Improve my budget gaming build

footballcaleb

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Apr 23, 2014
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I have been searching for parts for my future summer-build gaming pc for about a month now. It seems like every day there are better deals that I find. I want to know if there is anything you guys would absolutely recommend me to change/upgrade. I have about $700 to spend and I've already purchased a couple parts that I was sure that I wouldn't change. One of my main questions is about the power supply. I found a Corsair 500W that I was actually going to buy today, but when I got to the Newegg website, it said they were sold out :(. I need to find a good one soon, preferably semi modular, but doesn't have to be. I just want to keep it under $700. I'm not quite sure which brands are the most reliable in the power supply aisle, so I'd like some help/advice.

I got a good deal on the graphics card on eBay and I was originally planning to get an fx-6300 for the processor, but Amazon had a really sweet sale on the fx-8350 so I just went ahead and got it.

Here is what I came up with so far:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (Purchased For $169.59)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card (Purchased For $107.59)
Case: Thermaltake Chaser A31 ATX Mid Tower Case ($66.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($11.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN3200 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($21.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Bluetooth Adapter ($5.00)
Total: $682.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 13:59 EDT-0400)

Thanks guys!!!!
 
Solution
All I had to do was swap the case, now you have a solid PSU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (Purchased For $170.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card (Purchased For $107.59)
Case: Enermax OSTROG ATX...

SethJPC

Distinguished
All I had to do was swap the case, now you have a solid PSU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3OkK3/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (Purchased For $170.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card (Purchased For $107.59)
Case: Enermax OSTROG ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($11.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN3200 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $690.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 14:18 EDT-0400)
 
Solution
Build looks fairly good, if you want to overclock or do any other advanced features you might want to consider getting a 990 chipset board over the 970.

For cheaper cases I like the rosewill challenger and NZXT Source 210 elite.

+1 on swaping out corssair psu, the cx serries are known to be built with inferior capacitors. Seasonic/XFX are also good brands, and the roswill hive and capstone serries psus are good as well, antec is also good.
 

footballcaleb

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Apr 23, 2014
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I was originally planning to overclock with the FX-3000, but when I got a processor factory clocked at 4.0GHz, I said goodbye to the extra $30 cpu cooler. Changed the case to Rosewill Challenger-U3. Anything else you would change?
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (Purchased For $170.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card (Purchased For $107.59)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($11.00)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN3200 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $673.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-21 14:38 EDT-0400)
 

ivDeTox

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May 19, 2014
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Build seems fine. I don't think you're getting a better PSU if you keep all your other components. That corsair CX PSU is solid, especially for $30 its a steal. I think its fine for your build if you don't plan on upgrading any time soon. Otherwise I'd go with a 550 or 600 watt.

Take a look at this link. Ranks PSUs in tiers. http://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

CX series is tier 3 which is not bad but nothing special.

Also, for your CPU and motherboard they can be found cheaper at microcenter. http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx

That $240 bundle with fx 8350 and gigabyte board thats better than the one you picked.



 

4cloud

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Nov 18, 2013
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For a 700$ build I wouldnt put an SSD in there they help with loading times a lot and i have one on my old PC that takes forever. Instead put it into RAW gaming power. ID put the most money possible into the gpu and get an i5 4430 or 4440 or any Haswell thats in your budget, I'd spend about 250 - 290 dollars on the GPU.

 

footballcaleb

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Apr 23, 2014
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I don't live anywhere near a microcenter store
 

footballcaleb

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Apr 23, 2014
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Even though I say that this is a gaming build, I really don't play very intensive games (Minecraft, Civilization V, Team Fortress 2, Garry's Mod). Also, I already bought the cpu and gpu so no way to change that now. But really, I don't need more powerful than what I have.
 

4cloud

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Nov 18, 2013
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Sounds lika overall good build then.
However, yeah i would change the PSU.