[buffsportsman]

Hello everyone, I have been planning out what parts I should use along with my XFX 6870 and OCZ 600W PSU to build him a gaming PC, the budget for the rest of the build is ~300. The parts list I have right now from PCPartPicker is here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GYTT (I have all the parts listed, not just the parts I need to get still):

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T

Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+

Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333

Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 2GB Video Card

Case: NZXT Source 210

Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W

Optical Drive: Lite-On

OS: Win7 Home Premium

As it stands, the only parts I need are a CPU, motherboard, RAM, case, optical drive, and maybe an SSD if the price is right. Is it worth it to upgrade the the 1055T to a 1100T? Or maybe even go with a 4300? I am more up to date on Intel CPUs and performance, and I can't seem to tell from benchmarks which AMD CPUs are more suited for modern games (most will be steam games like CS, TF2, but also BF3 will be played on it).

Thank you very much for any help in advance.

 

[captainvera]

Sorry To be off topic but, your grandpa plays games? that is awesome..

 

[aznpersuazn]

4300 is a huge downgrade. Just keep the 1055T you have, buy a 990FX mobo, compatible RAM and you should be set.

Also, that PSU is overkill for just a Radeon HD 6870. Down size it around 350- 400 Watts, unless you plan to Crossfire in the future. Then, 600 Watts will be fine.

 

[buffsportsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainvera

Sorry To be off topic but, your grandpa plays games? that is awesome..

Haha yes he does, but I've only recently turned 18, so he's not terribly old. Don't actually know how old exactly...I believe he just turned 67. But he's been playing computer games as long as I remember; the first computer game I played was Free Space 2, and it was with him.
Quote:

Originally Posted by aznpersuazn

4300 is a huge downgrade. Just keep the 1055T you have, buy a 990FX mobo, compatible RAM and you should be set.

Also, that PSU is overkill for just a Radeon HD 6870. Down size it around 350- 400 Watts, unless you plan to Crossfire in the future. Then, 600 Watts will be fine.

I don't have the 1055T yet, I'd have to buy it. That's also the reason I chose a 970 mobo, just because it'd save a few dollars. And yeah, the 600W PSU was left over from when it was replaced after running a 7970 for a couple months, otherwise I wouldn't think of getting such a big PSU.

 

[aznpersuazn]

Ah I see. Then the 970 should be all you really need. Is he planning on only playing games? Also is he planning on overclocking?

 

[PunkX 1]

A word of advice to the OP, the G46 isn't ideally capable of handling a Thuban without a risk of frying the VRMs (unless you're on stock).

 

[buffsportsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznpersuazn

Ah I see. Then the 970 should be all you really need. Is he planning on only playing games? Also is he planning on overclocking?

Yes, I believe all he will be doing is playing games and using Chrome. I don't believe I'll be OCing it at all, but maybe. If I do, I'll be getting a Hyper 212 Evo.
Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkX 1

A word of advice to the OP, the G46 isn't ideally capable of handling a Thuban without a risk of frying the VRMs (unless you're on stock).

Ah, this is the kind of stuff I like posting to find out about. Are there any AMD budget mobo preferences for Thuban chips? I'd like to have the ability to OC, even if only to make me feel better.

 

[Carlosmans]

I have edited your build with a better mobo, you could also go with the Asrock 970 Extreme 4 both have good vrms, the Asrock board also has the ability of crossfire (x8/x8)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HbdK

If your not set on the phenom you could go with the Fx 6300 which will overclock very well and perform better in most games.

 

[PunkX 1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffsportsman

Yes, I believe all he will be doing is playing games and using Chrome. I don't believe I'll be OCing it at all, but maybe. If I do, I'll be getting a Hyper 212 Evo.
Ah, this is the kind of stuff I like posting to find out about. Are there any AMD budget mobo preferences for Thuban chips? I'd like to have the ability to OC, even if only to make me feel better.

The ASrock 970 Extreme 3 would be an ideal choice if you're on a budget

 

[buffsportsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlosmans

If your not set on the phenom you could go with the Fx 6300 which will overclock very well and perform better in most games.

Is it worth the extra $50 over the 1055T? I don't know right now if I'll be OCing it much, if at all.

 

[PunkX 1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffsportsman

Is it worth the extra $50 over the 1055T? I don't know right now if I'll be OCing it much, if at all.

This should help

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=699

Stock for stock, the 6300 has a substantial lead over the 1055T.

 

[buffsportsman]

So do you think it would be worth it to get the 6300 over the 4300 just for gaming since pretty much only battlefield uses more than four cores at the moment? I looked at the Anand comparison and it doesn't show much of a lead in gaming if any.

edit: I think I should include the 6870 I have is only a 1 GB version, so I can't run BF3 on Ultra no matter what CPU I get.

 

[PunkX 1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffsportsman

So do you think it would be worth it to get the 6300 over the 4300 just for gaming since pretty much only battlefield uses more than four cores at the moment? I looked at the Anand comparison and it doesn't show much of a lead in gaming if any.

edit: I think I should include the 6870 I have is only a 1 GB version, so I can't run BF3 on Ultra no matter what CPU I get.

More and more (newer) games are starting to use all the cores you throw at them.

Crysis 3 is the perfect example. On stock (3.1GHz), the game pushes my X4 to about 98%. At 4GHz, usage still hovers at 88% but I get a boost of about 10fps.

 

[Kavster12]

Your grandpa is a boss. Nuff said.

 

[buffsportsman]

What I've come up with so far is this to buy:

Rosewill REDBONE case

Asus M5A97 970 mobo

Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB 1600 RAM

FX-6300 CPU

For the cooler, I went with the Logisys MC3002GX

And then the optical drive is an Asus

Any suggestions before making the purchase?

 

[Carlosmans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffsportsman

Is it worth the extra $50 over the 1055T? I don't know right now if I'll be OCing it much, if at all.

I did actually think they were around the same price, if you can't afford the extra $50 stick with the 1055T its a very good cpu

 

[Carlosmans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffsportsman

What I've come up with so far is this to buy:

Rosewill REDBONE case

Asus M5A97 970 mobo

Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB 1600 RAM

FX-6300 CPU

For the cooler, I went with the Logisys MC3002GX

And then the optical drive is an Asus

Any suggestions before making the purchase?

looks a good build, not heard of that cooler before I would go with the coolermaster hyper 212

 

[buffsportsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlosmans

looks a good build, not heard of that cooler before I would go with the coolermaster hyper 212

Yeah, that's the cooler I have on my 3570k, but I was feeling adventurous and like saving a few bucks. Also, it looks essentially the same, the heat pipes look a little different where they make contact with the CPU but that's all besides the non-CM fan. I won't need it for any crazy OCing anyway.

 

[Djmatrix32]

Reading this thread makes me think of my grandma xD She games too

.......Asrock motherboards are pretty solid I have used them a lot only reason I got my Asus now because I wanted to give them a try,

 

[buffsportsman]

So it's decided to get the FX-6300 and OC it as far as I can push it on air? I've decided I will probably OC just so I can squeeze more out of the CPU.