Build me a $1200 gaming PC
So I'm planning to build a nice gaming PC for my son, whose birthday is coming up in September. My budget is $1200. Ideally I'd like to get a Free-Sync monitor included in that budget. If that's not possible, any good quality gaming monitor 24" or larger, and 1080p or better.
AMD preferred, because @Thrax. Therefore Free-Sync monitor because AMD, @Thrax, buy his shit. And more @Thrax for the buck. And more bang for the @Thrax. No homo.
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In case he doesn't see this thread. @Thrax
I heard somebody was looking for @Thrax, so I tagged him for you.
This is the best I can do without cutting serious corners: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/q2VRd6
Very nice. Take out the monitor and let's see what happens.
The Vega 56 has longer legs but I can confirm a Ryzen 1600 paired with an RX 580 will do anything you want single monitor 1080p right now. Trick is finding them priced fairly online. I do see a few 8GB models hovering around $290 or so. Lowest Microcenter has one is $329. Currency miners have hijacked the market for virtual John Wick underworld currency for dirty deeds or a room at the Continental.
If you can find an RX580 for significantly less than a Vega 56 I can tell you it will get you to all the places you want to go on a single monitor at 1080P.
Building right now kind of sucks because RAM is expensive, and the GPU market is plain stupid. At least @Thrax got someone at AMD to finally release a CPU that doesn't suck for a great price.
If you have a microcenter near you, you can't beat them on the CPU motherboard bundle deals. Their base price is typically better than most, then they give you $30 off to buy a pair. I'm running a B350 board, it's perfectly fine if you are running a single GPU. So pairing a Ryzen 1600 with a B350 board on Microcenter is only $259 or so paired up.
Normally you'd be able to save $100-200 by switching to an RX 580. Sure it's slower than Vega56, but it's still a killer 1080p card, especially when you layer freesync into the mix. But crypto mining is fucking everything up.
2nd-hand GPUs could be a good option.
I'm going to run some more configs on PC Part Picker. Wish I would have known about that site sooner. I'm definitely going Ryzen, and I'll check out eBay for an RX580. Thx u @Thrax and @Cliff_Forster.
Move to a mirco size mobo and save $25, use 2x8Gb Ripjaws memory and save another $40.
If you don't need 144Hz refresh there is an LG monitor that is IPS, 75Hz, Freesync and it is $60 less.
But it is the video card that sucks, the R9 is fast enough, but those prices are high, the RX580 may be your best bet if you can find one reasonably.
And I posted too soon, allowing $350 for a video card mine came in at $1200.
Good luck
Lemme know what you come up with. ICPM or something. I can give it a once-over to make sure it'll be a smooth build.