Best rig for $600

[bob1033]

Hello everyone

Im trying to build a new computer rig on a budget, i need to get as close as $600 as possible, but i could maybe bump the price a little bit. I need a computer that can handle multi-threaded apps (vm, rendering), but I also do a little gaming, nothing crazy, but i would like to play Battlefield on like medium graphics. I've strung together a rig below (already have a good hard drive, OS and disk drive) and I want some feedback on how to improve it.

Thanks for all the help!!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($100.38 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master i500 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $570.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-11 22:34 EDT-0400)

 

[drewhoo]

Looks like a reasonable build, but you could go with a cheaper motherboard. I don't think the 990FX chipset will provide you any benefit over the cheaper 970 chipset (you're not going for a quad SLI/Crossfire, are you?). Here is a good 970 chipset board: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3, and then divert the $50 you save on the motherboard to the GPU to ugprade to a 7850.

 

[bob1033]

Looks like a reasonable build, but you could go with a cheaper motherboard. I don't think the 990FX chipset will provide you any benefit over the cheaper 970 chipset (you're not going for a quad SLI/Crossfire, are you?). Here is a good 970 chipset board: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3, and then divert the $50 you save on the motherboard to the GPU to ugprade to a 7850.

Im definitely not going for quad crossfire, maybe dual in the near future. Is there anything else different between the chip sets? I was kinda hoping to get the most current one, but I will change if they aren't too different.

 

[drewhoo]

Looks like a reasonable build, but you could go with a cheaper motherboard. I don't think the 990FX chipset will provide you any benefit over the cheaper 970 chipset (you're not going for a quad SLI/Crossfire, are you?). Here is a good 970 chipset board: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3, and then divert the $50 you save on the motherboard to the GPU to ugprade to a 7850.

Im definitely not going for quad crossfire, maybe dual in the near future. Is there anything else different between the chip sets? I was kinda hoping to get the most current one, but I will change if they aren't too different.

There are no significant differences that would affect your use of it (see if you can find anything). You're right to want to get the most current chipset, but 'most current' applies equally to any 900 series (9xx) chipset, so the 970 is just as current as the 990FX.

The 970 will not support a multi GPU configuration very well, but I argue that multi GPU is a poor investment unless the performance of $400 cards is simply not enough for you and you must have 2 of them to meet your needs. First, it rules out all (often better value) AMD cards, since they scale poorly (2 cards *might* give you 170% of the performance of the individual card). Planning to SLI means that a year or two down the road, you're going to spend ([cost of original card] - $100) to add a second card.

If you can find your card (for instance, mine was discontinued even though other 560 Ti's are still available, so this is not an option for me), you're going to add a new piece of hardware to a 1-2 year old card that is closer to its failing point, and adding the second card is going to make it work harder for air, likely raising the temperature even in the best of scenarios. Though perhaps the temperature will still never exceed the threshold (if one can know what the threshold even is) that will begin to shorten the life of the card.

But I hope this will help you see the possible downsides of 'planning to SLI'.

 

[bob1033]

Thanks for the advice, I think i'll probably stick with the newest chip set, I think i'll be using the system for a while an I want the best support because I'll probably be using amd's steamroller and excavator when they come out.

As with crossfire, I think your right, when I need to upgrade, I'll probably get a $200 nvidia or something, again, gaming isn't too important, its more of a free time thing.

 

[drewhoo]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you wanting to buy the 990FX because it's newer? The 990FX and the 970 were released at the same time (Q2 of 2011), and the only meaningful difference is the 990FX's extra x16 PCIe slots that would be suitable for Quad SLI (as a side note: even Tom's Hardware was scratching their heads as to why anyone would Quad SLI with a $200 board since that isn't AMD's market.). I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, I just want to make sure I didn't communicate poorly in the previous message.

 

[bob1033]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you wanting to buy the 990FX because it's newer? The 990FX and the 970 were released at the same time (Q2 of 2011), and the only meaningful difference is the 990FX's extra x16 PCIe slots that would be suitable for Quad SLI (as a side note: even Tom's Hardware was scratching their heads as to why anyone would Quad SLI with a $200 board since that isn't AMD's market.). I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, I just want to make sure I didn't communicate poorly in the previous message.

Ohhhhh!!! Im sorry, I misunderstood. The naming threw me off. Thank you for telling me, I don't need more than 2 PCI 16x slots, so im going with the 970 now. Thanks, you just saved me money!

 

[drewhoo]

Very good! Good luck with your build.