2020: Time for a new desktop

[skidman]

Best bang for the buck:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus Prime B450M-A Mainboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4
Asus GeForce RTX 2070

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by skidman

Best bang for the buck:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus Prime B450M-A Mainboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4
Asus GeForce RTX 2070

Oh man, this is what I was hoping for when I posted, thanks, a solid recommendation.

Well, just saw the reviews at Amazon for the GeForce RTX 2070 card, not going to make the cut.

[Moonlight]

You haven't said what your price range is for this new machine or even what you're going to be doing with it so we'll start with the CPU and then you can get the rest to fit around it.
As you're on a games website I'll give you 4 CPU optons for you to mull over, if these are too much for your wallet I would have a look for some mid range CPU's.

Most powerful gaming CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K Intel thinks Onkel Neal is rich.
This is really only recommended for serious gamers.

Best value gaming CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K In your dreams baby.
A better value proposition with only a slightly worse gaming performance than the Intel Core i9.

Most versatile gaming processor: AMD Ryzen 3900X Not as pricey as the 2 above.
If you’re regularly dipping into multimedia editing tasks this is the one to buy due to its superior core and thread count.

Best budget gaming CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X I'd start here first and work my way up.
for those on a budget, or for those who are sensible about their wallets feelings.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Moonlight

You haven't said what your price range is for this new machine or even what you're going to be doing with it so we'll start with the CPU and then you can get the rest to fit around it.
As you're on a games website I'll give you 4 CPU optons for you to mull over, if these are too much for your wallet I would have a look for some mid range CPU's.

Man, you're right, I didn't think about that. I'm looking for mid-range, not the best, not budget, something stout and capable but a good value. Honestly, my laptop CPU does everything as well as I need, but I have to get a desktop and a better graphics card than the 960m in my laptop.

Most powerful gaming CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K Intel thinks Onkel Neal is rich. I won't be after this!!
This is really only recommended for serious gamers.

Best value gaming CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K In your dreams baby.
A better value proposition with only a slightly worse gaming performance than the Intel Core i9. Hmmm. Not much cheaper.

Most versatile gaming processor: AMD Ryzen 3900X Not as pricey as the 2 above.
If you’re regularly dipping into multimedia editing tasks this is the one to buy due to its superior core and thread count. This looks pretty good, is there any downside to going with an AMD processor, any compatibility issues?

How about this? https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/...X-Configurator

*BASE_PRICE: [+1795]
CABLE: None
CAS: IN WIN 101 Mid Tower High Air Flow Gaming Case w/ Tempered Glass Full Size Window (White)
CC: None
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8GHz [4.6GHz Turbo] 12 Cores/ 24 Threads 70MB Cache 105W Processor
CS_FAN: Default case fans
ENGRAVING: None
EVGA_POWER: None
FAN: CyberPowerPC DEEPCOOL Castle 120EX ARGB 120mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate (Single Standard 120MM Fan)
HDD: 500GB WD Blue SN550 Series PCIe NVMe + 2TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo [+87] (Combo Drive)
HDD2: None
HEADSET: None
IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
KEYBOARD: None [-5]
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)
MICROPHONE: None
MONITOR: None
MOPAD: None
MOTHERBOARD: ASROCK X570 PHANTOM GAMING 4S ATX w/ WiFi, RGB, Intel LAN, 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1, 8 SATA3, 2 M.2 SATA/PCIe
MOUSE: CyberPowerPC Standard 4000 DPI with Weight System Optical Gaming Mouse
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts - Corsair RM Series RM850 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Fully Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply [+81]
PRO_WIRING: None
RUSH: Standard processing time: ship within 3 to 4 Weeks
SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT)
SLI_BRIDGE: None
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VIDEO: AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 [Navi] (Single Card)
VIDEOCAMERA1: Rocksoul 1080P HD Webcam USB 2.0 WK107SB [+19]
WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Parts WARRANTY
WNC: None
WTV: None
_PRICE: (+1977)

[mapuc]

May I give a recommendation

Buy a stationary gaming computer and a cheap desktop.

Stationary gaming computers cost almost the half of what a gaming laptop does.

Furthermore with a stationary you can upgrade your hardware, which you can't with a laptop.

Markus

[Moonlight]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

This looks pretty good, is there any downside to going with an AMD processor, any compatibility issues?

None that I've heard of, a piece of advice if you didn't already know this, Amd cpu's and Intel cpu's are not interchangeable, so you can't put an Intel cpu onto that motherboard.

A good rig, but how are you going to watch your DVD pron without a DVD player, and one last thing, I hope you're going to put a good monitor on that thing.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Moonlight

None that I've heard of, a piece of advice if you didn't already know this, Amd cpu's and Intel cpu's are not interchangeable, so you can't put an Intel cpu onto that motherboard.

A good rig, but how are you going to watch your DVD pron without a DVD player, and one last thing, I hope you're going to put a good monitor on that thing.

Great help, thanks! I kinda assumed they motherboard and cpus were not interchangle, thanks for reminding me.

I think my skittishness with AMD came from 20 years ago, I recall buying a 2nd PC for gaming in another room, and there were issues with installing Microsoft programs, or a game or something. It's been a long time but my recollection was AMD was not the fail safe standard I was used to with Intel. I may be persuaded to test that theory, did you see the mass of 5 star reviews for the CPU on amazon? Impressive!

The rig I sketched out, it used the exact same cpu as the one in the amazon page? It was so easier back when a cpu didn't have so many name variations!

DVD player? What year is this, do they still exist??

Good monitor? Why? explain!

[ET2SN]

Before you commit to a new desktop, consider what you'll be doing with it.

Are you playing old (5 years or older) games? Will most of your new system's time be spent playing those games or are you heavily into multitasking while you decimate convoys?

This is kind of a loaded example. The majority of games available are designed to run on one core of your CPU. There are some games out there that can run on two or maybe four cores but there aren't that many of them.

Are you planning to get into streaming on Twitch or uploading videos to YouTube? Broadcasting will put a much heavier workload on your hardware to justify those extra cores. If you're not planning to start your own gaming channel, why over-build your next desktop?

Getting back to single-core gaming, cores don't mean squat compared to CPU clock speed. Older Intel CPUs ran just fine at 3.95 to 4 GHz. This is their rated clock speed, BTW. No over-clocking required.

Put some thought into your display before you commit to a desktop. Is a "normal" 2K display that's 2 feet wide what you're thinking about or will the new monitor swallow most of your gaming room? Think this part thru, there's no wrong answer (depending on your budget) but people tend to put the cart before the horse and wind up with either an under-powered CPU/graphics combo or else they over-commit on hardware they will never fully utilize.

Plan for the display you want, then figure out how much horsepower (CPU and GPU) you'll need to run it.

Edit- Check out this thread https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...d.php?t=243475 and I won't end up repeating myself.