Desktop rig help

[Totalpower]

Hey guys so I am planning on building my first computer this summer. I've done a lot of research and heres what I've ended up with. My goal price is under $1,500.

PCPartPicker part list: AMD FX-4100, Asus Radeon HD 7870, Apevia X-Trooper (Black/Blue) - System Build - PCPartPicker

Price breakdown by merchant: AMD FX-4100, Asus Radeon HD 7870, Apevia X-Trooper (Black/Blue) - Price Breakdown By Merchant - PCPartPicker

Benchmarks: System Build - Benchmarks - PCPartPicker

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake CL-P0466 86.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Apevia X-Trooper (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Optical Drive: Sony BWU-500S Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($105.99 @ Amazon)

Monitor: Acer V243HAJbd 24.0" Monitor ($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1257.88

If you have any suggestions let me know. I'm new to this stuff so this system could probably improve. Thanks for the help

[ShyguyXPC]

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - Acer S232HLAbid Black 23" 5ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 ACM (12,000,000:1) 1,000:1

Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.com - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - Wintec One 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 3OH16009U9H-8GK

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TZ77XE3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

Newegg.com - ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT060A3K5 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

The Hard drive has a $10 Off Promo Code until the 13th.

But Subtotal before shipping is just under your max budget.

Subtotal: $1,473.88

Wasn't sure what your zip code was, but for me, its about $14-15 in Shipping added to that and still under $1500 max.


Overall it would easily blow away the system you have listed. Added in one of the best SSD deals on the market right now, to load the OS on to, better HDD Deal, Better BR Burner deal, Better Video card, Antec PSU is actually made by Seasonic and the same internals as some of Seasonics 620W models, Monitor is a good deal and HDCP compliant, RAM is 1600MHz for Overclocking if you want to try that out. CPU Cooler is better, and cheaper, plus fan can be easily replaced if needed, or even add a 2nd one on to it.

[Totalpower]

@ShyguyXPC I was planning on staying with my current build simply because of the price. I need all the money I can get right now but thanks for the suggestion I've asked around and somebody told me I should "Go with Intel over AMD, the FX Series Processors are bad apples. So apparently the FX-4100/FX-6100 would cause a bottleneck with 7870+ & GTX 670+, all because AMD screwed up." Any thoughts on that? Is he right because I doubt AMD would "screw up" in such a simple way.

[ShyguyXPC]

I don't know about a Bottleneck, but AMD did screw up with the FX Series, they don't perform as well as they were hyped and supposed, the 3.6GHz FX Quad performs about as well as a 3.2GHz Phenom II X4, and the Phenom uses less power. So yeah, AMD Screwed the pooch with the FX series, at least this round.


Your better off going with Intel if you want the most bang for your buck and keep from having to upgrade in the years to come.

I used to be all about AMD for years, I hated Intel, but for the past 5 years I've only Been Intel, since the Core 2 Duo series came out, AMD simply couldn't compete, same with current generation CPU's.

But yes, AMD did screw up.

The AMD 8 core is the only sensible FX series to get, and even then, its relatively speaking. As its utterly useless for gaming, since no games I know of take advantage of 6 cores let alone 8 cores. For Workstation tasks like 3D rendering or AutoCAD or similar the AMD 8 core can excel, but for gaming its really only as good as as many cores can be used for gaming.

It would fine if you planned on running games and a dozen or so other programs while gaming, but otherwise, unless you plan on doing heavy workstation tasks its not very useful.

for $200 price tag on that thing, you might as well get a faster performing Intel Quad core, Core for core, the intel is better performing than the AMDs.

Hopefully AMD can turn things around, or at least correct the issues in performance with the Piledriver CPU's to succeed the FX "bulldozer's".

[Totalpower]

Thanks for the help both of you! Apparently an intel CPU isn't compatable with my current build and I don't feel like rebuilding a system because of one part. I'm gonna go with shy guys build because of his reasoning. For about $200 more it is much better than my current build which is worth it. Thank you agin for the help. Now I just need to buy the parts.

[Totalpower]

PCPartPicker part list: Intel i5-3550, EVGA GeForce GTX 670, Cooler Master Elite 430 - System Build - PCPartPicker

Price breakdown by merchant: Intel i5-3550, EVGA GeForce GTX 670, Cooler Master Elite 430 - Price Breakdown By Merchant - PCPartPicker

Benchmarks: System Build - Benchmarks - PCPartPicker

CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Biostar TZ77XE3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($137.55 @ Newegg)

Memory: Wintec One 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($407.49 @ CompUSA)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Antec 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($74.98 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($69.99 @ NCIX US)

Monitor: Acer S232HLAbid 23.0" Monitor ($169.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1326.94


managed to save approx $100 with the same build shyguy recommended