@bdreason
Saw your pots in the Game Hardware thread, but if you intend to build, this is the place. There's really no better time than now to buy. It sounds like you don't necessarily need a new case, and maybe not a new PSU. You just mentioned your processing components are long in the tooth, so that means CPU (+ MoBo + RAM) + GPU. If you're still on an old 2012 drive, you'll definitely want to add a proper NVMe SSD for your OS drive, too. Prices on everything are at historic lows, but the aforementioned Cases & PSUs.
However, you might keep your eyes peeled for another bundle sale like this tracked on the r/buildapcsales. It went fast:
Customizable bundle sale. An actual Cooler Master rep is interacting with the community to devise those. That was a monstrous deal. Bundles like this are a strong foundation if you don't intend to recycle your case and other parts. Considering your build is 7 years old it's probably smart to update these (especially the PSU). The best configuration was these parts:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BQ9Q8Y
$255 (before tax) on the discrete market.
$155 in the bundle = 40% off.
For the rest:
- CPU should be an R5-3600 or R7-3700X.
- GPU has a bunch of options due to recent competition, but you should probably opt for one of these:
- AMD = RX 590 > RX Vega 56 > RX 5700 > RX 5700 XT
- NVIDIA = GTX 1660 Ti > RTX 2060 Super > RTX 2070 Super
- MoBo: You can go with a cheaper MSI B450 motherboard, but I would be wary of that. At the very least, consider waiting until the BIOS issues have been ironed out. Many can't even get their boards to POST. I think the X570 motherboards, even if you go with the cheapest of them, are worth the premium.
- RAM: 2x8GB (or more) DDR4-3200 CAS16 or better is the sweet spot for value right now.
- SSD: check the r/buildapc sub for sales on any given week. As I wrote in the other thread these are the ones to watch for:
I can't see what's in your cart. That URL is a general URL, so all it does show me the last items I had in my cart when I was fiddling around at the Microcenter website. So you gotta just link me the individual parts.
Yeah, that thing is so sick. This is the higher airflow variant of the Dynamic Case I mentioned above. Max performance, period.I've been very happy with the build. I would recommend to anyone who is looking at cases to investigate the Lian Li line of cases. I bought the Lian Li AUER and it is the coolest case I've ever owned. And by cool I mean it has great air flow, although it does look cool as well. I bought the 6 case fans for it as shown below and runs at arctic temperatures.
Grain of salt. The internet is loaded with bullshit. I just caught a dude on Reddit testifying that Kingston A400 SSDs were shit, and he had three die on him, one after the other, so he finally bought the better SSD he insisted was necessary to not be crap, and it had been going strong for 4+ years. Thing is...the Kingston A400 came out two years ago. Users have reported receiving hard drives from merchants like Newegg that already have footprints of previous use like non-specified partitions, for example, so the custom builders aren't the only ones saddled with sketchy rumors. The thing with prebuilders is, if no brand is named, they aren't breaking any rules if they put anything in that fits the listed specifications. All you have to do is specify a brand if that concerns you.
This is highly competitive except for the GPU. You're coming out $80 ahead on raw cost.
Please take the time to first understand what you're reading before commenting. No money was cut from the CPU to spend on the PSU or HDD. The cheapest PSU available ("Standard 800W Gold") is taken in the base configuration I customized & linked. Furthermore, no money was leeched from the CPU because of the hard drive. I wasn't working within a specified budget. There is a 512GB m.2-NVMe SSD + 2TB HDD in my configuration because most want more storage than half a terabyte in new builds, today. Games are huge. The SSD & HDD I included offer the best performance/value available with CPPC.
That's because Intel has held a strong practical advantage in gaming performance until a month ago. It no longer holds a significant advantage, and it definitely isn't giving you more for your money. You're also wrong about future proofing. Frankly, if you aren't spending more than $350 on your CPU, there's just no point in speaking Intel's name, and even then it's a debate. If you're a pure gaming overclocker who is made of money it's worth considering the i7-9700K or i9-9900K, but I still wouldn't advise it.
9700K doesn't come with a stock CPU cooler, and the cheapest comparable cooler to the Wraiths will run you $25+. It also doesn't have hyperthreading which will play a role in that future-proofing you mentioned, and the LGA 1151 socket motherboard one would buy for it is already a dead platform that has no hope of supporting Intel's next gen.
BTW, example of the deal rotation I mentioned, @bdreason, is that today the deal is a Free 512GB Intel 660p SSD with the purchase of an HDD (not the $50 AMEX Gift Card). Assuming you planned on buying an additional HDD for storage this is one of the two best deals I've tracked in terms of the resulting total. These are deals in their rotation I've tracked, recently:
