Hardware Please help me build a new PC

[PityOnU]

While what you said is true about the hardly any difference, main reason people suggest AMD Sapphire cards isn't just the overclock potential, it's that if you are also using an AMD CPU (and most people are nowadays with the Ryzen and Threadripper models), you can use the same drivers program to configure both at once more efficiently, as AMD basically has a driver suite, greatly simplifying some stuff if you need to minutely configure something, although to be honest there's not really THAT big a difference, just faster to have both in one is all I'm saying.

Can you explain what you are talking about here? It seems to me you are suggesting that cards from different brands (MSI, XFX, etc.) would use different drivers than the Sapphire card, which is not the case (at least, based on my understanding).

Also, my understanding is that MSI Afterburner is actually the goto program for configuring GPU's w.r.t. overclocking and etc.

Also, completely unrelated, but I guess things have changed in the ~10 years since I last built a PC. Sapphire used to be considered absolute ****. I tried to go to their website yesterday, and it was completely down, which doesn't fill me with confidence that their position in the market has changed...

 

[GameSystem]

@GameSystem with the parts you've selected you should easily be abe to game at 1080p60. I only mentioned the APU because you said you were happy at 720p, but I think you'll definitely enjoy 1080p a lot more.

I figured I might as well go for the 2600X over the 2400 that was linked in that article mainly because two reasons. My monitor can only go to 1080 anyway, so might as well max that, and ThoD saying the "Iceborne expansion will be even more CPU demanding (because of Hoarfrost Reach being a ridiculously massive map so even more things the CPU has to keep track of." I figure with the 2600X should just be enough of a safe bet where I won't have to worry too much about potential performance hits.

 

[subcon959]

I figure with the 2600X should just be enough of a safe bet where I won't have to worry too much about potential performance hits.

Absolutely, when budget isn't an issue then it's nice to be able to get that extra headroom. Plus, who knows you might enjoy it so much that you want to try other PC games, and with this build you won't be limited at all.

 

[ThoD]

Can you explain what you are talking about here? It seems to me you are suggesting that cards from different brands (MSI, XFX, etc.) would use different drivers than the Sapphire card, which is not the case (at least, based on my understanding).

Also, my understanding is that MSI Afterburner is actually the goto program for configuring GPU's w.r.t. overclocking and etc.

Also, completely unrelated, but I guess things have changed in the ~10 years since I last built a PC. Sapphire used to be considered absolute ****. I tried to go to their website yesterday, and it was completely down, which doesn't fill me with confidence that their position in the market has changed...

They use the same driver, but the GUIs for the drivers are different for each brand (MSI has their own GUI suite, AMD has it's own, etc.), so what I'm saying is that if you have an AMD CPU and GPU, you can configure both through the AMD Radeon Utility Suite, rather than using two different programs to set the settings for each for every single program you want to run differently (eg: limit CPU core count if playing an old game just for that one while also setting the GPU to throttle down to save power when running it so you don't waste as much power on extended sessions while also preventing bugs that come from using too new/powerful hardware to play old games). You can easily do all that regardless of what brands you are using, just my point is that you only need one program for both CPU and GPU rather than two separate ones, simplifying things basically. I guess I should have worded it better because I can see it's easy to misunderstand my point, oh well

And ever since the Radeon 7750HD and above cards came out, Sapphire went from completely shit to ridiculously good and solid! Sapphire had a terrible track record, but ever since AMD started their own version of parallel processing (like how NVidia has CUDA C) and implementing it on the Sapphire cards, they've gotten great, especially on systems with AMD CPUs! I gotta admit though that their websites have always been absolutely shit

I figured I might as well go for the 2600X over the 2400 that was linked in that article mainly because two reasons. My monitor can only go to 1080 anyway, so might as well max that, and ThoD saying the "Iceborne expansion will be even more CPU demanding (because of Hoarfrost Reach being a ridiculously massive map so even more things the CPU has to keep track of." I figure with the 2600X should just be enough of a safe bet where I won't have to worry too much about potential performance hits.

In my experience, with 2400, the base game already runs at an average of 82% usage on medium settings at 1080p, which is fairly high with spikes to 95% when there are a LOT to keep track of. Playing at 82% usage for extended periods of time (game is a LONG one after all so expect sessions of 2-3 hours at a time) will raise temps quite a bit with stock coolers. The 2600X can run the base game at a comfy 61% average usage with spikes to 78% (highest I've seen), so even on stock cooler you won't have any temperature issues. Lower usage means lower power consumed and less heat generated, which is a great thing for just a couple more bucks and also makes it so you won't need upgrades for quite a few years!

Absolutely, when budget isn't an issue then it's nice to be able to get that extra headroom. Plus, who knows you might enjoy it so much that you want to try other PC games, and with this build you won't be limited at all.

Agree completely, always nice to have some head room in performance, that way you can keep playing new games and if OP likes Monster Hunter he may want to get the sixth gen game coming out a year and a half after Iceborne (World and Iceborne are both fifth gen for anyone not familiar to the series), without needing to upgrade anything at all!

 

[PityOnU]

They use the same driver, but the GUIs for the drivers are different for each brand (MSI has their own GUI suite, AMD has it's own, etc.), so what I'm saying is that if you have an AMD CPU and GPU, you can configure both through the AMD Radeon Utility Suite...

Can't you just use the standard AMD frontend for any card by downloading and installing the generic driver pack from AMD?

 

[ThoD]

Can't you just use the standard AMD frontend for any card by downloading and installing the generic driver pack from AMD?

Non-Sapphire AMD cards don't really work well with that unfortunately, which is why they need their own manufacturer's frontend, although you can still use the generic one for minor things.

 

[Joe88]

That doesnt make any sense, every card has to work with the amd front end, even sapphires page has a link to amds site to download the drivers.
If you are talking about all the rgb crap control on the card then yes you have to use their suite.

 

[ThoD]

That doesnt make any sense, every card has to work with the amd front end, even sapphires page has a link to amds site to download the drivers.
If you are talking about all the rgb crap control on the card then yes you have to use their suite.

Not saying they don't work, I'm saying they don't work as well as the Sapphire ones, I don't even know myself why. Quite often power management is off on MSI cards for example or on EVGA ones the fan speeds aren't accurate. I'm talking from experience, could be a problem on my end, but I doubt it it would happen in the over 350 systems I've worked with and benchmarked over the past 8 years:/

 

[PityOnU]

Non-Sapphire AMD cards don't really work well with that unfortunately, which is why they need their own manufacturer's frontend, although you can still use the generic one for minor things.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the information.

From the sound of it, it seems like Sapphire just makes bone-stock cards, but by that virtue they actually end up being the best because there are fewer things to go wrong.

I'll keep that in mind in the future.

 

[ThoD]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the information.

From the sound of it, it seems like Sapphire just makes bone-stock cards, but by that virtue they actually end up being the best because there are fewer things to go wrong.

I'll keep that in mind in the future.

Funnily enough that's exactly it, for general use where you don't need really specialized features like hair movement or super-crisp reflections, Sapphire cards are solid because they are so basic

 

[GameSystem]

Oh yeah, before I forget, what is the optimal way of purchasing games? I've never bought a computer game before.
I know that the game can only be played through Steam, but I heard things about being able to buy it through other sites and then Steam redeems it or something.

On Capcom's site, it says:

• The expansion can be purchased as a Stand-Alone addition by those who own the game. Starting at USD 39.99
• A bundled version of the base game and Expansion is also expected to be available. Starting at USD 59.99

I'm going to assume that once Iceborne drops, there won't be any immediate sales, but is it likely that I can find base MHW for less than $20 so I can just buy the stand-alone addition for $40 and save money instead of just getting the bundle? Or do they have promotions or something where they'll sell the bundle for cheaper than what Capcom says?

 

[ThoD]

Oh yeah, before I forget, what is the optimal way of purchasing games? I've never bought a computer game before.
I know that the game can only be played through Steam, but I heard things about being able to buy it through other sites and then Steam redeems it or something.

On Capcom's site, it says:

• The expansion can be purchased as a Stand-Alone addition by those who own the game. Starting at USD 39.99
• A bundled version of the base game and Expansion is also expected to be available. Starting at USD 59.99

I'm going to assume that once Iceborne drops, there won't be any immediate sales, but is it likely that I can find base MHW for less than $20 so I can just buy the stand-alone addition for $40 and save money instead of just getting the bundle? Or do they have promotions or something where they'll sell the bundle for cheaper than what Capcom says?

To be honest, I don't know if you should get it yet... Thing is, you can get the base game for half price most of the time nowadays since it's often on sale for 45-55% off on sites like Fanatical which currently has it 51% off. However, expansion is basically 40$, so if all discounts on it bundle it with the base game rather than standalone, you'll end up paying for the base game twice (even if discounted), although you can get the base game on sale now and hope the Iceborne expansion will be on discount as standalone rather than only bundled... Pity though that they charged 60$ for base game and now they charge the same for the bundle with expansion, kinda screwed people who paid full price over with that move even if we all knew the expansion was coming (for MH there's always a base game and a year later to year and a half an expansion).

As for immediate sales, not only there WILL be immediate sales, there will be sales on places like Fanatical before the game is even out, so make sure to check often when it's close to release!

 

[Duo8]

Can you explain what you are talking about here? It seems to me you are suggesting that cards from different brands (MSI, XFX, etc.) would use different drivers than the Sapphire card, which is not the case (at least, based on my understanding).

Also, my understanding is that MSI Afterburner is actually the goto program for configuring GPU's w.r.t. overclocking and etc.

Also, completely unrelated, but I guess things have changed in the ~10 years since I last built a PC. Sapphire used to be considered absolute ****. I tried to go to their website yesterday, and it was completely down, which doesn't fill me with confidence that their position in the market has changed...

Sapphire can be a hit or miss, their RX400 series card weren't good, but their RX500s are the best cards around.

 

[Duo8]

It seems newegg has a Sapphire RX590 pulse for $190, it's worth considering.

 

[GameSystem]

I think the Sapphire RX580 is already overkill haha. At this point I think I'm better off waiting for my current stuff to drop in price rather than getting stronger parts.

 

[ThoD]

I think the Sapphire RX580 is already overkill haha. At this point I think I'm better off waiting for my current stuff to drop in price rather than getting stronger parts.

If you can get a better part for cheaper than the part you were intending to get, why not go for it? But alright, you do you

 

[GameSystem]

I meant in the sense that the 580 version is $170 and already is more than enough. No point spending an extra $20 when I don't think I'll be able to raise the settings any higher.

EDIT: As far as I can tell, they are identical in all areas apart from clock speeds.

Radeon RX 580
Core Clock
1257 MHz

Boost Clock
1366 MHz


Radeon RX 590
Core Clock
1469 MHz

Boost Clock
1545 MHz

I'm not a computer expert, but is the increase in clock speed worth the extra $20 for a futureproofing type of thing? If it's a good deal, I'll get the 590 instead.

 

[ThoD]

I meant in the sense that the 580 version is $170 and already is more than enough. No point spending an extra $20 when I don't think I'll be able to raise the settings any higher.

Up to you, if you don't consider ~12-14% better performance worth the 20$ more, then stick to what you decided at first. If you want a comparison, check here: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-580-vs-AMD-RX-590/3923vs4033
Seems like the RX590 can get 60+FPS on games like GTAV compared to just under 60FPS the 580 can get when playing with settings maxed out, but for other games that aren't as ridiculously massive, you won't have any issues.

 

[GameSystem]

The problem is that I don't actually know if a 12-14% boost in performance is worth $20. If it is, then I'll gladly swap out.

Edit: I checked the XBOX Game Pass for PC that comes bundled with the RX 590 and nothing on the games list appeals to me, so they could give me a lifetime subscription and it wouldn't matter. However, if I am able to just sell the redemption code or whatever to someone else for like $10 and then the Devil May Cry game that also gets bundled for another $10, then I guess it costs the same as the RX580. Would anyone actually buy it though?

 

[Duo8]

The problem is that I don't actually know if a 12-14% boost in performance is worth $20. If it is, then I'll gladly swap out.

Edit: I checked the XBOX Game Pass for PC that comes bundled with the RX 590 and nothing on the games list appeals to me, so they could give me a lifetime subscription and it wouldn't matter. However, if I am able to just sell the redemption code or whatever to someone else for like $10 and then the Devil May Cry game that also gets bundled for another $10, then I guess it costs the same as the RX580. Would anyone actually buy it though?

Yes someone will, but you need an AMD card to redeem I think.
Also the 580 pulse is up for $170 without MIR right now.

Right now I have a 580 pulse plugged in, if there's any test you'd like me to run let me know.