First build part selection help.

[Ranek]

Hey all,

This is my first build, never built a PC before so i'm looking for a little advice. I've got two specs together and i'm happy with processors, RAM, Case, HD and Optical drive. I'd just like a little advise or guidance on my choice of Motherboard, PSU and whether everything is compatible with both builds.

The top end of my budget is £500

First build is using AMD Phenom II X4 965 and second is using AMD A10-5800K. If you could please firstly advise on the motherboard and PSU for both. And then let me know which would be the better performer for light gaming on Guild Wars 2 and League of Legends. My goal is value for money

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.99 @ Maplin Electronics)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£38.54 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£41.92 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.30 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card (£91.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£58.10 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £476.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-30 10:51 GMT+0000)

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (£92.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4 ATX FM2 Motherboard (£58.71 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£63.24 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.30 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£58.10 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £448.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-30 10:52 GMT+0000)

If you have time to drop a comment i'd appreciate it.

Thanks

Chris

 

[Ranek]

I believe the Phenom II X4 is quite an old processor, is it still competing with current AMD processors?

 

[tenaciousk]

The phenom IIx4 is getting a little old. But a lot of people still go to it for a budget build like yours. Because it is a decent gaming processor, its clocked fairly quick with 4 cores. and it can be overclocked pretty high for even faster performance. A step up from it would be a fx-4300 or fx-6300. I moved some stuff around and these are my suggestions

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.99 @ Maplin Electronics)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£31.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.04 @ Dabs)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.05 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£126.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£34.15 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £499.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-30 12:09 GMT+0000)

This adds
Hard drive with more cache
Better Graphics card.

Edit: Just keep in mind if you are planning on overclocking you will have to get a aftermarket cooler.

 

[Marcopolo123]

The phenom IIx4 is getting a little old. But a lot of people still go to it for a budget build like yours. Because it is a decent gaming processor, its clocked fairly quick with 4 cores. and it can be overclocked pretty high for even faster performance. A step up from it would be a fx-4300 or fx-6300. I moved some stuff around and these are my suggestions

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.99 @ Maplin Electronics)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£31.25 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: AMD Performance Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£53.04 @ Dabs)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.05 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card (£126.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£34.15 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.13 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £499.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-30 12:09 GMT+0000)

This adds
Hard drive with more cache
Better Graphics card.

This is perfect, go for it !

 

[Ranek]

Hey, thanks for taking a look at my post.

If you don't mind i'd like to ask a few questions.

Firstly why the change of PSU and RAM?? Is the Corsair just as reliable for less money? And also is the AMD RAM more effective or generally are all brands of RAM pretty much the same??

I really like your build though, if you think its worth getting a better GPU. But do you think I should fork out a little more for the FX 4300??

Thanks guys!