[New Build] First Time Building PC; Looking At Budget Pieces; >750.

[Subtle1]

Okay so I know absolutely nothing about PCs and building, but I need something to game on since I sold my 360. I'm on a tight budget and am looking for something less than $750. Here are the parts I was looking at:

Hard Drive: Seagate Expansion 1 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive STAY1000102 - $90
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack - $100
I think this is the CPU: AMD FX 6100 6-Core Processor, 3.3 6 Socket AM3+ - FD6100WMGUSBX - $130
RAM: Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB (2x4 GB Modules) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 240-Pin SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX - $48
Case: NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Case 921RB-BL - $70
Power Supply UnitCorsair Builder Series CX600 600 watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel and AMD Platforms ATX 700 CMPSU-600CXV2 - $62
GPUSapphire 11201-00-20G Radeon HD 7770 GHZ 1GB DDR5 HDMI / DVI-I / Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card - $150
Motherboard: ASRock 970DE3/U3S3 AM3+ AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $66

I don't need mouse and kb, or monitor. Is this a good rig? I only plan to use it for gaming, but I don't care if I can't run everything at Max settings. I just want to be able to game at low-mid settings with a steady framerate. Did I choose some items poorly? Are there better, less expensive options? Please help!

 

[Subtle1]

Damn't it wouldn't let me choose "New Build" as a sub section so I chose HomeBuild. I'm sorry.

 

[nekulturny]

Hi!, don't worry, you're in the right forum. with a a budget like that, you don't have to settle for mid-min settings, you can get your maxed out settings on most games on that budget.

If you are deadset on on AMD system, I would consider this CPU instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

The FX series CPU is not a true 6 core, its actually a tri-core that "pretends" to have 6. The Phenom IIs are true quads.

Better performing video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161389

The power supply is a fine choice, I see they're currently on sale, if you buy your system after it goes off sale, you would have enough in the 500 watt model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

[Subtle1]

I just chose AMD because it was cheaper. If I can get an Intel system at a comparable price I could look into it. Thanks for the response!

 

[nekulturny]

No problem, I rock the AMD, my problem with recommending you an Intel build on that budget is the fact that Intel has a huge price gap between their dual cores and quad cores.

While its true Intels quad cores absolutely are a superior choice than anything AMD makes currently, when you're looking for a budget gaming system, you're better off trimming the CPU in favor or a stronger video card. In which case, AMD's Phenom IIs take up the slack between Intels duals and quads.

You could consider an i3 on your budget, but like I said, I'm not in favor of it, but I'd be glad to recommend some parts if you want to go that route.

Also, did you notice that the hard drive you picked is an external USB drive not an internal?

This is a 500GB drive thats pretty decent (I have one in this rig)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Heres one in the 1TB flavor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136767

 

[Subtle1]

Yeah I think I'll stick with AMD, all things considered, thank you! You helped me shave off almost $40 dollars off the price!

Oh, and one more question, is 8GB memory a necessity? Or would I be able to game with 6GB memory? 4GB?

 

[nekulturny]

4GB is probably sufficient, but really 8 Gigs of RAM isn't that expensive these days.

If you want to save a couple bucks, you could go with these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557

 

[Scotty99]

Some games intel plays twice as well for the same price point (like world of warcraft for example), other games they get closer. It would be wise of you to check benchmarks for the games you play most.

 

[nekulturny]

WOW has extremely low system requirements, a 10 year old Athlon 1500+ could handle it, but you're right, some games are more CPU intensive than others. Ironically, WOW's big competitor Runescape, my 1.6GHZ Athlon TF-20 isn't up to snuff for it even though that game has considerably lower quality graphics (although I suspect its the laptops crappy graphics are more to blame for that). But Runescape is written in Java and WOW is in C+--different programming languages. Starcraft II comes to mind as a CPU intensive game. Metro2033 is iffy, I've had better results with it than Tom's Hardware benchmarks said I should have had.

Multiplayer on-line games as of today is where a quad-core is really going to show its better value than single player games (as most of them still use 2 cores), the FX-6100 as far as Battlefield 3 is concerned for example is going to treat it as a tri-core CPU.

 

[Scotty99]

Its not the cores brother, its the architecture. And WoW was merely an extreme example (the entry level dual core pentium plays WoW better than AMD's flagship 8 core, not lying go check anand).

One other thing, yes pretty much anything will PLAY wow, but thats not giving it enough credit. When you get into a 25 man raid with all effect details turned up that 80 FPS you were getting with you phenom II just turned into 30 FPS, whereas the intel starts so much higher you will rarely drop under 60 during raids.

 

[nekulturny]

Oh I absolutely agree with you, for gaming the FX CPUs really don't blow my skirt up, for media encoding and crap, FX CPUs can step right up to Intel, but for gaming the older Phenom IIs take em to school.

An i5-2500k is the best choice for a gaming PC hands down, but a Phenom II 965 @ 4.0GHZ will get the job done too 3.7GHZ is as far as I'd go on the stock fan, and that'll do it too.

 

[Subtle1]

Yeah I'll stick with the AMD build
So I have:
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $81
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack - $100
I think this is the CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ - $105
RAM: Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB (2x4 GB Modules) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 240-Pin SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX - $48
Case: NZXT Guardian Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Case 921RB-BL - $70
Power Supply Unit: Corsair Builder Series CX V2 500-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel and AMD Platforms - CMPSU-500CXV2 - $54
GPU: Sapphire 11201-00-20G Radeon HD 7770 GHZ 1GB DDR5 HDMI / DVI-I / Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card - $135
Motherboard: ASRock 970DE3/U3S3 AM3+ AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $66

and I believe I still need a disc loader, or a place to put discs in for installation, no? Any suggestions on that?

Oh, and will all that fit in the case?

 

[nekulturny]

CD/DVD burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

And yes those components will fit in the case.

I still would consider changing that video card to the 6870 card I recommended to you, its a much better performing video card for only 10 dollars more.

 

[Subtle1]

Alright, if I choose the 6870 over the 7770, would I run into any compatibility problems with newer games and programs since the 6870 is older? And would I need to get a another PSU? Motherboard?

and how noticeable is the performance difference?

 

[nekulturny]

I doubt it no. Games haven't changed *that* much in the last year and a half. We're still on the Metro 2033, Battlefield 3 standard. If anything games might start to come out that use more CPU cores so a dual core might show its inherent weakness compared to a quad core, but your video card isn't going to become obsolete overnight just because its an older generation. Hell, 6870s were built to compete with Nvidias GTX 460s (which are now 2 generations old- and still a very respectable card today) and the fact that it can step right up to the newer GTX 560TI ought to show its strength in and of itself.

No you won't need a different PSU or motherboard.

How noticeable is the difference? Too many factors go into gaming performance to really answer such a generic question. Resolution, detail setting, anti-aliasing, etc. I can only say as a general rule, the 6870 is a stronger card..

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=540

 

[Subtle1]

I doubt it no. Games haven't changed *that* much in the last year and a half. We're still on the Metro 2033, Battlefield 3 standard. If anything games might start to come out that use more CPU cores so a dual core might show its inherent weakness compared to a quad core, but your video card isn't going to become obsolete overnight just because its an older generation. Hell, 6870s were built to compete with Nvidias GTX 460s (which are now 2 generations old- and still a very respectable card today) and the fact that it can step right up to the newer GTX 560TI ought to show its strength in and of itself.

No you won't need a different PSU or motherboard.

How noticeable is the difference? Too many factors go into gaming performance to really answer such a generic question. Resolution, detail setting, anti-aliasing, etc. I can only say as a general rule, the 6870 is a stronger card..

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=540

Ah I see. One last question before I'm off. I need a cooling system, right?

Are these two fine to keep my computer cool?
http://www.amazon.com/Enermax-Accessory-UCTA14N-BL-TBAPOLLISH-Twister/dp/B005P1D3FS/ref=lh_ni_t_mi
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Computer-Cooling-R4-L2R-20AC-GP/dp/B0026ZPFCK/ref=lh_ni_t_mi

 

[nekulturny]

The case comes with fans you shouldnt need those, if anything you might consider a CPU cooler so you can overclock, but the fans that come with the NZXT Guardian should be good enough for everything else.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337372562&sr=1-2

 

[Subtle1]

Best answer selected by Subtle1.