Tell Me if I'm Dumb - I May Be

[Batteriesnare]

Do you have the component pricing that you have gathered?

I'm right at 1k before case and power supply by my cart, including 4 ram sticks.

[XJ]

Two things: https://pcpartpicker.com/ and I've heard of availability issues with components due to China manufacturing and shipping.

That site does have a lot of info and some helpful people, once you get past the kids who are fantasizing with unlimited budget and too many colored lights.

[Batteriesnare]

Two things: https://pcpartpicker.com/ and I've heard of availability issues with components due to China manufacturing and shipping.

That site does have a lot of info and some helpful people, once you get past the kids who are fantasizing with unlimited budget and too many colored lights.

Yes, thank you on PCPP, that has been super helpful.

I've been seeing the shortages, and may have to pivot as a result. Oh well, figures...

[Gman]

I got nothing. Going to AMD Ryzen, there aren't many options. Most of the volume is Intel (I am master of the obvious).

I'd go with a 2x16GB memory config. I don't think you'll see much performance difference going with a 4x8 and it'll leave you the ability to go to 64 later without having to replace all of the DIMMs. The Ryzen 5 will likely be the limiting factor, not the RAM.

[HoneyBadger]

Hey Batteriesnare - Did you end up going forward with this build?

Curious because I built one at almost the exact same timeframe... Mine is:

B450 Tomahawk Max
R5 3600 (replaced stock cooler after just a few months)
EVGA 1660S (upgraded to a 3060 after about a year because one fell into my lap)
2x8GB DDR4 @ 3200 (added 2 more DIMM sticks after just 2 months)
Samsung Evo m.2 (500GB.... wish I did 1TB)

As you can see, I ended up upgrading a few things. Biggest thing I've noticed is that I didn't pay attention to where I would be bottlenecked. First, it was RAM. I am one of those idiots who likes to keep 30+ tabs open in Chrome all the time... while playing games and doing other stuff. That ate up a lot of RAM, so bumping up to 32GB fixed that.

While playing Warzone, which is very CPU intensive, My CPU was getting dangerously hot (I use the pre-set overclock to 4.2GHz). Bigger cooler fixed that.

Upgraded my card essentially for free because I sold my 1660S for more than the 3060 cost. This didn't provide much benefit at all... I have 2x 27" 1080p 75Hz monitors and while playing Star Wars Squadrons, Fallen Order, Warzone, Civ, Stellaris, etc I can easily maintain 75fps while only using about 30% of the gpu. If I upgraded my monitors to 4K or 144Hz, my CPU would be the thing holding me back, not the GPU.

And after about 6 months I got bored and did a thing I said I would absolutely never do.... I added some LEDs to give it a galactic empire sort of theme... black components with white and red lights.

Honestly it's been an awesome computer though. I hope it lasts 8+ years.

[Batteriesnare]

Hey Batteriesnare - Did you end up going forward with this build?

Curious because I built one at almost the exact same timeframe... Mine is:

B450 Tomahawk Max
R5 3600 (replaced stock cooler after just a few months)
EVGA 1660S (upgraded to a 3060 after about a year because one fell into my lap)
2x8GB DDR4 @ 3200 (added 2 more DIMM sticks after just 2 months)
Samsung Evo m.2 (500GB.... wish I did 1TB)

As you can see, I ended up upgrading a few things. Biggest thing I've noticed is that I didn't pay attention to where I would be bottlenecked. First, it was RAM. I am one of those idiots who likes to keep 30+ tabs open in Chrome all the time... while playing games and doing other stuff. That ate up a lot of RAM, so bumping up to 32GB fixed that.

While playing Warzone, which is very CPU intensive, My CPU was getting dangerously hot (I use the pre-set overclock to 4.2GHz). Bigger cooler fixed that.

Upgraded my card essentially for free because I sold my 1660S for more than the 3060 cost. This didn't provide much benefit at all... I have 2x 27" 1080p 75Hz monitors and while playing Star Wars Squadrons, Fallen Order, Warzone, Civ, Stellaris, etc I can easily maintain 75fps while only using about 30% of the gpu. If I upgraded my monitors to 4K or 144Hz, my CPU would be the thing holding me back, not the GPU.

And after about 6 months I got bored and did a thing I said I would absolutely never do.... I added some LEDs to give it a galactic empire sort of theme... black components with white and red lights.

Honestly it's been an awesome computer though. I hope it lasts 8+ years.

Sweet rig!

I didn't move forward. Ended up just sticking with the current laptop and put the funds toward other projects/buying a house.

[HoneyBadger]

Thanks - it's been a lot of fun and I use it more than I thought I would. It'll be upgradeable for a while, but next time I build, I think I'll go for a much smaller case.

Putting computer money toward buying a house is probably a good idea if you don't need the computer to generate income