Proposed Moderate-Use PC Build

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my current PC. I play around with Gimp and Photoshop, and I do some light gaming, such as with Diablo 3. I don't do much that is super demanding, so I'm basically looking for a worthwhile upgrade with cost efficiency in mind. I'm leaning towards AMD since it is so cost efficient compared to Intel, I've noticed that AMD receives better feedback for gaming, and I've had positive experiences with AMD in the past. Overall I was looking for a decent build for $400 or less (less is always better).

So far, these are the items I already have that I think would suffice:
Mid-tower case: Cooler Master Centurion 5
430-watt power supply: Corsair CS430
DVD/CD burner: I'll use the old one I have
Discreet graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5450 (for the time being it has worked with Diablo 3, so Im planning on upgrading this later)
Hard drive (will be used as storage drive, not for OS or page file): Seagate Barracuda 1 TB SATA 6GB/s

These are the items I'm thinking would be appropriate for the build:
AMD FX-6350 Vishera 3.9GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Six-Core
ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory (I could purchase another kit in the future, but I think this may be sufficient for the time being?)
SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (I'm unsure if it would be a noticeable performance increase to have two SSD's, with one for the OS and the other for gaming files and page file. I've read mixed reviews on this theory)
Total cost: $391

Also, I will need to purchase Windows 8, since the current OS on this computer is, unfortunately, Windows XP Home...

Other bits of information:
Monitors: two 19'' LCD monitors (resolution 1280 x 1024)
I will be building this system within the next few weeks.
I will be overclocking.
I am located in the US.
I would like my mobo to be Crossfire compatible so that I may upgrade the graphics later.
Lastly, I'm upgrading because a ten-year old PC with Windows XP is quickly becoming as useful as a paperweight.

Please let me know what you think or any suggestions you may have, and thanks in advance for the help!

-MuscleMuffins

 

[ssddx]

generally intel completely blows amd out of the water for gaming and productivity in all areas except price. amd is cheaper.

with that said... for the price of amd its worth the performance hit if you are on a budget. you can always overclock the amd chip just a bit. amd makes sense for people who want to update to newer better performance from an older system and who do not have much money to spend.

as far as your component choices:

fx6300/6300 isnt bad however at times the 8320 drops down to about $130 which makes it an ideal buy. i would suggest to look for such a drop in price and go with that however your choice.

not a bad motherboard for a decent price.

you forgot a cpu cooler. amd chips run hot so you want one. i suggest something with a 120mm fan.

not bad ram and 8gb is sufficient if you get it on sale for $74 pick the cas 10 stuff over the cas 11 though.

840evo ssd will speed your system up alot in terms of boot speed and system responsiveness. buying two ssd (one for gaming files/page files and another for os) is a complete waste of money.

are you sure you want windows 8? its crap. you can get win7 64 for $79 on ebay

 

[Guest]

I do plan on overclocking the CPU, so I'll have to find a better cooler, like you mentioned. I was thinking of going with Windows 8 solely because it's newer and I figured it would be supported longer than Windows 7, but that was just a guess. Also, have you purchased software from ebay that requires activation/serial keys? I'm tempted to buy Windows 7 off from ebay, but I don't want to buy a serial key that has already been used or deactivated.

 

[ssddx]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium-SP1-Full-32-64-Bit-x32-x64-Version-CD-COA-NEW-/141135208854?pt=US_Operating_Systems_Software&hash=item20dc506196

i personally bought windows 7 64 from this vendor for a recent build. its a refurbished systems license but it works 100% perfect with fresh install for your new system. it works flawlessly and is 100% trustworty. it benefits a fund too. you can believe me or not though the system is up and activated and in service by now with no issues. pretty good deal.

in any case you are covered by ebay buyer protection. they also have 29,399 reviews and 98% feedback. sounds like a legit company to me
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as for windows 8... yes its newer but it has no start bar and has many really annoying features. windows 7 is different than xp by a fair margin however windows 8 is more suited for a touchpad then it is for a desktop. try it out in a store like bestbuy, staples, etcetera if you dont believe me. you have to literally read the manual to know how to shut the system off.

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yeah i would definitely go with an aftermarket cooler. anything with 120mm fan will work. the hyper 212 evo or 212 + is the defacto standard though you can find some equal products for cheaper.

 

[Guest]

I found a site to get a Windows 7 key for a really low price, and I've read some good reviews about it: REDACTED - SS.com. I figured I'd probably go there for a Windows 7 Pro key and just download the ISO to save myself some money.
Within the next week I'm thinking this might be the build I'll go with, unless there are any other suggestions?
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/bosaphino/saved/3Gpm

I'm also trying to decide on a good cooler. I know space is an issue from what I've read. So, I might get an aftermarket cooler after I put everything together.