First PC Build in 6 Years HELP!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Craig Williams

Craig Williams

Honorable
Dec 12, 2013
7
0
10,510
Good afternoon folks.

With housework and raising kids it’s been approx. 6 years since the last time I built a Gaming PC and I need some of your wisdom! With the research I’ve done so far the only components I am sure of are the case, Motherboard, CPU and cooler.

There are so many damned video cards that my head is spinning. The video card below was based solely on reviews that I have read and what looks like it will work well with my MB.
I plan on using this for gaming (Battle Field 4, DayZ) and mild Photoshop work but am not looking for the ultimate gaming machine. Any recommendations you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card
Memory: Patriot 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
Storage1: SSD for Operating System (~250gb)
Storage2: 3-4TB storage HD
 
Solution
quilciri


It does make a difference in launching the applications, but in any program that rarely reads from the HDD once launched (i.e., games), there is no significant performance benefit.

Velociraptor's are no longer worth the money, but that does remind me of another option - There is a really good compromise in SSHD's (Hybrid SSD/HDD's). They give you most of the loading benefits of an SSD while not being really expensive for the capacity.

example...
Sort by date Sort by votes
E

enemy1g

Honorable
Oct 3, 2013
2,224
1
12,460
The build looks solid. Assuming budget isn't an incredible issue, so yeah, looks good.

For the GPU, it all depends on what you enjoy playing your games at. If you want to play on Ultra with all the shinies enabled, look at a r9 290x, or a GTX 780 Ti. If you're fine with playing on ultra/high, have a look at the r9 280x, r9 290, or the GTX 770, or 780.

CM doesn't make particularly good power supplies, so I would go with a HX/TX/AX line of PSU from Corsair, or a good Seasonic one (usually more expensive).

SSD recommendation would be the Samsung EVO, and HDD would be Seagate Barracuda, or a WD Black.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
Not a bad first stab, few suggestions

- SSD will help boot/load times, but doesn't do much for in game performance. If you'd like focus on game performance, put this money towards the video card.

- PSU - 1000w is huge overkill. 550w is plenty for any single GPU system, 750w will support 2 GPU systems.

16gb - *slight* overkill, but not a big deal. this much RAM may become normal for a gaming system in a year or two.

my humble suggestion for a build pending.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Craig Williams

Craig Williams

Honorable
Dec 12, 2013
7
0
10,510
That you very much for the feedback.

I think I will be doing exactly as suggested:
- eliminate the SSD
- drop RAM to 8gb (can always get more later)
- better graphics card
- better standard HD (Western Digital VelociRaptor (1TB)?)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MattyB13

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
206
0
10,710
I would do everything you just said but rather than eliminate the ssd I would get a smaller one. I have a 120GB ssd for OS and applications and it made a much bigger difference than I thought it would in terms of performance.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965


It does make a difference in launching the applications, but in any program that rarely reads from the HDD once launched (i.e., games), there is no significant performance benefit.

Velociraptor's are no longer worth the money, but that does remind me of another option - There is a really good compromise in SSHD's (Hybrid SSD/HDD's). They give you most of the loading benefits of an SSD while not being really expensive for the capacity.

example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178381

I've replaced the hdd in my HTPC with the above SSHD, and I wish they'd been around when I was putting an ssd in my laptop - I still needed HDD capacity so I had to get an adapter to stick the HDD in the optical drive bay, and buy an external optical drive.....a hassle to say the least.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
I'm with you there, I like my windows boot times, however Craig's building a gaming PC, so game performance is tantamount.

In multiplayer games (e.g. battlefield 4) you're going to be waiting for all the non-SSD players to load anyway before the match can begin, so you don't even get the load time benefit there, unless you like seeing the "waiting for players" message.

Squeezing in $110 for a 1TB SSHD wouldn't be too difficult, though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MattyB13

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
206
0
10,710
Indeed, but if he were to not buy a 3-4 TB drive and instead get a 1-2 TB drive (not sure if willing to do this) plus cut 16 gigs to 8 gigs of ram then his video card budget would increase to well over $300. So I would personally do that, get the SSD, and get a GTX770. Best of both worlds (or whatever the AMD equivalent is assuming you can find one in stock).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Craig Williams

Craig Williams

Honorable
Dec 12, 2013
7
0
10,510
Perfect I was just looking at my Hybrid drive options.

But WOW I'd be looking at $450-$650 for an R9 290X. That's WAY outta my price range! I was looking at the (Sapphire Radeon R9 270X DUAL-X WITH BOOST & OC BATTLEFIELD 4 EDITION 2GB GDDR5 (11217-01-25G)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MattyB13

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
206
0
10,710
Yes well 50 fps aint bad in one game and it sits around 70-80 till stuff gets real crazy. Im just saying I'd prefer a well balanced system that still kicks butt when it comes to gaming. I also have a hard time spending $500 on a video card, but thats me.

Oh well, guess we can agree he has options :D

btw benchmarks posted above were beta.. its only gotten better with the official release and driver support.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965


the 290 and 290x are two different cards.

The 290 is $430, but it looks like outlets are having difficulty keeping it in stock. just as well, I would recommend waiting for the vendor cooling solutions on it (though even throttled down, it's performance is still good for the price). Gigabyte and Asus have announced theirs so they should be on the shelves shortly.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
My humble suggestion (I would use a 3570k or 4670k CPU on this budget, but if AMD is your preference)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($198.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($141.50 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($134.67 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1402.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Craig Williams

Craig Williams

Honorable
Dec 12, 2013
7
0
10,510
Unfortunately it doesn't look like the (ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard) is available from any of the major Canadian retailers. The closest thing I can get is the (ASRock 990FX Extreme9) which is basically the same price as the Crosshair V.

Thanks for all the other suggestions though.



 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
Ah, I must've missed that you were in Canada. The extreme 9 is better for overclocking than the Asus crosshair. The asus has fewer phases in it's voltage regulator (8+2, vs. 12+2 on the Asrock) (more phases, more stable current, more stable overclock).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
Revised for Canada

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($201.75 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($117.38 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme9 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Kingston Predator Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.28 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($129.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($151.50 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 850W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply ($124.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.79 @ DirectCanada)

Total: $1476.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom