Build a new PC, not computer savvy. Not sure if I should do a PC or Mac

[marshallboyd]

I just built a PC in pcpartpicker and was given some advice from my brother of how to go about doing it. I honestly had little to no idea what I was picking but went with roughly the budget I wanted and tried to go with parts who had high review numbers of 4-5 stars. The PC that I built did end up in my price range of $1000-$1500 but Im not sure if there are any changes you all might suggest. I plan to mostly use the computer for basic work (microsoft office and internet) but would maybe like some video game capabilities if I get into that as a hobby again. Here is the link to my build that I made: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NKtCGX

I hope you all might be able to help me with this cause Im not sure where to get honest opinions on any of this.

Thanks!!

 

[GObonzo]

i would never recommend a MAC.
edit so the parts list shows here at Tom's, not just the link.

 

[lodders]

Many of my friends love Macs because they are really easy to set up and use. Plug in a printer, and it just works. Connect 2 apple devices together, they talk to each other with zero hassle. Macs are made from really high quality parts, so they last for ages

BUT
You can build a really good spec fast PC which will also last a very long time, for about HALF the price of a Mac
Although Windows is more of a pain to set up, there is lots of help on the internet, and most of the time it works fine.

 

[hdmark]

id swap out the optical drive for a 20$ unless you need a blue ray player.

this PSU is a lot cheaper and with that GPU you don't need that much power at all
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

this one too I think is good
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze

although I think most of the 550W psu's would be fine. just stay away from the corsair CX series

the rest looks good to me!

 

[bigwoofer]

Well congratulations on your new build! PC or Mac is really a question of your personal taste combined with how you want to use the machine. I've supported MACs for over 15 years and PC's for longer. For internet and microsoft office, you can by a $200 laptop from walmart. Do you want the experience of building your own pc? It's a great hobby! You can't build a mac, so if that's what you'd like to do we can eliminate that right there. What makes a mac? Matching the Apple OS (operating system) with hardware also designed by Apple. If you'd like game capabilities, AND a Mac you'd be fine there, but again you'd not be building your pc, you'd be "buying a mac" made in the factory.

If you'd like to build your pc, you're spending way too much for work (internet and microsoft office) for casual gaming. Also I recommend Intel processors UNLESS you are doing video editing or a lot of multi-core processing. The reason I say this is they have the highest per-core processing power. For games or programs that run on a single core, the Intel Core i3 will outperform any of the AMD lineup with significantly higher per core performance. AMD is the way to go for a budget video editing build with 8 dedicated processor cores. Other than that, I recommend Intel. Also no need to go 16GB ram for your pc, you'll have about 10GB idle most of the time. Back to video editing: 8 cores and 16GB match up really well with the guideline of 2GB per core for video editing. Otherwise your money is better spent on a faster processor, nicer mouse or monitor

 

[cdabc123]

upgrade to a i5 instead it will be worth it

 

[madmatt30]

christ mate,thats the msot mismatched $1200 build ever
here you go,its better & costs less.

swapped that ssd out for s 250gb combined with a wd blue 1tb - its a better priced combination.
the vs is a much better quality panel for general use.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H DDR3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 960 4GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($213.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.98 @ Mac Mall)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($43.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($105.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($138.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1121.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-12 17:53 EST-0500

 

[Wisecracker]

1) No need for an 850w Power Supply -- the one Matt listed is fine, or snag a SeaSonic modular (5-yr warranty)

2) Snag the AMD A10-7870K Godavari and drop your video card --- in the alternative, snag the AMD Athlon X4 860K Kaveri if you want to purchase a discreet video card.

The 'APU' integrated graphics engine on the A10-7870K works pretty dang good though you may need to reduce detail and resolution to get really fast frames in 'modern' games.

If you use the APU graphics engine for gaming, snag the G.Skill Ripjaws (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2400 and use the XMP profile in your BIOS --- works like a charm with my GA-F2A88XN.

3) Your Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini-ITX FM2+ will be 'swallowed' by that Silencio mini tower Case --- Cooler Master makes ITX cases for 'small form factor' motherboards that will also accept dual-slot video cards.

4) Your big SSD is fine --- no need for a standard HDD unless you plan to install a boat-load of games or have significant storage needs; and

5)

...upgrade to a i5 instead it will be worth it

Oh, yeah.

That i5-6500 might be as much as 50% faster than the AMD APU, but in the 'real world' that works out to 4/10ths of a second or so per workload . . .

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Many of my friends love Macs because they are really easy to set up and use. Plug in a printer, and it just works. Connect 2 apple devices together, they talk to each other with zero hassle. Macs are made from really high quality parts, so they last for ages

BUT
You can build a really good spec fast PC which will also last a very long time, for about HALF the price of a Mac
Although Windows is more of a pain to set up, there is lots of help on the internet, and most of the time it works fine.

Macs use the same hardware as PCs, they don't make anything other than cases and monitors. And I doubt they put the best power supplies in their builds

 

[cdabc123]

1) No need for an 850w Power Supply -- the one Matt listed is fine, or snag a SeaSonic modular (5-yr warranty)

2) Snag the AMD A10-7870K Godavari and drop your video card --- in the alternative, snag the AMD Athlon X4 860K Kaveri if you want to purchase a discreet video card.

The 'APU' integrated graphics engine on the A10-7870K works pretty dang good though you may need to reduce detail and resolution to get really fast frames in 'modern' games.

If you use the APU graphics engine for gaming, snag the G.Skill Ripjaws (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2400 and use the XMP profile in your BIOS --- works like a charm with my GA-F2A88XN.

3) Your Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini-ITX FM2+ will be 'swallowed' by that Silencio mini tower Case --- Cooler Master makes ITX cases for 'small form factor' motherboards that will also accept dual-slot video cards.

4) Your big SSD is fine --- no need for a standard HDD unless you plan to install a boat-load of games or have significant storage needs; and

5)

...upgrade to a i5 instead it will be worth it

Oh, yeah.

That i5-6500 might be as much as 50% faster than the AMD APU, but in the 'real world' that works out to 4/10ths of a second or so per workload . . .

with his budget their is not reason to buy that cpu, a i5 will get significantly faster frame rates and will stay a good cpu for much longer.

 

[Wisecracker]

with his budget their is not reason to buy that cpu, a i5 will get significantly faster frame rates and will stay a good cpu for much longer.

You should read the OP and follow the link I posted. Otherwise, the Intel Fun Bunch is misleading Marshall.

 

[cdabc123]

with his budget their is not reason to buy that cpu, a i5 will get significantly faster frame rates and will stay a good cpu for much longer.

You should read the OP and follow the link I posted. Otherwise, the Intel Fun Bunch is misleading Marshall.

yup.. the i5 kills all amd cpus, is that not what i saw? you also suggested apus for a 1000-1500 dollar build which is a terrible idea. a discrete card and decent cpu kills every apu