First Build/Gaming PC would like some input

Hardware Build a PC
1

How's it going everyone, been lurking for a few days lots of great information here. For the last two weeks I have been reading up on PC stuff non stop and basically I want to ask for help, because I'm getting to a point where the more I read the less I know what direction to take.

I haven't been on a PC in forever. Some health issues are forcing me to re-evaluate hobbies and since I am wanting to have more fun video gaming I deciding it's time to build a PC. Last time I did this was back in the early 90's (LOL). I didn't see enough in an Xbox1 or PS4 to make me want to upgrade consoles, and I'm just bored with consoles already and I like to mod stuff so figured it was PC time.

Budget I'd like to be at $1500 or less not including Monitor/mouse/keyboard & OS cost. I was at one point thinking all out X99 gaming build but I think it's overkill right now and it doesn't take that much to do better than a current gen consoles I would think.

I want to game, surf the web, stream music and movies, and being able to do it with no hiccups. Would like to leave myself open for other productivity stuff as well in case I get into it. (rendering, etc)

I am looking for a 1440p build to crush any game out there currently on great settings and be able to enjoy without having to rip the PC apart next spring. (if possible). I love playing the COD games and Assassin's Creed as well, so those types of games I would definitely be into but open mind for anything really. Use to play a lot of Doom and Wolfenstein back in the day.

For my intended use here's where I am at currently:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yHWX7P

I already have the Crucial SSD and WD HDD on hand, and the Fractal Case is en route with an extra fan as we speak.

I have been back and forth A LOT on the whole Intel vs AMD thing and it's driving me bonkers, and I have no intention of starting some brand war, lol. This morning I scored a good deal (I think) on an AMD FX 8350 CPU so that will be en route shortly.

I am very torn on which MOBO to get, overclocking does interest me and I would like to explore that scenario. Also from what I have seen I was thinking of going with a 290X GPU, seems to be good value for the $$ and close to the 390 cards performance from the "gaming" benchmarks I looked at, was thinking worst case later on add a second 290X?

For OS, I have a personally owned windows 7 setup that I was running on my macbook pro for some stuff the mac OS would not support, so could just install that and then do the free Windows 10 upgrade, BUT, I am not set on just Windows. To be 100% honest I am really intrigued with giving Linux a shot......

Would appreciate any input/advice on my build, especially on MOBO, GPU, and Linux OS.

Thanks for the help

2

The 290X you have selected is actually more expensive than its updated versions. The 390X is priced at about $430 and performs much better than the 290X. I believe that the 300 series card perform excellent in 1440p and are a lot more stable doing it than the 200 series. Just some food for thought.

Your build looks great and very similar to mine which has been working great for the past few years. I am actually running a 670 and have had little to no trouble running games at ultra settings in 1080p.

3

Thanks for the input. I was not sure of the GPU I will looks around at the 390X cards. Is there one in particular you would recommend?

4

If you want to run with a Linux os choose one of the popular Debian OS's I run ubuntu and it's great. I don't game much so I can live on Linux, but if you want to have all the games you need to have windows installed aswell.

5

I've had my eye on the MSI version (though I'm more in the market for the next tier down, just the 390):

Looks like a great card. I don't own one though, so take my advice with a grain of salt. The benchmarks put it right between the 970 and 980, as does price. Compared to the 290X, take a look at this breakdown (the website is wierd, scroll down to "Differences" and "Features").

6

I aded the Sapphire to the build for now, guess I will have to try and find the review I was looking at last night where the 290X wasn't far behind the 390X. Will see how the 390 compares to the 390X too....

I just don't want to get into $500 + on a GPU at this time, and I really like what I see about the Fury (non-X) but there as easy to find as a unicorn is and the people who do have them are selling them way over MSRP so have no desire to get into that mess at the moment. I'm not against a 970 series card either but just wanted to see if there's a full AMD setup worth having at the moment. No fanboyism or anything, just seems you get more on a price to performance ratio is all.

7

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Freaksamcker/saved/sP6gXL since your committed to the 8350 If you wanna crossfire in the future by all means get the larger psu. I chose a basic ssd fast enough reads but the writes are a little slow but cheap. I prefer 2133 in my 8350 rig and also find that i am starting to bounce of the top of 8 gigs. I recommend 16 gigs of 2133 to start and it should serve you well for awhile where as 8 gigs might leave you wanting for more. Depending on what you are doing ? I would skip the AIO cpu cooler for the D14 or a D15. AIO are not bad for cooling they are not very silent or cost effective. edit: Just in case you wanted to stay matched color scheme. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709002 a neutral color gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125791&cm_re=390x-_-14-125-791-_-Product colored matched http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Freaksamcker/saved/hZLLrH

8

This is what I would do since you have already ordered the processor

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KMFd7P

I would do 16 gigs of ram. When using UE4 I end up pushing 8.4 gigs of ram.
I upgraded the Motherboard. The AM3+ is on its way out. So you need a good solid board that will last a few years with no problem. The Sabertooth line of boards are built to last. I changed your PSU to a hx850i. It is plat certified and really solid PSU. 1000W is overkill unless you are planning to 4 way crossfire. You have a nice AIO cooler picked if you are planning to OC it. If you are not planning to OC it very far the D14 D15 is a good choice. Everything else is solid though.That build will last you over 2 years. Wish you the best of luck.

I have only usd 2 linux distro's Debian and Ubuntu. I love Debian because it is Vanilla. Doesn't come with a lot of fancy bling like Ubuntu. Ubuntu is great for people who are getting started with linux. I like the Gnome GUI or KDE. I haven't tried any of the others. Gnome is better IMO

9

I ordered the processor but could always sell it or trade it, it's the only thing purchased tying me to AMD.....

If I went the Intel route it just seems to be the expense of going i5 or i7 quad core, might as well spend the extra and go X99 with an i7 5820K and well then the build gets a lot more expensive......

not against it though, again just evaluating price to performance ratio.......

But I am definitely open to ALL suggestions.....

Thanks

10

Seems like you may want to go with an R9 fury, it does fairly well at 1440p, though at that budget you may as well throw the extra money towards a 980ti and be done with it.

Granted the fury may become more competitive with DX12 and if they fix the locked overclocking in a driver update.

Otherwise the 8350 should be pretty solid once you overclock it, it would only become a bottleneck in some CPU heavy or poorly optimized games, though naturally an x99 build would blow it away.

And just use linux*wink**wink* or wait for the windows 10 insider program to start up again.

11

Here is 1150 i7 build under 1500 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YjvV8d

Here is an x99 build under 1500 it has a xeon http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cNsJdC
here is a x99 build with i7 it is 7 bucks overbudget. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Hgr7bv

12

Damn now you have me thinking of selling the FX-8350 when it arrives and going X99........ LOL

13

Thanks for all of the info, I have much to consider and think of......

14

NP, I would consider intel if you can get your money from your 8350.

15

Despite it being used at the price I paid wouldn't see it being an issue, I just keep going back and forth on AMD vs Intel ..... trying to justify the cost of an X99 setup over something like you inked in your post to pcpartpicker.....

16

A zeon 1231 v3 and a modern h97 mobo would be right up your alley.

1 Like
17

lol yeah I did an AMD build the beginning of the year. I was wanting to go the x99 route. If it was me personally I would start out with the Xeon build. Next year you could upgrade to the new intel chip if they release it for 2011-v3 socket. If you do you may consider getting a better Cooler. I chose the 212 evo for the cooler because it is plenty powerful enough for xeon. i7 may need more cooling power.

The AMD build would last you awhile though so it doesn't really matter intel or AMD. In a couple years there will be new tech and new sockets with that tech. The only advantage I see with going x99; having DDR4 already and I say it would be more future proof. I would say that build would last you 4 maybe 5 years before you had to upgrade processor again.

18

My only real concern going the AMD cute to be honest is the MOBO.......

Seems to me like the AM3+ is more likely to be ceased than the intel counterparts.......

Why the Xeon 1231 over an i5 4790K? For the same $$? Just curious......

19

x99 doesn't have an i5. If you went socket 1150 you could go down to i5. The reason I chose the xeon for the X99 platform is the price. It is cheaper than the i7-5820k. It is a quad core at 3.5Ghz. Ideally if you go x99 and game you would want to go i7-5830k or 5860k, but these are 500 to 1000 bucks just for the processor. Xeon would be a way to go to the x99 platform with a budget of 1500.

for 1500 and wanted to do an i5 build you could go this route.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qFWX7P You could afford the 390x.

I tried to do a build with a 980ti this is what I came up with
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/t8Fd7P

or this
the AMD variant.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nwtJdC

20

I just reread your post lol... I would go i5 over xeon on 1231. the i5 4790k is very solid for gaming you wouldn't have any problems with that processor. It was Xeons were just a bit cheaper than their i counterparts. That is why people were buying them.

Yeah AM3+ is a dead chipset. New AMD Zen processors will be on a new tech. The rumor is FM3 So that means that FM2 will become dead as well. This will be due to transferring over to DDR4. The same is for 1150. They will be getting 1 more Broadwell then skylake will be going to a new Socket. I haven't seen any mention if Skylake will be on 2011-v3. So honestly whatever you buy it will be a dead tech. x99 will probably last you longer than any other tech though.