First time builder, looking for feedback

[bezelfrezel]

Hey all! Newb here looking for help with my first build. Feel free to offer suggestions about better parts, cheaper parts, or if I've done something terribly stupid. pcpartpicker list if that's your gravy.

1. Budget: $750 US excluding monitor, $900 including.   
2. Location: AMERICA. Specifically, Colorado .
3. I'm a student, so I do a lot of web browsing, pdf reading, word typing, etc. In my free time I stream movies and do a bit of light gaming (minecraft, This War of Mine). However, I'm also learning how to program, and in the next few years will hopefully start doing animation and 3D rendering. (Also, maybe some bioinformatics? But that stuff will probably be on work computers.)
4. I plan on 1 monitor. Not sure which one yet. Suggestions are welcome!
5. Keyboard included in the cost, cause I type 3-4 hours a day.
6. I'm upgrading because this is basically my current rig, falling apart physically and unable to play even minecraft.

Parts

• CPU: AMD FX-6300
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
• Mobo: ASRock 970 extreme EXTREME4 atx
• Memory: Kingston Fury 8GB (2x4)
• Storage: Samsung 850 evo series 120 GB SSD
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250 GB 7200 RPM
• GPU: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB
• Case: Corsair 400R ATX mid tower case
• PSU: Corsair CSM 450w 80+ Gold (semi-modular)
• Optical drive: Some cheapo samsung, just in case
• Keyboard: Rosewill RK 9000BR wired (mechanical keyboard)

Total: $707 American

 

So, a few questions:

• Did I do anything stupid? Do I need more ports for something, is anything way more expensive than the rest of my build, will anything catch on fire?
• How do I check if everything is going to fit in my case without buying it all?
• Is 450W going to be enough for what I have?
• Any better parts for a comparable/cheaper price?

[hypnodog]

Looks good! Everything is within the 450W threshold, so nothing should blow up. The 400R is a mid tower case, so everything there should fit just fine. I would upgrade to a 280x or a FirePro card if you decide to get into hardcore rendering. 

This Asus 1080p monitor looks good, if you can spend $10 more, you could get the 23 inch version. http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-HD-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDOO

[bezelfrezel]

Looks good! Everything is within the 450W threshold, so nothing should blow up. The 400R is a mid tower case, so everything there should fit just fine. I would upgrade to a 280x or a FirePro card if you decide to get into hardcore rendering. 

This Asus 1080p monitor looks good, if you can spend $10 more, you could get the 23 inch version. http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-HD-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDOO

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I was thinking in the future I may get another GPU, since afaik everything is crossfire compatable. Would that work for rendering?

 

Thanks for the monitor suggestion. What are some standards that a monitor has to hit in order to be considered quality?

[hypnodog]

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I was thinking in the future I may get another GPU, since afaik everything is crossfire compatable. Would that work for rendering?

 

Thanks for the monitor suggestion. What are some standards that a monitor has to hit in order to be considered quality?

For light-medium renders, it would work great, but no other AMD card beats the FirePro series in rendering. My standards for monitors are: Great image quality, 60 Hz or more refresh rate, ports on the back (or on the bottom, but the monitor should swivel). That's really about it IMO, speakers are a plus, but I'm a headphone user so I don't care for them (idk about you though).

[MattTheMayor]

 

Hey all! Newb here looking for help with my first build. Feel free to offer suggestions about better parts, cheaper parts, or if I've done something terribly stupid. pcpartpicker list if that's your gravy.

1. Budget: $750 US excluding monitor, $900 including.   
2. Location: AMERICA. Specifically, Colorado .
3. I'm a student, so I do a lot of web browsing, pdf reading, word typing, etc. In my free time I stream movies and do a bit of light gaming (minecraft, This War of Mine). However, I'm also learning how to program, and in the next few years will hopefully start doing animation and 3D rendering. (Also, maybe some bioinformatics? But that stuff will probably be on work computers.)
4. I plan on 1 monitor. Not sure which one yet. Suggestions are welcome!
5. Keyboard included in the cost, cause I type 3-4 hours a day.
6. I'm upgrading because this is basically my current rig, falling apart physically and unable to play even minecraft.

Parts

• CPU: AMD FX-6300
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
• Mobo: ASRock 970 extreme EXTREME4 atx
• Memory: Kingston Fury 8GB (2x4)
• Storage: Samsung 850 evo series 120 GB SSD
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250 GB 7200 RPM
• GPU: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB
• Case: Corsair 400R ATX mid tower case
• PSU: Corsair CSM 450w 80+ Gold (semi-modular)
• Optical drive: Some cheapo samsung, just in case
• Keyboard: Rosewill RK 9000BR wired (mechanical keyboard)

Total: $707 American

 

So, a few questions:

• Did I do anything stupid? Do I need more ports for something, is anything way more expensive than the rest of my build, will anything catch on fire?
• How do I check if everything is going to fit in my case without buying it all?
• Is 450W going to be enough for what I have?
• Any better parts for a comparable/cheaper price?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.47 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($81.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.99 @ Best Buy) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($164.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Micro Center) 

Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($139.93 @ B&H) 

Keyboard: Cherry G84-5200LCMEU-2 Wired Standard Keyboard  ($81.99 @ Mac Mall) 

Total: $886.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 23:23 EST-0500

[hypnodog]

 

Total:  $886.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 23:23 EST-0500

 

$136 over budget m8

[MattTheMayor]

$136 over budget m8

he said 900 for everything (tower and monitor). m9

[hypnodog]

he said 900 for everything (tower and monitor). m9

Didn't notice the monitor part lol derp m7

[bezelfrezel]

For light-medium renders, it would work great, but no other AMD card beats the FirePro series in rendering. My standards for monitors are: Great image quality, 60 Hz or more refresh rate, ports on the back (or on the bottom, but the monitor should swivel). That's really about it IMO, speakers are a plus, but I'm a headphone user so I don't care for them (idk about you though).

Awesome, I'll keep that all in mind. I am also a headphone user.

[bezelfrezel]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.47 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($81.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.99 @ Best Buy) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($164.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Micro Center) 

Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($139.93 @ B&H) 

Keyboard: Cherry G84-5200LCMEU-2 Wired Standard Keyboard  ($81.99 @ Mac Mall) 

Total: $886.32

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 23:23 EST-0500

 

Thanks for the feedback, m10. A few questions

 

Why i5 CPU? From what I can see, the i5 and FX 6600 have performances that are within the same range, but the i5 is quite a bit more expensive. Is there something else factoring into your decision. (Does the mobo factor into this?)

 

The GPU seems pretty hefty. Is there a reason you're recommending it?

 

What's the thinking behind the monitor?

 

Also, I think I'll stick with the memory I have, maybe bump the HDD up to 250 500. I have ~90 GB of stuff from 4 years of college, so I don't think I need the TB of storage. However, everyone really seems to love SSD.

[bezelfrezel]

Didn't notice the monitor part lol derp m7

He's right, but thanks for getting my back m11.

[hypnodog]

 However, everyone really seems to love SSD.

Yeah, SSDs are awesome, I would put in a SSD in the Intel build m10 (lol).

[bezelfrezel]

Yeah, SSDs are awesome, I would put in a SSD in the Intel build m10 (lol).

You like intel as well? Any reason?

[hypnodog]

You like intel as well? Any reason?

I'm more of an AMD fanboy (in CPUs), but I'm kind of leaning towards Intel since AMD is taking a while to announce AM4. I was saying put an SSD in the Intel build since it only had a HDD.

[MattTheMayor]

Thanks for the feedback, m10. A few questions

 

Why i5 CPU? From what I can see, the i5 and FX 6600 have performances that are within the same range, but the i5 is quite a bit more expensive. Is there something else factoring into your decision. (Does the mobo factor into this?)

 

The GPU seems pretty hefty. Is there a reason you're recommending it?

 

What's the thinking behind the monitor?

 

Also, I think I'll stick with the memory I have, maybe bump the HDD up to 250 500. I have ~90 GB of stuff from 4 years of college, so I don't think I need the TB of storage. However, everyone really seems to love SSD.

the i5 has stronger single core performance than the 6300 so everything you'll be doing is faster.

 

i have this gpu in my system and its smoother than butter

 

for the monitor, i was looking at good brands with good specifications that I could see. 60hz 1920x1080. but its not ips. if you want to spend 20 bucks more for ips (sees colors more clearly) then go for the h236hl by acer. i also have that.

 

ssds are very good. they boot up your windows in an average of 2-3 seconds. boots up programs faster than you can say hdd lol.

[bezelfrezel]

the i5 has stronger single core performance than the 6300 so everything you'll be doing is faster.

 

i have this gpu in my system and its smoother than butter

 

for the monitor, i was looking at good brands with good specifications that I could see. 60hz 1920x1080. but its not ips. if you want to spend 20 bucks more for ips (sees colors more clearly) then go for the h236hl by acer. i also have that.

 

ssds are very good. they boot up your windows in an average of 2-3 seconds. boots up programs faster than you can say hdd lol.

I agree that the i5 has better single core performance, but it doesn't seem like there's a huge gap. Also, I plan on overclocking, so I think that I'll be getting a very similar performance from the FX 6300. But I'll play around with your build a little bit.

 

Is there a reason you recommended the EVGA?  650W seems like a lot more than I need.