$800 build for gaming + audio/photo/(some)video editing

[matt44]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but after doing a bunch of research, I wanted to post my build on a forum. I'm a hoping few more eyes will catch something I might have missed.

What are your thoughts?

USE: gaming, audio recording + editing, occasional video + photo editing
BUDGET: $800
OC: I plan on it.
Country: Canada

Store: mainly canada computers

CPU: FX-6300 - $135
MOBO: GA-970A-UD3 - $100
GPU: 7870 XT - $230
HSF: 212 EVO - $35 OR THERMALTAKE FRIO - $60
CASE: Fractal R4 - $115
HDD : WD Blue 1 TB - $70
SSD : A friend's 64gb - free
PSU: Corsair CX600M Modular Bronze - $55
RAM: Kingston hyperX blue (2x4gb) DDR3 1600MHz - $65

TOTAL: $805

 

[Essence_of_War]

What sort of games do you plan on playing and at what resolutions?

While you're at it, you might as well consider answering the questions here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=24043454&postcount=1

You've already answered a bunch of them, but it might be helpful to fill in, and organize the info.

 

[Termie]

Welcome to the forums, matt44! That's a good build for your purposes.

The only thing I'd change is the motherboard - while it's certainly a good board, it's a lot of money to spend on an AMD 970 motherboard. I'd suggest the MSI 970A-G46. Also keep in mind that the FX-6300 has just been replaced by the FX-6350, so make sure you get a discounted price on the 6300, otherwise buy the 6350.

And you don't need a $60 cooler for this system. The 212 Evo will be more than sufficient.

By the way, don't forget an OS if you don't already have one.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Y
nt
intel?

 

[Termie]

Y
nt
intel?

Because he said $800, not $850.

 

[matt44]

Because he said $800, not $850.

I liked the fx6300 better at the price ($135). If I went intel, I'd probably want to buy a 3470 and the mobo would be more expensive as well.

should I be worried about fitting all of this in the case?

I'll be playing a mix of games--old and new. Hoping to run BF3 and BF4. Just have an old-ish monitor (BENQ). not sure about resolution.

 

[Termie]

I liked the fx6300 better at the price ($135). If I went intel, I'd probably want to buy a 3470 and the mobo would be more expensive as well.

should I be worried about fitting all of this in the case?

I'll be playing a mix of games--old and new. Hoping to run BF3 and BF4. Just have an old-ish monitor (BENQ). not sure about resolution.

For BF4, I'd consider investing in the i5-3470. It will perform a lot better than the FX-6350. You can always go with a B75 motherboard for around $70. The AMD motherboards really aren't any cheaper, although they may have a few more ports for the money.

And that case is plenty big - in fact, if you're trying to save money, I'd go with something a lot cheaper, and maybe a bit smaller too, like the Corsair 200R. That would leave you with enough extra cash to get the 3470 and still stay under $800.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I was about to suggest the 200R!

I think you're using a lot of your budget on a case, the 200R is a solid case for a very reasonable price. Savings that can be better spent making your rig better at gaming or editing.

 

[matt44]

Cool. Thanks for the tips.

I was thinking the R4 because noise can be an issue if I'm recording audio (home recording set-up).

I'm really unsure of fx-6300 vs i5-3470 vs i5-3570k

The 3470 seems like an awkward choice to me because (from what I understand) it doesn't overclock well, compared to 6300 and 3570k. I then figure if I'm going intel, might as well go 3570k OC which futureproofs me a bit.

And while I'm at it, do I wait for Haswell?

hmm

 

[zaydq]

Dumb down the case and get an i5. AMD really is not worth looking at unless you're on an extremely tight budget. You'll notice the difference in both games and everything else.

The i5 3470 will still smack around the fx6300.

 

[mfenn]

Cool. Thanks for the tips.

I was thinking the R4 because noise can be an issue if I'm recording audio (home recording set-up).

I'm really unsure of fx-6300 vs i5-3470 vs i5-3570k

The 3470 seems like an awkward choice to me because (from what I understand) it doesn't overclock well, compared to 6300 and 3570k. I then figure if I'm going intel, might as well go 3570k OC which futureproofs me a bit.

And while I'm at it, do I wait for Haswell?

hmm

The case is a great choice since you need to keep the noise down. You also don't want to be overclocking a PC that you want to keep quiet. It's certainly possible to get a quiet OC, but that requires spending a bunch on cooling. So really, I think the i5 3470 makes good sense.

 

[Cerb]

I was thinking the R4 because noise can be an issue if I'm recording audio (home recording set-up).

In that case, also choose an Intel CPU. Less Watts -> less noise.

I would also go straight for a Seasonic S12 for PSU, and get a nice big CPU heatsink, or one with a quiet fan. A Thermalright Macho would be your best bet, but they can be hard to find. Second, a Scythe Ninja, but they are also drying up in North America. A Xigmatek Gaia is good option that's readily available, as is their Dark Knight II. Or, get a CM Hyper212+ Evo, and replace the fan, allowing for a lower RPM floor. Without overclocking, I doubt cooling an i5 with low RPMs would be a problem (and, you could just let the mobo handle figuring out the right RPM, anyway). The Gaia would be the best bang/buck option, IMO.

 

[Zeze]

1. I'm pretty sure AMD is quite awful at games vs Intel in last 5 years+ at same price. My older Phenom X3 with 4th core unlocked and OC'd to 3.3 Ghz from 2.5 Ghz is MUCH slower than my new i3-2120 (dualcore 3.2Ghz). I learned that clock speed and cores mean nothing. At same price range, Intel outperforms vastly. It's just a sad fact today coming from a hardcore AMD lover of XP-1800 days.

2. I don't know why people spend so much $$$ on cases. I always buy the cheapest possible ($20-40) and they are plenty of super sleek and functional ones. This gives you extra $70-80 to play with. I have something similar like this. Looks great, works great. Why spend $115 on a casing?

Found the one I have. I disabled the blue light in front. Metal-mesh is classy as hell. A nice standard size too.

3. If you're not going to overclock, don't waste another $35-60 on a third party heatsink. The stock fans do a great job. And today's CPU OCing is just not worth it- you get 10%~ improvement at best? And you're spending extra 30-50%!!! of the CPU cost? Madness. Why not spend that $60 to get a real next step-up CPU for real performance?

4. Consider getting 16GB of RAM since RAM is cheap, rather than throwing all this money at heatsink and case.

Lots of unfocused parts. You can build a much faster build with same $800 budget.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html Check the latest CPU hierarchy. The i5-3470 blows the any of the FX AMD can offer. They don't even have a tier to compete in it. With $100-130 saved from case/heatsink, you can get a beast of a processor that actually contributes to your performance.

 

[FearfulSPARTAN]

1. I'm pretty sure AMD is quite awful at games vs Intel in last 5 years+ at same price. My older Phenom X3 with 4th core unlocked and OC'd to 3.3 Ghz from 2.5 Ghz is MUCH slower than my new i3-2120 (dualcore 3.2Ghz). I learned that clock speed and cores mean nothing. At same price range, Intel outperforms vastly. It's just a sad fact today coming from a hardcore AMD lover of XP-1800 days.

2. I don't know why people spend so much $$$ on cases. I always buy the cheapest possible ($20-40) and they are plenty of super sleek and functional ones. This gives you extra $70-80 to play with. I have something similar like this. Looks great, works great. Why spend $115 on a casing?

Found the one I have. I disabled the blue light in front. Metal-mesh is classy as hell. A nice standard size too.

3. If you're not going to overclock, don't waste another $35-60 on a third party heatsink. The stock fans do a great job. And today's CPU OCing is just not worth it- you get 10%~ improvement at best? And you're spending extra 30-50%!!! of the CPU cost? Madness. Why not spend that $60 to get a real next step-up CPU for real performance?

4. Consider getting 16GB of RAM since RAM is cheap, rather than throwing all this money at heatsink and case.

Lots of unfocused parts. You can build a much faster build with same $800 budget.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html Check the latest CPU hierarchy. The i5-3470 blows the any of the FX AMD can offer. They don't even have a tier to compete in it. With $100-130 saved from case/heatsink, you can get a beast of a processor that actually contributes to your performance.

I would like to point out that ram has gone up lately, quite a bit actually.

 

[matt44]

Cool thanks for the input, everyone!

Considering everything, I've changed tacks. Major differences: intel XEON, no HSF and cheaper case, all for only $15 more.


CPU: INTEL XEON E3-1230 v2 - $240
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H - $90
GPU: 7870 XT - $230
CASE: Corsair 200r - $70
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 1 TB - $70
SSD : A friend's 64gb - free
PSU: Corsair CX600M Modular Bronze - $55
RAM: Kingston hyperX blue (2x4gb) DDR3 1600MHz - $65

TOTAL: $820

 

[matt44]

a bit more info:

Decided to go for XEON E3-1230 v2, after some research in value intel chips. Ivy bridge, quad core with hyperthreading at 3.3 ghz with 3.7 turbo. Plus no integrated graphics, so it'll run cooler (69W) and quieter (which helps justify the cheaper, and I'm assuming nosier, case in the 200r). And lastly: no OC, so I save $35 on HSF.

 

[Termie]

a bit more info:

Decided to go for XEON E3-1230 v2, after some research in value intel chips. Ivy bridge, quad core with hyperthreading at 3.3 ghz with 3.7 turbo. Plus no integrated graphics, so it'll run cooler (69W) and quieter (which helps justify the cheaper, and I'm assuming nosier, case in the 200r). And lastly: no OC, so I save $35 on HSF.

That's a good choice for your purposes.

But let me point out one thing - you are going to be really let down in your quest for low noise and low heat if you go with the 7870 XT. Some of the models have very noisy coolers, and they all produce a lot of heat, far more heat than cards with similar performance. That's because it's a bit of a runt card, rejected from the HD7970 assembly line, and requires a lot of voltage to run.

I'd suggest you either go with the extremely quiet Sapphire HD7870 (non-XT), or a Sapphire HD7950. One will save you a bit of money, the other will cost you about $50 extra. Both are better choices than the 7870 XT.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I'd suggest you either go with the extremely quiet Sapphire HD7870 (non-XT), or a Sapphire HD7950. One will save you a bit of money, the other will cost you about $50 extra. Both are better choices than the 7870 XT.

Agree. If you're willing to spend a little more the ASUS DirectCU2's are excellent, but more expensive then others. I'm very happy with my own HD7870, but I got an excellent deal on it. With a little OC its equal to an XT, but with less heat and less power consumption.

 

[matt44]

Agree. If you're willing to spend a little more the ASUS DirectCU2's are excellent, but more expensive then others. I'm very happy with my own HD7870, but I got an excellent deal on it. With a little OC its equal to an XT, but with less heat and less power consumption.

Roger. I found an ASUS DirectCU2 7870 2gb for $230 (after an, uhg, mail in rebate, but I'll take it).

At the same price as the saphire 7870 xt, looks like the ASUS might be the better option.

 

[Termie]

Roger. I found an ASUS DirectCU2 7870 2gb for $230 (after an, uhg, mail in rebate, but I'll take it).

At the same price as the saphire 7870 xt, looks like the ASUS might be the better option.

The Asus DirectCU2 cooler is the quietest cooler on the market. Good choice, and good suggestion by Insert_Nickname.

 

[Cerb]

2. I don't know why people spend so much $$$ on cases. I always buy the cheapest possible ($20-40) and they are plenty of super sleek and functional ones. This gives you extra $70-80 to play with. I have something similar like this. Looks great, works great. Why spend $115 on a casing?

No baffling, no dampening, and no drive rails. If one goes all SSD, drive mounting can be ignored. The Corsair 200R isn't bad. The OP can probably tape off the side vents (masking tape on the inside), and do OK. People spend on cases, sometimes, for aesthetics. But also because some cases offer features and performance that others do not.

3. If you're not going to overclock, don't waste another $35-60 on a third party heatsink. The stock fans do a great job. And today's CPU OCing is just not worth it- you get 10%~ improvement at best? And you're spending extra 30-50%!!! of the CPU cost? Madness. Why not spend that $60 to get a real next step-up CPU for real performance?

Same reason as a case: you want to hear as little of the PC as possible in those recordings. Nothing, preferably, but that would be over budget by a long shot, or too low-performing. OEM HSFs aren't what they used to be, but they're still not nearly as quiet as what you get with 3rd-party options. I spent my paragraph on that assuming that overclocking would not even be possible (B75), much less attempted.

 

[Zeze]

No baffling, no dampening, and no drive rails. If one goes all SSD, drive mounting can be ignored. The Corsair 200R isn't bad. The OP can probably tape off the side vents (masking tape on the inside), and do OK. People spend on cases, sometimes, for aesthetics. But also because some cases offer features and performance that others do not.

Same reason as a case: you want to hear as little of the PC as possible in those recordings. Nothing, preferably, but that would be over budget by a long shot, or too low-performing. OEM HSFs aren't what they used to be, but they're still not nearly as quiet as what you get with 3rd-party options. I spent my paragraph on that assuming that overclocking would not even be possible (B75), much less attempted.

My i3-2120 with HD6850 and HDD is quite as hell in that case. This comes from a stickler for quiet PCs. First 18 months, I couldn't even tell if it was on. And it runs very very cool.

Are aftermarket fans meant for silence? The ones I have are no different/louder than OEM, just provide better cooling for OCing. I had Coolermaster Hyper 212+ in my old PC. It was okay at best. The biggest offender of noise was from GPU, aging HDD & mobo, not CPU fan.

In OP's case, it's not the matter of getting product A vs B. It's about spending more just to get nothing (case & fan). Today's PC's run very quiet and FREE OEM fans perform beautifully.

 

[Cerb]

My i3-2120 with HD6850 and HDD is quite as hell in that case. This comes from a stickler for quiet PCs. First 18 months, I couldn't even tell if it was on. And it runs very very cool.

Are aftermarket fans meant for silence? The ones I have are no different/louder than OEM, just provide better cooling for OCing. I had Coolermaster Hyper 212+ in my old PC. It was okay at best. The biggest offender of noise was from GPU, aging HDD & mobo, not CPU fan.

In OP's case, it's not the matter of getting product A vs B. It's about spending more just to get nothing (case & fan). Today's PC's run very quiet and FREE OEM fans perform beautifully.

At idle, they do, but I can't say I have the same experience for under load, with an i5.

P.S. No Cooler Master fan yet made could be considered even remotely quiet, IMO. Since replacing the fan on a 212+ costs as much as it does for a good one, I previously used to recommend going with a TRUE, TR Macho (or cheaper old-stock HR-01/02), or Scythe Ninja, instead. With Thermalright's available models being spotty, these days, and Scythe NA closing, I know of far fewer really quiet options, without breaking budgets. There are very few affordable heatsinks with provisions for very slow, or no, fans. The little holes in the fins, and wider fin spacing, make a huge difference.

For just the fans, Arctic Cooling, Nexus, Xigmatek, and Bitfenix (I'm pretty sure a couple models are the same as some Scythes) offer fairly quiet fans, though I'm not sure what the best (quietest at lowest settings, while cooling the PC under load) are, w/o undervolting, ATM (any with a sub-1000 RPM minimum, and 4-pin PWM support, aught to be suitable, at least). I got really used to having Scythe's fans available . The Nexus YLs are probably the quietest to start, but every sleeve YL I've ever had has gotten noticeably louder, over time. Arctic Cooling's are probably better long-term, but they are costing more, lately, too. There are others, too, but they often get you into the $20+/ea. territory.

The video card is also a problem, but a passive one will sacrifice performance, and push the cooling needs off to the case, while a 3rd-party cooler would be risky (voids warranty, so any screw-up becomes expensive), and add $60-100 to the budget. IME, Asus and Sapphire do a good job of not having fans that whine or buzz at idle, so that's at least an OK compromise. FI, Powercolor is to have a 7850 passive soon, and aside from that, a HD 7750 or GT 640 are the best options, w/o 3rd-party coolers, at least to my knowledge.

 

[mfenn]

My i3-2120 with HD6850 and HDD is quite as hell in that case. This comes from a stickler for quiet PCs. First 18 months, I couldn't even tell if it was on. And it runs very very cool.

You must have a very different definition of quiet than I do. The stock Intel cooler is indeed fairly quiet at idle, but it is instantly noticeable in a quiet room (like a recording studio). At load? Fuggeddaboudit.

Are aftermarket fans meant for silence?. The ones I have are no different/louder than OEM, just provide better cooling for OCing. I had Coolermaster Hyper 212+ in my old PC. It was okay at best. The biggest offender of noise was from GPU, aging HDD & mobo, not CPU fan.

Aftermarket HSF are a huge group, so you can't paint them all with a broad brush. There are some that are build for quiet operation and some that are built for all-out performance.

However, the general rule of thumb is that fans are like engine blocks, "there's no replacement for displacement". All else being equal, the bigger fan on a tower cooler will move more air at the same RPM. Conversely, it can move the same amount of air at a lower RPM.

In OP's case, it's not the matter of getting product A vs B. It's about spending more just to get nothing (case & fan). Today's PC's run very quiet and FREE OEM fans perform beautifully.

I disagree with this statement. For the OP's use case (audio recording) being quiet enough is a core requirement.

 

[matt44]

ok update:

I bought all the parts and built it today! .... buuut:

In the process, the main problem was connecting the 24-pin ATX power cable from the PSU to the motherboard. Every single cable slid in easily and snapped in place, except this one. It took a good 20 minutes of fighting and I've managed to gently shove it in, but it's not quite in all the way (it hasn't snapped into place, and it certainly hasn't been smooth). OTOH, the computer seems to be running fine (as I install my OS).

Is this a problem?

TL;DR : My 24-pin ATX cable is mostly in the motherboard socket, but not quite. Is this safe/ok?

many thanks