Gaming System advice, comments

samejuggernaut · Mar 6, 2014

I am about a week away from ordering a (mostly) complete build, I have put in a lot of time and research into it. (only moderate computer knowledge) Please let me know your thoughts

NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 DVI-I/DVI-D/HDMI/Displayport SLI Ready Graphics Card

MSI Computer Corp. Motherboard North Bridge AMD 970 & South Bridge AMD SB950 Chipset ATX DDR3 800 AMD AM3+ Motherboards (970A-G46)

AMD FD6300WMHKBOX FX-6300

Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (1x8 GB Module) 1600MHz 240-pin DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 Desktop Memory

Seagate Desktop 2 TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6 GB

Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS

Optiarc Dual Layer burner

Also contemplating

Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H100i

Windows 7/8.1

Wondering what you guys think estimated performance on a game like battlefield or far cry would be? Anything i could change for little or no money to get a little more performance? Looking at running dual cards, and moderate or less overclocking in the future.

P.S. Not much more room $$$ wise, maybe a little wiggle room

tiny voices · Mar 6, 2014

Drop the CPU cooler and use the saved money to get a gtx760 FOR SURE. This will DRASTICALLY improve gaming performance.

tardis42 · Mar 6, 2014

I would definitely recommend springing for the H100i or a similar unit, or even just an aftermarket air cooler, if you're considering overclocking, which you definitely should be with an FX-6300 (AMD chips have a lot of potential that's not realized out of the box).

Any reason you're thinking of the GTX 660 over the R9 270X? The Radeon card is newer, cheaper, and has a slight performance advantage. Alternatively you could go the other way and spend a little extra for the GTX 760.

jessterman21 · Mar 6, 2014

tardis42 :

FTFY

samejuggernaut · Mar 6, 2014

Is this the card your referring to?
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-2765-KR/dp/B00DHW4HXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394141396&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx760

I have no real reason for the GTX660 other then very high reviews. My first choice was the 760 but I went down for price. Both cards have 2GB GDDR5, what sets them apart? OC and SC? Gigabyte vs. EVGA? I'm going with the 760 just want to know for future reference. Makes sense to have a great card. Also I will be springing for the cooler. Cant afford to spend the money just to fry it. That puts my build at about 1000 with windows. Is the power supply enough? also is there anything bottle necking or holding back computer potential?

tiny voices · Mar 6, 2014

The 760 is ALOT more powerful than the 660.

The gtx660 will play modern high demand games at mostly medium/ a few high settings, and the gtx760 will play at mostly high settings with some max.

numanator · Mar 6, 2014

Can't base a cards performance on its VRAM. Best way to gauge performance is to look at benchmarks. Also a good resource to look at is the toms hardware gpu charts for performance/$.

March best GPUs for the price
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html

GPU Hierarchy chart
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Performance per $
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html

Edit: the Corsair builder series is ok, but I would throw an extra $10-$20 for a Seasonic or XFX power supply since they make some of the best in the Industry or go for the Corsair AX, VX etc. other than the CX (builder) or RM series

tiny voices · Mar 6, 2014

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1039?vs=1038

Here is a direct comparison of the cards..

samejuggernaut · Mar 6, 2014

Good to know, amazon and other sites more then agree with your statements. Thank you for saving me from a sub par build. Please input a few more questions if you would before I close this thread.

anything bottle necking or holding back computer potential?

Is the power supply enough?

Also as much as I hate windows 8 is there any advantages over 7?

Again I thank you

tiny voices · Mar 6, 2014

I prefer 8.1 strongly over 7. It is MUCH faster for day today use. Some games run better other don't its about 50/50. IT has MUCH better support than 7 does now though. Get 8.1 for sure.

The PSU is more than enough but I would change it to an XFX550 unit. It will be MUCH better quality.

No there will be no bottlenecks.

jessterman21 · Mar 7, 2014

tiny voices :

Yep - about 25% faster, and with full-speed access to all 2GB VRAM. Less of a performance hit when enabling MSAA, too. (Patiently waiting to upgrade to the GTX 860...)

samejuggernaut · Mar 7, 2014

Ordering now

, I will post pics in a week or two. Thanks guys. Now in the future if i wanna upgrade would it be better to buy another of the same cards or get one better card altogether. Any mistakes newbs like myself tend to make during first build? Plan on reading up before assembling but just wondering. Also any last minute tweeks before I click on place order

jessterman21 · Mar 7, 2014

samejuggernaut :

The best choice is always to upgrade to a better card, IMO. Newer features, much lower power consumption than SLI, and usually more usable VRAM.

System Build Guide by TechReport - long, but very good: http://youtu.be/ea_bs5G1yYU

samejuggernaut · Mar 10, 2014

Ok everything is about one day away, I was doing some research on over clocking and everyone says the msi 970a is a bad board for overclocking. Do you think the cooler will solve any overheating issues or should I send it back and upgrade?

tiny voices · Mar 10, 2014

The 970a-g46 is fine for mid range overclocking. it is the g43 model that has all the heat issues. Do you really plant to be doing REALLY high overclocks?

Also, the CPU cooler only cools the CPU. not the motherboard. Your CPU can run perfectly cool but the board and catch fire. They are not related at all.

samejuggernaut · Mar 10, 2014

I plan on very medium overclocking. Just enough to safely get what I can out of it. Going to monitor temps of course. And yes I understand there different systems. I was assuming the motherboard issues would happen under the cpu. I just wanna make sure I am not setting myself up for failure. Lots of money to piss away if I do it wrong. From what I read the phantom 410 is a good tower for cooling. Hopefully keeps any issues on ice

tiny voices · Mar 10, 2014

No motherboard problems will affect the CPU. It is ONLY motherboard. For medium overclocking this board will be fine.

The case really doesn't matter. you can have a TERRIBLE case and still have no heat problems. "cooling" cases are a marketing scheme. Any cane with a front and rear fan will cool any system just fine.

samejuggernaut · Mar 17, 2014

My build has been done for a week I thought id thank you guys and tell you what I ended up (and what I learned)

MSI MOBO (970A-G46) From what everyone says this board was a bad decision

XFX PRO650W Core Edition 80+ Bronze ATX 650 Energy Star Certified Power Supply .... Seems to be high quality

Seagate Desktop 2 TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6 GB with NCQ 64 MB Cache 3.5 Inch (ST2000DX001)

AMD FD6300WMHKBOX FX-6300 6-Core Processor Black

Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H100i (cpu doesnt get over 35C even when running Titanfall on max)

EVGA GeForce GTX760 SuperClocked w/EVGA ACX Cooler 2GB GDDR5 256bit, Dual-Link DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI,DP, SLI Ready Graphics Card (02G-P4-2765-KR) Graphic (THANK YOU, YOU GUYS ROCK)

Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (1x8 GB Module) 1600MHz 240-pin DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 Desktop Memory KHX1600C10D3B1/8G

Microsoft Windows 8.1 - Full Version (Still hate its functionality but im glad I didnt go with 7)

NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower USB 3.0 Gaming case

Corsair Air Series AF120 LED Quiet Edition High Airflow Fan Twin Pack - Blue (CO-9050016-BLED) (liked them very much in the front)

TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter,2.4GHz 450Mbps/5Ghz 450Mbps, Include Low-profile Bracket (very fast)

Wireless Pc Usb Gaming Receiver for Xbox 360/xbox360 (makes me glad i didnt get an xbox one)

All in all im very impressed with everything, I should have gotten a better mobo for overclocking I think. Im running 4.0 to 4.2 right now kind of tweaking. Most settings on auto. Havent seen any issues yet. Do you think im barking up the wrong tree?

tiny voices · Mar 17, 2014

I would have dropped the CPU cooler and used the money for a better GPU. That h100i is a bit out of place on an fx-6300 and in a build with a gtx760. The money could have been better allocated, but that is just my opinion.

samejuggernaut · Mar 17, 2014

I totally agree, also the led fans were basically money wasted, just blows (literally) that my board most likely wont let me push my cpu (from what ive read) but overall I think I did well for my first build. Atleast im more then happy with my computer running next gen games

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