New Build Assistance - Building for Family

MrGooglyButt

Honorable
Jan 30, 2014
3
0
10,510
Hello folks. I'm in the process of getting ready to build a new computer for a family member (brother). I've built a couple systems before, but it's been a few years and admittedly my knowledge has waned. I'd still consider myself pretty familiar with the process, I dismantle/reassemble my tower often enough for cleaning/upgrading, but when it's not your money you're about to spend you...sort of want to get a second opinion, you know?

I've put together the following list of components from Newegg (which I'll be using as my single retailer for the sake of organization and ease), largely with assistance from www.logicalincrements.com which has helped pretty immensely. Component list is below:

Case: NZXT Source 530 CA-SO530-M1 Matte Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146114

Mobo: ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873

CPU: AMD FX-4130 Zambezi 3.8GHz Socket AM3+ Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4130FRGUBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113291

Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Radioactive 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model 997005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226219

Video Card: XFX Double D R9-270A-CDFC Radeon R9 270 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150687

HD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

PSU: Rosewill CAPSTONE-650-M 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182263

...and an OEM copy of Windows 7.

So far as it's intended use, my assumption is a general usage/gaming PC. He intends to do some recording of game footage, throw it up on youtube, etc - that sort of thing, but honestly this is the first thing he's managed to save money for in a long time so I'm really just trying to put together a decent system with the assumption that he'll probably be shooting some people in the face. Definitely a gaming PC, but not the most hardcore thing out there. There is no monitor/keyboard/mouse in the build - he plans to hook up his current, relatively small TV as his monitor - the video card has an HDMI slot (I admit I've never really looked in to using a TV as a monitor) but I'm sure I'll figure it out, unless I'm just totally wrong about that being a possibility with this card. Currently, he has no PC at all.

I do not anticipate any need or desire for SLI/CF, overclocking, etc.

Largely what I'm looking to get feedback on is, "Will this build work?" Like I said prior, it's not my money I'll be spending, so I would feel REALLY dumb if I ordered all of this come to find I've screwed up something compatibility wise with the Mobo/CPU/RAM, or got a PSU without the proper connection to the video card, etc. Don't think I did, but the more eyes, the better.

This build currently totals ~$837 all things added up + some shipping. Which is right around the price range I'm looking at. Technically I can go up to $1,115, but I really feel like that'd be...unnecessary.

I would really appreciate some more knowledgeable eyes on this - if anyone sees any immediate problems, or recommendations, that'd be super. My brother himself is not tech savvy, and I could probably build a cheaper system with worse parts and he wouldn't know the difference, but I want to do right by him if I can.
 
Solution


I would not purchase a Corsair CX series though, I've had a couple of them and had nothing but bad experiences. And they don't handle the loads required by high end graphics cards anyways.

There's a couple of different options you could do for the ~$800 range:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate...
I dont think the cpu is junk , but its certainly not as good as the FX 6300 .

great motherboard


the OS needs to be 64 bit

you need a 500 watt psu . Just make sure its 80+ bronze or better . The corsair CX 500 or 500m is decent enough

Use pcpartpicker.com to search for best prices
 

MrGooglyButt

Honorable
Jan 30, 2014
3
0
10,510
Thanks both for your input, I chose that CPU instead of the FX 6300 because my system is still running an old AMD Phenom II X4 940 and I've yet to encounter any issues in any games I've played, though since there's not much difference in price, I may consider getting the FX 6300 instead.

I chose the higher wattage on the PSU mostly because I wasn't sure what sort of upgrading he'd be doing in the future - for all I know two years from now he'll want to upgrade to a different beast of GPU, and sort of wanted some headspace so far as that goes. I may get a lower wattage PSU, though, to even out the cost difference in possibly getting the FX 6300 instead.

Beyond those things, though, I'm not missing anything idiotic - right? No random incompatibilities I've somehow missed due to being out of the game for a while?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I would not purchase a Corsair CX series though, I've had a couple of them and had nothing but bad experiences. And they don't handle the loads required by high end graphics cards anyways.

There's a couple of different options you could do for the ~$800 range:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.14 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($56.08 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($23.14 @ NCIX US)
Total: $812.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 18:30 EST-0500)

Or if you want to go the AMD route:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.14 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($56.08 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($23.14 @ NCIX US)
Total: $747.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-30 18:31 EST-0500)
 
Solution

MrGooglyButt

Honorable
Jan 30, 2014
3
0
10,510
I'm going AMD for the cpu & gpu because it's what I'm used to, have always been happy with them and he's not going to be doing anything where compatibility/performance issues will really be much of a potential issue (such as various 3D modeling/rendering programs, which I have experienced some issues with on AMD cards though to a lesser extent in more recent years). And as stated in the OP, I'll be using Newegg as my singular retailer because it's not my money - nor my paypal account, but I undoubtedly will be handling any issues/RMA needs that arise, and I want to keep things straightforward and concise for that reason.

Thanks all for your help, I've jotted down a few alternatives based on your suggestions (such as CPU, a few other cases, etc). I really just wanted to make sure I still remembered the basics concerning core component compatibility, and since nobody has pointed out any issues on that front, I'll assume I've still got a fair grasp of that end of things.

Thanks all!