Any comments on this AMD budget gaming build?

[wolvenhold]

Hi everyone. I'm working on a budget gaming build for myself at the moment, and I would appreciate your input and advice. This is my first every build. I have posted other builds here, but this will be the first that I will actually have the funds to construct, as various financial problems have made previous builds unviable for me at this time. It will mainly be used for playing single player games like Skyrim and Dishonoured (which are the most recent titles I can think of), and will not be used for any FPS or multiplayer games. I am on a pretty strict budget, I only have about $1200 to spend, which includes all peripherals. It is also going to be my main writing and research machine for university (I study politics, lots of writing involved).

Processor: Phenom II 960T Black Edition ($138 @ 3-net)
https://3net.net.au/content/amd-cpu-phenom-ii-x4-quad-core-960t-black-edition-am2-am3

Graphics Card: Powercolor Radeon 7850 2GB ($199 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20829

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DGX ($35 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21183

Memory: G.Skill Ares 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 ($45 @ @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19632

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro-3 $79 ($79 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21341

Storage: WD Caviar Blue 1TB ($82 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21231

Optical Drive: Lite-On 24x DVDRW ($21 @ @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=13454

Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 450w ($59 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=13454

Case: Antec One ($65 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19320

Wireless Card: TP-Link 300Mbps ($21 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17622


Peripherals
Monitor: AOC i2352VH 23in LED ($250 @ eBay)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AOC-23-IPS-i2352Vh-LED-Monitor-Speaker-HDMI-VGA-DVI-1920X1080-Full-HD-Black-/290633048290?pt=AU_Televisions&hash=item43ab1460e2

Mouse: Razer Deathadder (already have one)

Keyboard: Das Keyboard Pro Model S cherry brown ($140 @ PCCaseGear)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21581

Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohms ($230 @ somewhere)

Operating System: Linux Mint (for work) and Windows 7 (for play) (I already have a copy of win7)

As you can see I am investing fairly large portion of my budget in peripherals, because I don't see the point in having a nice computer if the modes of input and output are cheap and nasty. The expensive keyboard is nonoptional because I do a lot of typing and mechanical keyboards are the best thing thing for it. Other than that if you have a suggestion for a monitor or headphones that would be better at a similar price, please share it. The current monitor I have chosen is well reviewed and seems to be regarded as an excellent quality panel in a low quality housing, perfect for a budget builder. Keep in mind that this build is in no way for competitive gaming, or even online gaming for that matter, so things like response time and input lag are less of an issue for the monitor choice. It is all about picture quality. It is purely a computer for immersing myself in a single player environment while gaming.

As for the build itself, I am going with AMD because I am on a budget. I know some it is older generation technology (especially the processor), but I also know that the latest generation of AMD processors sucks for gaming, but from my research it seems that the Phenom II still holds up well for the money. Hopefully AMD brings out something more viable with its next round of processors, but if it doesn't I can always swap out the motherboard and processor for Intel at some point down the track, when I have a windfall. I plan to overclock the Phenom if performance starts to become an issue. Also, the first thing I will buy when I get some extra funds will be a Samsung 830 SSD (128GB) to use as a boot drive. I think the Radeon 7850 will be able to handle my quite modest gaming needs quite handily, although you may beg to differ (I encourage you to do so, and offer similarly-priced alternatives). The main things I am unsure about are the power supply, which may not have enough juice to run the thing, and the motherboard. I must admit that motherboards are the things I understand the least in the world of computer-building. Will this one support all my parts, and do everthing I need? A final note, I am based in Australia (Tasmania actually) and therefore unable to access that excellent resource which is Newegg for my parts. I am pretty much limited to to PCCaseGear for most parts, and I would like to source from there as much as I can to keep my postage costs down.

So that is the sum of my progress, what do you all think?

 

[prodigydoo]

yes the phenom will hold up.. i have a friend who owns one.. he edits videos and plays games till he drops..

my only opinions are:

- ditch the sound card, your motherboard has built in sound and even then its only worth buying a sound card if your going to be paying around $100 to get a good one.

- drop the cd drive.. no one needs one anymore.. if you get into a sticky situation and need one, buy an external one from ebay or something..

Now with the extra funds we now have.. for the love of god.. get a caviar black.. you will find loading times on the blue very very painfull indeed


psu, it should scrape through
ssd, yes get one, even if its a wait, i bought one as a boot drive and loved it so much, i filled it with software, then bought another one for more software and virtual OS's
motherboard, is good for the money..


everything else.. spot on, nicely constructed list.. I hope you can go through with this build and have fun !

 

[manofchalk]

I think you shouldn't make multiple threads on the same topic, especially considering that neither of them have even fallen off the first page yet. You have already gotten a significant amount of feedback on one of them.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/369478-31-comments-budget-build-student-gamer
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/369416-31-comments-budget-build-student-gamer

 

[wolvenhold]

I am not sure why that has happened. I certainly haven't reposted the thread.