Is this a solid build? (AU)

[raspyscout]

With some help, I've designed this PC, which will be used for gaming, recording (gameplay, as well as songs) and schoolwork/homework:

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/wPgPWZ

I want to know if it's good, or if I should upgrade something, (such as the CPU*).

My budget is $700-$800 AUD.

(Keep in mind that I live in Australia, meaning that parts available elsewhere mightn't be available here. Also, I'd like to purchase most, if not all, the components from PCCaseGear, Mwave, UMart or CPLOnline).

Thanks,
RaspyScout.

*(In regards to the CPU, I'm thinking of overclocking it and buying an aftermarket CPU Cooler)

 

[drixkarasu]

If you want to record gameplay you should consider an i3 with hyperthreading, the extra threads should help quite a bit.
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/3TzZ3C

 

[Icaraeus]

Terrible PSU choice Drixharasu. The CX series has poor capacitors. I would go with an Antec, XFX, Seasonic or EVGA 550W power supply.

 

[drixkarasu]

@Icaraeus
That is OP's hardware list with just the new CPU I suggested. I didn't choose the PSU.
But I agree with you it is not a nice choice.

 

[doron]

@Icaraeus - Interesting, source?

I'm with drixkarasu on that one, overclocking a g3258 forces you to get an aftermarket cooler and a more expensive board, and in most cases you can't hope for more than i3 in terms of performance.

My recommendation:
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/fNYWTW

Swapped the i3-43xx for i3-41xx as they seem to still be available and are cheaper in your region (same cpu).
Swapped your motherboard for a cheaper one (same basic features).
Took the liberty to swap your chassis for a Silverstone PS07, which provides a ton of cooling performance and expandability (although your chassis seems fine as well).
Swapped the gpu for the R9-270. This or the R7-265 will give you a fairly big boost in performance over the R7-260x.

 

[Icaraeus]

Look at any review of Corsair's CX series. Don't get a Pentium. It's slow. Get rid of that PSU. It's poor quality. It has poor capacitors. It will not last long.

 

[doron]

@Icaraeus -

- While I agree that a PSU is nothing to play with, the CX will last depending on room temp and system load. In case of failure it won't burn your system and has 3 years warranty. So I'd say it's good enough for this type of system as long as room temp isn't very high.

- The G3258, overclocked, could be faster than any stock i7 in some single-threaded scenarios. It's far from being slow.

 

[Icaraeus]

Many, many computer programs require more than 2 cores to work well. Pentium will not last. Games are beginning to require 4 cores.

 

[raspyscout]

@Icaraeus - Interesting, source?

I'm with drixkarasu on that one, overclocking a g3258 forces you to get an aftermarket cooler and a more expensive board, and in most cases you can't hope for more than i3 in terms of performance.

My recommendation:
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/fNYWTW

Swapped the i3-43xx for i3-41xx as they seem to still be available and are cheaper in your region (same cpu).
Swapped your motherboard for a cheaper one (same basic features).
Took the liberty to swap your chassis for a Silverstone PS07, which provides a ton of cooling performance and expandability (although your chassis seems fine as well).
Swapped the gpu for the R9-270. This or the R7-265 will give you a fairly big boost in performance over the R7-260x.

I'm relatively new at PC building, so excuse this question, but what does "Some Intel H81 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Haswell Refresh CPUs." mean in the compatibility notes?

 

[Icaraeus]

The newer CPUs from Intel were designed to use the H/Z9x platform, not H/Z8x. The motherboard has this thing called a Basic Input Output System (BIOS). Basically, it stores all of the information about your PC. What it means is that you may need to flash/update the BIOS with a newer software before your CPU can be correctly recognized.

 

[raspyscout]

The newer CPUs from Intel were designed to use the H/Z9x platform, not H/Z8x. The motherboard has this thing called a Basic Input Output System (BIOS). Basically, it stores all of the information about your PC. What it means is that you may need to flash/update the BIOS with a newer software before your CPU can be correctly recognized.

Is there a way that I can verify that I do/do not need to update my mobo?

 

[Olsnivy100]

With some help, I've designed this PC, which will be used for gaming, recording (gameplay, as well as songs) and schoolwork/homework:

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/wPgPWZ

I want to know if it's good, or if I should upgrade something, (such as the CPU*).

My budget is $700-$800 AUD.

(Keep in mind that I live in Australia, meaning that parts available elsewhere mightn't be available here. Also, I'd like to purchase most, if not all, the components from PCCaseGear, Mwave, UMart or CPLOnline).

Thanks,
RaspyScout.

*(In regards to the CPU, I'm thinking of overclocking it and buying an aftermarket CPU Cooler)[/

Hi,

I'm from Australia, so this should work well for $800
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/user/Oldsnivy100/saved/#view=BxNFf7

All can be get from those retailers

 

[doron]

Cpu support list for the H81M-HDS:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H81M-HDS/?cat=CPU

Looks like this is a relatively new H81 board, as most Haswell cpus are recognized out of the box.

This board was also featured in Tom's SBM:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-budget-gaming-pc,4065-4.html

They received the board with 1.9, so it's safe to assume that the board will come preinstalled with v1.6+

 

[doron]

Many, many computer programs require more than 2 cores to work well. Pentium will not last. Games are beginning to require 4 cores.

No consumer app requires 4 cores.
A 2 core cpu @ 4.8ghz is around as fast as a 4 core cpu @ 2.4ghz if we assume max utilization is achieved on all cores, but the more cores, the more chances power will be left on the table.
So g3258 (2C/2T), overclocked, will be around as fast as core i3 (2C/4T), stock, in multithreaded scenarios, and faster in single threaded performance:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8232/overclockable-pentium-anniversary-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae/2

But the point is, setting the optimal conditions for a G3258 overclock costs as much as a budget i3 build, and the extra headache involved in overclocking, means it's really unnecessary for most folks to get through this, given the alternatives.

 

[Icaraeus]

Many consumer applications require 4 cores. No, a dual core is NOT as fast as a quad core. That only applies to same generation architecture.

 

[doron]

Many consumer applications require 4 cores. No, a dual core is NOT as fast as a quad core. That only applies to same generation architecture.

You're mixing facts with opinions. Read again and check the numbers.

 

[Icaraeus]

and the "numbers" state that you do need 4 cores for good performance in some consumer applications.