Thoughts on my gaming computer build?

A

Abcd1978

New Member
Hello, This is my first post here so bear with me on this.

My situation is that I am trying to build gaming computer myself, under 750 dollars. I have never done this before, in fact the most I have ever done was modify a old computer( when you needed to buy networks cards! ; and the video card was tiny, they have became huge lately! ). I plan on playing games such as ARMA 2, Battlefield 3, Doom 4(When released), Stronghold crusaders 2, maybe Skyrim as well. I dont mind playing on medium or low, as I am used to that. I just want to have high frame rates, graphics arent a huge deal. Just playing a game on high would make me feel all tingly inside , coming from a 2007 Laptop that cant play Morrowind at decent frames :(

The Build :
SAMSUNG Dvd reader and Burner SATA model - 17.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 69.99

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - 69.99

ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - 89.99

HIS iCooler H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - 134.99

SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power - 79.99 (on sale)

Speakers, mouse, keyboard - 49.99

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R - 45.99

AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX - 159.99

Total- 719 with shipping included ( I already have windows 7 64bit OEM, and I will find a cheap monitor somewhere...)

So what do you guys think? Will it work well and run fine on the games I want, and perhaps games in the next year or so?

And my other questions are-
Why are AMD processors so much cheaper then Intel processors of the same power?
Does the eight cores matter much?
Should I just get a processor with higher GHZ then the one I picked?
Is the power supply sufficient, and being modular , it does come with all required cables, correct???
And If I was to have 100 extra dollars, should I go with a better video card? Or better motherboard?

Sorry for some many questions, this is just something that I cant mess up. Any tips or recommendations for the actual building part would be great as well.

I will make this build around late January.
 
A few things:

Forget about the 8120, the 8320 is here much - it's a much better deal, so definitely get that.

I personally don't like that case, I'd get a Fractal Design Define R3 or R4 myself. Just me though.

AMD processors tend to be cheaper but they are still pretty good for gaming. Eight cores doesn't make much difference at all, in fact it makes virtually no difference over 6 or 4. So you could save money and go for an FX-4300 or an FX-6300 if you wanted (though I'd start to consider the Intel Core i3 over either of those). You can overclock the 8320, so no need to get wound up about gigahertz. I believe the 8320 is stock clocked to 4.0GHz or something like that anyway, so really no need to worry!

Yep, the PSU is good and yes it should have all the cables. Just plug in the ones you need.

If you had 100 bucks more, I'd definitely get a better graphics card. The 7770 isn't bad, but a 7850, 7870 or 7950 would be awesome. You may be able to squeeze a 7850 into your budget (not sure), but if you had a hundred bucks more, I'd get a 7870 and a 600-650W PSU to go with it.
 
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Is this processor better?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

And I was considering the 7850 actually, it does have a size increase in power, for only 50 more dollars..
It confused me at first, I was always told that the third digit was how powerful the card was, from 1-9, at least for Radeon products?

And thanks for the input. :)

So the i3 is actually powerful? I thought it was actually for the lower end market, for just regular computer use.
 
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Alright, I think I will go with the 8320 if I can fit it in. Will the other cores be wasted , or is there anything I can do with them?

Thanks again.
 
Umm it'll be good for heavily threaded applications, like video editing.

You could just go for an FX-4300/6300 or an i5 3570K though. The i5 will require a different board.
 
Will it help with 3D modeling, texturing and things of that nature???

If its not to much help, I will just go with the 6300 and try to get a 7850.

Is cable management a huge deal on a Mid size tower?

Sorry for so many questions :P
 
I think a 6300 and a 7850 would be better. Better to spend more on the GPU.

Consider the i3 though.
 
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