PC for Ghost of Tsushima

The Ryzen 5 5500 is an affordable six-core Zen 3 processor with SMT support for multi-threaded processing and a maximum clock speed of 4.2 GHz. It has good temperature characteristics and does not require powerful cooling; in fact, even a stock mini-tower with a 9 cm fan can easily handle it.

With AMD's transition to the new AM5 platform, prices for previous generation processors have become very attractive. For example, a direct competitor in the form of a 6-core Core i5-12400 now costs one and a half times more. However, they have identical levels of performance. In fact, you can only find older Ryzens of the second and third generations cheaper, but they are already morally and technically outdated.

As a result, the Ryzen 5 5500 has turned into an extremely interesting processor costing just under 4,000 hryvnia, which is extremely difficult not to recommend for entry-level assemblies. For example, in modern games it feels great in 1080p resolution and can form a solid pair with a video card of the Radeon RX 6600 level, providing 60+ FPS at medium-high graphics settings in the same Cyberpunk 2077, God Of War or Ghost Of Tsushima.

Gigabyte B450 AORUS Elite V2 is one of the most affordable overclocking motherboards for the AMD AM4 platform. It runs on mid-level system logic, supports the PCI-E 3.0 interface and is compatible with almost all Ryzen processors released between 2017 and 2022.

The board is equipped with 4 slots for installing DDR4 memory modules overclocked to 3600 MHz. Theoretically, you can install up to 128 GB of memory, which significantly exceeds the needs of 99% of users. It also has two M.2 ports with additional cooling, designed to connect high-speed NVMe SSD drives. There are also two slots for video cards and they can work in paired Crossfire mode.

Thanks to the use of high-quality components with heat-resistant capacitors and a 10-phase power subsystem with aluminum radiators, this board promises to become a strong foundation when assembling far from the weakest gaming computer or workstation with a 6-core processor of the Ryzen 5 5500 level, 16 GB of RAM, fast M.2 SSD drive and Radeon RX 6600 graphics card.

Despite the recent launch of the Radeon 7000 series video card line, the 6000 series models, in particular the Radeon RX 6600, are still very popular in the entry-level and mid-price segment. This is a compact and not too energy-demanding model on a Navi 23 XL graphics chip with a good, albeit not optimal by today’s standards, 8 GB video memory array and 32 MB of Infinity Cache memory. The latter is designed for faster data exchange between the video card and other system components.

The PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter provides an optimal framerate of around 60 FPS in most AAA games from 2019 to 2023 at high or maximum settings. Naturally, we are talking about Full HD resolution; 2K and 4K have much higher requirements. However, the effectiveness greatly depends on the specific game. In the recent Alan Wake 2 and Dragon Dogma 2, the card frankly suffers, FPS drops to 30, but the situation is somewhat corrected by AMD FSR. This is a free upscaler that AMD created as an alternative to NVIDIA DLSS.

If we talk about alternatives, then two rather interesting options come to mind. In the first case, you can increase your budget by several thousand hryvnia and buy a slightly more powerful and modern GeForce RTX 4060. It has the same 8 GB of memory and a slightly more powerful GPU, plus it has a trump card in the form of DLSS 3.0 with Frame Gen technology. If, on the contrary, you want to reduce your budget, then you can look for an old RX 5700 XT on sales. Its performance in games is 10 - 15% less, but with some luck you can buy it for a ridiculous 5-6 thousand hryvnia. However, in this case you will have to invest in a slightly more powerful 600-watt power supply. Radeon RX 6600 is enough for 500 watts.

Prices for RAM have been encouraging lately - DDR4-class overclocking kits are more accessible than ever, DDR5 modules are gradually reaching the masses, and the price difference between DDR4-2600, DDR-3200 and DDR-3600 has practically disappeared. With all this in mind, we continue to recommend dual-channel DDR4-3600 kits for entry-level and mid-level gaming PC builds. In this case, the popular Viper Steel kit with two 8 GB modules per stick.

Patriot Memory Viper Steel is an overclocking RAM that features impressive overclocking capabilities, an affordable price, and massive metal heatsinks. The modules are manufactured using high-quality memory chips, which provides excellent opportunities for manual overclocking or selecting a ready-made XMP profile with preset parameters. The manufacturer encourages overclocking, so each module is equipped with reliable chips and durable metal radiators to improve heat dissipation.

This kit has an optimal balance between price and performance. As tests show, increasing the clock frequency from 2400 to 3600 MHz has a positive effect on the performance of many games, often providing an increase in FPS in the range of 6 to 15%. Considering the minimal difference in price between the 2400 and 3600 modules, it would be strange to refuse this. The only disadvantage of this set is the height of the radiators. 44 mm is quite high, keep this point in mind if you plan to install a tall processor cooler.

The SN770 is an advanced and compact M.2 SSD from the WD Black gaming line. At the same time, the modern hardware platform and high IOPS make it a rather attractive option for professional work. The key factor in the success of this model was the 112-layer BiCS5 memory of our own production and a fundamentally new 4-channel controller of our own production, which instead of buffer SDRAM memory relies on Host Memory Buffer technology, which allows the use of system memory for SSD purposes.

At the winter presentation of the drive, WD company representatives focused on how much the speed and reliability of the drive has increased compared to previous generations. The terabyte model has a linear read speed of up to 5150 MB/s, while the write speed is literally half a block behind - 4900 MB/s. For comparison, WD Black 2020 – 2021 drives worked almost one and a half times slower, while heating up more and consuming more energy. And even having a full buffer didn’t really help them.

In general, WD has created a rather interesting and relatively inexpensive drive that does not overheat even without an additional heatsink, squeezes out all the juice from the PCI-E 4.0 platform, is highly compatible and has no weak points. Advertising slogans in the style of “faster, higher, stronger” did not deceive this time, and the use of bufferless controllers is no longer a death sentence: despite the predictions of skeptics, the SN770 is not subject to speed drops under mixed loads.

When building an inexpensive gaming PC, it often makes sense to save a little on the case and motherboard by choosing a simple board without Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi, as well as a simple case without unnecessarily fancy lighting, designer bezels and tempered glass inserts. A good example of a well-designed, affordable and modern chassis is the Chieftec ELOX AS-01B-OP.

This is a minimalistic black case with convenient dust filters on magnetic Velcro, a hidden wire routing system and solid noise insulation. In particular, the side covers and the front panel are covered from the inside with a special noise-absorbing material, which effectively dampens the noise of case fans and the processor tower. Out of the box, ELOX AS-01B-OP is equipped with one fan with a 120 mm impeller, to which, if necessary, you can add a couple more fans or a full-fledged liquid cooling system up to 280 mm in size.

The chassis is designed in the form of a familiar 2-tier system, where the lower tier is dedicated to the power supply and storage pockets, and on top you can install a motherboard (ATX, mini-ITX and micro-ATX formats are supported), a processor with a tower cooler(height up to 170 mm) and a powerful video card with a printed circuit board no longer than 320 mm. Air exchange is organized thanks to front ventilation ducts, as well as perforations on the top cover. Overall, this is a very solid, attractive and well-designed case, inside of which you can assemble some pretty powerful hardware for work or play.

The gaming PC industry has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, especially with the introduction of RGB-lit components and high-end power supplies. Despite these trends, the Chieftec Smart A8 remains an attractive solution for mid-range builds due to its budget focus and reliability.

The Chieftec Smart A8 is a budget power supply released in 2016 that continues to be popular due to its excellent price-performance ratio. It delivers 500W of power and approximately 80% efficiency, meeting the requirements of most mid-range gaming systems with Core i5/Ryzen 5 processors and Radeon 6600/GeForce 4060 graphics cards.

Thanks to a single 12-volt line and the presence of all the necessary connectors, Smart A8 has good compatibility with most modern components. Only the flagship GeForce 4000 series video cards with horse power consumption at the level of 500 - 600 W can be taken out of the equation. In addition, it should be noted that the cooling system is extremely quiet, which clearly demonstrates that simple power supplies without “platinum”, “gold” or “bronze” quality certificates can be silent.

The Ryzen 5 7600 is the entry ticket for those who want to experience the capabilities of the AMD AM5 platform, DDR5 memory and PCI-E 4.0 bus without having to spend money on more expensive processors. It boasts outstanding single-core and multi-core performance, integrated graphics, and low power consumption, making it a great option for budget motherboards.

With an average cost of around 8000+ hryvnia, the Ryzen 5 7600 is confidently ahead of any Ryzen 5 processors of previous generations in both single-core and multi-core loads. By switching to the all-new Zen 4 architecture, AMD engineers were able to raise the clock speed ceiling to 3.8 - 5.1 GHz, while at the same time reducing power consumption to 65 W. In general, its performance level has increased by almost a quarter compared to the Ryzen 5 5600X of the previous generation. And this difference can be increased through manual overclocking.

Unfortunately, there were some downsides. Components on the AM4 platform are much cheaper and, for example, the predecessor Ryzen 5 5600 can now be purchased at almost one and a half times cheaper. And this can be quite an interesting option for an inexpensive and very productive system with very limited scope for upgrade. The second disadvantage is that the stock Wraith Stealth fan does not cope well with heating the chip during auto overclocking, so we would recommend replacing it with an inexpensive tower from Deepcool, Jonsbo or ID-COOLING.

Asus TUF GAMING B650M-PLUS is a perfectly balanced motherboard for socket AM5, which in its technical features is not much inferior to the more advanced motherboards of the ROG Strix series. At the same time, it costs a little more than entry-level motherboards from the Prime series with socket AM5.

Despite the compact micro-ATX form factor, it boasts support for the PCI-E 5.0 interface for connecting drives, is equipped with four slots for DDR5 RAM with a fairly high maximum frequency of 7600 MHz (note: with EXPO support), and its 14-phase subsystem The power supply is ready for the challenges of hot multi-core chips of the caliber Ryzen 7/Ryzen 9. In addition to this, it is equipped with useful tools that simplify the process of overclocking components (Optimem II, PBO).

The layout of the board slots provides for the use of two high-speed M.2 SSD drives (approx: 1x5.0, 1x4.0) and four traditional SATA3 drives. Traditionally for the TUF series, the M.2 ports are equipped with heatsinks, and the PCI-E slots are reinforced with reinforced fiber. Plus it has a 2.5-gigabit network controller on board. Add to this the well-balanced AMD B650 chipset and you get a solid foundation for a powerful gaming PC with a Ryzen 5 7600-level processor and a GeForce RTX 4070/4080-caliber graphics card.

The 4000th series of GeForce RTX video cards turned out to be far from as interesting as many gamers imagined, but to NVIDIA’s credit, they brought the entire series up to an adequate level with the help of Ti SUPER modifications. Among all the models, the RTX 4070 Ti Super has especially improved, which, according to many observers, has become a truly worthy successor to the RTX 3070.

The biggest news: the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER replaced the mid-range AD104 graphics chip with the flagship AD103, which was used in the highest-end video cards in this family. In terms of characteristics, the update turned out to be very solid: the amount of video memory increased from 12 to 16 GB, the memory bus became wider (256 bits instead of 192 bits), plus the overall level of pure performance increased, while the price remained at the recommended $800.

Compared to the regular RTX 4070, the new product provides almost a 30% increase in power at 2K. It is also quite suitable for gaming in 4K, providing 60 FPS in almost any blockbuster game of 2023 - 2024 with mixed graphics settings. In case of lack of power, the user can use DLSS 3.0 technology, exclusive to video cards of the Ada Lovelace series, which artificially manipulates the resolution of objects in games, and also fills in missing frames using neural networks, artificially increasing the average number of frames several times. This technology has already proven its invaluable benefits, so it is quite difficult not to mention it in literally every review of GeForce 4000 video cards.

The MSI SPATIUM M482 2TB SSD is a high-performance solid state drive designed for those users who require maximum read and write speeds. This SSD is designed for gamers, professional developers and video editors who are faced with the need to process large amounts of data in a short time. SPATIUM M482 uses the PCI-E 4.0 interface, which allows you to achieve high data transfer rates that significantly exceed the capabilities of the previous generation of interfaces.

The hardware of the model is a combination of 3D NAND flash memory and a high-end Phison E27T controller. This is an excellent mid-range quad-channel controller with support for LDPC (5th generation Phison), RAID ECC, TCG Opal and 256-bit encryption. It provides linear read and write speeds of 7300 and 6400 MB/s, which is actually 10 times faster than classic SATA3 SSDs, and 2 to 3 times faster than previous generation NVMe drives using the PCI-E 3.0 bus.

Overall, MSI has produced an excellent gaming drive with high linear speeds and fairly solid IOSP performance (approx: 950 thousand for writing, 1000 thousand for reading), thanks to which it will prove itself equally successful in both gaming and work scenarios. For comparison, for most “gaming” SSDs a la WD Black 770 Gigabyte AORUS Gen4, this figure is in the region of 500 – 600 thousand, and IOPS above 1000 is usually found only in professional SSD drives like Samsung 990 PRO and Crucial T500. Considering that we have one of the most affordable 2-terabyte models with a PCI-E 4.0 interface, it will be quite difficult to find something more interesting in this price range. Especially if you add to all its advantages a high TBW of around 1200 TB and a 5-year warranty.

When it comes to optimal gaming builds that will run games in both 2K and 4K, it was strange to advise saving on matches and taking slightly cheaper DDR4 memory instead of the brand new DDR5. Even though the latter doesn’t provide significant acceleration right now, you can’t argue with physics, and even a basic set of DDR5 memory a la G.Skill Flare X5 will have a noticeable advantage in the future. Well, a total volume of 32 GB should be enough for most users.

The technical characteristics of the G.Skill Flare X5 test set include support for AMD EXPO technology, which allows you to easily configure and optimize memory performance for specific tasks without the need to manually adjust timings. In addition to high frequency, these modules also offer optimized CL32 latency performance at 1.35V operating voltage. To cool both modules, neat aluminum radiators with neat perforations and a brand logo are used. It is important that the height of the radiator is limited to 33 mm, which minimizes any conflicts when installing massive video cards and cooling systems.

Compared to DDR4, the fifth generation G.Skill Flare X5 modules offer higher data transfer speeds, lower power consumption and higher bandwidth. However, DDR5 costs more, which may be a disadvantage for users on a budget. However, for those looking for maximum performance and willing to invest in the future of their system, the G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-6000 is one of the best value options you can find on sale.

The NZXT H5 Flow computer case is a representative of the famous Flow series from the American brand NZXT, which is famous for its stylish, high-quality and functional cases for powerful gaming and overclocking PCs. This range is designed keeping in mind the needs of gamers and enthusiasts, for whom both the cover of a book and its content are equally important.

The H5 case features a spacious internal layout that can accommodate ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, providing plenty of space to install powerful graphics cards and cooling systems. In the latter case, it should be noted that this is a rare Midi Tower case aimed at massive E-ATX motherboards.

The case comes with two fans mounted at the front and rear to optimize airflow even during intense gaming sessions. The user can install 4 more turntables independently. Traditionally for NZXT cases, there are several pads inside for liquid cooling systems with a 120, 240 and 280 mm radiator. Plus, there are several removable dust filters with magnetic Velcro scattered around the perimeter of the case.

Compared to other gaming cases costing up to 5,000 hryvnia, NZXT H5 Flow stands out for its high quality materials and thoughtful design. However, like any product, it has its drawbacks: for example, due to the large amount of glass, the body may be susceptible to scratches and require careful handling. It is also worth noting that for all its advantages, the cost may be a deterrent for some users. However, if you're looking for a rugged, functional and stylish case to build a powerful gaming PC, and don't plan on using a large 360/420mm dropbox, then the NZXT H5 Flow can pleasantly surprise you.

Chieftec Polaris PPS-750FC is a computer power supply with a +12 volt line with a power of 750 watts, which is equal to as much as one hundred percent of the total power declared by the manufacturer (often no more than 80 - 90%). It also boasts a high efficiency of 92%, which is confirmed by the international 80 PLUS Gold certificate. This power supply is also very compact - only 14 cm in length.

Polaris PPS-750FC is built on the High Power electronic platform, which operates on the principle of DC/DC conversion. The capacitors used are both Japanese Nichicon, Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con, which are resistant to high temperatures, and simpler Taiwanese Teapo. It is the latter that forces the power supply to turn on increased airflow at maximum load - the supplied 12-cm sleeve-mounted PowerYear fan accelerates to 1600 rpm. Fortunately, when the PC is idle, the speed of the turntable does not exceed 700 rpm, which is practically inaudible.

The 24-pin motherboard power cable of the Polaris PPS-750FC is covered with nylon braiding, while the rest of the wires are made in the shape of a flat, easily bendable noodle. All this contributes to discreet installation inside the PC case and neat cable management. The length of the often short 4+4-pin processor cable this time is more than sufficient 65 cm. There are four connectors for connecting 6+2-pin video cards, which, coupled with a powerful +12-volt line, allows you to power a combination of SLI or CrossFire from two flagship video cards . All cables are easily removable, that is, the power supply is completely modular.

All mandatory types of electrical protection are implemented in the Chieftec Polaris PPS-750FC: OCP from overcurrent, OPP from overload in total power on all channels, OTP from overheating, OVP from overvoltage, SCP from short circuit, SIP from surges and surges and UVP against low voltage in the network. There are also models in the Chieftec Polaris line with less power and a cheaper price: Chieftec Polaris PPS-550FC Price from 3 542 up to 5 259 ₴ and Chieftec Polaris PPS-650FC Price from 3 331 up to 5 355 ₴ for building a PC with one video card.

ID-COOLING Frozn A400 is perhaps the most affordable processor cooler with four copper heat pipes and a total TDP of up to 180 W, which is aimed at modern gaming builds based on the AMD AM5 and Intel LGA 1700 platforms. In shape, we have a classic “tower” with vertical radiator, side-mounted 92mm fan and direct contact heat pipes. Traditionally, the fan supports PWM rotation speed control ranging from 500 to 2200 rpm. The bearing is a quiet hydrodynamic bearing, so the declared noise level does not exceed 26 dB.

In tests, the Frozn A400 demonstrated that it is excellent for cooling modern 6- or 8-core gaming processors at the Ryzen 5/Core i5 level. For example, the same Ryzen 5 7600, which is considered the entry ticket to the AM5 platform, when overclocked, easily goes beyond the declared 65-watt thermal package, which is why the standard turntable begins to howl as soon as the load on the processor approaches 70 - 75%. With inexpensive air coolers a la Frozn A400, you won’t be afraid of such problems.

Overall, this is one of the best air coolers costing around 1000 hryvnia. It attaches quite comfortably, is small in height (about 123 cm), does not overlap the RAM slots, and looks more interesting than most of its competitors. We have to thank for this the neat plastic lid with the Frozn logo, which creates the feeling of a neat monolithic design. In general, an excellent option for open cases.