Gaming Computer Build
 

As mentioned in the video card thread, my son is getting ready to build his first computer. He has an online buddy that he games with that builds his own PC's and he has given him a list of components that he recommended he use. He's spending his own money on this and I wanted to make sure he gets good components and that they're compatible.

Component List:
Ryzen 5 5600
MSI Geforce 3060 TI TRIO 8GB
MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus ATX AM4 motherboard
G SKill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR 3600 CL18 memory
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal HD
Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB M.2-2280 EVME SSD
Fractal Design Ion+ 560W 80+ ATX Power Supply

Does this look like a good setup? Any concerns or ideas? He mostly plays CS:GO and I realize this gaming card is probably overkill for that game, but he also plays wants to play games that require a better GPU. He basically wants to build a system that will play any game that's currently out there. He also wants something that can be easily upgraded in the future, when needed.

We haven't begun to look at cases or monitors. I think the case will depend on which graphics card we end up finding. I know the MSI Trio that was suggested is huge, but we can get a smaller case if we get a 2 fan version. Any suggestions on monitors as far as hertz and resolution? He doesn't need anything very big, he's going to be sitting right in front of it.

Looks like a decent gaming setup. You'll want a better power supply though. A 600W is the minimum recommendation for a system with a 3060 GPU. If you want to future proof it, you should probably go a little higher than the suggested bare minimum. Don't go small on the case.

As for monitors, it all depends on how much you have to spend. For current gaming, a good average monitor will be at least 1440p(2K) resolution and 120-144Hz refresh rate. Get the size you can afford.

Thanks Fish! Is there any certain brand of power supply that you would recommend or any brands to stay away from?

Fish nailed everything. Just a bit of ancillary advice: since he's an FPS gamer first he shouldn't buy anything bigger than a 32 inch monitor so he can see his HUD without having to move his focus away from the reticle. He should probably also look into monitor arms if he eventually wants a duel screen set up. One for the game he's playing and one for his spotify, discord, twitch, etc. Don't cheap put on the MKB and invest in wire management so he doesn't have a rats nest to deal with later

Thanks Clyde!
He's got a small crappy monitor that he uses now that he is thinking about using as a 2nd monitor. Would that be good enough to use for twitch, etc?

MKB...Is that the mouse and keyboard? He has a nice mouse, but just has a cheap keyboard. I hadn't really thought about that, but he probably has. I'll talk to him about it.

I wouldn't go with an old style hard drive even for game storage. Go with an old style ssd little more pricey but way better.

As far as power supply I'll never use anything less then a corsair gold rated and one that is overkill for power consumption. These are just my opinions and I'm definitely no expert just been pc gaming for a decade and have built 4 of them.

Yes and Yes. Most gamers I know prefer matching monitors for the aesthetic but his "crappy" monitor is totally fine to run his secondary apps. You want to look into a mechanical keyboard if his budget allows for it. Fair warning: If your room is near his the clicking might drive you crazy.

https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-s...82E16817153231


Here would be a good power supply to put in

Also keep in mind that there's currently an insane demand for graphics cards like the 3060 Ti he wants. Supplies are currently nonexistent. Currently newegg has 0 available 30X0 cards, everything is out of stock. It may be a month or 2 before that will be available. Temper his expectations, it's a lousy time to buy a nice GPU.

He has this in his current computer:

SanDisk - Ultra 1.024 TB Internal SATA Solid State Drive

Could we just pull it out and install it in the new computer, instead of the WD hard drive on the list?

His room is upstairs and we stay downstairs, so shouldn't be a problem. His younger brother may have a problem with it.:)

Thanks!

Yeah, we have been looking for a few weeks. He's willing to wait to build what he wants. He didn't get his patience from me, that's for sure.

Yes, you can transfer that drive. If you really want to blow his hair back and get him the latest and fastest for gaming get him one of these to go along with it. On sale right now for $159, usually $199.

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-970-e...quicklink=true

Pfffft. So old gen...

New hottness v.4: https://www.newegg.com/samsung-1tb-9...OtKZ4Ze7czPEBw

:D:thumb:

Not sure what your thought would be on a Seasonic FOCUS GX-750, 750W 80+ Gold but that's what I got when I upgraded mine to handle the upgraded graphics card that I have (which is a GeForce GTX 1660 super GDDR6).

Anything gold rated or higher should do just fine. Just try and stick with well known brands. There's a lot of cheap Chinese crap out there with fake 80 plus certification ratings.

Yeah, you don't have to remind me that, I seen a few of them that looks suspicious and I didn't even bother.

I just know Seasonic is pretty good and I was familiar with Gold.

Seasonic makes everyones PSUs

Seasonic is top notch you can't go wrong with it.

Since we can't find a GPU anywhere, do you think we should go this route instead?
I know it has a lot of cheaper components and it probably isn't very upgradeable, but it sure seems like a good price. Would the CPU be that much worse than the Ryzen 5600?

It's your decision.

But imo, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK NO!

Ya it's got some nice components in it here and there but the motherboard is more than likely some generic piece of shit and its unsing some kind of case+PSU combo that is 100% some cheap Chinese trash and its only 550W and I guarantee that the airflow on that case sucks dick.

ROFL
My son didn't like the idea either.

Sometimes the hard truths are the best truths.

If you just can't wait, and you want a prebuilt that has quality components, NZXT is a solid option to consider. They even have 30xx series cards.


https://www.letsbld.com/

They say they do. But if you get far enough to actually review a build, they present you with this:

https://i.imgur.com/Hpk3nWh.png

There is no other option for GPU

:cuss::cuss:

It changes all the time. If you check it each day you’ll catch a 3070 or 3080 at some point. At least that’s how it’s been so far. They get resupplied by the different vendors.

Yeah hard pass on pre built from my opinion. I know it's hard to wait but it will be worth it in the long run. Also of you have microcenter anywhere around you go up there in the mornings and try to get lucky

The nearest Microcenter is 2.5 hours away.

NZXT is actually pretty good for prebuilt.

You just have to keep refreshing your cart to get the parts. They'll show out of stock for an hour and then in stock and then out of stock again.

Not sure if it's real or not; went to Microcenter.com and they have the 5000 series of the AMD Ryzen listed as in stock. I'd like to upgrade from my old Phenom 2 system however you have to go to the store to buy it. I have the feeling that it's one of those ads where you show up to buy it and they say they just sold out however we have xyz in stock.

supposedly what they show is what they stock. same system they are looking at when you call them and ask if its there.

See Fish’s post #166 here:

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/show...334847&page=12

I keep trying to go to that thread and instead catch myself staring at your avatar.

My son broke down and ordered the Streaming PC fron NZXT. Here's the specs:

Case

NZXT H510 (White)
- Dimensions: W: 210mm H: 460mm D: 428mm

- Weight: 20.08lb, 22.50lb in box

- 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

- 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A

- 1x Headset Audio Jack

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core 3.7GHz

Graphics

GeForce RTX™ 3070

Motherboard

Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO WIFI

RAM

Team T-FORCE Vulcan Z 3200MHz (max speed) 16GB (2X8GB) More Info

CPU Cooler

NZXT Kraken M22

Storage

M.2 SSD 1.0 TB

Power Supply

600W Bronze PSU

Software

Windows 10 Home

Warranty

2-year warranty on all parts & labor

Any thoughts, suggestions?

That's just an excellent freaking PC, man. I'm jealous! :D

Thanks! I thought the power supply looked a little small, from what I've heard.

Now he needs a better monitor.

600W will be enough. 80 plus bronze is also very good. :thumb:

:thumb: Body paint does the same thing to me.

Nice build, I kind of figured NZXT was your best bet.

Great looking build. I’d have gone with a bigger power supply but that’s just me. He’ll tear up all the games with that thing.

Well, it took dang near a month, but the new PC was delivered yesterday. He tracked it all of the way from California and I don't think he has ever been so excited.
We plugged everything in, turned it on and it booted up, then some green lines showed up on the Aorus bootup screen, the screen then went blank, then nothing.
We tried powering it off, then booting back up and it went to a Windows recovery screen. Then it did the green lines thing, then blank again. This happened several times, then we called Tech Support.
They sent a video and asked that I reseat the graphics card, which I did. Then we rebooted and it did the same thing.
Called again and they asked that I download a fresh copy of Windows and reboot with a memory stick, which I did. It installed the copy and rebooted, then it went to the green lines screen, then nothing.
Everything I'm reading is saying we got a bad graphics card. Does this sound right?
He is beyond disappointed. He just started his spring break and was looking forward to playing his new PC all week, but it sounds like we're probably going to have to send it back and wait another month. Their tech support is closed until Monday, so I'm not sure what's next. Bummer.

Have you tried booting it up with the GPU not installed/disabled?

No, I'm definitely not a tech guy. I didn't even know you could do that.

You can, but I just noticed you have a Ryzen 5 5600x CPU. That CPU doesn't have integrated graphics, so scratch that.

If you know that monitor and cables are good then ya your GPU is ****ed.

I'm just curious, how did they ship it?

Was the GPU installed? Did they use any of the hardening packing shit stuffed inside the case?

The GPU was already installed. It did have the hardening pillow type packaging inside the case. Apparently they have enough issues with the GPU's getting unseated that they created a video to show how to remove and replace it.

The monitor is old, he bought a new one to go with the new computer, but it hasn't arrived yet. He has been using this monitor with his current computer, so it definitely works.

I ordered a prebuilt from NZXT with a 3080 back in November. They ship it with that tank of a card already installed. Huge strain on the pcie slot. Damn thing wouldn't post. After a little back and forth with their help team I sent the thing back. No way I'm paying over $2k and being anything less than thrilled with it. Downside is now I'm sitting here with my thumb up my ass waiting to get a 3080 to add to my build.

Here's a pic. The white bag is molding packing foam. Black bag under the gpu is psu cables, etc. That's all they had supporting that heavy card.

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Did the NZXT help team have your son check the motherboard to see which trouble lights were lit up?

I wouldn't ever buy a prebuilt I've been seeing a lot of posts from people where they had the plastic still on between the heatsink and cpu.

No, they didn't.

There are lights on the motherboard that will tell you what isn't working. CPU,GPU, RAM,

Look at the motherboard to see if you can see them. You can look up the manual for your motherboard to tell you where those lights are. If you can't find them come back here and tell us, someone here will help you find them.

My 2015 i-4790k Studio Computer is ready for replacement. I'm not a gamer, nor will this computer be running anything other than Cubase 10.5, hundreds of VST plugins, 360 Office Suite and an internet browser.

The main reason for the new computer is to finally use the Thunderbolt option on my audio interface, which will greatly improve the overall performance the PC.

AMD isn't playing well with Thunderbolt so I have to go Intel. Here's what I have planned so far and any input or suggestions would be greatly welcome and appreciated!

Windows 10 Pro
Intel Core i9-10900k
Gigabyte Z490 Vision D
64gb Corsair Vengeance
Thermaltake 850 watt PS
Rosewell Server Chassis
Noctua NH-D15s Fan
StarTech Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter
Samsung NVMe 500 GB
StarTech Thunderbolt cable 2M

See if your son has has a friend with a working GPU and new monitor, plug your pc into the new monitor. If it works you found your problem, if it doesn’t try the friends GPU, if that works you know your problem. If neither works, light it on fire.

Solid advice with a surprise ending!:D

I’d like to know what his mobo error lights are showing first.

it might not have the lights, if im not mistaken some mobos dont have those

I'm not sure if it has lights on the motherboard or not. We unplugged the new PC and set up his old computer back up to play games until NZXT Tech Support is back in on Monday.
If I get some time tomorrow, I'll plug it back in and see if I can see any error lights.

See the number 22 on the lower right hand side of the diagram below? Those four lights are your error indicators. Are any of them lit up when you power on the PC?




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We did think we had it working earlier. I took the GPU out again and put it back and it turned on and it stayed on long enough to download some games, etc. then boom, the green lines just appeared out of nowhere and the screen went blank.
We tried rebooting, several times and each time got the same green lines, then blank screens.

green lines does smell like a GPU issue to me, but hardly ever are GPUs bad.

Does it only have one RAM stick? If not, try it with only one, and then the other one, and see if problems persist. RAM issues can take all sorts of forms.

See post 56. Do you have any of those four lights lit up on the motherboard?

Could they have his RAM in the wrong slots? Here is the configuration from his mobo manual:

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I've had issue like this before and it was due to a slight misalignment of the GPU and MB. Parts could have shifted in shipment or simply put together slightly off. The MB should have screws at various points, I would loosen them and make sure the GPU and MB are aligned properly. If you have to push the GPU to one side or the other to get the mounting holes to line up, it can cause partial connection and intermittent issues.

Many computers have RAM tests built in which are more extensive than the normal boot up tests. You can use another computer to download something like MemTest86 and write it to a memory stick and boot from it.

ram in the wrong slots would not typically cause those issues, just would not boot.

The green lines are classic GPU, I only suggested RAM because you said reseating the GPU did not fix it, and RAM is another similar, though less likely culprit.

You could also have a short somewhere on the MOBO, if you are comfortable with it, you can remove the mobo and reinstall it, making sure all of your standoffs are properly fitted and nothing is grounding. If not, thats OK, but double check that GPU and make sure its not sagging or otherwise doing something where its a millimeter out of whack

Do you guys know why server cases are too shallow for an i9 and a Noctua Cooler?

I need a server case but the info I'm getting on other sites is that they're too shallow.

Why do you need a server case? Do you mean you need something that will mount in a server rack? If so, yeah you'll need something specific if you're wanting a traditional PC gamer build with a fat CPU fan and big GPU. Server rack space is designated by a "U" quantity. With 1U being a single server rack height. You'd need something that's 5U or 6U for that kind of build. I'm not aware of anything like that which you could easily toss parts into like you're doing a normal PC build. Again, is there a reason for needing a rack design? If so, you might have to just get something like a normal flat shelf that fits into a server rack, and build a normal PC build in a normal ATX full sized case and sit it on the shelf.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ser...6B/ref=sr_1_19

Each light comes on when it's booting up, but just for a second, then they turn off and remain off.

I tried removing each RAM stick one at a time. It didn't work, unfortunately.

Thanks, Dude! Yeah, I need at least a 4 space rack mounted unit, one of which I've used since 2007, because of my recording studio setup in which my desk has 36 rack spaces filled with gear. Everything works together in terms of cabline and wiring and unfortunately, I don't have the room to set a computer on the floor.

I hadn't thought about racking up a normal case in the past, so thanks for the great idea! I went through several after-market fans when I built my current computer back in a 2015, an Intel i-4790k machine but I really need to upgrade to a new Intel computer asap.

This definitely helped and thank you so much!

I've been slowly buying parts for years, finally ready to build.

https://i.redd.it/m7fmn9s6wml61.jpg

Odd. What's the latest on this? Is your machine up and running or no?

I spoke to their tech department this morning and he said he thinks it's the GPU. He emailed me a 2 day Fedex label and when they receive it, they're going to ship out a new GPU.

Cool. Update us after you get the new card installed?

I would tend to agree. A lot of mobo's won't post at all if they don't detect a video output source. So if the GPU isn't being detected correctly, it won't even run mobo diags.

How do you guys feel about AIO cooling versus standard fan cooling? I've never built a computer with liquid cooling before, so I'm slightly hesitant but I don't really have any options with a server case.

Also, I'm reading that quite a few people are recommending the i9-10850k over the 10900k due to power consumption and heat.

Thoughts?

I’m building my son’s pc right now. Going to install the AIO tomorrow. My first time using AIO. So I guess I don’t have anything that would be of help right now but I’ll know more tomorrow about what the install is like.

Can't go wrong with either. They have air coolers now that are just as good or better than AIO water coolers at keeping your CPU temps down. I would say the biggest drawback of air coolers is the dust and the biggest drawback of AIO is that the pump will lose efficiency over time and eventually fail.

Currently, my rig has an AIO because it looks nice. :)

It's definitely a little more work to install (some cases make it easier than others) but it's one of those things... you only have to do it once so not a biggie.

Thanks, Dudes!

After spending hours trying to find a low profile fan suitable for the i9-10900k, I'm going to take Fish's excellent advice and just buy a tower that will fit on a rack shelf, which shouldn't be difficult to find.

I don't know what's happened since my last computer build in 2015 but back then, finding aftermarket cooling fans that could fit in a server case wasn't even an issue but I suspect it has something to due with the heat generated by this latest generation of chip.

Sounds like a nice custom rig you have going. It’s cool to see how you are adapting it for your needs.

I think that will be the best solution really. Trying to make that build fit in a normal rack case would likely create lots of issues. Plus you can get a nice ATX case with glass panel and show off your fancy silicon...

Regarding i9-10900K vs i9-10850K, I don't think it really makes any difference. They are exactly identical CPUs. The only difference is 0.1 Ghz difference in max Turbo boost. That's not going to result in any discernable thermal difference over time. Especially with decent airflow and cooling.

I'm not a fan of AIO at all. Overpriced and unnecessary. I think you can get ~95% as good of temps with a reasonably priced air cooler. Especially if you use quality thermal paste and apply it correctly. AIO failure can be pretty catastrophic too compared to normal air cooled CPU fan. But it sure looks cool.

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

Yeah, the guys on the pro audio forums are stating the same thing about the 10850k vs. 10900k, so I'll just go that route. The recommended cooling fan is the Noctua D15s, which will definitely fit in a normal ATX case.

Speaking of cases, all I need is a quiet mid-tower. I don't require glass or anything similar since it will be racked up and not visible. I see lots of Fractal Designs recommendations but in doing some research, the BeQuiet! Pure Base 500DX and 600 appear that they'd fit the bill, as does the Corsair 4000D.

Does anyone have any other quiet case recommendations or cases to avoid?

Thanks again, guys!