Thoughts on a build

Here it is: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/15jzE

AMD FX 8350 4GHz AM3+ Black Edition Boxed ProcessorGigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 990FX ATX AMD Motherboard

Gigabyte GV-N660OC-2GD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16

Corsair CX Series CX750M 750 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply

Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 120GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive (SS...

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Universal CPU Cooler

 
 
 

 
Playing games like Metro 2033. Maybe the gtx 660 isn't enough. Possibly a 670.
 
Paul
 
 
 

maybe go for a 7870 if the never settle bundle is still going.

but other than that good luck I think it will turn out nice. :)

what's your budget?

1500 US.

any plans on overclocking at all or past 4.25Ghz on haswell?

Hey paul that build doesnt look bad to me, only indeed as you mentioned your self the GPU is not that great. look if you can afford a GTX670 or Radeon7950, for the rest it looks fine to me.

grtz Angel ☺

Maybe. Depends on how well the system works. Right now I have an old single core AMD proc running a single gts250. I realize that any multi core system with a descent gpu will be better than what I currently have but when I bought my current pc from PC Club in 2005 It was an entry level gaming pc. I am looking to build a mid range + system.

I think that you are correct.

Thanks

For $1500 USD, you can get a lot more computer.

First rig to consider: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/15j0c

The 8350 is a great CPU; good choice on your part. However, the UD3 isn't the best motherboard, by any means. The UD5 is much better, in a few regards. The UD3 has an exposed VRM, on one part of the board, making OCing difficult due to temp limitations. The UD5 has a stronger, digital VRM, that is passively cooled, and will handle a 4.6 to 4.8gHz OC if you have a decent chip.

To cool that chip with the OCing, I threw in a Phanteks PH-TC14PE, in black, one of, if not the best air cooler out there, at least until Noctua releases te NH-D14 refresh we saw from Computex. I have one, and I love it to death - fantastic cooler, looks great, and very nice mounting system (just read the entire manual first).

Instead of a 660, I chose a 7950. All Nvidia 6xx cards are voltage locked, no matter what; after 1.21V, unless you're using a high-end card with an unlocked BIOS (which is dangerous), or volt modding, you can't exceed it, making overclocking very limited. Instead, the 7950 offers a fully unlocked voltage, if you buy the right card. In this case, I chose an MSI 7950, for the quality of the parts onboard, the unlocked voltage, and the fantastic looks. MSI made a great card at a great price - I wouldn't look into any other 7950s at your budget.

16GB of RAM is overkill, but why not? 8GB isenough, but 16GB gives you lots of room to work with. G.SKILL Sniper looks great, is built well, and is plenty fast. 8GB sticks allow you to upgrade, later on, to even 32GB total, if you chose to do so. Fantastic RAM, and a great price, right now.

The Corsair CX series is not meant for demanding systems; they have terrible ripple, really low efficiency, and are generally, all around crap. With your wattage needs, and budget aside, I wouldn't skip a beat buying a Lepa G650. Fantastic build quality, all around. Low ripple, high efficiency, semi-modular (EPS and 24-pin hardwired), and more than enough wattage to support another 7950 in that system, if you so chose to upgrade. It has enough amperage on the 12V rail to support any GPU today, including the surprisingly hungry 770, and is just a great PSU, especially for $78.

Now, probably the most luxurious part of the build is the storage. Instead of getting a HDD, and putting in another 7950 for this budget, I chose to go for a 512GB Samsung 840 Pro. A purely SSD-based system is a dream that many of us forget to go for when building; HDDs arefast enough, but the technology is old. SSDs are the future, and the 840 Pro is the closest to the future we have in the consumer market. Fastest SSD on the market, that we can buy at a consumer level. 512GB is more tha you will ever need for most situations, and if you ever do need more storage, you could just buy a 1TB HDD, or even an external, and save your bulk files to it.

Fit all of this great hardware in a sexy case, like the Fractal Design R4, and you're set. I absolutely love Fractal Design - the style of the products is just great, and the quality is there, especialy for the price. The R4, with window, is on sale right now for $100 - I'd go ahead and grab it before the sale is up. Solid cable management, reasonable airflow, and plenty of room inside and configurations for your needs. The titanium grey color is great, with an all black interior and sides, with a brushed gunmetal looking front. I love my Define XL, and my friend's R4 - for "budget" cases, they take the crown.

However, you may not want the fastest SSD on the market. You may just care about pure performance, not data speeds.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/15jmY

In that case, I'd drop the 840 Pro and switch it out for a Seagate SV35.5 2TB HDD (not the Barracuda), throw in another MSI 7950, and bump that PSU up to a Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 750W PSU. Yes, I know that the Lepa G650 can handle 7950 CF, even if they are overclocked, but the Strider Gold Evolution PSUs are just reallty well built, fully modular, and have a whole 62A on the 12V rail to punch graphics cards in the face with. It is more expensive, and not necessary, but it is fully modular, 80+ Gold, and also has a nice, low ripple for overclocking. You choice, really.

Ah my bad i did not mention that he had that Gigabyte UD3 board in his build, i recommend the Asus Sabbertooth Gen 3  this board has pci-e 3.0 48 lanes, could be handy if you ever plan to do an gpu upgrade or cf in the future.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/15jxV

For the rest Brennan´s build is cool ☺ ofc his mobo choice would also be fine.

i´m personaly not a big fan of gigabyte AM3+ board so the choice for an asus is just personal.

grtz Angel ☺

whoops my bad I thought this was editing rig, just gaming, well time to ditch that Xeon one I was building

Everything on my parts list is in stock at my local Micro Center. I prefer to buy this stuff at a place where if something doesn't work I can easily return it. If I oc anything and there is a good chance I won't, it would only be the cpu. Hell, it is taking me forever just to post on this forum. I don't have time to dick around with tweaking a computer.

Paul

well if you not gonne get into extreme overclocking then that board you had should be fine ☺

 

I'm only familar with newegg so here's my list if you so choose

an overview, its a 3820, 8GB of 1866 ram, high end asus FX mobo, 2 7970s in crossfirex, 1TB HDD, and 120GB SSD

Thanks for everyones input.

Paul