Buildapc @lemmy.world ImminentOrbit @lemmy.world 12mo ago

Assembling a PC and looking for input

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I grabbed a copy of the "High Refresh Rate Build" from PCMasterRace and wanted feedback.

I've not built a new PC in many years and last I heard was the NewEgg was trash and unreliable now. Is it decent again, or is it worth paying more to get it elsewhere?

Also, is there room for more storage? If I bought two of the SSDs, would there be room?

Other components decent?

And, finally, my so wants an RBG case, so any recommendations on one of those that would fit this stuff would be great.

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Newegg has been caught doing some awful stuff, in particular they try to sell not just used parts, but defective parts as new to GamersNexus. This is particularly awful given their horrible return policies.

That said there are many things with low return rates I do not mind buying from them. I would steer clear of monitors and mobos personally since they are by far the items I am most likely to return as defective.

The board you have chosen can NOT fit two of the m2 nvme ssds you chose. You could opt for a traditional ssd plugged into one of the sata ports.

Regarding rgb your case has a big ole see through side panel so at this point it would be more about choosing fans with solid rgb and potentially adding an LED strip.
- Thanks for the feedback. I was planning on avoiding NewEgg and am glad you confirmed it I think I might actually have some LED strips sitting around that might work.
  
  Do you have a microcenter near you?
I own a repair shop and routinely order from Newegg, Amazon, BHPhoto, Best Buy, and many other vendors. We don’t have any more problems with Newegg than any other vendor, so from my perspective they’re still fine. Amazon has the most flexible and convenient return policy of the bunch.

That motherboard has a single M.2 slot, so as long as the case you choose accommodates them you’d be using SATA 2.5” drives.

Cool thing about PCPartPicker is that it filters for compatibility when browsing parts options and there are tons of filters in the sidebar while you’re browsing. If you want to omit certain vendors, you can deselect them or even create an account and permanently disable them account wide.
Newegg mostly sucks due to their shitty return policy. All too often people get faulty parts and Newegg either refuses to accept the return or charges a 20% restocking fee for a product that never worked. Places like Amazon or B&H often have similar prices for less hassle. That being said, I’ve ordered plenty of stuff on Newegg and not had an issue.

For storage, you’ll only fit one of the nvme drives in this motherboard. I’d recommend a SATA 3 SSD if you want more space for things like game installs. If you want storage for media like photos, movies, etc., traditional spinning drives can’t be beat for $/gb.

Everything else looks pretty good. If you can swing an extra $200, the Ryzen 5800x3d is pretty much the best gaming CPU on the AM4 platform. If you can’t, I honestly wouldn’t sweat it. The build from pcmasterrace will be an awesome gaming rig just as it is.
- Thanks, I was doubtful that NewEgg suddenly was better. The 2TB might be fine, but I'll consider adding the SSD later. Thanks for the input.
- Which SATA 3 SSD would you recommend?
  
  If it’s just for game storage, I would just look for a good price on something from a reputable brand (WD, Kingston, Samsung, TeamGroup, even Sandisk or PNY). The OS will be installed on the nvme drive, and loading times for games won’t be terribly impacted by the different speeds offered by SATA drives as there are other limitations in the loading process. After a quick google search, something like this would work great. The only thing you want to avoid are brands with very little info/reviews or drives with a price that is too good to be true (looking at you, $15 drives on Temu).
As to the last part of your post, for almost the same money you could get Montech's X3 Mesh case with 6 RGB fans included

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HRH7YJ/montech-x3-mesh-atx-mid-tower-case-x3-mesh-black

Or you could save about $20 by going with 16 GB of RAM instead of 32 and swap to the 903 Max instead of the 903 Base, which comes with 3 ARGB fans

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2MwmP6/montech-air-903-max-atx-mid-tower-case-air-903-max-b

If you're not familiar with RGB you might be asking why pay more for seemingly less. The difference is the ones in the 903 Max are addressable, meaning they can be controlled with software on the PC. Whereas with the X3 the RGB is fixed and it looks like you can only turn it on or off, no mention of even having different modes to cycle through.

(This is in addition to whatever differences in the two cases themselves)
Also, looking at the list, it has this warning: "Warning: The ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac ATX AM4 Motherboard supports the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor with BIOS version P2.20. If the motherboard is using an older BIOS version, updating the BIOS will be necessary to support the CPU." Again, I've not done this for a number of years, is this something I will be able to do on the machine after it is assembled, or will I need to download this BIOS update on another PC?
- You will most likely not need to update your bios. If you do then your new computer will not start up until you have fixed the bios so you will need another computer to download it and throw it on a usb stick

13 comments