First Ever Budget/Middling PC Build

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Kaeso

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Aug 6, 2014
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Hi Everyone!

I was hoping for some feedback on my first-time-ever build options for a budget/middling level gaming pc, and I would really appreciate any and all suggestions you might have concerning the layout, the quality of the hardware, the software, and/or things that could be done better/ cheaper/etc. I would like to do this relatively soon, especially since my current, old PC with integrated graphics can't be upgraded to play much of anything (at least, not without significant expense). My two current options look like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G3RsVn
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JKhP8d

Thank you!
 
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Armo1000
Go with the intel build ... for the GPU i suggest the Radeon r9 270x over the gtx 660 (comes around the same price with better performance)..
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Outlander_04

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The AMD build will game just as well in newer intensive games , but wont be as quick with many older games that cant use all 6 cores .

With either build use a 2 x 4 gig kit of RAM

The TX3 cooler is too small to be any good

and since you can afford the intel price you can just get
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zWBDQ7

FX6300 with better RAM , better psu , and a much better graphics card
Its cheaper than the intel build and will game far better
 
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Pr3di

Pr3di

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Sep 18, 2013
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I see that in your Intel build, the price is 870$, so here`s a build I just recommended someone for 900$:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zbrxxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zbrxxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($294.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $899.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-06 05:36 EDT-0400


I removed the SSD, because that can be added later on with no problems.
I`d rather add the SSD later, than skimp on the CPU and GPU.
 
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Rationale

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Yeah, no. The FX-6300 roughly matches the i3-4130 in games that use 6-8 cores, and loses badly to the i3-4130 in games using fewer cores. The i5-4570 is quite far ahead in all circumstances.

I'm not going to bother to hunt down all the benchmarks this time, but here's a benchmark of an 8-core game, for your consideration.
http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/827/bench/CPU_01.png
 
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Kaeso

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Thanks for all of the help guys! I have been thinking about a few of the suggestions and was wondering a few things...

Does it make sense to get a smaller SSD to load the Windows OS, Windows Office Suite, etc., and then a regular hard drive for games and such, or is that going to be overkill?

What kind of difference is there in 2 x 4 gb / ram vs. 1 x 8 gb / ram? I'm just curious, because to a layman, 8 gb would seem like 8 gb?

If I'm not looking to overclock in the future, does it make sense to get a k-series intel cpu, or just whatever their normal (non-overclocking) version?

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. They are greatly appreciated!

 
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Armo1000

Armo1000

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1) Exactly my thoughts.. I can wait some extra time for windows to load .. no sweat.
2) 2x4GB is slightly faster than 1x8GB (not significant difference)
3) if you are never gonna OC.. no need for the "k" version
 
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Rationale

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2x4GB increases the bandwidth over 1x8GB, as the data can be transferred across twice as many sticks simultaneously. However, RAM typically matters little enough that there's not much noticeable difference from 1x8 versus 2x4. Still, usually the price difference is quite minor so it's recommended to get 2x4GB, unless there are only 2 RAM slots on the motherboard. If the motherboard only has 2 RAM slots, it's better to get 1x8GB and leave the second slot open for an upgrade to 16GB in a few years.

If you're not overclocking, there's no reason to get either the FX-6300 or a "K" CPU. Their main strengths are in overclocking. The i5-4570 is a great CPU in any situation.
But you don't need the TX3 cooler. CPUs come with their own coolers, which work fine for people who don't overclock.

Personally, I'm waiting for SSDs to come down in price before I pick one up.
 
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Outlander_04

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Yeah , no
Im not going to hunt down benchmarks either , but I will make two important points your message misses .
Monitors refresh at 60 Hz . They can display AT MOST 60 fps . The advantage of an i3 in older game engines is almost always theoretical . If the FX makes 65 fps and the i3 makes 85 fps the monitor in both cases will display 60 fps . User experience is identical
And then there is your techspot review . Nice single player benchmark . That would be utterly unrepresentative of a real computer running many background tasks [ AV , firewall etc etc ] playing ONLINE .
The i3 does not shine in that scenario . The FX handles the load much better .

And you have the option of free performance boost from overclocking .

Re your RAM comments . Dual channel may not alter game fps much but over all system performance can be boosted 6- 10 % depending on the task
 
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Rationale

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That's not entirely true.

The FX-6300 is weakest in multiplayer games. Have you seen it in MMOs? Can't get above 20 fps in half of them in populous areas. The CPU load is too much for its modular cores to handle online, but the i3s and i5s power through very nicely.

Go on any Guild Wars 2/Planetside 2/Tera forum, and you'll eventually find a thread of people bashing the FX-6300 for failing to keep the framerate at 30 fps in populous areas, a feat which all ivy bridge and haswell i3s and i5s manage easily.

The FX-6300 in that techspot review is already moderately overclocked, because it's an FX-6350. Overclocking was never really free anyway, since it typically requires an aftermarket cooler, and the $30+ extra for one of those could go to an i3-4340, which would outperform the overclocked FX-6300 by a wider margin.

FX CPUs are weak for gaming, and strong for multiple light tasks. Every professional review shows it, most game tests show it. Every few weeks we end up with someone on this forum who's disappointed and angry that their FX-6300 can't run the games they want paired with a great video card, after half the people here told them it was a decent gaming CPU. You can probably find a thread like that right now if you look.

In the year or so I've been here, I've seen dozens of people come back saying their new FX-6300 or FX-8320 is performing poorly, sub-40 fps in many games. Also while I've been here, I've seen many recent i3 owners come back to talk about what a great decision their CPU was. But I have never seen anyone come back to talk about how their i3 is too weak, not even in a single game.

Yes, they perform quite well in Battlefield 4 and people love to post benchmarks for that one game. But BF4 uses Mantle, and most games don't. In 99% of games, the single core performance of an i3 or i5 will win out against the multi-core performance of an overclocked FX CPU, at the same price points.
 
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