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Is this the best build possible for 500$?

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  • Battlefield
  • Build
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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April 23, 2013 1:31:57 PM

This is my first build so I am new to all of this. I will mostly be playing BF3.


PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SAeN
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SAeN/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SAeN/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($65.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.23 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($100.00 @ Vuugo)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($40.83 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.06 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $504.08
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 16:31 EDT-0400)

More about : build 500

April 23, 2013 1:45:20 PM

squeeze a good cpu cooler onto that build... even something like a hyper evo 212 would do.

actually... if you're playing bf3 you're gonna need to overclock that cpu since it's very cpu dependent. i would look into a different mb... like a Gigabyte 770T-UD3P, Gigabyte 870A-UD3, Asus M5A88-V EVO, Asrock 890GX Extreme4 R2.0
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April 23, 2013 1:51:30 PM

What kind of CPU would you suggest? I've looked into the i3 3220 but from what I've read the fx 6300 is better and has 6 cores versus the 2 that the i3 has.
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April 23, 2013 1:56:36 PM

There are two definite changes I would make. First of all, that particular ASRock board is NOT a 900-series chipset board; it's an old 760G board with the 710 Southbridge, and a 3rd-party SATA 6Gb/s controller and an AM3+ socket tacked onto it. You'll need to spend a little more, but a true 900-series board will give you native SATA 6Gb/s and better OC support. Look for one with VRM heat sinks as well.
Second, a 2x4GB RAM kit will give you better performance than a single 8GB stick.
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April 23, 2013 1:58:26 PM

get 2x4Gb RAM, it'll be cheaper and it's best to have a total of 2 or 4 sticks. Look at spending the extra $20 or so on a 650Ti too, they have a pretty good performance bump over the 7770
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/680?vs=536
and then yes, that board needs to be swapped out.
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April 23, 2013 1:59:03 PM

What motherboard would you suggest? I'm a newb so this is difficult to understand.
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April 23, 2013 2:00:53 PM

Hmmm, Newegg in the US has the Xigmatek Gaia for only $20 right now, but it looks like Newegg Canada has it at the same price as the Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. If you care about noise, the Xigmatek is 6db quieter and cools within 1C of the CM (per Frostytech).
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April 23, 2013 2:03:01 PM

the cpu is fine... i listed a bunch of mbs... you DO NOT need a 900 series chipset mb... you need a mb with the proper 8+2 phase cpu vrm design. find the cheapest mb out of the group i listed... all of those will overclock well... though i'd suggest the gigabyte or asus ones.

grab yourself the 650ti boost as your gpu... it will cost about the same as your 7770
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April 23, 2013 2:09:14 PM

If I go with the mb onus posted will I still need a CPU cooler?
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April 23, 2013 2:38:59 PM

If you want to OC, yes. Stock AMD coolers tend to be loud. The current high-end ones with the heat pipes allow a little OCing, but not much, and they're still loud. I use Xigmatek Gaias on my systems, and I'm quite happy with them.
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April 23, 2013 2:43:26 PM

Is this a good final build?

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SBgc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SBgc/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SBgc/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Canada Computers)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek LOKI SD963 52.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($95.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($49.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.50 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($94.88 @ Canada Computers)
Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.48 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.06 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $545.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 17:42 EDT-0400)
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April 23, 2013 3:01:09 PM

I can't comment on styling because that's purely personal choice, but it looks reasonable inside. It may not take a real long graphics card like a HD7970, but if that doesn't matter, then it looks ok.
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April 23, 2013 3:04:15 PM

I'm going to throw out an alternative build that I think would perform signifigantly higher in the vast majority of games.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($65.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.23 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.88 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.06 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $567.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 18:05 EDT-0400)

The difference between the Phenom and the 6300 is about nil in almost every game and it's certainly not worth $40 more that can be put towards graphics.

Keep in mind this is slightly more expensive because that 650ti you listed is store pickup only. Do you have a Canada Computers nearby?
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April 23, 2013 3:11:43 PM

Yes I've looked at locations and I have one very close by.
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April 23, 2013 3:14:37 PM

I've been told that bf3 uses the processor a lot so I don't know if downgrading is an option.

Also they said the mb needed to be upgraded so I would have to upgrade from the mb that you posted
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April 23, 2013 3:16:23 PM

LopsidedJaxter said:
I've been told that bf3 uses the processor a lot so I don't know if downgrading is an option.


It's not a downgrade at all. In fact, the Phenom is actually better in some cases. The difference between the two wouldn't be nearly as great as the difference between a $110 and $150 on a graphics card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-fr...
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April 23, 2013 3:22:11 PM

Thank you for informing me this. Which graphics card should I upgrade to with the extra 40$?
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April 23, 2013 3:25:35 PM

Also, will I need the CPU cooler for this processor?
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April 23, 2013 3:34:34 PM

Oh yea, you don't want to game on a stock CPU cooler, they make so much noise it's crazy. And they don't perform near as well.

Also, if your looking at playing bf3 most I thought I've seen test that show it's optimization for the FX chips so that they outperform the Phenom II. But otherwise the Phenom II's do outperform many of the FX chips in other games.
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April 23, 2013 3:37:27 PM

Is there a CPU cooler that you would suggest?
So do you think I should go with the fx or stick with the phenom?
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April 23, 2013 4:27:10 PM

Even in Battlefield 3, I don't think the CPU will bottleneck you before the graphics card does in this price range. If you were buying a $300 GPU then you might go with the FX, but any GPU under $200 is going to hold you back before a Phenom would.

The CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO is probably the best budget CPU cooler and has very good performance.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1683...

This will also allow you to overclock the CPU slightly. Perhaps up to 3.8-3.9GHz.
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April 23, 2013 4:30:53 PM

That motherboard is NOT a good choice. It's not a 900-series board, but an old 760G with the SB710 Southbridge. It has an AM3+ socket and a 3rd-party SATA 6GB/s controller tacked onto it. You want a real 900-series board, preferably with heat sinks on its VRMS if you intend to overclock. Asus > Gigabyte >= ASRock > anything else. In particular, avoid cheaper MSI boards, which are known for weak VRMs that pop under load.
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April 23, 2013 4:37:18 PM

Onus said:
That motherboard is NOT a good choice. It's not a 900-series board, but an old 760G with the SB710 Southbridge. It has an AM3+ socket and a 3rd-party SATA 6GB/s controller tacked onto it. You want a real 900-series board, preferably with heat sinks on its VRMS if you intend to overclock. Asus > Gigabyte >= ASRock > anything else. In particular, avoid cheaper MSI boards, which are known for weak VRMs that pop under load.


not to support this position... because i've some some really good overclocking on older amd board with new fx chips (those named in my previous post in particular), he's right on THIS motherboard.

that particular mb is not a good mb.
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April 23, 2013 4:38:22 PM

So you suggest I go with which mb?
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April 23, 2013 4:43:11 PM

This is my build right now. The only thing I am not sure about is the power supply.

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SCT9
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SCT9/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SCT9/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($95.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($49.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.50 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($94.88 @ Canada Computers)
Case: Athena Power CA-GSB01DA (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.06 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $513.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 19:42 EDT-0400)
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April 23, 2013 5:01:17 PM

The last thing I am uncertain about is wether I should upgrade to the 650ti 2gb or 650ti boost or just keep the 650ti 1gb. Does 1gb and 2gb really make a difference?
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April 23, 2013 5:10:40 PM

The GTX650Ti Boost would be a worthwhile upgrade (if budget permits), but the extra VRAM would not be worthwhile, not on this level of card.
I agree with JD88 about the PSU. I'm not a big fan of the Corsair "Builder" units though, as they were made by CWT (not Seasonic) using some inferior Samxon capacitors known for early failure. I wouldn't say they suck, but they don't like heat, so getting a bigger one than needed is probably a good idea. Otherwise, consider anything built by Seasonic, or the Superflower- built Rosewill Capstones.
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April 23, 2013 5:15:43 PM

If the 650ti boost is really worth it, I can maybe look at spending another 20$ on the 660. Is the extra 20 worth the upgrade from the 650ti boost to the 660?
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April 23, 2013 5:19:23 PM

It sounds like you're really stretching your budget. You started with a HD7770, and have ratcheted it up twice. Get as much as you can afford. If I could afford it, I'd probably prefer the GTX660 for "only" $20 more, but where does that stop? The GTX650Ti Boost can do SLI, so you could add another one later.
Edit: but then, you'd want a 600W PSU.
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April 23, 2013 5:22:11 PM

Up to you if you want to go for a 660, I haven't really seen any benchmarks of any 650Ti boosts so I can't speak for what the difference between the two would be. Also, this is the PSU I recommend for people on a budget, very efficent, very cheap, but it's still good quality. http://www.amazon.com/Antec-VP-450-Energy-Certified-Sup... As stated, the main thing against the builders series is the cheap caps they build them with.
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April 23, 2013 5:22:22 PM

Could the GTx650ti do SLI? If so I think I might go with one 650ti and think about SLI later. However I have heard some games do not support SLI. Is this an issue?
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April 23, 2013 5:25:36 PM

The 650 Ti does not do SLI, but from what I've seen all "boost" ones do. SLI compatibility is just like crossfire, not all games support it but many will benifit from it to some degree. Meaning some games will show huge performance improvements with a second card while some show none at all.
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April 23, 2013 5:31:04 PM

The vanilla GTX650Ti does not support SLI, but the Boost ones do.
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April 23, 2013 5:33:23 PM

I'm really stuck here. I don't know wether to go with the 120$ 650ti or the 170$ 650ti boost.
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April 23, 2013 5:38:11 PM

I wouldn't spend the $50, if your looking to spend $200 I would wait for another $75 and buy a high end card, 660ti, 7950, around that area.
Maybe it's just me but I buy low end cards because I don't care very much, but if I was going to throw down good money on a GPU, it would be one that's way up there that I would have for a long time.
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April 23, 2013 5:42:02 PM

Yes however it's just if I buy the 650ti when it comes time to upgrade i will have to replace the card. For the 650ti boost i could just add another one and SLI.
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April 23, 2013 5:45:54 PM

I think I am going t go for the 650ti because its on sale at one of my local Canada computer stores for 95$. Also I don't really want to take a chance at SLI just in case some games don't support it.
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April 23, 2013 6:01:16 PM

I think I have my final build and I'm ready to start purchasing. One last check because this question seems unreal to me. I KEEP the Phenom II x4 965 and DO NOT buy the FX-6300 because they are the same?
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April 23, 2013 6:02:56 PM

This is my final build. Please notify me if something should change.

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SDVb
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SDVb/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/SDVb/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($95.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($49.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.50 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($94.88 @ Canada Computers)
Case: Athena Power CA-GSB01DA (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.06 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $522.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-23 21:01 EDT-0400)

(Yes I changed the PSU, is this one still good?)
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April 23, 2013 6:11:37 PM

That power supply is junk. Get this one.

Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($40.51 @ Canada Computers)

Everything else looks good.
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April 23, 2013 6:17:54 PM

I switched it up :)  so is the fx-6300 worth the extra 40$ or do I purchase the Phenom II x4?
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April 23, 2013 6:34:54 PM

Yeah, that Thermalfake is junk.
That's an outstanding price on a GTX650Ti, I'm not sure I've seen the weaker HD7770 that low.
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April 23, 2013 6:41:06 PM

Yea I changed it up thanks! But I'm ordering the parts now and I don't know if I should order the phenom II 965 or the fx-6300 :( 
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