$750-$850 build. Would like opinions before moving forward

[WAVi3]

Hey everyone, I plan on building an entry level gaming rig next month, and wanted some opinions on what I've come up with. I have a little beginner build at the moment, have an inspiron 531 and threw in what I could which wasn't much, and now I'm ready to move on and get something a little more substantial:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/WAVI3/saved/2TSE

Right now I'm just looking for something that's good for a first time build, with good upgradability in the future. Any opinions would be appreciated, I'll mostly be gaming on it and surfing the internet like I do now just to throw that in there. Also, would you all recommend any cooling fans or any extra accessories?

Thanks again.

 

[shandysolutions]

It appears to me that the components you've put together will more than suffice for an "entry-level gaming PC". I DO think that you should consider adding more RAM, as it's a fairly expensive upgrade that will help future proof the system. You can get another 8GB for $79.93 (Kingston KVR16N11-8, http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3683220&CatId=4534) and you'll still have a free slot on your board.

Also, the GPU you picked is certainly a good one, but you will get comparable if not superior performance from the Asus Radeon HD 7770 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2941929&CatId=7387) for $40 cheaper.

Overall, the system you put together will definitely serve you well and provide a great gaming PC. Good luck!

 

[WAVi3]

Thanks! I appreciate the reply. That's all of what I was hoping to hear. I'll definitely consider adding more RAM and continue looking at graphics cards, I might just even go with your recommendations for both.

Thanks again!

 

[shandysolutions]

I'm a big fan of the AMD FX series and you went with a great model. Personally, for a PC like this I would prefer a HDD w/ SATA III (6Gb/s), 7200rpm and 64MB cache over the pricey 128Gb SSD. SSDs are nice for sure but in a high end PC like this you won't notice any difference versus a good HDD. You can get an outstanding Western Digital VelociRaptor w/ 250GB, 10,000 RPM, 64MB cache and SATA 6Gb/s for less than $100 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3844179&CatId=139) or just go with a WD Green HDD for even less that will deliver solid performance.

 

[WAVi3]

Is that right? Well, any money saved is good in my book. So my performance won't take a noticeable hit? Sounds fantastic. Keep the advice coming if need be, I truly appreciate it.

After your recommendations do you think I'm good to go? I love the build so far, and I'm ready to start picking up the parts soon.

 

[shandysolutions]

You can get a very highly rated WD Blue 1 TB w/ awesome performance for $70 (http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3232686&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=10&body=REVIEWS#CustomerReviewsBlock). For what you will be doing with this computer, I'd be very surprised if you would even notice the speed difference offered by an SSD and it would be rough for you to operate on 128GB considering your OS and games will take up a large part of that, especially after formatting.

 

[WAVi3]

Once again shandy, thank you so much for your help.. I've been researching parts all day and making revisions to my build with your advice that you've been giving. I know you recommended picking up more RAM too, I'll definitely be doing that in the future.

Also, I ran across something that pertains to the mobo I chose, I guess the maximum (without oc) RAM speed is 1333. So should I just go with that? I don't really plan on overclocking my pc anyways.

Also, I don't mean to be a hassle, but would you mind taking another peak at the list of parts I have? Feels like I'm getting closer to a final build.

 

[shandysolutions]

I looked over your list again and it looks like a pretty solid build to me. I really don't see any problems with the DDR3-1333 memory that you have selected, but I do believe that MoBo supports 1600, 1866 & 2000 w/o OC. Regardless, that's one of those semantic details that you really don't need to worry about w/ this type of PC.

All in all, for $808 you're getting a very nice PC. You'll be fine for awhile w/ 8GB of memory and when you do end up adding more you'll have a high performance system that's more than capable of handling anything you want to through at it. Even if you get into higher resource intensive applications this computer will still breeze through them as long as you maintain the OS.

I'd advise you to install Microsoft Security Essentials as your primary anti-virus and then periodically run MalwareBytes & Superantispyware to keep things running smooth. CCleaner is another free application that removes junk files and has a startup tool that makes it easy for you to properly manage what launches with Windows & your browsers as well as your scheduled tasks.

Enjoy this machine!

 

[WAVi3]

Welp, looks like I'm good to go! And I'll probably end up going back to 1600 if that's the case.

Your patience and answers have been outstanding, this whole process would have been 10x more frustrating without you. So, for the 20th time lol, thank you so much.

 

[shandysolutions]

Glad I could help! I've roamed these forums for years reading the advice of other users so I'm glad I can give back a little!