Yet another PC building thread

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In Vain

In Vain

Count
Old Guard
Yes, it seems that people open new threads here for PC building advise, so I'll just do the same.

Loosely following this page, I've so far thought up the following combination, which would cost me about 540 €:

Code: 
CPU: AMD FX-6300 
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s	
MEM: 8GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24	
PSU: Thermaltake Hamburg 530W 80+
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3, AMD 760G, mATX	
GPU: XFX Radeon R9 270 Core Edition, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

Does this make any sense? I've choosen a cheaper motherboard and somewhat weaker power supply, but I don't intend to overclock.

Today, I read that a i3-4130 or even i3-3220 would be better suited for playing games due to having less but stronger cores. Is that correct?

Any help would be great!
 
Seems fine. Having only 500w just means you couldn't use crossfire with the gpu but most people won't ever attempt that anyway.
 
Are you sure that power supply provides enough amperage on the +12v rails for the gpu you have chosen?

Also If not getting an SSD for your OS, I suggest at least getting a midrange harddrive like the Western Digital Caviar Black.

Games today take advantage of 4 cores and new games probably will take advantage of 6 or 8 cores. I suggest sticking to Intel cpus if you plan on mostly playing games.  (that is if you are not a fan of AMD)
 
ancalimon said:
I suggest sticking to Intel cpus if you plan on mostly playing games.  (that is if you are not a fan of AMD)
Click to expand...

Despite AMDs chips being cheaper and usually having more cores  :roll:

Intels just OC a lot better.

ancalimon said:
Are you sure that power supply provides enough amperage on the +12v rails for the gpu you have chosen?
Click to expand...

I doubt people just building a computer even understand what that means.
 
I just went from a Phenom II X4 to an i7 3770k and the performance difference is staggering. We're talking literally dozens of FPS in CPU intensive games with considerably higher settings. Go Intel if you have the money, unless you really expect the AMD console monopoly to go somewhere.
 
Thanks a lot, guys, you're really helpful! :smile:

I've given this some more thought.

CPU: I could get a i3-4130 for about the price of the FX-6300 or a i3-4330 for ten bucks more. From what I've gathered, they are noticeably better for games that don't yet use more then two cores but, on the other hand, won't last too long for future games. As you can see from my budget, I'm really not very ambitious, I just want a reasonably good computer for playing older or up-to-date games, but I don't expect to run next year's games on full details.
What would be an okay motherboard if I went for the Intel ones?

Graphics: How about a 270x instead of the 270 for twenty Euros more?

I hope I'm not asking too much. :oops:


Kevlar said:
ancalimon said:
Are you sure that power supply provides enough amperage on the +12v rails for the gpu you have chosen?
Click to expand...

I doubt people just building a computer even understand what that means.
Click to expand...
Totally correct :lol: Is it of any importance for me?
 
In Vain said:
Thanks a lot, guys, you're really helpful! :smile:

I've given this some more thought.

CPU: I could get a i3-4130 for about the price of the FX-6300 or a i3-4330 for ten bucks more. From what I've gathered, they are noticeably better for games that don't yet use more then two cores but, on the other hand, won't last too long for future games. As you can see from my budget, I'm really not very ambitious, I just want a reasonably good computer for playing older or up-to-date games, but I don't expect to run next year's games on full details.
What would be an okay motherboard if I went for the Intel ones?

Graphics: How about a 270x instead of the 270 for twenty Euros more?

I hope I'm not asking too much. :oops:


Kevlar said:
ancalimon said:
Are you sure that power supply provides enough amperage on the +12v rails for the gpu you have chosen?
Click to expand...

I doubt people just building a computer even understand what that means.
Click to expand...
Totally correct :lol: Is it of any importance for me?
Click to expand...

Although the one you plan on getting is a high-end cpu, you won't be able to play older games that makes use of extra cores on highest details with an i3 let alone future games. For that you will need at least a modern i5. I guess the cpu will cause a bottleneck with that graphics card you plan to buy but I might be wrong.

enough amperage on the +12v rails are important if you are getting yourself a gaming graphics card.

See this old list for reference:
http://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/power-requirements-for-graphics-cards

I guess the R9 279 will need a minimum of 25A on the +12v rail. So make sure the Gaming PSU you are getting provides enough. Otherwise your computer will not be stable when the graphics card starts to draw more power for example when watching a movie or playing a game or moving windows around.

The PSU will not be enough if it doesn't meet the quality requirements to provide enough amperage on the +12v rail. Even if it's a 1500 watt PSU.
 
I think you're overthinking it Ancalimon, unless he goes for a cheap ass obviously scam power supply it will be able to power a relatively low power card like a 270(x). I've got some 650w powering my R9 290 without any problems at all, and I don't even know how many 12v rails it has.

As for CPU futureproofing, you want lots of cores. As for current games, you want powerful cores. I'll go so far to say that a cheap i5 will go further than the best i3, and then you can stick to the R9 270 to cut costs a bit.
 
Splintert said:
I think you're overthinking it Ancalimon, unless he goes for a cheap ass obviously scam power supply it will be able to power a relatively low power card like a 270(x). I've got some 650w powering my R9 290 without any problems at all, and I don't even know how many 12v rails it has.

As for CPU futureproofing, you want lots of cores. As for current games, you want powerful cores. I'll go so far to say that a cheap i5 will go further than the best i3, and then you can stick to the R9 270 to cut costs a bit.
Click to expand...

If the gpu does not get enough power (from the +12v rails since they are the ones connected to GPU), you will in most cases have an unstable system.  Your PSU is probably a gaming PSU capable of providing enough power for your GPU if you have a stable system. Most PSU's are indeed cheap. That's why there are more expensive PSU's that are made specifically for high end graphics cards.

I guess future games will require a minimum of 4 cores and they will make use of extra cores. But it still does not make AMD the better choice for games. 270x is not a low power card. It's one of the best single cards there is as far as I know.
 
It's the literal equivalent to the 7870, with some minor improvements.

Here http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/r9/pages/amd-radeon-hd-r9-series.aspx#5 we can see that it only requires a single 6-pin connector. Based on the following: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-specifications-atx-reference,3061-12.html

That 6-pin can provide a maximum of 75W more to the 75W coming out of the PCIe port. It's a 150W card at maximum.

Based on this post: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1864497/psu-recommendation-gpu-upgrade-270x.html#11842144

He recommends 30A on a single 12v rail.

A quick google search shows the Thermaltake Hamburg 530W to provide 38A on its +12v. http://www.overclockers.com/thermaltake-smart-series-530-power-supply-review/
 
Well, that got complicated. And it seems that in the end, I will have to completely change my plans. But that's what I'm here for, right? :razz:

Ancalimon, thanks for your input. I admit that I haven't put much research into PSUs so far. But do you agree with Splintert that the Thermaltake would be strong enough?

Okay, I've been thinking about the i5s. It seems that the i5-4570 has the best price-performance-ratio. But that would be a huge step from my original plans as it is about 60-70 € more expensive. Is there anything reasonable in between? (Edit: A 4440 costs about 10 bucks less than the 4570.)
I'd need a different motherboard, I guess. Cheap ones use the H81, B85 or H87 chip sets. Would these suffice? Anything else I should pay attention to?
And would my power supply still be sufficient for an i5?
 
An i5-4570(k)(maybe I'm thinking 4670k) is literally the best possible 4-core CPU you can get for games, it will perform well and for a long time.  Well worth it over an i3 as it will delay the need for an upgrade by a long time.

I believe it has a TDP (thermal design power) of 84W, combined with your GPU's 200W and a 500W should have no issue. As always I would google your processor-GPU combo to look at other threads like this and see what PSUs they select.
 
Wasn't FX 6300 better than i3's? Because I was reading while ago that the FX 4300 is more comparable to i3's and FX 6300 is more like i5. Even though i3-3220 or something beats FX 4300 in most cases, but it's really not that big of a difference.
 
Perhaps in multithreaded benchmarks. The FX series does perform very well in professional applications. In games, that really doesn't matter. They like powerful single cores, which an Intel processor is far superior on.
 
So, after another few hours of researching, I'm even more confused.

Most German PC magazines recommend the i5s for gaming purposes but usually don't say anything about a fitting GPU.
However, I've found that quite a few people use the fx-6300 (from my first build) as a cheap basis und buy a somewhat more expensive GPU like the 270x, arguing that for most games graphics power is much more important, and that the fear of 'bottlenecking' a GPU is usually exaggerated.

Hrrrgbl! :mad:

As a reference: I'm mostly intersted in playing RTS/Sim (TW, Anno) or RPG/action/adventure (Skyrim, M&B, Thief, Stalker, Metro) style games. I'm not so much into 'typical' war style FPS and multiplayer. And I'll still play a lot of older games.
 
I have a 7970 on my PC and overclocking my i7 3820's turbo mode from 3.8GHz to 4.3GHz made a big difference on high settings for many games. Meaning even a very fast CPU like mine gets bottlenecked from time to time.

i5 is great for games. If I were in your place, I would have saved more money for a couple of months and get something better.

For GPU, anything above 7850 class is much better than the average.
 
ancalimon said:
i5 is great for games. If I were in your place, I would have saved more money for a couple of months and get something better.
Click to expand...

Now you just looking for trouble. For gaming, anything over an i5 is currently pointless except for the few games that use more than 4 cores (rts games mostly).

Ancalimon is trolling if he thinks an i7 is better for gaming. Not only will you be spending more money on the cpu but more too on the motherboard. Use the saved money on an ssd for a much more noticeable difference.

http://lifehacker.com/5891007/do-i-even-need-to-care-about-processors-anymore
 
I think, Ancalimon meant the difference between an i5 and the fx-6300 I was talking about.
I know that the i5 obviously is better. But its also much more expensive. I do have the money, but I'm currently wondering if it was besser invested in a moderate/cheap CPU and a somewhat better GPU (e.g. fx-6300 and a r9 270x) or in a strong, but expensive i5 at the cost of a weaker GPU... :???:

Wouldn't an i5 seem overpowered in the latter combination?


I think I will try and wipe up a build with an i5 (possibly 4440) and post it here.
 
Buy an i5 (k series) and buy as good as a gpu as you can afford thereafter. You won't need to upgrade the CPU for a long time but you can simply add another gpu later, you could also do the reverse and just buy a better cpu later.
 
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