Help me Build a Gaming rig

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Jimmyboi24

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Jun 6, 2016
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Hello i am looking for help to build a gaming rig.

right now im running with

fx 6300.
mobo msi 970A krait edtion
psu cx600.
16Gb ddr3 ram
a gtx 960 4gb.

i have £500 budget any help please.
 
Solution
Chugalug_
Buying a better graphics card and a CPU cooler is the best option here. The FX 6300 can handle midrange cards just fine, we're talking 970 /stock 980 levels here, but with something like a 1070 or 980ti there will be a roughly 30-35% bottleneck in most applications.
Your best bet is to go for a mix of the two.
You can get a surprisingly good upgrade for the price with 500 pounds, although this does go over budget by 70, bear with me as it is well worth it given your situation. Short of buying a new mobo, CPU and ram, this is the most cost effective option. This CPU will last you until this entire build becomes irrelevant, as this is one of the most powerful CPUs that there is for that motherboard.
So until you manage to get the funds...
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bwen1

bwen1

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May 28, 2015
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I would use your money to upgrade your GPU and CPU cooler instead of building a new rig. An overclocked FX 6300 can handle higher end graphics cards without serious problems.
 
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envy14tpe

envy14tpe

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The 960 is great for 1080p gaming. So, if you are at 1080p then don't upgrade. But that aging cpu could use an upgrade. Since you have ddr3 RAM, I'd look for a 4690k + Z97 mobo. Then, slap on a Cryorig H7 and hit 4.4GHz. Other than that, maybe look into improving peripherals like getting a mechanical keyboard.
 
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Chugalug_

Chugalug_

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Jan 28, 2016
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Buying a better graphics card and a CPU cooler is the best option here. The FX 6300 can handle midrange cards just fine, we're talking 970 /stock 980 levels here, but with something like a 1070 or 980ti there will be a roughly 30-35% bottleneck in most applications.
Your best bet is to go for a mix of the two.
You can get a surprisingly good upgrade for the price with 500 pounds, although this does go over budget by 70, bear with me as it is well worth it given your situation. Short of buying a new mobo, CPU and ram, this is the most cost effective option. This CPU will last you until this entire build becomes irrelevant, as this is one of the most powerful CPUs that there is for that motherboard.
So until you manage to get the funds for your next big upgrade, this will do you well.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Jg4LD8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Jg4LD8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£135.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! SHADOW ROCK LP 51.4 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card (£406.41 @ BT Shop)
Total: £572.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-03 15:29 BST+0100

DO NOTE however that you will want to get a 1080p 144hz monitor to get the most out of these parts, as it will most likely be wasted on 60hz 1080p, as will any upgrade up from what you currently have.
A good entry monitor is the BenQ XL2411Z or the Asus VG248QE, both of which give great quality at an affordable price.
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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Your processor is the worst part of your PC and upgrading to a 8350 is not much help their like 4 years old already and a dead end.
I would upgrade the CPU, board, and memory to this. Dump the CX series power supply.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8LxfMp
Sets you up good for 5 years or so on that side. Sell the parts you replaced then you would only need a video card upgrade in the future.
 
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Chugalug_

Chugalug_

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Jan 28, 2016
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Even though the AMD build I listed above is without a doubt in my mind the best option for a graphics card upgrade, as it allows you to put together a build which will remain viable for at least another 3 years with the 1070, there are also other options.
Keep in mind although your build is an option, seeing as OP is on a budget and seems to desperately want a new graphics card, and is on a budget there are a lot better options than the one you have listed.
For example, going with a haswell i5 4690k will save the money on RAM while allowing OP to upgrade to an i7 4790k in the future if they need to, and still giving ample funds to upgrade the graphics card to something like a 970/980.

This comes in at a much cheaper price point while offering very similar performance and a better graphics card which can give 980 levels of performance if OCd, being just over at £542 as a pose to the odd £650 you put forward, which is outside of OPs price range.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/ffG8KZ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/ffG8KZ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£194.99 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! SHADOW ROCK LP 51.4 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-P ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£71.92 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£245.34 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £542.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-04 04:07 BST+0100
 
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envy14tpe

envy14tpe

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Chugalug_

Chugalug_

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In that price range, I wouldn't consider an SSD to be viable, the money is much better spent on hardware performance with such a limited budget.
 
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envy14tpe

envy14tpe

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I'm assuming he/she is gaming at 1080p and fairly recently bought the 960. So, I suggested a system upgrade that is smart. I guess you must have agreed as you chose a 4690k + Z97 mobo as I suggested in the first post.

SSDs are a must in 2016 and have been since 2014, as prices are reasonable. It adds a new layer of Wow to the pc performance. Also, my suggested upgrades allow for future upgrades (in a year or so), as I didn't spend the whole £500. Actually your build went £43 over budget. You might want to retune it.
 
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Chugalug_

Chugalug_

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Agreed.
I found that going £43 over budget provided the best value alternative given the situation.
The unlocked processor with a Z97 motherboard provides performance leaps and bounds ahead of the non k counterparts for a little extra.
I see where you're coming from however, and I wholeheartedly agree that SSDs are a must in 2016, but I'm not quite convinced that it is worth it over a better graphics card given that it sounds like OP wants to upgrade his/her GPU from the 960.
Perhaps a non overclockable build would allow for a 120/250GB ssd AND a good graphics upgrade.
Here is an example, although keep in mind it still is 30 pound over budget. :/
I've chosen to spend the extra 15-20 pounds to get a motherboard which supports overclocking and more RAM should an i7 upgrade be an option in the future.
Gone for the 970 over RX 480 as it offers both similar performance and much better overclocking for more or less the same price.
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xws2RG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/xws2RG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£177.92 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97P-D3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£49.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.27 @ BT Shop)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£227.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £530.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-04 06:04 BST+0100
 
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envy14tpe

envy14tpe

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@Chugalu_ Glad to see you agree on SSD. I still wouldn't recommend going from a 960 to 970. The difference isn't really worth it. I'd suggest waiting and getting a new GPU next year. I like the 480, if AMD can fix the power issues. AMD should have built it with a 8 pin.
 
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Chugalug_

Chugalug_

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Yeah, I've listed the 970 because it still has a roughly 40% advantage at stock speeds, and can overclock very well, in my experience often to 980 levels.
Getting a new GPU next year would definitely be the best option in terms of getting more horsepower for your money, but I have a 680 in one of my rigs, and upon benchmarking it last week out of curiosity, it is aging poorly in terms of power in newer games, with some stuttering and inconsistent frame rates in Doom at medium settings.
A 960 isn't much more powerful than a 680, and i'd be wanting to upgrade if it was my main rig, so I can see where OP is coming from. His choice either way. :p
 
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