$550 Gaming/Office First Build.

[b1912]

Hi folks, 

 

I've been trying to put together something decent for my first ever build to be used for some gaming and home-office work. My main priority is that the machine is fast, smooth and responsive. I'm not a pro gamer and just want to be able to have my games run smoothly without anything extra-ordinary. 

I have chosen to go the AMD route and wanted to get some opinions on this build - do the chosen components make sense put together; and is there anything that I can change to get more bang for the buck and better performance? 

Thank you!

 

PCpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PRxYqk

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor

MOBO:  ASRock 970A-G/3.1 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard

RAM:  Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video:  PNY GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  (should I go with Radeon here instead?)

Power:  EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Case: Still need to pick one...

--- cost so far $515-525. (USD via mostly Newegg)

 

 

 

 

[Unexas.]

1 minute ago, b1912 said:

Hi folks, 

 

I've been trying to put together something decent for my first ever build to be used for some gaming and home-office work. My main priority is that the machine is fast, smooth and responsive. I'm not a pro gamer and just want to be able to have my games run smoothly without anything extra-ordinary. 

I have chosen to go the AMD route and wanted to get some opinions on this build - do the chosen components make sense put together; and is there anything that I can change to get more bang for the buck and better performance? 

Thank you!

 

PCpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PRxYqk

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor

MOBO:  ASRock 970A-G/3.1 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard

RAM:  Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video:  PNY GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  (should I go with Radeon here instead?)

Power:  EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Case: Still need to pick one...

--- cost so far $515-525. (USD via mostly Newegg)

 

 

 

 

Don't get that cpu is old and never worked well. You could go the Pentium or i3 route or wait for Ryzen 5. 

[Starelementpoke]

3 minutes ago, b1912 said:

Hi folks, 

 

I've been trying to put together something decent for my first ever build to be used for some gaming and home-office work. My main priority is that the machine is fast, smooth and responsive. I'm not a pro gamer and just want to be able to have my games run smoothly without anything extra-ordinary. 

I have chosen to go the AMD route and wanted to get some opinions on this build - do the chosen components make sense put together; and is there anything that I can change to get more bang for the buck and better performance? 

Thank you!

 

PCpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PRxYqk

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor

MOBO:  ASRock 970A-G/3.1 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard

RAM:  Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video:  PNY GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  (should I go with Radeon here instead?)

Power:  EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Case: Still need to pick one...

--- cost so far $515-525. (USD via mostly Newegg)

 

 

 

 

No, FX series not worth it this day. Should be a better quality PSU.

[b1912]

1 minute ago, Unexas. said:

Don't get that cpu is old and never worked well. You could go the Pentium or i3 route or wait for Ryzen 5. 

I was initially going to go with i5 6500, but saw that the FX has better benchmark performances and is slightly cheaper. Thanks for the advise -- I would love to wait out for Ryzen 5 but not sure if I`ll be able to fit a Ryzen into the setup -- based on price :\ 

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.69 @ OutletPC) will destroy the fx in gaming.
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($52.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB XXX OC  Video Card  ($179.99 @ Newegg) much better than the 1050ti.
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($43.89 @ Newegg) 
Total: $544.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-13 09:49 EDT-0400

[Unexas.]

Just now, b1912 said:

I was initially going to go with i5 6500, but saw that the FX has better benchmark performances and is slightly cheaper. Thanks for the advise -- I would love to wait out for Ryzen 5 but not sure if I`ll be able to fit a Ryzen into the setup -- based on price :\ 

Ryzen 5 is not out yet. Ryzen 7 is. Ryzen 5 will be their lower priced quad cores.

[Starelementpoke]

7 minutes ago, b1912 said:

Hi folks, 

 

I've been trying to put together something decent for my first ever build to be used for some gaming and home-office work. My main priority is that the machine is fast, smooth and responsive. I'm not a pro gamer and just want to be able to have my games run smoothly without anything extra-ordinary. 

I have chosen to go the AMD route and wanted to get some opinions on this build - do the chosen components make sense put together; and is there anything that I can change to get more bang for the buck and better performance? 

Thank you!

 

PCpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PRxYqk

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor

MOBO:  ASRock 970A-G/3.1 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard

RAM:  Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video:  PNY GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  (should I go with Radeon here instead?)

Power:  EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply

Case: Still need to pick one...

--- cost so far $515-525. (USD via mostly Newegg)

 

 

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yyXbxY
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yyXbxY/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.69 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($47.92 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 470 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($144.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.89 @ Newegg) 
Total: $551.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-13 09:49 EDT-0400

There.

[b1912]

2 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yyXbxY
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yyXbxY/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($189.69 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($47.92 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 470 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($144.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($46.89 @ Newegg) 
Total: $551.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-13 09:49 EDT-0400

There.

thank you! Do you think that with your suggested Mobo I can go with a micro-atx case like the Thermaltake Core V1?  http://a.co/5264wCB

[H0R53]

Or you can buy older things and spend considerably less, third gen i5s still kill the benchmarks and are in the ~$100 range.

 

I honestly don't understand the craze about Ryzen, AMD is playing a losing game.

[H0R53]

How about this (all links go to Amazon):

AsRock H77m - $100

Intel i5 3330 - $100

mATX case - $30

500w PSU - $50

8GB DDR3 - $50

GTX 1050 ti SSC ACX3.0 - $150

 

Total cost - 480

 

Source: I have all of those components except a slightly better case, 3 HDDs and an SSD - it devours any game I throw at it with room forn seconds. Fallout 4 is a snack for this thing. I also have a 600W PSU but that's a minor difference.

[thenastyjbenny]

8 minutes ago, H0R53 said:

Or you can buy older things and spend considerably less, third gen i5s still kill the benchmarks and are in the ~$100 range.

 

I honestly don't understand the craze about Ryzen, AMD is playing a losing game.

*triggers AMD fanboy in the distance*

 

I honestly like what AMD is doing to the market. As streamer and youtuber in-the-making, Ryzen's R7 1700 is a godsend. Not to mention what R5 and 3 will do to the general CPU market. We all need the lower prices.

[H0R53]

1 minute ago, JR8 said:

*triggers AMD fanboy in the distance*

 

I honestly like what AMD is doing to the market. As streamer and youtuber in-the-making, Ryzen's R7 1700 is a godsend. Not to mention what R5 and 3 will do to the general CPU market. We all need the lower prices.

I totally agree however the performance is less than what I expected. I expected an i7 7700K killer, but what we got was...par. No better, no less. Back on topic though. Older components are cheaper, therefore easier to replace. Say you burn your Ryzen somehow...shell out $150 for another.

i5 conks out...by then it'll be $50.

[Brooksie359]

25 minutes ago, b1912 said:

I was initially going to go with i5 6500, but saw that the FX has better benchmark performances and is slightly cheaper. Thanks for the advise -- I would love to wait out for Ryzen 5 but not sure if I`ll be able to fit a Ryzen into the setup -- based on price :\ 

what? in what world does a fx 8350 beat an i5 in benchmarks? i mean maybe highly multi-threaded benchmarks but that doesn't help for gamng and is unnecessary for normal everyday use. 

[b1912]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

what? in what world does a fx 8350 beat an i5 in benchmarks? i mean maybe highly multi-threaded benchmarks but that doesn't help for gamng and is unnecessary for normal everyday use. 

Well, first build and all so Im not very experienced with the DIY topic in general but, I felt the 8350 and 8370 do better than the i5.. let me know if this is relevant. thanks

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-6500+%40+3.20GHz&id=2599

[Brooksie359]

1 minute ago, b1912 said:

Well, first build and all so Im not very experienced with the DIY topic in general but, I felt the 8350 and 8370 do better than the i5.. let me know if this is relevant. thanks

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-6500+%40+3.20GHz&id=2599

as someone who owns a fx 8350 and have a friend with an i5 6500 with the same gpu i will tell you right now that it is quite irrelevant. those are synthetic multithreaded benchmarks that don't show just how bad the single core performance is on the fx 8350. the fx 8350 is actually ok for multithreaded workloads when compared to an i5 the only issue is that not many programs are super multithreaded and the ones that are really need a much more powerful cpu than the fx 8350. if you want to play games the i5 is going to get much beter fps than the fx 8350 because the main thing that determines gaming performance is single threaded performance. so as someone who made the mistake of getting a fx 8350 thinking it would was a good deal i would suggest that you consider the i5 instead as it will be better 95% of the time. 

[b1912]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

as someone who owns a fx 8350 and have a friend with an i5 6500 with the same gpu i will tell you right now that it is quite irrelevant. those are synthetic multithreaded benchmarks that don't show just how bad the single core performance is on the fx 8350. the fx 8350 is actually ok for multithreaded workloads when compared to an i5 the only issue is that not many programs are super multithreaded and the ones that are really need a much more powerful cpu than the fx 8350. if you want to play games the i5 is going to get much beter fps than the fx 8350 because the main thing that determines gaming performance is single threaded performance. so as someone who made the mistake of getting a fx 8350 thinking it would was a good deal i would suggest that you consider the i5 instead as it will be better 95% of the time. 

thank you.. my initial thoughts of going for the i5 6500 are reaffirming. I really wanted AMD to be a good alternative... maybe not at this price range though :). 

[H0R53]

43 minutes ago, JR8 said:

*triggers AMD fanboy in the distance*

 

I honestly like what AMD is doing to the market. As streamer and youtuber in-the-making, Ryzen's R7 1700 is a godsend. Not to mention what R5 and 3 will do to the general CPU market. We all need the lower prices.

I have an i5. It's great.

[thenastyjbenny]

1 minute ago, H0R53 said:

I have an i5. It's great.

See my description.

 

 

[H0R53]

2 minutes ago, JR8 said:

See my description.

 

 

Yes, I see it.

 

I'm going to get a Xeon E3 1240 once I get a little more cash, my motherboard fully supports it and it's only $99. Tiny performance boost, but I like the Xeon label more than the Core iX. It's more professional and less snooty-gamery.

[thenastyjbenny]

8 minutes ago, H0R53 said:

Yes, I see it.

 

I'm going to get a Xeon E3 1240 once I get a little more cash, my motherboard fully supports it and it's only $99. Tiny performance boost, but I like the Xeon label more than the Core iX. It's more professional and less snooty-gamery.

Hey, it's your money.

 

Are xeons OCable?

 

And is their a good one for my z77 mobo? I'd be interested if you could point me to a good resource.

 

EDIT: there (funny how i'm a grammar nazi and I can't even get my own right lmao)

[Herman Mcpootis]

52 minutes ago, b1912 said:

Well, first build and all so Im not very experienced with the DIY topic in general but, I felt the 8350 and 8370 do better than the i5.. let me know if this is relevant. thanks

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-6500+%40+3.20GHz&id=2599

nope, can't even beat the G4560.

 

[b1912]

Thanks for all the great input. This is still a learning curve for me so I definitely appreciate the different viewpoints and ideas. I'm shaping up a parts list that seems to align better with some of the suggestions. Currently standing just about $26 over budget, please let me know if I can shave a few dollars here and there.

 

PCpartpicker list https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XB9NZ8

 

Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189)

MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69)

Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($55)

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50)

Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card ($139) or  Asus Radeon RX 470 4GB STRIX ($165) and I can opt out for a cheaper MOBO and RAM to even out price? 

EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39)

DIYPC DIY-F2-O ATX Mini Tower Case ($35)

-- current cost ~ $570

 

 

 

[Drake10114]

12 minutes ago, b1912 said:

Thanks for all the great input. This is still a learning curve for me so I definitely appreciate the different viewpoints and ideas. I'm shaping up a parts list that seems to align better with some of the suggestions. Currently standing just about $26 over budget, please let me know if I can shave a few dollars here and there.

 

PCpartpicker list https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XB9NZ8

 

Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189)

MSI H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69)

Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($55)

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50)

Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card ($139)

EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39)

DIYPC DIY-F2-O ATX Mini Tower Case ($35)

-- current cost ~ $570

 

 

 

I would most likely splurge and get a better PSU... unless you want your PC to become a bomb sometime. 

[b1912]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

I would most likely splurge and get a better PSU... unless you want your PC to become a bomb sometime. 

I was going based on ratings @ pcpartpicker. Can you recommend some decent PSUs that are fairly priced? Thank you

[Drake10114]

12 minutes ago, b1912 said:

I was going based on ratings @ pcpartpicker. Can you recommend some decent PSUs that are fairly priced? Thank you

There is a PSU Tier list in the PSU/Case sub-forum

One's that I found that are Tier 3 (your's is tier 6) that are decent for a cheap PSU are a Seasonic M12II 520 Bronze or the Corsair CXM 450W.

But PSU is something you never cheap out on, due to the potential of it completely destroying your PC.

For the extra price, EVGA Supernova 550W or 650W G2 (Tier 1).