Full build here (
PC Part Picker Link).
Sadly, there was a bit too much money-saving going on here at the wrong components. First and foremost, the PSU. As has already been mentioned, the Smart 80+ RGB / 80+ White, those are classed as "Tier F • Replace immediately" on the PSU tier list. They have some
design flaws inside, in that thread his low-end PSU croaked after just one year, new PSU solved everything.
For this PC, the rated wattage is more than adequate, but you should go way higher on the quality. An 80PLUS White-rated PSU is totally out of the question, the absolute minimum would be a Bronze-rated model which is no lower than Tier C. But for that PC, with an i7 CPU and a 3060, you already want to get a Gold-rated PSU, ideally no lower than Tier B. The upcharge for a better PSU isn't even big at all, for example
this model already, let alone
this one, would be drastically better in every regard, for what, 25-40 bucks more? They will also last way longer than that cheap SMART junk, excuse my French. So this I would replace, there's not too much sense in troubleshooting with such a bad PSU model.
Another bone of contention is the motherboard model. Selecting the cheapest model from the list just won't cut it. This is a board that's meant to be used in an office PC with a Pentium or i3 CPU, not an i7. The components should be matched up a bit better than this. For an i7, you already want a lower mid-range board at least, nothing bottom-entry-level anymore. This CPU model can already cause high demands on the VRM (voltage regulator module) of the board, and therefore boards where the VRM is completely lacking any heatsinks should not be considered. The minimum is a B-series board model with fully heatsinked VRM. Ideal would be a Z-series board model with a more advanced VRM.
Now, admittedly, the choice of µATX-sized boards is very limited. We don't know what case you're using, but the small board and cooler suggest that it's a small-sized case as well. Looking at the available board models for that, the choice would be the
MSI PRO B760M-A WIFI DDR4. Because once you'd have VRM thermal throttling (from the board's side), the performance will drop a lot because it throttles the CPU a lot. Ideal would be something like the MSI MAG B760M MORTAR MAX WIFI DDR4, since that would bring a much more powerful VRM using
Powerstages and a bunch of other improvements, but it's not really available anymore. See
here about more explanations regarding the VRM of these boards.
Replacing the board would be a big hassle of course, I won't deny this. So maybe start with the PSU, see what happens afterwards. It's possible to make this CPU work even on such a low-end board, but he might not get the full performance from the CPU, or at least not for very long. If he mainly uses this for gaming where the CPU is not fully loaded, it might just be something that could be doable, but it's certainly not ideal.
Then, the last question mark of this parts list, the SSD. Nowadays, you would get an M.2 PCIe SSD as the boot SSD. This is not even a question of price, see
this model for less than the SATA SSD on the list, or
this one (quite high-end) for a similar price. In other words, when you get the SATA SSD, you're limiting the system in performance for no reason.
But unlike the PSU, and the board to a lesser degree, this is not critical, you can easily run the system with a SATA SSD too. Game loading times etc. would've benefited from an M.2 PCIe SSD, but overall, this is the least of the worries from the three things mentioned.
