’ve read up a bunch on VA, TN, IPS. Near as I can tell VA or IPS are both very good for gaming with IPS having better viewing angles not ghosting and VA having slightly better refresh rate and but slightly slower response times and subject to ghosting in some circumstances.

In the end it seems either will work and for me it’s not a definition factor.

After looking some more at the monitor you posted, it just seems like newer technology overall and it had some features listed with which I am not familiar and, therefore, do not know whether or not they make a difference.

After I built my old GTX 1070 tower, I realized it was silly to not have something better than my old ass 24" Samsung 60hz 1080p panel. My GTX 1070 was maxing the games on Ultra settings with ease. I needed something better to do it justice.

So I originally bought a 27" 1440p (2K) Dell TN panel with GSync and it was within my "new monitor" budget. When I hooked it up, though, I just felt like I wasn't quite happy and everything seemed a little too yellow no matter how much I ****ed with the RGB and temperature/hue settings. I was going to replace that monitor with an identical model hoping things would be better.

After some thought, I just decided to say "**** it" and splurge on something much better (at the time, it was basically like the best monitor you could get under $1000). It was much more expensive than the Dell and as soon as I bought, feelings of buyer's remorse started to creep in.

As soon as I hooked it up, I got the biggest shit-eating grin of all time and realized I made the right decision. Been happy as **** with it ever since. It's now been through 2 computer builds and I have zero interest in upgrading.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Good choice on NZXT. I’ve built three rigs with NZXT cases. Love them. Solid build, good cabling, good looking. If you move up from the 510 to the 710 you’ll get a case that comes with four 120mm fans already installed instead of the two that come on the 510, which is all you need. The 710 is $70 more but you can take those two $90 fans off your list.

Exactly. Paying $40 for a fan seems crazy to me. I'm 100% with vail on this. I'm a huge fan of NZXT as well because they have reasonably priced full towers that are just so easy to work with.

Get a full tower if you can. It's SO MUCH nicer.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by jd1020

AMD has been shit until recently, so it's no surprise that people have been telling you over 22 years to avoid them.

I did some looking around today and found that the AMD processors are still causing issues with pro audio hardware and software, especially with Thunderbolt equipped audio interfaces.

Intel again for me...

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by Fish

They make some good looking cases. And their reviews seem to be good too.

I like this one better. The black/red. Customizable light scheme that looks cool, and not too flashy: https://www.newegg.com/black-phantek...82E16811854046

I just prefer high airflow. I'll sacrifice looks for better performance. The P400A is one of the best cooling cases on the market right now and it actually doesn't look depressing.

Only problem I have with it is that I still want my optical drive so I'm using the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M.