First build. I think I'm ready but need to check with everyone.

[Dreezie]

So I decided to build a budget gaming pc for my first build. I've done tons of reading and research and I think I am ready to go ahead and order everything, but I wanted to run it by more knowledgeable people before I do. The main thing I am looking for in this build is to be able to play most any new games at high to very high graphics settings, while still maintaining a reasonably good frame rate.

So here is the build I am thinking about going with: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/P4LR99

Any advice on what I can change/improve upon would be great. I also want to make sure that everything will fit in the case well.

A second question I have is if I can overclock this cpu safely with the cpu cooler I would be using, and if I do so would I see a noticeable improvement in performance.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and (hopefully) give me some good advice.

 

[g-unit1111]

I would personally advise against going with AMD at this point, these processors are so old that even with some overclocking won't compete against Intel Haswell in benchmark performance. Even going with a low end Intel i3 will be a far better improvement than an FX-6300 will be. What is your overall budget?

 

[MystoPigz]

I would switch the motherboard to a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 or an Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 motherboard. Also, change the ram to DDR3-1866. Try the G.SKill Ares Series 8GB DDR3-1866 dual channel ram kit. The CPU cooler is great for low to medium overclocking. If you want high overclocking, go for the Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 or the ASRock 990FX Extreme 9 motherboards. A better quality power supply is needed for gaming. Maybe an Antec High Current Gamer 520W Semi-Modular 80+ Bronze power supply? Last thing: Get an R9 280X or GTX 970 for those high to ultra setting games you will be playing. The R9 270X is great for ultra settings on older games, but not really modern games. Otherwise, great build!

 

[maddogfargo]

At stock speeds FX 6300 will run close to i5 4440 or a high end i3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hmNltwUUsc

This channel does a LOT of side-by-side comparisons between CPU and GPU combos. Lots of videos showing i3, i5, i7 FX 6300, 8320 and 8350. Knock yourself out watching them before you decide.


Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P is an ideal 970 overclocking board. 8+2 phase power, LLC and good BIOS. You DO NOT NEED a 990FX board for overclocking. 990FX should be used for crossfire or SLI due to the extra PCIe lanes. But the Gigabyte 970 board you have selected is perfect for your application.


I would change the RAM kit to 8GB 92x4) of DDR3 1866.

With the cooler in your build you can push your FX 6300 to 4.4-4.5GHz easily.

 

[Dreezie]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Gives me a lot more to look into and think about. I don't have a hard budget exactly, just trying to keep it a little lower right now and be able to upgrade any time I want. But if I had to put a price on it right now I would say ~700 if the upgrades would make a noticeable difference from what I was initially thinking about.

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Gives me a lot more to look into and think about. I don't have a hard budget exactly, just trying to keep it a little lower right now and be able to upgrade any time I want. But if I had to put a price on it right now I would say ~700 if the upgrades would make a noticeable difference from what I was initially thinking about.

This is a little bit over $700 but has a much better CPU than an FX-6300:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.20 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.59 @ Directron)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.06 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Directron)
Total: $755.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-04 17:05 EDT-0400

 

[snickersniff]

If you are willing to spend $700 on it why not go the Intel route? You would get drastic improvements in gaming with it.