1st PC Build (Budget)

[Vexzarium]

Originally was going to give my current system to my GF, but plans changed. We decided to instead sell it to a friend and put the money towards a better rig. This is my first attempt at this. I do have a natural ability at this genre of things but was hoping this would be a good place to get some feedback.

 

Edit:

Build is 100% completed with benchmarks and photos updated:

 

Meet "Uthgerd"

Edited February 21, 2015 by Vexzarium

[phazer11]

How much?

[Vexzarium]

It's so tough to pick these components... I keep landing around $900. I was trying to stay under $800. lol

[werewulfking]

You definitely would need to overclock to make your choice worthwhile. https://anandtech.com/show/8864/amd-fx-8320e-cpu-review-the-other-95w-vishera/5 See here the 8320 is only better than the i3-4330 if it is overclocked to 4.8 GHZ. But they are the same price so it depends.

 

Don't know how profficient you are with that so you have to decide for yourself.

 

And you should really use two memory sticks as dual channel is a really big improvement and you can go four sticks later if you really need 16 gb.

Edited February 5, 2015 by werewulfking

[DoubleYou]

You should stop working so hard and use pcpartpicker.com. Here is your configuration on it: https://pcpartpicker.com/p/synLHx (You can edit by clicking the Edit button top right).

 

Played with it a bit: https://pcpartpicker.com/p/9Zp24D

 

Then, you might just want to ditch your idea altogether and go for something like this: https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/hNPxFT/modest-gaming-build

[Vexzarium]

I'd like to scratch AMD all together anyway, as I've always trusted the Intel/Nvidia combination. I'm not sure what the difference betweer the FX 8320 and the 8320E are, I think the E version is lower TDP.

 

I'll be looking into my preferred combination today.

 

I actually composed the build in the OP by using pcpartpicker.com, so at least I know I was on the right patch to begin with. ;)

Edited February 6, 2015 by Vexzarium

[werewulfking]

Yeah Passmark gives you a very good multi threaded workload most likely. Which is where the FX-8320 excels at but it has nothing to do with gaming performance unless you stream to twitch or smth.

But for most Games an Intel i3 or i5 is better. And if you want to stay under 800 an i3 is a valid option.

[phazer11]

The problem I'm having is getting you good parts in that budget. Parts I'd be comfortable with add up to more than $1k. You need a good PSU so that bumped the cost up a little. You wanted Intel so I got you a overclockable version plus the motherboard I myself use. I would personally just get a 970 but that's another $100 so... The case is a little more but it's bigger to give you more room as well as making install and cable management easier. I could probably help more but I've spent a couple hour already and am starting to feel unwell again.

 

https://www.overclock.net/t/183810/faq-recommended-power-supplies

 

Hope this gives you an idea.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/phazer11/saved/7vqV3C

[Vexzarium]

I've actually been leaning towards the i5-4690k all day. But, I have to cut back the costs, 1k is too high.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Vexzarium

[phazer11]

Skimping on the motherboard is a bad idea. The problem with the 960 is that there is not a 4GB variant available yet and it does not have as high of a memory bandwidth. That's the reason I selected the 290 since they've been lowered in price since the GTX 970 is stomping AMD's bottom line.

 

The PSU you picked may be cheaper but there's a reason. It has issues. You should look through that list I posted earlier and try and find a PSU on that list in an acceptable price and wattage ratio for you.

 

As for motherboards, pretty much anything below $120 is not worth considering IMO if they're less than that they probably used inferior parts.

 

The RAM you picked is actually more expensive than what I picked out. I noticed you picked Directron for most of those parts... is there a reason like local pickup? Because they certainly aren't the least expensive.

[Vexzarium]

You must be getting led to different results from what I've put together by the links, I'll update with screenshots instead.

 

I also did not pick any merchants because I intend to pay a bit more to go through Amazon rather than buy from a million different places.

 

Also, I think I may be paying too much attention to PassMark, the GTX 960 has a good score for the price, making it one of the best price:performance cards based on PassMark's ratings.

 

But I do see that the R9 290 is superior, and have been weary of the 128bit memory of the GTX 960

Edited February 6, 2015 by Vexzarium

[phazer11]

Any specific reason Amazon? Not all of these are Prime if that's why. Try setting all of the parts to Newegg. The 960 came out this week I believe so...

1. It's super new

2. Low VRAM 2GB as opposed to 4GB

3. Lower memory bandwidth

 

Can you by any chance get Windows from Microsoft with a student discount? If Nothing else you can buy it from Microsoft so you can download it burn your own disc and then not have to pay shipping.

[Vexzarium]

Any specific reason Amazon? Not all of these are Prime if that's why. Try setting all of the parts to Newegg. The 960 came out this week I believe so...

1. It's super new

2. Low VRAM 2GB as opposed to 4GB

3. Lower memory bandwidth

The only really reason I like Amazon is "Buyers Confidence", as in I've always dealt with them with no issues. And I'd hate to have to buy from multiple sources.

 

To be honest, I've sat here staring at my monitor for the better part of the last 48 hours trying to build something reasonable for under or around $800 USD w/ OS and before tax... So basically $900 USD or less total. and I'm not sure if it's possible. Not with MOBO's, cases, and other components taking up so much of the budget. Almost wondering if a prefab is the way to go.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Vexzarium

[Vexzarium]

Updated OP.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Vexzarium

[phazer11]

These are the cheapest parts I can recommend for you to get. I advise you to not spend less than $120 on a motherboard and I really advise you to spend more time looking through that power supply in one of my posts above so you can find a good PSU as well as a good cooler like the Hyper 212 Evo. That;s all I can advise you on. I just think you should wait to upgrade if you only have $800 do it right or don't do it at all IMO

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/phazer11/saved/tBhdnQ