Wow, I haven't actually sat down to look at the benchmarks comparing the 250 against the 250X before; I honestly thought the gap was much smaller. A 40-50% difference is definitely not a small margin... 😁
It'll work, though the GPU is a bit weak. I assume the budget just won't allow for anything better right now. Check eBay; you might be able to snag a GTX 560 Ti for around $500-$200, which would be a solid deal. It performs right in the same ballpark as a 260X.
If I recall correctly, you're looking at triple SLI with the GTX 970? The GTX 970 doesn't pull massive amounts of power on its own, but running them in triple SLI is a whole different beast. I wouldn't dream of going anything lower than a solid 750W unit, like THIS. If you've already sunk that much cash into a rig, are you really going to skimp $200-$100 just to save a few bucks on the power supply?
Look, just because you think $150 doesn't mean the author feels the same way about their money. If they really just wanted to drop $1167 on a custom build, they would have just done it instead of making an entire thread titled "$3,000"... Plus, they already specified a 500W power supply to account for a future upgrade.
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box 1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11 1 x Seagate BarraCuda 500GB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB 1 x Fortron 500W Hyper Power, PPA5005003, 12cm fan 1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX 1 x ASUS H81M-K, 1150, Intel ® H81 express chipset, DDR3
$1007
The case isn't anything special, and neither is the motherboard, but nothing better fits within this budget. You have a pretty decent power supply, so you could pair this with a GPU like an R9 280. Also, you only have 4 GB of RAM, which you'll definitely need to upgrade to 8 GB if you're serious about gaming. Just keep in mind that this motherboard only has two RAM slots, so both will be filled once you add that second 4 GB stick.
Joseph Palmer16 said:@ crimsonstag84 - thanks for the reply.
Just a few more questions...
Will that 460W power supply be enough for the graphics card, since it says it needs at least 500W?
Is a Western Digital HDD a better pick than a Seagate? I see they're the same price, so I assume you think it's a higher quality drive?
And one maybe stupid question... I didn't install a DVD/CD drive because I can't remember the last time I actually used one, but will I need it for installing drivers that come on a CD? How do I handle that? Transfer the contents from the CD to a USB? I'm a little embarrassed asking this, but since I haven't been keeping up with things lately... it's better to ask something silly now than to regret it later.😵
It'll be plenty. Just because a power supply says "500W" doesn't mean it actually delivers 500W or that it's any better than a 450W unit. That's why you see 600W options from $67 and $233. You can safely assume there's a huge difference there. 🙂 It's not a stupid question; honestly, people hardly even use optical drives anymore because, like you said, nobody really needs them. You'll install Windows from a USB and just download the drivers from the internet directly onto the computer. The drivers included on a CD with hardware are often outdated anyway, so it's best to grab them from the official website—that way you can't go wrong.😉
No, I thought it was V1 too, but my buddy actually got the plus version delivered, so I guess they just "forgot" to update the site. It's been three months 😬
When it comes to the power supply, Seasonic will handle it without breaking a sweat, just like Larry Ortiz5 mentioned to you. As for the case, you've got the Corsair SPEC-02. It features three 3.5" bays and two 2.5" trays; it's a high-quality chassis, and honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with it. $167 is in the admin section.
I laid out my entire build in my last post, so I doubt you'll find a better combo. You're looking at 8 GB of RAM, an AMD FX 6300, and a 250X. It's a step up from the FX 6100, and that GPU is noticeably stronger than the 240—which was still stuck using DDR3 memory anyway.
Definitely prioritize the power supply. You could go with a 400W Fortron Hex, which will be plenty. You can also ditch the optical drive; it’s pretty much useless nowadays. Just install the OS via USB, and you probably won't ever need to pop a CD or DVD into the computer again.
EDIT: Here is how the build from the shop looks:
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866 1 x AMD FX 6300 processor, 3.5GHz, 14MB, 95W, AM3+, FD6300WMHK 1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11 1 x Toshiba 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100 1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm 1 x Fortron Hex 400W power supply, 12cm fan, Active PFC 1 x MS Phoenix case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX 1 x MSI R7 250X 1GD5, 1GB GDDR5 128GB, DVI + HDMI + Display Port
I don't know, $167 maybe per unit... That’s basically just an R9 285 level card, which means it *is* an R9 285. Besides, you can easily find a 561 Ti for $167 that performs noticeably better.
Just because a power supply claims to be 600W doesn't mean it actually delivers 600W. It might not even hit 400W. You have 600W units for $67 and then you have them for $233—you really think there isn't a massive difference? I can't find any solid specs on that specific unit, but based on how little anyone knows about it, I'd bet it's some cheap junk like a Thermaltake 600W from $60... I recommended a PSU that can definitely handle your build, but if you want to gamble by adding another card to the CF, go ahead and enjoy the fireworks 😁
This monitor is priced at $233... You won't find it cheaper than this. Actually, it *shouldn't* be any cheaper. If he actually understood what an IPS panel brings to the table, it would matter, but whatever. What’s been put together here is about as good as you can get for that kind of cash.
You won't run into any bottlenecking issues using an Intel Core i5-3570K with an NVIDIA GTX 970. Both setups will handle those games just fine. You probably won't hit max settings on everything, though—just dial back the anti-aliasing and a few other tweaks and you'll be good to go.