Description
I've been waiting a long while to upgrade my FX-8320E and 750Ti build. Ryzen 5 finally gave me the opportunity.
I mainly play games like Overwatch and do some light video editing. So far, I love everything about this setup. The most noticeable performance upgrade, though, is the m.2 drive. I don't know where this stacks up with other drives out there, but the boot and software install times are really incredible.
I tried my best with cable management, but some wires were pretty difficult to find a good place to make them unnoticeable, like the fan cable for cpu cooler. I'm welcome to suggestions.
Anyway, I hope this is well received.
Part Reviews
CPU
I had been using an 8320E for a few years now. Huge noticeable difference with Ryzen 5 in video editing and streaming games.
Motherboard
The only board I could find at the time that was both mATX and had 4 ram slots. Bios was really easy to use, and the board layout is pretty good for cable management.
Memory
I don't know much about RAM other than I need it. It works without any problems, and fit my color scheme.
Storage
Absolutely love this drive! Boot and app load times are incredible.
Storage
I've had this drive for a long time. Used to be my boot drive. Reliable, and I did notice that boot times improved as time went on due to the internal flash drive. The only irritating thing was that if I put the PC to sleep instead of shutting down, I'd notice that certain apps would load faster, but the boot time would drop considerably when I needed a restart. I'm looking forward to how it performs now as a secondary storage drive.
Video Card
I bought this about 2 weeks after release. Paid more than I would have if I had waited until Ryzen came out, but it was a big difference over my previous 750ti.
Case
Real dream to build in. My past experience had been with more budget or sff style cases. The cutouts and cable management options were really great. Makes it really easy to make a build look organized and clean. I'm hoping the full size air filters will make it easy to keep it that way.
Power Supply
Does the trick. My only complaint is that the non-modular motherboard cable is a little long. I'm sure that's helpful for full size ATX boards, but the cable is also stiff, so it was the only challenge in cable routing.
Case Fan
Super quiet, and the all black makes it really easy to incorporate into the build vs. the standard black and white Fractal fans.
Case Fan
Super quiet, and the all black makes it really easy to incorporate into the build vs. the standard black and white Fractal fans.
Monitor
I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted freesync and multiple inputs. This monitor turned out to be perfect. The internal audio allowed me to run the speakers from the monitor. So I could run an AppleTV into the HDMI input and PC though the displayport. This meant I could use the whole setup as a gaming/productivity machine and bedroom TV.
I noticed other comments have mentioned the buttons on the back, and its true, they take getting used to. Also, sometimes it'll turn on with one of the inputs that's currently off, and it can be a little tricky to get it to switch to the active input.
It's not perfect, but it's a real good value.
Keyboard
Had it for years. Keys are still as responsive as they were at purchase and I like having the numpad. Only trouble is that it wants to default to Numlock during the bios boot screen, which makes it feel like a speedtest to turn it off and hit delete if you're trying to get into the bios.
Mouse
I don't like flashy RGB, so this mouse has been great. Even though there are some noticeable wear spots from years of daily use, its still grips well. I'm really hoping it lasts for a while longer.
Speakers
I'm not an audiophile, and I don't like wearing headphones for long periods of time. So these have been good enough for me. I have been told by others, though, that the sound could be better.
Comments