Need help on building a computer for my Wife.

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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Ok first off i will say what she will be using it for. The main thing is gaming and that being said she does not give a crap about if the graphics are on low or ultra just as long as the FPS is a good 30 or more and that the resolution is 720p and above and will be using a 1280x1024 monitor for now, yea i know its all we got at the moment lol its a square haha .The games she will be playing are games such as Minecraft, The Sims 3, and 4, Unturned, H1Z1, maybe some COD and BF games, and games involving online because she wants to play online with me on games. The second thing she will be using it for is she loves to type books which is why i will buy her a MX Cherry Blue Keyboard for that reason. Our price limit is $800 (Including the OS of W8.1) and under but the cheaper the better lol and want the best gaming machine possible for that price and we have no Intel/AMD or NVIDIA/AMD preference as long as we get the best bang for buck. As of now i think that the best build i have found myself would be of the following parts below but i have never dealt with An AMD CPU so i do not know if the motherboard will even work with it but check out my part selection below and tell me what you all think, thanks.

CPU=AMD FX-8320

Motherboard=GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev. 6.0)

PSU=XFX TS Edition PRO650W
(I know its overpowered but we are replacing our XFX TS Series P1550SXXB9 550W with this one in our more powerful build so we can have more power in it and use the 550W one for this build)

Case= I have not found one yet but she wants a blue/white one
(I have no idea but she wants a white Micro/Mini ATX case but i d onot know if the GPU will fit in any Micro/Mini ATX case please help on that)

Memory=G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

OS=Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM

SSD=SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E250B/AM 2.5" 250GB (We will buy a WDB1TB HDD later on)

GPU=XFX Double D R9-280A-TDFD Radeon R9 280 3GB
(It is super cheap, performs great, and has 3GB of VRAM)
 
Solution
MasterDell
You must have had bad luck with ASRock a few years ago. Since then they have really stepped up their game. I own 3 H97 boards. 2 ASRocks and 1 Gigabyte. The ASRocks are the H97 PRO4 mATX one and the Gigabyte is the GA-H97M-D3H. I had to put motherboards in two builds (for my parents). I picked the ASRock ones :p Would have been interesting to put one in one build and the other in the other. Would have been a good test I suppose.

Anyways, OS alone will take about 40GB with the updates. Then you have to factor in drivers and some other things that might wonder in there.

Most reliable SSD's are Intel. Has been proven time and time again in tests. But Samsung and Crucial are no slackers. I would never buy any other SSD brand besides...
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Gallarian

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Here you are :) All good quality components for what she needs, wrapped up in a small cube white and blue case!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI CSM-H87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($41.25 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Apevia X-QPACK3-WHT MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($55.98 @ Directron)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $807.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 16:41 EDT-0400

(the case can fit Graphics cards up to 320mm, the MSI 960 is 273mm so all should fit just fine)
 
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MasterDell

MasterDell

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You had a nice parts list! But for those games, an 8320 would be murdered by an i5. Maybe even an i3..

@Gallarian Why do you have an H87 board with a 4440 when a 4460 is cheaper, and faster. (Oh, and H97 is newer). And why the 1 stick of RAM? o_O

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($32.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($88.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $805.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 16:59 EDT-0400


The R9 280 is the absolutely most your wife will need. H1Z1 is quite the pain to run. I have SLI 970's and I play it with only 1 970 enabled and on high graphics rather than ultra.
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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I have an i5-4690 in my other build and i only see a 2-6FPS difference on every game i play and considering it is 1/5 the price of an i5 that is why i recommended it and also due to every benchmark showing it also. I do know it is not as good as the i5 but considering the small difference i think it would be a good buy. And thanks man. I will not buy a Seagate as i will never trust them as they are the worst possible storage you could spend money on, they are terrible and i will only go with Western Digital but i picked the SSD because my wife has had computers for over 5 years and never used more than 50GB of space so i know a 200+ SSD will be more than enough and the Samsung SSD is the best SSD out there so it will be super fast and will be more than enough space. And i have never seen that brand of memory you mentioned and i do not feel trustworthy toward it i would prefer a brand such as COrsair, G.Skill, and such. The PSU you mentioned is great and i actually already own it and i was actually going to get the 650W and version for my build and put the 550W in hers since it needs less power and mine needs more lol :p And on the motherboard i will only go with Gigabyte because i have had so much bad luck with AsRock it isnt even funny lol. I mean ill try MSI or another brand but i prefere Gigabyte. Sorry if i seem picky but i just want to make sure it is reliable for her, lol. And yea man H1Z1 is such a fun game but it is so crappy on the graphical/performance side i mean it pushes my system to its max load yet the game looks worse than a PS2 game idk why i guess where Sony made it they tried to make it look as worse as possible.
 
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MasterDell

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You must have had bad luck with ASRock a few years ago. Since then they have really stepped up their game. I own 3 H97 boards. 2 ASRocks and 1 Gigabyte. The ASRocks are the H97 PRO4 mATX one and the Gigabyte is the GA-H97M-D3H. I had to put motherboards in two builds (for my parents). I picked the ASRock ones :p Would have been interesting to put one in one build and the other in the other. Would have been a good test I suppose.

Anyways, OS alone will take about 40GB with the updates. Then you have to factor in drivers and some other things that might wonder in there.

Most reliable SSD's are Intel. Has been proven time and time again in tests. But Samsung and Crucial are no slackers. I would never buy any other SSD brand besides those three.

A-Data is an extremely good memory brand. I have two different rigs running on it. I have had more issues with my G.Skill rig (main rig) than I have my others ones. (1 has Team, 2 have A-Data, 2 have G.Skill, another has Corsair). Yeah, I have a lot of computers.

It's not only the issue with performance when it comes to the i5 vs 8350/8320. It's the fact that AMD offers absolutely no upgrade path. Which means that next time you want a CPU upgrade you will likely need the new CPU, a new motherboard, new RAM (if it needs DDR4), and even a new PSU (if it needs a certification). That's basically an entire new computer.. H97/Z97 boards are simple. They both support Broadwell when it comes out. Done and done
 
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Solution
bsod1

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($88.88 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard ($75.00 @ Mechanical Keyboards)
Total: $811.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-24 17:28 EDT-0400
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Hmm i never seen Intel coming close to beating Samsung but if you say so lol. But yea she will not be upgrading her PC in the next 5 or more years so do you think the AMD CPu will do good? If not we have chosen the Intel i5 4460 and the GIGABYTE GA-H81M-S1 (rev. 2.1) LGA 1150 Intel H81 if they will work together and be better than the AMD FX one?
 
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S

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How are they going to do BIOS update with no legacy CPU?
 
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MasterDell

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5 years for the 8320? There is no way that will happen. It's already falling behind.

I recommend the GA-H81M-DS2V instead. It gets the best reviews out of all H81 boards. Is there any reason you don't want the GA-H97M-D3H? Yes it's more, but it's also a far better board. Both in terms of reliability and features. But if you want an H81 board, that's also fine.

The reason I suggest the GA-H81M-DS2V over the GA-H81M-S1 is because the GA-H81M-S1 only has a VGA port and no DVI port.



 
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MasterDell

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Don't listen to PC Part Picker too much.. There is a 99% Chance that the 4460 will not need a BIOS update with that motherboard. Or almost any H81 motherboard.
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Well i can get an H97 would that be better? And ill just get the 4460 will that be better than the AMD one? And how about this motherboard for the I5-4460

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512&cm_re=H97_motherboard-_-13-157-512-_-Product
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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But i do not want to do the Bios Update doesnt the i5-4460 need the H97 and the K models need the Z97 correct? On my i7-5930K it used a socket called LGA 2011-v3 and a chip set called X99 something so i know it needs to be a specific kind. Intel says it needs the H97 for the i5-4460.

 
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bsod1

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It is more than a chance that the H81 will support the 4460 without needing a BIOS update. Read online reviews maybe? H97 has more features but is also more expensive. If you can afford the H97 within the budget then get one!
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Well the H97 is not to bad how about this one does it seem ok?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512
 
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bsod1

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Perfect for the price :)
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Oh sorry im on my stupid Samsung Galaxy 3 tab that is all screwed up and i can barely see the post right now so excuse me if i miss anything or do not reply because i am not at my desktop atm but i will be getting the H97 now and i will get the GPu for her after the build is done and i am stuck between the Sapphire R9-280X or a GTX 960. as long as the GPU is under $200 so if anyone knows a GPU best for $200 and under
 
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Most people don't really care IMO...
 
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Lol. I'd actually do that 4 more performance.

But IRL that wouldn't happen too much, in any extent.
 
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Ferrariassassin

Ferrariassassin

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Well 1 cents more a year on my power bill will not hurt me that much but hey wanna hear something funny? My Wife got ma an Intel i7-5960X for our anniversery............yea a freaking i7-5960X!!!! But she did not know that you need a new $500 motherboard and Another $300 for the DDR4 memory lol so its setting all pretty im my closet, never being touched.

 
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