I'm planning on making a PC with the following components:
CPU: Intel i3 6100 GPU: AMD Radeon R7 370 or R9 270 or R9 270x RAM: Adata XPG v2 2x4gb Mobo: Asus H110M-A D3 Cooling: Coolermaster Hyper 212x Power: EVGA 500W 80 Plus
I can get the 270x used for about the same prize as the R7 370 new, and I can also get the 270 used for about $40 less than either of them. I don't mind spending the extra money, if there is a noticable difference between them, however, I would like to know if it is safe to buy a used GPU. Also I'd like to know if there's enough of a difference between the 270x and the 370 so that it's worth getting a used CPU instead of a new one. I'd also appreciate opinions on the build in general.
It would be best if you could test the gpu before you bought it just to check and make sure it works but if the first user of the gpu wasn't overclocking it heavily it should be ok. From what I hear the 270 and the 370 are pretty similure so the 270x should be the best one out of that list.
The R7 370 is a respin of the 7850, while both the R9 270 and 270X are a respin of the 7870. The difference between the 270 and 270X are clockrates and the use of a single 6-pin PCI-E connector in the case of the 270.
Get the cheaper R9 270, increase the clockrate with Afterburner to that of the 270X and you're golden. They're functionally the exact same card.
I can get a used XFX R9 380, for about $70 more expensive than the R9 270 (which is MSI btw). I've never owned a gaming PC so I don't know how big of a difference it will make. And yeah, the Asus H110M-A D3 has 2 USB 3.0 ports, I'm getting it for $80.