Build thoughts?

Hey everyone!

I really need some feedback, advice, or even just some harsh criticism on this build.
I went with an AM4 base because I want room to upgrade later, plus I was eyeing that A10 7850k for down the road.

Here’s the breakdown:

Gigabyte G1.SNIPER A88X,AM4,A88X,D3,S3,USB 3.0,DVI,A
Intel Pentium Gold
Cooler Master Hyper 212
PowerColor Radeon R9 270X Dual-X OC, 2GB GDDR5, Newegg
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB 2400MHz (2x4)
Crucial MX500 120GB
Western Digital Black 1TB SATA 3, 64 MB, 7.200 rpm
Corsair RM series, 520W
Cooler Master mid tower case black, Z11

I see you're leaning toward AMD, but even with a 270x card, an FM2 setup just won't cut it. You should definitely go with AM3+.
Grab an Intel Core i7, a solid cooler, and a decent motherboard.

Exactly. There's really no point in getting an APU if you're pairing it with a dedicated GPU anyway, especially since you've got enough left over to grab a better processor (maybe an Intel Core i3 or even an Intel Core i7). You can probably save some cash on RAM too since you won't need top-tier speeds, and you might as well pick up a Seagate Barracuda since you'll have an SSD handling the heavy lifting.

Ethan Kern4 said:Hey everyone!

I really need some feedback, advice, or even just some harsh criticism on this build.
I went with an AM4 base because I want room to upgrade later, plus I was eyeing that A10 7850k for down the road.

Here’s the breakdown:

Gigabyte G1.SNIPER A88X,AM4,A88X,D3,S3,USB 3.0,DVI,A
Intel Pentium Gold
Cooler Master Hyper 212
PowerColor Radeon R9 270X Dual-X OC, 2GB GDDR5, Newegg
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB 2400MHz (2x4)
Crucial MX500 120GB
Western Digital Black 1TB SATA 3, 64 MB, 7.200 rpm
Corsair RM series, 520W
Cooler Master mid tower case black, Z11

High-frequency RAM like that isn't going to do much for performance, especially if you're relying on integrated graphics, so it's just throwing money away. Same goes for the motherboard—no point getting one that expensive, particularly on the AM4 platform.

If it were me, I'd go this way:
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3, AM3+, AMD 990X SB950, 4x DDR3
1 x Intel Core i7 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) Kingston, 1600MHz, CL9, Corsair Vengeance, KHX1600
1 x PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB, OC Boost, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, 28nm, 2xDVI
1 x Crucial 120GB, 2.5" 7mm, SATA 3 6G, 7mm to 9.5mm
1 x XFX Core Edition 80+ 550W PSU, Warranty: 5 years
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, 2011, 1366/1156/775/AM3/ 626g, 13-32dB
1 x Cooler Master Z3 PLUS mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard
1 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 1000 GB, SATA3, 64 MB, 3.5", 24mo

$1997

From what I can tell, your rough budget is $2000
this would be it🙂

Ethan Kern4 said:Hey everyone!

I really need some feedback, advice, or even just some harsh criticism on this build.
I went with an AM4 base because I want room to upgrade later, plus I was eyeing that A10 7850k for down the road.

Here’s the breakdown:

Gigabyte G1.SNIPER A88X,AM4,A88X,D3,S3,USB 3.0,DVI,A
Intel Pentium Gold
Cooler Master Hyper 212
PowerColor Radeon R9 270X Dual-X OC, 2GB GDDR5, Newegg
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB 2400MHz (2x4)
Crucial MX500 120GB
Western Digital Black 1TB SATA 3, 64 MB, 7.200 rpm
Corsair RM series, 520W
Cooler Master mid tower case black, Z11

This isn't actually bad at all, though you could definitely optimize things significantly by swapping out a few key components and tweaking a couple of details...

Intel Core i5
ASUS ROG Extreme
2X Kingston HiperX B, DDR3 1600MHz, CL9, 4GB (8GB)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 64MB, SATA III-600
Canon EOS 128GB, 2.5" SATA ASX900S3-128GM-C
EVGA GeForce GTX, 2GB GDGD5
Dell Optical Drive 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk
EVGA SuperNOVA, 550W
Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler 120mm fan
Cooler Master mid tower case black, Z11

$1912 Amazon (Free assembly)

You can easily fit a much stronger Intel Core i5 within your budget. I’ve swapped in a fantastic motherboard if you ever decide to overclock, and honestly, you don't really need 2400 MHz RAM—the prices are higher but the performance gap just isn't there; you'll be perfectly fine with 1600 MHz. For the GPU, I picked an ASUS model because the cooling is superior and it’s nearly silent, yet it costs about the same as that lesser PowerColor version. As for the hard drive, you don't really need the Black series—firstly, you already have an SSD, and secondly, the real-world difference between a Blue and a Black drive isn't massive. Your power supply is high quality, but I upgraded you to an 80+ Gold unit just to be safe. The cooler is solid for overclocking, too. I kept the Cooler Master case style, but switched the model—to be honest, I have a Z11 at home and I'm not exactly thrilled with it; the stock fans are way too loud, the front USB 3.0 ports can be finicky, and the chassis itself is a bit of a pain to work with since the top and front panels are surprisingly stubborn to open.

Here is an Intel-based option—it features a beefier processor, though it doesn't include an SSD just yet.

Intel Core i5 3570k
ASUS Z77 motherboard, s1155, D3, S3, USB 3.0, HDMI, DVI
2X Kingston DDR3 1600MHz, CL9, 4GB (8GB total)
EVGA GeForce GTX graphics card, 2GB GDDR5
Seagate Barracuda Desktop HDD (3.5", 1TB, 64MB, SATA III-600).
Dell Optical Drive 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk
EVGA Gold standard PSU 500W, 80+ Gold
Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler with 120mm fan
Z11 mid tower case, black

$1988 Amazon

Seagate Barracuda 1TB (3.5", 64MB, SATA III-600)

Crucial 120GB SSD Z11 mid tower case black

KINGSTON ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC (8GB, 1600MHz(PC3-12800), Unbuffered) CL11, KVR16N11/8 Corsair CX series 450W Gold

Dell Optical Drive 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk EVGA GeForce GTX 2GB DDR5

NVIDIA Kepler Rev.2 cooler for 1156/775/FM1 ASUS Prime motherboard

Intel Core i7
Total: $6,013.38 + $27 shipping -> Amazon

You’ve got everything here—an SSD, a really solid power supply, an eight-core processor, a GPU that beats the R9 270X, and 8GB of RAM. You could probably even overclock the CPU a bit too.

Good grief, you guys suggested ten different builds, and they’re all basically the same thing anyway. Nobody even mentioned a budget, nobody asked for help putting one together, and honestly, nobody even showed up here to ask... you just made a total mess. 😬

fadedorca66 said:Good grief, you guys suggested ten different builds, and they’re all basically the same thing anyway. Nobody even mentioned a budget, nobody asked for help putting one together, and honestly, nobody even showed up here to ask... you just made a total mess. 😬

I put his parts in my cart, it came out a few bucks under $600. 🙂

Crucial 120
Samsung SSD and WD HDD 3.5", 1TB
Cooler Master Z1 mid tower case
NVIDIA Kepler Rev.2 cooler
Intel Core i7
KINGSTON DDR3 8GB, 1600MHz
Dell Optical Drive
ASUS Prime
EVGA GeForce GTX, 2GB
XFX Core Edition 80+ 450W

$1953
Amazon (free assembly)

Seagate Barracuda 3.5", 1TB
Cooler Master Z3 PLUS mid tower case
NVIDIA Kepler Rev.2 cooler
Intel Core i7
KINGSTON DDR3 8GB, 1600MHz
EVGA Raider S PSU 650W, 80+ Silver
ASUS Prime
2xPowerColor Radeon(Crossfire)

$2018
Amazon

Grace Peterson17 said:This isn't actually bad at all, though you could definitely optimize things significantly by swapping out a few key components and tweaking a couple of details...

Intel Core i5
ASUS ROG Extreme
2X Kingston HiperX B, DDR3 1600MHz, CL9, 4GB (8GB)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB, 64MB, SATA III-600
Canon EOS 128GB, 2.5" SATA ASX900S3-128GM-C
EVGA GeForce GTX, 2GB GDGD5
Dell Optical Drive 24x GH24NS95 SATA black bulk
EVGA SuperNOVA, 550W
Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler 120mm fan
Cooler Master mid tower case black, Z11

$1912 Amazon (Free assembly)

You can easily fit a much stronger Intel Core i5 within your budget. I’ve swapped in a fantastic motherboard if you ever decide to overclock, and honestly, you don't really need 2400 MHz RAM—the prices are higher but the performance gap just isn't there; you'll be perfectly fine with 1600 MHz. For the GPU, I picked an ASUS model because the cooling is superior and it’s nearly silent, yet it costs about the same as that lesser PowerColor version. As for the hard drive, you don't really need the Black series—firstly, you already have an SSD, and secondly, the real-world difference between a Blue and a Black drive isn't massive. Your power supply is high quality, but I upgraded you to an 80+ Gold unit just to be safe. The cooler is solid for overclocking, too. I kept the Cooler Master case style, but switched the model—to be honest, I have a Z11 at home and I'm not exactly thrilled with it; the stock fans are way too loud, the front USB 3.0 ports can be finicky, and the chassis itself is a bit of a pain to work with since the top and front panels are surprisingly stubborn to open.

Look, I’ve got a Z11 plus myself. I ended up swapping out all the stock fans, though personally, the noise didn't bother me that much. Those USB 3.0 issues won't ruin your life if you just plug both cables directly into the USB 3.0 headers on the board. Yeah, opening the thing up is a bit of a chore, but if you're cracking it open every single day, that's more of an issue. It’s a sturdy case and looks damn good, so I'm happy enough with it.

Thanks everyone, you guys were a huge help! I've grabbed everything except for the GPU.

I’m stuck between the EVGA Radeon and the PowerColor Radeon, 2GB GDDR5, Newegg version.

Best Buy has the EVGA one on sale, but it’s just the 900MHz Core version (boosted to 955MHz) in Gaming mode, or the 900MHz Core (boosted to 925MHz) in Silent mode. Meanwhile, the PowerColor is sitting at 1020 MHz.

What did you end up picking?

The 270X is just an overclocked 270, so there isn't really a massive difference there. The ASUS gaming model features a superior and quieter cooler, handles overclocking beautifully, and offers a longer warranty than PowerColor—plus, it should actually be cheaper than the 270X.

Here is some video footage if you aren't in the mood to read through reviews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQrZseRlew

Ethan Kern4 said:Thanks everyone, you guys were a huge help! I've grabbed everything except for the GPU.

I’m stuck between the EVGA Radeon and the PowerColor Radeon, 2GB GDDR5, Newegg version.

Best Buy has the EVGA one on sale, but it’s just the 900MHz Core version (boosted to 955MHz) in Gaming mode, or the 900MHz Core (boosted to 925MHz) in Silent mode. Meanwhile, the PowerColor is sitting at 1020 MHz.

Honestly, you might be better off going with the EVGA—it's generally considered more "superior" compared to the PowerColor because of the cooling setup and all that. If you can swing it, grab the higher-end version, though $33 I know it tends to be pricier in certain shops. It might be worth checking a few other retailers to see if they have it in stock; if you find a decent price, don't overthink it—just grab it immediately...

is actually on sale at Best Buy! Seriously, everywhere else I've checked is totally out of stock. What are the odds, right?

You can check their admin listings over at PriceGrabber.net
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search.php?tp=...+R9+270+gaming

Regarding the 270x, the cheapest option available is http://www.amazon.com/detalji_proizvo...F623D3FDC.aspx - though I'm honestly not sure if it's actually worth paying more than $67 compared to the standard 270 gaming model

Kimberly Gomez34 said:You can check their admin listings over at PriceGrabber.net
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search.php?tp=...+R9+270+gaming

Regarding the 270x, the cheapest option available is http://www.amazon.com/detalji_proizvo...F623D3FDC.aspx - though I'm honestly not sure if it's actually worth paying more than $67 compared to the standard 270 gaming model

Amazon only has the 4GB version in stock right now. I actually went ahead and paid for the 2GB version yesterday, only to get an email saying they're out of stock! So now? Now I'm just sitting here waiting for the refund to hit my card. Typical, right? 🙂

Forget about paying that much for just 4GB of VRAM for $578. If you're buying from them, you might as well shell out the extra cash for that 270X Hawk—I've seen it listed online, so check in with 🤷 to see if they have it in stock. From what I can tell, these retailers aren't exactly the brightest bulbs when it comes to pushing off subpar alternatives
.