sub $500 Gaming Build (1st time, Noob builder)

[babyrodan]

This is my first build. I did a little research but changed some things around so I'm not sure if everything is a good fit or compatible. I want to use this pc to play games like BF 4, Rust, Cod Ghosts at a decent frame rate on high settings. You can recommend other parts staying under 500 but mainly I want to know if this works.

CPU AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor $109.99 Newegg
Motherboard ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard $49.99 Newegg
Memory Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $64.99 Newegg
Storage Seagate Barracuda ES 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $48.14 Amazon
Video Card MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card $129.99 Newegg
Case Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case $37.99 Mwave
Power Supply EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $34.99 Newegg


Also I have a 18 inch (16x9)Lcd Samsung Tv/ monitor with hdmi slot, will the resolution work on that?

Thanks

 

[woworwow]

How about this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4gZWBm
better graphics, more harddrive

 

[maktovic]

750 Ti is will do fine for 1600×900 resolution.

The motherboard you've listed is weak for FX 6300. Either change it to ASUS M5A97 R2.0(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873) or change CPU to i3 4130(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946) + ASRock H97 Pro4 LGA 1150 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157511)

Stock FX 6300 will perform similar to i3 4130 so until unless you plan to overclock FX 6300 then only get it, otherwise i3 4130 will be best for you and you can upgrade to Broadwell i5/i7 in future

 

[woworwow]

Here's another build with amd processor
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ysMXYJ

 

[maktovic]

There won't be any benefit of APU with an external Graphics card, APU's are very weak in terms of CPU power.

At that budget its either FX 6300 or i3 4130.

Also CX500W will do just fine for GTX 750 Ti (poor quality PSU), not recommended for R9 270.

There is also other option → Athlon X4 750k + R9 270. Athlon X4 750k can be overclocked very easily, but very few upgrade options with this build.

So I will recommend
1.FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.0 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU
Or
2.Core i3 + Asrock H97 Pro4 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU

Whichever you find closest to your budget

 

[woworwow]

Yes there is. In case of a graphics card failure, you can still play your games. But you have a good idea about the processor and motherboard.
On gaming builds i like to go cheap on everything except graphics card and PSU that's my opinion on gaming builds

 

[babyrodan]

750 Ti is will do fine for 1600×900 resolution.

The motherboard you've listed is weak for FX 6300. Either change it to ASUS M5A97 R2.0(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873) or change CPU to i3 4130(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946) + ASRock H97 Pro4 LGA 1150 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157511)

Stock FX 6300 will perform similar to i3 4130 so until unless you plan to overclock FX 6300 then only get it, otherwise i3 4130 will be best for you and you can upgrade to Broadwell i5/i7 in future

So if I change my mother board to asus m5a9z r2.0 I should be fine without changing the CPU?
and is this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a97ler20 the same exact one?

Also what troubles would I face without changing anything from the original build?

 

[babyrodan]

There won't be any benefit of APU with an external Graphics card, APU's are very weak in terms of CPU power.

At that budget its either FX 6300 or i3 4130.

Also CX500W will do just fine for GTX 750 Ti (poor quality PSU), not recommended for R9 270.

There is also other option → Athlon X4 750k + R9 270. Athlon X4 750k can be overclocked very easily, but very few upgrade options with this build.

So I will recommend
1.FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.0 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU
Or
2.Core i3 + Asrock H97 Pro4 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU

Whichever you find closest to your budget

What do you mean by external video card?

 

[woworwow]

I think your build is good enough although personally i prefer an r9 270

 

[maktovic]

ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 motherboard will be fine if you don't plan to overclock FX6300

You don't have to change fx6300 with Asus M5A97 R2.0 or Asus M5A97 LE R2.0.

If you'r going to overclock FX6300 this is the motherboard that you should get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873

Not the Asus M5A97 LE R2.0, it doesn't has heatsink on VRM

External graphics card is GTX 750 Ti. The APU has a integrated GPU on the same die as CPU.

The real value of FX series CPU's lie in overclocking, if you don't plan to overclock then stick with i3 4130

 

[Zircoben]

There won't be any benefit of APU with an external Graphics card, APU's are very weak in terms of CPU power.

At that budget its either FX 6300 or i3 4130.

Also CX500W will do just fine for GTX 750 Ti (poor quality PSU), not recommended for R9 270.

There is also other option → Athlon X4 750k + R9 270. Athlon X4 750k can be overclocked very easily, but very few upgrade options with this build.

So I will recommend
1.FX 6300 + Asus M5A97 R2.0 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU
Or
2.Core i3 + Asrock H97 Pro4 + 750 Ti + EVGA 500W PSU

Whichever you find closest to your budget

I think a cheap H81 board would be best for this kind of situation.

Don't go for AMD. The 6 cores are so weak that there will never be any real advantage over an Intel i3.

This looks good to me:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.49 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $489.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-15 14:17 EDT-0400

 

[woworwow]

Most games don't actually use all 6 cores most games only needs 2. Battlefield 4 however is optimized to use 4 cores

 

[babyrodan]

Ok then if I stick with my build would it be fine to go down to a 430W power supply?
Also do I need a cpu cooler?

 

[maktovic]

If you are not going to overclock fx6300, then you won't need a CPU cooler

EVGA 430W PSU will be fine for your build

 

[woworwow]

430w is good enough as long as you're not overclocking

 

[Zircoben]

Most games don't actually use all 6 cores most games only needs 2. Battlefield 4 however is optimized to use 4 cores

The Core i3-3220, an older CPU, performs on par with the FX-6350. It will perform better than the FX-6300 in most games that only take advantage of 2 cores.

By choosing AMD, you will be buying a dead socket. Not upgradeable, very power hungry, and neglected by AMD. By buying Intel, you are buying a power efficient, modern, and upgradeable CPU, and you will get better performance in nearly everything.