Ryzen Budget PC Build #1: APU, Motherboard & RAM

Ryzen 3 2200G PC build using Gigabyte B450M GAMING motherboard. This video is the first in a series of five in which I specify and assemble a low-cost PC with integrated graphics, install Windows and Linux Mint 19.1 (including dual boot), upgrade with a graphics card, and finally install some RGB lighting.

And you may also find useful my video “Explaining PCIe Slots”:

The components used in this video are as follows. Please note that no products featured in the video were sponsored, but that all URLs below are Amazon affiliate links.

CPU used: Ryzen 3 2200G:

Alternative Ryzen 5 2400G CPU:

Motherboard used: Gigabyte B450M GAMING:

Alternative GIGABYTE B450M DS3H motherboard:

Alternative MSI B450M PRO-M2 motherboard:

RAM used: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 2400 (red):
Note that you can use any 2133, 2400, 266 or 2933 DDR4 DIMMs for your RAM, ideally in a matching pair.

Please note that all information included above and in this video is offered in good faith on an as is basis, but that I cannot provide a technical support service for your own builds. So please do not e-mail me with any issues! This said, I will always try to answer questions raised here in the comments. :)

#Ryzen #BudgetPC #ExplainingComputers

[ExplainingComputers]

As many of you have noticed, two of the APU pins are slightly bent at about 6:10. This I did notice before inserting the chip, corrected the issue, and all is well. :) Sadly, I did not notice the bent pins in the take of the shot I used until very late in the editing process, or I would have sorted it out in the video as well.

Some have suggested that I “dropped” the chip at about 5:36, and that this caused the damage. This may be true, but I strongly doubt it is the case. Rather than "dropping", I gently tipped the chip onto the surface below, and it fell a very small distance (a few mm at one end, and maybe 20mm at the other). To explain what was going on, I tipped it out to avoid my fingers being in shot too much in the CU. Would I do this again? Well, given the comments here, clearly not. :) And in this video I did say to leave the chip in its packaging and not to take it out as I did to show it in a close up. :)

Almost certainly I damaged the pins because I handled the APU a great deal over many hours filming multiple takes and shots for several videos (such as a forthcoming film called “Explaining CPUs”). And as we can all see here, using a microprocessor as a filming prop can cause problems! They are best left in their packaging or plugged straight into a socket.

Thanks to all of you who were/are concerned. But as we shall see in Part Two, the Ryzen 3 ends up working just fine.

Happy Times & Places,

Chris.

[notafraid]

That's a weird looking rasberry pi

[Hoppy]

I have repaired PC's all my life and I find this Youtube channel so addictive, maybe it's due to the living legend presenting the videos.

[Pazman]

I've built a hundred systems over the years, so why am I watching this video? Christopher is just too damned fun to watch while he narrates the whole process. Nice work sir, as always!

[johnc]

Thanks Chris. This video encouraged me to attempt my own build. In the end I went with the Ryzen 5 2400G, 450 chipset motherboard and 16Gb RAM. I built the OS on an Arch base install with Openbox wm. Genuinely, without your three videos on a budget build I wouldn't have had the confidence to try something like this. It's a super channel Chris and a valuable resource. Well done and thanks again.

[chiron]

This is the kind of channel YT should be theatrics, speaks clear and slow, very informative.

[thatsnotthepoint-__-]

You always do an amazing job with these. Also, thank you for not clouding all the content you do with royalty free music. Sometimes it’s nice to just have someone literally explain things without all of that extra stuff. Hope all is well, thanks again.

[Gexzumi]

This series will be the one to link to people too intimidated to build their own system! You make it look so easy and explain everything so well!

[mediaprof]

My son and I built this PC in late 2020, following all the series steps, and it works! It was the first time for us doing anything like this. Let me explain why it was built so late...I first saw this series in late 2019 and then bought Christopher's suggested components when most were still available (not all purchases matched ones in the video, but I bought his alternative suggestions suggested from the EC website) soon after. Then the parts sat for about a year in my closet. Covid and other diversions got in the way of me actually putting it all together. But Christmas and some father and son time finally took precedent and we built it over the period of two days. This what we used: Masterbox Q300L, B450M D33H motherboard, M.2 SSD for the boot, a 6tb HDD for storage, the Corsair power supply and a GEForce GTX 1650. We also put in a wifi card in one of the PCIe slots. My 15-year old son and I would watch each video and then do the work ourselves. I had enough knowledge of how PCIe works from Christopher's other videos that the wifi card was an easy add. Our biggest problem was that the Q300L box is a bit quirky in layout (especially with the power supply), but some side-Googling helped us figure out how to do it. Thank you for posting this easy-to-follow series. It is so well-shot (great closeups of the motherboard and its connections) and so easy to see what you are doing. You also explain things so well. This all gave us great confidence as we followed along--and the computer works great!!! This is a wonderful adult (and teenager) education channel. BTW, I realize in late 2020 I could do better than the Ryzen 3 chip that we used (same as the video series), but it should be good enough for what we need and I already had purchased the Ryzen 3 long ago. Baby steps in computer We didn't want to deviate too far from Christopher's directions. This process really demystified what makes a computer go and I doubt I will ever buy an off-the-shelf computer again. Happy new year, Christopher, and thanks again for all that you do!

[ISMAILOMAR_ISH]

Awesome vid... Not rushed like other caffeine addicts that do pc builds...

[issacclark]

"Let's be really wild, and put them on the table there." Gosh, this channel is wholesome. I love it. Genuine personality. Thanks!

[vijiyanttanaji]

This will be the most amazing and useful series for us, thankyou for covering all the minute details which are imp. and are missed by other pc builders on this platform

[ronnierush]

I love the smell of a new PC, putting together a new rig and the first switch on is the best part of computing :-)

[Touay.]

Small point. To avoid crossing the threads on screws, it is a good idea when starting a screw, to slowly turn it the wrong way until you feel the screw drop on the threads. This allows the screw to sit on a full revolution of the thread and therefore the screw should be aligned to the nut.
Any thread helix has a start point, on both the male and female thread. if you get the two start points sitting together, there is nothing to ensure the alignment of the screws. when you back-spin the screw, the start point of the male helix will drop off the start point on the female and you will then have one full revolution of the two thread helixes in contact. As both helixes must, by definition, be aligned to the direction of the screw, the male thread will be aligned to the female.

[ColorZebra]

The clarity of your video is supreme. I could easily read the numbers on the chip. Great information supplied as well.

[Trevor]

Love it! I've been involved in IT since early 90's and in all that time I've never built my own PC. That's about to change!! Thanks for this! :)

[kdpf]

For me it has been rare to look forward to a video upload as much as I have this series. You have given me that little nudge to leap into my first build....even to upgrade the RAM and CPU a bit. Am really anticipating next week's release. Thanks so much!

[freesaxon]

Crisp clear video close ups.
Very smart looking motherboard.

[mtbevins]

Thank you so much for these great videos. I look forward to them every Sunday. This morning my son and I watched you as we ate breakfast. I think I will use this latest installment to begin his CompTIA A+ certification training. What an inspiration you are.

[timothylaverdiere]

This might be one of the most relaxed build I’ve listened too so far. The way you talk about the computer and its components just scream the passion you have for it. I am taking computer science 10-30 starting in march and want to get a basic idea of what im looking at before the course starts. I love building anything i can get my hands on computers use some of the most delicate touch out of anything I’ve worked on, alongside the most care and thought about not blowing up the parts just by touching them. Ive worked on cars and for certain jobs you just take a crowbar to it, ive worked on houses and for the most part a crowbar is always near by but i cant find it around my computer. Or the fact that my dumbass has never given a thought about static coming off me and frying my pc when i break it open to have a look or clean it (which is due soon ) thank you for the video i subbed, hope you dont mind if i use some of your videos as a cheat sheet or reference to material.