- Jan 22, 2014
- 43
- 0
- 10,540
Hey, first post! So, about two weeks into my research for my first build, have decided on a few things, I'll go ahead and list my proposed build and then add some notes from there: (its a wall, though I figured you guys would rather me be thorough with my thoughts/reasons rather than me just throwing my list at you). Please comment, taking in everyone's opinion and every little bit helps.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hJvw7P
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.00 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 330 Upgraded ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.32 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1121.17
Things I'm sold on:
Budget:I am right at the very top of my budget. I wanted to stick to $1000 but I don't think I can keep all the things I'm sold on and stay under $1000. If you guys could get me back down there without making me give up my CPU, GPU, storage or RAM that would be awesome, but I've resigned myself to spend a little over $1k if I need to.
CPU: I guess I run the risk of getting yelled at, but from my (granted, limited) research it seems to me that Intel has a slight edge in performance, while AMD has an edge in affordability. The FX-8350 seems to be one of the best AMD CPU's, even though it is two years old I believe? Most of AMD's new releases contained discrete graphics if I remember correctly and were more budget options. I've seen a lot of people suggesting the Intel Core i5 3570k, they seem to be comparable, cpuboss says the Intel one is better but most viewers disagreed, I guess the line is being drawn over single vs. multithreaded or something... http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-vs-AMD-FX-8350 and also it seems that most people find cpuboss to be biased. I guess if I'm to be completely honest I might be slightly AMD biased, but am willing to go the other way also.
Video card: The R9 280x is the most I want to spend right now, many people said that Gigabyte offers the best R9 280x and in the future I can get a second and Crossfire them and will be able to compete with the 290? Correct me if I'm wrong... Apparently Eyefinity is a good selling point as well even though there are issues with multi-monitor displays from what I've heard, haven't researched too much into it yet however.
Storage: I definitely want an SSD and a regular hard drive, and will put my OS/main applications on my SSD. I'm really bad about doing twelve things at once, and will need to run AutoCAD as well and want my system to be as responsive as possible. Are my choices the best value/quality options available? I just picked two that I've seen in other builds, most of my time has been spent researching CPUs and GPUs.
RAM: I've seen that anything over 8GB is basically overkill, but I'd like to go over a little bit here, like I said before I tend to have a bunch of things going at once, 7 IE pages with multiple Youtube videos and Spotify running with Steam and Civilization5 minimized and an Excel or Word sheet up (yeah, I know), so extra RAM will help with that right? Also is G.Skill the best brand? I've read that it really doesn't matter, RAM is RAM, but I just figured I'd ask.
Things I'm not sure of:
CPU Cooler: I basically just picked one, I'm sure I'll eventually get into overclocking but definitely not right off the bat, brand new to this game and want to ease into it. I'm definitely interested more in a quiet system than anything, moving in a month and my rig will be in the living room and I don't want to make it impossible for my girlfriend to watch tv while I'm on my system with fans going super loud. I might eventually do a water-cooling system but not quite yet, this being my first build and all. Can anyone point me in the direction of a fan that does the job quietly?
Motherboard: This is the next thing I'm going to take time researching, I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a sweet looking board that my video card and cooler is going to mostly hide anyways, valuing function over form here but don't want it to look like shit either, can anyone tell me what I definitely need to look for in a board?
Powersupply: What do I need to run my system? PCpartpicker says 500W, I bumped it up a little but if I overclock/add a second GPU in a year will I need to replace my power supply? Also I'd like it to be as efficient as possible, I don't want my power bill to be through the roof, which is why I went with the 80+ Gold.
Case: Just a placeholder, when I get everything else in line I'll pick a case I really like, hopefully something that looks sick and can route cables easily since I'm worried about that once I get ready to build.
So that's where I'm at, if you made it to the end you're cool stuff, will this build enable me to play Battlefield 4, Civilization 5, maybe some new titles on high settings? Can I max anything out? I'm hoping with my 280x I'll be able to run on max settings but maybe I'm way off the mark? Thanks in advance for all the help.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hJvw7P
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.97 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($96.00 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 330 Upgraded ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.32 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master VSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1121.17
Things I'm sold on:
Budget:I am right at the very top of my budget. I wanted to stick to $1000 but I don't think I can keep all the things I'm sold on and stay under $1000. If you guys could get me back down there without making me give up my CPU, GPU, storage or RAM that would be awesome, but I've resigned myself to spend a little over $1k if I need to.
CPU: I guess I run the risk of getting yelled at, but from my (granted, limited) research it seems to me that Intel has a slight edge in performance, while AMD has an edge in affordability. The FX-8350 seems to be one of the best AMD CPU's, even though it is two years old I believe? Most of AMD's new releases contained discrete graphics if I remember correctly and were more budget options. I've seen a lot of people suggesting the Intel Core i5 3570k, they seem to be comparable, cpuboss says the Intel one is better but most viewers disagreed, I guess the line is being drawn over single vs. multithreaded or something... http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-vs-AMD-FX-8350 and also it seems that most people find cpuboss to be biased. I guess if I'm to be completely honest I might be slightly AMD biased, but am willing to go the other way also.
Video card: The R9 280x is the most I want to spend right now, many people said that Gigabyte offers the best R9 280x and in the future I can get a second and Crossfire them and will be able to compete with the 290? Correct me if I'm wrong... Apparently Eyefinity is a good selling point as well even though there are issues with multi-monitor displays from what I've heard, haven't researched too much into it yet however.
Storage: I definitely want an SSD and a regular hard drive, and will put my OS/main applications on my SSD. I'm really bad about doing twelve things at once, and will need to run AutoCAD as well and want my system to be as responsive as possible. Are my choices the best value/quality options available? I just picked two that I've seen in other builds, most of my time has been spent researching CPUs and GPUs.
RAM: I've seen that anything over 8GB is basically overkill, but I'd like to go over a little bit here, like I said before I tend to have a bunch of things going at once, 7 IE pages with multiple Youtube videos and Spotify running with Steam and Civilization5 minimized and an Excel or Word sheet up (yeah, I know), so extra RAM will help with that right? Also is G.Skill the best brand? I've read that it really doesn't matter, RAM is RAM, but I just figured I'd ask.
Things I'm not sure of:
CPU Cooler: I basically just picked one, I'm sure I'll eventually get into overclocking but definitely not right off the bat, brand new to this game and want to ease into it. I'm definitely interested more in a quiet system than anything, moving in a month and my rig will be in the living room and I don't want to make it impossible for my girlfriend to watch tv while I'm on my system with fans going super loud. I might eventually do a water-cooling system but not quite yet, this being my first build and all. Can anyone point me in the direction of a fan that does the job quietly?
Motherboard: This is the next thing I'm going to take time researching, I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a sweet looking board that my video card and cooler is going to mostly hide anyways, valuing function over form here but don't want it to look like shit either, can anyone tell me what I definitely need to look for in a board?
Powersupply: What do I need to run my system? PCpartpicker says 500W, I bumped it up a little but if I overclock/add a second GPU in a year will I need to replace my power supply? Also I'd like it to be as efficient as possible, I don't want my power bill to be through the roof, which is why I went with the 80+ Gold.
Case: Just a placeholder, when I get everything else in line I'll pick a case I really like, hopefully something that looks sick and can route cables easily since I'm worried about that once I get ready to build.
So that's where I'm at, if you made it to the end you're cool stuff, will this build enable me to play Battlefield 4, Civilization 5, maybe some new titles on high settings? Can I max anything out? I'm hoping with my 280x I'll be able to run on max settings but maybe I'm way off the mark? Thanks in advance for all the help.
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