New PC build!

Hey guys, I'd love to get some feedback on this build I'm putting together.
SSD $149
HDD $148
Case $47
Motherboard $221
CPU $368
GPU $505
RAM $212
PSU $139
$1789

rustymarlin20 said:I'd love to get some feedback on this build.
http://www.newegg.com/ssd-example ssd $149
http://www.newegg.com/hdd-example hdd $148
http://www.newegg.com/case-example case $47
http://www.newegg.com/mb-example mb $221
http://www.newegg.com/cpu-example cpu $368
http://www.newegg.com/gpu-example gpu $505
http://www.newegg.com/ram-example ram $212
http://www.newegg.com/psu-example psu $139
$1789

Don't fall for that Corsair series; it's basically their budget line. That SSD isn't great either—you're better off going with an Intel Core i5 520. Also, you absolutely need an aftermarket cooler because the stock one won't handle the 8320. Here's what I'd pick up from Best Buy:

1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz,16MB,125W,AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA100 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm ,92mm
1 x MS PHOENIX case without PSU, Midi tower MBO: ATX, mATX
1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933M
1 x Intel Core i5 520 2.5", SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x XFX 550 w Easy rail Bronze PSU

$1814

rustymarlin20 said:I need some feedback on this build.
http://www.newegg.com/ssd-drive...s37a120g/64636 ssd $149
http://www.newegg.com/hdd-drive...m-10ezex/61153 hdd $148
http://www.newegg.com/pc-case...l-wo-psu/69003 case $47
http://www.newegg.com/motherboard...5a97-r20/61754 mb $221
http://www.newegg.com/cpu-processor...-am3-box/64129 cpu $368
http://www.newegg.com/gpu-card...i-2x-dvi/83159 gpu $505
http://www.newegg.com/ram-memory...c10fbk28/84137 ram $212
http://www.newegg.com/power-supply...020097eu/85003 psu $139
$1789

With that CPU, you absolutely have to grab an aftermarket cooler. The stock one won't cut it. Your GPU and CPU are basically little space heaters, and if you actually want them to last, you need a case with decent airflow. That cheap tin box you picked isn't going to do the job, and neither will any other budget junk.

Looks like your budget is around $550. You aren't going to squeeze in a decent AMD cooler and a proper case with that amount.

Here’s how I’d do it:

1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+ FD8320FRHK
1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933M
1 x Fortron Hyper 700 w Raider, RA550, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, SATA III, 7200 rpm, Desktop SSHD with 8GB SSD
1 x ASUS M5A97 R2.0, AM3, AM3+, AMD 970, SB950, BUS 5200 MHz, DDR3
1 x Zalman CNPS 5X Performa, socket 775/1155/1156/AM2/AM2/AM3

$1785
You get a solid motherboard and a cooler capable of overclocking, plus a case with actual airflow. The main change is swapping the standalone SSD for a hybrid drive. You get the massive capacity of an HDD but with that small built-in SSD for caching programs and games you play often. It speeds up loading times without sacrificing storage.

1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933M
1 x Fortron Hyper 550w Raider, RA550, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard
1 x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Seagate 1TB HDD, Serial ATA III, 7200 rpm, DESKTOP SSHD, 8GB SSD
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H, Socket : 1150, Intel B85

$1784
Or if you aren't planning on overclocking, just stick with the Intel route.🙂

The guy wanted an SSD, so I gave him an SSD. It isn't a Phoenix Zalman, but I still think it could work fine alongside the Spire. By "work," I mean it should keep temperatures within a normal range, and what else does he really need? Personally, I wouldn't sacrifice an SSD just to get a slightly better motherboard or case; adding an SSD is where he’ll actually feel the difference. 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:The guy wanted an SSD, so I gave him an SSD. It isn't a Phoenix Zalman, but I think it’ll hold its own alongside the Spire. By that, I mean it should keep temperatures within a normal range, and what else does he actually need? Personally, I wouldn't trade an SSD just to get a fancier motherboard or case; he's going to feel the difference with the SSD way more. 🙂

I'd toss that case into a build worth about two bucks and call it a day.

I was working on it the other day and man, the build quality is trash. The metal casing is flimsy as hell—it twists right under my hands. I ended up with deep cuts on my hands like I went looking for trouble with a knife. So yeah, thanks for nothing. 😳

An SSD won't do squat for your gaming performance. You aren't getting more FPS, you aren't getting better frame times—nothing. It just makes Windows boot faster and gets you into a game quicker. That's it.
Good cooling will definitely pay off. It keeps the rig from overheating and helps everything last longer. 😁

It could work with a Zalman cooler too.

1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933M
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2, cooler, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Intel 520 2.5, 120GB, SATA III-600, R/W:550/520MB/s
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA100, 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. ATX standard

Total:$1821 Best Buy, includes free assembly and shipping!
Now you've actually got a decent chassis to work with.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:I wouldn't put that case in a build costing even a couple of bucks... that's it.

I worked with one of those cases a few days ago, and man, the quality is garbage. The metal is flimsy, and I actually cut my hands on the edges like I was using a knife on purpose, so yeah, thanks but no thanks. 😳

An SSD isn't going to do anything for his gaming performance—it won't give him more FPS or anything else... the only thing it'll do is make Windows boot faster and games load quicker, and that's about it...
He’ll definitely get some use out of decent cooling, though, since his PC won't overheat and will last longer. 😁

How many times have we been over this? 🙂 Yeah, an SSD won't boost gaming performance, no, it won't add a single frame per second anywhere, just faster loading times. But we've all collectively agreed that an HDD is the most outdated component in any PC, so an SSD is always a win if it fits the budget, because you'll feel the difference in the overall system responsiveness, not just during boot-up.

You worked with that case and messed up your hands, but he isn't going to be messing around with it; it'll be delivered fully assembled and ready to go, and everything will work fine. You can't argue otherwise. Look, it might not be the highest-end case, but it's good enough to hold everything together. He can just grab one or two fans later to get some airflow, and boom, he's set, plus he'll already have the SSD. Personally, I'd rather go with that option than spend more on a better motherboard or cooler just for potential overclocking (which wasn't even requested, and it wasn't framed that way to begin with). 🙂

Dennis Carter3 said:You could also do it with the Zalman

1 x XFX R9-280A-TDFD, double Dissipation edition Radeon R9 280 933M
1 x AMD FX-Series X8 8320 Processor 3.5GHz, 16MB, 125W, AM3+, FD8320FRHK
1 x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+, AMD 970 SB950, 4x DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866
1 x Spire Kepler Rev.2, heatsink, 1156/775/FM1, 96.5×51×125 mm, 92mm
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Crucial, 1600MHz CL11
1 x Fortron Hyper 500W Power Supply, PPA5005003, 12cm fan
1 x Intel 520 2.5" SSD, SATA III-600, R/W: 550/520MB/s
1 x Toshiba DT01ACA100 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB
1 x Zalman Z1 mid tower case. 199(W)x432(H)x457(D)mm. MB standard

Total:$1821 Amazon, free assembly and shipping!
Now you've got a quality case too.

I went with the Fortron Hyper first, which allowed the Zalman to fit without blowing the budget, but neither the 8320 nor the 280 are low power users. I think the Fortron Hyper will hold up, but still...

Adam Moore3 said:I actually went with the Fortron Hyper myself back in the day—it was the sensible choice when Zalman was also an option without breaking the bank—but let's be honest, neither the FX-Series X8 8320 nor the R9 280 are exactly known for being power-sippers. I suspect the Hyper will hold up, but one can't be too careful...

If an XFX 550 w Easy rail Bronze can reliably handle an FX 83 xx & R9 290 combo—which pulls significantly more juice than an R9 280—then I don't see any reason to be skeptical here. This Hyper 500w should manage just fine; if anything, there'll probably be some headroom left over.

Dennis Carter3 said:If an XFX pro 550w can clearly handle an FX 83 xx & R9 290—which pulls way more power than an R9 280—I don't see why anyone is being skeptical here. This Hyper 500w will handle it just fine and still have some breathing room left over.

Wait, who’s even talking about XFX? XFX makes beastly power supplies—basically repackaged Seasonic units—so of course it’ll hold up. But the Fortron Hyper is a different story; it isn't Seasonic, nor is it anywhere near that level of quality. I'm not saying it won't work, but for a build with this kind of power draw, you really should be looking at something beefier and higher quality.

XFX is an absolute beast when it comes to component quality and stability, though I guess their efficiency and voltage regulation aren't quite up to par—but then again, this design is about seven years old now.

The Hyper model uses slightly lower-grade capacitors, but everything else is pretty much identical. For $23, you might want to grab the Hyper 700 w instead, just in case there's some overclocking involved.

The Fortron Hyper is pretty much in the same league as the CX v2 series—it gets the job done and should be plenty for an FX & R9 280 setup. Besides, when you eventually swap out the GPU, you'll likely move toward something more efficient since power draw drops every year—just look at Nvidia Kepler. That said, if the price gap is tiny, honestly, why not just grab the slightly beefier Raider? It’s a solid move.

XFX can handle the FX 83xx & R9 290, sure, but I wouldn't recommend it for a long-term build like that because it can pull north of 560W under full load. Obviously, you won't hit that while actually gaming—you're looking at maybe 400-450W—but even that feels pushing it. The fan is going to be screaming at high RPMs (I've seen units totally die because they weren't meant for that kind of stress), plus it’s loud and the unit itself is going to run way too hot.

Regarding the Phoenix flat NHF—look, I've put together tons of builds in that case and, honestly, I don't think there's a better chassis out there right now until you get to $50. It's one of the few MSI cases with rounded edges so you won't slice your hands open, and while people complain about the side panels bending on expensive cases, that's nothing new. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be, either—there are Cooler Master cases around the $300 mark—$133that have it way worse. The only real gripe with this case is that the HDD bay isn't super sturdy, so depending on which drive you use, you might deal with some annoying vibrations. But yeah, I agree, there's really no point in overthinking it with these types of builds when you can just go with a budget Zalman 😉

If someone really wants an SSD, they should just toss in another $67 and build a decent, honest rig instead of trying to cram everything in without a plan:

AMD FX-Series X8 8320
Cooler Master CC 95
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
Crucial 8GB 1600 MHz
Intel Core i5 2.5 120 GB SSD SATA 3
Toshiba DT01ACA100 3.5 1TB SATA 3
MSI R9 280 3GB TF IV GAMING OC
Fortron Hyper 550W 80+ Silver
Zalman Z1 MIDI USB 3.0 ATX

- Also, why not just pick the MSI model with the better warranty?
- If the total is getting too high, you can easily swap in a 1TB SSHD. They're the sweet spot for gaming builds since they give you a noticeable boost over a standard hard drive. That brings the price down to $1757.

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P

AMD FX-Series X8 8320
Spire Kepler Rev.2 cooler
Intel 520 2.5" SSD 120 GB
Toshiba DT01ACA100 1TB 3.5''
Patriot Signature, 1333Mhz, 8GB
XFX 550 w Easy rail Bronze, XFX-P1 TS
Arcadia Black Raijintek case
Arcadio Black XFX AMD Radeon R9 280A 3GB TDFD
$1814

Hey guys, thanks for looking out. I'll try my best to weigh everyone's advice. I've put some rigs together before, so I know a thing or two, but honestly, life gets busy and I haven't done it in a minute.
So, here's the deal: this build is for a buddy from work. He’s a total newbie when it comes to PC hardware, but he’s obsessed with playing BF3 on his laptop. He keeps complaining about the FPS being trash—basically says it looks like a damn slideshow. I told him if he actually wants to game seriously, he needs a desktop, so he asked me to put something together for around $1833.
Since I'm a bit out of the loop with how much performance has jumped with modern parts lately, I figured I'd ask you guys for help. Really appreciate it! Cheers

P.S. Oh, and regarding cases... personally, I don't think a fancy case is even that big of a deal. I once ran an open setup with a lady's stocking over the fan and had zero temp issues, even while rocking a Phenom 955 and a Radeon 6850. I used to have this super expensive, high-end case, but I ended up giving it to my girlfriend and she's still using it.

P.P.S. Just found out he isn't planning on pulling the trigger for another 3 or 4 months. So, prices will probably drop by then and some newer gear might even hit the shelves.