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First PC Build! (Feedback and Suggestion Needed!)

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  • Computers
  • Budget
  • Systems
  • Desktops
Last response: in Systems
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August 18, 2014 7:50:35 PM

Hey guys! I'm planning on building a budget gaming pc build for college. I have an budget of around $500-600 and here it is.

here's the build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ThZHqs

CPU : AMD FX-4300 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($88.00 Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($54.99 NCIX US)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.98 OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($111.98 SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-01 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 Newegg)

Total: $446.91

I plan to be playing games like Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, CS:GO, Dota 2 and possibly more.

I was wondering if I should put a little more money into getting two more cores from a FX-6300 and OC to make up for the loss of .3hz, and also buying an aftermarket cpu cooler (preferably a Hyper 212 Evo).

I would like some feedback and opinions on what changes can be made to help improve the current build or if the build is already fine as it is. Planning on making a purchase today or tomorrow since I leave for college on the 29th.

Thanks in advance!

More about : build feedback suggestion needed

August 18, 2014 8:18:51 PM

either get the 6300 or go for a pentium g3258, the fx 4xxx chips are woefully weak. other than that it does look like a pretty good entry level box
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August 18, 2014 8:25:29 PM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-01 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $463.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-18 23:21 EDT-0400

This build gives you the pentium G3258 which does extremely well and is capable of a 4.0ghz overclock pretty easily, even with stock cooling. It also puts you on a Z97 board so you can upgrade to an i5 or i7 later if you want to. Besides that, a stock 3258 will outperform a 4300 in most gaming applications.
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August 28, 2014 7:49:55 PM

Respectfully, I have to disagree with the Pentium option. There are several benchmarks that show it suffers from bad stutter and lag, even when overclocked heavily. Even the Athlon X4 760K, which is weaker than an FX4300, has lower frame time variances in many game benchmarks I've seen than the Pentium, even when the Athlon is stock and the Pentium is overclocked. Frame time variance is much more important than frame rates, 80 FPS with high frame time variances will make for visible stutter where 45 FPS with low frame times will look much smoother. The 4300 isn't a bad option at all, not the fastest thing out there, but not slow. In all reality, it's quite hard to buy a truly slow CPU these days unless you buy a budget laptop. A 4300 can stay close to some I3's in some games, and will beat or match the Phenom II X4's while using less power. Phenom II's are older, but are not at all slow, so they make for a nice comparison. I have an old Phenom II 965 rig with an HD 7850 that can play modern games very well at 1600X900. In the games I have tested on it, the GPU is always the limiting factor, not the CPU. And the 4300 is better than the 965.

The 6300 is a better option though, and really isn't that much more than the 4300. They both overclock very well and can hit 4.0 GHz quite easily with a decent cooler. Coupled with the GPU you want, either one will work just fine, the 6300 giving you more room for a faster GPU in the future. The only issue with that route is that AMD is highly unlikely to release new CPU's for the AM3+ socket, so there is really no upgrade path unless you wanted to buy an FX 8350 or one of the new 8370's when they come out. Personally, I'd change the CPU to an FX 6300 and you'll have a nice entry level rig.
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August 28, 2014 8:47:56 PM

Spend a bit more and get a FX 6300, you will get a lot more out of your money
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!