Decided to upgrade from my laptop and build a desktop, Will not be gaming on it just running Pio sims and grinding.

Processor, Would Ryzen 3 3200 be good enough for what i need? On the PioSolver website it suggests AMDs Starting from Ryzen/hyperthread generation but not sure if this is good enough or if i should look at something with more cores?

Video card, Would like to grind on a 4k monitor at 60hz but not sure which video cards can handle this?

Motherboard, Does it matter other then making sure i can get enough ram for running sims? Not sure the difference outside that.

Any suggestions would be great, Thanks!

Ryzen 7 2700x is great value now and comes with a decent cooler in the pack so you don't have to spend extra. Intel does not offer comparable performance for the same money. Ideally you want multi threaded cpus, the Ryzen is an 8 core / 16 thread cpu. Solver speed is essentially no. of threads x speed per thread, with some diminishing returns, once you go past 24 or so.

Need a B450 motherboard to run it well, preferably one with 4 ram slots (most are, except for the tiny ones used in small form factor pcs). Don't go for the absolute cheapest one. Gigabyte ones I'd avoid.

I recommend you get 2 x 16gb sticks for some future proofing and extra expand ability if needed. Ram speed, while it does not directly affect the solver's performance will make your cpu run a bit faster. Go for 3000 or 3200 Mhz, these are not over priced. Check with your mobo of choice if compatible. You got lists on the manufacturer's website, but Corsair seems to work with everything.

To run 4k 60hz on display port, you can use older gen cards (check manufacturer specs), to set it up on hdmi 2.0, both the monitor/tv and the gpu have to support it. gt 1030 and better from nvidia have it, so do RX550 and better from AMD, these are sub 100$ gpus.

For storage, get a small cheap ssd to run Windows and then a larger hard drive to store your files.

avoid the cheap janky PSUs, go for a recognizable brand and avoid the new trend of fancy pc cases with glass panels that let no air in

this system should cost you ~600 usd

if you want even better value, you can find refurbished workstations with dual cpus on amazon/ebay for ~300 usd that offer ~80% the performance of the Ryzen cpu for half the price.

post in this thread and I'l help you choose best value w/e you decide to go for. gl.

one more thing, I suggest you go for gto+ instead of pio, since it doesn't limit the no. of threads you can use on your cpu. to get full performance on pio, you have to spend much more on the software.

I already got Pio edge so wont be getting gto+.

Is the Ryzen 7 2700x that much better then the Ryzen 5 3600? Ryzen 5 is just cheaper so wondering if its really worth the extra money on the 7. Mostly running the sims overnight so don't care to much on the speed it takes to complete them.

As for the video card i am looking for one with a display port, Had troubles with hdmi recently so want one with a DP.

Thanks again for the help, Appreciate it!

how much is the 2700x where you live compared to r5 3600?
can also go for 2700 or 1700 if you can find any but need to buy a proper cooler

the more threads you got, the faster it solves, and yes pio edge lets you run all of them

just surprised you're rocking a 2k piece of software and going for a budget pc

the solver can be used on just about any cpu you can imagine, I have my 2nd license running decently on a 3rd gen i5, it's just about value for money. if you're going to invest in new tech, might as well make it worth the hassle.

It is about a $100 difference but it is not sold at memory express ( Store here in Canada ) which will build the desktop for me. Just a bit easier to get all from the same place and cheaper plus the speed of the sims was not a big deal to me.
But i guess if i add the cooler i would need i would not be saving much so might as well go for the 2700x

cinebench r15 and r20 are good real world tests for solver performance
just google cpu name and cinebench score and compare, you decide if it's worth the 100$
what's the building fee they're charging?

I forget exactly what it cost to build but did it a long time ago and was very cheap.

This is what i have so far for the build

ok so that cpu is 200$ in europe

need 2 sticks of ram in dual channel. if you don't want to spend more to get 32gb, go for 2 x 8 gb for 16gb. dual channel ram is very important for the cpu.

genuine windows 10 license you can pick up for 10-15 usd on ebay or on the sites that sell games like kinguin, g2a etc or just download from microsoft site and never activate it, absolutely do not pay 100+ usd for a key

for the gpu just go for a gt 1030 if it's 100 usd or less, don't bother with crappy old cards unless you get one for very cheap used. the one you selected there might not even do 4k 60hz, even if you see a display port out

on storage you can save money if you get a 128gb ssd to run windows and then another 2tb hard drive to store your sims

mobo, psu and case look ok to me

this system really should not cost you much more than 600 usd

I appreciate your help on this a ton and sorry i am a compete noob at this stuff.

How comparable is the 2700x to a i7 7700HQ quad core 2.8GHz? Just curious because that is what i have been running sims off from my laptop. Wondering if this is a better/worse processor then what i have on my laptop.

Also i bought a 8g stick of ram a while back that i never opened for my laptop that is HyperX Impact 8GB DDR4 2666 SO-DIMM. Can i just by another stick one of these for the desktop or is this not fast enough?

How does this video card look to you? Looks like it should have no problem supporting 4k at 60hz

yep RX570 is a fantastic value gpu, I got one in my main pc and am outputting 4k 60hz to a 43 inch TV through HDMI 2.0. It will def work with display port as well if your monitor has that.

anything from RX550 and up can do 4k 60hz through both DP and HDMI 2.0

the laptop you got there is pretty good already, but the 2700x is ~2.5 times faster in multi-threaded workloads, such as solvers. Depending on prices and stock in Canada, you might get a better deal getting a Ryzen 7 1700, 2700 or 3700x, I was simply mentioning the 2700x as a benchmark of good bang for your buck, because it's 200 usd here in Europe. If it's much more expensive where you live, give me a link or 2 of where you want to shop from and I'l find you a better deal.

Fyi, pc hardware prices are likely currently being affected by short supply caused by factories being closed down in China, due to Covid. It's possible pc parts have already gone up in price or are going to in the next several months. So, depending on where you live and if retailers still have plenty of inventory, this might not be the best time to invest in a pc, unless you really need it.

I used to run a small pc shop with a couple of friends, give me some links where you're comfortable shopping, a budget and I'l try to put together a good value system for you.

Sweet thanks man, I was going to buy everything from memoryexpress.com and amazon.ca.

Looks like i have everything picked out now though unless you could find a better price for processor that would be cool. As for the ram should i keep the stick i got or get 2 new faster ones?

looking at memoryexpress now, the prices are in canadian rupees right, not usd?

looks like you're better off going with the 3700x cpu and the total cost of the system would be ~1200$ (canadian?)

can you ask if any of their assembly services cover bios updates for the motherboard? if that's the case, you can save ~100$ on an older one. you wouldn't be able to do it yourself at home.

yes memoryexpress is in Canadian $$, The assembly service though i have no idea. I tried to phone and ask but they are not taking phone calls at this time.

if I were you, I'd consider spending a bit extra for substantially better performance per $

cpu
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX77401

mobo
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX78486

gpu
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX80586

memory
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX72041

storage
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX76753
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX76126

psu
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX79063

case
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX79895

wifi
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX76348

total ~1400 c$

Ok thanks for your help

happy to help

How much storage do you need currently? A 240 GB SATA SSD is painfully small, especially for a build north of $1k.
I'd suggest a 1TB (500/512GB in a pinch) NVME drive in place of the SATA SSD and HDD. All of the x570 motherboards will have at least one NVME capable m.2 slot. You can add an HDD down the road if you need the space, or an SSD for more space at reasonably fast speeds.
example 1TB for $129: https://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power...6211929&sr=8-9

The motherboard ionutd linked is an x570 chipset, and I would strongly suggest sticking to x570 boards for the 16 core Ryzen CPUs. The x570 boards are higher end and have better power delivery circuitry and specs than the mid and entry level boards. Your CPU will be at the top end of the stock design specs for power draw and beyond if you OC, so you want a good supply from the motherboard.

I was simply suggesting that storage setup to save money. For a solver pc it will make very little difference if you load and save your sims off a hdd or an nvme ssd and windows 10 performance is basically identical on sata3.

2.5 inch or m.2 form factor, whichever you prefer, the one I linked was simply cheaper on the canadian site op wants to shop on. granted, your system tends to look cleaner with an m.2

I've been out of the online poker game for a long time, but I assume there are still HUDs/other tools leveraging a hand history DB running on some form of SQL. If the DB isn't in RAM, being on flash will help. If he doesn't need 2.25TB of space and can live with one for now, the NVME is about the same cost as SATA HDD + SATA SSD.

I guess you can live with a 1TB sized database of sims and hand histories if you're not particularly anal about complex sims.

one more thing I'd like to add for ppl considering buying a used workstation vs building their own modern pc. If you plan to sell the system at some point, you'l likely make the money back in re-sell value and savings in power costs if you go for a modern pc.

Hi,

I've built a system around the 3900x, based roughly on the conversation on this thread:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bJ6tb8

I'll get the OS somewhere else, as suggested, but it's there as a placeholder. Any suggestions on lowering the cost? Do I need a cooling fan? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

If you need to trim the budget, you can go with a lower cost GPU than the RX570 if you're not looking to game. You can also go with a less expensive case. Those would save you a bit without hitting solving performance. Past that, you'd need to cut from the 12core/24 thread 3900x to the 8 core/16thread 3800x. You could save a small amount by changing the RAM from 3600 speed to 3200 speed. Dropping to 16GB wouldn't be a great idea.
The stock fan is reasonable and you can start with that and replace down the road if you want/need to. You may need or want to buy case fans depending on the case you pick and what it comes with.

Thanks. I don’t plan to game. Just play poker on Android emulators and use it for gto+ sims. Do you have a recommendations for a GPU?

How many monitors and what resolutions are you planning to drive? What total budget are you trying to hit for the build? Bear in mind that there's limited meat on the bone to trim from your current $120 GPU budget. You may be able to do something used in the $40-50 range. Also check the specifications your Android emulators use to confirm if they are using any GPU acceleration. That could leave you with an unexpected dependency on GPU performance.

Gotcha. I’m planning on using 2 22” 1920x1080 monitors. The emulator I’m using is Nox. Maybe the current set up is what I need to go with.