Cutting out on a couple things on my build (need help!)

Cihad · May 22, 2014

Hi People,

So, I've been doing a ton of research on what combination to get when it comes to my new (budget) build. The following is what I have going on so far, and I want to confirm and ask the following:

- Will any of these parts cause to "bottleneck" each other?
- Is there anything you see in here that's not a good choice? (I.E. a cheaper CPU might get almost the same performance, or a different case or w/e?
- Can someone recommend a good white mATX case, for max. +/- 50 EUR?

What I got going(I'm going for a mATX build):

- Gigabyte R9 280x
- Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600mhz 2 x 4gb ram
- WD 1gb Caviar Blue
- AMD FX6300 (probably also getting an aftermarket cooler of this)
- Corsair CX600m PSU
- MSI 760GMA-P34 MOBO

Any help is much appreciated!

NiCoM · May 22, 2014

You should get a aftermarket cooler if you want it to run more silent, but the mobos 760 chipset aren't going to cut it for any overclocking, lowest for that is probably the 970 chipset. So no need to go all-in on a expensive cooler, just get a decent silent one.

There's a card called R9 280 (non-x) it's a little bit slower at a better price, would recommend that instead of the X.

I would also add a 120gb ssd if i where you, since you're going to have some slow loading keeping your games and OS on the same HDD.

Cihad · May 22, 2014

tea urchin :

It's for partly games and partly for school-related tasks. I currently have 4gigs of ram in my MBA and I'm wishing it was 8. Cutting ram won't do for me!

Eduello · May 22, 2014

Cihad :

Yeah, no need to cut it in half; 8GB is the sweet spot in modern gaming.

Cihad · May 22, 2014

NiCoM :

Thanks for your reply. I don't plan on overclocking at all. About the R9 280, I actually found the R9 280x brand new from someone for 195 EUR only, which is why I'll be going with it. I might've even went with a 270x was it not for this guy. Also, I'm already on the expensive side for my budget so adding an SSD would make it only more expensive.

I'm thinking about a aftermarket cooler for the FX6300 indeed as I've heard that Radeon's stock coolers aren't really good especially when gaming. Do you have a cooler to recommend that's around 30 EUR and would fit in most mATX cases?

NiCoM · May 22, 2014

Cihad :

PSU: Get the non-M version called the Corsair CX600, it's cheaper.

EDIT: Coolermaster EVO 212 cpu cooler if you can find it.

Eduello · May 22, 2014

NiCoM :

That cooler is really great assuming the case can take it. If not, the TX3 Evo should do.
The SSD is really not necessary in this price range.
The GPU is only 195€ for the OP so no need to change that.
That PSU is bad quality (cheap capacitors = heat issues and shorter lifetime) so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Go with a 500W+ PSU from XFX, Antec, Seasonic or Corsair (HX, TX and AX only).

Cihad · May 22, 2014

Eduello :

NiCoM :

Thanks for your reply. The Evo 212 was actually the one I was thinking about, I just have to make sure it would fit the mATX case of my chose (not chosen yet)

I'll get the cheaper Corsair PSU, and the 280x I managed to find for only 195 EUR and the 280 isn't really sold in the Netherlands as far as I can see. I always thought an SSD would be unnecessary but lots of people are recommending it... might have to pick one up.

Cihad · May 22, 2014

Eduello :

NiCoM :

That cooler is really great assuming the case can take it. If not, the TX3 Evo should do.
The SSD is really not necessary in this price range.
The GPU is only 195€ for the OP so no need to change that.
That PSU is bad quality (cheap capacitors = heat issues and shorter lifetime) so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Go with a 500W+ PSU from XFX, Antec, Seasonic or Corsair (HX, TX and AX only).

I found a Seasonic S12II-520 520W, do you know if that would that be enough for this build? I believe Gigabyte is recommending at least 600w for the 280x?

Eduello · May 22, 2014

@Cihad: The recommendations are always overkill and that PSU is really high quality so you should not have any problems with it.

Cihad · May 22, 2014

Eduello :

Got it. Do you have any white mATX case to recommend?

Eduello · May 22, 2014

This is the only white mATX case I could find in your price range: http://www.amazon.de/Aerocool-Mini-Tower-PC-Geh%C3%A4use-micro-ATX-externe/dp/B00AQDZJPC/ref=sr_1_76?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1400787355&sr=1-76

LogicalProcessing · May 22, 2014

Cihad :

Hey there, I would advise not getting that motherboard. That motherboard supports PCI-E 2.0. Your graphics card is recommended for PCI-E 3.0.

There is a big difference in the 2.0 and 3.0...the difference is twice the bandwidth. (8 GB/s vs 15.75GB/s on a 16 Lane slot ((x16)) )

With PCI-E 3.0...you'll basically double your average FPS than what you would have on PCI-E 2.0.

Bottom Line: PCI-E 3.0 is the way to go.

Eduello · May 22, 2014

LogicalProcessing :

Sorry to break your fantasy, but that is completely and utterly wrong. No card to this day can fully utilize PCIe 2.0 on its own; You need to SLI cards like the GTX 780Ti to notice a difference between 2.0 and 3.0.

Bencmarks: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/2#.U35gfvl_vm4

I don't think it's wort getting a Sabertooth 990FX (only AM3+ board with PCIe 3.0) for a few fps in a select few games.

LogicalProcessing · May 22, 2014

Eduello :

How is it wrong? It is completely factual. I ran a single GTX 680 on a PCI-E 2.0 slot for about a year. In World of Tanks...I would get about 30-50 FPS. Then I upgraded my board to a PCI-E 3.0. Instantly I noticed a difference of FPS to about 65-90 FPS. When I plug my other GTX 680 card in and put it on SLI...I would get about 120-150 FPS.

PCI-E 2.0 has twice the bandwidth that PCI-E 3.0 has...that fact cannot be disputed. The video card will only be allowed to use about 50-70% of its power on a PCI-E 2.0 slot. Where as on a PCI-E 3.0 slot it can use its full 100% and even pull more power beyond that.

Not a fantasy...just life.

Eduello · May 22, 2014

@LogicalProcessing: There was definitely something wrong with your old setup (a CPU bottleneck maybe, hard to say without knowing the specs of your old setup).

Yes, PCIe 3.0 has 2X the bandwidth but it really doesn't matter since all the modern cards are too slow to actually exceed the capabilities of PCIe 2.0 x16.

Here are PCIe 2.0 vs 3.0 benchmarks with GTX 680 3-way SLI: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/4#.U35tfPl_vm4

As you can see, the difference is generally about 5fps and that's with 3 cards.

More benchmarks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopI-XSeMGI
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7089/geforce-gtx-titan-twoway-sli-scaling-pcie-2-vs-pcie-3

LogicalProcessing · May 22, 2014

Eduello :

My old setup was: ASRock Extreme 9 AM3+ Motherboard, AMD FX-8350 8 Core Processor OC'ed to 5.2 GHz, Cosair CPU Cooler, G.SKILL 32GB Ram @ 2133Mhz, 3-256GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD's, 1200W OCZ Gold Power Supply, and Dual GTX 680's with SLI. Then after a few months I bought two AMD XFX HD Radeon 7970 GHz Edition with Crossfire thinking that would solve my fps troubles which it didn't.

Then I built a new system with a Intel Core i7-4280k and ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition ROG and put my EVGA GTX 680's in it and I am getting twice if not three times the amount of FPS I was getting with my old setup.

I would have to question the legitimacy of that test because all of my tests with 3DMark with my GTX 680's PCI-E 2.0 vs 3.0 have been major differences. Plus I am speaking from my own personal experience.

Eduello · May 22, 2014

LogicalProcessing :

Well I'm not calling myself an expert, but honestly, ask any expert about this and they will tell you what I have told. Do some Googling; Everyone says the same thing all over the internet. I'm running PCI-E 2.0 myself and my GTX 760 is performing exactly as well as it does in benchmarks with PCI-E 3.0.

I provided 4 links and you are questioning the legitimacy of my claim? Exactly how many links have you posted to prove your claim? We both have different personal experience, so the only way to resolve this is by proven facts, which you have not yet provided.

Also, Anandtech is a pretty trusted website; They wouldn't post false reviews. So, before confusing more people with "my personal experience overrides proven facts", do yourself a favor and do some research about this.

Even more links:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/850-4/pci-express-3-0-impact-on-performance.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/23.html

Cutting out on a couple things on my build (need help!)

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