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Looking to build a new gaming PC aka Please help me pick some parts

Raggit

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Raggit

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My i5 2500k has served me well, but I think it's time to finally upgrade to something newer. And since I'm changing my CPU, that means I'll also need a new motherboard... which means new RAM. While I'm at it, I figured I'll finally switch to Windows 10 (Don't judge me) and get an SSD while I'm at it. I haven't really been keeping up with the latest PC components, so I'm going to need help choosing some. Basically I'm looking for recommendations on:

  • a CPU (and cooler so I can OC it safely)
  • Mobo
  • RAM
  • 1TB SSD
  • possibly a new PSU? I think my current one is 850W.
  • Anything else I'm forgetting

I'm hoping to keep the cost around $1000 CAD, but I have some wiggle room. I'm Canadian eh, so any store I buy from will likely be the Canadian version, or at least offer shipping to Canada (without absurd shipping fees).

Please and thank you! :canada:

 

edit: I have an OCed 980 ti. I won't upgrade my graphics card right now.

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Massdriver

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PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2VRBjp

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($194.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card  ($412.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $886.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-25 20:44 EST-0500

 

Just an idea to get the conversation started. As for the motherboard compatibility warning, according to the Asus website on the board, it supports the Ryzen 3000 series, but you may need to confirm with Asus that boards shipping have the new firmware already installed.  

 

 

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cusideabelincoln

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Also if you go with an AMD processor, which makes the most sense for this budget, you won't really need to overclock.  Their turbo boost feature basically maxes out the processor.  You can squeeze a little more performance by overclocking, but I personally don't think it's worth the time, effort, and increases power consumption.  However, the better cooler you get for the processor will help the turbo boost work better, because as long as you have a half-decent motherboard the determining metric for how much the processor automatically boosts is temperature.  

 

Intel processors have a bit more headroom to overclock, but even then I still don't think it's worth it unless you find yourself needing that performance.  Or, since their CPUs can hit 5 GHz, you simply want to overclock to 5 GHz as symbolic status.  But after a quick price check, they simply don't compete with AMD (in Canadian prices).

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Raggit

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1 hour ago, cusideabelincoln said:

Video card?

I have an OCed 980 ti. I won't upgrade that right now.

 

40 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2VRBjp

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($194.00 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card  ($412.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $886.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-25 20:44 EST-0500

 

Just an idea to get the conversation started. As for the motherboard compatibility warning, according to the Asus website on the board, it supports the Ryzen 3000 series, but you may need to confirm with Asus that boards shipping have the new firmware already installed.  

 

 

 Ooh, I'll check that site out a bit more tomorrow.

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cusideabelincoln

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PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($419.75 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($167.69 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($169.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($96.50 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1093.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-25 21:31 EST-0500

 

You can forgo a new power supply if your current one is a good brand and is going strong.  And the case can be whatever you want.

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Spork3245

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18 hours ago, cusideabelincoln said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($419.75 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($167.69 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($169.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($96.50 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1093.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-25 21:31 EST-0500

 

You can forgo a new power supply if your current one is a good brand and is going strong.  And the case can be whatever you want.


I would switch that SSD to a XPG or Crucial which are both $30+ cheaper and, iirc, faster.

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Raggit

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19 hours ago, cusideabelincoln said:

You can forgo a new power supply if your current one is a good brand and is going strong.  And the case can be whatever you want.

 I currently have an EVGA supernova 750 G2, or something. Haven't had any issues with it so far. Safe to stick with it?

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Spork3245

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15 minutes ago, Raggit said:

 I currently have an EVGA supernova 750 G2, or something. Haven't had any issues with it so far. Safe to stick with it?


The EVGA G2 and G3 series are considered some of the best PSUs on the market. Also, if you registered it on EVGA’s website you have a 10-year warranty (if you didn’t, as long as you can find your receipt, physical or digital, you still can). You’re good-to-go.

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cusideabelincoln

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1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:


I would switch that SSD to a XPG or Crucial which are both $30+ cheaper and, iirc, faster.

 

The Rocket should be faster than the Crucial for sure.  I don't think Crucial makes a high end SSD.  They focus on bringing value and the budget market now.  But upon further review, it does look like the XPG SX8200 Pro is faster.  Sabrent is still pretty fast, but I think it must be a better value here in the states where it regularly goes on sale for ~$100.  Canadian prices are screwy.

 

1 hour ago, Raggit said:

 I currently have an EVGA supernova 750 G2, or something. Haven't had any issues with it so far. Safe to stick with it?

 

Yeah should be fine.  If you've had it as long as you've had the 2500k, I'd definitely consider getting a new one when its warranty expires or perhaps when you get a new video card.  One of the most important features of a good power supplies today is the ability to quickly deliver the necessary load while staying within the voltage tolerances - a transient load.  This is because the turbo boost features of both the CPU and GPUs these days are way more aggressive and change their clockspeed (and thus voltage requirements and power load) extremely fast.  Older power supplies were not designed to deal with this.  The power supply has to be able to go from like a 50W load to a 500W load, and back again, in a microsecond with new hardware because CPUs/GPUs can shut off cores completely and then bring them back online that fast.

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Massdriver

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5 hours ago, Spork3245 said:


I would switch that SSD to a XPG or Crucial which are both $30+ cheaper and, iirc, faster.

Thoughts on an Intel 660p: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-ssd-660p-qlc-nvme,5719-3.html

 

I think this drive has a lot of potential for a budget ssd with a good company behind it. It doesn't so bad in testing either.

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17 hours ago, Massdriver said:

 

Thoughts on an Intel 660p: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-ssd-660p-qlc-nvme,5719-3.html

 

I think this drive has a lot of potential for a budget ssd with a good company behind it. It doesn't so bad in testing either.


For a storage drive they’re great. Don’t get it as a boot drive as it’s a QLC drive. QLC based SSDs slow down considerably (for write speeds) once beyond about 75% of its storage is filled. For a boot drive I would go with an XPG or Samsung Pro series in the 500gb-1tb range. For storage, the 660p are great, but I like the ADATA SU800 series better (I got a 2tb for about $180, and it’s currently on sale for $185 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBRG2G8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lMT3DbQZ2MS26 )

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Massdriver

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3 hours ago, Spork3245 said:


For a storage drive they’re great. Don’t get it as a boot drive as it’s a QLC drive. QLC based SSDs slow down considerably (for write speeds) once beyond about 75% of its storage is filled. For a boot drive I would go with an XPG or Samsung Pro series in the 500gb-1tb range. For storage, the 660p are great, but I like the ADATA SU800 series better (I got a 2tb for about $180, and it’s currently on sale for $185 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBRG2G8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lMT3DbQZ2MS26 )

I bought a couple 1 TB drives for $83 bucks each for my new rig. I'll let you know how it goes! I hope I didn't make a huge mistake, but I have a feeling they'll be okay for me.

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Massdriver

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1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:


For OS or storage/gaming?

All of the above. 

 

@Spork3245, I don't see this affecting gaming or the OS based on the Anandtech review in my situation, but I'm open to correction. I am not doing massive file transfers, and I'll plan to keep my OS drive 15-20% free of disc space or so (I do this with SSDs regardless). This machine will primarily be used for gaming, and I should have some spare space on each of the drives. The ssd certainly has some weaknesses, but it also is much faster than SATA ssds in a lot of situations. For the price, I think it was worth it, but I still have an option to give this to someone else I'm building a rig for and put something in its place as boot drive.

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Raggit

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On 11/26/2019 at 6:14 PM, cusideabelincoln said:

The Rocket should be faster than the Crucial for sure.  I don't think Crucial makes a high end SSD.  They focus on bringing value and the budget market now.  But upon further review, it does look like the XPG SX8200 Pro is faster.  Sabrent is still pretty fast, but I think it must be a better value here in the states where it regularly goes on sale for ~$100.  Canadian prices are screwy.

XPG SX8200 Pro is $160, while the Sabrent Rocket is $170. This will be a boot drive. Shall I get the XPG SX8200 Pro?

 

I have a question regarding the G.Skill Ripjaws V. The height wouldn't be an issue for a CPU cooler? My current ram is short, but if it were 1 cm taller it wouldn't fit because of my cpu cooler, lol.

 

I also have a question regarding the liquid cpu cooler. Does it require any maintenance? I typically stop maintaining the inside of my PC after a few months. I've opened up my current PC like twice in the last 4 years... Fortunately it hasn't gathered that much dust.

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Massdriver

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PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WbxRvW

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($326.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($82.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($82.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB PULSE Video Card  ($412.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor  ($449.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $1695.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-27 20:12 EST-0500

 

Here are the parts I've selected/ordered for my new rig so far.

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Spork3245

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1 hour ago, Massdriver said:

All of the above. 


Ehhh, I’d seriously consider getting a 256-500gb HP EX900/920 or an XPG m.2 for $35-50 for your boot drive. Once you hit around 600-700gb on the 660p your write speeds will drop to basically 7200rpm hdd levels. The read speeds will still be fine, which is why it’s great for a storage drive, but the write speeds being bottlenecked will wreck your performance and could cause hitching.

 

13 minutes ago, Raggit said:

XPG SX8200 Pro is $160, while the Sabrent Rocket is $170. This will be a boot drive. Shall I get the XPG SX8200 Pro?

 

The XPG is faster, yes. 

 

Quote

I also have a question regarding the liquid cpu cooler. Does it require any maintenance? I typically stop maintaining the inside of my PC after a few months. I've opened up my current PC like twice in the last 4 years... Fortunately it hasn't gathered that much dust.


AIOs (self-contained liquid coolers) require no maintenance and are plug and play.

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Massdriver

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14 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:


Ehhh, I’d seriously consider getting a 256-500gb HP EX900/920 or an XPG m.2 for $35-50 for your boot drive. Once you hit around 600-700gb on the 660p your write speeds will drop to basically 7200rpm hdd levels. The read speeds will still be fine, which is why it’s great for a storage drive, but the write speeds being bottlenecked will wreck your performance and could cause hitching.

I'm going to look into it, but I'm curious if you think that'll be necessary if I just leave at least 40% of the OS drive empty. I am pretty efficient about not filling up space on my SSDs right now on this machine. The one I'm building I suspect will also be fairly empty. I have a separate file  server machine for storage purposes which I rarely use, but it's there if I need it. I just like having extra space. 

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7 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

I'm going to look into it, but I'm curious if you think that'll be necessary if I just leave at least 40% of the OS drive empty. I am pretty efficient about not filling up space on my SSDs right now on this machine. The one I'm building I suspect will also be fairly empty. I have a separate file  server machine for storage purposes which I rarely use, but it's there if I need it. I just like having extra space. 


I do feel as though trying to maintain 400+gb free just to keep proper speeds and performance is kinda wasting your ssd, especially with game sizes growing to the range of 100gb+ each. :p 
I really do believe the extra $40 for a 256gb non-QLC SSD for your OS and non-gaming apps would be money well spent, if only so you don’t need to micromanage your storage space.

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10 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

@Massdriver, you should probably just wait to see what prices look like tomorrow/Friday/this weekend and judge if it’s worth it then. I have a feeling some higher-end m.2 drives will be dirt cheap for smaller ones that are perfect for boot drives. Also, make sure your mobo has enough m.2 slots.

I jumped the gun and bought these two a couple of days ago and they've shipped. I doubt anything is going to get as cheap as they are ($83 per 1tb drive). I haven't found anyone complaining about slow boot or OS functions online with the drive full, even with the 100mb writes at near full capacity. The complaints appear to be related to large file transfers or file transfers whenever the drive is nearly full. 
 

I’ll keep my eyes open for another drive as my boot drive and give this one to my fiancée. 

 

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19 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

I jumped the gun and bought these two a couple of days ago and they've shipped. I doubt anything is going to get as cheap as they are ($83 per 1tb drive). I haven't found anyone complaining about slow boot or OS functions online with the drive full, even with the 100mb writes at near full capacity. The complaints appear to be related to large file transfers or file transfers whenever the drive is nearly full. 
 

I’ll keep my eyes open for another drive as my boot drive and give this one to my fiancée. 

 


The SU800 was $150 for 2tb on Rakuten earlier. It sold out in about an hour, though. :/ 

I’m going by statements on people from r/buildapcsales and a few YouTube channels (I can’t remember if it was JayzTwoCents or Linus). I would keep both of the 660ps for gaming drives regardless, btw :p 

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@Raggit @Spork3245 @cusideabelincoln

 

https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/dp/B07K1J3C23/?tag=georiot-us-default-20&ascsubtag=pcg-8784630046356448837-20

1 TB XPG SX8200 Pro is on sale on Amazon for $118 if you use the $30 off coupon. I snagged one for my boot drive.

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/get-1tb-of-super-fast-storage-for-dollar118-with-this-great-nvme-ssd-deal/

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3 minutes ago, Massdriver said:

@Raggit @Spork3245 @cusideabelincoln

 

https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/dp/B07K1J3C23/?tag=georiot-us-default-20&ascsubtag=pcg-8784630046356448837-20

1 TB XPG SX8200 Pro is on sale on Amazon for $118 if you use the $30 off coupon. I snagged one for my boot drive.

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/get-1tb-of-super-fast-storage-for-dollar118-with-this-great-nvme-ssd-deal/


That’s a great deal, and your motherboard is the only one that can currently use this ssd’s max speeds as it’s a gen4 m.2

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Raggit

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6 hours ago, Massdriver said:

@Raggit @Spork3245 @cusideabelincoln

 

https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/dp/B07K1J3C23/?tag=georiot-us-default-20&ascsubtag=pcg-8784630046356448837-20

1 TB XPG SX8200 Pro is on sale on Amazon for $118 if you use the $30 off coupon. I snagged one for my boot drive.

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/get-1tb-of-super-fast-storage-for-dollar118-with-this-great-nvme-ssd-deal/

 

Canada, doe. :/

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6 hours ago, Spork3245 said:


That’s a great deal, and your motherboard is the only one that can currently use this ssd’s max speeds as it’s a gen4 m.2

 

By "your motherboard", you are referring specifically to the Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4? The non Wifi version is $200 at Newegg, and some comments/reviews for the  ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard have me a little concerned.  

 

Oops, meant to edit that last message. Oh well.

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30 minutes ago, Raggit said:

 

By "your motherboard", you are referring specifically to the Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4? The non Wifi version is $200 at Newegg, and some comments/reviews for the  ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard have me a little concerned.  

 

Oops, meant to edit that last message. Oh well.


The X570 chipset 

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7 hours ago, Massdriver said:

@Raggit @Spork3245 @cusideabelincoln

 

https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/dp/B07K1J3C23/?tag=georiot-us-default-20&ascsubtag=pcg-8784630046356448837-20

1 TB XPG SX8200 Pro is on sale on Amazon for $118 if you use the $30 off coupon. I snagged one for my boot drive.

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/get-1tb-of-super-fast-storage-for-dollar118-with-this-great-nvme-ssd-deal/

 

It's only pcie gen 3, not 4, but it's still a really good deal. 

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cusideabelincoln

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55 minutes ago, Raggit said:

 

By "your motherboard", you are referring specifically to the Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4? The non Wifi version is $200 at Newegg, and some comments/reviews for the  ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX AM4 Motherboard have me a little concerned.  

 

Oops, meant to edit that last message. Oh well.

 

I honestly didn't research motherboards. Look up a YouTube channel called actual hardcore overclocking and he has a long video on the best motherboards  for Ryzen 3000.  Basically MSI, Asus, ASRock, and Gigabyte all have hit or miss boards, but they are mostly good. 

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