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Comments on this $1000 AMD Extreme gaming PC ($1500 with peripherals)

nmakes

Distinguished
May 18, 2013
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18,810
I was planning to suggest an AMD gaming rig for our school's computer clan. This is what I thought of. How much would you rate it?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.20 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($283.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL800P1W2N (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.41 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master Megaflow 110.0 CFM 200mm Fan ($11.92 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($137.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: AOC e2051Sn 60Hz 20.0" Monitor ($107.22 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($94.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1544.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-13 10:06 EDT-0400)
 
Solution
Love your choice of 8350+ M5A99X. Since your getting a 7970 you'll need at least 650W. But 700W is better. The fx-series are much more power hungry than the Intel i5s. It's not a bad thing, just need a little bigger PSU for doing an overclock. 650W should be enough. If this was an i5 3570k then I'd say 600W is easily enough. Everything I've read shows that the fx-8350 consumes 100-125W more than a i5-3570k overclocked. Keep that in mind. You could get a SeaSonic G-750 or XFX 750W (XFX is manufactured by SeaSonic).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
That will save you $25.

Also, a bad ass system should be seen. 20"...
Love your choice of 8350+ M5A99X. Since your getting a 7970 you'll need at least 650W. But 700W is better. The fx-series are much more power hungry than the Intel i5s. It's not a bad thing, just need a little bigger PSU for doing an overclock. 650W should be enough. If this was an i5 3570k then I'd say 600W is easily enough. Everything I've read shows that the fx-8350 consumes 100-125W more than a i5-3570k overclocked. Keep that in mind. You could get a SeaSonic G-750 or XFX 750W (XFX is manufactured by SeaSonic).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
That will save you $25.

Also, a bad ass system should be seen. 20" is really small. I went from 20" to 24" and never again will I buy anything smaller than 23/24". Check out Asus monitors.

The case you chose has bad cable mgmt. My friend got one and returned it cuz he hated the cabling.

I added a SSD, what do you think?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.20 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($61.20 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($102.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($283.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($27.41 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master Megaflow 110.0 CFM 200mm Fan ($11.92 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($94.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1629.53
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
 
Solution