Budget cruncher - need advise

[Beerdrinker]

Hello there,

So I am researching some sort of budget cruncher to get me started for the team again. And since the only computer I have these days is a 9 year old laptop, it obvious that I am starting from 0.

Where do I look ? Where is the best bang for the buck these days ?

[DrPop]

Honestly, JPM and Zombie are more up on everything than I am, but if I remember right, electric utilities are pretty high in Denmark. So from an efficiency standpoint, you would want some version of a B550 motherboard and maybe something like the Ryzen 7 3700X at 65W, or wait just a few more weeks for a Ryzen 5 5600X at 65W (new Zen 3 CPU).

On a GPU, maybe something very efficient such as a GTX 1060 6GB or a 1660Ti or something like that - but honestly, the GPU should be a secondary concern right now.
If you build something like this, you won't need a big power supply, and you can buy one of the least expensive B550 motherboards and crunch 24/7 on it without worrying about it.

Maybe other people will jump in here with ideas?

[Beerdrinker]

I seem to recall that I migth have a GTX550Ti somewhere in a Box...Need to find it - and maybe that could be a starting point. I have been reading about the Ryzen CPU´s - so definately up in that alley :)

But first things first. Looking at cases. Going for ATX, to allow maximum cooling, without the noise from fans..And no need for fancy RGB ligth. That will keep me awake at nigth...:p

[DrPop]

...Going for ATX, to allow maximum cooling, without the noise from fans...

Yeah, and you may even find the microATX or "mATX" size is just fine these days too, if you need to save space. Less watts burning than the old days for way more credits per day is a good thing! :)
I still have 3 regular ATX sized rigs, but gave away my huge EX-ATX towers. I'm about to build up a mini-ITX rig for a small one - will be neat to see what I can get out of such a tiny footprint.

[zombie67]

What is the budget, roughly?

[Beerdrinker]

I don´t really know. There´s a store not long from my apartment offering this one ready to go for 1.000 dollars (roughly):

https://www.bwsbutik.dk/shop/156-basic/11505-luc-computer-ag18-ryzen5-3500x-16gb-ram-512gb-nvme--1tb--rtx2060-mwin/

I know that you don´t know danish, but the specs is there. And this is assembled, installed and ready to go.

I have no clue, if I can do that cheaper my self :confused:

[Beerdrinker]

And also looking at this one:

https://www.fcomputer.dk/foeniks-fse4-faerdigsamlet-gamer-computer

But this one need shipment, and windows not included. But this is like roughly 700 dollars. And since it am not really gaming, I could save some dollars and install Mint or some other distro that is plug and play

[zombie67]

The first example is 3500x, which is 6 core with no HT. You want 3600 or better. And you want 2gb per thread at least.

The second example has a Zen+ CPU. Avoid that, as the AVX2 is crippled. You want Zen2 (3xxx) or Zen3 (5xxx).

For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Ryzen_processors

Seriously, give us a money target, and we can show you how to build the best machine for the cost. Especially since you look willing to use linux.

[zombie67]

Since you listed two choices that were $700 and $1100 USD, I picked $1000 as a goal. Here is my first pass, coming in at $965:

https://secure.newegg.com/wishlist/sd/rjKdQgS2iR1NsnM5zQP9LQ==

Teammates, please provide feedback!

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600XT (6/12)
mobo: ATX B550 (to allow for Zen3 upgrade)
Memory: 32GB (2 x 16GB) 3200
GPU: RTX 1660 Ti
PSU: 700w gold
Storage: 250gb NVMe

Notes:
- The CPU comes with a heatsink, but it will be loud and not good for OC, if you want to do that. So I included a small AOI. If you don't want the AOI, you could save $60.
- I did not include a chassis. Not sure of your size requirements. But you can buy a generic one for about $50.
- if you need to cut costs further, you could choose slower DRAM. But don't choose less capacity.