First PC Build Update

[J_honan]

Hey guys! So this summer I'm going to be building my first PC. It will be used primarily for gaming as well as for just browsing the Internet and doing college class work. I don't need anything to powerful for gaming just enough to run any game on decent settings smoothly. I just want to be able to but games without worrying wether or not I can play it. After a lot of research I created a build and I was wondering if someone could take a look and make sure everything is compatible and let me know if my build is good enough. Just want some other opinions before I spend money. Let me know anything I can change and explain because I'm very new to all of this. Also I have a few questions: 1. How do I make sure my pc will connect to my wifi network? 2. Do I need a CPU cooler or is the stock one enough?

also let me know if I need to buy any other parts. I have a keyboard, mouse and monitor already



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks



CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($95.99 @ NCIX US)

Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($187.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Zalman ZM-Z9 U3 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($53.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($56.63 @ Amazon)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $658.53

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 03:46 EDT-0400)



any and all help is appreciated. Thanks again

 

[lunyone]

This is what I'd look at:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($218.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

* CPU/Mobo/RAM/HD all look good.
* GPU was changed to a little better performer.
* Case upgraded to one that doesn't use pass thru cables to support the front USB 3.0 ports - Zalman does this
* PSU upgraded to a quality PSU w/80 PLUS Bronze Certification. I don't trust CM eXtreme PSU's.

Build is a bit more ~$20 more, but I think it's worth it, IMHO.

 

[exroofer]

Good cpu cooler is very high on the bang-for-buck list.
$30-$40 gets you a high quality name brand air cooler.
And will give you some overclocking headroom if you want to turn the cpu up a bit.
Tends to run quieter at stock cpu clocks, since you can slow the fan down and still be fine on temps.

I would guess a wifi usb thing would work?
Need a wireless guy to chime in on that.

I should think for medium setting gaming your rig would be fine, tho a 660ti or 7850/7870 vid card would be nice if you could do it on your budget. (as in find one on sale)

Also you did not include a price for the OS. Seems to me I hear deals for college students on Win8 make it cheap like borscht, but don't forget it as a cost you will incur.

 

[Jack Revenant]

I would suggest thing as an alternative:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($254.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $678.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

It has a PSU from a brand which is known for reliability, rather than fires and a more powerful GPU.

To answer your questions, you would need a Wi-Fi adapter (though a few higher-end motherboards have them built-in), but gaming over Wi-Fi is pretty unpleasant. I strongly recommend a wired connection, if you have the option. You do not need a CPU cooler unless you are overclocking.

 

[J_honan]

@exroofer thanks. I'll deffinetly need to look into a deal for windows haha
@Jack Revenant I may be able to do it wired but I have to move all my modems and stuff. Is the graphics card I had good enough, cause anywhere I can save money is good

 

[lunyone]

I would suggest thing as an alternative:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($254.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $678.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

It has a PSU from a brand which is known for reliability, rather than fires and a more powerful GPU.

To answer your questions, you would need a Wi-Fi adapter (though a few higher-end motherboards have them built-in), but gaming over Wi-Fi is pretty unpleasant. I strongly recommend a wired connection, if you have the option. You do not need a CPU cooler unless you are overclocking.

Only a couple of issues with that build:

Cons:

* CPU is good, but doesn't OC (not that is a really bad thing, but something to consider).
* Mobo is okay, but won't allow OC'ing, if a i5 3570k or i7 3770k was installed later and the OP wanted to OC (which might not matter).
* Socket 1155 is a dead socket (especially since Haswell was released), but you can decide if this matters or not.

Pros:

* Mobo does support front USB 3.0 ports for little cost

AMD build:

Cons:

* CPU on single threaded apps will be okay compared to the i3
* 990 FX Mobo is a bit more than the h77 and some z77 mobo's.

Pros:

* CPU will perform better in most multi-threaded applications or multi-tasking operations.
* CPU will OC, if there is more performance needed.
* 990 FX Mobo should support AMD's latest CPU's for a bit more (so the rumors say).
* Mobo has 7 SATA 6 ports!
* Mobo has 8 rear USB 3.0 ports (6 on Intel board)

You can decide what works best for you, just make sure you look at all of the options that you get with either build and make an informed decision.

Either build will do just fine, so it'll come down to what you like and what you don't.

 

[Jack Revenant]

I would suggest thing as an alternative:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($254.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $678.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

It has a PSU from a brand which is known for reliability, rather than fires and a more powerful GPU.

To answer your questions, you would need a Wi-Fi adapter (though a few higher-end motherboards have them built-in), but gaming over Wi-Fi is pretty unpleasant. I strongly recommend a wired connection, if you have the option. You do not need a CPU cooler unless you are overclocking.

Only a couple of issues with that build:

Cons:

* CPU is good, but doesn't OC (not that is a really bad thing, but something to consider).
* Mobo is okay, but won't allow OC'ing, if a i5 3570k or i7 3770k was installed later and the OP wanted to OC (which might not matter).
* Socket 1155 is a dead socket (especially since Haswell was released), but you can decide if this matters or not.

Pros:

* Mobo does support front USB 3.0 ports for little cost

AMD build:

Cons:

* CPU on single threaded apps will be okay compared to the i3
* 990 FX Mobo is a bit more than the h77 and some z77 mobo's.

Pros:

* CPU will perform better in most multi-threaded applications or multi-tasking operations.
* CPU will OC, if there is more performance needed.
* 990 FX Mobo should support AMD's latest CPU's for a bit more (so the rumors say).
* Mobo has 7 SATA 6 ports!
* Mobo has 8 rear USB 3.0 ports (6 on Intel board)

You can decide what works best for you, just make sure you look at all of the options that you get with either build and make an informed decision.

Either build will do just fine, so it'll come down to what you like and what you don't.

+1, though I should point out that my build features a more powerful GPU. A Sapphire HD 7870 XT vs. the Sapphire HD 7870 GHz Edition in your build, which is a sizable difference.

 

[Jack Revenant]

@exroofer thanks. I'll deffinetly need to look into a deal for windows haha
@Jack Revenant I may be able to do it wired but I have to move all my modems and stuff. Is the graphics card I had good enough, cause anywhere I can save money is good

Trust me, wired is way better. You won't regret it.

The GPU you had is alright, but both of the suggested GPUs are superior, particularly mine. The XT is only about 9% less powerful than the Radeon HD 7950.

 

[lunyone]

I would suggest thing as an alternative:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($254.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $678.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

It has a PSU from a brand which is known for reliability, rather than fires and a more powerful GPU.

To answer your questions, you would need a Wi-Fi adapter (though a few higher-end motherboards have them built-in), but gaming over Wi-Fi is pretty unpleasant. I strongly recommend a wired connection, if you have the option. You do not need a CPU cooler unless you are overclocking.

Only a couple of issues with that build:

Cons:

* CPU is good, but doesn't OC (not that is a really bad thing, but something to consider).
* Mobo is okay, but won't allow OC'ing, if a i5 3570k or i7 3770k was installed later and the OP wanted to OC (which might not matter).
* Socket 1155 is a dead socket (especially since Haswell was released), but you can decide if this matters or not.

Pros:

* Mobo does support front USB 3.0 ports for little cost

AMD build:

Cons:

* CPU on single threaded apps will be okay compared to the i3
* 990 FX Mobo is a bit more than the h77 and some z77 mobo's.

Pros:

* CPU will perform better in most multi-threaded applications or multi-tasking operations.
* CPU will OC, if there is more performance needed.
* 990 FX Mobo should support AMD's latest CPU's for a bit more (so the rumors say).
* Mobo has 7 SATA 6 ports!
* Mobo has 8 rear USB 3.0 ports (6 on Intel board)

You can decide what works best for you, just make sure you look at all of the options that you get with either build and make an informed decision.

Either build will do just fine, so it'll come down to what you like and what you don't.

+1, though I should point out that my build features a more powerful GPU. A Sapphire HD 7870 XT vs. the Sapphire HD 7870 GHz Edition in your build, which is a sizable difference.

Yes I missed that one. I could have adjusted the Mobo down to:
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
for about $95-100 (depending on where you get it) and still been able to get the 7870 XT or maybe even the 7870 LE Tahiti core, but I opted for the better Mobo for better future CPU upgrades. It all depends on how you want to go about it

 

[Jack Revenant]

I would suggest thing as an alternative:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($254.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $678.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-05 07:33 EDT-0400)

It has a PSU from a brand which is known for reliability, rather than fires and a more powerful GPU.

To answer your questions, you would need a Wi-Fi adapter (though a few higher-end motherboards have them built-in), but gaming over Wi-Fi is pretty unpleasant. I strongly recommend a wired connection, if you have the option. You do not need a CPU cooler unless you are overclocking.

Only a couple of issues with that build:

Cons:

* CPU is good, but doesn't OC (not that is a really bad thing, but something to consider).
* Mobo is okay, but won't allow OC'ing, if a i5 3570k or i7 3770k was installed later and the OP wanted to OC (which might not matter).
* Socket 1155 is a dead socket (especially since Haswell was released), but you can decide if this matters or not.

Pros:

* Mobo does support front USB 3.0 ports for little cost

AMD build:

Cons:

* CPU on single threaded apps will be okay compared to the i3
* 990 FX Mobo is a bit more than the h77 and some z77 mobo's.

Pros:

* CPU will perform better in most multi-threaded applications or multi-tasking operations.
* CPU will OC, if there is more performance needed.
* 990 FX Mobo should support AMD's latest CPU's for a bit more (so the rumors say).
* Mobo has 7 SATA 6 ports!
* Mobo has 8 rear USB 3.0 ports (6 on Intel board)

You can decide what works best for you, just make sure you look at all of the options that you get with either build and make an informed decision.

Either build will do just fine, so it'll come down to what you like and what you don't.

+1, though I should point out that my build features a more powerful GPU. A Sapphire HD 7870 XT vs. the Sapphire HD 7870 GHz Edition in your build, which is a sizable difference.

Yes I missed that one. I could have adjusted the Mobo down to:
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
for about $95-100 (depending on where you get it) and still been able to get the 7870 XT or maybe even the 7870 LE Tahiti core, but I opted for the better Mobo for better future CPU upgrades. It all depends on how you want to go about it

Fair point, lunyone, but I do feel obliged to note that the XT is Sapphire's Tahiti core 7870. However, you're quite right, an LE/XT could definitely fit into your build, which I would view as equally optimal, albeit in different capacities, to my own.

 

[lunyone]

Yeah I think we are on the same page here. Either build will/can do just as good as each other, depending on which one you would want is up to the OP to decide