84 MAXIMUM PC SEP 2020 maximumpc.com
a part-by-part guide to building a better pc
blueprint
BOTH BUDGET BUILDS have seen small savings this month, although
only the Intel system managed to dip below the $800 mark. Intel’s
current lead is mostly due to a decent price drop on the i5-9600K
processor, which now costs a very attractive $190. We’ve made
plenty of changes here; first, both motherboards are now PhantomApproximate Price: $803 Approximate Price: $794
AMD INGREDIENTS INTEL INGREDIENTSPART PRICECase BitFenix Nova TG $70PSU 450W EVGA 450 BR NEW $50Mobo ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 NEW $115CPU AMD Ryzen 5 3600 $172GPU ASRock Challenger D RX 5600 XT 6GB $270RAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) XPG Gammix D30
@ 3,000MT/s NEW
$57SSD 120GB Teamgroup GX1 2.5” SATA III NEW $24HDD 1TB Seagate Constellation ES
ST1000NM0001 HDD
$30OS Ubuntu Desktop Linux 18.04 LTS 64-bit $15PART PRICECase BitFenix Nova TG $70PSU 450W EVGA 450 BR NEW $50Mobo ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 4 NEW $140CPU Intel Core i5-9600K $190GPU EVGA GeForce GTX 1660
Super Black Gaming 6GB
$215R AM 16GB (2 x 8GB) G.Skill Ripjaws V Series
@ 2,400MT/s
$60SSD 120GB Teamgroup GX1 2.5” SATA III NEW $24HDD 1TB Seagate Constellation ES
ST1000NM0001 HDD
$30OS Ubuntu Desktop Linux 18.04 LTS 64-bit $15Gaming 4 models from ASRock. The Intel build has received the
Z390 mobo because it’s the most affordable option, but the AMD
build has given us a chance to both upgrade and make a saving
with a new B550 board, bringing us forward a generation.
This should see minor general improvements in performance
and power management, but the crucial addition is PCIe 4.0
support, allowing us to use 4th-gen M.2 SSDs for maximum
transfer speeds. We’re not doing that yet, though. Why? Because
this is a budget build, and currently the smallest PCIe 4.0 drives
available are all 500GB models costing upwards of $100. Still,
th e r e’s a g o o d r a n g e of c h e a p, l o w - c a p a c i t y S ATA III S S D s a v a il a b l e
now, so we’ve swapped the boot drives in both builds for 120GB
Teamgroup GX1 SSDs. If cheaper PCIe 4.0 SSDs become available
soon, we’ll take advantage of them.
The GPUs didn’t need changing, although a promotion on
the EVGA GTX 1660 Super Black Gaming saved $15 for the Intel
system. The 5600 XT is still slightly expensive for our liking, but
it does perform well. We’ve also coalesced back down to a single
PSU for both builds, with the ever-reliable EVGA 450 BR. While
similar power supplies are sometimes cheaper during sales, the
450 BR remains an excellent deal. The last change we’ve made
is the memory in the AMD system, with a switch to a different
2x16GB kit to shave a few dollars off the price while keeping the
same frequency and CAS latency. Performance isn’t improved
hugely in either system this month, but we’ve saved a bit of money
and gained some small boosts here and there.BUDGET