New build

[trigg_27]

My boy has been busily saving up and is now ready to buy the parts for his next pc.

Before he pulls the trigger, can someone please look over this basket and suggest improvements? He's currently using a GTX970 and will be upgrading that later.


My basket at https://www.overclockers.co.uk]Overclockers UK[/url]:

• 1 x Antec&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/antec-gx1200-full-tower-gaming-case-black-ca-24b-an.html]Antec GX1200 Full Tower Gaming Case - Black[/url]= £72.95
• 1 x Samsung&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/samsung-250gb-850-evo-ssd-2.5-sata-6gbps-32-layer-3d-v-nand-solid-state-drive-mz-75e250b-eu-hd-191-sa.html]Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)[/url]= £109.99
• 1 x Team&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team-group-vulcan-t-force-8gb-2x4gb-ddr4-pc4-19200c14-2400mhz-dual-channel-kit-grey-tlgd48g2400-my-08g-tg.html]Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD48G2400[/url]= £68.99
• 1 x Gigabyte&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/gigabyte-ga-ab350-gaming-3-amd-b350-socket-am4-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-557-gi.html]Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard[/url]= £86.99
• 1 x AMD&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-ryzen-5-six-core-1600x-4.00ghz-socket-am4-processor-retail-cp-39y-am.html]AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail[/url]= £154.99
• 1 x Super&h=ATMMHa036s0RhrmpyoDB2C3HVy11IQr-SbjaMbIq0Qsd3shWtupnPxUGSV25z_htAC94E9wG3mxhGphbfIpS8ZQgzwwWZ7W69RfTKo6wV8r0aBfadtinRSAqR2HUIRF-fgo']https://www.overclockers.co.uk/super-flower-platinum-king-550w-80-plus-platinum-power-supply-black-ca-056-sf.html]Super Flower Platinum King 550W 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply - Black[/url]= £64.99

Total: £573.00 (includes shipping: £14.10)​

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[trigg_27]

Nice spot with the 2400 RAM, thanks!

@orbitalwalsh What's the benefit from going with the x470 mb, rather than the AB350, which is £40 cheaper?

 

[trigg_27]

Ahh the x470 motherboard is pre-order only.

Should I go back to the B350 or is there a better one available in the same price range?

(Edit) My boy also said he didn't like the look of the case. I'm assuming there wouldn't be a problem going with this one instead? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aero...e-midi-tower-gaming-case-black-ca-201-ae.html

(Another Edit) He now prefers the look of this case: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/kolink-vault-midi-tower-gaming-case-black-blue-led-ca-020-kk.html

 

[trigg_27]

@orbitalwalsh Sorry to keep coming back to you...

Did you drop to the older Ryzen 5 chip due to budget, or is it a better chip for the AB350 motherboard? The boy has set his heart on the Kolink case for £42.95, so that frees up a little of the budget to go with the new R5 chip if it makes sense to do that

I noticed you also switched to the PSU suggested by @EsaT . I assume that's the 'better; PSU, even though it's listed as gold rather than platinum?

 

[trigg_27]

The budget is £570 excluding shipping, no OS or GPU required for now. If it creeps over by a few quid I can cover it though.

The latest version of the basket I've got is:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 2600 3.90GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £169.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £99.95
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD48G3000= £74.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £86.99
• 1 x Bitfenix Formula Series 550W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £66.95

Total: £509.97 (includes shipping: £11.10)​

​

The only thing left to sort now is the case. From talking to him last night, his only requirement is that it looks 'cool' with blue LEDs. I obviously want him to get the best quality he can for his budget preferably with a couple of fans and removable dust filters. I'll work my way through all the listings and see what I can find that might suit us both

 

[trigg_27]

Thanks @4K8KW10 I missed that one - it looks exactly the kind of thing he's looking for.

I'll show im the one @lee32uk suggested too, but I have a feeling that might be a bit too much LEDs even for him

 

[trigg_27]

So we're now looking at this, with £30 left over on the budget.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 2600 3.90GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £169.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £99.95
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD48G3000= £74.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £86.99
• 1 x Bitfenix Formula Series 550W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £66.95
• 1 x Kolink Refractor Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black= £39.95

Total: £538.82 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

It's a real shame the x470 board is out of stock or I'd have persuaded him to go £10 over to get it

 

[trigg_27]

After more discussion with the boy child, he decided against waiting for the Aorus board to come back into stock and we've gone ahead with the AB350 board.

Thanks for your help everyone... and stand by for a new thread where I start asking for help with the build! (I'm going to oversee him doing it himself, but I haven't actually put a pc together for about a decade)

 

[trigg_27]

I've had an update from OC customer support to say they can't flash the bios to the latest release prior to shipping, so I've told them to go ahead with the delivery anyway. Hopefully the board will have the right release on it, but if not they provided me with the below link with a process to follow from AMD


https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/2Gen-Ryzen-AM4-System-Bootup.aspx

 

[trigg_27]

I came home from work this evening to find the boy is already well on the way to putting this machine together - PSU in the case, processor and fan assembly plus ram installed on the motherboard.

He just needs to install the board in the case, add the SSD and see if it boots up or needs a bios flash now!

 

[trigg_27]

Thanks for the tip with the ram. Just checked on the board and it looks like the slots are numbered (from the fan) 4-2-3-1 whilst alternating black-red-black-red, so that would be one chip in the 1st black slot, and the other in the 2nd red? I would have thought it would be both black slots, then both reds when he buys more.

Also noticed we didn't buy an SSD mounting bracket and the case only has 3.5" bays, so that's going to be fun

 

[trigg_27]

... and we're back to square one. It would appear that the fan assemble got installed the wrong way around, so the little bump on it is ever so slightly blocking the first RAM slot. Unscrewing and rotating the fan led to the back plate coming off the motherboard so that has to be unscrewed from the case too

 

[trigg_27]

The motherboard manual isn't exactly clear, but I eventually found a table that shows when using two sticks of ram you can go either both red or both black

 

[trigg_27]

Getting close now, but looks like the boy has had enough of fiddling with cables for now.

Next holdup is that the case has 3 fans with molex connectors, but the psu only has 2 molex cables. I'm assuming it's possible to pick up an adapter to convert one of the multitude of sata power connections into an additional molex?

 

[trigg_27]

PC is now all put together, but when it's turned on we just get the fans powered up and lots of red lights on the motherboard.

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I'm guessing that means we're going to need to flash the bios somehow?

 

[trigg_27]

Just came up with another possible option - find the cheapest 2nd hand AMD chip that's supported by the MB and use that to flash the bios ourselves.
That sounds a bit risky though so I think I'll dig out the details for gigabyte and drop them an email about sending the board over to them.

Shame though, the boy did a pretty good job with the cable management, although you can't really tell from those pictures

 

[trigg_27]

I've told the boy to drop Gigabyte an email with a short explanation and asking them to help. I really want him to feel like this is his project, rather than him helping me put it together for him

 

[trigg_27]

@GIGA-Man Thanks for getting back to me. I've passed that email address on to the boy and asked him to get in touch. I'm fairly sure that's the email address he used before, but who knows...

 

[trigg_27]

any news mate?

Still a work in progress, but there's been communication. The boy has just said they wanted to see a copy of the proof of purchase so I've sent him over my order confirmation to email on.

 

[trigg_27]

It's been a while but here's an update...

After leaving the RMA process in my son's hands for a little over a month and seemingly getting nowhere, I took over.

Two emails later, we have an RMA number from gigabyte. All we need to do now is print out the form, box up the board and send it back for a bios update.
They've advised that we can leave the processor connected to the board when we return it, which would give them the opportunity to check that the new bios actually works with it, and it won't add much to the postage costs weight wise