Would this make a good build?

[Akron727]

Okay, this is really pushing my budget, but im making a budget gaming rig. I want to get the best gaming performance i can for my $600 or so dollars. I went on newegg and searched some parts. would these parts work together, or is there something wrong? here are the parts:
DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147123
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157309
HD7870: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131467
550wPSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170010
4GB RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576003
FX4100: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
total: $621 (i guess ill be able to manage that)

So, is there any issues with my parts that will hurt my experience? Im mainly talking about compatibility issues; is my MOBO fine? will the PSU work with my CPU/GPU? Will the whose system overheat?

Im sticking with an AMD build. Please dont start fanboy wars telling me intel/nvidia is better. all your help is appreciated http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/biggrin.gif

 

[geekapproved]

Horrible choices. Fill out the new build form in the new build section of the forum if you want advice on parts.

The psu is absolute garbage, so is the memory and motherboard. The cpu is no good for gaming unless you overclock it to like 4.5ghz and that would require a $30 cooler.

 

[kctech]

Very weak processor. Try to get an intel i3 or i5 ivy or sandy bridge. Those are cheeta's compared to that turtle FX-4100. Maybe go down to a 6770 or 7770 to help keep the costs down still with the intel processor.

I tell my customers intel is faster, it's better bang for the buck (when you actually need it), and it's more expensive. But a FX-8120 and i5-3570(i think) are both $150 at my store. and the i5 makes the FX look like your grandmothers processor. If you must go AMD to keep costs down, use a FX 8120 if at all possible.

Also, nothing wrong with AMD graphics cards. Those r fine in my opinion however I do still prefer nvidia due to fewer driver problems.

 

[Onus]

^^+1000. The most egregious is your selection of a Logisys PSU-shaped object. That device may be suitable for powering light bulbs, but certainly not electronic components. A quality modern PSU has full range active pfc (no little voltage switch) and some level of 80+ certification for efficiency. Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax/LEPA are among the better brands. Logisys, Apevia, Raidmax, Broadway, Sunbeam, Crappermaster (Coolermaster) are not. The long term health and stability of your system are dependent on stable, reliable power, so the PSU is not a place to skimp.

Edit: and ^+1/-1. True, the FX-4100 is muttly. If you need to cut costs though, get an i3 or even a Pentium. Recent articles and reviews have shown that even in the budget segment, Intel outperforms AMD in games.

 

[nekulturny]

It would make a good budget build yes, but I would strongly urge you to consider a Phenom II 965 CPU in lieu of the FX-4100. Mainly because the Phenom IIs have more consistent performance.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

I would also urge you to consider making a couple changes (and yes I love my AMD computer, so you need not fear me talking you out of it)

The power supply you have chosen is a very BAD idea, I would urge you to consider changing it to one with both better brand reputation and warranty if Necessary, I would drop the 7870 video card to a cheaper 7850 (you will not sacrifice very much by doing this)

Corsair CX600 ($50 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Also the motherboard you have chosen is not a great board to be using for such a powerful video card, and if you have any desire to overclock your CPU.

At bare minimum, this is as low as I would go on the mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

But ideally, I would purchase this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131757

Like I said, if you have to step down to a 7850 to make room for these changes you will not be sacrificing much performance especially if you overclock the video card, as these cards are known to have huge overclocking potential:

$240 after mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161406

Better capacity hard drive, not much more in price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

I personally would consider a better case if budget permits, but that one should be sufficient, yes. Keeping it under 700 dollars, thats a pretty powerful gaming system.

 

[nekulturny]

Horrible choices. Fill out the new build form in the new build section of the forum if you want advice on parts.

you overclock it to like 4.5ghz and that would require a $30 cooler.

I've already showed you proof before that FX-4100s DO NOT require an aftermarket cooler to be clocked to 4.5GHZ, and yet you continue to tell people that.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1766/16/

 

[nekulturny]

Very weak processor. Try to get an intel i3 or i5 ivy or sandy bridge. Those are cheeta's compared to that turtle FX-4100. Maybe go down to a 6770 or 7770 to help keep the costs down still with the intel processor.

I tell my customers intel is faster, it's better bang for the buck (when you actually need it), and it's more expensive. But a FX-8120 and i5-3570(i think) are both $150 at my store. and the i5 makes the FX look like your grandmothers processor. If you must go AMD to keep costs down, use a FX 8120 if at all possible.

Also, nothing wrong with AMD graphics cards. Those r fine in my opinion however I do still prefer nvidia due to fewer driver problems.

Stepping down on the video card, would hurt gaming performance not help it. If you're paying more for the privilege of having an i5 at the expense of a cheaper video card, thats going to be a step down. A stronger processor can help a powerful video card reach its full potential, but it CANNOT make a weaker video card perform better. Unless I fell asleep in that class last semester?

As far as AMD drivers, I've heard this as well, yet I've seen nobody offer any substantial proof that the drivers are any more problematic than nvidias. Now to be fair, I've almost always purchased Nvidia Video cards for my own systems, but everytime I ask someone to show me something that shows AMD drivers are not as competent as Nvidia's I've been left empty-handed. And no, I'm not trying to flamebait, you seem like you know something, I'm picking your brain merely.

 

[Onus]

...As far as AMD drivers, I've heard this as well, yet I've seen nobody offer any substantial proof that the drivers are any more problematic than nvidias. Now to be fair, I've almost always purchased Nvidia Video cards for my own systems, but everytime I ask someone to show me something that shows AMD drivers are not as competent as Nvidia's I've been left empty-handed. And no, I'm not trying to flamebait, you seem like you know something, I'm picking your brain merely.

Recently, a number of game reviews (e.g. at HardOCP) indicated that AMD's Crossfire simply did not work [yet] in some new games. I agree with you though, I don't think either company has a monopoly on driver problems. Fortunately, they tend to be fleeting, and get fixed during fairly rapid update cycles. As far as I know, with the possible exception of Skyrim, those specific issues have already been addressed.

 

[nekulturny]

Thanks, that makes sense. The last AMD graphics I had was HD3000 in a laptop, and before that, hell its been years. I can say that, AMD doesn't have the monopoly on hardware failure either. I'm one of the unfortunate ones who got a Dell laptop with those Nvidia GPUs that literally melt themselves to death because of bad silicon. Still works (I'm using it now), but it does blue screen all the time.

 

[Ironslice]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($164.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $603.90
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

 

[nekulturny]

+1 on the Elite 430, thats going to be a better quality case at a good price. Rosewill makes very decent cases, but one of their better ones is going to cost you more. The elite 430 is *probably* going to give you better airflow than that toaster oven you've picked. Also the Rosewill case at second glance, will not support the changes I suggested to the motherboard, as it only accommodates a MicroATX board, I am not very thrilled with the offerings AMD currently has in the microATX size.

BTW, that build is pretty much identical to my own budget gamer selection I wrote up a couple months ago, several people have built one just like it that I know of, all of them have been very happy with it.

 

[Onus]

For an AMD system (Intel would be stronger), it looks good, except for the Crappermaster case.
In reviews of unrelated products (in this case, many of their PSUs), Crappermaster was found to be dishonest. Many companies exaggerate, or offer best-case scenarios that are unrealistic at best, but claiming protection circuits that are in fact missing is an outright lie. Here are some sample links:
LL=Liar Label, MC=Missing Circuits

1. LL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Extreme-2-475-W-Power-Supply-Review/1550/11
2. MC: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Elite-Power-350-W-Power-Supply-Review/1184/9
3. LL AND MC: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Elite-Power-460-W-Power-Supply-Review/1005/9
4. LL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1034/9
5. LL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-550-W-Power-Supply-Review/969/9

...I think that's enough. These aren't dings for poor quality, but for dishonesty. Many others get dinged for quality; my favorite is probably the remark in HardOCP's review of the GX-650 calling it a "polished turd in a box."
So anyway, there you have it; a company which should not be supported, regardless of the quality of its other products. And get this, it gets worse. Having been called on it, they're going to pull them from the North American market and foist them off elsewhere. This per Gabriel Torres: "I had a meeting with them during Computex and, according to them, they are removing all power supplies with fake wattage from the North American market (and dumping them somewhere else)."
Before I learned about this dishonesty, I used to buy Crappermaster cases. Maybe I was just unlucky (and shipping damage would account for some of it), but almost every one had [fixable, mostly minor] quality issues. I switched to Rosewill, and NONE of the 7-8 different models I've bought had any of those problems. I know a lot of people like their cases, some of the HAF models in particular, but then there's the honesty problem. A rational individual does not support dishonesty, so please select an alternate case.

 

[nekulturny]

My thoughts on CoolerMaster is that one should never buy a Power supply from them, yes they have a couple models that are not horrible, there are still better ones to pick in similar price ranges.

As far as their CPU coolers, they're one of the best, the 212 evos in particular.

On the topic of corporate dishonesty, I'm prepared to make an argument based on that logic that one should not purchase Intel, so lest we be careful what doors we open there :lol:

No, I don't like companies that lie, or exploit the weaknesses of our free market society in the name of greed. Its like Walmart, I absolutely hate them, but as a laid off person, who has had to return to college, I can't afford to shop anywhere else. So there we are.

CoolerMaster elite 430 cases are decent, so are their HAF 912s. although my personal opinion on some of CM's cases is they cut corners, for example HAF 912s, they didn't apply finishing inside and outside of the case. Other than that they're great cases for under $60 bucks.