Building a PC with my teenager - first timer looking for help
Posted by Rigorr@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 25 comments
Hi All,
Firstly- thanks for stopping in, I'd appreciate any and all help.
I've been gifted a 2nd hand PC, and it's sadly not up to scratch enough for my teenager to want to play with his friends. I suggested we build the PC because I think it would be good for him to understand and learn some skills about doing things for himself, but of course there is *so* much information out there, and AI is misleading, as it often does not take temporal changes into account.
So we're aiming for something that can play rainbow siege 6 at a high fps rate with graphics turned up.
The PC we've been gifted:
Ryzen 5 3600
MSI X470 Gaming + Max w/ 16gb Corsair DDr4 3000mhz RAM
Asus GTX750Ti
550W Bronze PSU
I think the psu and the case are salvageable, and I think the RAM is as well, but from what I've seen and read, the Mobo/CPU are a 'budget' gaming build, and the PCIe slot is 2 or 3.
I was thinking a Ryzen 5600 with a B550 - we could use my ddr4 still on that.
He desperately wants a 5060, but I feel like it's not worth the money; and the bottlenecks we're likely to face will come far before we see the improvements the 5060 offer. I suggested a 5050, but even then, I dont think we're aiming for PCIe5 capability just yet.
We are Aus based, so in AUD I'm prepared to put about 1000-1500 into a new build.
Any advice would be welcome.
delph906@reddit
Firstly I assume the aim is to play on a 1080p monitor. What frame rate can the monitor handle? Make sure the monitor won't then become the next issue.
Make sure you are not getting walked into a path of never ending upgrades.
All you really need to upgrade is the GPU. This should achieve the stated goals at 1080p.
Order of priority for upgrades:
A 5060 8gb would actually be a pretty nice upgrade on it's own and probably achieve your goals. It will be limited by the older motherboard and an AMD card that takes advantage of the full 16 lanes will perform better but if it is a specific request then it may be better just to go with it, learn why it doesn't perform how it should and then upgrade the motherboard at that stage (which is a much bigger project than swapping out the GPU only).
I can't imagine the PCIE 3.0 issue would actually bottleneck it that much. A quick google suggests it will perform at 84-92%.
A Radeon 9060xt 8gb would be a really nice pairing, a 9060xt 16gb will really future proof. My thought still stands though, getting the 5060 and learning why it gets held back would be a great start to PC building.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1akCHL7Vhzk_EhrpIGkz8zTEvYfLDcaSpZRB6Xt6JWkc/edit?pli=1&gid=1719706335#gid=1719706335
(? Possibly the monitor at number 2 or 3 depending. Can get a 240hz 1080p monitor within that budget easy ?)
CPU. Ryzen 5 5600x is what you want. Current CPU is not awful though and you could totally just leave it for now.
Motherboard. You can get away with the current motherboard for now I think but it will hold back a 5060 due to older PCIE 3.0 interface.
I would consider just to upgrade the GPU and power supply as above and start putting money aside for CPU/RAM/motherboard when prices hopefully start to come back to earth.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the detail and consideration you've put into your advice.
Yep, it's a 1080 monitor. I'm not 100% on the fr - I'll have to check (it's not with me atm) but from memory - about 100hz
I'm not 100% on the 5060, and despite being a specific request, I think I can talk him off the ledge (more a 'keeping up with the joneses' as one of his friends has a 5060.
I take your point about learning about what parts hold performance back, but I'm not sure that experiment will land just yet (or be ignored)
The PSU is a coolermaster 550W 80Plus Bronze. ATX 2.3 (so a bit old)
Thanks again!
delph906@reddit
Hi mate. Just wondering if you made and purchases or decisions about this upgrade?
I was thinking about it this morning for some reason. I'm actually from NZ and had a look at PC part picker, surprised at how good a deal you guys get on 9060xt 16gb across the ditch! Only Aus$500! We pay minimum Aus$650 accross the ditch.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
I went with an inno 3d 16gb 5060, for $730 and went for the b550 upgrade with a ryzen 5 for $230
delph906@reddit
5060Ti? Significantly more capable card. That should smash your goals, lucky kid.
I would seriously consider a new power supply as well if you are putting a grand of new hardware in there.
Scorptech and Centrecom both do 9060xt 16gb for $499. 5060ti is a great card too though, his friend will be jealous.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
scorptec and centrecom are the main sjuppliers near me, you should be able to browse their sites to see what prices look like, although it is a bit laborious and pcpartpicker relies on amazon pricing which inherently hides any packaging/mail price
delph906@reddit
What you were given is actually a really solid first PC being severely held back by the GPU! (I purchased a gtx 760 in 2014 to date it)
I would suggest just upgrading the GPU initially and see how it performs.
A 9060xt 8gb would be super easy drop in upgrade you could do in an evening. (A 9060xt 16gb is a bit more money but would be much more versatileif he gets into other types of games in the future.)
Look at something like FPS calculator to get a rough idea. In Rainbow 6 Seige a ryzen 3600 and 750ti give 44 fps in 1080p ultra, ryzen 3600 and 9060xt 8gb gives 224 fps!
https://pc-builds.com/fps-calculator/
Even something like a second hand 3060ti or Radeon 6600 will get you where you want to be.
Beyond that if using a 100hz monitor currently I would suggest 180-240hz 1080p gaming monitor before thinking about the CPU as you will get much more benefit from that.
Another thing to look at is if he has an SSD. If not that would be something to try and get into, though not a good time to be looking. It will make things load faster. It sucks being the last friend to load into the lobby.
Even a 256gb SATA SSD to load the operating system and a favorite game or two might potentially make it feel like a new system.
PixelPete27@reddit
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/kc3Jfp
I'd go with something like that for now.
5800XT, in gaming, is only going to give a 5-8% performance lift, not worth spending 2x the money on that chip. 5600 is way cheaper.
9060XT 16gb out performs the 5060 8gb in any game (at worst tying) and it's only 50 AUD more, it's worth it 100%. Here's a vid to compare. And the 9060XT 16gb having 8gb more Vram will benefit him in the future as well, as games require more and more VRAM, the extra VRAM will only make the performance gap between the 5060 and 9060XT increase.
If you upgrade the CPU, I'd make sure to update the motherboard BIOS first, to ensure the chip will be compatible with you make the CPU swap.
I wouldn't bother upgrading the motherboard for now, it's PCIe3, but the performance loss on a 9060XT 16gb is going to be single digit percentages, so it's not worth it.
16gb ram is fine still for gaming, but in the future you could pick up two more 8gb sticks of 3000mhz ram and run 4 sticks. That motherboard/cpu will be able to handle running 4 sticks at 3000 mhz.
PixelPete27@reddit
How many sticks of RAM are in there rig? is it two 8gb sticks? or one 16gb stick?
SNORLAXXX94@reddit
No need to invest in cpu just now.. Get the best possible gpu, rtx 5060 or 9060xt 16gb. Use it for a while.
Later update bios and get a used ryzen 5600 and 16gb ram.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
Yep, the PSU is old - its a coolermaster 550W 80Plus Bronze. ATX 2.3
A couple of other people have suggested the similar, and I hadnt thought of just replacing the CPU.
Thanks for the advice! :)
SNORLAXXX94@reddit
That is neither good nor bad psu. It will be able to handle rtx 3060-5060ish gpus.
Plan what games you wanna play at what resolution and what what monitor you have. Based on that get the gpu.
If you have plans on incremental changes later, like a 5800x3d and better gpu. Then purchase psu accordingly. Good luck.
NinjaVikingTV@reddit
I woukd say for GPU go for a 3060. Good enough card to play everything on Medium-high (play around with settings a bit) and still not too pricey. Also no bottleneck with the 5600. Might wanna go for r5 5600x if its withing budget, slightly higher clock speeds and performance.
The 16GB is salvageable, but look if you can add 16GB extra and a 4 ram slots motherboard; A gugabyte b550 gaming x v2 fot example (If you already have 2 sticks of 8gb right now, otherwise just leave it as is).
the 550w PSU looks fine for now. I suggest going to pc parts picker and insert everything you have, maybe want and other options. Use gpu userbenchmark to check different gpus from eachother. AMD Cards are also not bad at all. Amd RX 9070 is a good contender and on par with an RTX 4070.
If you have any additional questions feel free to ask them!
9okm@reddit
Do not use userbenchmark. It's a garbage website.
NinjaVikingTV@reddit
Thanks, I didnt know. Will use this going forward !
9okm@reddit
Yeah... you can look up the history of the site creator's vendetta against AMD. They're quite unhinged, lol.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
thanks for clarifying. I think there's a lot of dubious media online, and its always good to be wary of people who have things to sell!
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the adviec :)
I'd heard of PC partspicker, and will give it a go. I didnt realise it benchmarked as well, so that will be excellent to inform both myself and the teen!
NinjaVikingTV@reddit
So, pc partpicker doesnt benchmark, but it does evaluate whether its compatible or not. www.gpu.userbenchmark.com lets you compare all possible gpus
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9okm@reddit
There's no reason why you can't upgrade the CPU on the X470 board. You'll need to update the BIOS. Then, get these: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/w3Mh8Q
That's it, done.
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
thanks for your reply, so a 5600 can work on my current mobo? I hadnt considered not having to replace the mobo.
My feelings about bottlenecking is just about where the performance issues will arise from first; and that a 5060 isnt going to make those issues go away.
9okm@reddit
Yes, absolutely. But since you have 1000-1500 AUD to spend, I'd get a better CPU than a 5600. I edited the list a few times but the updated version should have a 5800XT, a new 2x16GB kit of memory, and a 5060 ti 16GB. That comes to 1200 AUD and would be an enormous improvement over the current build. All compatible, and no bottleneck to be concerned about.
CalligrapherCold364@reddit
ur instinct is right, ryzen 5600 on b550 keeping the ddr4 is the smart move nd leaves budget for the gpu which matters most for r6. at that budget a rx 7600 or rtx 4060 is the sweet spot, both will handle r6 at high fps comfortably without the 5060 premium. the 750ti is the bottleneck right now, everything else can wait
Rigorr@reddit (OP)
thats great to know, I dont want to spend the earth on a gpu, as I feel like this is unlikely to be a phase - but just in case, i'd like to build something more modest first, and upgrade it as we go. Thanks for the reply!