Does my cheap PC build have the best performance parts for the price, and will it work with Linux?

GmanSupreme · Jun 23, 2015

This is my first time building a PC. I'm making a cheap gaming computer that has the best parts for the lowest price. Are any of my parts more expensive than they have to be for a good gaming computer, or are there any other ones I should use instead? Also, I'm going to have Linux on this computer, so if any parts are incompatible with Linux, that'd be good to know

Here are all my parts:
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card
Case: Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case
PSU: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
The total price is sitting at about $450 after rebates.

And if anyone could direct me to a good guide to actually putting together all the pieces that would be awesome!

CTurbo · Jun 23, 2015

No and yes to the 2 questions in your topic

This would be WAY better

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.78 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($151.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $452.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-23 23:26 EDT-0400

or if you want an ssd only

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.78 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP900 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($151.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $465.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-23 23:28 EDT-0400

GmanSupreme · Jun 24, 2015

Thanks for helping me out!

I agree that the FX-6300 is probably overkill, so saving $30 by switching to the Athlon is a good idea.
And then the Asus motherboard was pretty low quality, and the Gigabyte is better.
G. Skill Sniper is a better brand for the same price.

I like the Kingston SSD, only $10 more, and I like to keep my systems pretty clean (Running Linux helps too)
I don't feel like a beefier GPU is necessary, I think the GTX 750 Ti will be more than enough.
And the Corsair CX 500W is almost half off right now on Newegg!

Here's my revised parts list.

Where's a good guide for actually building it?

CTurbo · Jun 24, 2015

The Corsair CX is a low quality psu. You should avoid it. That Rosewill is a very high quality unit.
That Kingston ssd is one of the most unreliable of the popular ssds on the market. That Adata ssd is pretty decent. Samsung and Crucial are the most reliable ssds if you can get one.
Are you gaming on this? The 280 is about 2x as strong as the 750ti. You said you want the best parts for the price right?
The R7 265 is 5-10% stronger for the same price. You can get a R9 270x for just $12 more.
The FX6300 was not overkill, it's just not really any better than the 860k which is way less, and it's certainly not as good as an i3. The main reason I didn't recommend the FX6300 is because that motherboard was terrible and it would have run like crap.
Again, you should really avoid that Corsair CX.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.78 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $429.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-24 08:33 EDT-0400

newegg has a good insrtuctional 2-part video for building a PC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4

GmanSupreme · Jun 24, 2015

Do you think that the AMD graphics card will work well with Linux? I know NVIDIA usually has better drivers for Linux

CTurbo · Jun 24, 2015

I know AMD released a new Linux Kernel driver recently, but I don't have any hands on experience with it. It would be worth researching. Both GTX750ti and GTX960 have terrible price/performance ratios.

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Does my cheap PC build have the best performance parts for the price, and will it work with Linux?

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