Probably the last time I built a PC was 1998. And even then we were fairly sloppy about it. Cables everywhere, tiny 45mm fans stuck on everything. I don't remember anything about thermal paste. And I'd cut myself on the case all the time.
I haven't played PC games since 2001, and only been console gaming for nearly 2 years. So this is primarily a Steam/gaming PC. The only time I turn my netbook on these days is if I need to download something. Not really going to use this for anything other than gaming.
So, the components I planned on using. Most of these I just tried to keep up with what people were recommending. Even though I'm trying to keep my costs down, prices are not really competitive in Australia.
FX-6300 $149 Asrock 970 Extreme3 $95 Asus Radeon HD7850 DirectCU II $229 Corsair Builder 600W PSU $85 G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4gb 1600mhz $48 Seagate Barracuda 500gb $68 Bluray reader $55 24" Monitor $170 Keyboard $30 There is an Aerocool Strike-X case for $80, that has some nice default cooling setup. So maybe that.
Now this is probably going to cost around $1000-$1100AU. I only wanted to spend about $700-$800, but the A10-5800 build I considered (without the discrete graphics the price is about $250 cheaper) doesn't seem to benchmark very well for Borderlands 2, Skyrim or Far Cry 3. I'm also hesitant to buy an FM2 board not knowing how AMD are going to run with that upgrade path. And if the best upgrade option is to buy a new chipset, I'd have to buy a new motherboard anyway. With that said, I'm not counting out an APU-based build, as it is significantly cheaper, I'm just not sure if it's much improvement over the console.
Would I need a 3rd party cooler, such as Hyper 212 Evo? I probably won't be overclocking, at least not for now as it's been a long time since my last build (I think a Pentium 233mhz), I'd prefer to aim for stability until I get my building feet on the ground.
Really, just any advice or recommendations you could give me about components or building would be awesome. I like to get as much information as possible before I spend money, and I feel confident asking for help from this community.
We can definitely help you cut down the price to the $800-900 range but that depends on how far you want to cut some conponents down to. We can start by going after that processor, a FX4300 is the quad core version and it will be a bit cheaper as well. There is also the trusty 965BE that is always a great option for its price tag.
Here is a bench of the FX4300 and FX6300: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/700?vs=699
Here is a bench of the FX4300 and the 965BE: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/700?vs=102
Here is a bench of the FX6300 and the 965BE:http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=102
If i was really tight on a budget, i would opt for the 965BE especially if its price is far lower then the FX 4300($20+ lower). That power supply is also not needed for your combo, a proper 500w will do just fine with room for OC.
You should always try to get a aftermarket cooler, the stock heatsink for the phenom II and FX series are louder then all heck. IF you are an old school guy it may not even dent your beard, but if you want a quiet enviroment it is worth a small investment in a aftermarket heatsink. We can continue to cut things down like hard drive capacity and ram maybe even the quality of the motherboard. What site are you buying your parts from? $85 for a intro CX600 is just nuts!
The places I usually look for parts are pccasegear.com, Scorptec and mWave Australia.
The 965BE is fairly hard to come by here, and the few I did find were $20 - $40 more expensive than the FX 6300.
I can save $15 if I get the 4300 over the 6300. Judging by those benchmarks you posted, there's not a lot of difference in them anyway.
I can cut the price back at a few points: CD writer $20, Asus 21.5inch monitor $135, FX 4300 $135, Asrock 970DE3/U3S3 $69 (will need to find reviews for this guy), Antec EarthWatts Green 500W $70 (Not sure about Antec, as I've never seen anyone recommend any of their components), PowerColour AX7850 2GBD5-2DHPP $209 (Though I'm not familiar with PowerColour) I could get a cheaper case, but then I'd have to spend more money on case fans.
I can get a CM Hyper 212 Evo for $36. Quiter would be better, I'm not sure how quiet these things are but Coolermaster have a good reputation.
And one important thing I forgot was an OS. Windows is an extra $139 on top of everything. So that was me being too tired to think properly. With these changes, it looks like I get it down to a bit below $1000. If I can get some free time in the office tomorrow I'll give it another look.
These are the parts I have ordered. I was happy to find that case at a decent price even if I did need to buy a few extra fans for it, it is still cheaper than the case I had looked at previously and this one seems less dust-prone.
The two parts I'm still considering are a CPU cooler and motherboard:
Asrock 970 de3/u3s3 $69
Deepcool Gammaxx 300 $28
I have no idea about this motherboard and I can't find any reviews or opinions around the internet. It would be great if anyone could recommend something that's not absolute rubbish. Keeping in mind I can get an Arock 970 Extreme3 for $95.
The case I bought is rated for a 155mm cooler. And the Gammaxx 300 is cheap. But I don't mind using the stock cooler for a little while if I have to, but I do want something more quiet eventually.
Regarding dual boot for gaming; I don't think it's for me. I've been running linux on laptops and netbooks for nearly 10 years, and just waiting for the time when linux is ready for gaming. It's great that steam is on linux now, but absolutely none of the games I want to play have been ported. Maybe I can see if a friend has a spare windows license or something, otherwise I'll just have to buy it.
Thanks for the advice. I'm fairly happy with getting the price down. I'm sure putting all this together will come back to me once I get hands-on, I think the most intimidating part is just not having kept up with PC hardware for a long time and not really knowing what the hell I should be buying considering the expense.
Here, look in the feedback tab and read some regular folks reviews on that motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157305 It seems alright from the reviews.
That gammaxx 300 cooler i have never heard of, if you are short on the budget just use the stock cooler for now until you can afford a proper one. The stock cooler will be fairly noticeable and most likely the loudest fan in your system.
I still can not believe the prices you guys have to pay over there, $209 for a 7850 is just insane.