Pro build for a noob guy?

[Afonso_CR]

Here's the deal, I've posted several times on the forums about building my own pc and I've read several posts about it as well

But I always have second doubts about my build (sometimes due to price, sometimes due to specs)

So all I ask is one thing, if you were going to build a computer made specially for gaming and you wanted it to run upcoming games like Watch Dogs in high (or very high if capable) and you wanted it to be the cheapest possible (the cheapest the best, I can't afford those expensive and totally awesome pc's but I don't know an exact budget*) what would be the parts?

Here's the catch, all I have is a mouse and an optical drive, I will have to buy everything else (including a case)

I ask you, Internet, can you help me? I am really noobish about this and I really don't understand that much about the best parts to buy (motherboards for example) and I don't want to spend that much money buying something expensive I don't need

* - Mostly because I live in Portugal and I will most likely have to buy them here (due to transport cost and risk) however I have the feeling that parts are more expensive here, if you by any chances know a store that is reliable and sells things cheap for Portugal feel free to let me know

With that being said here's extra info that might be useful

System usage: Gaming, watching movies/videos, listening to music (w/ headphones I already have)

Parts that I don't need to buy: Mouse, mouse pad and an optical drive

Monitor resolution wanted: 1080p if manageable


Thank you if you took your time to read all of this and if you took your time to give me a real answer that helps my problems

 

[ifreestylin]

Whats your budget?

 

[Afonso_CR]

I'm not sure, first I thought of a 800 euros/1082 dollars budget just for the PC but then I realized I had to buy a keyboard and a monitor so it would most likely be too expensive for me so I guess my budget would be a max of 900 - 1000 euros / 1217 - 1352 dollars for everything (shipping included I guess)

 

[ifreestylin]

I'm not sure, first I thought of a 800 euros/1082 dollars budget just for the PC but then I realized I had to buy a keyboard and a monitor so it would most likely be too expensive for me so I guess my budget would be a max of 900 - 1000 euros / 1217 - 1352 dollars for everything (shipping included I guess)

Here is a start;

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($124.97 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($303.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($93.00 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.87 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor ($167.48 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1293.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-29 15:19 EDT-0400)

 

[Afonso_CR]

Thanks! Three questions though:

1 - The difference between AMD - Intel and Radeon - NVidia is pretty much non existant right? I know that there are several models to each brand but there isn't a "better" brand for gaming right?

2 - How will it perform games? I'm guessing that the machine you build can play games with high quality and fps

3 - How much of a future proof is that build? I know that PC's are something that require hardware updates if I want to have the highest FPS during several years but for how long could I not-update that build and still play games at a considerably high quality?

Thanks for your quick reply!

 

[ifreestylin]

Thanks! Three questions though:

1 - The difference between AMD - Intel and Radeon - NVidia is pretty much non existant right? I know that there are several models to each brand but there isn't a "better" brand for gaming right?

2 - How will it perform games? I'm guessing that the machine you build can play games with high quality and fps

3 - How much of a future proof is that build? I know that PC's are something that require hardware updates if I want to have the highest FPS during several years but for how long could I not-update that build and still play games at a considerably high quality?

Thanks for your quick reply!

1- Generally intel CPU's are considered better at gaming but since games are better optimized for more cores, there's not much difference between them e.g (i5/FX8350).
Nvidia makes great GPU but when it comes to price/performance, AMD is the winner.

2- You,ll be able to play all games max 60fps+ at 1080p.

3- I'll say 2-3 years before you'll need to upgrade but it's not a guarante. Also, you can get another GPU for crossfire since it will be much cheaper

PS.
If you want you can get an Haswell i5 and also I suggest waiting for AMD new GPU's. The R9-280x is the HD 7970 successor and it's gonna cost $299

 

[Afonso_CR]

That Haswell plus R9-280x would be a lot more expensive than what you picked before? Would it go out of my budget?
Thanks for helping me with all of this

 

[ifreestylin]

That Haswell plus R9-280x would be a lot more expensive than what you picked before? Would it go out of my budget?
Thanks for helping me with all of this

Getting the Haswell will be a bit more but if you stick with the FX8350 you'll still be within your budget for the R9-280X which probably gonna cost about $349 for the none reference card. (XFX,Sapphire,Asus)

 

[Afonso_CR]

And honestly, do you think it's worth it? Like, I don't mean getting less 3 fps but would I notice a significant drop (maybe from 60+ to 40 fps) over the next year if I don't go with the Haswell?

 

[ifreestylin]

And honestly, do you think it's worth it? Like, I don't mean getting less 3 fps but would I notice a significant drop (maybe from 60+ to 40 fps) over the next year if I don't go with the Haswell?

Its all depends on the games you play. In skyrim you'll see more than 20fps going from AMD to Intel but games such as Battlefield 3,Crysis 3,Tomb Raider and most new games that are optimized for more than 2-4 cores there wont be much difference

 

[Afonso_CR]

Wow, thank you
You really helped me and since you were the only one to answer my question I guess you earn the best answer

Note to other possible readers: You can still comment/help me I will have your opinion in consideration of course

 

[ifreestylin]

Wow, thank you
You really helped me and since you were the only one to answer my question I guess you earn the best answer

Note to other possible readers: You can still comment/help me I will have your opinion in consideration of course

no problem