Looking for a <gasp> desktop computer - any ideas?

[Arles]

I built a desktop PC about 8 years ago and gave it to my son to use to play games and school. After testing the RAM, power supply and graphics card, it looks like either the mother board or chip has gone kaput (when you turn it on, it runs for 3 seconds, turns off and then restarts again for 3 seconds).

So, I think this about the time to replace it. I already have two laptops (one for the day job and one for Grey Dog), so I really don't need a third. It won't be leaving our loft/computer desk - so there's no reason to pay for the portability of a laptop. I have a nice keyboard, mouse and monitor - so I'm just looking for a quality desktop for a decent price. It will need to run most of what is on Steam (for me), some development programs (me) and some games like Fortnight (my son...).

What specs should I be looking at and what is a decent price for a desktop? I don't mind ordering it online or going to Sam's/Best Buy/Fry's if there is deal there.

[thesloppy]

I built a desktop a couple years ago, and I guess they're getting more rare, but I would hate to give mine up. Are you against building your own this time?

For what little they're worth, my impressions about the current state of hardware is that 95% of systems that meet your needs are going to come with enough processing and memory power that you can practically ignore those specs, and you're likely to get bottlenecked by either your disk read speed or your video card.

Regarding disk speed, solid state drives are pretty common these days, but what may not be obvious is that there are essentially two classes: those that are driven by SATA, and those driven by PCIe, with PCIe ostensibly maxing out at 3X the performance of SATA.

Video card prices are I think still being driven upwards by crypto-miners, and so I think you generally have to pay a premium for anything decent which carries over to retail desktops some. I think the entry-level standard for a gaming video cards at the moment is still the NVIDIA GTX 1050ti.

As such, if you're running a gaming-level video card and a PCIe SSD (or ever planning on upgrading to such) you are going to need a motherboard with at least two PCIe slots.

That's about as much 'help' as I can offer.

[Arles]

I'd rather not build my own at this point given my time restrictions. But, I'm not against it if it's a big money saver.

[RainMaker]

Building is so much easier today. Takes about an hour and you'll save few hundred bucks. Plus easy to swap in and out parts down the road.

On the right hand side of the subreddit is a ton of helpful guides. Even some recommended builds based on budget.

Desktops might be getting rarer for some areas, but the gaming market has kept them rolling.

/r/buildapc - Planning on building a computer but need some advice? This is the place to ask!

[RainMaker]

Another benefit of building your own is you can use the same case next time, same cords, same power supply, etc. Like I recently swapped in a new video card when in the past I'd have to buy a whole new rig.

[Arles]

Based on your guys' comments and pricing some pre-made ones, it looks like I may try building another one. All the stock desktops are $800+ that are decent. I would want atleast a 250 SSD, so that cuts out the $500 cheapies.

With that in mind, I have a fairly new 550 power supply and the old 10-inch graphics card still works well:

(EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0)


Is it possible for me to keep the 550 W power supply and this graphics card - and just buy a new case, motherboard, chip, RAM, SSD, RAM and 1-2 TB internal drive? Then, over time, maybe I replace the graphics card once it no longer can handle games.

Any thoughts on that plan and what peripherals to target? I checked and I last built this thing back in 2011 - so I'm sure things have changed

[Arles]

I just made a wishlist from NewEgg:

Arlie CPU Wish List 2019

Did I overdo it? Here's what's in the list:

Crucial MX500 2.5" 1TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT1000MX500SSD1
$119.97

SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS 500GB Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V7S500B/AM
$117.99

Intel Core i7-9700 Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.0 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I79700 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630
$329.99

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 4 LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z390 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
$129.99

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4 21300) Desktop Memory Model CMK16GX4M2A2666C16R
$71.99

Add in Windows 10 Pro and I'm at $900. I would just need to buy an ATX case and would use my existing graphics card and power supply. I would be at $1100 for the whole thing (using my old GPU and power supply). I checked and I'd be right at 550 on Watt req. I could have saved around $40 for going with a non-SSD for my main drive and $150 by going down to an i-5. But, the chip is the hardest thing (next to the motherboard) to replace. What do you guys think? I wanted to be between $700 and $900, so I'm a little over - but I can't really see what to cut.

Any ideas on a case? This one looked interesting:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...g=thowisguy-20

[RainMaker]

I don't see any problems. Suggestion though. Enter the parts into PC Part Picker. It'll tell you the power draw and whether your PSU is enough.

Also you can share it on that subreddit. The people there are huge into parts and can make suggestions for better deals.

Some examples:

First time build, any suggestions? : buildapc

[Radii]

To add to what Rainmaker said I like looking through buildapc for completed builds in my price range to see if I can find something a little cheaper (or maybe a little more powerful for the same price). This helps a ton especially when I don't have a suggested build from someone else to start from, because I don't mind building the thing once all the parts come in, but coming up with exactly what to buy is something I don't enjoy.

[Edward64]

Unless you are looking for a moderate-to-hardcore gaming device, I think a Dell desktop during a sale is hard to beat (not a fan of HP).

I don't think building yourself is a big money saver if you catch a sale ... July 4 won't be as good as Black Fri/Mon but should still be pretty good.

[Arles]

Thanks to Rainmaker and others, I used some of these sites and benchmarked a few things. My graphics card is pretty pitiful compared to what's out there. So, even though it is about $200 more than my initial plan, it has a nice graphics card. I was also able to use my existing power supply and optical drive here as well. What do you guys think?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($137.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING OC PRO Video Card ($377.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Corsair)
Optical Drive: LG - WH12LS30 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1227.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-12 18:45 EDT-0400

[thesloppy]

A second (or even third) monitor is a wonderful upgrade that isn't usually an option with a notebook. I've been working from home this last month and I love having a second monitor in portrait mode, for either messaging apps or extensive documentation. That said, you'd likely need a better video card (than your original GTX 570) to run two monitors effectively.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Arles

Thanks to Rainmaker and others, I used some of these sites and benchmarked a few things. My graphics card is pretty pitiful compared to what's out there. So, even though it is about $200 more than my initial plan, it has a nice graphics card. I was also able to use my existing power supply and optical drive here as well. What do you guys think?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($137.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING OC PRO Video Card ($377.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Corsair)
Optical Drive: LG - WH12LS30 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1227.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-12 18:45 EDT-0400

I think that looks pretty good, the video card is certainly a beast. My one quibble is I think you could still use a PCIe SSD (SATA maxes out at 6gb/s vs 16gb/s PCIe) for a system drive. You could probably drop to a video card in the tier below and get yourself a small PCIe SSD without an increase in cost, and I think your overall performance would be better (unless you're planning to be constantly gaming at 4k)

[Arles]

Any recommendations for SSD and video card? I haven’t looked at parts in a while. I can’t seem to find a 1TB PCI SSD that works with the mother board.

[RainMaker]

I think what you have looks great. 2060 is the best bang for your buck in a GPU.

[Scoobz0202]

If you aren't in a hurry to build, AMD is dropping their 3000 series CPUs in a month. Spend maybe $30 for a nice improvement over the 2700x. Maybe look for a gold PSU? Bronze is probably good enough, but I have always been told that while the PSU is the most boring part of a build it's arguably the most important.


I'll be honest, maybe thesloppy is right, but in day to day computer use I don't know if you will feel that much of an improvement with a PCIe SSD. Yea, it's better, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 2.5' SSD.


I recently just built a PC. We went pretty similar. ( I paid $250 for the CPU/Mobo as a combo at MicroCenter)


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450 GAMING-ITX/AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($118.45 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.97 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card ($479.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake - Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($43.51 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($97.49 @ Amazon)
Monitor: AOC - G2590FX 24.5" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Corsair - K63 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($68.90 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech - G305 (Black) Wireless Optical Mouse ($48.97 @ Amazon)
Headphones: Kingston - HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset ($84.69 @ Amazon)
Total: $1516.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-12 22:23 EDT-0400


In hindsight, I should have probably waited for the 3000 chipset, but my PC was dog shit and I was really antsy so whatever. The only thing I don't love is the GPU. Not because it is bad, because it's great, but spending that much money on a GPU just makes me sick lol. And I feel like the 2000 series GPUs won't age well. You are paying for Ray Tracing of which none but the highest 2080's do well due to FPS loss. I wanted to go with the 2060 due to the fact that I only do 1080p gaming, but I didn't want to get hamstrung by the lower VRAM in a year or two.

[Arles]

Is the PSU that important? If it is, you can get a gold 650 for $85. I just replaced the one on my old rig last year with the bronze 550 so I could reuse it. I’d like to get it in the next week or two since we would be down to just my laptop.

[RainMaker]

PSU is important, but mainly that it's a name brand. If the Bronze 550 PSU you bought last year is Corsair, EVGA, or something, just use that.

Difference in Gold and Bronze is efficiency. You'll likely not make your money back from the difference before your computer gets outdated. So save the money and go with a Bronze.

And 650 is overkill for your set up. Only really necessary if you're running 2 cards and overclocking.

[RainMaker]

Oh and hit me up if you want a Windows Pro key for $25. Nothing shady, just get them in bulk for work. Microsoft doesn't need the extra money.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card ($479.99 @ Amazon)

I've never spend more than $200 on a discrete GPU. I know if you factor in useful life that it probably makes more sense to buy a more expensive GPU but can't find myself wanting to spend that much more. Low-to-mid range is enough for me as I don't play the graphic intensive games.

[Arles]

Yeah, I have the Corsair 550 80+ bronze. Is there a better GPU for the money than the 2060. I probably don’t need that high a card, but I figured it was worth the $100 difference to lower cards. But I may not be right with that logic.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Arles

Yeah, I have the Corsair 550 80+ bronze. Is there a better GPU for the money than the 2060. I probably don’t need that high a card, but I figured it was worth the $100 difference to lower cards. But I may not be right with that logic.

Tom's had a much better GPU comparison/research several years back but this is where I still go to look at GPU's.

Best Graphics Cards 2019 - Top Gaming GPUs for the Money

[Arles]

Is it worth the $100 to get the GTX 2060 over this GTX 1660 ti?

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti WINDFORCE OC 6G Graphics Card, 2 x WINDFORCE Fans, 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6, GV-N166TWF2OC-6GD Video Card

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Arles

Is it worth the $100 to get the GTX 2060 over this GTX 1660 ti?

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti WINDFORCE OC 6G Graphics Card, 2 x WINDFORCE Fans, 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6, GV-N166TWF2OC-6GD Video Card

Depends on your monitor. If yours has a high refresh rate the 2060 might be worth it. But if your monitor is 1080p 60hz, the difference is negligible and you should save the money

[Arles]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Oh and hit me up if you want a Windows Pro key for $25. Nothing shady, just get them in bulk for work. Microsoft doesn't need the extra money.

I'm interested. Send me a PM or email at [email protected] with the info. Thanks!

[Arles]

OK, this is what I finished with. I don't have to buy the power supply and I'm getting the EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti SC ULTRA GAMING ($279). So, my total cost is $279 for the chip (no tax or shipping from Amazon) and $622.79 for the case, board, GPU, RAM and SSD from NewEgg (with a couple discounts). Add in $25 for Windows and I'm at $926.79 for this PC.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.98 @ Newegg Business)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Corsair)
Optical Drive: LG - WH12LS30 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Total: $981.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-06-13 13:18 EDT-0400

[cartman]

Here is one site's take on the 1660 vs. 2060:

So, which is ultimately the better buy? The GTX 1660 Ti is the Turing card many gamers have been waiting for, and Nvidia finally delivered it. We have no hesitation in recommending it if your GPU budget simply can't extend past $300.

If it can, though, the RTX 2060 is about 10-15 percent faster on average and sometimes around 20 percent, while costing 25 percent more, and it has RTX features to boot. Granted, a $70 price difference is nothing to sneeze at, but if you can swing it, those additional funds are not being wasted on features that are hardly used right now—for the most part, you're paying for more performance, with RTX features being a bonus.

It makes more sense to pick the RTX 2060 over the GTX 1660 Ti if building a new PC, as opposed to just upgrading your GPU alone. For example, if your total build costs $780 with an RTX 2060 vs $700 with a GTX 1660 Ti, you're looking at around an 11 percent increase in cost for a higher-end card that will still be 15-20 percent faster.

Bottom line: there is no clear winner here, but if you can swing it, the GeForce RTX 2060 is still the best upper midrange card (or lower high-end card) that we have seen since the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti. This is especially true if you plan to play at 1440p. However, if you plan to only play at 1080p and/or need to keep the GPU budget under $300, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a very close second.

[Arles]

Cartman, thanks for the post. That kind of confirms my thinking. With a rebate, I'm saving $100 (the 1660 Ti is $269 compared to $369 for the 2060) and this PC won't be doing anything more than 1080p. I have my 2015 MSI pro laptop (GT72) that I still use as my main CPU (so I can travel with it). It has a GTX 980M and it runs everything very well (I have an Acer 34-inch curved monitor that I run on high res without any issues). That was top of the line for a laptop back then and the 1660 Ti blows that out of the water

[GrantDawg]

Ok, I want to brag. I just bought my first computer in 8-9 years. I wanted to get another beast that I can have for a long time. I picked up this system pre-made because I couldn't have built it my self for the price. It is a bit ridiculous.

• Intel Core i7-9700KF Processor 3.6GHz
• NVIDIA RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6
• 32GB DDR4 RAM
• 500GB SSD and a second 1TB SSD, plus added my old SATA 1 TB from my previous system just so I wouldn't have to re-download stuff.

I haven't really run it through the paces yet, but super excited to try.

[Edward64]

Nice, should last you at least 5 years. What brand did you get?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Nice, should last you at least 5 years. What brand did you get?

Powerspec. It is the Microcenter home brand.

[thesloppy]

Sounds like a beast!

I always have a bit of something like postpartum depression building or buying a new computer, because I get hyped up to the point of where I put the cart in front of the horse a bit....like YAY I GOT THIS AWESOME NEW COMPUTER AND NOW I CAN.....download some anti-virus software? Play the games that were already on my hard-drive at higher settings? Run some benchmarks? All of that is definitely stuff I want to do yes, but nothing quite qualifies as exciting.....I want a chorus of trumpets to commemorate my increased computing power or something.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Sounds like a beast!

I always have a bit of something like postpartum depression building or buying a new computer, because I get hyped up to the point of where I put the cart in front of the horse a bit....like YAY I GOT THIS AWESOME NEW COMPUTER AND NOW I CAN.....download some anti-virus software? Play the games that were already on my hard-drive at higher settings? Run some benchmarks? All of that is definitely stuff I want to do yes, but nothing quite qualifies as exciting.....I want a chorus of trumpets to commemorate my increased computing power or something.

I am with you, but this was a big enough jump that I am not getting that feeling this time. So far, I tried Battletech (notoriously slow to load for me, and moved from medium to ultra graphics) and the speed jump not to mention the graphics jump was amazing. Then I loaded Pathfinder, that used to take a good 2-4 minutes just to load. It literally was at the menu screen immediately. Amazing.


Right now I am downloading Madden 20. I couldn't even play Madden 19 on my old computer (the processor was so old it didn't have a required hook to even run it), and since I have EA access I get it as part of the service early. Madden hasn't been good in a decade, but still it will give me a little football gaming, and I should be able to run it.

[thesloppy]

Excellent!