Strategy Gaming PC on Asus M5A97 R2.0

[Vadimster]

Got M5A97 R2.0 almost for free, so deciding to stick to it for building a PC to be used mostly for playing global wargames like Total War, Civilization 5, Hearts of Iron/Europa Universalis, Garry Grigsby's War in the East, etc. Do not expect much of 3D action here.

Need to get a good CPU to go well together with this motherboard for maximum performance and synergy. My budget for CPU is 150 pounds. I have zero knowledge of overclocking, but willing to look into this if this is a good solution in my case and if it is cost effective in the end.

Also, need advise on other key components

- A good and reliable PSU. I'd say budget is 70 pounds.
- GPU: honestly no idea here.
- RAM: which make would be best and do I need to get 2 x 4GB or 1 x 8GB? I do not need more?
- HDD: I am looking at Seagate Barracuda 500GB/1TB SATA III, is it any good to go with this mobo? May be something you can recommend, within 50 pounds budget?

I will 100% have the following, as I can get them really cheap:
- Optical drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE
- TP-Link 150Mbps N Lite PCI-Express Wi-Fi Network Adapter Card

Considering getting a CPU Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

As for the case (as well as case fans) - I have no idea.

I plan to run Windows 8.1.


Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[coolcole01]

if your sticking with that mobo i would go with this
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£115.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.89 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£37.24 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card (£139.16 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.34 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full (32/64-bit) (£84.90 @ More Computers)
Total: £541.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-24 12:38 GMT+0000

 

[Vadimster]

Thanx, coolcole01!

A question, though - what shall i do with case fans? Do I need any extra and how many?

 

[coolcole01]

no you will not really need any extra fans