Building my cousin a PC. Need advice.

[PlymouthJoseph]

Okay, to start this off... I am doing a cheap build, so I will NOT be going with Intel. He will be playing games at 60FPS and not fussed about graphic settings. He will also be recording, editing and uploading videos. My current list for him is:

AMD FX-8350 (£140)
Corsair H80i GT w/ Noctua NF-F12 push fan (£96)
MSI 970 Gaming Motherboard (£90)
Kingston HyperX Fury 2x4GB (£30)
EVGA GTX 960 SSC ACX 2.0 (£160)
Aerocool X-Worrior (£52)
Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SSD (£58)
Western Digital 1TB HDD (£41)
EVGA SuperNova G2 750watt PSU (£90)

Total - £757 (Rough estimate, only used Amazon.co.uk for my pricing)

He is a overclocking fanatic, and has already broken 3 CPUs and 1 GPU & 1 motherboard due to overclocking. I am just wanting to make sure that with this build, the MSI 970 Gaming will be okay for overclocking. I've read that the MSI 970A Krait Edition is rubbish for overclocking, and I currently cannot afford the MSI 990FXA Gaming, but if I could. Would it be worth it? It's another £27 and I'm struggling to afford this as it is. It's for this birthday which is on April 28th. 

If there is anything you would change, keeping it within the price range, please tell me. And please tell me if you think it is worth the extra £27 for the better motherboard. Oh, and what is the Power Fazes for the MSI 970, 970A & 990FXA. Just curious for this, due to him breaking a old Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 I had once. (It was an unused PC, so I let him have it to do as he wished and he overclocked the FX-4100 and burnt out the Motherboard I think. He did manage to get the CPU to 5GHz on a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo)

Many thanks for taking your time to read this.

[Castdeath97]

Intel does have a core i5 6400 around 149 pounds which does beat the 8350 but can't overclock. Also the 750W PSU is absolutely overkill, get something around 600-500W.

[Starelementpoke]

6 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

Okay, to start this off... I am doing a cheap build, so I will NOT be going with Intel. He will be playing games at 60FPS and not fussed about graphic settings. He will also be recording, editing and uploading videos. My current list for him is:

AMD FX-8350 (£140)
Corsair H80i GT w/ Noctua NF-F12 push fan (£96)
MSI 970 Gaming Motherboard (£90)
Kingston HyperX Fury 2x4GB (£30)
EVGA GTX 960 SSC ACX 2.0 (£160)
Aerocool X-Worrior (£52)
Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SSD (£58)
Western Digital 1TB HDD (£41)
EVGA SuperNova G2 750watt PSU (£90)

Total - £757 (Rough estimate, only used Amazon.co.uk for my pricing)

He is a overclocking fanatic, and has already broken 3 CPUs and 1 GPU & 1 motherboard due to overclocking. I am just wanting to make sure that with this build, the MSI 970 Gaming will be okay for overclocking. I've read that the MSI 970A Krait Edition is rubbish for overclocking, and I currently cannot afford the MSI 990FXA Gaming, but if I could. Would it be worth it? It's another £27 and I'm struggling to afford this as it is. It's for this birthday which is on April 28th. 

If there is anything you would change, keeping it within the price range, please tell me. And please tell me if you think it is worth the extra £27 for the better motherboard. Oh, and what is the Power Fazes for the MSI 970, 970A & 990FXA. Just curious for this, due to him breaking a old Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 I had once. (It was an unused PC, so I let him have it to do as he wished and he overclocked the FX-4100 and burnt out the Motherboard I think. He did manage to get the CPU to 5GHz on a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo)

Many thanks for taking your time to read this.

- Joe (PlymouthJoseph)

PCpartpicker has a UK version!

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/J4Wc3C
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/J4Wc3C/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£220.00 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i GT 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£79.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£64.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£54.99 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£53.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£37.52 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB NITRO Dual-X OC Video Card  (£159.98 @ Novatech) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£74.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £796.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 12:07 GMT+0000

[PlymouthJoseph]

8 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Intel does have a core i5 6400 around 149 pounds which does beat the 8350 but can't overclock. Also the 750W PSU is absolutely overkill, get something around 600-500W.

Reason I've gone with that PSU is mainly so that if he wanted to add another GPU, more HDDs etc. he could. And besides, it's a old one from me.

[Starelementpoke]

Just now, PlymouthJoseph said:

Reason I've gone with that PSU is mainly so that if he wanted to add another GPU, more HDDs etc. he could. And besides, it's a old one from me.

Wait, so your selling him the psu?

[Venomz1337]

So you chose a £100 cooler when you could've got a better cpu / gpu? 

[Starelementpoke]

Just now, Venomz1337 said:

So you chose a £100 cooler when you could've got a better cpu / gpu? 

His cousin´s an overclocking fanatic. And cooler is more like $80, the rest comes from the separate fan he´s buying.

[Venomz1337]

3 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

His cousin´s an overclocking fanatic. And cooler is more like $80, the rest comes from the separate fan he´s buying.

So what?

Overclocking won't give you nearly as much performance as getting better hardware will.

[Starelementpoke]

Just now, Venomz1337 said:

So what?

Overclocking won't give you nearly as much performance as getting better hardware will.

Not saying it will, that´s the ops reasoning, not mine.

[PlymouthJoseph]

1 minute ago, Venomz1337 said:

So what?

Overclocking won't give you nearly as much performance as getting better hardware will.

I'm aware of this, but he said that he wants to overclock, and that for some unknown reason... He doesn't want a Intel PC. Just found this out. 

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£199.98 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (£26.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£84.31 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£47.80 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£37.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB NITRO Dual-X OC Video Card  (£159.98 @ Novatech)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  (£89.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £759.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 12:23 GMT+0000

 

or...

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£169.28 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (£26.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£45.99 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (£32.45 @ More Computers)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£37.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 390 8GB PCS+ Video Card  (£249.55 @ More Computers)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  (£89.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £764.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-16 12:27 GMT+0000

[Venomz1337]

1 minute ago, Starelementpoke said:

Not saying it will, that´s the ops reasoning, not mine.

Yeah didn't mean to aim that at you. It's just stupid logic...

[Starelementpoke]

Just now, PlymouthJoseph said:

I'm aware of this, but he said that he wants to overclock, and that for some unknown reason... He doesn't want a Intel PC. Just found this out. 

Um, why?

[PlymouthJoseph]

2 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

Um, why?

I have no clue. Sorry. 

[Energycore]

With that budget you really are missing out on a massive performance increase by going Intel. If your cousin likes overclocking for the "look at me i'm making my hardware do stuff it shouldn't" feeling then getting a Z170 board that can flash a bios to overclock a non-k skylake CPU using BCLK might give him the fun he's looking for, assuming it's still possible. i5 6500s go for 170£, i3 6100s for 97£.

 

I don't like the choice of H80i since it doesn't usually perform as well as an air cooler for the CPU. Either an H100i or a NH-D15 like tower cooler will give him better cooling performance for better overclocking.

[PlymouthJoseph]

7 minutes ago, Energycore said:

With that budget you really are missing out on a massive performance increase by going Intel. If your cousin likes overclocking for the "look at me i'm making my hardware do stuff it shouldn't" feeling then getting a Z170 board that can flash a bios to overclock a non-k skylake CPU using BCLK might give him the fun he's looking for, assuming it's still possible. i5 6500s go for 170£, i3 6100s for 97£.

 

I don't like the choice of H80i since it doesn't usually perform as well as an air cooler for the CPU. Either an H100i or a NH-D15 like tower cooler will give him better cooling performance for better overclocking.

In that case, shall I give him the Cooler Master 212 Evo? 

I've tried persuading him to go with Intel, but he is being a stubborn SOB.  

[PlymouthJoseph]

The main reason I came here though is to find out if there is a massive difference between the MSI 970 Gaming Motherboard and the MSI 990FXA Gaming Motherboard, knowing that there is a £27 difference. 

 

I'm also wondering this myself also. 

[Energycore]

I mean, if he personally doesn't want to go Intel no matter what, so be it. The FX6300 is probably better value since unless he's going to encode video or do other CPU intensive workloads he won't need the 2 additional cores (1 module). You can find that one for 85£ and it should overclock easier on a Hyper 212 since its power draw is lower.

[PlymouthJoseph]

5 minutes ago, Energycore said:

I mean, if he personally doesn't want to go Intel no matter what, so be it. The FX6300 is probably better value since unless he's going to encode video or do other CPU intensive workloads he won't need the 2 additional cores (1 module). You can find that one for 85£ and it should overclock easier on a Hyper 212 since its power draw is lower.

That is a valid point. I will see if I can get him to go with a FX-6300, but I know he will be doing all his video editing/rendering and shiz on it. So... I dunno. Oh, and he is a slight sufferer of OCD and he will not sleep until his PC is running of a clock of a mutiple of .25. It's annoying and he has broken a CPU due to this.

[Jonathan Lemmens]

7 minutes ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

That is a valid point. I will see if I can get him to go with a FX-6300, but I know he will be doing all his video editing/rendering and shiz on it. So... I dunno. Oh, and he is a slight sufferer of OCD and he will not sleep until his PC is running of a clock of a mutiple of .25. It's annoying and he has broken a CPU due to this.

You could go with the FX-8320 its slightly cheaper than the 8350 but OC's just as wel (maybe even better) I've hit 4.8GHz om my FX-8320.

A Hyper 212 EVO is good enough to cool this chip, even overclocked.

[Energycore]

If he's going to do video editing and rendering then he will certainly benefit from a higher number of cores. The 8350 would be the better choice assuming you don't mind paying the 40 pounds difference. If you want to make sure he doesn't break it I would go with the highest end of CPU cooling: either a NH-D15 or a  Dark Rock Pro 3 or a double 120mm / 140mm radiator liquid cooler.

 

Also make sure you get a motherboard that can do overclocking well. The AM3+ chipset designed with overclocking in mind is 990FX and you're going to want a well built motherboard that won't overheat. Something like this one

[PlymouthJoseph]

3 minutes ago, Energycore said:

If he's going to do video editing and rendering then he will certainly benefit from a higher number of cores. The 8350 would be the better choice assuming you don't mind paying the 40 pounds difference. If you want to make sure he doesn't break it I would go with the highest end of CPU cooling: either a NH-D15 or a  Dark Rock Pro 3 or a double 120mm / 140mm radiator liquid cooler.

 

Also make sure you get a motherboard that can do overclocking well. The AM3+ chipset designed with overclocking in mind is 990FX and you're going to want a well built motherboard that won't overheat. Something like this one

So, in simple... Because he want's to overclock, get a decent cooler such as a Cooler Master 212 Evo?

 

And due to the overclocking, you recommend the MSI 990FXA over the MSI 970? But what are the main differences between these? 

[Energycore]

Actually i'm looking at specs and it seems like the 970 Gaming should be fine. My bad.

[PlymouthJoseph]

1 hour ago, Energycore said:

Actually i'm looking at specs and it seems like the 970 Gaming should be fine. My bad.

Okay, but would it be worth a £27 to upgrade to the 990FXA?

[stconquest]

2 hours ago, PlymouthJoseph said:

So, in simple... Because he want's to overclock, get a decent cooler such as a Cooler Master 212 Evo?

 

And due to the overclocking, you recommend the MSI 990FXA over the MSI 970? But what are the main differences between these? 

Look into VRMs.  The FX 8XXX CPUs need a decent 8+2 phase VRM or you will risk burning out your mobo when you try to pump all that power through it.

 

BTW, the FX CPUs are pretty ancient in terms of their performance.  Their single core performance is way back around the Intel i7 920.