Building gaming PC

[Spawn4693]

i'm gonna build my first gaming pc some of the games i'd like to play are COD and BF3 this is the list of the components i've chosen so far.

CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1 GHz Turbo) Six Core
MOTHER BOARD: BIOSTAR TA970 AM3+
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 1600
CPU COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper TX3
POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 500 B80 Plus Bronze Certified 500W
CASE: NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower.
STORAGE: WD Blue 500GB 7200RPM
MONITOR: ASUS VN247H-P 1ms (GTG)
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG Blu-ray drive

About the GPU i don't know whether to go with a Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB or with an ASUS Geforce GTX 670 2GB.

would i have any bottlenecking issues with this specific rig and would it play games in ultra 1080p?

 

[maurelie]

R9 280X, according to amd needs 750w power supply, but with good 650w you will be ok. Btw what is your budget so we might help you in your build.

 

[quilciri]

I suggest replacing the motherboard with one from Asrock, Asus or Gigabyte, and i strongly suggest replacing the PSU with

XFX
P1-550S-XXB9
or
Antec
HCG-520M.

Other than that, looks good.

The 280x is basically a rebranded HD 7970. The 670 and the 7970 are both cheaper than the 280. You'll be able to play BF3 and CoD pretty much maxed with either card. CoD: ghosts benchmarks seem to be hard to come by, but BF3 will run in excess of 100fps maxed at 1080p on the 670 and the 7970.

*BF3 multiplayer is more CPU dependant, so you may not get that framerate because of your CPU, but it will still likely be above 60fps.

 

[Spawn4693]

R9 280X, according to amd needs 750w power supply, but with good 650w you will be ok. Btw what is your budget so we might help you in your build.

probably $1000

 

[maurelie]

Here is something for 1000$

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($158.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($87.32 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($275.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VN247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($178.99 @ B&H)
Total: $996.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 14:32 EST-0500)

 

[sora]

Replace the graphics card for a Radeon HD 7970 and I think you've got yourself a solid build.

 

[Spawn4693]

Replace the graphics card for a Radeon HD 7970 and I think you've got yourself a solid build.

would it be a really big difference between the gtx 670 and the 7970?

 

[Spawn4693]

Here is something for 1000$

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($158.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($87.32 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($275.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VN247H-P 23.6" Monitor ($178.99 @ B&H)
Total: $996.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 14:32 EST-0500)

is it really necessary to upgrade the cpu to an FX-8320?

 

[quilciri]

No, there's not a big difference between the 7970 and the 670. It comes down to price and they're about the same right now. the cheapest 670 ($250) is $10 cheaper than the cheapest 7970 ($260). The 7970 comes with 3 games, the 670 comes with 2.

One caveat - If you plan on picking up a second card for a 2-gpu rig in the near future, I advise Nvidia. AMD's frame-pacing drivers still need a while to catch up.

It's also not necessary to use an 8320. While games will use more than 4 cores in the future, right now there are only two that do, and the vast majority of games still use 2 cores at most. The 6300 will cover you in the future *and* you can get higher overclocks from the 6300 than you can from the 8k series, simply due to having lower thermals to begin with.

The price of the 8k series ventures too close to the price of an I5, making it less of a good value for a gaming rig.

 

[Spawn4693]

No, there's not a big difference between the 7970 and the 670. It comes down to price and they're about the same right now. the cheapest 670 ($250) is $10 cheaper than the cheapest 7970 ($260). The 7970 comes with 3 games, the 670 comes with 2.

One caveat - If you plan on picking up a second card for a 2-gpu rig in the near future, I advise Nvidia. AMD's frame-pacing drivers still need a while to catch up.

It's also not necessary to use an 8320. While games will use more than 4 cores in the future, right now there are only two that do, and the vast majority of games still use 2 cores at most. The 6300 will cover you in the future *and* you can get higher overclocks from the 6300 than you can from the 8k series, simply due to having lower thermals to begin with.

The price of the 8k series ventures too close to the price of an I5, making it less of a good value for a gaming rig.

what about the 650w psu, is that enough power for the 7970 and the entire system?

 

[quilciri]

It's more than enough, though the PSU you picked is poorly built. check my first reply. 550w is plenty for any single GPU system.

 

[Spawn4693]

It's more than enough, though the PSU you picked is poorly built. check my first reply. 550w is plenty for any single GPU system.

just another question, is the gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P motherboard good for this build?

 

[quilciri]

It's fine, though I recommend sticking with one GPU on that motherboard. The second pci-e slot is 4x 2.0, which will choke current mid range or better video cards.