Market Watch
A sampling of PC systems available this month.
TechFast Australia AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | GTX 1660 Ti 6GB $1,139 – TINYURL.COM/APC475TFA
The diminutive small form factor used by this system means this isn’t an imposing gaming rig like typical full-sized cases can seem to be on your desktop. While the headline parts in the CPU and GPU are very nice for any 1080p gaming scenario, this system is built to a bare minimum price and as a result compromises in all other areas.
The aging A320M chipset motherboard means no overclocking opportunities and limited IO options, like USB3.1 ports. The single RAM stick will result in some lost potential performance from lack of dual-channel memory, and the SATA SSD, while ok, isn’t capacious enough to simultaneously install many of today’s big modern titles at once. If you’re on a budget, this packs in a lot of performance, just be aware of its shortcomings.
KEY SPECS: CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600, COOLER: OEM, MOTHERBOARD: Biostar A320M-based, GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB, MEMORY: 8GB DDR4 2400MHz, STORAGE: 240GB 2.5-in SATA SSD, POWER SUPPLY: Allied 550W, CASE: TechFast Leaper SFF.
PC Case Gear Fusion 1660 Ti $1,699 – TINYURL.COM/APC475PCC
On the other end of the 1080p spectrum, this PC goes mostly all out on the features and capabilities compared to the TechFast system this month. The motherboard is much friendlier for expansion, included IO and even has RGB to help show off your system. The NVMe SSD is what we’d consider the bare minimum these days, however its snappy speeds and the included 2TB HDD means you won’t be wanting for storage space. The twin RGB memory sticks afford the CPU that dual-channel memory goodness at a higher speed that Ryzen’s love. The Phanteks case and PSU round out this high-quality build.
While pricey, this is a good system to upgrade over time.
KEY SPECS: CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600, COOLER: OEM, MOTHERBOARD: Asrock B450M Steel Legend, GRAPHICS: Asus GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Dual OC 6GB, MEMORY: Team T-Force Delta RGB 3200MHz 16GB, STORAGE: Adata XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD 256GB, Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD, POWER SUPPLY: Phanteks PH-P550GF 550W, CASE: Phanteks Eclipse P360X RGB.
Scorptec
Tundra RTX 2070 Super $2,999 – TINYURL.COM/APC465SCP
This very white build from Scorptec helps accentuate the colours from all the RGB lighting used in this build to stunning effect. Equally stunning is the price to performance metrics of this build. As with all good builds in this category it utilises a CPU and GPU combo that are just a step or two down from the best. Here the 9700KF is always fantastic for high FPS gaming, you only miss out on an IGP. The RTX 2070 Super nets you RTX 2080 speeds. Good for 1080p 240Hz or 1440p 144Hz+ gaming in eSports titles. A beauty on the inside and the outside, this rig will please most serious gamers.
KEY SPECS: CPU: Intel Core i7 9700KF, COOLER: Corsair Hydro H100i RGB Platinum SE White, MOTHERBOARD: Asus Prime Z390-A, GRAPHICS: Gigabyte Gaming White GeForce RTX 2070 Super OC 8GB, MEMORY: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro White 16GB 3000MHz DDR4, STORAGE: Kingston A2000 500GB M.2 SSD, Seagate BarraCuda 2TB HDD, POWER SUPPLY: Corsair Vengeance 650M 650W, CASE: Corsair Crystal 465X White.
JW Computers GMR Carbide 2080 Super $2,949 – TINYURL.COM/APC475JWC
This is quite a serious build. Lots of CPU threads and the second-best GPU available, what more could you ask for?
Well, a cheaper price, ussurprisingly. The 3800X is a great CPU, but not for $80 extra for about 5% extra performance over a 3700X. Then there’s the motherboard, it’s great but wasted with the SSD not being a PCIe 4.0 product to take advantage of the X570 chipset. It affords some future-proofing down the track for upgrades of course, but you’re paying for it. These two things alone make this system over $200 more than it needed to be for equal performance – savings which could have gone into including a watercooler and faster RAM instead. A great system, but a missed opportunity for a better deal.
KEY SPECS: CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X, COOLER: OEM, MOTHERBOARD: Asus Prime X570-P, GRAPHICS: MSI RTX2080S Super Ventus XS 8GB, MEMORY: Kingston Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200Mhz, STORAGE: Kingston 500GB A2000 M.2 NVME SSD, POWER SUPPLY: CoolerMaster MWE 650W, CASE: Corsair Spec-06 White with Deepcool RF120M RGB fans.