Help picking a PC build!

I am reaching out to request some assistance from this community. For several years now, I have been struggling to get by on aging, secondhand laptops, and I feel it is finally time to invest in a proper, dedicated desktop setup. A friend of mine put together a preliminary build for me (from Best Buy):

WD Caviar Blue 1 TB SATA III HDD, 3.5", 7,200 rpm, 10EZEX
120.0 GB Kingston HyperX Fury SSD, SHFS37A/120G, SATA3, 2.5'', MLC-Chip, up to 500/500 MB/s
Corsair VS650 PSU, 650W, VS Series
Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury memory, 1866MHz, 8GB(2x4GB) Blue, HX318C10FK2/8
Asrock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 motherboard - AMD 970, AMD SB950
AMD FX-Series X8 8350 processor (4.0GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+) box
MSI R7 370 GAMING 4GB, GDDR5, DX12
COOLERMASTER Hyper 212 EVO cooler for 1155/1156/1366/FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2
Fractal Core 2300 case, black, without power supply

I will be paying via credit card, and my total budget is approximately $750.
Thank you all for your time.

I wouldn't go for it... the motherboard is subpar, the CPU isn't worth the price, the GPU is both overpriced and weak, and that power supply looks pretty low-quality to me.

Sapphire R9 390 nitro, Tri-X OC, lite 8GB GDDR5
Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm
Patriot SSD Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5" PB120GS25SSDR
AeroCool case gt Advance Black edition
Intel Core I5 4460 Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury
Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, 8GB Black HX318C10FB/8
ASRock B85M-DGS motherboard
Fortron Raider sa PSU 650W

Total: $2484(cards) Centro

Unfortunately, this build is totally unbalanced and just way too weak for what you're trying to do with your budget. What's the actual goal here—are you looking for a monitor, or are you hunting for some other kind of peripheral?

Nothing from the peripherals. I don't even have a need for a monitor at the moment, since my focus is strictly on gaming. My preference right now would be playing The Witcher 3.

So, should I just go full Intel here, or stick with an AMD build—maybe aiming for a setup that looks more solid with a bigger SSD?

FX 8300
LC CC 95
GIGABYTE 970A-DS3P
KINGSTON 8GB 1600 MHZ
PATRIOT BLAST 240 GB SSD SATA 3
TOSHIBA P300 3,5 1TB SATA 3
POWERCOLOR R9 390 8GB DDR5
Fortron Raider sa 650W 80+ SILVER
MONSTER MIDI ATX USB 3.0 PLEXY + 120MM

= (GPU) $2510.

Thanks, everyone

crimsonstag84 said:Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm

Wait, what?!

That’s an interesting link, and honestly, the price is practically nothing—it's just a shame there aren't any actual reviews out there.

crimsonstag84 said:That’s a mess... cheap motherboard, overpriced CPU, weak GPU for what it costs, and a bottom-tier power supply.

Sapphire R9 390 nitro, Tri-X OC, lite 8GB GDDR5
Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm
Patriot SSD Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5" PB120GS25SSDR
AeroCool case gt Advance Black edition
Intel Core I5 4460 Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury
Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, 8GB Black HX318C10FB/8
ASR B85M-DGS motherboard
Fortron Raider sa PSU 650W

Total: $2484(cards) Centro

way to go 😁
it's a pretty nice build 👍

Wait a second, why wouldn't we just go with Skylake like we put together for my buddy a while back? In the end, we were looking at roughly $7,300 either way. You get a newer platform and it's practically the same price for a bit more speed.

MSI B150 motherboard - $50 more
i5 6500 - $83 more
8GB Crucial DDR4 - $33 more

If I want to stay within budget, this probably goes on the credit card 😉

Thanks again; I think I’ll go ahead with your suggestion. I just wanted to follow up and ask which specific motherboard and processor models you recommend, though I assume the setup at Centro would be identical.

For Skylake? I'd probably go with an MSI B150($199) paired with two sticks of Crucial DDR4 2133MHz(2x$73).

My thanks to everyone once again.

Hey everyone, I'm looking to put together a gaming rig. I'm mainly aiming for something around the $1100 spec. Any recommendations on what kind of case
would work best?

Thanks! 🙏🙏👏👏🙂

It's a bit over budget. You could always hold off on the cooler for now and pick it up later when you have more cash. It'll survive on the stock cooler, though it’s going to be pretty loud.

1 x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-S1, AMD A68H, 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM
1 x AMD Athlon ii x4 860 Processor 3.70GHz 4cores,cache : 4MB
1 x 8GB DDR3 Kingston, Value, 1600MHz, CL11, KVR16N11/8
1 x Toshiba P300 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
1 x Fortron 400W, Hexa plus 400 w Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, 12cm fan
1 x MS KNIGHT midi tower case without PSU
1 x XFX R7-265A-CNF4, Core Radeon R7 265 925M Boost 2GB DDR5
1 x LC Power Cosmo Cool, 92 mm, Hydraulic bearing, 800-2200 rpm,

$1142 admin.us

MSI Main board desktop AMD A68H
AMD CPU Kaveri Athlon x4 840 (3.1GHz,4MB,65W,FM2+) box
Toshiba P300 1TB, 64MB, 7200rpm
MS ARMOR case without power supply
Fortron power supply Hexa plus 400 w Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury
Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury, 1866MHz, 8GB Black HX318C10FB/8
Inno3D GeForce GTX950 2GB, INO-N950-1DDV-E5CMX

Total: $1114 Centro

That Centro is an absolute steal. Definitely the smarter move; the 950 is miles ahead of the 265, and you can get it for barely more than a weaker processor. 👍

Hey everyone, could someone help me put together a parts list? My budget is around $2000 (keeping it under $2167, please) and I don't need a monitor included in the build.
I'm planning on just paying cash at the shop.

1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8300WMHK
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x Sapphire R9 390 nitro, Tri-X OC, 8GB GDDR5, 512 bit
1 x Fortron 650W Raider sa, RA650, 12cm ventilator, Act PFC
1 x LC Power Cosmo Cool, 92 mm, Hydraulic bearing, 800-2200 rpm,

$2092 ADM

1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8300 3.3GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8300WMHK
1 x 8GB (1x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3, 1866MHz, CL10
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, SATA III, 7200 rpm, ST1000DM003
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. Standard size
1 x Fortron 650W Raider sa, RA650, 12cm fan, Active PFC
1 x Gigabyte R9 390 G1 Gaming 8GB, GDDR5 512 bit, PCI Express x16
1 x CoolerMaster Hyper TX3
$2089

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