How'd I do? First build parts list and cost

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Calumthestrong

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Jan 25, 2016
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So I just purchased all of the parts for my first PC yesterday. I managed to keep the total cost down to about $540 usd with a mix of new and used equipment. I feel like I did okay, just wanted to hear some other opinions! The main goal for the build was to be able to play War Thunder on Ultra settings and at least high on other games like Battlefield if I ever want to.

Corsair Carbide SPEC-02 case
MSI 970 Gaming Edition motherboard
AMD FX8320 cpu
Hyper 212 Evo cpu cooler
Gigabyte R9 280x Windforce OC Gpu
x2 4gb HyperX Fury 1866mhtz RAM
Adata 120gb SSD for the OS
XFX 750w PSU

 
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ZachyBeat

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Jan 28, 2016
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As an 8320 owner it hurts me to see another person buy one but that having been said, with a small overclock to 4.3-4.5ghz you can get very noticeable performance gains. I would try to squeeze out as much of an overclock as you can. It's not going to be a groundbreaking build but you're definitely going to be able to play most games at 60+ fps on high or ultra settings with some fps dropping. The biggest thing I've noticed from the FX series compared to i5s is a lower minimum fps. The newer AAA titles are going to want a stronger CPU like an i5 but you're still going to have a good time.
Not sure which XFX PSU that is but I would check where it lands on *this list and you should be good to go. The 750w will give you plenty of room for upgrading, overclocking, and expansion.

* http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

PS: You didn't list a storage drive other than the SSD for the OS so I hope it's not imaginary ;)
 
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Calumthestrong

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Jan 25, 2016
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I most definitely plan on overclocking! That was the main reason behind the larger PSU. From the research I did, both the fx8320 and the R9 280x can be quite power hungry when overclocked. I definitely didn't plan on anything groundbreaking.. So no worries there! Haha. As long as it's better than my Dell Optiplex with an old GT9800 jammed in it!
Don't worry! I'll have a HDD for storage. Just left it out.
 
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ZachyBeat

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Jan 28, 2016
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I noticed mainly from a 4.4ghz oc on my 8320 and a 63mhz oc on my 770 I got a huge improvement in minimum fps to improve the overall enjoyment of gaming. Stock had me thinking I should by an i5 every week. Now I feel like I wait another generation.
 
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Calumthestrong

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Jan 25, 2016
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Just wanted to post a quick update! Got everything put together and running last night. Everything went extremely smooth apart from having to manually install the LAN driver. Tried out War Thunder at max settings with no overclocks, and I was STILL blown away! Never dropped under 60fps and it ran so smooth (probably helps I'm used to playing on low settings at bearly 30fps. Haha). Definitely more than happy with the results, but still would like to see what kind of overclock I can get.
 
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