Another first time pc builder

[NewGuy.]

Hello,
Just to preface, I'm brand new to working with the insides of computers. My laptop died and I want to upgrade from my Xbox to a gaming pc. I want to learn how to build one. I live in the us and would just be ordering my parts online. I'm not a huge gamer but I want this machine to be able to run skyrim, maybe elder scrolls online, and assassins creed unity (when it comes out) at high levels. (Again, sorry I don't know the technical term yet but I want to be able to turn up the graphics without killing the computer) I'm looking at the 600 ish dollar build from lifehacker here; http://lifehacker.com/5840963/the-best-pcs-you-can-build-for-600-and-1200 (let me know if this is an outdated or impractical build for what I'm doing) I don't have a monitor or any other parts/accessories so I'd be buying those too. Is it possible to add a cd/DVD drive to this build so I could use it as a tv as well? If so what would be compatible with the parts? I know operating systems are a touchy subject but I'm planning on just buying windows (si/no?)
I know you guys get 20 of these a day. So thanks for your patience.

Pretty much what I'm asking is could this build run AC unity?

The case: NZXT Source 210 Elite
The CPU: AMD FX-6300 Six-Core 3.5GHz AM3+ Processor
The motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard
The memory: G.SKILL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 RAM
The storage: Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB Hard Drive
The graphics card: AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB Video Card/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 3GB

If this works I'm planning on building fairly soon. Thanks.

 

[inachu]

I tried to be an AMD fanboy but I converted to INTEL just because if you truly want slick smooth cpu performance then its better to get an i7.

Past 15 years been using AMD but I am a true intel convert now.
But other than cpu type also make sure your front side bus is fast as well.
I've seen quite a few motherboards touted as a gaming motherboard but had a slow front side bus(FSB) So let that also be an indicator on your preference list.

 

[Yuriman]

A quick google search reveals that you probably won't need more than a Radeon R265 to max out the new Assassin's Creed, so long as you aren't running an extreme resolution or wanting high levels of anti-aliasing. I have played Skyrim and Elder Scrolls online with my 7850 (effectively the same as a 265) and they run butter smooth at max settings. A 280 or 760 will be plenty and provide you with the ability to run fairly high settings in games for several years.

EDIT: You might consider getting a used card, if you're comfortable with that. It appears you can get a HD7950, which is based on the same chip as the 280, for about $120 on eBay, unopened, and you may be able to do better than that in the classifieds on this forum.

If able to increase the budget, the logical upgrades would be a solid state drive and a Haswell i5, in that order. A solid state drive will dramatically improve your experience, and you can get a fair sized one (~250GB) for around $100. An i5 won't be leaps and bounds better than an FX-6300 in everyday use, but it is faster and the platform (chipset) is much newer and has some goodies like better SATA and USB controllers, PCI-express 3.0, etc.

Do you have a power supply picked out?

As for the CD/DVD drive, you can get a nice burner for under $20 shipped. Newegg has external blu-ray drives for as little as $20 too. All you need to worry about as far as compatibility is concerned, is that the interface is SATA (or USB for an external).

 

[NewGuy.]

Ok, I'll look at INTEL. Are there any compatible cpu's around the same price point (100+some change) that would give me better performance?

 

[Yuriman]

Ok, I'll look at INTEL. Are there any compatible cpu's around the same price point (100+some change) that would give me better performance?

A Core i3 is your only choice at that price point. The i3 is considerably faster core-per-core, but it's a dual core with hyperthreading (2+2) vs a 6 core, so the i3 will win in poorly threaded loads by a lot against an unoverclocked FX-6300, while the FX will win by a lot in anything that can utilize all of its cores. The 6300 is probably on average a better performer, especially if you overclock, but I don't think you'd be unhappy with either.

That said, I picked an i3 for my wife's computer due to our living space. I won't overclock her computer, and since we're doing the studio apartment thing, heat output is a real factor for our comfort. i3's make a lot less heat than FX's.

 

[Cerb]

I'm not a huge gamer but I want this machine to be able to run skyrim, maybe elder scrolls online, and assassins creed unity (when it comes out) at high levels.

TBH, you could probably go lower than the 280 and be alright. Given the GTX 970's performance, and that the 960 is mere weeks away, I'd recommend waiting, and seeing what it brings, as they may have something good for ~$200. Or, as mentioned, go used. Since fans can age poorly, and you don't always know if a given card has been abused, I don't like used video cards, myself, though.

I don't have a monitor or any other parts/accessories so I'd be buying those too.

Try to get a flicker-free (non-PWM) monitor, with low input lag. Several review sites test for both things.

Is it possible to add a cd/DVD drive to this build so I could use it as a tv as well? If so what would be compatible with the parts?

Yes. Just get a cheap one that's got good reviews. If you're not getting BD, it shouldn't be more than $20.

But, ripping and playing DVDs, FI, will require additional software.

The CPU: AMD FX-6300 Six-Core 3.5GHz AM3+ Processor
The motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard

Look at an i3-4160 (or better) and ASRock H97M Anniversary. Your general game choices don't seem to be those that will better suit AMD.

Also, you can save a few bucks by getting 1x8GB RAM, usually, and it will make no difference with a video card.

 

[mfenn]

You're missing out on a few of the questions posted in the sticky, most notably your budget and what needs to be included in that budget.

 

[NewGuy.]

There's not really a set in stone budget. From what I've read on gaming computers you can pretty much spend every penny in any budget and still have more you could upgrade. $600 is doable for the actual computer. It seems like after about $500 you get into an area of diminishing returns (tell me if I've misinterpreted the articles) I'm defiantly shooting for less than $1000 on the whole set up. If the tower comes in at ~600 that leaves money for a decent monitor at about 1 or 200, mouse, keyboard, etc (maybe even money left over for a used desk since I don't have one. (Just moved.))
it seems like, more or less this build will hit close to what I would like it to be able to do. Some minor changes here and there.

Thanks for the advice yuriman I'm planning on using a corsair cx 600w

Thanks everyone for all the imput. It's very helpful.

 

[Cerb]

If your budget is flexible, get a Core i5, and an SSD.

 

[Yuriman]

After sitting on it for a bit, I'd recommend this board and this processor. It's difficult to recommend an i3 for $20 more than the FX, but it's very adequate for gaming and a good match for a R280 or GTX760, and if you decided to overclock the FX you'd spend more than $20 on a cooler. You could arguably go with a cheaper Pentium chip, or a more expensive i5, but an i3 will be adequate for your needs. i5 is where diminishing returns really start with CPUs.

I'd also try to fit one of these into your budget:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148819
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148820

I could probably live with a 128GB OS+games drive, but with 240GB I don't have to think about what I install.

Video card selection is entirely up to you. A 280 would be overkill for me.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I can't believe what I'm reading in this thread. You want that FX6300 for gaming. That or an i5. i3? Seriously? Games have already started to use more than 4 threads. You guys want this person to buy a dual core? Ridiculous IMO.

Either FX 6300 + Gigabyte 970AUD3P

or

i5 4460 and your choice of B85 or H97 chipset motherboard.
I like the Gigabyte G1 Sniper H97 ($90 USD)

If you get the AMD chip you'll have to overclock it to get good performance out of it. A Cooler Master hyper 212 cooler would be in order.

The i5 4460 is not overclockable (except by minor bclk overclock) but it won't need it.

Do not go below those two CPUs.

 

[Cerb]

I can't believe what I'm reading in this thread. You want that FX6300 for gaming. That or an i5. i3? Seriously? Games have already started to use more than 4 threads. You guys want this person to buy a dual core? Ridiculous IMO.

For a $600 hardware budget, absolutely.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_5.html#sect0
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/11/14/intel-core-i3-4130-haswell-review/5

What good are those extra threads, if they're so much slower for the money? If the budget won't fit an i5, the i3 is a clear winner, especially for Bethesda. Games using more threads may make the FX CPUs acceptable, still, even yars after release, but their lack of single-threaded performance makes them no better, in the end, for most games, including at least one the OP plays, which has similar CPU performance characteristics to other sandbox RPGs.

If the OP's budget isn't ~$600 for the hardware, the OP really needs to specify a maximum, because $700, or $800, would make for much more potent PCs.

 

[frozentundra123456]

There's not really a set in stone budget. From what I've read on gaming computers you can pretty much spend every penny in any budget and still have more you could upgrade. $600 is doable for the actual computer. It seems like after about $500 you get into an area of diminishing returns (tell me if I've misinterpreted the articles) I'm defiantly shooting for less than $1000 on the whole set up. If the tower comes in at ~600 that leaves money for a decent monitor at about 1 or 200, mouse, keyboard, etc (maybe even money left over for a used desk since I don't have one. (Just moved.))
it seems like, more or less this build will hit close to what I would like it to be able to do. Some minor changes here and there.

Thanks for the advice yuriman I'm planning on using a corsair cx 600w

Thanks everyone for all the imput. It's very helpful.

Actually I think the 500 to 600 dollar price range is a difficult one. 800 to 1000 is probably the sweet spot for a gaming system. If your budget is somewhat flexible, I would agree with other posters to definitely get an i5.

 

[Yuriman]

I can't believe what I'm reading in this thread. You want that FX6300 for gaming. That or an i5. i3? Seriously? Games have already started to use more than 4 threads. You guys want this person to buy a dual core? Ridiculous IMO.

I found examples of games where it went both ways, but I was very surprised when looking up Battlefield 4, as that series is notoriously multithreaded:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-mantle-performance-benchmark,3860-8.html

^ I'll do a bit more digging, but Haswell i3's are quite a bit faster than Ivy Bridge due to changes in architecture causing them to get more out of hyperthreading.

i3's are left out of so many reviews that it's hard to get the full picture.

 

[Yuriman]

XBit's review seems to be the most comprehensive:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_5.html#sect0

Example:

Looks like it's pretty much a competitor with the FX-6xxx. Neither seems to be a bad choice.

 

[Cerb]

http://www.hardcoreware.net/intel-core-i3-4340-review/3/

Even when the average FPS looks good, there tends to be more variance, because of the slower cores. Given that the cost is about identical, the i3s are pretty good, if the budget is too limited.

But, an i5 is better back/buck in general, and will age better, if the budget supports it.

Re: X-bit: that's why I hunted down, specifically, Skyrim, mentioned in the OP. In games that can spread the work out well enough, the i3 and FX will be fairly close. If a game can't do that, it's the FX that loses substantially, no matter the core count, unless OCed by quite a bit. With the difference in cost being about $10-20...

 

[inachu]

If your budget is flexible, get a Core i5, and an SSD.

I bought a new ASUS i5 for my landlords kid
MODEL : CM1745 Series
AMD A8-5500 APU comes with 8 gig of ram.

(with tax just around $600) and it plays games just fine along with an ATI/AMD HD7770 card I bought at microcenter as the oem card was super slow.

 

[Yuriman]

I bought a new ASUS i5 for my landlords kid
MODEL : CM1745 Series
AMD A8-5500 APU comes with 8 gig of ram.

(with tax just around $600) and it plays games just fine along with an ATI/AMD HD7770 card I bought at microcenter as the oem card was super slow.

How is an AMD A8 an Intel i5?

 

[NewGuy.]

Ok, I'm a little behind. The intel i5 looks like it's about double the price of the one I'm looking at now. I realize this build is not going to be the top of the line or the best system for future games. I can always upgrade parts later when I have more knowledge.
For a first time build is the i5 twice as good as the amd fx 6300 or the intel haswell i3 4330? "The budget is flexible" can turn a $600 build into a $900 build pretty quickly

 

[Yuriman]

Ok, I'm a little behind. The intel i5 looks like it's about double the price of the one I'm looking at now. I realize this build is not going to be the top of the line or the best system for future games. I can always upgrade parts later when I have more knowledge.
For a first time build is the i5 twice as good as the amd fx 6300 or the intel haswell i3 4330? "The budget is flexible" can turn a $600 build into a $900 build pretty quickly

Not twice as good, no. Here's a bench that I did comparing my Ivy Bridge i5 to my wife's Haswell i3, with a few of the games we both play in addition to some synthetics and an encoding benchmark:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2376155&highlight=

Also, take a look at some of the charts I linked above.

Some would argue that an i5 is where you stop seeing large gains in processing power by spending more.

In some games/programs you won't see any difference at all compared with an i3, and in others you may see nearly twice the performance. If I were to make up a number on the spot, I'd guess you'll see 5-25% better performance in games, and you'd get that by adding about $70 to your total build cost. $600 to $670 is only a 12% total cost increase, which is why one could probably argue an i5 is a good value.

I didn't feel the need to buy more than an i3 for my wife's computer. Side-by-side I can see her framerates are lower sometimes, but I doubt I'll ever have to consider if a game that's playable on mine will also be on hers.

 

[NewGuy.]

Thanks for the concrete numbers. That's helpful.
So right now, if I go with i5, and counting windows 8 I'm looking at about $800

CPU- i5
Motherboard- msi 970a g43
Memory- g skill ripjaws 8gb 2x4 GB ddr3 1600
Storage- west. Digital caviar blue 1tb
Vid card- radeon265
Case-nzxt source 210 elite mid tower
Power sup.- corsair 600 w
Cooler- coolermaster hyper 212 evo
Op system- windows 8.1
+some cd/DVD drive

Any big issues here? And would this build still all work if I decided against the i5 and settled for the Amd fx6300

 

[Cerb]

CPU- i5
Motherboard- msi 970a g43

An Intel Core i5 needs an LGA1150 motherboard, not AMD's socket AM3+, preferably one with known of of the box support for the latest ones.

 

[NewGuy.]

An Intel Core i5 needs an LGA1150 motherboard, not AMD's socket AM3+, preferably one with known of of the box support for the latest ones.

Ok, so there's a bunch of those out there. Something like this?
Gigabyte LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI/DVI/D-SUM USB3.0/SATA 6GBs Dual UEFI BIOS GA-H81M-HD2

 

[Yuriman]

In an earlier post I linked this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157388

I'm sure MSI and Gigabyte have competing boards with similar features in the same price bracket.

H81 < B85 < H87 < Z87 < Z97

You get increasing amounts of expansion capability with each tier, and the Z-series adds the ability to overclock. I feel B85 is worth it over H81 to get 2 more RAM slots and a second PCI-e 16x slot. Some H87 boards will come with very nice integrated Wi-Fi, that might arguably justify a bump up to that, but you won't need a Z-series chipset unless you're buying a "K" model CPU.

EDIT: If extra RAM slots are a non-concern, an H81 board will probably serve you very well

 

[Cerb]

Here's one with the OS included in the $800. There are rebates and codes. Note that many Newegg ones are coupon codes, so you can order what has the rebate, get the code in the mail, then apply that to items that don't get such rebates, making two orders and immediately using it up. If says rebate card, it's that type.

The main trade off here is no SSD, to fit Windows. Due to budget, and the games seeming to not be fast-paced shooters, the balance of CPU to GPU is a bit skewed towards CPU, as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.51 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $783.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-29 20:23 EDT-0400

Note the Windows and RAM are a combo, and buying the two items separately will not apply the combo price reduction. The combo must be ought as if it were an item itself.

With Windows out of the hardware budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.51 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $806.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-29 20:13 EDT-0400

The SSD will have a minimal impact on gameplay speed (none for most games), but speed up a lot of other tasks, including initial loading times for games, software updates, reboots, etc..

Finally, if that ASRock H97 MicroATX board makes its way back to $80+, an H81 or B85 board would be fine, pretty much any of Asus, ASRock, or Gigabyte. H97 won't give you much you'll use, I doubt, the current price of it just happens to be too good to pass up. I don't like H81 boards, myself, mostly due to lack of a front USB 3.0 header on most of them, with those having them costing about as much as a typical B85 board.