First Custom Build

eliteclone25

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Feb 25, 2012
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I am thinking about building computer and wondered if these parts I selected were good for a first build gaming computer:

GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 AMD 970/SB950 AM3+

AMD FX-6100

Crucial Ballistix 8GB (DDR3 1600 Mhz)

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB

Cooler Master Elite 430 Mid Tower

EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 192-bit GDDR5

either a regular optical drive or a blu-ray one

and either a 430 or 500w Thermaltake power supply

If you guys could give any suggestions that would be great.




 
Solution
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775
I know what you're going to say: "YOU'RE CRAZY! THAT'S ONLY A DUAL CORE CPU! THE FX-6100 IS A HEX CORE CPU!" But wait. just hear me out. I chose this CPU against the 6100 for a few reasons. 1) It uses less power and 2) It's better in performance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
As you can see, the FX-6100 ranks quite a few levels below the i3 3220. Also the i3 has hyperthreading capabilities, meaning it acts as a 4 core CPU.

Graphics: HIS H785F1G2M Radeon HD 7850 $165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161426
I had to add the radeon 7850. I could not stand seeing the GTX 550Ti...

eliteclone25

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Feb 25, 2012
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My budget is prob about 500-800 dollars but I would rather keep it in the lower range.
 

r0aringdrag0n

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CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775
I know what you're going to say: "YOU'RE CRAZY! THAT'S ONLY A DUAL CORE CPU! THE FX-6100 IS A HEX CORE CPU!" But wait. just hear me out. I chose this CPU against the 6100 for a few reasons. 1) It uses less power and 2) It's better in performance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
As you can see, the FX-6100 ranks quite a few levels below the i3 3220. Also the i3 has hyperthreading capabilities, meaning it acts as a 4 core CPU.

Graphics: HIS H785F1G2M Radeon HD 7850 $165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161426
I had to add the radeon 7850. I could not stand seeing the GTX 550Ti, if you want any sort of gaming machine to last a few years, this is the budget card that can pull through. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
As you can see, it ranks a few steps above the GTX 550Ti, and it is WELL WORTH THE COST.

MoBo: ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304
A cheap, yet reliable motherboard. Nothing too special about it, it can support the Ivy bridge CPUs with unlocked cores, if you want to upgrade in the future.

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093
Always choose a reliable power supply! Never go with a cheap power supply or one from a unreliable company, you'll never go wrong with Seasonic, Antec, FSP, or Corsair. The 520W PSU is more than enough for the rig you'll be building.

Case: NZXT Gamma $40
http://www.amazon.com/GAMMA-Classic-Interior-Chassis-Black/dp/B002UDK9U6
This is a great, yet cheap, case. It was designed for a gaming computer so it has lots of space for components and lots of holes for fans. It also includes a 120mm fan pre installed in the back.

HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
A 500GB hard drive. If you need more space, then get a 1TB drive, but I've realized that 500GB is more than sufficient for most people.

RAM: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB $34
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422
I know some RAM have the fancy heatspreaders, which are actually pretty useless, unless you are OCing the RAM, which I doubt you will be doing. This is great RAM from a reliable company. 8GB is more than enough for whatever you are doing.

Heatsink+Fan: STOCK $0
No point in getting an after market heatsink and fan since that'll just take money away from getting better components.

DVD-ROM: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
A regular DVD burner for watching DVDs. If you plan on watching Blu-rays, then you will need to buy a blu-ray drive, which are normally twice as expensive.

The total cost comes to $614, which is around the middle of the price range you were looking at.
 
Solution

eliteclone25

Honorable
Feb 25, 2012
41
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10,530

Thank you so much! I will check out these items; I was originally looking at the radeon and so I will look at it and decide. Honestly this gives me a whole new perspective on this thank you.