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Please find the flaws in my build! Budget Gaming $800 ish

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November 8, 2013 3:24:28 PM

First off, big thanks to the community and writers here. I've spent many hours in the last 2 days learning and compiling this build. My goal is to get the best gaming platform I can for around $800. However, I am focusing more on quality as I'd rather have a "slower" build with quality components than a "faster" build with cheap parts.

I plan on buying all this stuff either tonight or tomorrow, so time is of the essence! I'd really like an opinion from some of you experts around here as to what I could change before I pull the trigger.

1. Is there a bottleneck somewhere? Too much processor for video card, or vice versa?
2. Will the power supply be enough?
3. Can I overclock safely with this build? (never done it before)
4. Other things I may have overlooked...(I'm far from an expert)

I will be using this for gaming mostly, and office work, some photo editing, maybe some video stuff in the future, nothing too intensive I wouldn't imagine. I do have a monitor and a DVD rom in this build, as well as a Windows program, just haven't decided which route to take yet (7 or 8).

I will be running 2, 20" monitors at 1600x900. Would like to run Xsplit with games like Starcraft 2. The higher graphics settings I can go the better.

That said here's the build:
on PC Part Picker here

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($160)
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.00)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($125)
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ($67)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($150)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($40)
PSU: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($50)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($20)
Monitor: Dell E2014H Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor ($90)

TOTAL: $798

Your thoughts and expertise are very much appreciated!

Thank you!

More about : find flaws build budget gaming 800 ish

a c 466 4 Gaming
November 8, 2013 3:27:07 PM

Well, for $20 you really need a 1080p monitor. Otherwise gaming will not be the same and high end components like this will be a waste.

You chould shave $50 off the motherboard and get a 7950. I would do that FOR SURE.
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November 8, 2013 3:35:38 PM

I can get a 1080p monitor for $20 more? Would that be a 20" too? Guess I'll have to do some more looking =)

Also by shaving $50 off the mobo do you mean going to a 970 chipset?
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November 8, 2013 4:16:41 PM

tiny voices said:
YEah, a 970 chipset will be perfectly fine.

This will give you more money to put towards a better GPU (most important part)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... 1080p monitor for 109 dollars.



I did see that Acer monitor. By the reviews it sounds like there's some issues with viewing angles. You may have a point with 1080p though, maybe I'll look for a little higher quality one.

Also I noticed that my mobo is actually only $100. Think it would be worth downgrading to the 970 for $25? And is the 7950 really that big of an upgrade over the 7870? The price difference looks like $75 for the cheapest 7950 I found.
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a c 466 4 Gaming
November 8, 2013 4:39:09 PM

Yes, the 7950 is quite a large jump. It is the difference between playing at high settings or playing at max/ultra.

If you can't swing a 7950, get the XT or LE model of the 7870,. It is considerable more powerful than the normal model because it uses a different architecture and is basically a 7930.

But, changing the GPU is pointless unless you get a 1080p monitor.
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November 8, 2013 6:00:25 PM

Ok great, thanks for the insight. I'll rethink this a little bit and see what I can come up with.
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November 8, 2013 7:25:25 PM

Would it be worth it to downgrade the processor/mobo to a fx 6300 to go with a 7950 video card? Or would the processor bottleneck the card?
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a b 4 Gaming
November 8, 2013 7:41:16 PM

tyfaulkner said:
Would it be worth it to downgrade the processor/mobo to a fx 6300 to go with a 7950 video card? Or would the processor bottleneck the card?


I don't believe the processor would bottleneck
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November 8, 2013 9:20:21 PM

Ok so I changed a few things around. I went to a Powercolor 7950 for $240 and downgraded the processor and mobo to 6300 and Gigabyte 970 chipset. This changes the build cost by +$7 about. Then there's also the option of doing a i3-4130 and MSI mobo which adds about $25 to the total cost. Which would you go with?
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a b 4 Gaming
November 8, 2013 9:41:40 PM

tyfaulkner said:
Ok so I changed a few things around. I went to a Powercolor 7950 for $240 and downgraded the processor and mobo to 6300 and Gigabyte 970 chipset. This changes the build cost by +$7 about. Then there's also the option of doing a i3-4130 and MSI mobo which adds about $25 to the total cost. Which would you go with?

the AMD
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a c 466 4 Gaming
November 9, 2013 7:36:12 AM

I would go with the 6300 simply because more and more games are beginning to use 4 cores. The i3 is technically better in any game coded to use only 2 cores, but games coded to use more than 2 will benefit from the 6300 alot.
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a b 4 Gaming
November 9, 2013 8:08:46 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($158.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.09 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $791.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-09 11:07 EST-0500)
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a b 4 Gaming
November 9, 2013 8:23:44 AM

I really tried putting in 7950 in but the prices for that are just crazy at the moment.You'd be better off buying a R9 280X at those prices. This is another build.Put in a GTX 760 instead. I couldn't make the budget work so i had to remove the cooler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.09 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($255.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G226HQLBbd 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $804.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-09 11:21 EST-0500)
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a b 4 Gaming
November 9, 2013 3:17:36 PM

godfish said:
tyfaulkner said:
Would it be worth it to downgrade the processor/mobo to a fx 6300 to go with a 7950 video card? Or would the processor bottleneck the card?


I don't believe the processor would bottleneck

the chances of the processor bottlenecking the card would be very low.

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