Build frustration. Expensive things come in small packages.

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J

JLawL

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Jan 28, 2013
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About 3 weeks ago I had a friend give me a modded Silverstone TJ08-E matx case. Its airbrushed to a metallic grey violet, has perfect side panel cut out on the right side (the case opens on the right) 2 matching black handles,and has a 5.25" to 4x 2.5" adapter in the bottom 5.25" drive bay, as well as a temp gage / fan controller in the bottom 3.5" drive bay. A case worthy of photos lol.


Unfortunately, what my buddy does with a $100 case as a hobby doesn't fit well with what I can do as a student with a light wallet. I've only got about $650.00 to work with right now. I did manage to locate a dvd drive and a hard drive, so those are out of the way. The rest is up in the air. The last time I built a computer I was 16 and it was a Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz with a 128 mb video card. Was top of the line at the time lol.


Anyway, I'm open to suggestions. I don't know much about the newer AMD / Intel processors or the balance between them and the video cards as far as which one bottlenecks first. Just looking for something I can play games on when I'm not working on the computer.


Feel kinda dumb putting a $650.00 build in this case. Its probably worth about half that. I know the paint was $65.00 lol. But yea, I'd love to have a full system to take photos of and actually show off.
 
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tenaciousk

tenaciousk

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 PRO3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($353.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $620.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-30 19:45 EST-0500)


I think this would be pretty solid.
 
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J

JLawL

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Jan 28, 2013
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Only problem with that is that the motherboard has to be mATX. I tried finding some AM3+ mATX boards and there don't seem to be many.

Since the case has a clear side I would definitely want a modular power supply, but I could probably downgrade slightly on the video card to make up for that. Looking at a couple other threads I think I can get the power supply for about 80 bucks so I might be able to just come up with another $50 anyway.

Just realized the processor is from Microcenter but its only $20 more on Newegg so thats no big deal either.

Sorry I should have posted that in the original post lol. That gives me a good start though thanks :) If anyone else has any input thats welcome as well.
 
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U

unksol

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Sep 12, 2011
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Lots of micro ATX boards.

4 DIMM slots
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131942

Couple other good ones
USB 3/SATA 6
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795
 
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djangoringo

djangoringo

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My suggestion :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($273.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($67.04 @ Amazon)
Total: $642.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

With modular psu, it's a good one.
 
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J

JLawL

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Jan 28, 2013
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Ah, that first board didn't show up because the search ignored uatx. I actually like how all of those have a pci-1 slot above the video card. Would let me install wireless once I had some more cash. I know theres no need for it, but having the extra 2 memory slots for added ram in the future is nice too.


@ Djangoringo, I'll check yours out

 
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andrewcarr

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J

JLawL

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Jan 28, 2013
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Didn't even think about the fact I've got front usb3. I guess the top pci1 slot is out of the question then lol. Doesn't look like any of them have that setup and usb3 headers ><
 
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djangoringo

djangoringo

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This might be useful for you :

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=702

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/fx-8350-8320-6300-4300_5.html#sect1
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/fx-8350-8320-6300-4300_6.html#sect0
 
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J

JLawL

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Not important. Just figured I could put a wireless card in there later on. Not a big deal I already found a wireless USB card I can use.


That board uses 1333+ memory as a max so now I've just gotta find a good deal on some of that rather than the 1600.
 
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J

JLawL

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There's no doubt the i5 is faster. Its also $83.00 more than the AMD chip when you compare the cpu and motherboard together though. I haven't ruled that out either. I'm just messing around with combinations trying to get the most out of what I've got to work with.


If I were to drop down from the 670 to a 7870 for example the extra $100 could go towards the Intel setup and would probably be better overall. Just looking for options.
 
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J

JLawL

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Yea I saw that after I posted it lol. So I've got the full build / price for the AMD set now gonna do the same thing for the Intel I guess lol.

Maybe I'll get lucky and get hit by a bus or something and get a fat paycheck to build a real computer :p
 
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djangoringo

djangoringo

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The 660 ti is better than the 7870, and just about a bit less than a 670 gtx, especially the 660 ti msi pe, which has an enormous oc potential.
All of the suggestion made here by all users are valid, just pointing out what might be the best for you.
 
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J

JLawL

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Yea I just noticed that as well that the 7870 runs between the 660 and 660ti. The only issue I have with that is that it doesn't look like its strictly rear exhaust. Which might be a problem in an inverted micro atx case. Maybe not though.


In comparison to this card which a few people in a similar thread said was really nice for that specific fact - kept the air from circulating through the case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404
 
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J

JLawL

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Well, I can't really claim to be using anyone's build at the moment lol. But I'm at $633.92 mixing and matching some of each. That includes a Hyper 212 EVO heat sink and a rear case fan that I realized I would probably want. Didn't bother to ask about the case fan since I don't really think it matters.


That's an extra $44 in total that I couldn't afford to use with the Intel setup I don't think. I might try it anyway just in case. Honestly though, don't think I would notice any difference in performance either way considering what I do with it. I'll check it out anyways.


Guess I may as well drop the 6 bucks for the Arctic Silver too lol.
 
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A

A Bad Day

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djangoringo

djangoringo

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Overclocking in such motherboard isn't great, it has low power phases and it's matx, i'd get at least a motherboard with the 970 chipset for that, also worth mention, a FX-6300 oc doesn't beat an i5 stock, and it will draw much more power, to the op take in consideration.
This gives you a good bang for the buck : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AAek
It doesn't need an aftermarket cooler, the i5, it's good for matx setups.
 
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J

JLawL

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That 7950 is $80 more than the 7870 in the same brand is it really worth the extra price? Isn't the 3GB pretty much just for super high resolutions and such?

I have the same power supply / motherboard and different memory only because I wanted it blue since the case has a window lol.
 
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