My first pc build, will this work?

[joshmoyer]

So as the title says this is the first pc i've built, so im a bit anxious ill buy something and then build day comes and its incompatible, doesn't fit etc. So i was hoping you all could provide me with some reassurance, suggestions, alternative parts, etc. If anything i've listed on here might be incompatible please explain how so i can look for a solution. If its just an outdated part or obsolete because another company makes a similar part for cheaper etc. then just post a link to it. I'm buying all my parts off Amazon as thats probably easiest because i'm relatively new to this.
Parts List -

Xigmatek Spirit M Black Steel/ABS Micro-ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS certified Power Supply
MSI ATX DDR3 2133 Motherboard 970 GAMING
AMD FX-8320 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition
WD Blue 1TB Desktop 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm Internal Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 DIMM
Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST
ASUS Wi-Fi PCI Express Adapter (PCE-AC56)

I'm also going to buy and install Windows 8.1 (I know most people hate it but i dont really mind it that bad) and i have a 32 inch tv for my monitor and keyboard and mouse from my current pc.
Any opinions or suggestions are welcome. Thanks ahead of time

 

[Darkbreeze]

To start with, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using Windows 8.1. It's far better in regard to hardware and driver support than Windows 7. Plus, you'll be eligible for the free upgrade to windows 10 anyhow come August.

I'd ditch the Corsair CX unit and go with the Antec VP-450. The CX, CS, VS and RM units are unreliable in the long term.

I wouldn't actually buy everything from Amazon necessarily. Buying from multiple vendors almost always, if not always, ends up less expensive in the long and short run. Everything looks compatible though.

I might not even do that build at all depending on your budget. What is your full budget for this build not counting the OS, monitor, keyboard, mouse or other peripherals?

 

[lunyone]

I'd look at something like this, it is a better build and is close to the same price as your build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $589.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 01:31 EDT-0400

 

[Darkbreeze]

^^^This would be much better overall, although I don't like the use of the B85 chipset. If you think you'll ever be using dual cards or wanting to overclock, it's not an option with that chipset and CPU. Not that either of those things is necessarily a compulsion though. For a budget build though, that will have much better performance than the 8320 with a 750TI.

Knowing the actual budget would be helpful. And what country you're in.

 

[lunyone]

^^^This would be much better overall, although I don't like the use of the B85 chipset. If you think you'll ever be using dual cards or wanting to overclock, it's not an option with that chipset and CPU. Not that either of those things is necessarily a compulsion though. For a budget build though, that will have much better performance than the 8320 with a 750TI.

Knowing the actual budget would be helpful. And what country you're in.

Yeah the B85 chipset is a budget chipset, but most people don't OC and also usually don't use 2, 3, or 4 GPU's on a single build (which I usually use them in budget builds).

As darkbreeze mentioned, we would like to know your budget and what country your ordering from (include websites that you would be buying from too).

 

[joshmoyer]

I dont have a actual budget really. I'm willing to spend what it takes to build a decent pc. I'm starting work in the next week or two, so i an afford it, but i would like to keep the price close to $600, without the OS etc. I'll use it mostly for gaming like Skyrim, Fallout NV and hopefully the new Fallout 4 game. im in the USA btw

 

[lunyone]

I dont have a actual budget really. I'm willing to spend what it takes to build a decent pc. I'm starting work in the next week or two, so i an afford it, but i would like to keep the price close to $600, without the OS etc. I'll use it mostly for gaming like Skyrim, Fallout NV and hopefully the new Fallout 4 game. im in the USA btw

The build I have listed above will quite well for what you want to do. If your resolution goes above 1080p, then we might want to tweak the build a bit differently, but as long as you are at 1080p or less the GTX 960 is plenty for that resolution.

 

[joshmoyer]

I'm not a huge fan of Intel processors and im not really trying to get a cheap motherboard. I would like to be able to OC at some point if i wanted. I'll take a look at the GTX 960 though.

 

[joshmoyer]

i apologize if i came off as dismissive, i didnt mean to. i appreciate all your opinions and ideas.

 

[lunyone]

Well there are quite a few things to consider with your first build:

* The CX 430w PSU isn't going to be able to handle any OC on the 8320. You might be able to power the CPU and GPU, barely, but any temperature rise or even extra load on the PSU could create issues.
* The FX 8320 runs pretty hot and should have a better cooling option other than the stock one. It will run generally fine with the stock cooling, but if there isn't adequate cooling in the case, you could run into issues.
* I don't like to use/recommend 970 based Mobo's for 8 core FX CPU's. It is recommended that the 990 FX based Mobo's should be used with the 8 core CPU's, especially if your going to OC the CPU. Yes you can run and OC the 8 core CPU's on 970 based Mobo's, but in the long term you might not have a good and stable OC with them (due to the power regulation circuitry being a bit weaker than the 990 FX based Mobo's).

Here is what I'd build if I was going with an AMD build and the budget wasn't too tight:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($164.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($167.04 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($242.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $906.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 02:45 EDT-0400

Intel build, which would be better performing in just about all aspects:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $914.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 02:48 EDT-0400

It is up to you on what you want to do, but keep in mind on all options for the $.

 

[joshmoyer]

i appreciate that. I actually just saw the 990fx on the msi website. But i would need a standard atx case as well. I heard the 8320 ran a bit hot but i figured it would run fine unless i wanted to OC at which point i could purchase a better heatsink. I didnt really think AMD and Intel had that much difference other than sockets. I thought that the 8 core amd would perform well and i didnt want to spend more money for an i5 that didnt really seem to have any perfomance gains. But do you really think intel would perform better?

 

[Darkbreeze]

In other words, you really don't want any recommendations that might lead to a better build for the same price, which is ok. The build you have outlined all looks to be compatible, although I'll tell you, I too have an 8320 and have for a couple of years now. The main reason I bought it was because it was cheap, not because it was better.

A stock Haswell refresh i5, or even i3, much less an E3 Xeon or i7, simply outperforms all of the FX chips in almost every possible category, without being overclocked. If there had been a Haswell refresh chip at the time I bought my 8320, that was anywhere near the price I paid for it, I assure you I'd have never went AMD on this build. But if you're determined to go AMD, the 8320 is probably the best choice. The 970 gaming and Gigabyte 970A-UD3P are probably the best 970 series boards, which are still budget boards and not really the best choices for high overclocks. A good 990FX series board would be a much better choice. But that build will definitely not present you with any compatibility issues on assembly day.


I would for certain get a better PSU though. You absolutely don't want to run a gaming card or overclock using a Corsair CX, CX, VS, or RM unit. Depending on which card you go with, you want something that's tier 1 or 2 here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

[joshmoyer]

Well i didn't realize amd wasn't as good. Could you suggest an intel build closer to my original price range of $600-$700?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Does that price include the operating system or do you have that covered separately?

 

[joshmoyer]

Not included. I can worry about that at a later point.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For staying as close to 600 bucks as possible, this is the build I'd do:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($192.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $651.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 03:44 EDT-0400

 

[lunyone]

Similar to my original build posted above, but with a much better GPU for gaming:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $709.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 03:43 EDT-0400

To fit the budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($242.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $682.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 03:44 EDT-0400

 

[joshmoyer]

Those both look good. Is there any significant difference between Western Digital and Seagate? I know the b85 chipset cant OC as you already said, but what about Asrock h97 you posted? Or this one i found MSI ATX DDR3 2400 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97 PC MATE? Will there be very significant performance gains from the XFX Raedon vs the Sapphire one? Or even the EVGA GTX 960 SSC? Is G.Skill really a good brand for RAM since you both mention it?

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, all those systems would lack overclocking capability for the CPU. But, it really doesn't need it. If you want to overclock, and go with Intel, you'd need to probably up the budget a bit and do something like this.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($192.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $775.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 04:05 EDT-0400


If you wanted to go AMD, I'd do it like this:


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($134.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($192.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $677.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-13 04:07 EDT-0400

 

[joshmoyer]

Even though i save $100 with AMD, i think ill go with your suggestion and go for intel. If its worth the performance then i may as well. As for overclocking, it seems it would cost considerably more, and its probably not necessary as you said, i just wanted to keep my option open. Could you help me in regards to my other questions as well? i still am not quite sure which of those three gpus would be best for my needs, and i am curious whether WD or Seagate is better. Also should i go for the G.Skill ripjaws x since its got a high clock speed, or would it be unnecessary and create excess heat? And of those three mobos which one would be best for my setup or would it really make no considerable difference? Again i appreciate all the help

 

[Darkbreeze]

WD, Seagate and Hitachi/HGST are all pretty equal. Just avoid the slower "green" drives or the 5400RPM versions and you'll be fine. Regardless of what brand of drive you choose, you should still ALWAYS back your data up. Failures can and DO happen, regardless of brand. Any and all storage drives will fail. The only question is when and if there will be any warning. Every drive I own with data that cannot be replaced, is backed up on another drive. Data that's extremely irreplaceable is also backed up either on a third drive, or on optical media such as DVD's or Blu-Ray disks.

The 280x outperforms the GTX 960 on most titles and the higher the resolution, the more the AMD cards outperform equivalent tiered Nvidia cards, for the most part. IF you can afford a GTX 970 or R9 290x along with your build, you would position yourself to pretty well game any current title at 1080p with at least high settings, and Ultra for the majority of titles. Witcher 3 and GTA V might require turning a few settings off in the Gameworks stuff. Below those, the 280x is your best bet. I really don't understand the pricing of the GTX 960 considering it's performance and VRAM are below the 280x, but not long ago the 280x was more expensive. AMD dropped prices to battle the 960, which it does nicely.


That PSU I included will run ANY "single" GPU card currently made. Cards with dual processing units on board will require a higher powered unit. But that's irrelevant to this conversation as you're not looking for a Titan or 295x2 anyhow. The point is simply that whichever card you choose, it will be fine with that unit.

The CPUs and motherboards are chosen specifically for each other and represent the best choices available for the price range and configuration.

 

[joshmoyer]

I think you've been very helpful. I've got one last question concerning compatibility. What could cause a part to be incompatible? Assuming the part fits, sockets, plugs all that, could something like ram be incompatible with specific cpus or gpus or some similar situation?

 

[Darkbreeze]

RAM CAN be incompatible, but there are no incompatibilities on any of those builds. Don't pay any attention to the PCpartpicker incompatibility reports if that's what you're concerned about. Some motherboards and processors only support specific voltages or speeds. AMD FX chips for example often have a hard time with RAM that's over 1866mhz. A lot depends on what board it's being used with. For your purposes, any of those builds above does not have any parts paired that would be a cause for concern. If there is something specific that concerns you, I'd be glad to clarify.

 

[joshmoyer]

i was just curious if there were certain specs or anything like that i should look out for when browsing for parts. Also what are your opinions on buying used parts? Not that im trying to be cheap but ive seen prices for used parts on amazon for pretty good prices

 

[Darkbreeze]

Used parts = NO. Money invested in used parts is almost always, in my opinion, a waste of an investment. On average people are looking to get 75% of the new cost but you usually only get about 50% of the parts usable lifecycle. That paired with the fact that used parts are often either being sold because they already experienced an issue with them or they are outdated hardware, is a combination of things that just makes for a bad investment. You also generally get no warranty since hardware manufacturers generally don't allow for the transfer of warranties with computer hardware.

Looking for lower cost versions of parts outlined above is probably not a good idea. Those parts are selected due to knowing they are high quality items that stand a much higher chance of providing you a LONG and RELIABLE computing or gaming experience. Dropping levels in quality or changing to other brands may well indicate an instant drop in those factors. What you do is of course up to you but I'd recommend purchasing the exact items listed in one of the builds above. Years and years of experience with computer systems and brand reputation based on that experience as well as general community consensus is what those product recommendations are based on. Changing hardware changes the build as a whole. Considering that the builds are based on lowest cost, there is of course to move UP in quality or performance, but moving down at all is probably not in your best interest.