Advice on Multiple PCs

Jaeger Daora

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Mar 2, 2014
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4,510
Okay, so this is quite the question, well not really a question, more of an advice thing.

I am building a total of three Computers for me and two close friends, and would love to have the community's input on the matter.

The first of the builds is mine that I will be using : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3bP4M
I plan to use it extremely frequently, and at the 4th quarter of the year buy another 8 GB stick of RAM and another GTX 760.

- Excessive streaming, internet usage, and gaming, with the possibility of uploading videos.

The second is the 1st friend who is on quite a budget, but still wants an entry PC that can give him bang for his buck : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3bKZM
He will use this PC less frequently than me, but still very much so, and he does not have any plans to upgrade until at least two years later.

- Basically an above average PC, that will be able to run new titles on low settings and "fun" games such as minecraft, Garry's Mod, and Team Fortress 2.

The final build for my 2nd friend is not on quite as much of a budget, but still is trying to keep it as reasonable as possible while still playing new games on medium to high settings : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3bPl9

- excessive usage all-round


- me (i5-4670k) and 2nd friend (FX-6300) have a bit of room to wiggle with money, but the AMD Athlon friend can't go over 600-650$, and would like to keep it around 500$

- I have told them that the best research is done yourself, but one is too lazy to do it, and another is too busy. They trust me, and i want them to have an enjoyable experience.

- Thank you for the help, everytime i ask a question on here i get lightning fast responses, and extremely useful information.

- TL'DR : i am building 3 computers and would like advice on the builds. price ranges are Athlon: 400$-650$ FX-6300: 600$-800$ i5-4670k: 900$-1050$ for start, and a maximum of 1300$ overall.
 

numanator

Honorable
For the FX-6300
-Changed to 550w xfx for $10 less than combo price
-Changed to dual channel ram (couldnt get rid of the combo discount of $7 for some reason)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($214.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Silverstone RL01B-W-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $589.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-18 16:42 EDT-0400)

You could probably fit a gtx 760 into this one or a 60 gb SSD for boot up

Edit: Changed ram to 1.5V, discounts are being weird for the ram sticks on pcpartpicker
 

numanator

Honorable
i5 build
-Changed to an xfx psu, the corsair cx uses some lower quality capacitors so I wouldnt recommend them on anything other than a budget system (5-600), other corsair models are good though
-Dual channel ram

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $978.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-18 16:39 EDT-0400)

Im not great when it comes to motherboards or coolers btw so maybe someone can give you some advice on those.

Also, stick the same ram in your friends budget build, dual channel runs better than single stick.
 

Jaeger Daora

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Mar 2, 2014
18
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4,510
Great advice, but i was wondering if there was any reason to go for a 2x4 config over a 1x8? i was planning to not only get another 760 in the 4th quarter of the year, but also bump up to 16 Gigs of RAM. So 4x4 would be better than 2x8? sorry, i don't know much about RAM sticks and such. the cooler i used is heavily reviewed and recommended and has been called "The perfect, cheap compliment for the i5-4670k." and the ASrock extreme3 is basically an extreme4, but with everything i need. thanks again for all your help, really don't want to cheap out on the PSU.
 

numanator

Honorable
I believe that you get about 10%-15% better performance out of dual channel (would have to look up some benchmarks for exact numbers)

If you are planing on another 8gb then go single channel now and get the exact same model (to try to avoid errors between the 2 sticks) for the second stick later. Though 16gb ram is pretty unnecessary at this point in time, most games are barely up to using 6gb, with 8 gb being recommended to give some extra head room.

As for the xfx psus (made by seasonic), they are higher quality than the corsair cx series. The xfx are a tier 2 psu while the corsairs cx are a tier 3 (not recommended for overclocking). The good corsairs are the AX, HX, etc. (pretty much all other than cx or builder series which use chinese capacitors)
 

Jaeger Daora

Reputable
Mar 2, 2014
18
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4,510
Thanks for all the help! What 8 GB stick would you recommend? Kingston? Crucial Ballistix? G. Skill? I have no idea, thanks for the PSU advice by the way, i don't know much about them and cases. (then again i am not much of an expert in much of anything PC-wise lol)