Multi-Use $800 PC

 

Hey all,

I am looking at building my very first PC. I am not overly tech-savy, though I have cracked open PCs in the past and changed HDDs, in much older computers albeit. I was wondering if I could have your advice on some of the components I have chosen.

I want the computer to be a Light to Moderate gaming system, tackling games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Simcity and a few more graphic-demanding games relatively easily. I use Photoshop quite frequently also, however I don't commonly deal with huge files. I also need to use programs such as Microsoft Office and the do the occassional video editing on Sony Vegas.

I live in Australia (so we are dealing with the Australian Dollar).

Now, the components I have chosen exceed my budget, so I was wondering if you could help me trim my list to more inexpensive items, but I want to make sure they are all compatible and can tackle the tasks above.

COMPONENTS:

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or advice!

$823 @ this current time: 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=204828&action=wish_lists

I've gotten rid of the SSD to come closer to the budget - you can get a 120GB SSD for $100 down the road if you wish, or get the SSD now and get the 500GB storage later.

The CPU has great performance for the price, which will perform better in almost all cases compared to the i3 you seleceted previously. I've bumped your RAM up to 8GB @ 1600MHz. You can get a single dimm of 4GB if you wish to save a little more but I'd leave it at that.

The PSU is also 80+ certified, 500W and has a single 12V rail for more reliable power at a good price.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for the help! I'll definitely consider axing the SSD for now, and maybe upgrading in the future. And as for the RAM, an upgrade to 8GB seems like a good idea.

As for the processor, I think I'll switch to the AMD, however the motherboard has a 1155 port for the i3, will the new processor work with the board?

Once again, thanks! 

this is close to as cheap as you would want to get a system with a discrete GPU, Australian prices suck unfortunately :( I could do you an APU system quite easily, it's buying microsoft windows that's the real killer in your budget, only allows you ~$670 to spend on the hardware.

you could also get a cheaper motherboard, but you wouldn't be able to crossfire the 7850 in the future.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=204830&action=wish_lists

No worries. 

The SSD is what you should be after next as an upgrade.

I'd also consider getting Windows 8 as it is faster than Windows 7.

and yes, Australian prices do suck.

If you do an APU build, make sure you get faster RAM. About 1866-2133MHz would be good.

This buid would give you much better graphical performance in games however with the 650ti.

The motherboard I put in the build has the AM3 socket. (didn't read that part sorry)

Thanks for the help. Yes, Australian prices do suck. 

Unfortunately I have no way of dodging the price of Windows, but the system you put up does not look bad. Sorry for my lack of knowledge with motherboards, but what limitations would the inability of crossfiring bring?

You just will not be able to have 2 graphics card on the motherboard at the same time (crossfire)

Generally, a single graphics card is the common setup, for most.

Oh okay. So perhaps I should look towards the APU build.

Ah thanks, that's fine. 

Oh okay. Thanks for the help.
I'm not really ever aiming to use multiple graphics cards in the future, but I can afford to spend a bit extra on the motherboard, so I might go with this build

Again, thanks very much for the help!

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/1w0kq

The motherboard is great, usb 3.0 header, sata iii 6Gb/s

Case is good, usb 3.0 in the front

8Gb of memory is all you need

7950 is sweet

high quality PSU

fx 6300 is better value than the i3 and can be overclocked if you wanna get an after market cooler

Down the road you can get these upgrades and you will have a super fast computer, that will max out 99.9% of games.