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$700 Dollar Build Expert Advice Greatly Needed

ApexSutton31

Hello all. I have only been on this forum for maybe a week now and have already been given some much needed advice. I have shared my AMD about $700 ish build on here under a monitor question I have recently asked on here.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/241389-monitor-choice-help-please/

 

I have done countless research and have watched God knows how many hours of YouTube videos of products and builds, but I think my research was solely based on specs and numbers. So I was informed that the build I have planned was lacking. I guess what I'm asking is that since I do not have the adequate knowledge of PC building, I would greatly appreciate some expert advice on what direction I should take in my building process. Please and thank y'all very much!

 

Now, I should also state that this around $700 budget is something I'd like to keep close in mind. A little over is okay, but if I could go a little under, it'd also be very nice. I'm looking to do gaming such as FPS games and Elder Scrolls modding, as I've done on the mediocre gaming Laptop I'm running with right now. I'm also looking to the future with my build such as not going all out, yet and having room to improve the build in the future. And I plan to go to college while in or after I get out of the military, so the build will have to serve that purpose as well as slightly heavy gaming. I had the idea of going with AMD because of their pricing alone. But I fully understand you can make a great gaming rig with a good budget on an Intel build, so that's also something I am open to.

 

Thank you for reading and any and all advice given will be greatly appreciated!  

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nothing to see here

-snip-

Its always exciting to make a us build because the tax is sooo much lower :D Also monitor and peripherals?

Steve

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Here's a build I've made, hope you like it

 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($75.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $731.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 18:57 EDT-0400
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@ApexSutton31,

 

Does the budget need to include monitor and other peripherals? How about o/s?

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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nothing to see here

Its always exciting to make a us build because the tax is sooo much lower :D Also monitor and peripherals?

I found a cheapy keyboard and mouse combo that I think would be sufficient for the time being. But it's subject to change of course. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823129032

 

As for the monitor, I honestly have no idea. Not too familiar with the exact specs of the monitor that would fit well with my planned build. And If the build changes, I may have to change the monitor.

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@ApexSutton31,

 

Does the budget need to include monitor and other peripherals? How about o/s?

I included the OS in my build at the top. But honestly, I think I could go without the OS or maybe only add half of the price of the OS into the build. So an extra $50 respectively. 

 

No, the peripherals don't have to be included. Thank you for your interest in helping with a build for me!

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Intel Build:


 


Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($98.86 @ Newegg) 



Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ NCIX US) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $733.78

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:44 EDT-0400

 

AMD Builds:


 

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($173.97 @ OutletPC) 


Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($65.66 @ Newegg) 



Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $693.55

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:52 EDT-0400

 


 

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 


Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($65.66 @ Newegg) 



Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $709.55

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:55 EDT-0400

Desktop: The Bluez | CPU: i5-3570k @ 4.5 ghz 1.296V | CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo | Motherboard: P8Z77 M-Pro | Memory: 16 GB 1600Mhz Kingston HyperX  


GPU: Asus GTX 780ti DirectCu II | HDD: Some Random Hitachi 1TB, WD Blue 1TB, 850 EVO 500GB | PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W | Case: Enermax Ostrog GT (Blue Ver.) 


Laptop: Razer Blade 14 2013 256GB

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Here's a build I've made, hope you like it

 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($75.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 
Total: $731.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 18:57 EDT-0400

 

Wow, that's a really nice build! Thank you very much for the suggestion. Only problem is that it doesn't include the OS, which would put it well over my budget. Maybe I should include the OS in my budget to stay a bit lower. But I'll for sure be keeping this in mind!

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Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($98.86 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($329.98 @ NCIX US) 
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $733.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:44 EDT-0400

 

Also a very nice build suggestion, thank you! I do like the MSI MOBOs. I'm running with a GE60 MSI gaming laptop right now and I like how well manufactured MSI's products are made. And their desktop MOBOs are so mad! 

 

I also love the profile photo. Are you a car man? Cars are another one of my hobbies as well. I have a 2010 NC Miata with Ohlins coil overs, Eibach sway bars, K&N, and Borla catbacks with PPE long tube exhaust paired with a Roadster Sport Race single muffler on the way. I know much more about cars than I do about computers  :P

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Also a very nice build suggestion, thank you! I do like the MSI MOBOs. I'm running with a GE60 MSI gaming laptop right now and I like how well manufactured MSI's products are made. And their desktop MOBOs are so mad! 

 

I also love the profile photo. Are you a car man? Cars are another one of my hobbies as well. I have a 2010 NC Miata with Ohlins coil overs, Eibach sway bars, K&N, and Borla catbacks with PPE long tube exhaust paired with a Roadster Sport Race single muffler on the way. I know much more about cars than I do about computers  :P

 

I gotta say I like MSI's stuff as well. Some would say the mobo is overkill for an i3, but I put it in for upgradability to an unlocked cpu and sli.  :) If you want an os, you could drop the i3 for a pentium g3258.

 

Thanks! I'm into cars too though I'm not very knowledgeable. Is the miata you're talking about in your prof pic cuz it looks CLEAN :D I'd love to get more into cars, but I'm a broke college student so it'll have to wait...

A more affordable car I hope to be able to get would be a FD Rx7 :wub:

Desktop: The Bluez | CPU: i5-3570k @ 4.5 ghz 1.296V | CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo | Motherboard: P8Z77 M-Pro | Memory: 16 GB 1600Mhz Kingston HyperX  


GPU: Asus GTX 780ti DirectCu II | HDD: Some Random Hitachi 1TB, WD Blue 1TB, 850 EVO 500GB | PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W | Case: Enermax Ostrog GT (Blue Ver.) 


Laptop: Razer Blade 14 2013 256GB

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($53.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270 2GB Dual-X Video Card  ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $699.19
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 20:18 EDT-0400

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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I gotta say I like MSI's stuff as well. Some would say the mobo is overkill for an i3, but I put it in for upgradability to an unlocked cpu and sli.  :) If you want an os, you could drop the i3 for a pentium g3258.

 

Thanks! I'm into cars too though I'm not very knowledgeable. Is the miata you're talking about in your prof pic cuz it looks CLEAN :D I'd love to get more into cars, but I'm a broke college student so it'll have to wait...

A more affordable car I hope to be able to get would be a FD Rx7 :wub:

Well, that's one thing I was actually looking for is future upgradablility, so the MOBO would make sense. Yeah, the OS is always the killer because I always forget about adding it when I make my builds till the end and realize I've went way high on the budget  :mellow:

 

I don't wanna turn this thread into one about cars, I have enough of those on Miata.net  :P But, no. I haven't uploaded any photos of my car from my phone yet, so that's just one I found as a background for my computer. It is super clean though. Mine's more of a AutoX and Track/mad street car build. I've lowered it quite a bit, having minor negative camber without using camber plates for the suspension top hats. But hey, my car build and this planned PC build are very slow coming. I'm a broke military man, mainly because of car parts  :lol: The only problem with FDs is that if you're not looking to do an entire rebuild, you most likely won't find one for a decent price. Because most of them I've looked up are either already fully built, or they're almost pristine, therefore, they want way too much for them, since we can't get many of them in the US and Mazda's discontinued the line when the RX-8s came out. But if you want to ask any questions about cars, I could help out. I'm still learning myself, but I have a good deal of knowledge on the subject. Lol

 

I will be looking into your PC builds though for sure, thanks for those by the way! Oh, and a right hand drive, FD Spirit R is my dream car, just so you know the interest is mutual ;)  Haha 

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CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($65.66 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card  ($229.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $709.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 19:55 EDT-0400

 

I really like this build because I've heard nothing but good things about the FX-6300 CPU. But do you think it'd be a good idea to downgrade the Video Card at first and maybe Crossfire two lower ones in the future? If so, I could lower the initial budget on this build, save that for the OS and peripherals and then bridge two slightly lower end GPUs later. Just a thought

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I included the OS in my build at the top. But honestly, I think I could go without the OS or maybe only add half of the price of the OS into the build. So an extra $50 respectively. 

 

No, the peripherals don't have to be included. Thank you for your interest in helping with a build for me!

 

The build in the post above this one is good. Go with a Gigabyte GA970AUD3P board instead. I like it a lot better. It's $5 extra. 

Otherwise...

Despite having a lot of good $700 USD builds in my pcpartpicker roster, I'm not sharing them here, mainly because you have confused the hell out of me throughout this thread. I have no idea how to decipher the above quoted post by you, your post about your monitor. etc. Do you have a monitor/OS? No? Yes? Confused to hell dude. Engrish!!

Intel Inside. Overweight guy in his 30's outside.

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I really like this build because I've heard nothing but good things about the FX-6300 CPU. But do you think it'd be a good idea to downgrade the Video Card at first and maybe Crossfire two lower ones in the future? If so, I could lower the initial budget on this build, save that for the OS and peripherals and then bridge two slightly lower end GPUs later. Just a thought

i wouldn't crossfire two lower end cards in the future...  the 290 is a pretty amazing deal at $230. it was around $200 more expensive about a month ago, and it still is a really powerful card. 

If i were you, i would get this:

 

 
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54570) | $189.99 @ Newegg 
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah81mds2v) | $40.00 @ Newegg 
**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx313c9fk28) | $69.99 @ Amazon 
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $54.98 @ OutletPC 
**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-912v308002) | $229.99 @ Newegg 
**Case** | [NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210001) | $29.99 @ Newegg 
**Power Supply** | [EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100b10600kr) | $39.99 @ Newegg 
 | | **Total**
 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $654.93
 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 21:32 EDT-0400 |
 
 
this leaves $50 that you could put towards an ssd or an os.  Also, the i5 4570 is way better than the fx 6300, and better than the 8350 at most things.   I'm not entirely sure about that motherboard, but it has decent reviews. 

XEON E3 1231v3 | GA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | XFX R9 290 | 16GB RAM | CRUCIAL MX100 256GB | WD BLUE 1TB | EVGA SUPERNOVA 850W | CORSAIR 350D

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The build in the post above this one is good. Go with a Gigabyte GA970AUD3P board instead. I like it a lot better. It's $5 extra. 

Otherwise...

Despite having a lot of good $700 USD builds in my pcpartpicker roster, I'm not sharing them here, mainly because you have confused the hell out of me throughout this thread. I have no idea how to decipher the above quoted post by you, your post about your monitor. etc. Do you have a monitor/OS? No? Yes? Confused to hell dude. Engrish!!

Haha. Am I really that bad? No, I don't have a monitor, I'm running with a MSI GE60 laptop right now, so I'd have to get a monitor with the build. I also do not have an OS since mine's built into my laptop, that I will be selling to get most of the funds for this build. If there's anything else you think I should clarify that I haven't that would help you and others to decipher all my nonsense that I haven't mentioned in this reply, please, do share. I'm trying to get as many ideas and advice to help me make the right buying decision. Also, thank you for letting me know how confusing I was. I figured I was, but obviously, it sounds correct in my head, but is usually far out from others' thought processes :wacko:  

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i wouldn't crossfire two lower end cards in the future...  the 290 is a pretty amazing deal at $230. it was around $200 more expensive about a month ago, and it still is a really powerful card. 

If i were you, i would get this:

 

 
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54570) | $189.99 @ Newegg 
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah81mds2v) | $40.00 @ Newegg 
**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx313c9fk28) | $69.99 @ Amazon 
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $54.98 @ OutletPC 
**Video Card** | [MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-912v308002) | $229.99 @ Newegg 
**Case** | [NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210001) | $29.99 @ Newegg 
**Power Supply** | [EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100b10600kr) | $39.99 @ Newegg 
 | | **Total**
 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $654.93
 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-30 21:32 EDT-0400 |
 
 
this leaves $50 that you could put towards an ssd or an os.  Also, the i5 4570 is way better than the fx 6300, and better than the 8350 at most things.   I'm not entirely sure about that motherboard, but it has decent reviews. 

 

Okay, makes sense. But I also appreciate the idea of setting up for future upgrades. So would getting the good, higher end video card now and maybe using SLI or what have you later also be an option? I mean I am planning this build towards the end of this year, that means that there will obviously be better things coming in the future. Such as games and PC products altogether, so I'm wanting to set myself up for future ideas as well. Or maybe I'm being impatient and trying to move to fast with what I have little knowledge of? I honestly don't know...

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Well, that's one thing I was actually looking for is future upgradablility, so the MOBO would make sense. Yeah, the OS is always the killer because I always forget about adding it when I make my builds till the end and realize I've went way high on the budget  :mellow:

 

I don't wanna turn this thread into one about cars, I have enough of those on Miata.net  :P But, no. I haven't uploaded any photos of my car from my phone yet, so that's just one I found as a background for my computer. It is super clean though. Mine's more of a AutoX and Track/mad street car build. I've lowered it quite a bit, having minor negative camber without using camber plates for the suspension top hats. But hey, my car build and this planned PC build are very slow coming. I'm a broke military man, mainly because of car parts  :lol: The only problem with FDs is that if you're not looking to do an entire rebuild, you most likely won't find one for a decent price. Because most of them I've looked up are either already fully built, or they're almost pristine, therefore, they want way too much for them, since we can't get many of them in the US and Mazda's discontinued the line when the RX-8s came out. But if you want to ask any questions about cars, I could help out. I'm still learning myself, but I have a good deal of knowledge on the subject. Lol

 

I will be looking into your PC builds though for sure, thanks for those by the way! Oh, and a right hand drive, FD Spirit R is my dream car, just so you know the interest is mutual ;)  Haha 

 

Ahh I see. Your car sounds hella fun to drive but haha yeah I don't think this is the right part of the forum to be discussing cars...  :P

 

I really like this build because I've heard nothing but good things about the FX-6300 CPU. But do you think it'd be a good idea to downgrade the Video Card at first and maybe Crossfire two lower ones in the future? If so, I could lower the initial budget on this build, save that for the OS and peripherals and then bridge two slightly lower end GPUs later. Just a thought

 

Like others have mentioned, I wouldn't recommend doing crossfire right off the bat as it limits upgradability; however, if you want more bang for your buck and can deal with the occasional issues that crossfire has, crossfiring is always an option. I originally built my computer with SLI 460s and for the money they were great. 

 

Haha. Am I really that bad? No, I don't have a monitor, I'm running with a MSI GE60 laptop right now, so I'd have to get a monitor with the build. I also do not have an OS since mine's built into my laptop, that I will be selling to get most of the funds for this build. If there's anything else you think I should clarify that I haven't that would help you and others to decipher all my nonsense that I haven't mentioned in this reply, please, do share. I'm trying to get as many ideas and advice to help me make the right buying decision. Also, thank you for letting me know how confusing I was. I figured I was, but obviously, it sounds correct in my head, but is usually far out from others' thought processes :wacko:  

 

So is your $700 budget including the components, OS, and monitor? Do you need to get a keyboard and mouse as well?

Desktop: The Bluez | CPU: i5-3570k @ 4.5 ghz 1.296V | CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo | Motherboard: P8Z77 M-Pro | Memory: 16 GB 1600Mhz Kingston HyperX  


GPU: Asus GTX 780ti DirectCu II | HDD: Some Random Hitachi 1TB, WD Blue 1TB, 850 EVO 500GB | PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W | Case: Enermax Ostrog GT (Blue Ver.) 


Laptop: Razer Blade 14 2013 256GB

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Okay, makes sense. But I also appreciate the idea of setting up for future upgrades. So would getting the good, higher end video card now and maybe using SLI or what have you later also be an option? I mean I am planning this build towards the end of this year, that means that there will obviously be better things coming in the future. Such as games and PC products altogether, so I'm wanting to set myself up for future ideas as well. Or maybe I'm being impatient and trying to move to fast with what I have little knowledge of? I honestly don't know...

 

Most people recommend getting the best graphics card you can afford now and SLI or crossfire later. Instead of building it all at once in the future, you could always build it part by part. Maybe this way you can increase your budget in a way? 

Desktop: The Bluez | CPU: i5-3570k @ 4.5 ghz 1.296V | CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo | Motherboard: P8Z77 M-Pro | Memory: 16 GB 1600Mhz Kingston HyperX  


GPU: Asus GTX 780ti DirectCu II | HDD: Some Random Hitachi 1TB, WD Blue 1TB, 850 EVO 500GB | PSU: Rosewill Hive 750W | Case: Enermax Ostrog GT (Blue Ver.) 


Laptop: Razer Blade 14 2013 256GB

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Okay, makes sense. But I also appreciate the idea of setting up for future upgrades. So would getting the good, higher end video card now and maybe using SLI or what have you later also be an option? I mean I am planning this build towards the end of this year, that means that there will obviously be better things coming in the future. Such as games and PC products altogether, so I'm wanting to set myself up for future ideas as well. Or maybe I'm being impatient and trying to move to fast with what I have little knowledge of? I honestly don't know...

 

The build above with the i5 4570 is even better than the FX 6300 build. Thankfully with Intel, unless you aren't overclocking, you can use a cheap motherboard. The only change I would make is to spend $10 and go to 1600 or 1866Mhz (cas 9) RAM.  

You aren't going to find a better deal in video cards than the 290 and 290X right now. If AMD releases their new cards between now and when you buy your system, it may be worth while to pick one up, depending on the price/performance structure. If there's a new card that is as powerful as a 290 for an extra $80 with the only improvement being lower power consumption and direct X 12 compatibility, you have to sort of ask yourself if those features matter to you. They don't to a lot of people. To me they do, which is why, having said all of what I just said, I would urge you to look into a GTX 970 at minimum. Yes, it's an extra $100. Yes, it isn't much better than the 290 in raw performance, but it draws 1/2 the power and it is direct X 12 compatible. But, having said what I said at the beginning, and what I said after that, if direct X12 and low power draw/low heat don't matter to you, get the 290. It's a very good bargain from AMD to be selling these for $230. Originally this card was about double that price when it first released. 

 

So in short, above build good. Better than 6300 build. 290=970 in perf, inferior in power draw, heat, no DX12. Extra $100 for 970. Worth it? Your call. It'd mean adding $100 to your budget as there's nothing you can snip out without drastically gimping the whole computer. 

 

If you want to add yet another $60-80, a 128GB SSD would go a loooooong way. You'll also need a monitor. Look at 22-24" 1080P displays. 

 

PS- no SLI on H81 boards. You want a Z97 board for that. They start around $100, meaning adding even more to your budget. H81 boards put all 16 PCIE lanes from the CPU into the first slot. The next slot is an abysmal PCIE gen 2.0 X4.

Intel Inside. Overweight guy in his 30's outside.

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Okay, makes sense. But I also appreciate the idea of setting up for future upgrades. So would getting the good, higher end video card now and maybe using SLI or what have you later also be an option? I mean I am planning this build towards the end of this year, that means that there will obviously be better things coming in the future. Such as games and PC products altogether, so I'm wanting to set myself up for future ideas as well. Or maybe I'm being impatient and trying to move to fast with what I have little knowledge of? I honestly don't know...

If you get a 290 now, you won't be able to add another one later unless: you have a good enough cpu, a motherboard that supports it, and a good enough power supply. The i5 4570 I suggested is good enough, but you would need a z97 or z87 motherboard and an 850w power supply. That would put you way over your budget...

The build I suggested can't really be upgraded very much, except for adding an ssd, but I think it's probably about as good as you can get for $650. It will run almost all games on ultra at 1080p, 60fps.

XEON E3 1231v3 | GA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | XFX R9 290 | 16GB RAM | CRUCIAL MX100 256GB | WD BLUE 1TB | EVGA SUPERNOVA 850W | CORSAIR 350D

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If you want to be able to upgrade, get a sli/crossfire compatible z97 motherboard with that unlocked Pentium($230ish for mobo and pentium and cpu cooler for overclocking) for now instead of the h81 board and i5($250ish).  it wont be as good, but you can upgrade it later and also add another graphics card for crossfire or sli.

 

the only problem with the r9 290 is the power consumption, which means that if you ever add another one, you need a good power supply that's at least 850 watts... and that will probably be about $50 more than the one I previously suggested.

 

if you want you pc to be easily upgrade-able, it will probably cost a little more

XEON E3 1231v3 | GA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | XFX R9 290 | 16GB RAM | CRUCIAL MX100 256GB | WD BLUE 1TB | EVGA SUPERNOVA 850W | CORSAIR 350D

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If you want to be able to upgrade, get a sli/crossfire compatible z97 motherboard with that unlocked Pentium($230ish for mobo and pentium and cpu cooler for overclocking) for now instead of the h81 board and i5($250ish).  it wont be as good, but you can upgrade it later and also add another graphics card for crossfire or sli.

 

the only problem with the r9 290 is the power consumption, which means that if you ever add another one, you need a good power supply that's at least 850 watts... and that will probably be about $50 more than the one I previously suggested.

 

if you want you pc to be easily upgrade-able, it will probably cost a little more

 

That's just going to confuse the guy...

Intel Inside. Overweight guy in his 30's outside.

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That's just going to confuse the guy...

Yeah probably....

XEON E3 1231v3 | GA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | XFX R9 290 | 16GB RAM | CRUCIAL MX100 256GB | WD BLUE 1TB | EVGA SUPERNOVA 850W | CORSAIR 350D

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