Need help with 120k dream gaming setup

T

Hey folks, I'm looking to build my first desktop and would really appreciate your input on this.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.' Vague answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work.)
This will primarily be for 1440p gaming - I will be playing MMOs (Guild Wars II, Final Fantasy XIV) and recent/upcoming AAA RPG games (Divinity Original Sin II, Baldur's Gate III, Obllivion, Horizon Frozen West).

Will also use the rig for streaming Netflix, Chrome (20+ tabs) and light PPT/Excel work

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
The budget is 120k (+10K). I am looking for a future proof (next 2 - 3 years) system that also has a small form factor. I would like to build a compact/minimalistic system and am looking at mini-ITX cases. So far, the NZXT 210 has caught my eye.

3. Planning to overclock?
No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Windows 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
I'm looking at a 250gb SSD (not sure iv NVME is worth it, your advice would be appreciated) and a 1TB HDD

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention the screen size and resolution you prefer. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, then do mention the screen size and resolution of the monitor you have.
No. I have a 24inch & 1080p AOC monitor right now, will continue to use that. In a few months, I intend to upgrade to a 1440p ultrawide monitor.

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Keyboard and mouse

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
mid-to-late September

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
No, this will be my first time assembling

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Living in Bangalore, open to buying online

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
I'm new to the world of desktop building, but over the last week, have done some research and come up with the first draft of the below config. Please share your thoughts/advice/alternatives.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (Rs. 19,440 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X52 Cam-powered 240mm AIO Cooler (Rs. 10,200 @ VedantComputers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro (Rs. 19,300 @ VedantComputers)
GPU: Zotac Geforce RTX2070 Super Mini (Rs. 40,999 & VedantComputers)
RAM: G.Skill Trident RGB Series 8x2, 3200Mhz (Rs. 11,113 @ Amazon)
PSU: Gigabyte GP-B700H 700W (5,340 @ Amazon)
SSD: Kingston 250GB NVME (Rs. 3,940 @ Amazon)
HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA (Rs. 3550 @ Amazon)
Cabinet Fans: Deepcool 120mm RGB x 2 (Rs.1400 @ Amazon)
PSU Cable Extension Kit: Sensei Mods Sleeved (Rs. 3499 @ Amazon)
Cabinet: NZXT 210 (Rs. 8499 @ Amazon)

Total - Rs. 127,280

I'm not too sure about the motherboard choice, but there don't seem to be a lot of affordable options at this form factor (mini-ITX). The Aorus motherboard does not have a USB-C front header so will not be able to connect to the USB-C front port on the case. Is there a workaround for this?

If you can wait a couple of months, RTX 3000 series GPUs will be available.

T

Actually, I'm headed for an overseas job soon and I want to build the desktop here, rather than worry about sourcing components in another country.

In case covid delays plans, then I'll of course get the RTX 3000 series, but it's likely that I'll have to take the leap with the 2070 Super.

What are your thoughts on the setup?

EDIT: Found an MSI MPG B550I on mdcomputers so that should solve the issue with the front usb-c header.

Tumbledoor said:
Actually, I'm headed for an overseas job soon and I want to build the desktop here, rather than worry about sourcing components in another country.

It's better to buy components there. You probably won't have to deal with 30-50% extra we pay here because of taxes and would be able to get a much better system.

T

Unfortunately that doesn't look to be the case. I'm moving to a South-east asian country and the prices of these components are actually +/- 10% of what they are in India

That being said, what do you think about the configuration @SaiyanGoku and @Desmond David ?

The configuration seem okay to me, though perhaps @SaiyanGoku or @omega44-xt might suggest improvements. I'd be more concerned about transporting that CPU by air. Perhaps you should transport them all individually and then reassemble them when you reach your destination.

Tumbledoor said:
I'm moving to a South-east asian country

May we know which country is that? Sometimes, importing stuff directly from USA to the said country is cheaper.

T

Good point @Desmond David , definitely something to consider. The company will be paying for transport and the insurance, but doesn't hurt to be safe and do the research.

@SaiyanGoku , will be moving to Indonesia. I've searched for the prices of these components on tokopedia and a few other ecomm shops. Everything is comparable to Indian prices.

250GB SSD is wayyyy too low for a 120k system. For such a large budget 512GB should be the absolute minimum . I don't have any suggestions, but perhaps you could get cheaper options on the mobo, cooler, case ?

T

Hmm, the difference between 250GB and 500GB isn't a lot. Found a Kingston one for Rs. 5,500. I also think there's way too much RGB in this setup, so looking to change the RAM to a Corsair Vengeance (2x8GB).

I've been looking around for alternate ITX cases, but there don't seem to be too many good options. Since i'm a first time assembler, I'm hesitant in getting the really small cases. I considered the NZXT H1, which comes with a pre-installed cooler and PSU, but that's out of stock everywhere.

Planning to pay a visit to S.P. Road (electronics market in Bangalore) this week to see if I can get these components (or the NZXT H1 case) instead.

Here's what the updated system looks like. Let me know what you folks think!

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (Rs. 19,440 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X52 Cam-powered 240mm AIO Cooler (Rs. 10,200 @ VedantComputers)
Motherboard: MSI MPG B550I (Rs. 20,499 @ mdcomputers)
GPU: Zotac Geforce RTX2070 Super Mini (Rs. 40,999 & VedantComputers)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x8GB) DDR4 3200Mhz C16 (Rs. 7,200 @ Amazon)
PSU: Gigabyte GP-B700H 700W (5,340 @ Amazon)
SSD: Kingston 500GB NVME (Rs. 5,500 @ Amazon)
HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA (Rs. 3550 @ Amazon)
Cabinet Fans: Deepcool 120mm RGB x 2 (Rs.1400 @ Amazon)
PSU Cable Extension Kit: Sensei Mods Sleeved (Rs. 3499 @ Amazon)
Cabinet: NZXT 210 (Rs. 8499 @ Amazon)

Total: Rs. 126,126

If you can forget mini ITX, get these parts otherwise just change mobo, cooler & cabinet:

CPU - AMD R5 3600 - 17.4k

Cooler - CM Hyper 212 Black - 4.3k

Mobo - MSI MPG B550 - 16k

RAM - 2x8GB DDR4 3600MHz - 7.1k

GPU - Zotac RTX 2070 Super Mini - 41k

M.2 SSD - Kingston A2000 1TB - 11.5k

HDD - WD/Seagate 1TB - 3k

PSU - Corsair TX650M - 8k

Cabinet - CM MasterBox MB511 or other mid tower ATX - 6k (can vary)

Total - 114.3k

Check primeabgb, mdcomputers, theitdepot, vedant computers, onlyssd (online stores) for PC parts at a good price. Some parts have such low prices on amazon during sales as well.

Get a meshed front case for better air flow as India & Indonesia are hot countries compared to "Frozen" West.

Tumbledoor said:
Since i'm a first time assembler, I'm hesitant in getting the really small cases. I considered the NZXT H1, which comes with a pre-installed cooler and PSU

I think the case comes with pre-installed case-fans, not CPU cooler.. You should know an aftermarket cooler isn't strictly necessary. Your CPU comes with one and that cooler is 'generally' sufficient. Googling around shows happy users with the stock cooler.

cute.bandar said:
I think the case comes with pre-installed case-fans, not CPU cooler.. You should know an aftermarket cooler isn't strictly necessary. Your CPU comes with one and that cooler is 'generally' sufficient. Googling around shows happy users with the stock cooler.

Many do complain about the included cooler, Wraith Stealth, & it's not that great in a hot country like India. Considering OP has the budget, even a relatively cheap air cooler will do though, no sure if 212 Black will fit inside a small case.

T

@omega44-xt , thanks so much for that input. Took me 15 minutes of Googling to see your point about having a mesh front PC case. I really like the idea of having a small form factor PC and am doing some research about thermal performance of the NZXT H200 and the NZXT H1. But, based on what I've read so far, I may have to shift to a mid-tower for better airflow and upgradability.

I've put together 3 options of the Build

Build 1 - Update on my original thought. It's a little over budget, but I guess I can drop the liquid cooling option and go with a cheaper air cooler. Got a question about the RAM, is ADATA a good brand? It's really cheap (7k compared to 9k of Corsair), but I haven't heard of it before.

Build 2 - Assuming I can get the NZXT H1 locally or online, highly doubt it due to supply issues, but one can dream! I really like the clean design and the easy assembly process. This case doesn't have the clearance to support to support the major 3600Mhz RAM, so opted for 3,200 MHz instead. Is there going to be a noticeable difference?

Build 3 - MidTower build using the Corsair 275r Airflow cabinet. This was the only cabinet that I could find that has a good airflow and doesn't look hideous. Saw a lot of great Phanteks and Liam Li cabinets, but they are all out of stock. What I really like about this rig is that it makes no compromises on performance and fits within budget.

Let me know what you guys think! Over this weekend, I'll probably be visiting the local vendors in Bangalore to see if I can get better prices.

One important thing most people miss is that the included cooler is given by the CPU company itself. They best understand the requirements, they are not likely to give subpar cooler as it only increase their headaches - support / reputation. In almost all cases stock coolers are sufficient. Of course if someone do have temp issues, one can always go for one later. Or if someone is just an entusiast with money to splurge then its different. just my 2 c

T

@cute.bandar - Appreciate the input!

I'll do more research on the stock cooler for Ryzen 5 3600 and see if that's a viable alternative to the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Black. At this budget point, I just want to play it safe.

I may drop the liquid cooling option in Build 1 (mostly for aesthetics anyway) for an Air Cooler. Should save me 6k.

If its Mid-tower then try to get Meshify C offline. For reference, you can visit gamer nexus channel or website for the reviews of cases.

*www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3604-best-gaming-pc-cases-for-airflow-in-2020-right-now

T

GamerNexus is what kept me up till 3am last night! :razz:

I have a list of cabinets that I need to try and find offline. This is what I have so far.
- Lian Li 011
- Fractal/CoolerMaster Meshify C
- bequiet Purebase 500DX
- Phanteks P300A

W

cute.bandar said:
One important thing most people miss is that the included cooler is given by the CPU company itself. They best understand the requirements, they are not likely to give subpar cooler as it only increase their headaches - support / reputation. In almost all cases stock coolers are sufficient. Of course if someone do have temp issues, one can always go for one later. Or if someone is just an entusiast with money to splurge then its different. just my 2 c

Not necessarily, processors nowadays are designed with thermal throttling & thermal-safe shutdown features so using a bad/inadequate cpu cooler will at worst result in bsod/reboot/lower performance. Stock coolers are sufficient by the same logic using which majority of laptops sold in India still have TN panels even when 7-8k phones nowadays comes with ips screen. As long as majority remains unaware/uninterested(which btw is true for pc users) companies will only make the lowest common denominator product.

Tumbledoor said:
@omega44-xt , thanks so much for that input. Took me 15 minutes of Googling to see your point about having a mesh front PC case. I really like the idea of having a small form factor PC and am doing some research about thermal performance of the NZXT H200 and the NZXT H1. But, based on what I've read so far, I may have to shift to a mid-tower for better airflow and upgradability.

I've put together 3 options of the Build

Build 1 - Update on my original thought. It's a little over budget, but I guess I can drop the liquid cooling option and go with a cheaper air cooler. Got a question about the RAM, is ADATA a good brand? It's really cheap (7k compared to 9k of Corsair), but I haven't heard of it before.

Build 2 - Assuming I can get the NZXT H1 locally or online, highly doubt it due to supply issues, but one can dream! I really like the clean design and the easy assembly process. This case doesn't have the clearance to support to support the major 3600Mhz RAM, so opted for 3,200 MHz instead. Is there going to be a noticeable difference?

Build 3 - MidTower build using the Corsair 275r Airflow cabinet. This was the only cabinet that I could find that has a good airflow and doesn't look hideous. Saw a lot of great Phanteks and Liam Li cabinets, but they are all out of stock. What I really like about this rig is that it makes no compromises on performance and fits within budget.

Let me know what you guys think! Over this weekend, I'll probably be visiting the local vendors in Bangalore to see if I can get better prices.

Adata is a good brand, XPG is their gaming line-up.

3200MHz is usually the price to performance sweet spot, but anything over 3000MHz is fine. There will be some 2-3% difference maybe.

275R doesn't have a meshed front like CM MB511 or MSI MAG Forge 100M or Deepcool Mattrexx 55 Mesh or cheaper Antec cases.

My recommendation is a mid-tower case, if possible, but mini ITX is not bad per see, just more expensive & bit higher temps all around.

M

omega44-xt said:
Adata is a good brand, XPG is their gaming line-up.

3200MHz is usually the price to performance sweet spot, but anything over 3000MHz is fine. There will be some 2-3% difference maybe.

275R doesn't have a meshed front like CM MB511 or MSI MAG Forge 100M or Deepcool Mattrexx 55 Mesh or cheaper Antec cases.

My recommendation is a mid-tower case, if possible, but mini ITX is not bad per see, just more expensive & bit higher temps all around.

I think OP is saying 275R Airflow which does have meshed front...it has some good reviews too if price is not the issue..

monkey said:
I think OP is saying 275R Airflow which does have meshed front...it has some good reviews too if price is not the issue..

Oh, that one is fine, even though a bit expensive & has just 3 fans included vs 4 in many others like MB511 RGB:
Buy Corsair 275R Airflow Black (CC-9011181-WW) at Best Price in India - mdcomputers.in

In a way with cabinets, its fine to get what you like, provided it has a good air flow & no major flaws, look for negative reviews online. That case is bit smaller as well, so might make up for OP's love for the compact form factor.

Hey OP, if your looking to build into a mini ITX, I have a brand new H210i which I could give you at a discount. It's brand new - which I bought and never built into (ended up building in h510 )

T

Thanks @Neo - Could you DM me some photos of the cabinet and the price that you're offering? I'll plug it into Budget 1. I'll be making my choice between mini-ITX and mid-Tower by this weekend, once I visit the local shops.

Curious why you decided to build in an h510 instead of h210i. Also, how is the thermal performance of h510?

Tumbledoor said:
Thanks @Neo - Could you DM me some photos of the cabinet and the price that you're offering? I'll plug it into Budget 1. I'll be making my choice between mini-ITX and mid-Tower by this weekend, once I visit the local shops.

Curious why you decided to build in an h510 instead of h210i. Also, how is the thermal performance of h510?

Yeah I can send u some over whatsapp or something. My original plan was to build into H210i so bought that earlier than other parts. I got busy and after a month I realised I needed 64GB RAM and that won't fit into a mini-ITX so went for mATX build into H510 Elite

Thermals are not that good but not bad either in H510 - I get 45 to 55 C at idle and 70-80 at load. The upside to H510 is its extremely quiet - u can't hear anything at idle and only slight noise as the fans ramp up. I really wanted the ITX but I'm happy with this as well.

T

Hey folks,

Wasn't able to visit SP Road over the weekend and will do that on Wednesday/Thursday.

I was able to do more research on ITX cases though and it looks like I'm going to drop the idea of an SFF pc for now. I'm not too impressed with the thermal performance of even some of the best ITX cases out there (Coolermaster NR200, SilverStone SG13, SilverStone RVZ03, etc.). All these appear to hit 70 - 85 at full load.

The alternative that I'm now considering is a mid-tower PC with some overclocking on the CPU and the GPU to get 10% - 15% performance boost and bridge some of the gap between the 2070 Super and the upcoming 3070 (which I won't be getting). I know that the thermals will spike if I overclock, but I'm hoping that the mid-tower, with some good coolers/fans will be able to keep temps under 80. For reference, the cabinet that I'm considering (Corsair 275R Airflow) heats to 65 - 70 at full load without overclocking.

I've never overclocked before, but after reading some guides, it seems that manufacturers have made this quite straightforward now. Any advice on this topic will be appreciated!

Would my Mid-Tower build work for overclocking? Sharing the build here again

Also been reading about B450 vs B550 vs B570. Is B550 really worth the extra investment?

Tumbledoor said:
I was able to do more research on ITX cases though and it looks like I'm going to drop the idea of an SFF pc for now. I'm not too impressed with the thermal performance of even some of the best ITX cases out there (Coolermaster NR200, SilverStone SG13, SilverStone RVZ03, etc.). All these appear to hit 70 - 85 at full load.

The alternative that I'm now considering is a mid-tower PC with some overclocking on the CPU and the GPU to get 10% - 15% performance boost and bridge some of the gap between the 2070 Super and the upcoming 3070 (which I won't be getting). I know that the thermals will spike if I overclock, but I'm hoping that the mid-tower, with some good coolers/fans will be able to keep temps under 80. For reference, the cabinet that I'm considering (Corsair 275R Airflow) heats to 65 - 70 at full load without overclocking.

I've never overclocked before, but after reading some guides, it seems that manufacturers have made this quite straightforward now. Any advice on this topic will be appreciated!

Would my Mid-Tower build work for overclocking? Sharing the build here again

View attachment 19402

Also been reading about B450 vs B550 vs B570. Is B550 really worth the extra investment?

It is good conclusion that many form factor PCs will run hotter, like gaming laptops (but not to that extent). Remember that most reviewers usually keep room temp at 21C, so say an ambient temp of 30-35C will put real-life temps as +10-15C over those numbers. Also, many reviewers are running top of the end coolers like a 360mm AIO or so, those are expensive.

I'll say that don't expect 10-15% jump with OC as most manufacturers have been good at extracting as much performance as you can. Ryzen CPUs don't OC well enough like Intel ones do, but Intel ones get a lot hotter & draw a lot of power as well. Usually its not worth the effort.

Yes, B550 is worth the extra investment, esp if you plan to OC or upgrade to higher end CPU later, like maybe R7 4700X. When the temperature of VRMs of a mobo gets too high on load, it can throttle CPU performance or crash the system, as evident with Asus Prime B550 test on R9 3950X OC (2nd pic below). The B350 Tomahawk can be considered as a good indicator for cheap B450 mobos. As said earlier, India has higher ambient temps, so higher temps. But IMO, for R5 3600 or R7, even a cheap Gigabyte B550 DS3H is enough, costs just under 10k. Get MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi (13.5k) if you want that inbuilt WiFi 5GHz module along with better VRMs.

Source: Hardware Unboxed

T

Thanks @omega44-xt , really helpful, as always!

Do you recommend OCing GPUs? In some of the videos/articles, overclocking the 2070S brings it closer and in some cases, on par, with the 2080. Is that worth doing?

In case I go with the overclocking route, will the CoolerMaster HyperX 212 Black be enough for the CPU or would I need a Noctua or an AIO? I also may need to invest in some good case fans if overclocking the GPU, do you have any recommendations?

Tumbledoor said:
Thanks @omega44-xt , really helpful, as always!

Do you recommend OCing GPUs? In some of the videos/articles, overclocking the 2070S brings it closer and in some cases, on par, with the 2080. Is that worth doing?

In case I go with the overclocking route, will the CoolerMaster HyperX 212 Black be enough for the CPU or would I need a Noctua or an AIO? I also may need to invest in some good case fans if overclocking the GPU, do you have any recommendations?

For GPU OC, GPU fans, case fans & ventilation of case will matter more. I don't think a 2 fan design like 2070 Super Mini is good for that. Better get a 3 fan one for like 4-5k extra if you plan to OC. I think OC voids warranty, so you have to remove any indication of OC while claiming support.

Updated VRMs from new HU video, more B550 mobos:

W

omega44-xt said:
Updated VRMs from new HU video, more B550 mobos:

Where is B550 Tomahawk or did they already included it in some earlier test?

T

Would the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC 3x 8GB be a good candidate for overclocking?

All other cards from manufacturers like MSI, Zotac and Asus are 50k+ and that's definitely over my budget. Not sure if Inno3D, Colorful and Galax are considered good brands for GPUs.

Tumbledoor said:
Would the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC 3x 8GB be a good candidate for overclocking?

All other cards from manufacturers like MSI, Zotac and Asus are 50k+ and that's definitely over my budget. Not sure if Inno3D, Colorful and Galax are considered good brands for GPUs.

Link not working

Gigabyte RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming OC 8G Review - KitGuru

They got decent OC on it:
Gigabyte RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming OC 8G Review - KitGuru

T

Also, can someone help me understand the differences between these four MSI motherboards? They look almost identical to me, with the MSI MAG 550 Mortar being the winner due to extra Wifi support. Am I missing something?

MSI B550-A PRO Motherboard @ 14,990
ATX motherboard
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
No wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk @ 17,750
ATX motherboard
Lets you overclock your ram to 5100 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
No wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

MSI MAG B550M Mortat w Wifi @ 17,050
Micro-ATX motherboard, smaller form factor
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
Has wifi 6.0 in addition to LAN
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram
Runs the coolest (looking at the above charts)

MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus @ 16,050
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
no wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

T

Thanks, updated the link to the GPU. Mdcomputers has the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC 3x 8GB for 44.3k

W

Tumbledoor said:
Also, can someone help me understand the differences between these four MSI motherboards? They look almost identical to me, with the MSI MAG 550 Mortar being the winner due to extra Wifi support. Am I missing something?

Check the above pics posted by @omega44-xt The main difference lies in the quality of VRMs which in turn decides their thermal performance.(aka lower quality VRMs heat more & at faster speed).

T

Gotcha, thanks!

Tumbledoor said:
Also, can someone help me understand the differences between these four MSI motherboards? They look almost identical to me, with the MSI MAG 550 Mortar being the winner due to extra Wifi support. Am I missing something?

MSI B550-A PRO Motherboard @ 14,990
ATX motherboard
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
No wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk @ 17,750
ATX motherboard
Lets you overclock your ram to 5100 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
No wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

MSI MAG B550M Mortat w Wifi @ 17,050
Micro-ATX motherboard, smaller form factor
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
Has wifi 6.0 in addition to LAN
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram
Runs the coolest (looking at the above charts)

MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus @ 16,050
Lets you overclock your ram to 4400 Hz
Supports PCEI 4.0 (for faster NVME drives and future GPU compatibility)
no wifi
4 DDR4 slots, supports up to 128GB ram

Tomahawk should be the best in terms of VRMs, but IMO MSI B550 Pro VDH WiFi is sufficient for you as you are going with R5 3600. Even if you upgrade to something like R9 3900X, it should be fine without any OC (check pics posted earlier for VRM temps).

MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI MOTHERBOARD

Higher end boards have other small difference as well, like USB ports, type C port (& header for front connecter), M.2 SSD heat sink (1 for Pro VDH vs 2 for Tomahawk), RGB, etc.

T

Hi folks, thanks for all the help so far. Definitely feel as if i'm close to finalizing the rig.

Couple of last points I'd like some advice on -

Why choose Nvidia RTX 2070 Super over Radion RX 5700X when the RX5700X is about 6k - 8k cheaper and, on average, is below the 2070S by 5fps @ 1440p resolution
Which card is more OC friendly between the 2070S and the 5700X?
Would a 650W power supply be sufficient for the configuration, keeping overclocking in mind?

Tumbledoor said:
Hi folks, thanks for all the help so far. Definitely feel as if i'm close to finalizing the rig.

Couple of last points I'd like some advice on -

Why choose Nvidia RTX 2070 Super over Radion RX 5700X when the RX5700X is about 6k - 8k cheaper and, on average, is below the 2070S by 5fps @ 1440p resolution

Which card is more OC friendly between the 2070S and the 5700X?

Would a 650W power supply be sufficient for the configuration, keeping overclocking in mind?

1. Where are you finding RX 5700XT for 6-8k cheaper? Mostly its just 2-4k cheaper compared to cheap 2070 Supers (41-44k vs 38-42k). RTX 2070 Super has ray tracing & DLSS. Ray tracing implementation is not great but at least there's something. DLSS 2.0 is very promising to boost fps in supported games, it uses AI to render at lower resolution, then upscale it (example - a game will be rendered at 1440p then upscaled to 4K & adds some trickery to get image quality almost close to native 4K rendering). In US, 2070S is $500 vs 5700XT's $400, that big gap is enough to recommend 5700XT. Here, its too close.

2. Generally AMD ones OC better, but as said earlier, don't expect more than 10% or so improvement as most manufacturers are already trying to squeeze out all the performance.

3. 500W will suffice for stock parts, 650W Gold rated PSU should be fine for some OC over it.

T

Here's the link for the search of the RX 5700XT. The prices are ranging from 36k - 40k.

Since you recommended a 3 fan layout for the GPU, I'm looking at Asus AMD Radeon TUF-3 RX 5700 XT O8G @ 38.5k. As I will overclock, I'm comparing this against the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC 3x 8GB, which is at 44k.

Noted on the ray tracing and DLSS bit. I think only 2 - 3 games support this tech at the moment, would you say that the 2070S is a better 'future-proof' choice?

Tumbledoor said:
Here's the link for the search of the RX 5700XT. The prices are ranging from 36k - 40k.

Since you recommended a 3 fan layout for the GPU, I'm looking at Asus AMD Radeon TUF-3 RX 5700 XT O8G @ 38.5k. As I will overclock, I'm comparing this against the Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC 3x 8GB, which is at 44k.

Noted on the ray tracing and DLSS bit. I think only 2 - 3 games support this tech at the moment, would you say that the 2070S is a better 'future-proof' choice?

Yes, I feel RTX 2070S is more future-proof.

Single fan 5700XT is just a bad choice, I don't recommend single fan RTX 2060, this generates much more heat. Minimum 2 fans are required & 3 fans are ideal. Still I agree that there's a OOS 36k 5700XT. Before corona, 35-36k was the lowest for 5700XT & 38-40k was lowest for the 2070S. For in-stock models, the difference is still ~4-5k. That's lower than $100 difference present in US & GPUs are more expensive here.

DLSS 2.0 is 6 months old. DLSS 1.0 was bad, so people weren't exactly asking for its support. Now more games might implement it as it is worth implementing. Ray tracing takes a big hit on performance & is confirmed to be present in next-gen consoles launching late this year (as well as in new AMD & Nvidia GPUs). So ray tracing + DLSS can help improve visual fidelity without any loss in performance.

T

So I finally had the opportunity to visit S.P. Road and get some quotations.

Every shop recommended that I go with an B450 motherboard instead of an B550 because (1) They are cheaper (2) For R5 3600 or 3600X, there's no difference between 450 and 550 (2) B550 has the 'next-gen' PCIE 4, which no graphics card in the market now uses. Would really appreciate your advice here as I'm concerned that these guys might be trying to offload old stock. I have no problem going with B450 if the performance is genuinely comparable to B550 at 2/3rds the cost.

Sharing all the quotes below along with some of my thoughts.

Golchha Computers - Not sure how he is able to give RAM at such a low price. Also unsure about the PSU, it is 80+Bronze and doesn't have good reviews on Amazon. He didn't add the price of a cooler, so using 3k as a benchmark right now.

IT Gain Computers - Not sure how he's able to offer the GPU at 37k. Maybe I got this number wrong, maybe he's being fishy. He didn't mention the brand of the RAM. Unsure about the PSU here again as it's not 70+Gold

Supercomputers and Laptops - I think his quote has quite a bit of room to negotiate, Concerned about the PSU again.

Let me know what you guys think.

Tumbledoor said:
Every shop recommended that I go with an M450 motherboard instead of an M550 because (1) They are cheaper (2) For R5 3600 or 3600X, there's no difference between 450 and 550 (2) M550 has the 'next-gen' PCIE 4, which no graphics card in the market now uses. Would really appreciate your advice here as I'm concerned that these guys might be trying to offload old stock. I have no problem going with M450 if the performance is genuinely comparable to M550 at 2/3rds the cost.

They are B450 and B550, not M450 and M550.

Also, I don't think there's 18% flat GST on all the components. Correct me if I'm wrong.

T

SaiyanGoku said:
They are B450 and B550, not M450 and M550.

My bad! Edited the original post.

The difference in thermals is quite a bit! Do you think there would still be this big a difference in performance if I'm running Ryzen 5 3600 instead of a Ryzen 9?

Or would it be better to save the 4000 by sticking to a B450 and investing it to get the Ryzen 3600X insted of 3600?

W

@Tumbledoor Those shopkeepers are simply trying to mislead you. That psu is C tier & trying to sell it to you who is trying to build a 120k setup is same as trying to sell a local brand engine oil to someone planning on buying Mercedes or Ferrari.

*geek.digit.in/community/threads/using-an-old-psu-with-a-new-build.208694/#post-2388413

Now based on above do you think you should trust someone who recommends local brand engine oil for a Mercedes or Ferrari for anything. Get B550 mobo based on VRM temps shown in benchmark tests( @omega44-xt posted some good pics of these tests, you can see those) & as for ram don't get anything below 3600MHz. For graphics card prefer zotac followed by asus for nvidia & tell shopkeeper clearly you want to register zotac card online on zotac India site(do it within 28 days of purchase) to get extra 3 years warranty(so total 2+3=5 years warranty) so bill must be proper gst invoice. As for NVMe depending on budget you can get either kingston A2000 or WD Blue SN550(note the exact model number) though I prefer SN550 a bit more over A2000.

Just saw the list shared by OP again. Who pays 15k for a B450 mobo? :rofl:

Don't buy cheap cooler now. 3600x comes with good enough stock cooler by itself as you won't be OC'ing.

*www.techspot.com/article/1880-ryzen-3600x-vs-3600/

If needed, get NH-U12S or NH-D15 instead of AIOs.

M

@OP - I too have been trying config (for myself) for similar budget (nearly) and I had shortlisted this config:

1. CPU-AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - Rs. 17,300/-
2. MoBo: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite - Rs. 15,450/-
3. RAM: ADATA 2x8GB @ 3600MHz - Rs. 9,850/-
4. CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 - Rs. 2,825/-
5. VGA: Asus 5700XT (3 fans) - Rs. 38,785/-
6. Cabinet: Corsair iCUE 220T - Rs. 7,850/-
7. PSU: Corsair CX650M -Rs. 6,800/-
8. SSD: Corsair MP600 500GB - Rs. 11,800/-
9. HDD: Seagate Firecuda 2TB - Rs. 8,800/-

Total: Rs. 1,19,460/-

All prices are from online sources (vedant, primeabgb etc.) and hence they may change at actual shops. I would prefer Noctua cooler over Hyper212 but they are unavailable.

See if this config suits you too...

omega44-xt said:
It is good conclusion that many form factor PCs will run hotter, like gaming laptops (but not to that extent). Remember that most reviewers usually keep room temp at 21C, so say an ambient temp of 30-35C will put real-life temps as +10-15C over those numbers. Also, many reviewers are running top of the end coolers like a 360mm AIO or so, those are expensive.

I'll say that don't expect 10-15% jump with OC as most manufacturers have been good at extracting as much performance as you can. Ryzen CPUs don't OC well enough like Intel ones do, but Intel ones get a lot hotter & draw a lot of power as well. Usually its not worth the effort.

Yes, B550 is worth the extra investment, esp if you plan to OC or upgrade to higher end CPU later, like maybe R7 4700X. When the temperature of VRMs of a mobo gets too high on load, it can throttle CPU performance or crash the system, as evident with Asus Prime B550 test on R9 3950X OC (2nd pic below). The B350 Tomahawk can be considered as a good indicator for cheap B450 mobos. As said earlier, India has higher ambient temps, so higher temps. But IMO, for R5 3600 or R7, even a cheap Gigabyte B550 DS3H is enough, costs just under 10k. Get MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi (13.5k) if you want that inbuilt WiFi 5GHz module along with better VRMs.
View attachment 19403
View attachment 19404
Source: Hardware Unboxed

monkey said:
@OP - I too have been trying config (for myself) for similar budget (nearly) and I had shortlisted this config:

1. CPU-AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - Rs. 17,300/-
2. MoBo: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite - Rs. 15,450/-
3. RAM: ADATA 2x8GB @ 3600MHz - Rs. 9,850/-
4. CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 - Rs. 2,825/-
5. VGA: Asus 5700XT (3 fans) - Rs. 38,785/-
6. Cabinet: Corsair iCUE 220T - Rs. 7,850/-
7. PSU: Corsair CX650M -Rs. 6,800/-
8. SSD: Corsair MP600 500GB - Rs. 11,800/-
9. HDD: Seagate Firecuda 2TB - Rs. 8,800/-

Total: Rs. 1,19,460/-

All prices are from online sources (vedant, primeabgb etc.) and hence they may change at actual shops. I would prefer Noctua cooler over Hyper212 but they are unavailable.

See if this config suits you too...

Check my earlier post. Aorus Elite isn't exactly great. MSI has had some after sales issues but their new mobos are pretty good. That MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi is 13.5k at some stores. Other than that RAM is bit expensive, ok if its RGB.

Rest looks good. If you can wait for 4-5 months, wait for next-gen GPUs. Rumours say up to 50% jump in performance for same price. Realistically, even a 25% jump is a big one, that will put an RTX 3060 at RTX 2070S like performance.

W

monkey said:
SSD: Corsair MP600 500GB - Rs. 11,800/-

Don't overspend on this ssd unless you know the exact reason, get one of these instead:

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/wd-blue-sn550-1tb-m-2-pci-express-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-wds100t2b0c/

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/adata-xpg-512gb-sx8200-pro-pcie-gen3x4-m-2-2280-ssd-asx8200pnp-512gt-c/

M

omega44-xt said:
Check my earlier post. Aorus Elite isn't exactly great. MSI has had some after sales issues but their new mobos are pretty good. That MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi is 13.5k at some stores. Other than that RAM is bit expensive, ok if its RGB.

Rest looks good. If you can wait for 4-5 months, wait for next-gen GPUs. Rumours say up to 50% jump in performance for same price. Realistically, even a 25% jump is a big one, that will put an RTX 3060 at RTX 2070S like performance.

Like I said the prices are from websites so they can be bit on a higher side as compared to local shops.
As for GPU I think nVidia will launching RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 first. RTX 3070 and lower cads will come later. This can take more than 4-5 months to reach India and the prices will be definitely on the higher side (just my guess). So it depends on the OP if he considers it worth waiting for it.

whitestar_999 said:
Don't overspend on this ssd unless you know the exact reason, get one of these instead:

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/wd-blue-sn550-1tb-m-2-pci-express-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-wds100t2b0c/

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/adata-xpg-512gb-sx8200-pro-pcie-gen3x4-m-2-2280-ssd-asx8200pnp-512gt-c/

I too found it on higher side and hence haven't finalised it. I am waiting for Samsung to come up with new drives optimised for PCIe 4.0. Current generation Gen 4.0 SSDs look like work in progress but again they are optional for the OP. BTW I had bought WD Black SN750 SSD for a system I assembled last month (though I wanted ADATA SX8200 PRO but was hard to find at Nehru Place). Availability of components is still scarce due to COVID situation.

whitestar_999 said:
Don't overspend on this ssd unless you know the exact reason, get one of these instead:

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/wd-blue-sn550-1tb-m-2-pci-express-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-wds100t2b0c/

*www.onlyssd.com/buy/adata-xpg-512gb-sx8200-pro-pcie-gen3x4-m-2-2280-ssd-asx8200pnp-512gt-c/

I totally missed that.

monkey said:
Like I said the prices are from websites so they can be bit on a higher side as compared to local shops.
As for GPU I think nVidia will launching RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 first. RTX 3070 and lower cads will come later. This can take more than 4-5 months to reach India and the prices will be definitely on the higher side (just my guess). So it depends on the OP if he considers it worth waiting for it.

I too found it on higher side and hence haven't finalised it. I am waiting for Samsung to come up with new drives optimised for PCIe 4.0. Current generation Gen 4.0 SSDs look like work in progress but again they are optional for the OP. BTW I had bought WD Black SN750 SSD for a system I assembled last month (though I wanted ADATA SX8200 PRO but was hard to find at Nehru Place). Availability of components is still scarce due to COVID situation.

That's why I said 4-5 months as well. Latest rumours put RTX 3060 at $400, so 35k in India maybe. Wait till Sep at least. Check the improvements that top tier RTX GPUs bring when their reviews are out. Many rumours put a huge jump in performance with next-gen GPUs, like 10xx series was compared to 9xx.

The real life difference between PCIe 3.0 & 4.0 SSDs are negligible. SATA is just a bit behind but on sales you can grab good PCIe 3.0 SSD for SATA like prices. There are many youtube videos comparing load times between HDD, SATA, PCIe 3.0 & 4.0 SSD.

M

omega44-xt said:
That's why I said 4-5 months as well. Latest rumours put RTX 3060 at $400, so 35k in India maybe. Wait till Sep at least. Check the improvements that top tier RTX GPUs bring when their reviews are out. Many rumours put a huge jump in performance with next-gen GPUs, like 10xx series was compared to 9xx.

That means @OP will have to wait till Dec-Jan for his new config and by then AMD would announce Ryzen 4xxx CPUs and then OP will be tempted to wait for them to come to the market...never ending circle...

monkey said:
That means @OP will have to wait till Dec-Jan for his new config and by then AMD would announce Ryzen 4xxx CPUs and then OP will be tempted to wait for them to come to the market...never ending circle...

See, GPU updates happen every 2 years or so with major updates happening every 4 years or so. The upcoming GPUs are the major upgrade. Ryzen 4000 on the other hand is not a big jump, like Ryzen 3000 was. Also, by Dec-Jan even Ryzen 4000 should be out.

It's not a never ending waiting circle unless you know how market & upgrade cycles work. I can just give advice, your choice if you want to wait or not.

If I had to buy a PC for myself, I'd personally wait. Then again I have a laptop for the meantime, not everyone has it, so understandable if you don't wait.

M

I got this config for 85.4k from M.D. Computers:

It excludes GPU and the prices are bit inflated. If @OP can get a little better price then he can add GPU for 40K (later) to stay in the budget.

How does it look?

monkey said:
I got this config for 85.4k from M.D. Computers:

View attachment 19459

It excludes GPU and the prices are bit inflated. If @OP can get a little better price then he can add GPU for 40K (later) to stay in the budget.

How does it look?

Hyper 212 isn't required. 3600X comes with 95W wraith spire.

W

monkey said:
How does it look?

Why spend 9.2k on a hybrid hdd/fake ssd? Should have got a regular 2TB hdd with 240gb ssd.

whitestar_999 said:
Why spend 9.2k on a hybrid hdd/fake ssd? Should have got a regular 2TB hdd with 240gb ssd.

Wow, I ignored the price at first but who buys 2 TB internal HDD for 9k? :facepalm:

M

whitestar_999 said:
Why spend 9.2k on a hybrid hdd/fake ssd? Should have got a regular 2TB hdd with 240gb ssd.

Actually I initially opted for regular 7200 rpm Seagate HDD for about 4.5k. But its just that Firecuda drives have 5 years warranty instead of 2-years on regular drives. Also I have read some reviews wherein they say that Firecuda 2TB has some performance benefit over regular 7200 rpm drives. Also Firecuda 2TB is available for around 8.2k at Nehru Place.

W

monkey said:
Actually I initially opted for regular 7200 rpm Seagate HDD for about 4.5k. But its just that Firecuda drives have 5 years warranty instead of 2-years on regular drives. Also I have read some reviews wherein they say that Firecuda 2TB has some performance benefit over regular 7200 rpm drives. Also Firecuda 2TB is available for around 8.2k at Nehru Place.

If you are lucky then even your 1 year warranty hdd will last 10 years but if not then even your 5 years warranty hdd will go bad in 5 months. Never trust any hdd just because of its longer warranty. Firecuda is basically a hdd+16gb ssd like storage so it is faster than a regular hdd but still much slower than a ssd. It used to be worth buying in early days of ssd when ssd was very expensive but not now. In Nehru Place you could have got regular 2TB hdd for ~4.5k & use the remaining amount to buy a 240gb ssd & still left with some money.

M

It is not just about (small) SSD on firecuda drives but additionally normal HDDs are SMR based while Firecuda is CMR based. I think even this will have some performance impact. Frankly I would still opt for Firecuda (WD Black is good too but more expensive). Nothing like having peace of mind with extended warranty. I think warranty is a one parameter when one considers anything in the PC business - Zotac being a prime example for providing 2+3 years warranty - and hence being considered by majority of posters on the forums. I think warranty speaks a lot about the quality of the product and with TBs of data on the HDD it would be last on my list to compromise on (although I have backup drives present but then I have to spend a whole day to restore the PC to its original condition in case of drive failure).

And then when one has budget of 1.2L then spending a little extra on better drive will not hurt him.

W

monkey said:
It is not just about (small) SSD on firecuda drives but additionally normal HDDs are SMR based while Firecuda is CMR based. I think even this will have some performance impact. Frankly I would still opt for Firecuda (WD Black is good too but more expensive). Nothing like having peace of mind with extended warranty. I think warranty is a one parameter when one considers anything in the PC business - Zotac being a prime example for providing 2+3 years warranty - and hence being considered by majority of posters on the forums. I think warranty speaks a lot about the quality of the product and with TBs of data on the HDD it would be last on my list to compromise on (although I have backup drives present but then I have to spend a whole day to restore the PC to its original condition in case of drive failure).

And then when one has budget of 1.2L then spending a little extra on better drive will not hurt him.

Don't mind but It is your misconception that when it comes to hdd warranty has any significant impact. I will tell you this, LUCK is the biggest factor when it comes to hdd(speaking from personal experience of using more than a dozen hdd over a period of 15 years with some hdd clocking 56000 hours of operation & still running). There is no comparison of hdd with any other pc component be it graphics card,mobo,processor or anything else when it comes to significance of luck factor. That is also why you must never rely on anything other than multiple backups in different physical locations(aka other hdd,online storage etc) if you really care for that data.

M

whitestar_999 said:
Don't mind but It is your misconception that when it comes to hdd warranty has any significant impact. I will tell you this, LUCK is the biggest factor when it comes to hdd(speaking from personal experience of using more than a dozen hdd over a period of 15 years with some hdd clocking 56000 hours of operation & still running). There is no comparison of hdd with any other pc component be it graphics card,mobo,processor or anything else when it comes to significance of luck factor. That is also why you must never rely on anything other than multiple backups in different physical locations(aka other hdd,online storage etc) if you really care for that data.

I agree that LUCK IS THE FACTOR to consider. I too have experienced many HDD failures in warranty time and many HDDs doing good even after many years of usage. But with quality issues faced by me in recent times in the PC department (many components and even laptops have died just when the warranty period expired - pure coincidence - repeated many times) I still prefer longer warranty. But again its my personal choice - not binding to anyone.

Second reason was CMR vs. SMR drives - if it makes noticeable difference.

W

monkey said:
I agree that LUCK IS THE FACTOR to consider. I too have experienced many HDD failures in warranty time and many HDDs doing good even after many years of usage. But with quality issues faced by me in recent times in the PC department (many components and even laptops have died just when the warranty period expired - pure coincidence - repeated many times) I still prefer longer warranty. But again its my personal choice - not binding to anyone.

Second reason was CMR vs. SMR drives - if it makes noticeable difference.

I agree it depends on person to choose, my post was more of giving all the facts to base your choice on.

CMR vs SMR might have made some difference when using as windows drive but as a storage device it will only make difference when copying 100s of GB to/from hdd when it has less than 30-35% space remaining.

T

Hey folks, been a while and a lot has changed. Covid put a pause on my international move, the CPUs and GPUs launched (while subsequently going out of stock) and my budget has increased.

I'll be headed to SP Road in Bangalore this week to purchase my PC parts, minus the case (already bought), NVME drive (already bought) and the GPU.

Would really appreciate some feedback/input on the below:

CPU: Ryzen 5600x | Rs 27,730
Mobo: MSI B550 Gaming Edge Wifi | Rs. 17,700
Ram: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 2x8GB 3200Mhz | Rs. 6,136
PSU: CoolerMaster 750w 80+ Gold | Rs 8,200
Cabinet: ~~Lian Li O11 Dynamic Razer Edition | Rs. 16,000 (already bought)~~
NVME: ~~Kingston A2000 500GB | Rs. 5000 (already bought)~~
HDD: Western Digital 1TB | Rs, 3,100
Case Fans: non-LED 9 fans | Rs. 6000

This puts the budget at ~90k.

For the GPU, I'm going to wait until first week of December to pick up either RTX 3080 FE (assuming it comes back in stock) or the 6800XT.

GPU budget is at 70k, making the total budget sit at 160k.

Seems good. You might be able to find non-RGB 3600MHz RAMs for 6.5k or so.

Contact RPTech for 3080FE & ask if they maintain a queue or something. I think Rashi Peripherals also sold FE for close to Nvidia pricing.

Do note that the PC won't boot without a GPU.

T

thanks! Yeah I emailed RPTech and they said that 3080FE will be back in stock by Nov end. I plan on picking up the 6800XT on launch day if I can get my hands on it, if not, will wait for whichever GPU comes back in stock first.

omega44-xt said:
Do note that the PC won't boot without a GPU.

Didn't know that! In this case, I'll assemble everything and will keep it ready for the GPU. Should be plug and play after that

Tumbledoor said:
thanks! Yeah I emailed RPTech and they said that 3080FE will be back in stock by Nov end. I plan on picking up the 6800XT on launch day if I can get my hands on it, if not, will wait for whichever GPU comes back in stock first.

Didn't know that! In this case, I'll assemble everything and will keep it ready for the GPU. Should be plug and play after that

Good strategy regd GPU, 6800XT & 3080 seem similar in performance.

That Ryzen CPU lacks an iGPU, unlike most Intel CPUs *except F suffix ones), so it won't boot up. You can use an old GPU though, if you have one.

T

Going to pick up the parts tomorrow and need a quick last minute sense check on the Mobo. Should I stick with the MSI B550 Gaming Edge WiFi or downgrade to a MSI B550m Pro VDH WiFi? The difference should be approx 5k.

I'm only going to be using the pc for gaming and may do a mild overclock on the CPU in a couple of years. At the moment, I intend to stick with the Wraith Stealth cooler that comes with the 5600x.

W

Tumbledoor said:
Going to pick up the parts tomorrow and need a quick last minute sense check on the Mobo. Should I stick with the MSI B550 Gaming Edge WiFi or downgrade to a MSI B550m Pro VDH WiFi? The difference should be approx 5k.

I'm only going to be using the pc for gaming and may do a mild overclock on the CPU in a couple of years. At the moment, I intend to stick with the Wraith Stealth cooler that comes with the 5600x.

A difference of 5k is not worth downgrading to a lower mobo model in a 120k gaming rig.

W

Tumbledoor said:
PSU: CoolerMaster 750w 80+ Gold | Rs 8,200

@chimera201

Tumbledoor said:
Going to pick up the parts tomorrow and need a quick last minute sense check on the Mobo. Should I stick with the MSI B550 Gaming Edge WiFi or downgrade to a MSI B550m Pro VDH WiFi? The difference should be approx 5k.

I'm only going to be using the pc for gaming and may do a mild overclock on the CPU in a couple of years. At the moment, I intend to stick with the Wraith Stealth cooler that comes with the 5600x.

For R5 5600X, even Pro VDH WiFi is enough even with OC IMO. But considering your budget, its not like its making a big difference. Moreover as you plan to OC it & considering Ryzen 5000 has better OC potential than 3000 did, better to have the higher tier mobo.

When you plan to OC, you would surely need a new cooler is Stealth is not that good, barely enough for stick CPU.

Tumbledoor said:
PSU: CoolerMaster 750w 80+ Gold | Rs 8,200

Which series is this? What alternatives do you have from Corsair and Antec?

chimera201 said:
Which series is this? What alternatives do you have from Corsair and Antec?

It should be CM MWE Gold, I don't know of other CM gold rated PSUs at that price point. Antec has Neo Eco Gold & Earthwatts Gold series at that price, like NE750G & EA750G. Avoid Antec Zen series, as its inferior to rest. Corsair TX series is better but more expensive as well.