First computer

[Undeadkilr]

Building my first gaming computer This is what i Have so far and now I am lost

Processor AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3 GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Prcoessor

Motherboard ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Case COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (no LED)

RAM G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Graphics Card None
Hard Drive None
Power Supply None
Heat Sink None

[jimbo_limited]

if you plan on going with only one GPU, i would say go with a PSU with around 550-600w.

If you really want a fast boot from a cold start to windows login, go with a SSD drive around 60GB.

Do you plan on overclocking your CPU at all?

[ShyguyXPC]

Whats your Budget for all this?


Are you in the US, Canada, UK? Where?

What games do you plan on playing?

[Undeadkilr]

im trying to stay under 1000 dollars. Im in the US and i plan on playing battlefield 3 and stars 1313

[ShyguyXPC]

never heard of the 2nd game, but BF3 will need a good beefy CPU and GPU at least to run real well.

I wouldn't consider the AMD CPU's right now, only Intel, since they are more powerful for gaming and basic use than AMD's. AMD may have more cores on some of their CPU's but comparing Core to Core with AMD and Intel, Intel's CPU Cores are much more powerful at the same clock speed, and use far less power as well.


AMD's FX series was a bust, it was over hyped and short on performance, they don't perform any better than prior generation Phenom II's, the only one that does is the FX 8 core, and thats only because of the 2 extra cores.


AMD is releasing the 2nd Revision of the FX series next month, but until they actually come out, no one can say exactly how well they'll perform.


At the moment, Intel's Core i5 and i7 Quad cores are your best bet.


Do you need the Operating System, LCD, Speakers, Keyboard/Mouse, etc with the build as well, or will you be reusing those from current PC if you have one?




If no one else posts a list of parts between now and tomorrow evening, I'll post back with some suggestions, have to be awake in less than 6 hours to be at work by 8AM, won't be back on until after 6PM today.


there's a few others here that can list some parts, if they reply in the thread, maybe even tweak some of their lists.


but $1000 Is very doable.

[jimbo_limited]

ASUS P8Z77-M PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z77 $150 shipped

Intel Core i5-3330 Ivy Bridge 3.0GHz $190 shipped

Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB $39 shipped

Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550-M 550W $80 shipped

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5003AZEX 500GB $95 shipped
or for more space
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB $117 shipped

Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $ 50 shipped

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium $100 shipped

EVGA GTX 660 Ti 2GB $310

$1036 shipped with 1TB HDD or $1014 with 500GB HDD. This is if you already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to supply.

With this setup, I would guess you'll get roughly 45-55 FPS on BF3 online.

If your interested into Overclocking you CPU down the road, you can spend $40 more and get the unlocked i5 3570K process for $230


Edit*

Let us know if your trying to keep a theme color, trying to go water cooled, certain brand you prefer, or anything we should know. I just tossed this up to give you an idea of what you can get. I can toss something else up if you dislike the above list.

[Undeadkilr]

I am going to reuse my monitor keyboard and mouse from my current pc, and im not trying to stay in one brand just what will get the job done the best would be nice ha thanks for all your help it has been very informative sadly i didnt know amd was such a bad cpu or i wouldnt have already gotten it but i can get a new one and just keep it as back up

[ShyguyXPC]

So everything listed above you already bought?

If so, the RAM can be reused in an Intel Build just as easily.


If you already bought the Hardware, then might as well hold onto it, unless your trying to go for maximum performance in the games.


If you are, then Intel is the way to go.


Otherwise, the AMD Hardware will run the games fine, but what I was saying is that AMD is not top dog, even the 6 core is not comparable to an Intel Core i5 or i7 Quad core in performance.

The AMD FX series was supposed to replace and best the AMD Phenom II Series, but it never did.

The stock FX Quad core ran at higher clock speeds, and power consumption, meanwhile a prior Generation Phenom II X4 running at a good 200MHz or so lower, ran on less power, and performed on par with it.

So not much of an upgrade.


Add to that, it wasn't until AMD released the Athlon II and Phenom II Series that they were able to catch up and beat Intels Core 2 Series of CPU's from 2006 to 2009 era.


Hopefully the new Revised FX series out next month will be better and closer to the Intel Hardware.



Which is one of the benefits of your existing board, it should be compatible with those CPU's, probably with a Bios Update.

but no confirmations on how well they will be over existing FX series.


On the upside, they will have onboard/on CPU Radeon Graphics built in, albeit low end budget graphics, but its something to fall back on.

Though, to use it, you'll need a new board, because the current boards, don't run AMD APU's, only the FM1 socket boards do this.


But if your fine with average performance, maybe a little on the higher end, then the hardware you have now would be fine, at least for a year or two at the very least.

But people running higher priced Intel Hardware will be able to get better frame rates and longer lived performance out of their systems.

hell, myself, I don't play BF3, but my Hardware is 1st Gen Core i7 from 2009, and I run a Pair of GTX 560 Ti's in SLI, and it can handle nearly any game I throw at it. Maybe not max settings in some games, but close enough.

Just found out today, my rig runs Skyrim on max settings with the HiRes texture pack at 1080p (actually its always run Skyrim Maxed out with those settings, at really high frame rates, but I was never able to go past 60fps due to Vsync being enabled, even with a Single GTX 560 Ti), in indoor environments I'm getting WELL beyond 150fps.

though performance varies from game to game, so its not an all encompassing method of measuring performance.

But In Skyrim, the biggest limiting factor is the fact my Cards are only 1GB Cards, they max out the cards memory usage in that game, if I had a 1.5GB or 2GB or larger size card/s It probably wouldn't max out the memory usage and occasionally get some stuttering in game.

[Undeadkilr]

Oh i see and no I have not bought anything yet as I wanted to get it all laid out before I bought the wrong item and its a good thing i did ha I will definitly be looking at the intel type build and at the reccomended build posted above it is a very big help to someone who has not yet built a computer, as for over clocking im not entirely clear on what that is to be able to tell you if i will or not

[ShyguyXPC]

ok, a bit confused?

You mentioned above about already having the AMD CPU, is this the FX 6100 listed above?

as to using as a back up, that would only work if you had a motherboard thats compatible with it, if you already have the AMD Socket AM3+ 990X Chipset board listed above, thats fine, if you just have the CPU, then no point in keeping it, unless you were going to build a 2nd PC with it and buy a cheap Socket AM3+ board.





Intel List, before shipping its under $1000, after shipping its just a tad over, but there are some Promo Codes for the various items that are good until tomorrow if bought today/tomorrow (9/19)

Solid State Drive for the Operating System: Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

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

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3330 Ivy Bridge 3.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53330

Motherboard: Newegg.com - MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2B1600C9

Power Supply: Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

Video Card: Newegg.com - MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Hard Drive (for Installing all non OS Related Software such as Games, Steam, Email, Messengers, Voice chat, or anything else): Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 431 Plus RC-431P-KWN2 Black Steel Body (0.5mm SECC), ABS plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

DVD Drive: Newegg.com - LG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - CD / DVD Burners

Subtotal: $988.90



Though opting for this CPU gets you 200MHz Faster, but brings the Sub Total to $998.90 Instead.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53470

There's $70 in Mail In Rebates.

$10 off w/ promo code EMCNAJG22, ends 9/19 for the Power Supply.

Free shipping w/ promo code EMCNAJG29, ends 9/19 For the DVD Drive.



If You ditched the Solid State Drive, you could get one of these Geforce GTX 660 Ti's instead of the standard 660 for a bit more in performance.


Newegg.com - MSI N660Ti PE 2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-3660-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


MSI has the better quieter Cooler design, and EVGA has the better Warranty and Customer Service Reputation (not to say MSI isn't any good, but both brands are 2 of the best for Geforce Cards these days).





Or for the same price and similar performance range (they each trade blows in various games and settings)...

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100352SR Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

the 3GB Memory can help out a lot in games like BF3, with smoother frame rates, less micro stutter (jittery effect one might get with frame rates well over 30-60fps), the extra memory will help with Anti Aliasing, Shadows, HDR lighting and similar effects as well.

Any of these cards listed would be fine.


the SSD would only help with faster boot up of the OS, and faster loading of various programs with in Windows (Installed with windows), as all other apps and games would be installed on the main HDD.

part of the SSD could be allocated as a Cache Memory for the Main drive to speed up frequent use apps as well.



but if this is your first build, you will need to read up on some Do's and Dont's of Using an SSD, as there are some things that are normal for regular HDD's that can kill an SSD.




As to cooling, you can run the stock CPU Cooler for now, until you get more familiarized with the hardware, and what its capable of.

if you don't know what Overclocking is, you'll want to read up on that, and then decide if its something you'd want to do or try.

You can do some mild Overclocking with the Graphics card, and see how that works, then move to the CPU and RAM if you want...


Its kind of how I got started with Overclocking, even though I'm not that Big into it.

I started with mild OC's on my video cards, and then moved to trying it out on the CPU, and what not.




OCing is basically just the PC equivalent to Automobile Hot Rodding and Tuning.

Making the CPU, RAM, Motherboard, and Video card, run at faster speeds that it was bought at.

With proper learning, Cooling, Power, and Patience, it can be worth while, as well as helpful.


My Advice would be, since this is your first PC Build, is to NOT Overclock right now.


Focus on the Stock PC build and see if you even think you really need it to run any faster.


for most users, stock PC speeds are usually fine, and it may be easier to just upgrade to a faster part.

but if your already at the top tier with components, there might not be any affordable/economical upgrades at the time, in which case Overclocking might be the only real solution.

[Undeadkilr]

The list that i posted are the items i picked out on New egg to get started on an idea of what i might want in a computer but knew very little of what was compatible, I will definatly do research on overclocking and SSD cards. The list I do like but will do more research int o the items you listed im definatly opting for the i5 and looking into the other two video cards you posted as other alternatives to the "Solid State Drive." are you saying to stay away from heat sinks at first? "As to cooling, you can run the stock CPU Cooler for now, until you get more familiarized with the hardware, and what its capable of."

[ShyguyXPC]

well if your not overclocking the stock cooler that comes with the CPU is fine.

Otherwise, you can get an aftermarket cooler, but if you never OC, its pointless.


A good cheap aftermarket cooler:

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 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

[ShyguyXPC]

you'll also want to pick up a tube of Thermal Paste rather than using the stock stuff that comes with those coolers, something like Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Silver Ceramique.

I recommend the Ceramique for Beginners, mainly due to the fact its totally non conductive, and easy to apply, if you spill some on circuitry, there's no chance of shorting something out and frying the parts, with AC5, there's a small chance that could happen, due to the Silver content in the paste.

[Undeadkilr]

Alright thank you for all your help i cant wait to start ordering parts and using the computer

[ShyguyXPC]

post back on what you actually ordered and how it goes, as well as pics of the new rig, we usually like to see how things turned out for the new guys starting the PC gaming and custom build addiction that some of us have had for a decade or more LOL.