BattleBob

ENERMAX ETS-T40-TB --> thanks for this! I'm looking into it for my own build. About the case, my only gripe with it is that its looks are just too aggressive for my taste--I'm a simple, minimalist style kind of guy. Good luck bai! I think you know what you need (and have done your research). If you're looking to tweak and overclock the system, again, the i3-3240 is cannot be overclocked. Maybe a combination of an AMD cpu (maybe an Athlon if not the FX series) and the Nvidia GTX 750 will be better for you so you can play around with both the cpu and gpu clock speeds.

Right, AMD is overpriced there because of mining Nvidia is overpriced here in the Philippines.

First of all: I know that I'm too late for this (I'm new and I just discovered this amazingness now!) But still I want to share my take on Budget Building because theory crafting is fun! Now the focus on this build is Upgradable so I spent every dollar of the $900 budget on the things that matter most so that when upgrade time comes, you will be able to reuse most if not all the parts. *disclaimer: "exploiting" the large discounts for the Corsair 300R and PSU to achieve $900* PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($178.49 @ Newegg) Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.98 @ OutletPC) Storage: PNY XLR8 PRO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($59.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($299.99 @ NCIX US) Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg) Total: $899.38 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-23 12:19 EDT-0400) Out of the box, this should perform well in stock configuration; however, with a strong backbone with the CPU, Mobo and GPU, there is a lot to work with over the coming years. Time passes... Need more power? Start with a mild overclock on the CPU and GPU; the board and cpu cooler can handle it well. A few months more... Even more power? Up the clock speeds a bit more and add a few case fans to keep everything nice a cool. Eventually it just might not be enough. Get more clockspeed from the CPU and swap out the cooler (maybe for an AIO, the 300R can hold it). But the real issue is the graphics card; maybe its time for a crossfire? If we had skimped on the mobo, 1. we wouldn't have been able to go heavy overclocks but 2. we would have have to replace it at this point to support the heavy overclocks and SLI. Now we only have to replace the PSU (unless we have $80 extra to buy a 1000W PSU from the start) to support a 280x crossfire and roughly get the performance of a 780 Ti. Then throw everything into either a modded Corsair 300R for more water cooling support or a new case entirely. Just another take on the budget build, "sacrificing" good enough now for a better tomorrow--but really, even in stock these parts will max out today's games. *Let me end this with the fact that I am new to the Build-a-PC world and only have the weeks of research I have done for the planning of my own budget build to go with. Basically if I had this kind of budget, this is how I would go. I would love to know--if I am--how wrong I am with this build and other constructive criticisms. Cheers!*

Filipino here too! You are spending too much on the cooler--especially if you are not planning on over clocking. If you want to stick to the Intel build: 1. The water cooling is OVERKILL. Swap out the cooler for either the stock cooler or a Cooler Master 212 Evo (Php 1,400). The stock cooler will be fine; better still with the CM 212 Evo even up to a mild overclock. 2. Swap out the Corsair Vengeance for a cheaper one, unless you chose it for its looks. You can swap it for GSkill Ares (Php 3,900) 3. With the extra money you can get a better graphics card like a Sapphire Dual X R9 270x (Php 9,000). Way better performance (Nvidia is overpriced in the Philippines) Total with CM 212 Evo: ₱36,715 -- ₱95 more than your build Total without CPU Cooler: ₱35,315 -- ₱1,305 less If you want to consider an AMD build: CPU: AMD FX 6300 - ₱5,450 CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 212 Evo - ₱1,400 --> optional Motherboard: Gigabyte GA 970A-DS3P - ₱3,950 --> good enough if not overclocking, check online for reviews because there are better boards out there. Memory: GSkill Ares - ₱3,900 Storage: (Same) Seagate 500GB - ₱2,400 Video Card: Sapphire Dual X R9 270X - P8,950 Case: Corsair Carbide 200R - ₱3,000 --> great affordable case Power Supply: (Same) FSP Group 550W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply - ₱2,810 Monitor: (Same) BenQ GW2250 21.5" Monitor ₱6,860 Total: ₱38,720 -- ₱2,100 more Total without CPU Cooler: ₱37,320 -- ₱700 more With the AMD build, you will be spending just a little bit more, but you will get better performance all around. Again, AMD (GPU and CPU) is better here in the Philippines simply because Nvidia and Intel are just way overpriced for some reason. Good luck bai! Ayo ayo! *most prices from dynaquestpc.com, CM 212 Evo on villman.com*

There aren't any good websites like Newegg or NCIX or even Amazon here. The one website that has most of the components on the list is http://dynaquestpc.com/. But really, the best way to get deals here is to go to the smaller, independent shops and make friends. The market for mainstream DIY PC is still growing here in the Philippines so parts are still over priced (about 10% to--as with Windows--100% mark up). To give another example, many favor Nvidia here so the mark it up more than AMD (I've even encountered PC part salesmen that outright say that AMD is inferior in an effort to sell the more expensive Nvidia). So an Asus R9 270x is about $20 more but an ASUS GTX 760 is about $40 more. An MSI GTX 780Ti is $84 more, but a Sapphire R9 290x Tri-X is $23 cheaper. Now that I think about it, it's a good business opportunity to go into--like be the first NCIX or Microcenter type store in the Philippines--but I digress. Regarding the peripherals, duly noted. Just planning it out so I can budget it accordingly for future upgrades. I'll post here again once I get in touch with the shops and manufacturers (trying to source the mobo from Asus Philippines since none of the shops seem to carry it in their stores). Thanks again! (Man... if I only had paypal or bit/lite/dogecoin,.. I feel like I need to pay you at this point! If you ever need anything here in the Philippines, let me know )

Just want to share the info I got from @Faceman. Help me out quite a bit in sorting out my build plans. Now the build above is about 130 Canadian Dollars over budget. You can cut costs by : Removing the CPU Cooler (minus USD $30) Keeping the FX 6300 CPU (minus USD $40) And--if you really need to-- keeping the 270x (minus USD $130)... but those FPS though.... ) Good luck!

Windows 8.1 is Php 7,850 or around $175 (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msapac/en_GB/cat/Windows/categoryID.67647300?WT.mc_id=MSCOM_en_ph_HP_Products_Windows) soooo yeah.... ) If I do buy a US copy of Windows, do I have to worry about any region locks and restrictions? Thanks again man! You've been incredibly helpful! I decided to wait another month and save up for the 280x + fx8320. Like you said, its a lot more. I just have to be a bit more patient. Looks like the final build will cost around $1,200 including the OS, Monitor, and G105 keyboard. Gotta work hard and save up that extra $300 to bump up the budget.

I have one more question I found that Windows is about 85 dollars more expensive here in the Philippines so I need to cut a few more costs in the build. How would the FX 6300 fair instead of the FX 8320?

Awesome! Looked up the parts' availability here in the Philippines. Thanks for the help man!

Regarding budget, I'm going for around 700-900 dollars. You're build looks good. Just a few questions about the Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard: I would like to have USB 3.0; any other mobo you could suggest? Also, this mobo has 4+2 power phase, I have seen else where that this is not enough for overclocking. Any thoughts? (by the way, I don't really know what power phases are and why 4+2 "isn't enough") As for the SSD, unfortunately PNY XLR8 isn't available here in the Philippines. I'll just have to settle for an upgrade later on when I save up a bit more. Thanks for the help! Sorry about that, I forgot to add it in the post. It's roughly around 700-900 dollars but 900 dollars is a hard maximum.

What a shame. But I think you nailed it with that they would lose money for not being compatible with other products since this is a business where most products are comparable and interchangable--unless they completely out class all other products which is next to impossible. Originally I had the ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 listed but I see quite a lot of mixed reviews for it. Some say its great, others say its will short out when you try to overclock on it. Can you suggest a better mobo at roughly the same price range (noting that I do plan on doing a bit of overclocking)?

Just got into PC building and I have been researching and preparing to build my first PC (popping the ol' PC Builder Cherry if you will). Now, there's one thing that I have been wondering through my preparations: Is there any value in using--as much as possible--a single component manufacturer in a build? While I understand that compatibility isn't really an issue since you can check online whether different band components will work together, in my head, using mostly ASUS or Gigabyte (or whichever you prefer) will unlock some type of "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start" scenario. In a more serious sense, **do manufacturers optimize their components to work better with each other** vs components of other manufacturers (that will also work but not quite a well)? Has anyone tested this? I am the only one? Sidenote, as I said I have been preparing for my very first PC build and, since I am already here, I was hoping to get your guyses opinion on it. Goal: budget friendly gaming/photoshop/reddit rig with potential to overclock and upgrade (I heard those reddit graphics get pretty intense on Ultra Settings) EDIT: Budget: 700-900 dollars (PC only) PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3prCV Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3prCV/by_merchant/ Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3prCV/benchmarks/ CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ NCIX US) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($235.91 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US) Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg) Case Fan: Scythe Slipstream 92.0 CFM 140mm Fan ($12.98 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Scythe Slipstream 92.0 CFM 140mm Fan ($12.98 @ Amazon) Total: $754.78 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-11 06:04 EDT-0400) Lastly (I might have already over stayed my welcome in one post), are there any Pinoys here? I would really love some help sourcing these parts in the Philippines. For example, the Corsair 200R does not seem to be available here. Thanks in advanced for the help! Cheers!

That battery life though! The battery life on my Note 3 is killing me.... also FREE PHONE!!! PRESS THIS LINK!!!!!