I'd wait and see what comes out next month ... and perhaps thru 1st quarter. If nothing else, it will drive down the price of current generation technology. When starting, make a list of the things you do and pick the CPU / Platform based upon application / gaming performance. Forget core counts, die sizes and anything else that is irrelevant. If you're only gaming than the CPU that is the best for you is the one that games fastest ... if you do Photo / Video editing and other things ... go into comparison reviews and see how it does with your apps / games. How fast it does 3D CAD rendering is only relevant if you do 3D CAD rendering. That goes for all componenty
1. CPU - Not suggesting either of these for you build but this is the type of comparison review, you should be looking at, again looking at only things that you actually do. As an example, let's assume these are you interests:
Gaming performance:
1080p -
https://tpucdn.com/review/amd-ryzen-9-3900x/images/relative-performance-games-1920-1080.png
1440p -
https://tpucdn.com/review/amd-ryzen-9-3900x/images/relative-performance-games-2560-1440.png
Office Suite performance:
Photo / Video performance:
Of course, on the gaming ... go beyond the Game Suite testing and look at the games you are most interested in.
Finally, consider whether or not you need GFX capability on the CPU, useful for example to feed a 2nd screen where you can keep utilities, browser, Discord, etc. And if comparing, if possible, choose a CPU w/o GFX caoability if you don't need it because you will be feeding screen off your GFX card
2. MoBo - I have seen folks [pair $300 / $500 CPus with < $100 MoBos. In most cases, i don't see the logic here. Recognize that the reason these budget boards have such low prices, it's because you are missin g features which may effect storage options as well as other subsytems. You may not need or want the chipset options, but along with missing those, you are also getting gaming substandard subssyems such as audio and LAN. By the time you look for a budget board with ALC 1220 and Z / X series comparable LA, you are no longer in the budget range and are at or neay the cost of the X / Z series MoBos.
3. RAM - Speed increases come at marginal cost intil a point at which the curve breaks and begins to rise sharply. DDR4-3000 CAS 15, DDR403200 CAS 16 and DDR4-3600 CAS 18 are all between $70 and $75 for 2 x 8 GB. If ya can find lower CAS w/o too much of a price increase, worth grabbing.
4. GFX - Big question here ... do you use MSI Afterburner or equivalent to tweak GFX settings. While AMD doesn't really have anything to compete at the higher levels, what you choose very much depends on the answer to that question ... in the middle tiers, the AMD card is close or faster outta the box, but due to low clocking headroom, once ya get at it w/ MSI AB, the nVidia card overtakes it. For example in the $225 - $300 range , the MSI 1660 Super Gaming X is faster, and $40 cheaper than the Vega 56 @ 1080p ... with 100 watts less power draw and heat production and the Vega 56 being 2.3 times as loud and 8C hotter.
5. Storage - We normally put one SSD and one SSHD in every build, haven't used a HD in 8 or 9 years. This is mostly a budget situation. There is no doubt that SSDs are faster, but the way they are tested and reviewed does little to inform the reader how it performs in every day usage and "will ya notice". We found that users do not. In boxes configured as described above, when we changed the boot drive from the SSD to the SSHD no one noticed (5 users ... 6 weeks) . boot time for SSD was 15.6 seconds, versus 16.5 with the SSHD. If budget allows, 2 TB+ of SSD is an option, but 500 GB SSD and 2 TB SSHD will probably make more sense in your budget range.
6. Case - Skip the bling bling and focus on cooling. Recommend a case that has good cable routing, plenty of room to work in and 140mm fan mounts. Use (1) 140mm 1250 rpm fan for each 75 - 100 watts of component heat. Also you'll want 1.3 - 1.5 intake fans for each exhaust fan. Intake fans are restricted by inlet filters which reduce air flow, especially if you lax on cleaning them. If you don't adhere to this, you will find, that exhaust air from your PSU and GFX card gets sucked back into the case thru the rear case grille.
7. PSU - We used to keep a bunch of PSUs on our recommended list ... these days, outside of abig sale, I find it hard to pick anything but the Seasonic Gold Plus
in cheap generic and counterfeit "knock-off" products and other applications because outwardly, it looks the same as pure copper wire. Unless weight is a factor, it is best to avoid CCA.
Come on. You cannot compare 4AWG and 6AWG stranded wire in .6 inch diameter service drop cables with integrated strain relief features deigned to survive 100MPH winds with distances from pole to house of 100 feet or more while carrying 600VAC at 200 amps to the wires found inside a PSU.
