Komplett PC building contest

[LowPolyOWG]

Komplett, one of the largest retailers of custom built desktops in Scandiavia has a desktop building contest. The goal: Build a PC for less than 1286.55 USD (10 000 NOK at the time I post this). I came up with this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($156.08 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($91.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LED 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($179.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston - SSDNow UV400 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8GB PULSE Video Card
Case: Corsair - Carbide SPEC-04 (Black/Gray) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.99 @ Corsair)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.87 @ OutletPC)
Total: $698.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-11 05:01 EDT-0400

Note how the price is like 50% cheaper in the US. Damn taxes here

I focused primarily on the CPU/GPU and price/perf here. Ryzen 5 1400 is a great CPU (4c/8t with a lower price than Intel's i7) and it gives much more bang for the buck compared to Intel. Paired it with a RX 580 from Sapphire. This MSI motherboard is a B350 chipset and has decent functionality for the price. Ditched the 3rd party CPU cooler, Wraith is decent and it cuts down costs. A 120 GB SSD for the OS and 1 TB HDD for anything else. Let's see who's the winner on Oct 2nd. All of it placed in a cheap, good looking Corsair case and powered by a 500 W PSU.

Reward: A visit to Komplett's HQ and the opportunity to assemble your build

[Art Blade]

that's a good idea, and good luck to you

[LowPolyOWG]

Thanks!

[PZ]

nice  GKID is our resident PC guru 

[Art Blade]

[LowPolyOWG]

 

[mandru]

Let's hope the judging and selection panel is heavily loaded with AMD fans. 

Good luck on your entry OWGKID.

[LowPolyOWG]

Thanks! Komplett are literally a computer nerd's dream

[LowPolyOWG]

Alright, no luck for me, but it was nice to try Better luck next time I guess

The winner PC (Ryzen Prime) out of 1600. Compared to my build, the CPU is stronger, a M.2 SSD is included. But he chose a 3GB VRAM card, which isn't enough for any modern game if you plan on using VRAM heavy settings. Unless you insist on playing on medium. Memory speed of the RAM kit will be an issue, the Infinity Fabric willl be slower, dropping performance compared to Intel's rivals. He managed to make it cost 9999 NOK So, good CPU choice, but there are some choices that can impact performance negatively. Notably the RAM and GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($193.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($93.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($117.60 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($65.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($219.32 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Define C with Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $876.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-17 13:56 EDT-0400

A funny thing during the contest were people messing up CPU and memory They insisted on picking Intel CPUs and combine them with an AMD mobo or the opposite. Also picked DDR3 memory for DDR4-only motherboards or used Intel K CPUs in mobos not supporting overclocking. Some even chose non-SLI compatible motherboards*, despite them using a GTX 1070 and suggesting SLI for the future. It was a tie between AMD/Intel when it came to CPUs.

Spoiler

AMD B350 mobos supports CrossFire, but not SLI

I hope Komplett will have more PC contests like this in the future, but with enthusiast rigs

[Art Blade]

almost as good as putting in the memory bank backwards.

[LowPolyOWG]

 

[BinnZ]

 

Good try GKID, keep it going, competing is as good as winning

As a kid I always dreamed of winning drawing contests. However, I never tried because I figured I didn't have a chance anyway. Had I done it, who knows. My daughter did compete multiple times and won twice. The prize isn't the most important, it's the fact that you try to win. You can always get drunk trying

[LowPolyOWG]

Thanks! I'll try my best It was suprising to know that I was not the only one who picked AMD CPUs.

[Art Blade]

I think you should have won, G

[LowPolyOWG]

Thanks