Even more info for /pcbg/

Table of contents

Reliable tech review websites

Case recommendations

Mesh front panels are good.
Recommendations are ordered worst to best by quality/budget.

  • Cheapest one avail. (For extremely low budget builds)
  • Versa H15/17/18 (Tempered Glass version for H18)
  • PS15 (No PSU Shroud)
  • InWin 301/C
  • NR400
  • Core V21
  • Meshify C Mini
  • MX330-G (Best to add an extra fan at the front)
  • Pure Base 500 (Budget quiet case)
  • NR600
  • P300A/P400A/Digital (Instead of adding fans to P400A get the Digital version)
  • CoolerMaster MB511/TD500 Mesh/H500 (H500P/M Mesh < H500)
  • Meshify C/S2 (For Mesh C, get two 140mm fans at the front)
  • Define R6/7 (Noise, not airflow focused)
  • O11 Dynamic/XL
  • Arctic F12/F14 PWM (More noisy, performance focused)
  • Arctic P12/14 PWM (Quieter)
  • be quiet! Pure Wings 2
  • be quiet! SilentWings 3
  • Noctua Redux (More noisy, performance focused)
  • Noctua NF-A (overall), NF-S (airflow), NF-F (static pressure)

B450 vs. X570

X570 boards are not worth for most people, if you don't care about extra PCIE slots, SLI, extreme overclocking or doing heavy virtualization, you shouldn't overpay for an X570 board. MSI's B450 MAX lineup can handle the whole Zen 2 (Ryzen 3000) series of CPUs without issues.

Which motherboard to get?

Minimum for Athlon/APU

  • A320 Boards - Office/general purpose

Minimum for Ryzen 5

  • Cheapest B450 - For extreme budget builds, no Zen 2 support out of the box

Minimum for Ryzen 7

  • B450M-PRO-VDH MAX - Decent mATX B450 board with Zen 2 support out of the box

Minimum for Ryzen 9

  • B450 Pro 4[-F] - Great but there is a chance it won't be updated for Zen 2
  • B450M Pro 4[-F] - Same as B450 Pro 4, but mATX
  • B450M Mortar MAX - Great mATX B450 board, only available in EU
  • B450-A Pro MAX/B450 Gaming Plus MAX - Good ATX choices, have all basic features and can hold a 3950X without overheating/issues
  • B450 Tomahawk MAX - Just like A Pro/Gaming Plus but with some extra features that are usually not worth the premium

Good for overclocking

  • X570 Aorus Elite [WiF]
  • TUF Gaming X570-PLUS [WiFi]
  • X570 Tomahawk Wifi (Not out yet)

Extreme overclocking

  • MEG X570 Unify
  • Crosshair VIII
  • X570 Aorus Master
  • MEG X570 Ace

Stupid overkill

  • X570 Godlike
  • X570 Aorus XTREME

Why shouldn't I get a Tomahawk MAX?

A Pro MAX and Gaming Plus MAX have most crucial features and similar VRMs, Tomahawk MAX has an extra RGB connector and rear USB-C (Just use an adapter), and those features aren't worth the extra cost, you can compare them here.

Which SSD should I get?

Good SSDs must have a good controller and atleast DRAM cache, you can usually look up "[Model name] review" and see if it has DRAM cache.

Why avoid DRAM-less SSDS?

SSDs without DRAM become much slower when close to full.

What about QLC drives?

QLC drives have worse longevity on paper and also get slower when filled up, but as long as they have a decent controller and cache they're usually cheap, fast mass storage options that are fine for the regular user.

SATA vs. NVME

The difference between SATA and NVME drives is marginal and insignifcant in most use cases like loading up games or booting into your operating system. If you're on a smaller budget, saving money by getting SATA is completly valid, but there is also no problem with getting an NVME if you don't care about adding 10-30 bucks for that.

Gen4 SSDs

Those are pretty much a meme, 99% of users don't need that much speed (and again the difference is negligible in simple applications), and current Gen4 NVMEs can't even utilize PCIE 4.0 fully.

Why you should avoid Samsung

Samsung SSDs are usually overpriced, and there are cheaper and similarly/better performing options. Only Samsung's PRO series (860 PRO, 970 PRO, etc.) is the outstanding one, since it uses MLC NAND which is very rare on consumer SSDs and it shouldn't be compared to any of them since it's on another level, but it's definetly not necessary for most users. If the price difference is small, there's no problem getting Samsung, but in the US for example they can be over 50% more expensive for similar capacity and performance.

List of good SSDs

All of the SSDs listed below have at least a decent controller and cache solution, ordered worst to best by durability/performance.

SATA
  • Samsung 860 QVO (QLC)
  • TCSunbow X3
  • Londisk SSD
  • Team L5 Lite 3D
  • ADATA Ultimate SU800 (Has M.2 variant)
  • WD Blue SSD (Has M.2 variant)
  • Crucial MX500 (Has M.2 variant)
  • Samsung 860 Evo (Usually overpriced, has M.2 variant)
  • Samsung 860 Pro (Suited for workstation/professional workloads, has M.2 variant)
NVME
  • Crucial P1 (QLC)
  • Intel 660p (QLC)
  • Inland Premium
  • HP EX920
  • Pioneer SE20G
  • Team MP34
  • WD Black/SN750
  • Sabrent Rocket
  • Silicon Power A80
  • Addlink S70
  • Corsair MP510
  • Intel 760p
  • MyDigitalSSD BPX Pro
  • ADATA Gammix S11
  • ADATA SX8200
  • Plextor M9Pe
  • HP EX950
  • Mushkin PILOT
  • ADATA Gammix S11 Pro
  • ADATA SX8200 PRO
  • Samsung 970 EVO/EVO Plus (Usually overpriced)
  • Samsung 970 PRO (Suited for workstation/professional workloads)
Gen4
  • Corsair MP600 (Can't utilize PCIE 4.0 fully)
  • AORUS NVME Gen4 (Can't utilize PCIE 4.0 fully)
Server - for workstation/enterprise
  • Corsair Neutron NX500
  • Intel DC P3XXX (Cheap mass-storage)
  • Intel Optane 900/905P

PSU recommendations

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1116640-psu-tier-list-40/
This list is good, based on reviews from reputable sources with a good ranking methodology, the thread has all of the info you need.

  • C tier is for general purpose/low power systems (<=$300)
  • B tier is for budget/entry level gaming rigs (<=$500)
  • B+ tier is for midrange/most gaming rigs (<=$1000)
  • A-, A tiers is the most you'll ever need for most systems
  • A+ tier is for extreme budget systems
  • S tier is for enthusiasists who want the best of the best
Edit
Pub: 29 Feb 2020 00:03 UTC
Edit: 20 Apr 2020 13:35 UTC
Views: 5817