Suggestions about this build. Budget: 900-1000€. Needing it all (including OS and monitor).

[JustANewUser]

CPU: Intel i5-3570K: €184.61 (Amazon ES)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H: €89.09 (Amazon ES)
Memory (RAM): G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 memory: €73.21
HDD (Storage): Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM HDD: €55.04 (PCBox - Spain)
GPU (Video Card): Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card: €189 (PCComponentes)
Case: Zalman Z12 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case: €66 (PCComponentes)
PSU (Power Supply): SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply: €111.60 (Amazon ES)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95: €18.70 (Amazon ES)
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bits OEM: €86 (PCComponentes)
Monitor: Hanns.G HE225DPB 21.5" Monitor: €116.98 (Amazon ES)

TOTAL: 990.23€

Some doubts I have:
*What's the difference between a mini ATX motherboard and an ATX motherboard?
*What's the difference between the HD 7870 GHz Edition (SAPPHIRE) and the HD 7870 GHz Edition FLEX Edition (SAPPHIRE)?
*I've doubts about the PSU. Is 550W enough or should I go for 600-650W? I'm not going to Crossfire. I accept other PSU suggestions as well.
*What does 'semi-modular' PSU mean?
*Is there a huge difference between platinum, gold, silver and bronze certified PSUs?
*Would the build be 64 bits or 32 bits? How do you know if your build is 64 bits or 32 bits? I think 32 bits is outdated and just for laptops, isn't it true?
*About the OS, should I get Windows 8.1 OEM, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 7 Home Premium? I don't find Windows 8 OEM anywhere, just Windows 8.1 OEM, and Windows 8 PRO.
*Should I get 2x4GB RAM or 4x2GB RAM? 2 slots or 4 slots?

My budget is 900-1000€. I'm from Spain. The current build is here, but the price is wrong because I changed some things from Amazon ES to other shops: http://es.pcpartpicker.com/p/36uCK

I accept other builds and/or changes as well. Thanks for your help

 

[JustANewUser]

Oops, sorry. I don't really need it all... All except mouse and keyboard. I don't have them because I'd like to get new ones, but I won't use the money for the PC for them.

 

[alannm37]

1."*What's the difference between a mini ATX motherboard and an ATX motherboard?": The primary difference is in the number of Expansion slots and length of the board.

mATX = 4 or 5 expansion slots and usually around 9.6" long

ATX = 6 or 7 expansion slots and usually around 12" long

Each motherboard size also use different spacing for the mounting holes so cases that are designed to support more than one motherboard size will have multiple sets of holes so that the standoffs can be placed to match the mounting holes for the motherboard. The differences in features have more to do with the design choices made by the manufacturer. Since mATX is usually used in smaller computers, there are a lot of budget mATX designs but there are also high end gaming boards that fit into the mATX category.

The same applies to ATX but since there is more room for expansion slots there is a much higher percentage of boards that are intended for gaming and other high end applications.

2. *What's the difference between the HD 7870 GHz Edition (SAPPHIRE) and the HD 7870 GHz Edition FLEX Edition (SAPPHIRE)?: Flex Edition is nothing to worry about, the standard will do just fine.

3. "I've doubts about the PSU. Is 550W enough or should I go for 600-650W? I'm not going to Crossfire. I accept other PSU suggestions as well.": Most typical computer builds will not go above 500W so 550W will be fine, also noticing you choose Seasonic, they are very reliable so nothing to worry about there. Only thing I could say is if you ever want to use Dual GPU's in the future or even upgrade your GPU, a 650W Seasonic or XFX would be more suitable.

4. *What does 'semi-modular' PSU mean?: It just means that you can detach some of the unused cables from the PSU to save some space for airflow.

5. *Is there a huge difference between platinum, gold, silver and bronze certified PSUs?: Yes I would personally say so myself, I would go for a higher efficiency PSU over a higher wattage PSU. But bronze, silver, gold, nothing to worry about, just go for 80+ Bronze efficiency.

6. 32 bit or 64 bit?: Always 64-Bit. 32 bit is for slower computers.

7. Windows 8.1 OEM will do perfectly, no need for Pro.

8. *Should I get 2x4GB RAM or 4x2GB RAM?: 2x4GB Ram because that's just the way to go, save the others for the future when you'll want more.

As for your build, everything is perfect only I would change the HDD to either Seagate or Western Digital, they are more reliable, you can just do a search for that.

Hope I helped

 

[JustANewUser]

Thanks for your help! But about the 7th question, I heard that Windows 8 is fine for gaming and even faster than Windows 7, but then I heard that Windows 8.1 is worse than Windows 8 in gaming. Is this true? And what are the main differences between them?

Oh, by the way, I see you've an AMD FX-6300... Does it work well? Perhaps I should have a look on AMD CPUs too, no idea... You also have a GTX 760, how does it work? Because its perfomance seems to be like a HD 7870, so I'm interested about it. You do also own a Gigabyte motherboard, which is the same brand I'm looking at, does it work well? Any problems so far?

Thanks and sorry if those are too many questions ;o

 

[alannm37]

For your Windows 8/8.1 question, I'm pretty sure you won't notice any difference gaming wise so that's nothing to worry about. Windows 8.1 has better memory management than Windows 8. Windows 8.1 has a start button, that's leading to Metro Interface, but believe me or not, it's somehow useful, and it's nice to have it there. Windows 8.1 has pretty much same/in few cases better FPS in games then Windows 8 has. Windows 8.1 has more options, easy navigation, it's more optimized for keyboard and mouse and etc.

My gaming PC runs everything and it's my first gaming computer so I couldn't be happier about it, lowest FPS I've seen out of every game I've played is about 50FPS. That's all games on highest settings too, except for BF4 which I turn off Anti-Aliasing but that has no visual difference in my opinion.

The AMD FX-6300 is an amazing processor overall, very easy to overclock too which makes it a competitor in my opinion. GTX 760 is a beast. I have nothing to complain about it and it's played every game I've played including all Call of Duty's, all BF's, Garry's Mod, Crysis 3, Dirt Showdown, Need for Speed Rivals... you want to play it and the GTX 760 will do just perfect at it. Also if you plan on recording, definitely get an Nvidia GPU, it's just better for recording.

Gigabyte is my favourite motherboard manufacturer, great for handling AMD FX-6300 overclocking, excellent reliability, so Gigabyte is just a brilliant motherboard.

 

[JustANewUser]

Hmm... The GTX 760 is 30€ more than the AMD Radeon I was looking at... But it has PhysX and other advantages, so I perhaps should give it a try. By the way, have you tried PhysX? Any huge difference between non-PhysX and PhysX?

Thank you for your tips and opinion!

 

[alannm37]

Turning on PhysX isn't necessary for gameplay, and you'll never miss it if you don't see the effects. However, when PhysX is enabled, it adds superlative nuances and really creates some “WOW” moments. The chunky explosions, cloth effects, paper, fog, and environmental detail enhancements are very cool.....the eye candy is a lot of fun to watch. Once you've turned it on, it's not something you'll turn off if your hardware can handle it. It will look much cooler to the eye if there is PhysX enabled.

 

[JustANewUser]

Wow, thanks, I didn't know it was that awesome! I thought that it was just for more FPS and no graphics difference, lol.