Assembling an esports PC for Dota 2, CSGO, WoT and Fortnite

AMD Ryzen 5 3500 is a new low-cost gaming and working processor that has caught up and even overtaken the competing Core i5-9400F. It has six physical cores of the latest Zen 2 architecture without SMT multithreading and a 16 MB L3 cache (the i5-9400F has only 9 MB). And sold so far only in China AMD Ryzen 5 Matisse 3500X OEM Price from 1 599 up to 4 556 ₴ has an even more capacious cache — as much as 32 MB.

The frequency formula of the Ryzen 5 3500, like the 3500X, is 3.6 – 4.1 GHz (base frequency and Precision Boost auto-acceleration by one core, respectively). With a parallel load on all cores, the processor operates, usually, at a frequency of 3.9 GHz. And by manual overclocking, if you are lucky with a successful instance of the chip, you can boost the frequency to 4.2 GHz.

Traditionally, for Ryzen processors, regardless of generation, memory bandwidth plays an important role. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to get a whale of RAM with a higher frequency, since Matisse chips on X570 motherboards conquer the frequency with a 1:1 synchronous bus up to 3600 MHz. In most games, the six-core Ryzen 5 3500 shows itself roughly on par with the more expensive twelve-threaded Ryzen 5 3600. The only exceptions are Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Watch Dogs 2, which can load at least 32 threads.

Parity is also observed in streaming, recording of letsplays and video editing, because in this case the bulk of the load falls on a discrete graphics card. Perhaps the only impossible task for Ryzen 5 3500, devoid of multithreading, is professional three-dimensional modeling in 3Ds Maximum But for him, even a twelve-threaded 3600 is too weak, you need at least a sixteen-threaded 3700X/3800X, and preferably a flagship AMD Ryzen 9 Matisse 3950X BOX Price from 15 399 up to 32 285 ₴ with 16 cores and 32 threads. Fortunately, you can spend the first time on a low-cost Ryzen 5 3500, and then upgrade to a more powerful processor without replacing the motherboard.

Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black is an updated black version of the well—proven mid-size tower CPU cooler Noctua NH-U12S Price from 3 140 up to 4 691 ₴ from a famous Austrian brand. It's not exactly a tiny low-profile cooler, but it's not a giant kilogram tower either. The height of the cooler is standard 15.8 cm, and the weight is a moderate 755 g. And even with the fan installed, it does not overlap the RAM slots at all.

The NH-U12S chromax.black consists of aluminium ribs, five copper heat pipes and also a copper intermediary plate, nickel-plated and perfectly polished to a mirror shine. Most of the competing narrow towers have only three or four heat pipes. In addition, Noctua coolers, in our opinion, have the simplest and most convenient mounting mechanism on the motherboard called SecuFirm2. A long thin screwdriver is attached.

Almost all modern and not very processor slots are supported: Intel LGA1151, LGA1150, LGA2066, LGA2011-v3, AMD AM4, AM3+, etc. The only exception is the highly specialized AMD TR4, but it requires a two or even better three-section liquid cooling system. This cooler is blown by a Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black fan with a diameter of 12 cm and a rotation speed from 300 to 1500 rpm (1200 if using a complete L.N.A. adapter).

The fan is based on the proprietary hydrodynamic bearing Noctua SSO2, which will last at least 150K hours. Even at maximum rpm with an air flow of 93.4 m3/h, the noise level does not exceed 22.4 dB. The compact Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black also has an older brother — a two-towered supercar Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black Price from 5 157 up to 6 565 ₴ with two 14-cm turntables and a weight of 1.3 kg. We recommend it for those who want to experiment with extreme acceleration.

ASRock X570M Pro4 is one of the first mid—size mATX motherboards based on AMD X570 chipset. And in addition, it is also one of the most affordable on the market. Moreover, neither the reduced size nor the reduced price practically affected the functionality. Ryzen 3000 and 2000 series processors, four DDR4 RAM modules with a frequency of up to 4200+ MHz and even bundles of two AMD Crossfire graphics cards are supported.

The VRM power subsystem is made ten-phase: the lower knee of eight mosfets feeds the processor cores and is covered with a radiator, and the upper of the two is responsible for the memory controller and integrated graphics accelerator, but already deprived of cooling. This is probably the only drawback of the ASRock X570M Pro4. The X570 chipset is actively cooled by a fan, and the first SSD slot is M.2 PCIe 4.0 (up to 64 Gbit/s) — passively heatsink. The second slot is M.2, also PCIe 4.0, already without a radiator, so it's better to put an SSD there more slowly — PCIe 3.0.

The third M.2 slot of the ASRock X570M Pro4 is shortened with the E key and is designed to install a Wi-Fi adapter. However, you can also access the Internet by means of an Intel I211AT gigabit Ethernet controller soldered on the motherboard. The sound subsystem is 7.1-channel on a Realtek ALC1200 chip with ELNA audio capacitors. There are two video outputs for the integrated graphics accelerator, both digital — HDMI and Display Port.

There are eight USB ports on the rear interface panel of the ASRock X570M Pro4: one high-speed 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbit/s) of Type-A and Type-C format, and six more medium-speed 3.1 Gen1 (5 Gbit/s). There is also a mechanism for synchronizing and adjusting the RGB backlight of all PC components called ASRock Polychrome. Those who prefer full-size ATX motherboards, we recommend taking a closer look at the models ASRock X570 Steel Legend and ASRock X570 Taichi .

Apacer Nox RGB DDR4 is the newest series of RAM of the time—tested Taiwanese brand. It includes both individual modules with a volume of 4 GB and a frequency of 2400 MHz, and paired sets up to 32 GB and 3200 MHz. To build a computer with an AMD processor that is demanding of memory bandwidth (PSP), we recommend buying a 2x8 GB paired set. But in the case of a PC with an Intel processor, especially if the motherboard has only two RAM slots, you can spend the first time on a single channel of 16 GB.

Hexadigig Nox RGB DDR4 slats are built on Hynix A-die chips and are dual-rank. Right at the factory, a ready-made XMP profile is sewn into them with optimal frequency settings, timings, subtimes and supply voltage. This allows you to literally start the memory at a frequency of 3200 MHz, with timings of 16-18-18-38 and a voltage of 1.35 V.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve more on AMD processors from memory on Hynix A-die chips, but on Intel processors there is still a chance for at least a small additional manual overclocking (up to 3333 MHz). However, taking into account the dual—rank, that is, the presence of two virtual channels on the same physical bar, even at a frequency of 3200 MHz, we get a high read and write speed — about 24 GB/s in a single channel and 45 Gbps in a dual channel. Latency will vary depending on the processor (Intel or AMD).

An aluminium radiator is installed on top of the Nox RGB DDR4 printed circuit board, which performs a cooling function. Additionally, it is decorated with a customizable RGB backlight and a translucent lens that diffuses light at a wide angle. The memory backlight is synchronized with proprietary applications from all major manufacturers of the mother: ASRock Polychrome, ASUS Aura, MSI Mystic Light and Gigabyte RGB Fusion. There are other high-frequency DDR4 memory modules with backlight in the assortment of Apacer: Apacer Panther Rage DDR4 EK.16G2W.GFJ and Apacer Panther Rage DDR4 RGB 1x8Gb EK.08G21.GJM .

Inno3D GeForce GTX 1660 Super Twin X2 OC RGB is a long—awaited update of the popular "sixtieth" NVIDIA graphics card. The Super version is only $10 more expensive than the regular GTX 1660, but as much as $ 50 cheaper than the Ti version. Moreover, in terms of gaming performance, they are much closer to the older version. Supports the hardware video processing function for streaming and editing NVENC 6th Gen, including the latest H.265 and VP9 codecs.

The Inno3D GeForce GTX 1660 Super Twin X2 OC RGB is built on the same TU116 graphics chip of the Turing architecture as the regular GTX 1660. The number of stream processors, texture blocks and rasterization blocks has not changed: 1408, 88 and 48 pcs, respectively. There were no tensor and RT cores, and there are none. So instead of NVIDIA Raytracing, we will have to settle for universal DirectX Raytracing, which has so far been implemented in a much smaller number of games.

The main improvements affected video memory: instead of 6 GB of obsolete GDDR5 with a frequency of 8 GHz, Inno3D GeForce GTX 1660 Super Twin X2 OC RGB uses progressive GDDR6 at 14 GHz. At the same time, the power consumption of the graphics card has increased from 120 to only 125 watts. Interestingly, the Ti version with a larger number of stream processors has a lower GDDR6 memory frequency — 12 GHz. Therefore, in many games, especially those based on DirectX 12 and Vulkan, Super and Ti go toe-to-toe.

As for the Inno3D GeForce GTX 1660 Super Twin X2 OC RGB version, this is a graphics card with factory overclocking, three copper heat pipes and two quiet 9-cm fans with RGB backlight. In addition, a metal backplate is provided, which simultaneously performs a cooling, protective and decorative function. Also available for sale is a strict-looking two-fan without a candle and a compact single-fan.

The WD Black SN750 is currently one of the fastest M.2 SSDs with a volume of half a terabyte, interacts with a PC via the PCI-E 3.0 x4 bus. And considering that PCI-E 4.0 drives start with a volume of 1 TB, the Black SN750 will remain the leader among half-terabyte models in the future. There are two options to choose from: a radiator-free and with a pre-installed cooler, and developed not by anyone, but by the eminent American company EKWB.

Considering that the brain of the WD Black SN750 is a powerful three-core controller (most competitors have only two cores), it will obviously not be superfluous to pay a little extra for the version with a radiator. However, many modern motherboards of the middle and higher price segment are equipped with their own M.2 radiator. Flash memory chips from WD Black SN750 manufactured by SanDisk (recall that earlier WD bought SanDisk semiconductor plants) — 64-layer 3D TLC BICS3. Additionally, a 512 MB buffer RAM chip is soldered.

Considering all this, the speed of sequential reading is 3450 Mbps (with a theoretical maximum of 3500), and sequential writing is 2600 Mbps (competitors often have only up to 2000). The indicator of random reading and writing of the smallest 4K blocks also did not disappoint — 380 and 420K IOPS, respectively. Like all TLC SSDs without exception, the WD Black SN750 has a reduced speed when writing very large volumes of data at a time.

The volume of the fast virtual SLC cache is 8 GB, but even after its overflow, the speed drops only twice — to 1300 Mbps. This indicates the use of selective flash memory, whereas competitors' speed can sink four to five times. Additionally, it is worth praising the WD Black SN750 for a five-year warranty and a high rewrite resource of 300 TB. Those who want to save money should take a closer look at the low-cost WD Blue SN550 WDS500G2B0C 500 GB with speeds of 2400/1750 Mbps.

SanDisk Extreme E60 is an external solid—state drive with USB Type-C connection, as well as IP55 dust and water protection. A great alternative to internal SSD and HDD in case you need to regularly transfer files from work to home and back. It does not have full shock protection, but its low weight (only 40 grams), coupled with a soft rubber-clad body, give hope that the disk is experiencing a fall from a height of human growth without any problems. And the eyelet on the case allows you to securely attach the disk to a backpack or belt during transportation.

The IP55 standard implies an average level of tightness: it is forbidden to completely immerse the device in water, but drops or even rain jets, as well as fine dust particles, will not be a problem. Included with the disc is a cable with USB Type-C connectors at both ends for connecting to a laptop, tablet or smartphone with OTG technology. There is also an adapter for a full-size USB Type-A for interaction with a desktop PC.

The sequential read and write speed of the SanDisk Extreme E60 is stated to be 550 Mbps. This is slightly higher than the actual bandwidth of the USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface (aka 3.0), so to get the maximum speed, it is recommended to connect the disk to the USB 3.1 Gen 2 port (aka 3.2 Gen 2). A TLC-type flash memory drive is built, so in the case of writing very large files, the speed will sink somewhat.

The SanDisk SecureAccess proprietary application will help to reliably protect personal data on the disk. In addition to the 500 GB version of the Extreme E60, 250 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB versions are available for sale. There are other interesting external SSDs in the assortment of Western Digital, which now owns the SanDisk brand: low-cost WD My Passport Go WDBMCG5000ABT-WESN 500 GB and flagship WD My Passport SSD WDBK3E5120PSL 512 GB with hardware 256-bit AES encryption.

be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W is one of the quietest computer power supplies with an energy efficiency of 80 PLUS Gold and a power of 650 watts. Only solutions with pop-passive (hybrid) cooling are quieter than it, and even then they are silent only in idle time. Whereas the Straight Power 11 650W uses a proprietary 14-cm Silent Wings 3 fan with a hydrodynamic bearing, a motor with six windings, grooved blades and a funnel-shaped frame. In idle time, it emits 9 dB of noise that is generally indistinguishable by ear, 10 dB under half load, and still very quiet 17.5 dB under maximum load.

The design of the same PSU Straight Power 11 650W is fully modular, that is, all wires are detached without exception. The cables are nylon-braided and very long: for example, the length of the traditionally most problematic 4+4-pin processor cable for neat installation is an enviable 70 cm. There are four connectors available for the power supply of the 6+2-pin graphics card.

The Straight Power 11 650W circuitry, the creation of the German brand be quiet!, uses exceptionally durable Japanese Nippon and Rubycon capacitors. All possible levels of protection are implemented: OCP and OPP from overload, OVP and UVP from high and low voltage, SCP from short circuit and OTP from overheating.

At the same time, the main 12-volt line is divided into four sublines for better voltage stabilization. The first one feeds the motherboard and peripherals (disks, fans), the second — the processor, and the third and fourth — a pair of video cards. However, such a scheme does not allow you to power a couple of very energy-hungry vidyukhs, like Radeon Vega 64. For this task, it is better to choose a PSU with a solid +12V line, such as be quiet! Power Zone BN210 . For those who want to save as much as possible on the purchase of BP, we recommend be quiet! Pure Power 11 BN293 .

be quiet! Pure Base 500 is the youngest model of the computer case of the famous German brand. However, what about be quiet! it is considered a low-cost solution, most other brands have almost a premium class. This is a 7-kilogram steel case (and in the case of the version with a 7.5kg tempered glass side window) with good capacity and sound insulation. Moreover, two replaceable upper panels are supplied in the kit: perforated blown and deaf noise-insulated. There are three colours available to choose from: black, grey and white.

The Pure Base 500 accommodates a tower processor cooler up to 190 cm high, video cards up to 37 cm long (even with a basket for two 3.5-inch HDDs installed), five 2.5-inch SSDs, three 14-cm fans or five 12-cm (or a three-section dropsy). By default, a pair of low-speed branded 14-cm be quiet turntables is pre-installed! Silent Wings 2 with a rotation speed of up to 900 rpm and a noise level of up to 17 dB.

In addition to the top panel, the front and side panels (with the exception of the glass version) also received noise-insulating felt upholstery. The power supply compartment is equipped with a removable frame to simplify the installation procedure and a decorative casing to carefully hide the wires. There is also plenty of space for cable management between the motherboard tray and the side wall of the case.

Easy-to-install dust filters are installed on the bottom and top of be quiet! Pure Base 500. In addition, the perforated side faces of the front panel are removed. The PCI-E slot plugs on the back panel are also reusable. Simply put, everything is done wisely to simplify as much as possible both the process of initial PC assembly and its subsequent cleaning and upgrade. Even more interesting opportunities are offered by the senior buildings of be quiet!: models be quiet! Dark Base 700 without PSU Price from 7 326 up to 12 167 ₴ and be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev. 2 orange .

LG UltraGear 27GL850 is probably the most progressive gaming monitor in recent times. It is built on the basis of the Nano IPS matrix and has an honest GtG hardware response time of 1 ms, which none of the competitors can boast of. Other IPS monitors, such as the cinematic LG UltraGear 34GK950F 34 " black the GtG indicator is 3 ms or more, and 1 ms is achieved only by MBR software technology.

The diagonal of the UltraGear 27GL850-B screen is a solid 27", the resolution is QuadHD or 800x1440 pixels (image density 109 PPI), and the refresh rate is 144 Hz. At the same time, two adaptive FPS synchronization technologies are supported at once in games with a screen refresh rate: AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync. The first one works on a PC with a Radeon graphics card and a GeForce 1000 series or higher, and the second one works with a GeForce 600 series or higher.

In addition to the "reactive" response time, the Nano IPS matrix boasts an extended colour coverage — 98 percent according to the DCI-P3 standard or 135 percent sRGB. This made it possible to implement support for HDR10 technology in the UltraGear 27GL850, which gives a more "juicy" picture in games and movies. Other useful LG technologies are also implemented: DAS to minimize input delay, Black Stabilizer to better see opponents in the dark, and Crosshair on-screen sight for those game weapons where there is no sight of its own.

The frames around the LG UltraGear 27GL850 screen are very narrow, practically invisible. The stand is adjustable in three planes: the angle of inclination (from -5 ° to +15 °), height (+11 cm) and a 90° flip to the vertical position. The latter can be useful both for professional processing of portrait photos and for creating a multi-panel of multiple monitors. Those who want to save as much as possible on buying a gaming 144-Hz monitor should take a closer look at LG UltraGear 24GL650 24 " .

Logitech G502 Lightspeed is a wireless gaming mouse with an optical sensor of as much as 16,000 DPI and a response time of only 1 ms. In addition, it can be fine-tuned to the needs of each individual user. The dimensions of the mouse are quite large (length 13 cm), the weight is average (114 g), and the shape is asymmetrical (for right-handers). Lefties are better off taking a closer look at the symmetrical Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless Hero Price from 3 799 up to 5 790 ₴.

The Logitech G502 Lightspeed is based on the innovative HERO 16K sensor. Even at a maximum resolution of 16,000 dots per inch, it reads hand movements at speeds up to 10 m/s without interruptions. At the same time, the HERO 16K consumes battery power ten times slower than its predecessors. The battery charge of the mouse lasts for 48 hours with the backlight on and for 60 with the backlight off.

There are two ways to charge the Logitech G502 Lightspeed: via USB cable and wireless Powerplay. The cable takes only 5 minutes to charge the battery for 2.5 hours of operation. In the case of using a branded gaming surface Logitech G PowerPlay , the mouse will be charged wirelessly in real time. The polling frequency of the mouse, whether wired or wireless, thanks to Lightspeed technology is 1000 Hz, and the response time is 1 ms.

You can assign macros (combinations of actions) in games and professional work applications to each of the eleven Logitech G502 Lightspeed keys. A pair of main buttons are based on mechanical microswitches that can withstand up to 50 million clicks. If desired, the mouse can be weighted with the help of six weights hiding under the magnetic cover (plus 16 g in total). Finally, the LIghtsync RGB backlight automatically synchronizes with what is happening in the game (visual series or soundtrack) for maximum immersion. There is a wireless Logitech G502 Lightspeed and a cheaper wired version Logitech G502 Hero Price from 1 675 up to 4 149 ₴.

Logitech G915 Lightspeed is a wireless full—size gaming keyboard with low-profile mechanical switches. There are three variants of branded microswitches available to choose from: GL Tactile with tactile response, Logitech G915 Lightspeed Wireless Clicky Switch with tactile and sound response, and finally Logitech G915 Lightspeed Wireless Linear Switch with a linear stroke. The stroke of the keys is shortened: 1.5 mm to trigger and 2.7 to stop. The pressing force is standard for mechanics — 50 g.

The Logitech G915 Lightspeed base is made of metal, which makes the keyboard both strong and thin (only 2.2 cm). This solution is an optimal compromise for those who are used to low-profile laptop keyboards, but at the same time want to get all the advantages of mechanics (a clear sense of the key actuation, a quick return to the starting position and durability).

Logitech G915 Lightspeed has three connection options at once: wired via USB cable for charging time, wireless via USB radio module with a minimum delay of only 1 ms thanks to Lightspeed technology (for desktop PCs) and Bluetooth for laptop or tablet. You can switch between several managed devices right on the fly. The built-in battery charge lasts for 30 hours of operation at maximum backlight brightness.

And the backlight of the Logitech G915 Lightspeed is customizable Lightsync RGB with 16.8 million colours. You can adjust the brightness and glow mode using the Logitech G HUB proprietary application. With its help, macros are assigned to five additional game G-keys — three macro profiles are stored in memory at once. Dedicated music playback control keys and a convenient volume control roller are also available. There is a wireless Logitech G915 Lightspeed and a cheaper wired version Logitech G815 Lightsync RGB Tactile Switch .