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nah amd is still good for casual pc's jsut not gaming rigs

Don't buy this notion for a second!  AMD makes excellent graphics cards-- in many ways, technologically superior to what Nvidia offers.  The bulk of what Nvidia sells are very reliable, stable cards that don't require much attention from the end user.  They also offer ridiculously priced "boutique" cards that don't perform to a degree that their price warrants.  AMD on the other hand releases graphics cards with tremendous raw power that tend to be a bit rough around the edges initially.  Think of this as a car analogy-- Nvidia is Toyota-- Most of their cars are great and reliable, they've also lied about some of them (GTX 970 = Prius recalls) and some are pricey indulgences (Titan Z = Toyota GT- One).  AMD on the other hand is Pontiac-- unsexy in today's market (who drives a Pontiac that isn't 50+ years old?) but their pursuit is ultimate performance at the sacrifice of comfort (1969 GTO Judge= 295x2 = Fury X).  If you're willing to put in a bit of work you can't go wrong with AMD.  As my handle suggests I've owned multiple cards from both companies over the years.  Anyone who isn't willing to fiddle with their rig should just buy a Mac.

 

Long winded for sure--  that being said I'd bump up the budget just a bit and go for at least an R9 280x.

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I see it now lol, i did not know this

 

 
CPU: AMD A8-7650K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ NCIX US) 
CPU Cooler: Rosewill RCX-Z1 57.2 CFM Ball Bearing CPU Cooler  ($18.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($46.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Kingston Savage 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Kingston Savage 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *Asus Radeon R7 360 2GB Video Card  ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Rosewill RANGER-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Logisys LT400RD 21.7 CFM 80mm  Fan  ($3.49 @ Directron) 
Case Fan: Rosewill RFA-120-RL 74.5 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($6.75 @ OutletPC) 
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($130.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $800.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:12 EDT-0400
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Don't buy this notion for a second!  AMD makes excellent graphics cards-- in many ways, technologically superior to what Nvidia offers.  The bulk of what Nvidia sells are very reliable, stable cards that don't require much attention from the end user.  They also offer ridiculously priced "boutique" cards that don't perform to a degree that their price warrants.  AMD on the other hand releases graphics cards with tremendous raw power that tend to be a bit rough around the edges initially.  Think of this as a car analogy-- Nvidia is Toyota-- Most of their cars are great and reliable, they've also lied about some of them (GTX 970 = Prius recalls) and some are pricey indulgences (Titan Z = Toyota GT- One).  AMD on the other hand is Pontiac-- unsexy in today's market (who drives a Pontiac that isn't 50+ years old?) but their pursuit is ultimate performance at the sacrifice of comfort (1969 GTO Judge= 295x2 = Fury X).  If you're willing to put in a bit of work you can't go wrong with AMD.  As my handle suggests I've owned multiple cards from both companies over the years.  Anyone who isn't willing to fiddle with their rig should just buy a Mac.

 

Long winded for sure--  that being said I'd bump up the budget just a bit and go for at least an R9 280x.

Thanks for your input, i will take that into consideration.

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Yea that is a pretty crummy build to be honest. Thank goodness you came here before purchasing that

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.74 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Plus Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($9.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron)

Memory: G.Skill NS Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($41.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($73.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($189.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($12.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($139.99 @ Best Buy)

Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse  ($26.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $835.53

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:19 EDT-0400

 

Then you can buy a windows key off of Reddit softwareswap and get windows 8.1 for 12$

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

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Yea that is a pretty crummy build to be honest. Thank goodness you came here before purchasing that

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.74 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Plus Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($9.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($42.99 @ Directron)

Memory: G.Skill NS Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($41.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($73.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.89 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($189.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ Micro Center)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($12.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Asus VX228H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($139.99 @ Best Buy)

Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse  ($26.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $835.53

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:19 EDT-0400

 

Then you can buy a windows key off of Reddit softwareswap and get windows 8.1 for 12$

Thank you, i will save this parts list as well.

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My last question to you guys is, what was the big flaw in my build. Y'all changed like EVERYTHING

The biggest flaw is that you had a budget of 800-950 dollars and you spent most of it on expensive stuff like fans and thermal paste. Then you didn't have enough in the budget to actually play  1080P.  APU's are a crummy choice in CPU's as its only used for media pc's and or extreme budget PC's.  Also you didn't wisely find out cheaper parts in order to reduce the price of things while keep a nice performance thing. Basically it looked like you just started throwing money at random things.

NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER STOP LEARNING. DONT LET THE PAST HURT YOU. YOU CAN DOOOOO IT

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The biggest flaw is that you had a budget of 800-950 dollars and you spent most of it on expensive stuff like fans and thermal paste. Then you didn't have enough in the budget to actually play  1080P.  APU's are a crummy choice in CPU's as its only used for media pc's and or extreme budget PC's.  Also you didn't wisely find out cheaper parts in order to reduce the price of things while keep a nice performance thing. Basically it looked like you just started throwing money at random things.

Point taken

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my 2 cents, and i made sure to put your OS in there as well.  My question is do you really need an optical drive?

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Monitor: Acer G227HQLbi 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $892.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:42 EDT-0400
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my 2 cents, and i made sure to put your OS in there as well.  My question is do you really need an optical drive?

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Monitor: Acer G227HQLbi 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $892.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:42 EDT-0400

 

Thanks, I will take yours into consideration as well.

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my 2 cents, and i made sure to put your OS in there as well.  My question is do you really need an optical drive?

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card  ($189.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Monitor: Acer G227HQLbi 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $892.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 00:42 EDT-0400

 

Thanks and i willl considr your build as well. I want an optical drive because i never had one before, so it kinda is necessary.

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Thanks and i willl considr your build as well. I want an optical drive because i never had one before, so it kinda is necessary.

Hey, they're cheap haha, no reason not to have one.  I just don't have one and never find myself missing it. 

 

Also, keep in mind, that 280X i linked is about 10-15% faster than the 960 above for the exact same price, and you get an extra GB of vram buffer for games like GTAIV, The Witcher 3, and Crysis 3 that use more than 2gb vram at 180p. But, now that i think about it, I wouldn't want to have the 500 watt psu, just because i like to have a little more "wiggle" room with my psu.  

 

I would switch it to this one. http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=100-B1-0600-RX, just to be safe. And besides, it a 600w vs a 500W for just $5 more. 

 

The monitor i linked to is also an IPS monitor, which is generally superior to the traditional tn panels that are usually found in the 100 price point. It gives better color reproduction with much better viewing angles. You know how when you get at an angle to a laptop screen the colors wash out, and sometimes even reverse?  That's a tn panel, where an IPS panel won't do that. 

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Hey, they're cheap haha, no reason not to have one.  I just don't have one and never find myself missing it. 

 

Also, keep in mind, that 280X i linked is about 10-15% faster than the 960 above for the exact same price, and you get an extra GB of vram buffer for games like GTAIV, The Witcher 3, and Crysis 3 that use more than 2gb vram at 180p. But, now that i think about it, I wouldn't want to have the 500 watt psu, just because i like to have a little more "wiggle" room with my psu.  

 

I would switch it to this one. http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=100-B1-0600-RX, just to be safe. And besides, it a 600w vs a 500W for just $5 more. 

 

The monitor i linked to is also an IPS monitor, which is generally superior to the traditional tn panels that are usually found in the 100 price point. It gives better color reproduction with much better viewing angles. You know how when you get at an angle to a laptop screen the colors wash out, and sometimes even reverse?  That's a tn panel, where an IPS panel won't do that. 

I thought of the 280x alot, but i would still go for the 380 over it just because its newer. I am right no reconstructing my build with all of you guys advice.

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I thought of the 280x alot, but i would still go for the 380 over it just because its newer. I am right no reconstructing my build with all of you guys advice.

I guess i don't really understand that mentality. Why would you get a slower card that costs more because it was newer?

 

EDIT: I mean, unless you were gonna spend at least $50 more, the 380 even has less ram.  

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Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ Newegg) 



Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card  ($223.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 


Monitor: Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($114.99 @ Best Buy) 

Total: $725.40

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 01:13 EDT-0400

 

You could either add like a better CPU or and SSD.  I'd stick with that graphics card it seems to be pretty sweet spot right now in my opinion.  What you do with this is kinda based upon what you're going to be doing with the computer.

"You should look up common sense and add it to your vocabulary." - dougdangger 2015

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I guess i don't really understand that mentality. Why would you get a slower card that costs more because it was newer?

 

EDIT: I mean, unless you were gonna spend at least $50 more, the 380 even has less ram.  

When I post the build u will see how i addressed the graphics cards

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You could either add like a better CPU or and SSD.  I'd stick with that graphics card it seems to be pretty sweet spot right now in my opinion.  What you do with this is kinda based upon what you're going to be doing with the computer.

 

gotta add $100 for an os, unless he's gonna, uh, find one. 

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gotta add $100 for an os, unless he's gonna, uh, find one. 

 

Yeah I kinda forgot that OS's don't just pop out of thin air.  It's been a while since I've done a ground up build lol.

"You should look up common sense and add it to your vocabulary." - dougdangger 2015

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Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card  ($223.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Monitor: Dell S2340M 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($114.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $725.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 01:13 EDT-0400
 
You could either add like a better CPU or and SSD.  I'd stick with that graphics card it seems to be pretty sweet spot right now in my opinion.  What you do with this is kinda based upon what you're going to be doing with the computer.

 

Hmmmm thats the same case i chose in the revised build that i am still doing lol. I see where corners can be cut for price, thanks for your input.

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Okay thanks again to everybody. Now, I revised the build taking input from everybody. I know a lot about computers and stuff but I just don't have experience. I do a lot of reading and that sorta stuff. However, I had to be completely humble for me to learn anything from you guys, which I was, and I did learn stuff. I really wanted to go AMD because of the price to performance but in the end I was convinced that AMD CPUs were not good enough, especially for the future plans that I have for this build. Anyway, below is the revised parts list.

 

The GPU will be bought at a later date depending on what my cash flow in the future will allow.

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S1 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: *MSI Radeon R7 360 2GB Video Card  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($130.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $906.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 01:29 EDT-0400
 
And I forgot to say that the parts are not going to be bought all at once.
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Okay thanks again to everybody. Now, I revised the build taking input from everybody. I know a lot about computers and stuff but I just don't have experience. I do a lot of reading and that sorta stuff. However, I had to be completely humble for me to learn anything from you guys, which I was, and I did learn stuff. I really wanted to go AMD because of the price to performance but in the end I was convinced that AMD CPUs were not good enough, especially for the future plans that I have for this build. Anyway, below is the revised parts list.

 

The GPU will be bought at a later date depending on what my cash flow in the future will allow.

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S1 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: *MSI Radeon R7 360 2GB Video Card  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($99.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($5.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($130.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $906.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 01:29 EDT-0400
 
And I forgot to say that the parts are not going to be bought all at once.

 

Nice build, but a couple of comments. In my opinion, $70 is way too much for a 550W psu when you can get a 500W for $29.99 and a 600W for 39.99.  Also, you definitely will not be able to max out any new AAA titles at 1080p with that 360 card.  You'll have to reduce settings to medium for playable framerates. Finally, there is absolutely no need to buy an aftermarket cpu cooler for locked cpu that you can't overclock anyway. The stock heatsink will work just fine. 

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