Hello all,
After a week of researching (mostly on these forums), this is the parts list I've come up with for this mid-range general use/gaming PC. Taking into account price vs quality vs performance, I would appreciate it if you could critique my build before I go ahead and order.
My logic behind everything was that it had to be as cheap as possible, but perform the tasks I require of it while being of sound quality. I'm buying these parts in the EU, so before you recommend Y over X be aware my prices will be different (higher) than those of the states.
I left a short description of my logic behind every part.
Thank you.
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor - Best bang for the buck, I plan to overclock to 4.0-4.5 ghz
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - Obviously the system will need a good (but cheap) cooler.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard - Apparently the most overclockable board in its price range. Asrocks while cheap seemed to have quality issues, at least in their cheaper 970 boards so the only other option was the Asus m5a97, but there were questions of CPU compatibility with the 6300 and the UD3P apparently has better power distribution.
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - Not much to say about the this. It was either this or Kingston, Kingston was CL10, this is CL9, and apparently 1866mhz is pointless. 1866mhz + CL9 also would have driven up costs (in the Kingston) so I decided on the Corsair. I've also used them in the past, and they have a stronger brand name imo.
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - The most popular budget 1TB HDD, nothing more to say about this. At some point in the future I'll get an SSD for boot drive, but right now 100 dollars extra just to have my computer boot 30 seconds faster seems like a waste when I could spend it on the video card. I also feel SSDs are still overpriced and need to come down another 50%.
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280X 3GB IceQ X² Video Card - The money I saved on the processor (and SSD) I decided to spend on the video card. Originally I had planned on a 270x, then moved to 280, finally I decided I might as well splurge and get the 280x. Apparently I'll be able to play all games at full graphics settings at 1080p resolution with this card, so I said why not. This was the cheapest 280x I could find btw.
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case - Cheap case, I liked the air vent locations on it, plus the PSU being at the bottom vs top.
Power Supply: FSP Group 650W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply - It was either this is or the Corsair cx600m. Both are quality brands, I read detailed tests and reviews on both, but seeing as how the HIS R9 280x has a recommended minimum PSU of 750 watts (even though the same Gigabyte R9 280x recommends 600) I decided to pass on the modularization and cable sleeving and go for the extra power, just to be on the safe side.
After a week of researching (mostly on these forums), this is the parts list I've come up with for this mid-range general use/gaming PC. Taking into account price vs quality vs performance, I would appreciate it if you could critique my build before I go ahead and order.
My logic behind everything was that it had to be as cheap as possible, but perform the tasks I require of it while being of sound quality. I'm buying these parts in the EU, so before you recommend Y over X be aware my prices will be different (higher) than those of the states.
I left a short description of my logic behind every part.
Thank you.
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor - Best bang for the buck, I plan to overclock to 4.0-4.5 ghz
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - Obviously the system will need a good (but cheap) cooler.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard - Apparently the most overclockable board in its price range. Asrocks while cheap seemed to have quality issues, at least in their cheaper 970 boards so the only other option was the Asus m5a97, but there were questions of CPU compatibility with the 6300 and the UD3P apparently has better power distribution.
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - Not much to say about the this. It was either this or Kingston, Kingston was CL10, this is CL9, and apparently 1866mhz is pointless. 1866mhz + CL9 also would have driven up costs (in the Kingston) so I decided on the Corsair. I've also used them in the past, and they have a stronger brand name imo.
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - The most popular budget 1TB HDD, nothing more to say about this. At some point in the future I'll get an SSD for boot drive, but right now 100 dollars extra just to have my computer boot 30 seconds faster seems like a waste when I could spend it on the video card. I also feel SSDs are still overpriced and need to come down another 50%.
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280X 3GB IceQ X² Video Card - The money I saved on the processor (and SSD) I decided to spend on the video card. Originally I had planned on a 270x, then moved to 280, finally I decided I might as well splurge and get the 280x. Apparently I'll be able to play all games at full graphics settings at 1080p resolution with this card, so I said why not. This was the cheapest 280x I could find btw.
Case: Cooler Master N300 ATX Mid Tower Case - Cheap case, I liked the air vent locations on it, plus the PSU being at the bottom vs top.
Power Supply: FSP Group 650W 80+ Silver Certified ATX Power Supply - It was either this is or the Corsair cx600m. Both are quality brands, I read detailed tests and reviews on both, but seeing as how the HIS R9 280x has a recommended minimum PSU of 750 watts (even though the same Gigabyte R9 280x recommends 600) I decided to pass on the modularization and cable sleeving and go for the extra power, just to be on the safe side.
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