Building a PC after 12 years absence - please help!

harry66

harry66

harry66

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10 Aug 2011
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22
Hi all,

I used to be into building my own PC etc - usually going for mid-range best bang for buck builds for normal home office use and some low res light gaming - but have been out of it for approx 12-13 years (around the time son was born!).

The now teenage son wants to build a cheap PC that he can mess around and do a bit of overclocking - he is not really PC gamer - spends most of his time on his PS4 - but he reckons he will PC game if we build something half decent.

I was just planning a Ryzen 5 2400G with a B350 motherboard and 8GB of not particularly fast Crucial RAM + Crucial SSD - sorted!

But he is trying to push me towards a R5 1600 + graphics card with some faster (3000-3200) RAM - because he seems to think this combo will be better for overclocking fun! He seems to think the 2400G is not very good for overclocking. I dont want to spend to much on the graphics card and was looking at a RX550 possibly...I asked why he wants to overclock - and he said it sounded fun!

I did spend some time googling but all the information was overwhelming / contradictory / complicated.

The other thing is that the PC will be in the living room - so the noise level has to be tolerable. I don't mind paying extra for a decent CPU cooler around £50 e.g. Noctua NH-U12S SE. But he wants a 'cool' 240mm liquid cooling radiator which it seems cost around £100 for a decent one.

Any advice / ammo I can use to debate with my son appreciated! Is it worth spending the extra for his preferred build? He usually loses interest in techie stuff quite quickly - so I suspect he will do the overclocking for a bit and then that will be forgotten...Is the R5 2400G really not good for overclocking? OR would it require a really expensive cooler?

Many thanks in advance for any replies for this old geezer!
 
@harry66

Joys of parenthood, current have my daughters first birthday saturday and son (almost 3) already know where the PSU/RAM and GPU go :D

2400G you'll need the fastest ram the board/chip can handle which is 3200hz - this is due to ryzen infinity fabric and vega using the ram based on its speed(very loosely explained) Non APU ryzen chips like the 1600 etc can get away with using 3000hz over 3200hz+ and not haven't performance effected to much .

Also with the 2400G chip, you either overclock the CPU or the GPU - not both as then you run into negative effects as well as heat! vega doesn't like heat ! But is a lot more fun to overclock . In therms of performance , 2400G GPU power falls between nvidia gtx 1030 and 1050 and just above RX 550 but below the 560


getting the balance of overclocking the 2400g would be more challenging and run then standard CPU and GPU - all the benching to find out if you've clocked the CPU part to much and effecting the GPU etc etc

could explain to himself that if he likes it, have fun with it , that you can always slap a GPU come BlackFriday time to unlock more POWER! if his gaming on it takes off!

one advantage PCs have over consoles...RGB ! RGB EVERYWHERE! what him to engage on it, make it look pretty :D
 
Hi

I would go with the R5 1600 (6 core/ 12 thread) over the R5 2400 (4 core/ 8 thread) just because the price difference is so small at the moment. The prices could change of course, but if you were buying today then it is £5 difference.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £284.88 (includes shipping: £9.90)​
​

You can pair it with a decent B350 board such as the Gigabyte B350 Gaming/Gaming 3. If you are buying a dedicated gpu then I would go with the 6 core R5 1600.

As for the cooler, spend that money elsewhere where it will make a difference. A liquid cooler isn't going to get him more fps etc. The stock cooler, or a cheap £20 one is good enough for messing with overclocking for the time being.
 
Hi all,
Thanks for the replies - much appreciated...
@lee32uk - can you advise on why you would choose the R5 1600 over the 2400G and what graphics card would you pair with the R5 1600
@orbitalwalsh - yes I am sure he would love that kind of mad(?) setup!
 
harry66 said:
Hi all,
Thanks for the replies - much appreciated...
@lee32uk - can you advise on why you would choose the R5 1600 over the 2400G and what graphics card would you pair with the R5 1600
Click to expand...

Hi

The R5 1600 is the stronger cpu (6 core/12 thread vs 4 core/8 thread) and there is only £5 difference. As you are planning to add a gpu straight away ? then it makes sense to go with the stronger 6 core cpu.

As for the gpu itself it depend on what budget you have. I would try and aim for something like a GTX 1050 ti as it is a good budget option for 1080p gaming. Obviously if you can persuade your son to go with a cheaper cooler then maybe spend it on the gpu instead etc.
 
lee32uk said:
Hi

The R5 1600 is the stronger cpu (6 core/12 thread vs 4 core/8 thread) and there is only £5 difference. As you are planning to add a gpu straight away ? then it makes sense to go with the stronger 6 core cpu.

As for the gpu itself it depend on what budget you have. I would try and aim for something like a GTX 1050 ti as it is a good budget option for 1080p gaming. Obviously if you can persuade your son to go with a cheaper cooler then maybe spend it on the gpu instead etc.
Click to expand...
Thanks - but that's probably too rich for me at this point - leaning towards the RX 550 - closer to the budget..
 
harry66 said:
Thanks - but I need to watch the budget. Like I said this is most likely a teenagers folly - forgotten about after a few weeks. And I already have a perfectly decent laptop for my usage.
Click to expand...

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £356.02 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

Vs

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £313.43 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​
 
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