My first ever PC build for gaming - Looking for advice

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

dookies1

Reputable
Jun 4, 2014
1
0
4,510
Hello. This is my first time ordering parts/building my own PC and have done a bit of research/looking around and have come up with this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QCgTP6

I used override for some items due to me having credit at Best Buy.

I also compiled this AMD setup. Costs a bit cheaper but from what I know the i5 performs better than the FX 8350 in World of Warcraft (main game I'll be playing, mostly end game 25man raiding, and I know that WoW tends to be a bit more CPU heavy):

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/W7nm3C

My main questions/concerns are is the Intel build solid/compatible and sensible for the price? Am I right in choosing the Intel build over my AMD one, or would they perform similarly and I would be better off saving the extra money and/or devoting it to a better GPU? For budget, I am comfortable shelling out an extra $100-150 or so if there is indeed a noticeable quality difference. Also note this is not solely for World of Warcraft, I am looking to be able to run games decently in the future and most notably Wildstar has prompted me to build a new system

Any sort of advice/criticism would be awesome.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
H

Hazle

Distinguished
Oct 28, 2011
1,327
0
19,960
assuming you have a 1080p 60hz monitor;

Intel Build;
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($235.98 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.42 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($179.30 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.80 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1042.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 22:57 EDT-0400)

this is assuming you got no plans to run 2 cards in SLI/CF. this should still give you a good constant 60fps in most cases in WoW, save for a large raid probably. while Nvidia tend to fare better in WoW, the R9 280 should trade blows with the 760 in other games. only other way to further chip down the price here is to go with a non-OCed i5 build, like the i5-4430. at it's best, it performs a bit better than an FX-8350 @ 4.5ghz in some games. at it's worst, it performs slightly below a 4.5ghz FX-8350 in a few games.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.42 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 280 3GB TurboDuo Video Card ($179.30 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($67.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.80 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $965.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 23:04 EDT-0400)

comparison between an FX8350 at stock and an i5-3470. old review, but you get the idea;
51140.png


though if you really want to save:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($100.98 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $866.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-04 23:09 EDT-0400)

this is how an R7 265 should fare:
wow_1920_1080.gif

accounting for the FX CPU, you should see 40-60fps in WoW. just OC that 8320.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
R

realchaos

Distinguished
Jan 30, 2013
5,287
0
19,960
How much credit do you have a Best Buy? Also, Best Buy does price match so you can try to price match the components to get it at the same price and then use your credit.

Overall, the Intel build looks really good. Only thing I would really change is a better quality psu and adding a HDD for storage purposes.

If you want, you can make the Intel build cheaper:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($210.00 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.80 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $969.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-05 00:45 EDT-0400)

-Locked processor and H97 chipset motherboard to not overclock. Ditched the aftermarket cpu cooler since you're not overclocking. Saves you a lot of money.
-Smaller version of the Phantom. You don't need a full-size tower; a mid tower like the 410 would be fine.
-Swapped the GTX 760 for the R9-280. Noticeably cheaper and about the same performance.
-Better quality psu.

The i5-4440 is $190 at Bestbuys and you can price match the NZXT Phantom 410 to get it for $80 at best buys.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom