Holiday 2014 Buyer's Guide - Full Component List

[79wjd]

Yeah seems nowadays that three way sli just isnt worth the investment with how poor the scaling is. I dont see myself personally ever going 4k for at least a few years. I quite like 1440p and was a nice step up from 1080p. I have tried 4k before and I just dont see the point upgrading to that for some time. 1440p seems already plenty for daily use and the resolution seems to be a nice sweet spot between 1080p and 4k.  A nice balance as you dont have to spend a fortune to game at 1440p to get a reasonable playable game. Thanks again for your input. Most likely will buy a msi evga or gigabyte 970, probably wont consider Asus. Any thoughts on those companies? My Asus gtx 570 had constant issues from the day I bought it. It could have been the board or the drivers. Never could pin point the problem.  

Gigabyte G1 gaming 

[Kiwiandapple]

sweet build advice.  i am going with parts out of the "Game On" ~$1700 System (Luxurious & more "futureproof").  i made some cosmetic choices and went non sli since im only going to be driving my 27hz 1080p 55" tv.  i figure one card more then enough.

 

in the words of Star Trek's Greatest Profit, Live Long & Prosper Linus

 

Alice

 

You could get better components, depending on what you will do with the PC. Seems like you probably want to play games in the living room, so having a good wireless headset would come in handy. Not sure how your setup will be, but I don't like a good amount of his choice. 

I would suggest to at least visit the build and suggestion part of this forum. A good amount of people are not to happy with this build guide. So while Linus does know things, I know that this isn't the best builds at the time of filming. 

[Qwertychrish]

More possibilities (also making sure this would work) in the ~$530 range, with an HDD i have laying around:

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KTXBxr) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KTXBxr/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox) | $99.99 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $31.99 @ Amazon
**Motherboard** | [Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97r20) | $85.79 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d8gab) | $71.98 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r9270dc2oc2gd5) | $146.99 @ Amazon
**Case** | [bitFenix Neos Black/Blue ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/bitfenix-case-bfcneo100kkxsbrp) | $54.98 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430) | $42.99 @ Amazon
 | | **Total**
 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $534.71
 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 23:36 EST-0500 |

 

I added the CM Hyper 212 EVO because of better OC choices, and the only thing I have questions about is the mobo.

[Faceman]

@Qwertychrish

 

Much better build for less:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7r2MmG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7r2MmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($113.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($141.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $495.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 23:44 EST-0500

 

Or you can drop the SSD and move up to a locked i5.

 

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($141.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $496.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 23:45 EST-0500

[Qwertychrish]

@Qwertychrish

 

Much better build for less:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7r2MmG

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7r2MmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($113.97 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($141.00 @ Newegg)

Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $495.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 23:44 EST-0500

 

Or you can drop the SSD and move up to a locked i5.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GfKVbv

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GfKVbv/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($141.00 @ Newegg)

Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $496.95

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 23:45 EST-0500

I think you actually just jumped my price point up ~$100, most of the prices you have on there are incorrect.

[Faceman]

I think you actually just jumped my price point up ~$100, most of the prices you have on there are incorrect.

How so?  Are you using CAD or something?  Your PcP showed USD.

[Qwertychrish]

How so?  Are you using CAD or something?  Your PcP showed USD.

oh wait, i think it's because i turned off mail in rebates for some comparisons I was doing, i'm sorry

 

... holy crap that's a lot of mail in rebates... how long did it take you to put this together?

[Qwertychrish]

@Faceman

 

wouldn't it be better for me to get the fx 8350 for the extra $15 than the i5 4440?

[Faceman]

@Faceman

 

wouldn't it be better for me to get the fx 8350 for the extra $15 than the i5 4440?

For gaming? absolutely not.  The FX processors are bad compared to Intel.  Even an i3 beats FX8s in the majority of games.  The architecture behind FX is very old and weak.  No matter how high you overclock FX processors, they won't perform better than a locked i5.

 

People think they are getting a good deal when they buy FX, and they are not.

 

If you enjoy games like MMOs(ArcheAge, WoW, Guild Wars2, World of Tanks, Planetside2 etc..) DayZ, ARMA2, ARMA3, Dead Rising 3, Indies, RTS, Emulators, etc.. the FX will be unplayable unless you think 10-15fps is acceptable.

 

Then the other games that are playable, but no where near as fluid as on Intel.  A few examples are: Starcraft, Skyrim, Civilization V.

 

Then there are a lot of games where the FX will perform similar to Intel, provided you're using a 60Hz Monitor and don't see the bottleneck happening. 

 

----

---

"Average frametimes did not do AMD’s processors any justice either. As we already said the game was fluid with i7 and i5’s, and somewhat playable with the i3 processor line. When we switched to FX CPUs not only did we have worse framerate but the gameplay was simply put, laggy."

 

The modern i3s beat the FX8 in the majority of games.

 

Benchmarks:

http://www.hardcorew...-4340-review/2/

http://www.hardwarep...8-games-tested/

http://www.tomshardw...cpu,3929-7.html

http://www.anandtech...w-vishera-95w/3

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd-fx-8350-processor-reviewed/14

 

 

"To put it nicely, the FX-8370E is a true middle-of-the-road CPU. Using it only makes sense as long as the graphics card you choose comes from a similar performance segment.

Depending on the game in question, AMD’s new processor has the potential to keep you happy around the AMD Radeon R9 270X/285 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or 660 Ti level.

A higher- or even high-end graphics card doesn’t make sense, as pairing it with AMD's FX-8370E simply limits the card's potential."

 

"Pop over to the gaming scatter, though, and the picture changes dramatically. There, the FX-8350 is the highest-performance AMD desktop processor to date for gaming, finally toppling the venerable Phenom II X4 980. Yet the FX-8350's gaming performance almost exactly matches that of the Core i3-3225, a $134 Ivy Bridge-based processor. Meanwhile, the Core i5-3470 delivers markedly superior gaming performance for less money than the FX-8350. The FX-8350 isn't exactly bad for video games—its performance was generally acceptable in our tests. But it is relatively weak compared to the competition.

This strange divergence between the two performance pictures isn't just confined to gaming, of course. The FX-8350 is also relatively pokey in image processing applications, in SunSpider, and in the less widely multithreaded portions of our video encoding tests. Many of these scenarios rely on one or several threads, and the FX-8350 suffers compared to recent Intel chips in such cases. Still, the contrast between the FX-8350 and the Sandy/Ivy Bridge chips isn't nearly as acute as it was with the older FX processors. Piledriver's IPC gains and that 4GHz base clock have taken the edge off of our objections.

The other major consideration here is power consumption, and really, the FX-8350 isn't even the same class of product as the Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors on this front. There's a 48W gap between the TDP ratings of the Core i5 parts and the FX-8350, but in our tests, the actual difference at the wall socket between two similarly configured systems under load was over 100W. That gap is large enough to force the potential buyer to think deeply about the class of power supply, case, and CPU cooler he needs for his build. One could definitely get away with less expensive components for a Core i5 system."

 

"The FX-8370E stretches its legs a little in terms of minimum frame rates, particularly in SLI, however it is handily beaten by the i3-4330."

 

 

You should read through the link above, but here is the conclusion.

 

"Conclusion

 

If you've made it this far, congrats and thank you very, very much for reading. I appreciate it genuinely.

 

Okay, so let's conclude. Yes, Intel won 5-2, but that's meaningless. Looking at benchmarks for the sake of looking at benchmarks doesn't

help us. What helps us is seeing where the 4670K wins massively and where the 8350 wins massively. 

 

Gaming

In gaming, the 4670K wins. This is said by Linus, said by AnandTech, said by Bit-Tech, said by Tom's Hardware, said all around the internet

except for at Tek Syndicate. If you are going for a gaming PC, go with the 4670K.

 

Video Editing and 3D Rendering

Yes, there are benchmarks where the 8350 beats the 4670K, however, what is important is that these two are almost neck and neck.

Some sites have the 8350 ever so slightly faster, some have the 3570K/4670K as ever so slightly faster. At the end of the day, it's too close to call.

However, the extra IPC that Haswell offers should help in a wider variety of situations, so I would award this to the 4670K. 

 

Calculations

This one goes to the 8350 which demonstrates a higher performance with calculations throughout due to its higher core count. It beats Intel convincingly

in most calculation benchmarks. 

 

So, what does this mean?

 

This has been said in the introduction, but I will say it again. I am not an Intel fanboy, which is why I went out to research instead of screaming that Intel

is better. I have suggested AMD in the past, their Athlon 64 was better than the Pentium 4, their Athlon 64 x2 was better than the Pentium D. However,

I genuinely dislike the promulgation of false information, especially to people who are asking for help selecting new parts. 

 

If you're an AMD fanboy, you're not going to like it, but Intel's 4670K is better than AMD's 8350. Regardless of however you look at it, in most situations,

the 4670K wins, but it isn't just that, its far superior IPC gives it such an advantage in most every day tasks, which are mostly still single-threaded. 

 

The AMD 8350 is good for certain workloads, but apart from those workloads, it is simply terrible. Its IPC, which is weaker than the i7 920's, which is

5 years old, is simply too weak to put it as any sort of real competition to the 4670K. 

 

I hope that this clears up some of the misconceptions here. Yes, AMD had their time, their Athlon 64 was better than the Intel Pentium 4, however,

those days are well and truly over. If, in this day and age, you recommend an AMD processor for any usage apart from calculations, you are either

being a fanboy or just plainly ignorant of the facts which say that the 4670K is superior. 

 

Of course, this is not to say that nobody should use AMD, but, if you suggest an AMD build for someone else, especially if you suggest an 8350

against a 4670K, know that you are suggesting a worse option, especially for a gaming PC. To argue that the 8350 is competitive with the 4670K

across the board is delusional and just plainly wrong. Yes, you are wrong. 

 

So that's it guys, for most people, the 4670K is the better option compared to the 8350 and the information shows it. 

 

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my little article. I hope I have helped you see what the statistics say about these two processors.

I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have written. Cheers :)"

 

Also, when people say that the FX8 is a less expensive option, they are wrong.  In order for the FX8 to be viable, it needs to be overclocked, which means you need a motherboard with at least 8+2 VRM phase design, and more expensive cooling solution.  This makes it cost the same, if not more than a locked i5 processor which will beat the FX8 in every single game, no matter how high the FX is overclocked.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($126.00 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($93.00 @ Newegg)

Total: $248.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 03:38 EST-0500

 

Vs.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.00 @ Amazon)

Total: $214.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 04:22 EST-0500

[Fate]

snip

10/10

[Qwertychrish]

For gaming? absolutely not.  The FX processors are bad compared to Intel.  Even an i3 beats FX8s in the majority of games.  The architecture behind FX is very old and weak.  No matter how high you overclock FX processors, they won't perform better than a locked i5.

 

People think they are getting a good deal when they buy FX, and they are not.

 

If you enjoy games like MMOs(ArcheAge, WoW, Guild Wars2, World of Tanks, Planetside2 etc..) DayZ, ARMA2, ARMA3, Dead Rising 3, Indies, RTS, Emulators, etc.. the FX will be unplayable unless you think 10-15fps is acceptable.

 

Then the other games that are playable, but no where near as fluid as on Intel.  A few examples are: Starcraft, Skyrim, Civilization V.

 

Then there are a lot of games where the FX will perform similar to Intel, provided you're using a 60Hz Monitor and don't see the bottleneck happening. 

 

----

---

"Average frametimes did not do AMD’s processors any justice either. As we already said the game was fluid with i7 and i5’s, and somewhat playable with the i3 processor line. When we switched to FX CPUs not only did we have worse framerate but the gameplay was simply put, laggy."

 

The modern i3s beat the FX8 in the majority of games.

 

Benchmarks:

http://www.hardcorew...-4340-review/2/

http://www.hardwarep...8-games-tested/

http://www.tomshardw...cpu,3929-7.html

http://www.anandtech...w-vishera-95w/3

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd-fx-8350-processor-reviewed/14

 

 

"To put it nicely, the FX-8370E is a true middle-of-the-road CPU. Using it only makes sense as long as the graphics card you choose comes from a similar performance segment.

Depending on the game in question, AMD’s new processor has the potential to keep you happy around the AMD Radeon R9 270X/285 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or 660 Ti level.

A higher- or even high-end graphics card doesn’t make sense, as pairing it with AMD's FX-8370E simply limits the card's potential."

 

"Pop over to the gaming scatter, though, and the picture changes dramatically. There, the FX-8350 is the highest-performance AMD desktop processor to date for gaming, finally toppling the venerable Phenom II X4 980. Yet the FX-8350's gaming performance almost exactly matches that of the Core i3-3225, a $134 Ivy Bridge-based processor. Meanwhile, the Core i5-3470 delivers markedly superior gaming performance for less money than the FX-8350. The FX-8350 isn't exactly bad for video games—its performance was generally acceptable in our tests. But it is relatively weak compared to the competition.

This strange divergence between the two performance pictures isn't just confined to gaming, of course. The FX-8350 is also relatively pokey in image processing applications, in SunSpider, and in the less widely multithreaded portions of our video encoding tests. Many of these scenarios rely on one or several threads, and the FX-8350 suffers compared to recent Intel chips in such cases. Still, the contrast between the FX-8350 and the Sandy/Ivy Bridge chips isn't nearly as acute as it was with the older FX processors. Piledriver's IPC gains and that 4GHz base clock have taken the edge off of our objections.

The other major consideration here is power consumption, and really, the FX-8350 isn't even the same class of product as the Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors on this front. There's a 48W gap between the TDP ratings of the Core i5 parts and the FX-8350, but in our tests, the actual difference at the wall socket between two similarly configured systems under load was over 100W. That gap is large enough to force the potential buyer to think deeply about the class of power supply, case, and CPU cooler he needs for his build. One could definitely get away with less expensive components for a Core i5 system."

 

"The FX-8370E stretches its legs a little in terms of minimum frame rates, particularly in SLI, however it is handily beaten by the i3-4330."

 

 

You should read through the link above, but here is the conclusion.

 

"Conclusion

 

If you've made it this far, congrats and thank you very, very much for reading. I appreciate it genuinely.

 

Okay, so let's conclude. Yes, Intel won 5-2, but that's meaningless. Looking at benchmarks for the sake of looking at benchmarks doesn't

help us. What helps us is seeing where the 4670K wins massively and where the 8350 wins massively. 

 

Gaming

In gaming, the 4670K wins. This is said by Linus, said by AnandTech, said by Bit-Tech, said by Tom's Hardware, said all around the internet

except for at Tek Syndicate. If you are going for a gaming PC, go with the 4670K.

 

Video Editing and 3D Rendering

Yes, there are benchmarks where the 8350 beats the 4670K, however, what is important is that these two are almost neck and neck.

Some sites have the 8350 ever so slightly faster, some have the 3570K/4670K as ever so slightly faster. At the end of the day, it's too close to call.

However, the extra IPC that Haswell offers should help in a wider variety of situations, so I would award this to the 4670K. 

 

Calculations

This one goes to the 8350 which demonstrates a higher performance with calculations throughout due to its higher core count. It beats Intel convincingly

in most calculation benchmarks. 

 

So, what does this mean?

 

This has been said in the introduction, but I will say it again. I am not an Intel fanboy, which is why I went out to research instead of screaming that Intel

is better. I have suggested AMD in the past, their Athlon 64 was better than the Pentium 4, their Athlon 64 x2 was better than the Pentium D. However,

I genuinely dislike the promulgation of false information, especially to people who are asking for help selecting new parts. 

 

If you're an AMD fanboy, you're not going to like it, but Intel's 4670K is better than AMD's 8350. Regardless of however you look at it, in most situations,

the 4670K wins, but it isn't just that, its far superior IPC gives it such an advantage in most every day tasks, which are mostly still single-threaded. 

 

The AMD 8350 is good for certain workloads, but apart from those workloads, it is simply terrible. Its IPC, which is weaker than the i7 920's, which is

5 years old, is simply too weak to put it as any sort of real competition to the 4670K. 

 

I hope that this clears up some of the misconceptions here. Yes, AMD had their time, their Athlon 64 was better than the Intel Pentium 4, however,

those days are well and truly over. If, in this day and age, you recommend an AMD processor for any usage apart from calculations, you are either

being a fanboy or just plainly ignorant of the facts which say that the 4670K is superior. 

 

Of course, this is not to say that nobody should use AMD, but, if you suggest an AMD build for someone else, especially if you suggest an 8350

against a 4670K, know that you are suggesting a worse option, especially for a gaming PC. To argue that the 8350 is competitive with the 4670K

across the board is delusional and just plainly wrong. Yes, you are wrong. 

 

So that's it guys, for most people, the 4670K is the better option compared to the 8350 and the information shows it. 

 

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my little article. I hope I have helped you see what the statistics say about these two processors.

I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have written. Cheers :)"

 

Also, when people say that the FX8 is a less expensive option, they are wrong.  In order for the FX8 to be viable, it needs to be overclocked, which means you need a motherboard with at least 8+2 VRM phase design, and more expensive cooling solution.  This makes it cost the same, if not more than a locked i5 processor which will beat the FX8 in every single game, no matter how high the FX is overclocked.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($126.00 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($93.00 @ Newegg)

Total: $248.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 03:38 EST-0500

 

Vs.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.00 @ Amazon)

Total: $214.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 04:22 EST-0500

holy crap you just answered so many questions i've had about different core usage, and pricing. thanks a ton (i play mainly RTS's, and some RPGs with the occasional FPS at a LAN party, so you would definitely suggest the i5?

[Faceman]

holy crap you just answered so many questions i've had about different core usage, and pricing. thanks a ton (i play mainly RTS's, and some RPGs with the occasional FPS at a LAN party, so you would definitely suggest the i5?

Absolutely.  The i5 is the best all-around processor.  If the prices are correct, check out that build I suggested with the i5, as it will give you excellent 1080p performance when paired with an R9 280.

[Qwertychrish]

Absolutely.  The i5 is the best all-around processor.  If the prices are correct, check out that build I suggested with the i5, as it will give you excellent 1080p performance when paired with an R9 280.

so the final build that i think i have decided on is: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ywwfD3

the case is purely because i like it + it's "kinda" cheap

thanks for the suggestions on the $$ saving ideas

[ColemanVrgs]

I plan on buying the second build but this will be my first build ever (im 17) and since its soo much me and my parents have a couple of concerns like is it hard and going to take forever or like a day project and can i put in a msi game 970 and if i do does anything else need to be upgraded?

[79wjd]

I plan on buying the second build but this will be my first build ever (im 17) and since its soo much me and my parents have a couple of concerns like is it hard and going to take forever or like a day project and can i put in a msi game 970 and if i do does anything else need to be upgraded?

I'd really suggest not following the second build as you can do much better. I assume your budget is $1000~ without windows? 

 

The following build is FAR better, and if you needed to knock the price down a bit, then you could: 

• Get a cheaper PSU (and not have the ability to go with multiple GPUs down the road -- without upgrading it)
  • Saves about $30~
• Get a Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 instead of the 970 (A 290 performs very similarly, but it's less efficient)
  • Saves about $100~
• Get a cheaper case, such as an NZXT Source 210
  • Saves about $60~
• Get a motherboard that ONLY supports Crossfire (not SLI) [AMD = crossfire, Nvidia = SLI]
  • Saves about $30~ (right now anyway as there happens to be a sale on a particular board)

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.94 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($108.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($369.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ NCIX US) 

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

Total: $1233.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-17 11:20 EST-0500

 

As for build time, it takes a few hours (3-4~) for most first time builders that I know who have built one; and its very easy, if a component fits somewhere thats pretty much where it goes. 

[ColemanVrgs]

I'd really suggest not following the second build as you can do much better. I assume your budget is $1000~ without windows? 

 

The following build is FAR better, and if you needed to knock the price down a bit, then you could: 

• Get a cheaper PSU (and not have the ability to go with multiple GPUs down the road -- without upgrading it)
  • Saves about $30~

• Get a Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 instead of the 970 (A 290 performs very similarly, but it's less efficient)
  • Saves about $100~

• Get a cheaper case, such as an NZXT Source 210
  • Saves about $60~

• Get a motherboard that ONLY supports Crossfire (not SLI) [AMD = crossfire, Nvidia = SLI]
  • Saves about $30~ (right now anyway as there happens to be a sale on a particular board)

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.94 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($108.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($369.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ NCIX US) 

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

Total: $1233.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-17 11:20 EST-0500

 

As for build time, it takes a few hours (3-4~) for most first time builders that I know who have built one; and its very easy, if a component fits somewhere thats pretty much where it goes. 

This is what i have picked out and im fine with it and the cost, Im just nervous about the build process.

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YcKDhM) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YcKDhM/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox) | $99.99 @ Amazon

**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrb10212pg1) | $29.98 @ OutletPC

**Motherboard** | [Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97r20) | $85.79 @ Amazon

**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c10fbk216) | $139.99 @ Amazon

**Storage** | [intel 520 Series Cherryville 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-internal-hard-drive-ssdsc2cw240a310) | $109.99 @ Amazon

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd30ezrx) | $102.93 @ Amazon

**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g) | $355.91 @ Newegg

**Case** | [NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210e002) | $49.99 @ Amazon

**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430m) | $24.99 @ Newegg

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-885370635690) | $90.26 @ OutletPC

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $1089.82

 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-17 11:58 EST-0500 |

[79wjd]

This is what i have picked out and im fine with it and the cost, Im just nervous about the build process.

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YcKDhM) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YcKDhM/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox) | $99.99 @ Amazon

**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrb10212pg1) | $29.98 @ OutletPC

**Motherboard** | [Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97r20) | $85.79 @ Amazon

**Memory** | [Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx318c10fbk216) | $139.99 @ Amazon

**Storage** | [intel 520 Series Cherryville 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-internal-hard-drive-ssdsc2cw240a310) | $109.99 @ Amazon

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd30ezrx) | $102.93 @ Amazon

**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g) | $355.91 @ Newegg

**Case** | [NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210e002) | $49.99 @ Amazon

**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430m) | $24.99 @ Newegg

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-885370635690) | $90.26 @ OutletPC

| | **Total**

| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $1089.82

| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-17 11:58 EST-0500 |

An i5 is much better than an fx6300.

A caviar blue or seagate barracuda are better drives for actual use. 8gb of ram is still plenty for gaming.

The build I linked is better in almost every way.

[ColemanVrgs]

An i5 is much better than an fx6300.

A caviar blue or seagate barracuda are better drives for actual use. 8gb of ram is still plenty for gaming.

The build I linked is better in almost every way.

 

ok but can i pick any case on the pcpartpicker or is there something special about that one? with the ram there are like 15 of them does it matter which one i pick or since compatibility mode on its fine?

[79wjd]

ok but can i pick any case on the pcpartpicker or is there something special about that one? with the ram there are like 15 of them does it matter which one i pick or since compatibility mode on its fine?

Pretty much any ATX case you want is fine, but I also suggested the Source 210 in my post (which you were going to get anyway) as a cheaper alternative. 

 

As for Ram, I picked pretty much the cheapest Ram there; but sure, any DDR3 ram will work. 

[ColemanVrgs]

Pretty much any ATX case you want is fine, but I also suggested the Source 210 in my post (which you were going to get anyway) as a cheaper alternative. 

 

As for Ram, I picked pretty much the cheapest Ram there; but sure, any DDR3 ram will work. 

Sweet thanks for the help

[vegula surya]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

[79wjd]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

You need to link the permalink. And words so we know what you're trying to say/ask  

[Praxis727]

I am sure the whole point to the build was to get you guys to post opinions.  I am also sure the decision on the builds given were not the opinion of one person but multiple people.  Mission accomplished if there are many ideas and combinations given that would work.  As for everyone saying better build or someones build is wrong....  That really is all opinion.  WE are a community.  Everyones opinion counts.

[MBisFrenchy]

Nonono. DO NOT reccomend the V300. It WAS awesome, but since then they've switched from synchronous nand to asynchronous nand because it's way cheaper. Making the drive MUCH slower and a real shit option at no matter the price point, there's a reason it's so cheap. They switched it without saying anything to anyone, a real poop move IMHO

I too agree stay away from the V300!

 

For the second option I would rather use a 200R $50 and currently 10MIR on newegg. Or if you want a gaming PC looking case that is not discrete the Corsair Spec-01 $50

 

For option 3 I personally would go for a H220 or H220X, so eventually you could make a loop. 

[MBisFrenchy]

For the second option I would rather use a 200R $50 and currently 10MIR on newegg. Or if you want a gaming PC looking case that is not discrete the Corsair Spec-01 $50