Need Help with Budget Build (First one EVER)

[ruskininja]

Approximate Purchase Date: Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Budget Range: (500-800 (not set in stone yet, most likely lower portion of budget)) After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, video/picture editing, watching movies, surfing the internet

Am I buying a monitor: Yes



Parts to Upgrade: Everything I guess, starting from scratch (don't even have case).

Do I need to buy OS: Yes (Most likely Windows 7, but might get Windows 8 (convince me it's worth it if it is))

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon.com (but I'm not all too familiar with sites; suggestions appreciated)

Location: Duncan, South Carolina, US

Parts Preferences: AMD proccessor

Overclocking: Maybe (not sure what it is)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (again not sure)

My Monitor Resolution: I have not a clue...suggestions?

Additional Comments: I am brand new with building comps, I have never did anything except changing a fan and RAM in my past computer. I am definitely new to this type of build, but I've had not trouble with smaller devices like phones, consoles, and handheld consoles.

Why Am I Upgrading: I have a shared all-in-one pc that is crap at everything. I want a computer of my own that can handle most games (especially BF3, Skyrim, etc) on medium without a problem (but I'm not sure I can do that for my budget...so can you just give me some advice for the best bang for my buck). I also want to build a computer for the heck of it...I LOVE working with electronics, but I haven't had time to recently and I'd like to build a computer for the first time since I hope to be getting in to this after high school and college.

Advice would be taken EXTREMELY graciously

Thank you,

Alec

 

[ckholt83]

Do you need keyboard / mouse / speakers in that budget too?

 

[Deemo13]

I'm guessing you don't have a monitor either.

 

[ruskininja]

I didn't think that in the estimate, but I guess not. All I need for now is generic mouse/keyboard.

 

[ruskininja]

I do not have a monitor, it is included in my budget.

 

[ckholt83]

Okay, here's what I came up with:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 PRO3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($167.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.94 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $799.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


Someone may have a better suggestion for the motherboard, but I'm pretty sure that one will do everything you need. You could maybe step down to the FX-6300 and downgrade the GPU to a 7770 if you wanted to fit an SSD into the build, but you could also just add one later on.

 

[ckholt83]

blah, I forgot the DVD drive

 

[ruskininja]

Okay, here's what I came up with:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 PRO3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($167.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.94 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer G215HVAbd 21.5" Monitor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $799.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


Someone may have a better suggestion for the motherboard, but I'm pretty sure that one will do everything you need. You could maybe step down to the FX-6300 and downgrade the GPU to a 7770 if you wanted to fit an SSD into the build, but you could also just add one later on.

WOW, this build is PERFECT, and I just realized that Black Friday/Cyber Monday is coming up...would that make a major difference in part prices?

 

[Deemo13]

That's a pretty good build right there I would say.

 

[ckholt83]

WOW, this build is PERFECT, and I just realized that Black Friday/Cyber Monday is coming up...would that make a major difference in part prices?

Hmm. Yeah, it's possible. I've been mostly disappointed in Newegg's "sales" lately, but there's a good chance of good deals at least SOMEWHERE on the web you'll be able to snag. That's about when you were planning to build anyway isn't it?

 

[ruskininja]

Hmm. Yeah, it's possible. I've been mostly disappointed in Newegg's "sales" lately, but there's a good chance of good deals at least SOMEWHERE on the web you'll be able to snag. That's about when you were planning to build anyway isn't it?

Well, thank you sir for your GREAT suggestions...after adding that optical drive, I have everything planned. I just have ONE more question...would I get full use of an 8-core processor or would just a quad-core suffice? All I would do on it would be games and After Effects.

 

[ckholt83]

Well, whether you get full use depends on what you're running on it. Also, there aren't any truly 8 core CPUs. Intel uses HyperThreading to simulate 8 cores on the i7s, and the AMD 8xxx chips use shared resources as well. So the '8' core processors are kinda like souped up quad cores, and they only provide a benefit if you're using heavily threaded apps.

You mentioned you wanted an AMD CPU and your usage would include video editing, so that's what I set you up for. If your productivity needs are fairly light and your main emphasis is on gaming, you might be better suited grabbing an Ivy Bridge i5 for about the same price, as they provide much better single thread performance than the AMD counterparts.

Either CPU choice would be fine though, your main bottleneck for games is going to be the GPU regardless.

 

[ruskininja]

Well, whether you get full use depends on what you're running on it. Also, there aren't any truly 8 core CPUs. Intel uses HyperThreading to simulate 8 cores on the i7s, and the AMD 8xxx chips use shared resources as well. So the '8' core processors are kinda like souped up quad cores, and they only provide a benefit if you're using heavily threaded apps.

You mentioned you wanted an AMD CPU and your usage would include video editing, so that's what I set you up for. If your productivity needs are fairly light and your main emphasis is on gaming, you might be better suited grabbing an Ivy Bridge i5 for about the same price, as they provide much better single thread performance than the AMD counterparts.

Either CPU choice would be fine though, your main bottleneck for games is going to be the GPU regardless.

Ok, thanks again for the help, and I'll take that advice into consideration when I'm buying parts. You have been an FANTASTIC help.

 

[ruskininja]

Best answer selected by ruskininja.