Secondary build

[plankingdom]

I just recently built a desktop computer, and am having several issues with it not booting properly, and things not working properly.

(Mobo will be the same for both builds)
Mobo- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3

CPU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd4100wmgusbx
GPU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp31568kr
PSU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu650txv2

Upgrade

CPU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd4170frgubox
GPU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43653kr
PSU- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600



Any Changes you would make?

I don't know much about the radeon video cards, so if there's a comparable card from them please let me know.
I'm also on the fence about the CPU is the 4170 okay, or should I swap it out for another one like the 4300?

 

[blazorthon]

The 4300 is a better CPU than the 4170 mostly through overclocking headroom and higher energy efficiency. Performance is pretty similar between them at stock.

I would change your PSU. It's not a very good model and is more than is necessary for your build. I'd recommend something such as an Antec VP-450. It's significantly cheaper, somewhat more reliable, and isn't as overkill.

 

[geofelt]

For a gamer, I would rethink basing a build on a FX cpu.
Check out benchmarks for the games you play.
Here is one older analysis:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html

In principle, try to budget more for the graphics card than the cpu. Perhaps 2x as much.

On the graphics card, you mostly get what you pay for from amd or nvidia.

 

[blazorthon]

FX CPUs aren't bad at gaming. The FX-4170 and FX-4300 are right around the cheaper i3s in almost all games and they win about as many times as they lose. These CPUs also have a significant advantage over the Llano CPUs whereas current Pentiums do not have a significant advantage over old ones (especially since they're mostly the same).

Also, Tom's upcoming $200 CPU article has specifically been said to show that it's better to have a decent quad such as a Phenom II or FX-4xxx CPU than to have a Pentium in most modern games. Cleeve has already told us this and that's why AMD's quad cores made it into the best CPUs for the money article a few days ago.