After you’re up and running, check our list of the best free, open-source software and best Linux games to fill out your system. Don’t skimp on your power supply, as using a quality PSU saves you from headaches and the need to replace fried parts.įor help in deciding which flavor of Linux to install, check out our guides on best distros for beginners and getting started with Linux. EVGAĪlso be sure to get a power supply from one of the major vendors (EVGA, Seasonic, Cooler Master, Corsair, etc) with an 80+ efficiency rating at minimum-better is 80+ Bronze. If you later want to pick up a dedicated graphics card (or get gifted one by a generous friend), you can install it without having to buy a whole new power supply to accommodate the upgrade. Power supplyĪ power supply of this wattage is more than what’s needed-but we’re recommending one between 450W and 500W so that your system has room to grow down the road. For titles like Metro Exodus and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you have to punt those over to a game-streaming service like Nvidia’s GeForce Now in order to play them. Crucialīut what about games with huge installs? Well…the ones that are 50GB+ tend to be the most punishing, graphically intense-not the type you’ll be playing on this system directly, if at all. SSDs make systems with modest hardware feel blazing fast. Sure, hard-disk drives offer more room for the same price, but they drag in speed. Given the affordability of solid-state drives these days, we think a 512GB SATA SSD is a solid compromise between a large amount of storage space and faster read/write times. In short, faster is better, and 3000MHz is a good, affordable baseline for a machine like this.

(So if you see a deal on DDR4-3200 or higher for a similar price to 3000MHz, snatch that up fast!) Equally important: Since integrated graphics must rely on system memory for loading game assets, its performance is affected by the speed of the RAM you choose. The longer you plan to use this machine, the better off you are with faster RAM, as Ryzen processors respond well to faster RAM. You could shave off a few dollars by going with slower RAM, but it’s not worth it. Second, we’re going with 3000MHz speed RAM. Dual-channel allows more data to pass between the RAM and the memory controller at the same time, boosting system performance. Memoryįor memory, we’re making two important choices to aid your 3000G’s performance: First, opting for a dual-channel configuration by purchasing two 4GB DIMM sticks instead of a single 8GB DIMM. We instead recommend waiting for a sale to bring down a B450 board into the $60 range, as these boards will support CPU overclocking and usually have four DIMM slots for RAM.

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