First Gaming/Work Build.... Budget is $1200.. Suggestions welcomed

Novakyad

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Jan 13, 2014
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10,510
Hello, I'm building my first gaming/work build for my budget of $1200. The lesser the better in terms of cost for me. My objective is a Gaming/Work build that will last me 3 to 4 years before any upgrade is needed. Oh, also I don't plan on overclocking.

Primary use: I will be doing moderate to heavy gaming in terms of play time, as well searching the web, word document, and etc.

Games and preference: Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution to name a few. Mostly AAA and AA games. Lowering setting below max isn't a problem for me to get an optimal experience but if I can achieve max it would be nice. Overall, I'm happy with being able to play any game at playable frames per second.

CPU Specs/Build:All parts from Newegg
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...(59.99, 49.99 sale)
CPU:AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6300WMHKBOX(119.99)
Motherboard:ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS(99.99, 94.99 sale)
Memory:G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL(84.99)
Graphics Card/GPU:ASUS R9270-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card(199.99)
PowerSupply/PSU:Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2SB 500W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply(59.99, 49.99 sale)
Hard Drive:Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, Blue - OEM(69.99, 59.99 sale)
DVD Drive:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM(19.99)
Wi-Fi Adapter:TP-LINK TL-WDN3800 Dual Band Wireless N600 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n, WEP/WPA/WPA2(59.99, 33.99 sale)
Keyboard/Mouse:Logitech MK120 Black USB Wired Slim Desktop(24.99, 19.99 sale)
Monitor:Asus VE228H 21.5" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers(189.99, 135.99 sale)
OS:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM(99.99)

Total w/sale and shipping:997.47
Without w/shipping:1117.47

Also, will Windows 7 work with this combination or Windows 8? Is this a compatible system with its current parts? Is this to much for the specs and will I come out better with a gtx 760 with the same PSU or will I need to upgrade it to a more compatible and powerful PSU?

The price for the gtx 760 addition in place for the r9 270 non x is 1053.56 w/sale and shipping and without w/shipping is 1177.46.

Any suggestions and thoughts on the compatibility and pricing of this build is welcomed.
 
Solution
A very reasonable build.
My thoughts:

1. A 500w psu is appropriate. I do not know about the quality of that particular rosewill psu.
I might look for a good brand from this list:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

2. Windows 7 or 8 is fine. I do not like the tiled interface, of w8, but functionally, they are equivalent.

3. With your budget, your cpu/gpu combination is appropriate.
Gaming will be determined mostly by the strength of the graphics card.
A GTX760 would be good too.

4. I will not build again without a ssd for the "C" drive. A 120gb Samsung evo will be about $100.
It will hold the os and a handful of games. Perhaps you can defer on the hard drive and add it later when you need the room. If you...
A very reasonable build.
My thoughts:

1. A 500w psu is appropriate. I do not know about the quality of that particular rosewill psu.
I might look for a good brand from this list:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

2. Windows 7 or 8 is fine. I do not like the tiled interface, of w8, but functionally, they are equivalent.

3. With your budget, your cpu/gpu combination is appropriate.
Gaming will be determined mostly by the strength of the graphics card.
A GTX760 would be good too.

4. I will not build again without a ssd for the "C" drive. A 120gb Samsung evo will be about $100.
It will hold the os and a handful of games. Perhaps you can defer on the hard drive and add it later when you need the room. If you will not be storing large files such as video's, see if you can budget a 240gb ssd.
You can likely omit the hard drive entirely.
 
Solution

Novakyad

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
19
0
10,510


Ok, I will take a look at the list, thank you. Also, I'm quite new to PC building so does "very reasonable build" means its a good build. Apologize that the question might seem newbie but just wanted to know.

 

Novakyad

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
19
0
10,510
Ok, well. I've looked at the list and am on a budget.

So far these are the two Rosewill's I have found on Newegg. Will either one meet my CPU/Build specs with either the r9 270 or gtx 760. I've noticed that the 760 I believe requires two 6 pins but I may be incorrect on that. Well here is what I found, will it be better than the current Rosewill I have?

Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB 500W ATX12V Power Supply(59.99, 49.99 sale)

or

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply(89.99, 59.99 sale) From eggxpert list and on Newegg for the listed price. Note: Due to budget, will have to catch on sale.
 

Tony Doughnuts

Honorable
Jan 11, 2014
21
0
10,520
I would suggest if you can go for the extra $100 to get the 280x over the 270. You get a lot more for the extra 100 IMO.
PSU is literally the most important part in the computer. If you want to keep clutter down then try a fully or semi modular design for that but don't go cheap on it at all.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028&clickid=zWSxSLUUQ1wG3NsRmUUTH291UkT1JhyseU4jXI0&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na'
Is a decent one for about your price range but if you wanted to go a little higher in the price you could go with something like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371059&clickid=zWSxSLUUQ1wG3NsRmUUTH291UkT1JhXkeU4jXI0&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

I would stay very far away from Rosewill PSUs

A great website to put all of this together and find the best prices is PC Part Picker. http://pcpartpicker.com/
You'll get warnings or alerts if things aren't compatible and it's broken down very well.
 

Novakyad

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
19
0
10,510
Alright, thank you guys. I'll look into the three psu's mentioned. Oh, I also came across the SILVERSTONE Strider Essential series ST60F-ES 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply PSU, its a tad cheaper than the cosair but not sure how it will perform. If its worst, then I'll look for a better PSU within my price range also thank for the info for not going cheap on my PSU. I appreciate it.

Edit: Thank you for the pcpartpicker link. Will take a look at it.
 

Tony Doughnuts

Honorable
Jan 11, 2014
21
0
10,520
No problem, I'd also refer to the guide that Geofelt linked about PSUs if you're super curious. You don't necessarily need to stick with the exact models that site lists but stay within those brands. Having a cheap PSU could and up ruining your computer and costing you thousands in replaced parts depending on how expensive of a build you have.
 

Novakyad

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
19
0
10,510
Alright, I think I have something. Thank you Tony for the link to pcpartpicker, it helped me a lot. I'll post my new build specs below. Note:All parts from Newegg. Similar build, with a few different parts.

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm (59.99, 49.99 sale)
CPU:AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6300WMHKBOX
Item #: N82E16819113286(119.99)
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS(89.99)
Memory:G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM(84.99)
Graphics Card/GPU: ASUS R9270-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card(199.99)
PSU:SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply(84.99, 59.99 sale)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive(69.99, 64.99 sale)
DVD Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM(19.99)
Wireless Adapter: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 450Mbps/5GHz 450Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n, WEP/WPA/WPA2(54.99, 42.99 sale)
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK120 Black USB Wired Slim Desktop(24.99, 19.99 sale)
OS:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM(99.99)
Monitor:ASUS VS Series VS228H-P Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor(179.99, 129.99 sale)
Speakers: Logitech S-150 1.2 Watts 2.0 Digital USB Speakers - OEM(19.99, 16.99 sale)

Total: 1033.63 with sale and shipping.
Without w/shipping 1143.63

For the price tag, is this a good build? Is it better than the first? Any suggestions are welcomed.