Custom PC - Build Suggestions - $1,000 hardware budget

[sohiskylines]

What’s up friends!
I’ve deceived to build a custom pc...
Starting from scratch I am putting a $1,000 budget in place to build the best possible gaming and video/audio production tasks.

Aiming to have the best possible experience with cities skylines, what do you recommend most of the money be spent on? Go high end with an i7 processor? 8GB + graphics card?

I’ve had so many issues with lagging and slow, low res experiences with Cities Skylines, how should I build to suit this game specifically?

Excited to read your suggestions and am grateful for your time and help! Thanks!

[Asdwasd(uL)]

Ryzen 5 3600
RTX 2060
and as for RAM no matter what build you go for get atleast 16GB RAM.

[Gabe]

Originally posted by Asdwasd(uL):

Ryzen 5 3600
RTX 2060
and as for RAM no matter what build you go for get atleast 16GB RAM.

Yes! And go for a motherboard with 4 RAM slots so you can expand that 2x8GB later with another 2x8GB module totaling 32GB for more assets and mods :) Always buy in pairs for dual chanel speed, and compatibility.

Water cooling is fancy but air cooling is cheaper, like half the price and it's adequate.

[sohiskylines]

Thank you guys!!
So is it a better choice overall to stick with the AMD processors over Intel?

[ThisHero]

RTX2060 on a scratch $1,000 budget gaming PC? I mean, this might be possible if you are not buying a tower to house your components, a windows 10 license, a power supply, and a monitor. But if you are legitimately buying everything from scratch, a 2060 in a $1000 budget build is..... not sensible.

[MarkJohnson]

Here's a decent Ryzen 3700X (8-core/16-thread), 16 GB, RX 580 computer at $1.079.99
https://www.newegg.com/ibuypower-sla2p3759/p/3D5-0007-00029

Do-it-yourself 3700x, 16 GB, GTX 2060. $1,002.46
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rBxHQq

[Gabe]

I recommended Intel for 15 years but now AMD have the better price/performance ratio in this category.

This build is $1022:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fcBq9G

Ryzen 5 3600 (6 cores/12 thread) CPU have 2 cores less than the 3700x yes, but it's cheaper. You can always upgrade later to 3700x if you feel you need it.
This list have a good aftermarket CPU cooler, good to have one whether you upgrade or not. Heat is the enemy of the CPU.
It features a good motherboard with 4 RAM slots to expand later.
A good power supply with 5-year warranty saves you much trouble later. Your system draws 350-400W but you really need 20% more power than that,so I recommend a 500-550W PSU. A bit future proof for upgrade. Don't underpower your PC, the PSU is her heart. :)

Monitor and peripherals is +$150 if you go for 1080p and non-fancy non-gamer versions yet.

But don't forget Cities Skylines is not optimized, don't expect you play 60 FPS all the time. Or 30 :)
I capped at 30 FPS but it doesn't matter for me, this is not a fast shooter.

[MarkJohnson]

You guys seem to be forgetting to include windows in the price. That's an extra $100.00

[Gabe]

I don't ;)

[MarkJohnson]

Here's a more real world test on Ryzen power requirements:

It is using Ryzen 1700X and GTX 1080.
https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-7-2700x-review,7.html

It says add about 50 watts in very heaving multi-threaded apps.

[Gabe]

You are right, I used pcpartpicker-s power estaminate (350W) it's wrong, the real world power usage is less indeed. The +20% thing is only my rule, I have so many trouble with cheap and weak PSU-s over the years that I think a little overhead not hurt. I don't like to push my PC to the limits :)

It was funny when I read somewhere else that a PC need a 750-850-1100W ultra platinum RGB power supply, no it is not needed. I understand your point.

But we are arguing about a 430W vs 500-550W. It's OK to using 430W if the +12V rail can output over 300-350W. (the +12V rail powers the GPU+CPU+MOBO)
What you are recommended the Thermaltake Smart Series 430W fulfill this(384W on +12V). It's really good.
So I'd like change my PSU recommendation to Thermaltake Smart Series but 500W (420W on 12V). +$10 difference but more overhead. Even cheaper than my first suggestion. I using a Thermaltake power supply right now and I totally satisfied, it's a good brand.

So you are technically right, but my personal prefernces(overhead rule) comes from my past experience. :)

[MarkJohnson]

Ah, I thought I had selected the 500 watt. my bad. But even 430 watts should suffice. Parts are low powered any more.

[ThisHero]

Originally posted by Gabe:

I recommended Intel for 15 years but now AMD have the better price/performance ratio in this category.

This build is $1022:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fcBq9G

+ monitor/peripherals, OP is your budget a red line or flexible? Is it a literal soup to nuts build ('from scratch') or do you already have items like a monitor? Clarity would be helpful here.

[rjo7132]

the more core and threads the better, and make sure what you load up is all in ram and not using page file thoughts would be ryzen 7/9 series on a b450 c/s and 32gb ram min and rx5500xt upwards just make sure 8gb graphics memory to run 1440 or 4k low quality or 1080 ultra

[rjo7132]

Originally posted by Gabe:

I recommended Intel for 15 years but now AMD have the better price/performance ratio in this category.

This build is $1022:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fcBq9G

Ryzen 5 3600 (6 cores/12 thread) CPU have 2 cores less than the 3700x yes, but it's cheaper. You can always upgrade later to 3700x if you feel you need it.
This list have a good aftermarket CPU cooler, good to have one whether you upgrade or not. Heat is the enemy of the CPU.
It features a good motherboard with 4 RAM slots to expand later.
A good power supply with 5-year warranty saves you much trouble later. Your system draws 350-400W but you really need 20% more power than that,so I recommend a 500-550W PSU. A bit future proof for upgrade. Don't underpower your PC, the PSU is her heart. :)

Monitor and peripherals is +$150 if you go for 1080p and non-fancy non-gamer versions yet.

But don't forget Cities Skylines is not optimized, don't expect you play 60 FPS all the time. Or 30 :)
I capped at 30 FPS but it doesn't matter for me, this is not a fast shooter.

personally no money needed on cooler as the cpu cooler is good enough and get just get a cheap case with supplied psu 500w+ and just add fans for airflow but the rest is good but do not touch the 3600x the price for a different fan not worth the cost

[darren]

Ryzen 3600 (stock cooler is noisy but cools well), 32GB RAM (3200 MHz), Intel 500p NVME (512GB) for storage, 450W power supply, MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard then with the money that is remaining, get the best graphics card you can get. I have NVIDIA, but I think the AMD ones are good too.