is this a solid build?

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crinkle1question

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Sep 30, 2012
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this will be my first ever build and i wanted to know nothing was missing or needed changing. The computer will be used for gaming with games such as bf4, arma 3 and many more fps's. I've already got the case and sorted out the monitor and I dont really want to get into OCing because it looks like a pain to do. My budget is around 650 pounds and most of these parts would be coming from Aria pc, Amamzon uk and Dabs, I would rather it like this than getting it from lots of different websites all over the internet. Thanks! :)

Build:

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor

Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3

RAM:Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB

PSU: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V

Optical drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer

Case: Bitfenix merc beta

Monitor: BenQ GW2255 21.5 inch LED
 
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I think a 450w PSU won't cut it if you decide to go with a R9 280X. But the build seems very solid, yeah. Very high-end.

Another advice I can give you is, even if you decide to spend the extra cash on a 280X, don't forget to always compare prices between this card and the 7970 Ghz Edition. Because the 280X is actually just a rebadge. It's possible you may find a good deal on a 7970 since it's not exactly the latest tech any more.

And fear not, the 7000 series will also support Mantle, which is something people seem to be worried about. ;)
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shinfujiwara

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Aug 26, 2011
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I would definitely avoid AMD CPUs on a £650 gaming machine, mate. There are games where it performs not much better than a modern i3 CPU. And it uses a whole lot of power doing so.

Could you consider an i5 ivy or haswell?
 
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crinkle1question

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could you recommend one? :), I could possible push the budget a little higher.
 
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shinfujiwara

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Sure, take a look at this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£140.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£79.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.90 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£134.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£35.98 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£13.15 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: Hannspree HE225DPB 21.5" Monitor (£89.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £647.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-27 13:25 GMT+0000)

As you can see, I downgraded the PSU, GPU and HDD to fit the budget. A good 450w PSU is enough for this build. And the GPU is good enough for BF3 on Ultra (no idea about BF4).

The Radeon 7870 and the GTX 660 at the moment, IMHO, offer the best value in the market. You can also simply replace the 7870 from this build for another, more powerful card. ;)

BF3 1080p reference:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-9.html
 
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ImPain

ImPain

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why go for a i5 with 4 cores? I would suggest stick with your 8320 because it has 8 cores, and games like BF4 and more new ones to come are using 8 cores now, it is not so futureproof to have a 4 cores..

The I5 will perform better buy also more expensive and the motherboard also.

Your call but I would suggest 8 cores.
 
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shinfujiwara

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Going to K series is a nice idea, allowing you to overclock later on and prolong a bit the CPU life. But i7 is waste of money. i5-3570k will offer the same gaming performance for much less, usually.

The reason I would suggest modern Intel CPUs can be seen here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

AMD's FX series simply doesn't have the same performance on games. Mainly, if you consider FPS-per-watt performance. It rocks on other multithreading aplications like video encoding, but not much on games.

By the time 8 AMD cores become more relevant than 4 haswell cores, you might have already changed your CPU. Predicting the future is something very tricky. I would suggest taking action based on benchmarks of today's games.
 
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crinkle1question

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Sep 30, 2012
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would these specs do?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£78.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£233.03 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: XFX 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£34.99 @ Maplin Electronics)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£13.15 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) (£65.98 @ Aria PC)
Total: £690.10
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-27 15:30 GMT+0000)
 
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shinfujiwara

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Aug 26, 2011
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I think a 450w PSU won't cut it if you decide to go with a R9 280X. But the build seems very solid, yeah. Very high-end.

Another advice I can give you is, even if you decide to spend the extra cash on a 280X, don't forget to always compare prices between this card and the 7970 Ghz Edition. Because the 280X is actually just a rebadge. It's possible you may find a good deal on a 7970 since it's not exactly the latest tech any more.

And fear not, the 7000 series will also support Mantle, which is something people seem to be worried about. ;)
 
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crinkle1question

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Sep 30, 2012
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one more question. Could you recommend a PSU for the 280x?
 
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