Venerable PC dead. Seeking thoughts on new build.

[DrCR]

As a stopgap, for the past few months been using a 5y/o oem smallish form form factor castoff with Linux slapped on it. It’s been fine for utility, but not exactly fun. And looking at the state of affairs re current-gen stuff, I’m at the end of my rope on waiting for better value pricing.

Thinking the below:
MSI 550-A Pro ~$140 (First time considering a MSI mobo)
Ryzen 5500 ~$100
Gskill Ripjaws 32GB 3600 cas16 ~$114 (~$88 cas18 instead? Other non-Corsair brand instead? 32GB overkill, just get 16GB?)

Update:
Ryzen 5600 ordered.
Gskill Ripjaws 32GB 3600 cas18 ordered.
ASRock B550 PG VELOCITA (essentially Extreme4 / Steel Legend, it appears) backordered.

Thoughts? Spend iirc 1/3rd more on the CPU front for the 5600?
I don’t want to be too stingy as I’m quite likely not going to want to bother up upgrading again for some years.

I’m looking for value as whatever I get will be an acute upgrade over my old, dead build, and I’ve been disinterested in AAA gaming since the post COD4-era.

 

[sLowEnd]

If you can spend more on the 5600, it's a much better CPU than the 5500.

 

[Dan.G]

Better go for the 5600 and 16 GB RAM should be enough.
Also, that motherboard looks pretty nice!

 

[Mussels]

As a stopgap, for the past few months been using a 5y/o oem smallish form form factor castoff with Linux slapped on it. It’s been fine for utility, but not exactly fun. And looking at the state of affairs re current-gen stuff, I’m at the end of my rope on waiting for better value pricing.

Thinking the below:
MSI 550-A Pro ~$140 (First time considering a MSI mobo)
Ryzen 5500 ~$100
Gskill Ripjaws 32GB 3600 cas16 ~$114 (~$88 cas18 instead? Other non-Corsair brand instead? 32GB overkill, just get 16GB?)

Thoughts? Spend iirc 1/3rd more on the CPU front for the 5600?
I don’t want to be too stingy as I’m quite likely not going to want to bother up upgrading again for some years.

I’m looking for value as whatever I get will be an acute upgrade over my old, dead build, and I’ve been disinterested in AAA gaming since the post COD4-era.

It'll be stupidly fast, but definitely get the 5600 or above
Anything below the 5600 (including the 5600g and 5700g) has half the L3 cache and it hurts performance


The performance difference from a 5600 to the 5950x is tiny for gaming, since the boost clocks are only a few hundred MHz apart

32GB RAM is a good choice, ryzen gets a performance boost from four memory ranks (16GB sticks are almost always dual rank)
Go look at TPU's most recent review on DDR5 where four memory ranks there overcame a latency deficit of 10CL


Look where the 2x32 sits vs the others, despite the same frequency and FAR worse latencies

 

[KrazyT]

Hi,
i would says you can go for 16GB first, save a bit of $, and upgrade later as there are 4 memory slots on the MSI 550-A Pro

 

[qubit]

You might also want to put Windows on it as everything works on it. Perhaps use Linux in a VM if you wanna tinker with it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Sadly, you didn't tell us what you will be using this computer for - only that you are not into AAA gaming. By AAA, I am assuming, in this reference, you mean very resource demanding.

You also made it clear that you, "quite likely not going to want to bother up upgrading again for some years."

With that in mind, I say 16GB is plenty, maybe even way more than enough for you. HOWEVER, I would strongly urge you get 32GB now. Make sense? No? Here's why.

While today's motherboards, chipsets, and RAM are much MUCH better at playing well with mismatched RAM, compatibility issues are still much MUCH less likely when all the sticks are identical. "IF" you only bought 16GB today, then in 3 or 4 years your computing needs change, you take up serious graphics design in multiple VM environments for example, (or you just want more RAM) you may not be able to find another 16GB of "identical" RAM, or even compatible RAM. You may be forced to buy "used" RAM - if you can find it.

So my philosophy is, and always has been to buy way more RAM than you think you will ever need during the initial build. And note more RAM almost always trumps faster RAM. So, when it comes to the budget, don't worry so much about getting the fastest RAM.

Also, go SSD. Period. End of discussion. Even the slowest SSD will run circles around the fastest hard drives.

A good, quality case will provide lots of cooling options and support years of evolving upgrades. I like Fractal Design. And make sure it has removable, washable air filters.

Last, would you buy a brand new Porsche then fill it up with generic, off-brand fuel from the corner Tobacco and Bait Shop? Get a quality PSU from a reputable maker. I like Seasonic and EVGA "Gold". Don't waste your money on Platinum or Titanium unless you find one on sale at "too good to be true" prices.

 

[AusWolf]

The 5500 is fine, but the 5600 is much faster. On the other hand, the factory equipped cooler is perfectly fine to cool the 5500, but I'm not sure about the 5600. You can save a few pennies here.

If you game, 16 GB RAM is fine, but 32 makes your PC more ready for the future. It's really up to you.

I do not recommend that MSi motherboard (or any MSi motherboard, in fact), unless you're OK to fiddle with BIOS updates, settings, etc. I would throw some extra cash in the pot and buy an Asus TUF instead.

 

[KrazyT]

I do not recommend that MSi motherboard (or any MSi motherboard, in fact), unless you're OK to fiddle with BIOS updates, settings, etc. I would throw some extra cash in the pot and buy an Asus TUF instead.

Waiting for someone saying : don't buy Asus TUF unless you're OK to fiddle with BIOS updates, settings, etc. I would throw some extra cash in the pot and buy an (insert here your MB brand of your choice) instead.

 

[PLAfiller]

Didn't see if you have any GPU, but I will suggest intel based mirror build:

CPU: i3-12100f (no iGPU) (comes with cooler as well and now that the shelves are cleared with the launch of 13th gen, you can get some nice deals on this one)
MB: ASRock B660M Pro RS (PCE 5.0 + 4 RAM slots)
RAM: 32GB DDR4 (2400-3200Mhz, no RGB, save some buck, won't make your PC that much faster)

Asrock got some bad rep with 12th gen motherboards due to false advertising and from people throwing in i9 into $100 boards with no VRM heatsinks, but they released new BIOS-es and largely ironed out the issues. I know 13th gen was just released, but mostly the high-end stuff.

I'd focus on a decent pci-e based NVME drive more than the RAM if you are going the intel route. Otherwise +1 for 5600 as others pointed above. And +1 for 32GB as well as @Mussels suggested.

 

[eidairaman1]

Id Say an AsRock B550 Steel Legend instead, been a solid board, no issues running a 5800 OEM and the Ram at XMP (32GB Crucial Ballistix Gaming 3600). Been running over a year and no complaints or oddness about it

 

[DrCR]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

CPU
Wilco on stepping up to 5600. It's only $35 more at newegg right now at $135 on sale. 5700X caught my eye at $199, but I presume it's not worth the additional cost from a value perspective.

Memory
Leaning towards Gskill Ripjaws 32GB 3600 cas18 at ~$88. I may as well spend the only ~$40 extra now then wish I did some years later. I'll consider any sales pitch to go 1/3rd more $ for cas16 if it's worth doing so from a bang-for-buck perspective.

Motherboard
@AusWolf ASUS TUF B550-PRO, I presume? Hum, only $5 more at ~$145. I've always thought of MSI motherboards as a bit rough around the edges, but with so many positive reviews and this being the most matured point of AM4, I kind of wanted to go non-Asus this time around. Less drama for $5 more is a compelling argument though, if that's indeed the case.
@eidairaman1 Hum, AsRock B550 Steel Legend even on sale is another step up on cost. I'll still check it out. In the past I've always been too wary of AsRock (and Biostar) to ever go that route, but AsRock has gotten better mindshare for me in recent times.

PSU
My quite venerable, now totally dead build kept getting additionally iffy over the last few years, but it was still quite usable, so I eked along. For the last few months of it's life, I put in a new RM650x to see if that would fix anything, with the rational that I could use it for a new build later if I had to go that route. No change. For the last month or so of the computer's life, when I would press the power button, it would power on with GPU fans at full speed (others fans at constant undervolt), but nothing beyond that e.g. no drive detection, no post. If I left it for a bit in that state, then held the power button to cut it off and then tried turning it on again, it would then turn on successfully and could be used. Once it became dead as a doornail, I went though the effort of looking over the motherboard (SPCR-spec quite build, so a bit of a pain to take apart). Even though I didn't see any bad capacitors, I'm presuming something on the motherboard front finally died.

TLDR: I plan to use the RM650x from my old build -- unless you guys may feel there's considered concern my old hardware may have damaged it. Let me know what you think. The last thing I want is to damage new hardware. Side note: Covid killed the last shop in town I'm aware of that might have been able to do a PSU test for me.


GPU
I'll continue to use a Kepler from my old build for now.

Storage
MX500 from old build is fine for now. I think I have a half-length 512GB NVMe too. For sure some additional 2.5 SSDs. And I have a multiplicity of 3TB work-retired rust and a NAS for slow storage. All set on this front for my current purposes.

Case
P182 from old build. Fine for now at least.

Heatsink and Fans
Thermalright Ultra 120 and Sycthe S-Flex and Slipstream fans from old build. Fine for now at the very least.

OS
I've been running Linux exclusively for my personal stuff for quite some time now. Steam on Linux scratched most of the gaming itch. I may bother to throw Win10 on a separate partition, probably only once desire to play a truly WinOS-only game overcomes my apathy. (I did WinOS desktop admin work long ago, and Microsoft basically annoyed me into going down the Linux path. For some time in my professional life, WinOS desktop and sys admin work is gloriously someone else's annoyance.)

 

[eidairaman1]

That board i suggested has the debug led that the tuf line lacks and you only get in on the rog line.

 

[DrCR]

That board i suggested has the debug led that the tuf line lacks and you only get in on the rog line.

I’m seeing some review extremes. I wonder if those 1 stars just needed to reset their ram though, based on the comments I’ve seen re this board’s ram slots being a weak point.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If you are talking about "user" reviews, don't pay attention to them unless there are many reporting the exact same problem. Best to go by the professional reviews. Look at user reviews but do NOT put too much stock in them. With user reviews, it is important to note happy users don't complain. And most reviewers don't come back after they have used the product for awhile to write reviews, so we don’t learn how the product holds up over time. Also, users typically don't have comparable products to compare with for proper side-by-side (A-B) comparisons, nor do they have properly equipped testing facilities or the necessary technical training for a proper evaluation.

Often times you will see products down-rated because it was a different color than shown on Newegg or Amazon, the Post Office delivered to the house next door, UPS delivered it a day late, or the box looked like it fell off the FedEx truck. So if I am considering a product, I read the user reviews but I don't put a lot of stock in them - again UNLESS there are several complaining about the EXACT SAME genuine fault/defect with the same model number product.

 

[qubit]

GPU
I'll continue to use a Kepler from my old build for now.

Don't blame you as graphics card prices are insane nowadays for anything high end. You don't play games, so that really helps to keep your costs down.

I'm curious, what model of card is it?

 

[DrCR]

@Bill_Bright we’re in the same mind space.

@qubit Gigabyte Windforce 770. Doing this build so I can resume non-AAA gaming, with it for now.


Let me know if there’s other vendors I should be aware of besides Newegg and Amazon. All the Newegg competitors I know from back in the day are defunct, and my preferred vendor B&H doesn’t really compete in this space.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

3600 cas18 at ~$88. I may as well spend the only ~$40 extra now then wish I did some years later. I'll consider any sales pitch to go 1/3rd more $ for cas16 if it's worth doing so from a bang-for-buck perspective.

No cas18 for DDR 4 3600 is more than enough good. 1/3 more ca$h for cas16 would not pay its value. You can also play in future around with manual settings to lower latency if you think it makes sense.

 

[qubit]

Firstly, Kepler is no longer supported with driver updates, so will become increasingly problematic over time. When it becomes too iffy, I recommend replacing it.

Secondly, I live in England, so can't recommend any US retailers unfortunately. I know there aren't too many though, like in the UK.

 

[Hofnaerrchen]

The GTX 770's main problem is it's limited amount of VRAM should you are running the 2GB version. This will NOT be an issue if you keep on playing only the games you are currently using the GPU for and if you have no intention to play newer titles at all.

In case you want to replace the GPU and as you are using Linux AMD might be the prefered choice: The RX 6600 (approx. 250$) should do the job quite well based on your use cases.

 

[DrCR]

Kepler is new enough for the non-legacy Nvidia Linux binary, so it still serves my purpose for now. Got it for iirc $75 in maybe 2017. I'll likely upgrade it in maybe a year or so, perhaps indeed to the 6600, but I'm still getting value from it for now.

Think stuff like Desperados III, Supergiant Games, TF2 MVM, Darkest Dungeon, et al.

 

[qubit]

Will you be sticking with Linux as your main OS then?

 

[DrCR]

Will you be sticking with Linux as your main OS then?

I've been running Linux exclusively for my personal stuff for quite some time now. If I include when I used WinOS 1% of the time, it's been more than a decade. Started going down the Linux path in the early aughts. Steam on Linux sufficiently scratched the gaming itch. I may bother to throw Win10 on a separate partition, probably only once the desire to ever play a truly WinOS-only game overcomes my apathy. (I did WinOS desktop admin work long ago, and Microsoft basically annoyed me into going down the Linux path. For some time now in my professional life, WinOS desktop and sys admin work is gloriously someone else's annoyance. I will say Microsoft is pretty cool these days in a lot of respects outside their OS realm.)

 

[dgianstefani]

Definitely go for the 5600 if you can stretch the budget, 16 MB of cache compared to 32 is a huge downside for the Ryzen architecture.

 

[DrCR]

Just put in the order.
Ryzen 5600 - $135
Gskill Ripjaws 32GB (2x16GB) CAS18 3600 - $87
ASRock B550 PG VELOCITA - $130

Went with essentially @eidairaman1 recommendation re the motherboard. It is backordered, but at 40% off, I'll try waiting a bit.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Let me know what you think with regard to reusing that RM650x PSU.