My first ever build - advice please :)

[naughtyjames]

Hi guys and gals..

I'm considering building my first ever desktop, and it will be used specifically for gaming.. I have a budget of no more than £700. I've got together a few parts sitting in my amazon "save for later" shopping bag, and before I commit, it would be amazing if you could offer some advice / product replacements etc.. I'd like to be able to play games like Battlefield 3 & 4 on pretty high.

Ok - here's what I have so far :

Motherboard : Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 (AMD 970/SB950, DDR3, 6 x S-ATA 600, ATX, PCI-Express 2.0, USB 3.0, Socket AM3+)

Graphics : MSI Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 Gaming 4GB DDR5 Twin Frozer

CPU : AMD FX6300 Black Edition 6 Core (3.5/4.1GHz, 8MB Level 3 Cache, 6MB Level 2 Cache, Socket AM3+, 95W)

Sound - Creative Sound Blaster Audigy FX 5.1

HD - WD 1TB 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue

Power - Corsair Builder Series CXM 500W

Case - Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Midi Tower

thank-you for your time!

 

[naughtyjames]

Hi, anyone?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The build looks decent for your budget. I would go with the non "LE" motherboard. You also don't really need a sound card since your motherboard will include pretty decent onboard audio. The CX line of PSUs is Corsair's budget line. I would use the money saved on the sound card toward upgrading the PSU. You may also be able to squeeze a GTX 770 into the build. Is the OS included in the budget?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Here's my suggestions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£107.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.18 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£50.08 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£68.81 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.96 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£242.90 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.87 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£84.35 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer (£14.89 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £677.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-14 00:50 GMT+0000)

The Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P motherboard has a Realtek ALC887 7.1 channel sound chip.