Critique my low end pc build

[screamzack]

Approximate Purchase Date: Thursday (6-7-12)

Budget Range: $400 (trying to do this cheap as possible, which is why im going amd)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: casual gaming (dofus, diablo 3, possibly skyrim)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, optical drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg or amazon.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: anything thats reliable.

Overclocking: maybe

SLI or Crossfire: no

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: im mostly seeking comments/changes to my current build in case the parts arent reliable. this is going to be a low end amd gaming machine after i put either the the radeon hd 6670 or 6850 video card in it.

-here is the pc i plan to build-

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Momentus 7200.4 320GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Logisys 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $307.93
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-02 03:15 EDT-0400)

again, im building this cheap as possible but i can afford to stretch this current build if the parts wont cut it.
the goal is to be able to handle mmorpgs and other rpg/action games... after i put the video card in it (no fps though, i know it takes power to run).

 

[jasont78]

probably if you can stretch it get a reputable brand psu and is it a 2.5" hdd u have in ur list, seems odd for a desktop build, usually 3.5" drives are cheaper and easier to mount, as the vast majority of budget cases dont have mounts for 2.5" drives making it more difficult for ssd's too

 

[screamzack]

all id have to do is get a mount kit... but that does cut into budget. probably better off getting a different drive.

ill look into it.

and i came to this:
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)

larger drive and only $10 more spent.

and whats a good psu brand?

 

[jasont78]

all id have to do is get a mount kit... but that does cut into budget. probably better off getting a different drive.

ill look into it.

and i came to this:
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)

larger drive and only $10 more spent.

and whats a good psu brand?

corsair seasonic antec are usually up with the best

 

[bigcyco1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Power%20Supplies-_-Corsair-_-17139026&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=#top CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Jonnyguru recommended award

 

[screamzack]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Power%20Supplies-_-Corsair-_-17139026&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=#top CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Jonnyguru recommended award

would this psu would be enough to run the graphics card after its installed as well? radeon 6670 or 6850 is what im putting in it with my next paycheck.

also, is there a cheaper power supply available? or is this the safest choice?

 

[screamzack]

sajid555... im not sure how this helps me out?

 

[Guest]

Never spend a low amount of money on a PSU, it runs the system, and if it blows it has the potential to destroy EVERYTHING but sending a power surge. So its like buying a car with no airbags. you want the extra safety from a good PSU

 

[Guest]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371046
€69 dollars (sorry its expensive but its a good PSU)

 

[Merueth]

If you are going to put a 6850 in, get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066

If 6670, go with the corsair builder 430 watt.

 

[mildgamer001]

no, amd isnt a goo doption for the desktop anymore, get a pentium g840 for like 80$ and it will outperform even that phenom quad. eeryone souldn know this by now that amd just isnt even good for budget anymore, when a 100$ cpu cant outperform a 70-80$ one..

 

[Merueth]

The G850 is a better choice for just gaming, but if you plan on doing a lot of multitasking the 965 will win out.

 

[mildgamer001]

well that depends on the program as well, a quad core with half the performance of a dual core doesnt mean that it will have any better performance, im not saying the g840 is better all around, but why spend the extra 50$ for a very very insignificant multi task gain on a socket that is starting to die anyway instea dof spending the 50$ on something else in the system like power supply or what have you and get almost the same cpu performance.

 

[screamzack]

so its a fact that the g850 would be suitable for my gaming needs? i went with the amd processor because anything under 3.0GHz tends to scare me away.

my budget is extremely tight and i need a pc that wont crap out on me. i understand it wont be the best, i just want it to function properly.

and please feel free to help me out with a cheaper G850 build. the keyword being cheaper. after a few months, id probably upgrade to an i5 anyways.

as of now money is the main issue building this pc. im currently computer-less, so im really aching to get this built.

 

[screamzack]

im salvaging the dvd/cd drive, hard drive, and possibly the psu from an old pc for temporary parts.

it moved my total cost for the amd build (after removing the psu) to $235.95 before rebates with these parts:


CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $228.95
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-03 04:35 EDT-0400)
ive also decided to go with the 6670 and just upgrade it later if needed.

-edit-
heres the intel build i came up with versus the above amd build:

CPU: Intel Pentium G850 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($84.99 @ eCost)
Motherboard: MSI H67MS-E43 (B3) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $205.96
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-03 04:50 EDT-0400)

comes out about $20 cheaper. which build do you think would perform better?

 

[mildgamer001]

the intel build.

 

[Guest]

Be careful, that PSU might not be a high enough wattage for your system, the HDD might be using old tech that your mobo cant connect too, if all of this is not the case, then happy building

 

[screamzack]

Be careful, that PSU might not be a high enough wattage for your system, the HDD might be using old tech that your mobo cant connect too, if all of this is not the case, then happy building

Its just temporary for 2 weeks. If the power supply is junk, ill just patiently leave the parts in the box til they're ready.

 

[screamzack]

im going to begin ordering parts tomorrow for the G850 build.

ill let yall know how it goes after its fully built and rid of the temporary parts ill be using at the beginning.

 

[dukeearl1]

I bought this mobo last week to upgrade my sons pc.
Just some comments on my experience and a question.
I choose the A885GM-A2 because it is has 6 gb sata it is cheap has 4 memory slots and 2pci slots for xfire sli. Cabled up two twin 9800 GTs and got device manager and Nvida control panel to recognize them.Zero improvement maybe 1% on the benchmark tests when I added the second card. Big disappointment. Oh well, just put the second card in a different PC. Here is my question...does anyone have experience with ECS 6GB sata? Is it plug and play? Should I invest in the cost of a ssd hard drive?

 

[screamzack]

update on my pc.

CPU: Intel Pentium G850 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($85.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-GE Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($23.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Raidmax Typhoon ATX-312WS ATX Mid Tower Case ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($25.97 @ Newegg)

spent about $630 total. ive never had a gaming rig, its not the high end beast others have... but im very satisfied with it. everything runs great, i just put it all together a few months ago and its been running great.

i try to stay away from high end games, even though i can handle majority of them. but i max out most of everything i play. League of Legends, DC Universe Online, NBA 2k12 (waiting for 2k13 next month!), Might & Magic Heroes 6. not the most high end list, but im happy and busy with my games. and after i replace the cpu with an i5, ill be ready for the (small) world!

 

[screamzack]

Best answer selected by SCREAMZACK.