Evaluate my gaming PC build for 810 dollars

Mikael Bourget

Mikael Bourget

Geek Trainee
Hi,

I'm going to order components from a shop which builds the PC for me.

This is what I plan to buy:

Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 /intel H81, LGA1150/
Intel Core i3-4130 /3.4GHz, 3MB, LGA 1150, BOX/
Asus GeForce GTX 660 DCII OC 2GB DDR5 192bit (1085/6008)
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz CL9 HyperX Black
Seasonic S12II-430 430W 80 Plus Bronze
Seagate 1 TB 7200rpm 64MB cache SATA600 Barracuda
Zalman Z3 Plus USB3.0 black (b/z)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64Bit PL SP1
Samsung SH-224DB SATA (black)

I'm just wondering whether you see anything wrong in this build? Or maybe you would recommend other products?
This build costs 810 dollars (I live in Poland but it's converted) and it's basically my budget.
I want to play the latest games with it. Like even the upcoming titles like The Witcher 3. However I don't need the games to run on high visual settings. I just want to be able to run them quite smoothly. I would be able to add another 4GB RAM later in the future if necessary.

Thanks!
Maikijo
 
Motherboard: Basic stuff
CPU: Dual cores have been obsolate for many years. At least AMD FX-6300, FX-8320 or Intel i5-4670K
Video card: OK
Memory: 4 GB is enough yes and today's prices that's also cheap
PSU OK
HDD OK
Case OK
OS: Windows 7 don't get mainstream support after january 2015. So get Windows 8.1
DVD OK
 
Thank you for the reply.
If I get an AMD FX-6300 (more in my budget than others), which motherboard should I get in your opinion?

I was told that for gaming, the intel CPU is a little bit superior than AMD ones. Is that wrong?

Are you sure that I should get Windows 8.1? Will there not be some compatible issues if for example the OS is not as popular as it should be? I don't really know what I'm talking about, just asking.

Thanks again
 
Mikael Bourget said:
Thank you for the reply.
If I get an AMD FX-6300 (more in my budget than others), which motherboard should I get in your opinion?
Click to expand...

Asus M5A97 Evo 2.0

Mikael Bourget said:
I was told that for gaming, the intel CPU is a little bit superior than AMD ones. Is that wrong?
Click to expand...

There are very few games where CPU really is bottleneck. And most of those are so crappy that they are not worth playing anyway (LA Noire, Dark souls etc). You won't notice any difference between "superior" Intel CPU and AMD. Outside gaming, AMD CPU's are superior.

Mikael Bourget said:
Are you sure that I should get Windows 8.1? Will there not be some compatible issues if for example the OS is not as popular as it should be? I don't really know what I'm talking about, just asking.
Click to expand...

As I said, Windows 7 gets old in less than year. After that you won't get latest DirectX for it for example. Full price, Windows 8.1 is much better buy.
 
Windows 8.1 will Also not be Around , Windows 9 will be out soon.. I would stick with Windows 7 for now .. I think Windows 7 will be around a long time, until Microsoft can figure it out whats what....
 
Ghostman 1 said:
Windows 8.1 will Also not be Around , Windows 9 will be out soon.. I would stick with Windows 7 for now .. I think Windows 7 will be around a long time, until Microsoft can figure it out whats what....
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter if Windows 9 is out soon because it's not NOW available. I cannot see any reason to pay full price for Windows 7 that gets old in less than year.
 
It doesn't matter if Windows 9 is out soon because it's not NOW available. I cannot see any reason to pay full price for Windows 7 that gets old in less than year.
Click to expand...
I would Still go with Windows 7 and NOT Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7 will be Around a LONG Time.... Just Like XP... Everyone has there OWN opinion...
 
Ghostman 1 said:
I would Still go with Windows 7 and NOT Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7 will be Around a LONG Time.... Just Like XP... Everyone has there OWN opinion...
Click to expand...

Windows XP will be around for 13 years, that is an exception.

What is not an opinion is:

Windows 7 Home Premium
Mainstream Support End Date: 13/01/2015
Extended Support End Date: 14/01/2020

So yes, Windows 7 will be around for 6 years. However next year it's in same position than XP is now. Security OK, everything else not.

And

Windows 8
Mainstream Support End Date: 09/01/2018
Extended Support End Date: 10/01/2023

So there's no valid reasons to buy Windows 7 at full price anymore. Sad but true.
 
What is not an opinion is:

Windows 7 Home Premium
Mainstream Support End Date: 13/01/2015
Extended Support End Date: 14/01/2020
Click to expand...
Just Windows 7 Home, Or do Mean All Windows 7 versions ??
Ok, Mikael, Just install what you Like or want to run, Don't worry about on how long it will be Around...
 
Ghostman 1 said:
Just Windows 7 Home, Or do Mean All Windows 7 versions ??
Ok, Mikael, Just install what you Like or want to run, Don't worry about on how long it will be Around...
Click to expand...

Same dates apply to all Windows 7 versions http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=Windows 7&Filter=FilterNO

And all Windows 8 versions http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=Windows 8&Filter=FilterNO

Some business users prefer Windows 7 but they do not play games. And they still use Windows XP.

I don't like Windows 8.1 at all but for full price, it's best option.
 
OK, I will see regarding the OS. Thanks for the info though.
If I choose the CPU AMD X6 FX 6300 /3.5GHz, 95W, 14MB, BOX, AM3+/, and the motherboad Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 /AMD 970, AM3+/, I go too much over my budget. Especially because of the motherboard.
Are those cheaper motherboards OK with my build?:
  • AsRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 /AMD 970GX, AM3+/
  • Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P /AMD 970, AM3+/
 
Mikael Bourget said:
I read a lot about CPUs and asked other people and I don't really see why I should go for the AMD in my case, for a gamer.
Just an example of what I read: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html
Click to expand...

Previous page:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-2.html

Best Gaming CPU for $120: AMD FX-6300

Answer for what you read:

http://i59.tinypic.com/2vmapls.jpg

Skyrim: Published year 2011 but technically it's from 2006.
Starcraft 2: Published 2011.
Far Cry 3 lags on every CPU as it's just crappy console port with lag that cannot be eliminated.

I prefer that my machine runs newer games that are made for PS4 and/or X1. PS3/X0 era games run on every CPU expect of course those worst console ports that won't run smoothly on any CPU.

More from Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32612-2.html

With modern games able to take advantage of more than two processing cores, AMD's old quad-core chips, such as the Athlon II X4 and Llano-based A6 and A8 APUs, look better now compared to Intel's dual-core models than they did before.
Click to expand...

Intel Core i3-4130 is dual core device.
 
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