Is this an adequate build?

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Med521

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Nov 29, 2014
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So I'm building a computer with about 550 dollars I'm getting for a Christmas gift. Here are the specs so far:

AMD FX-8320 3.5 GHz 8-Cores
8 GB RAM DDR3-2133
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Thermaltake Black V3 Case
Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+
EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti SC
Corsair CX500M

Other components like HDD and optical drive are going to be from old systems of mine. I have a few questions about this build.

1. Will the CPU cooler fit this case?
2. I have a great fear the CPU cooler will fall and destroy my GPU and such, should I be afraid?
3. How should I apply the thermal paste to the CPU?
4. Can I play these games in my Steam library?

XYHIh34.png


I am open to suggestions, but I'm on a tight budget of 550 dollars. My knowledge on technology like this is somewhat limited. I will most likely know what everything is, but I'm no expert.

Thanks,

John
 
Solution
Vexillarius
That's only fair with big expenses like this 😉

The H60 has no RAM clearance problems whatsoever, it's just a waterblock on the CPU and a radiator that's out of the way. Any RAM will fit.
The Hyper 212 Evo is quite narrow and you can raise up the fan or even put it on the other side. The blue slots will be usable in any case. Snipers are low profile so you can probably use the other slots as well if you slightly raise up the fan.
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I'm also building for mysefl atm XD,i'm a novice keep that in mind.

so far as i know, 750ti can run most of the games on the list (I was thinking getting 750ti and watched the videos). and you can watch some videos people playing games on 750ti.

goodluck for u and for me XD
 
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The dimension are 16.9 x 7.5 x 18.6 inch, I really wish they'd tell you whats length, width, and height. Also, I have a VGA monitor, but the 750 Ti comes with a DVI to VGA adapter.
 
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The cooler will fit. The case supports coolers up to 160mm in height, the Hyper 212 Evo is 159mm tall.

The cooler is attached to a backplate that you attach to the back of the motherboard. It's very sturdy and it will not fall off unless you hit it with a baseball bat or something. No need to be afraid at all.

Put a drop of thermal paste the size of a small pea in the middle of the CPU and attach the cooler. The pressure from installing the cooler will spread the paste out evenly and without air bubbles trapped in.

Yes, you can play those games no problem with that setup.


Here's a suggestion though: ditch the CPU and get an FX-6300 instead. It has two cores less but those cores probably won't be used much anyway. Use the money you save to get a better GPU, like a GTX760 or an R9 280. The increase in GPU performance will more than make up for the two lost CPU cores.
 
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The 750 Ti is a wonderful GPU and it will be sufficient for what you want to do. The 760 and R9 280 perform better though, and if all you need to do to get one of those is sacrifice two CPU cores that will hardly be used then I'd say it's worth it.

Here's what I'd do for $550, with a better GPU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $544.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 13:50 EST-0500

I swapped out the RAM because I like 1866MHz CL9 better than 2133MHz CL11.
The PSU I picked is of higher quality than Corsair's CX-series.
 
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I don't need storage or a case, which is why I said I'm compensating some parts from old systems. Also, now that I've seen benchmarks on the 760, I think it's pretty cool.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $495.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 14:24 EST-0500

The total is 490 w/o mail-in rebates.
 
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My bad on the HDD and case.

I'd really go with a different PSU if you can afford it. The CX-series uses low quality capacitors that probably won't last all that long.

If you need a modular or semi-modular PSU (the XFX's aren't) then you could go with this one:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 14:19 EST-0500

Also keep in mind that the R9 280 outperforms the GTX760. It doesn't have some of the fancy Nvidia features though, like PhysX. Raw power is more important in my opinion.
 
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The thing that turned me on to the 760 the most was shadowplay, and yes, I think a semi-modular PSU would be good. I'm just saying Corsair, because its a brand I know. I knew a couple of friends who had XFX PSUs, and they were DOA. I never even heard of Antec, it sounds like a third world brand.
 
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Updated:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $475.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-30 15:28 EST-0500
 
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Antec is a good brand actually. Corsair makes extremely good and pretty bad PSUs, and everything in between. The CX-series is their worst, aside from certain models of the RM-series. I've had good experiences with XFX myself, but I understand that you wouldn't want one if your friends had trouble with them, that's fair.
Check out this list: www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
Anything Tier 2B or higher is good.

The H60 is a pretty decent cooler. I used to have one and it did it's job pretty well, nothing spectacular. For that price it's great though!
 
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I thought you said the CX series was bad, but its under tier 3. Also, which direction of airflow should I do for the H60? I was thinking intake, but that in turn would make things hot. But if you run through exhaust,its not gonna cool it.
 
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Yes, they're Tier 3, which is meh. You can absolutely do much worse than a CX, and it won't immediately fry your system. It won't last long though, because of the bad caps. There are much better alternatives without breaking the bank.

I always run my radiators as intake. It will make your GPU run a bit hotter because of the circulating warm air but the slightly cooler CPU is worth it in my opinion. Both are okay though, if your overall airflow is good it won't make much of a difference.
 
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I have 470 dollars in the build excluding the PSU. The price is what I'm worried about. It can be modular, semi, or not modular at all. Heres how I'm gonna set up the air flow.

qgkoxxl.png


(BTW, this does not come with a PSU, and the arrow in the middle of the case is a hole on the side of the case.
 
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The rear fan will be for the H60? If that's the case your airflow setup looks good. I'd maybe put the bottom fan in the front, as intake. The GPU will get plenty of air from the sidepanel fan alone and a front fan will cool your HDDs.
Just an optimization, nothing that'll make a huge difference.
 
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Yeah, the rear will be for the H60. Here's my updated list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($84.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($81.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-01 13:42 EST-0500
 
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The R9 280 performs noticably better. It's between the 760 and the 770. It also has an extra GB of RAM and a wider bus, which is fast becoming important with all these crappy ports flooding the market at the moment.
The 760 will do fine for your purposes though, and saving a bit of money is always nice. How much are you saving though? PCPartPicker tells me it's about $10.
 
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