NDL Forum

So as the title suggests I am building my first computer from scratch. I have been a semi-tech person all my life (setting up my own surround sound, re-wiring my modem/router to better cover my house with Wifi, as well as installing upgrades to my computer over the years (new HDD, 2nd GPU, additional RAM).

Anyway, here are the parts I plan on using. Please give me feedback if I am going in the right direction (overkill, not enough, etc.)

I plan to salvage my HDD, PSU and RAM. I currently have:

HDD (bought in 6/25/16) - Mushkin Enhanced Reactor 2.5" 1TB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MKNSSDRE1TB

PSU (original - about 6-8yrs old)- Thermaltake 850W Desktop Power Supply PSU

RAM (about 4-6yrs old) - Patriot Viper 3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 CL9 1600 MHz Memory Kit (Black Mamba)
(I only have 3 of the 4 sticks . . . does that really matter?)

Things I have selected to purchase (current cost $848.91):

CPU ($196.25) - AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X (12-core/24-thread) Desktop Processor

CPU Cooling Fan ($74.90) - be quiet! Dark Rock 4, BK021, 200W TDP, CPU Cooler

Compound Paste ($7.79) - Arctic Silver Thermal Cooling Compound Paste 3.5g High-Density Polysynthetic Silver by Nabob Deals with Bonus Tool

MOBO ($239.99) - ASROCK Socket TR4 AMD X399, with Chips ATX Gaming Motherboard X399 Phantom Gaming 6

GPU ($279.99) - Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 590 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI/ DVI-D/ Dual DP OC w/ Backplate Special Edition (UEFI) PCI-E Graphic Cards 11289-01-20G

Case ($49.99) - Fractal Design Focus G - Mid Tower Computer Case - ATX - High Airflow - 2X Silent ll Series 120mm LED Fans Included - USB 3.0 - Window Side Panel - White

If it runs OOTP and porn I approve!

I'm guessing very few here will be able to help much. JD might be the most up to date on this stuff.
A few things:
- I'd spring for the 4th stick of RAM or if you can't buy the single (be sure to match it), then I'd buy a new kit.
- The cooling fan is excessive. That case has pretty strong air flow. If you're in a ventilated area, there's no need to spring $75 on that fan. If you really want an additional fan or are thinking of a side panel cutout or top mount for it, CoolerMaster can get you something decent for $25ish.
- 2 personal experience notes. I've had nothing but bad luck with ASRock boards. Struggled with 2 of them over the last 10yrs. I'm also a diehard nVidia guy, as opposed to ATI Radeon.

When it comes to building a great gaming PC this is the way I look at it:
1.) Video Card - Doesn't have to be top of the line, but should be strong. If you're over $200, you're probably safe.
2.) SSD HD - Not as important with the way games are designed now, but it's more of a convenience thing when it comes to getting loaded up and going. Also, from a maintenance standpoint, don't put 20 games on your computer and leave them there. Keep your shit clean.
3.) RAM - Big, better, faster... this is the best bang for your buck and it's where you want to spend a little more.
4.) Processor - Not a lot of advancement in the mid-high range here in the last decade. This used to be a key as people would try to skimp and build stuff off of Celeron's, I3s, and dual cores. You're solid here.

ReignOnU wrote:I'm guessing very few here will be able to help much. JD might be the most up to date on this stuff.
A few things:
- I'd spring for the 4th stick of RAM or if you can't buy the single (be sure to match it), then I'd buy a new kit.
- The cooling fan is excessive. That case has pretty strong air flow. If you're in a ventilated area, there's no need to spring $75 on that fan. If you really want an additional fan or are thinking of a side panel cutout or top mount for it, CoolerMaster can get you something decent for $25ish.
- 2 personal experience notes. I've had nothing but bad luck with ASRock boards. Struggled with 2 of them over the last 10yrs. I'm also a diehard nVidia guy, as opposed to ATI Radeon.

When it comes to building a great gaming PC this is the way I look at it:
1.) Video Card - Doesn't have to be top of the line, but should be strong. If you're over $200, you're probably safe.
2.) SSD HD - Not as important with the way games are designed now, but it's more of a convenience thing when it comes to getting loaded up and going. Also, from a maintenance standpoint, don't put 20 games on your computer and leave them there. Keep your shit clean.
3.) RAM - Big, better, faster... this is the best bang for your buck and it's where you want to spend a little more.
4.) Processor - Not a lot of advancement in the mid-high range here in the last decade. This used to be a key as people would try to skimp and build stuff off of Celeron's, I3s, and dual cores. You're solid here.

So to piggy back or expand on this...

MoBo - Your motherboard supports AMDTR4 socket Ryzen Threadripper X series CPUs
And it supports DDR4 for RAM.
As Reign stated, I too am not a fan of the ASRock motherboards.
I am a fan of ASUS and MSI and even Gigabyte.

RAM - You said you have 3 16GB DDR3 chips......these WILL NOT work on a DDR4 motherboard!
The more RAM, the better off you will be. Buy as much as you can afford, relatively speaking.

Processor - Nothing wrong here, this will work and is a pretty good one.

Compound paste is compound paste. As long as you put a dab of thermal paste on the cpu, you are good.

PSU - If your power supply is 6-8 years old, make sure it has the proper connections for your motherboard and video card that you are using.
Your mobo is ATX form factor, so make sure your current computer is ATX form factor so it has the right plugs, to plug into your new motherboard.
Then again, some video cards require two power plugs instead of 1, etc. Make sure the power supply has what you need.

Your graphics card is a nice one. Nothing to worry about there from it's performance standpoint.

Case - It is ATX form factor, so your motherboard should work just fine.
Unless you are overclocking your cpu or video card, no need to spend $75 on a cooling fan.
You can buy 80mm or 40mm case fans to mount in the back or top or front of that case for $10 to $20 each.

HD - SSD is the only way to go, in my opinion. Hybrid SSDs are nice and they help boost speeds, but if you can get an SSD with the space you need to do what you want, go with an SSD.
They are faster and no moving parts, so they tend to last longer and the booting up speeds is ridiculously faster compared to a standard HD.


Hopefully this helps.
If you have access to a MicroCenter, fantastic place for buying PC Parts to build a PC.