Help w/ New PC Build

[Sykos]

Hi, this is my first time building a computer and I have some questions. My budget was about $700, this comes to around 765 without shipping or tax. Do you guys know any tips or tricks I could use to make this cheaper? This is what I have so far:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113287&Tpk=AMD%20FX-4300

PSU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

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

ODD: Newegg.com - LG 24X DVD Burner - Bare Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS95 - CD / DVD Burners

RAM: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

GPU: Newegg.com - ASUS HD7770-2GD5 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Mobo: http://www.microcenter.com/product/375772/GA-970A-UD3_Socket_AM3_970_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

case: http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Black-Gaming-Computer-CHALLENGER-U3/dp/B005HJMQIS

I want to make it cheaper, so I'm curious about how important the HDD cache is. I can knock off ten dollars for downgrading the cache on the HDD, but I don't want a huge performance drop. I also need to know if I need a sound card or not. On the flipside of things, however, I want to know if it's worth it to get the six core variant of the CPU for ten more dollars. And finally, would it be too much to ask if you awesome people out there could tell me if my build is compatible?

Sorry if I posted incorrectly, I'll do my best to fix it.

 

[OhSnapWord]

You probably wouldn't see much of a performance hit by going less cache on the drive, unless of course you're running a database or something.

 

[Life]

Hi, this is my first time building a computer and I have some questions. My budget was about $700, this comes to around 765 without shipping or tax. Do you guys know any tips or tricks I could use to make this cheaper? This is what I have so far:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113287&Tpk=AMD%20FX-4300

PSU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

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

ODD: Newegg.com - LG 24X DVD Burner - Bare Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS95 - CD / DVD Burners

RAM: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

GPU: Newegg.com - ASUS HD7770-2GD5 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Mobo: http://www.microcenter.com/product/375772/GA-970A-UD3_Socket_AM3_970_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

case: http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Black-Gaming-Computer-CHALLENGER-U3/dp/B005HJMQIS

I want to make it cheaper, so I'm curious about how important the HDD cache is. I can knock off ten dollars for downgrading the cache on the HDD, but I don't want a huge performance drop. I also need to know if I need a sound card or not. On the flipside of things, however, I want to know if it's worth it to get the six core variant of the CPU for ten more dollars. And finally, would it be too much to ask if you awesome people out there could tell me if my build is compatible?

Sorry if I posted incorrectly, I'll do my best to fix it.

You need at least 600w PSU for this build. Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply BUt this adds $5 to your order. YOu can reduce your wholoe price range of this PC by like you said downgrading the HDD + don't get the graphics card you listed. It is overkill for your mobo/ RAM combo. By finding a cheaper card that will be even with your build, you can bring it down another $40. Total you will bring your build $45 lower then current just by following these instructions^^ Let me know

 

[Sykos]

Thanks, I'll step down my HDD cache and up the the PSU, but the graphics were recommended to me, so I'm not sure. I want to be able to play skyrim and farcry 3 well, and I want to over-overkill minecraft, so I'm also not sure what this means for the CPU.

 

[Life]

Thanks, I'll step down my HDD cache and up the the PSU, but the graphics were recommended to me, so I'm not sure. I want to be able to play skyrim and farcry 3 well, and I want to over-overkill minecraft, so I'm also not sure what this means for the CPU.

This card is $40 cheaper and will run all 3 games on very max all at the same time. Newegg.com - Refurbished: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-RX GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

This one is $50 cheaper, and will run far car 3 on max + minecraft on max at the same time. Newegg.com - Refurbished: EVGA 01G-P3-1282-RX GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I have minecraft and am running max with ease on this card Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-20313-10L GeForce 210 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

 

[Sykos]

I'm thinking optifine's maximum settings. Also, what about battlefield 3? But still, should I upgrade to the six core cpu?

 

[Life]

I'm thinking optifine's maximum settings. Also, what about battlefield 3? But still, should I upgrade to the six core cpu?

No, battlefield 3 runs great on quad core. My dual core plays bf3. Again, you don't need more then those GPU's I show'd you. Back to topic: You won't be needing 6 cores until you want to play BF3, run downloads on top of listening to youtube, while also running a document program. The cores aren't really need for gaming. Cores are for people who do insane multitasking. Even with a lot of multi taskin, 6 cores are still not needed. For a gamer, you could run battlefield 3 on max ith a dual core, as long as you have enough GHZ's, like 3.0 ghz would be very good for battlefield 3. So your quad core build will be just perfect for you.

 

[Oats]

stick to the 7770. It is the absolute cheapest GPU I'd get for higher end games, however, the price of the one you have is pretty poor. you can get a 7770 for $120 easily. If you spend almost $150, you are much better off with a Geforce 650Ti.

I can't say anything on the Geforce 280 recommendation since I am very unfamiliar with the 200 series.

500-650watt power supply is fine. your entire system will likely never go over 300watts unless you overclock and even though I doubt it. This is especially true for the 7770 since it consumes very little, but it's still nice to have some extra watt room for OC, upgrading, and aging. Just make sure it has one of the 80 plus certifications for better quality, two 6+2pins PCI-E connectors for versatility, and a 4+4pin CPU connector for versatility which both have.

If you spend around $130 on a CPU, you are way better off with an Intel i3 3220 or an AMD FX-6300.

the i3 3220 would require an "Ivy Bridge" LGA 1155 socket motherboard.

either way, if you don't plan on overclocking, you can easily get away with a $70 mobo. If you think you might get into overclocking some time in the future, read reviews on the product, you may be able to get a decent enough one around $100 although $120-140 is usually preferred.

If you don't plan on storing many videos, you can get away with a 500GB HDD for around $60. cache doesn't really matter once you go above 16mb.

You can drop your RAM speed to 1600Mhz since it doesn't make much of a difference at all. Easy to get good 8GB RAM for $40.

 

[Life]

stick to the 7770. It is the absolute cheapest GPU I'd get for higher end games, however, the price of the one you have is pretty poor. you can get a 7770 for $120 easily. If you spend almost $150, you are much better off with a Geforce 650Ti.

I can't say anything on the Geforce 280 recommendation since I am very unfamiliar with the 200 series.

500-650watt power supply is fine. your entire system will likely never go over 300watts unless you overclock and even though I doubt it. This is especially true for the 7770 since it consumes very little, but it's still nice to have some extra watt room for OC, upgrading, and aging. Just make sure it has one of the 80 plus certifications for better quality, two 6+2pins PCI-E connectors for versatility, and a 4+4pin CPU connector for versatility which both have.

If you spend around $130 on a CPU, you are way better off with an Intel i3 3220 or an AMD FX-6300.

the i3 3220 would require an "Ivy Bridge" LGA 1155 socket motherboard.

either way, if you don't plan on overclocking, you can easily get away with a $70 mobo. If you think you might get into overclocking some time in the future, read reviews on the product, you may be able to get a decent enough one around $100 although $120-140 is usually preferred.

If you don't plan on storing many videos, you can get away with a 500GB HDD for around $60. cache doesn't really matter once you go above 16mb.

You can drop your RAM speed to 1600Mhz since it doesn't make much of a difference at all. Easy to get good 8GB RAM for $40.

I disagree. He is planning on a gaming computer, so he needs fastest ram possible. Also, games are getting bigger and bigger, so 500gb will fill up real fast, so 1tb is needed. To get that cpu you recommend is a bad idea. They will end up costing more, so he will need to get a different mobo, which in oder to handle all this well, he needs to be spending much more on mobo and ram. Please take no offense, but you don't seem to be having much knowledge on building a gaming computer. Again, no offense intended, but based on your recommendations, they seem to be rather poor choices for someone on a budget.

 

[Sykos]

Thanks for input oats, and thanks life (hah). I'll stick w/ the quad-core and step down my graphics. I really appreciate your help. Anything else I should know? I'm probably going to order the parts tomorrow.