Need advice for building a pc

kylebrodbeck123

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Jul 24, 2014
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My laptop is fried after a bad storm came through so I decided to build a gaming pc! This is my first build and I just wanted a second opinion on what im buying and I also want to be able to upgrade in the future. I also need to install an os obviously but ic ant decide which one, heres the url https://pcpartpicker.com/p/c4PYmG.
 
Solution
You could try - Tom's - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-budget-gaming-pc,3780.html

or

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($23.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System...
You could try - Tom's - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-budget-gaming-pc,3780.html

or

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($23.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $782.18

or with your own-

change the Z77 mobo to an H77
Get a GTX750 instead of the GXT650 (same price)
Get a cheaper case so you can get a better graphics card eg gtx750ti $150
Get a better power supply eg XFX 550 $60

Any of Windows, 7, 8 or 8.1 is OK
 
Solution

Hazle

Distinguished
don't get a z77/z87/z97 if you're not overclocking and/or not looking to SLI your GPU.
a few mhz between core speed don't equate a whole lot in a majority of games. may as well save some there.
Corsair CX is known to fail within the year. never get one if you can.

as for OS, your choice; if you're not familiar with 8, you're looking at a bit of time to get use to it. 7HP if you just don't want to spend that time, short as it may be.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.48 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($216.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair C70 Military Green (Green) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $869.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-24 01:57 EDT-0400
 
Few issues. First, while suggesting AMD isn't a terrible choice for some users, in this case you do not want to buy AMD. You said you want to be able to upgrade later. The way it looks, AMD won't have any more CPUs for its current AM3+ socket and its questionable if they will have any for their other sockets in use also. While Intel has a new series of CPUs likely arriving next year, so they are better to go with.

You want to find a motherboard that has an 8 or better yet a 9 as the second letter. For example. Z97, Z87, H97, H87 etc. The reason for this is you want a motherboard with upgrades possible in future and it is the only CPU socket currently out which for sure will have new CPUs made for it. That is LGA 1150 if you can tell them apart by their socket.

For the CPU you can either go cheap and buy a new CPU when the new ones come out, or buy a faster CPU and upgrade several years down the road, but unless you want to buy cheap CPU now and buy a fast one when the new ones come out your upgradability options are more costly than they are worth unfortunately.

The rest of your parts were fine with the exception of the graphics card. Do not buy any graphics cards that are marked Nvidia 650 or Nvidia 650ti or Nvidia 750 or Nvidia 750ti. The reason is they have horrible price/performance rations. They are slow compared to a lot of cards. Compared to just a little more money, the Nvidia GTX 660 or 760 have way more performance. Or there are the AMD R7 260x, R7 265 whcih are not only usually cheaper than the GTX 750ti but have better performance. Then there is the R9 270 and R9270x which again has better performance for what you pay.