Help with new computer...

[lyonnx]

Currently the parts i've been looking at are...

CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Would this be a good okay or can I go cheaper?

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

PSU: (already bought, for future upgrades) CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Wondering if that's better than the non x series. I have no clue on how their different.

HD: Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GPU: I want to get a Nvidia GTX 550, but which one is the best?

Thanks a lot. If any of the parts are not compatible, please tell me. My current computer is giving me the blue screen after 5 years and I thought it was time I changed to another computer.

 

[g-unit1111]

GPU: I want to get a Nvidia GTX 550, but which one is the best?

No. Not at all worth purchasing anymore. It's two generations old now and there's far better out there. NVIDIA is no longer a value player - if you want a good one it will cost you. The Radeon 7770 and 7850 are far better GPUs for the same price.

Would this be a good okay or can I go cheaper?

I have that same board. It's a good board but this is one area where you can cut corners and it'd still be the same. What is your budget? I can suggest a system if I knew that.

 

[lyonnx]

My budget was 600 dollars with this price and I already bought the psu for 140 (total).
I think that motherboard would be the highest I would go. and the gpu too. tight budget :l

 

[g-unit1111]

My budget was 600 dollars with this price and I already bought the psu for 140 (total).
I think that motherboard would be the highest I would go. and the gpu too. tight budget :l

I went a little bit over budget but this will be a far better setup:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($146.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $646.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 00:43 EST-0500)

 

[stickmansam]

AMD build. It can handle almost all games at 1080p Ultra.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $525.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 00:53 EST-0500)

Using a stronger 7870 basically able to do all games at Ultra 1080p

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $565.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 00:55 EST-0500)

Using the 7950 with the FX6300. Strongest grpahics you can fit in for $600, bit over budget
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($269.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $625.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 01:05 EST-0500)

Using an Intel CPU which is stronger overall (but all the cpus can go over 60fps) Will be better mostly in BF3 64 player and other massive player online games. It uses only the 7850 so weaker on the graphics side.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Intel CPU Using the 7870. It goes a bit over budget as well.
CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $560.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 01:02 EST-0500)

The Intel builds are near the end of performance for Intel on the 1155, can only go up to the 3570k or i7's. The AMD side can go up to the 8350 and the next generation Steamroller CPU's should have a 30% performance boost (due to eliminating the decoder/fetch bottleneck) and it will be able to be match or be very close to Intel's IPC then.

 

[g-unit1111]

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 01:05 EST-0500)

Using an Intel CPU which is stronger overall (but all the cpus can go over 60fps) Will be better mostly in BF3 64 player and other massive player online games. It uses only the 7850 so weaker on the graphics side.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Intel CPU Using the 7870. It goes a bit over budget as well.
CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $560.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 01:02 EST-0500)

The Intel builds are near the end of performance for Intel on the 1155, can only go up to the 3570k or i7's. The AMD side can go up to the 8350 and the next generation Steamroller CPU's should have a 30% performance boost (due to eliminating the decoder/fetch bottleneck) and it will be able to be match or be very close to Intel's IPC then.

There's no reason to pair a 3470 with a Z77 motherboard as you cannot overclock the processor. If you want to use an SLI / Crossfire setup that's one thing but otherwise most people will want H77.

 

[lyonnx]

If I may ask, what was wrong with my build? and my total limit is 600. sorry about the confusion. so about 460 on the other parts...

 

[g-unit1111]

If I may ask, what was wrong with my build? and my total limit is 600. sorry about the confusion. so about 460 on the other parts...

As I stated the GTX 550 is no longer worth purchasing. There's far better GPUs you could go with. The Rosewill Challenger is an OK case - there's better ones in the $50 range, and the FX-4100 is an OK CPU, but there's also better CPUs you could go with.

 

[lyonnx]

thanks a lot for your help. I already went over my budget by saying it was 600 rather than 500. do you think that the FX-4100 will be a decent cpu for about 3 years?

the gpu i'll change to the Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz. Will the FX-4100 slow down the GPU?

 

[stickmansam]

I look more to the 6300 for longer term usage. You can upgrade to the Steamroller/Excavator or move platforms to Intel after 3 years. If 500 is your budget this is $25 over
(its the first build I posted)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $525.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 02:40 EST-0500)

With the z77, you can use the turbo multiplier to OC the 3470 to about 4.0 all cores, 3.9 2-3 cores and 3.8 4 cores. Not sure if other chipsets could do that and z77 does give more goodies and in case want to upgrade to i7 or E3 in the future.

 

[stickmansam]

Using a weaker GPU the 650ti you can push the price down to within your budget.
Persoanlly I would spend the extra $25 and just skip going out for a meal once =P
The 7770 is weaker than the 650ti but its also cheaper

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($134.98 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 371 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.20 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $490.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 02:44 EST-0500)


Here are some benchmarks for your reference using the latest drivers from both sides
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/

 

[lyonnx]

I am also worried about buying parts from websites that don't have warranties. What if it doesn't work? does amazon have a warranty? sorry about these questions. I started doing nonstop research about computer parts this week and learned the basics over 8+ hours of research -.-

 

[stickmansam]

Newegg and Ncix both have warranties and the manufaturers usually have warrnaties on ther individual products as well. For amazon, you have to check with eqch individual product.

 

[g-unit1111]

I am also worried about buying parts from websites that don't have warranties. What if it doesn't work? does amazon have a warranty? sorry about these questions. I started doing nonstop research about computer parts this week and learned the basics over 8+ hours of research -.-

Store warranties are worthless. The manufacturers all have their own warranties and by law they have to honor them. Some manufacturers like Corsair, Western Digital, Asus, and EVGA have excellent warranties and customer service - there's no reason to purchase any additional warranty.

Maybe try this for $600, I agree with the aforementioned FX-6300:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($107.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($111.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $581.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-09 14:07 EST-0500)

 

[stickmansam]

^OP has a budget of 500

Personally I rarely care which vendor I buy from online as long they are reliable and cheap. Newegg, tigerdirect, ncix and amazon are all decent vendors.

It always best to try and get the strongest gpu you can buy since it influences your gaming performance most of the time.

 

[g-unit1111]

^OP has a budget of 500

Personally I rarely care which vendor I buy from online as long they are reliable and cheap. Newegg, tigerdirect, ncix and amazon are all decent vendors.

It always best to try and get the strongest gpu you can buy since it influences your gaming performance most of the time.

I've had good service with Newegg and NCIX. I have not been the biggest fan of Tiger Direct since the CompUSA merger. I got a great deal on the 3570K ordering through Amazon.

The OP was also planning to waste money on store warranties - really you're just throwing money away doing that. I'd rather have that go into getting a better system.

 

[lyonnx]

What if the part you ordered doesn't work...

 

[stickmansam]

You will have to ship it back (sometimes they pay for shipping, but usually not) to either the merchant or the manufacturer and they will send you back a new working one. It will be the same for all e-retailers. Only brick and motar stores have exchanges for defects without shipping since you walk into the store. Buying from brick and motar stores usually costs quite a bit more. Mircocenter is an option for in store purchases since they are cheap.

I have had experience with Newegg and NCIX and others i personally know have done well with Tigerdirect and Amazon. I only have the experience with the Canadian versions but hopefully there is not much difference across the border.

 

[lyonnx]

thanks

 

[stickmansam]

NCIX policy:
http://us.ncix.com/go/?customercare#warranty

Newegg Policy:
http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/ReturnPolicy.aspx#44

TigerDirect:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/help/faq1.asp#or9

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=orc_hp_s_replpol?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200572800#replace

 

[g-unit1111]

What if the part you ordered doesn't work...

If the part you ordered doesn't work you contact the manufacturer directly - most products are that way. The store usually tells you when you get the package that before returning a defective item that you will need to contact the manufacturer. I've dealt with stores and I've dealt with manufacturers. The manufacturers all have their own technical support departments to deal with all kinds of issues that arise. The main thing I've learned is that if something goes wrong, it's going to go wrong in the first 60 days. If you make it past that, you're good. Most stores including Newegg and NCIX usually have a 60 day return policy and they're very good about exchanging out defective products if the manufacturer doesn't. But there really isn't any need to purchase store warranties - you're just throwing money away.

I have had experience with Newegg and NCIX and others i personally know have done well with Tigerdirect and Amazon. I only have the experience with the Canadian versions but hopefully there is not much difference across the border.

There really isn't from what I've heard.