First time: Would appreciate advice on my build

[JonDoe297]

So I am trying to build a budget gaming PC. It is my first time attempting this. I've done research and used guides to help choose the components, but I'd appreciate some actual individual feedback on it.

Approximate Purchase Date: Withing the next month

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) >$700 (some components, such as OS, PowerSupply and GPU already purchased and); $500-600 excluding parts already purchased.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming. Want to be able to run DA:I, The Witcher 3 and Batman: Arkham Knight.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Parts Preferences: AMD (usually cheaper, already have AMD GPU)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: Not sure. I have an older monitor and will be getting a used HDTV in a few months.

Additional Comments: I'm curious as to if I should spend some extra money on a second GPU to use with the one I have. If that will boost my performance, or if I can use the integrated GPU on the MB or CPU? Also, what is a good option for wireless adapter? USB, or PCI?

The Build:

Case: Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-03 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

CPU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity Quad-Core 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD ...

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty FM2A88X+ Killer FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard

GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card AX7850 2GBD5-DH

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

PSU: CORSAIR GS series GS800 800W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Comes to about $500 excluding the GPU I already own.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: (e.g. I'm having trouble running game X or my PSU broke)

 

[tiny voices]

You should not be getting an APU build to sue with a dedicated graphics card. Totally defeats the purpose.

Get an i3 instead. Better game performance, and a real upgrade path.

Why 16gb RAM? 8 is plenty.

PSU is WAY overkill.

 

[JonDoe297]

You should not be getting an APU build to sue with a dedicated graphics card. Totally defeats the purpose.

Get an i3 instead. Better game performance, and a real upgrade path.

Why 16gb RAM? 8 is plenty.

PSU is WAY overkill.

I got the PSU refurbished and on sale so it was only $40...

I will look into an i3. It will be compatible with my CPU?

 

[JonDoe297]

You should not be getting an APU build to sue with a dedicated graphics card. Totally defeats the purpose.

Get an i3 instead. Better game performance, and a real upgrade path.

Why 16gb RAM? 8 is plenty.

PSU is WAY overkill.

So I did some more searching and came up with some new parts. My main question has to do with my GPU, I have a PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 BUT was thinking of upgrading to a R9 280 or 290 for better performance (ability to run certain games). What should I do about that? Should I just go ahead and buy one and add it? The 7850 would be obsolete then anyways. Is my best option to just sell the 7850, and go with the R9?

My new rig would be:

MB: BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU: PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280 3GBD5-T2DHE/OC Radeon R9 280 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5
OR
PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 270 2GBD5-TDHE/OC Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 Haswell Quad-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 BX80646I54460

RAM: 8GB (2x4GB)

PSU: 800W

 

[tiny voices]

The 280 would be a big upgrade from the 7850 and the 290 a HUGE upgrade. I would definitely get a new card and forget the 7850.

ALso, get an h97 board for that build as the CPU cannot be overclocked so buying an overclocking board sis kind of pointless.

 

[JonDoe297]

The 280 would be a big upgrade from the 7850 and the 290 a HUGE upgrade. I would definitely get a new card and forget the 7850.

ALso, get an h97 board for that build as the CPU cannot be overclocked so buying an overclocking board sis kind of pointless.

And how would a gtx 960 compare? I know it has a better clock speed than the 280, but not sure how that translates in terms of actual performance.

 

[tiny voices]

The 960 is generally between the 280 and 280x.

 

[JonDoe297]

The 960 is generally between the 280 and 280x.

So if a 960 is being bundled with the witcher 3 for the same price as the 280, it would be with it?

 

[tiny voices]

If the Witcher 3 is a game you want, yes that is a great deal. The 960 will also use like 1/2 the power of the 280.

 

[JonDoe297]

If the Witcher 3 is a game you want, yes that is a great deal. The 960 will also use like 1/2 the power of the 280.

Thank you for your help. I think I know what I'm doing now