Hello,

I am planning to build a new PC, and I have the final list. But I need to confirm some stuff. First of all, here is the current part list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (£109.00 @ Scan.co.uk) 
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£16.55 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£64.96 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£51.01 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£42.94 @ Dabs) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  (£264.99 @ Dabs) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.19 @ Aria PC) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£57.98 @ Novatech) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  (£9.96 @ Aria PC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers) 
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£90.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £804.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-30 22:08 BST+0100

1.  I need someone to check:

• If there is a potential bottleneck;
• Motherboard Compatibility with the CPU and GPU;
• If the cooling is sufficient;
• If it will last for at least 3-4 years;
• Any better deals.

2.  The GPU experience:

I cannot decide yet between the GTX 970 or R9 390.
I am going for the AMD GPU because it is new, and it has 8GB of VRAM, and is very powerful in general, 70fps in the city on GTA V Maxed out, 2x MSAA
But, a lot of people said nVidia is better because of Shadowplay, Stable Drivers, the TDP, and cooling.
And of course, lots of complaints have been published about the AMD drivers. So overall; which should I go for?

Please, no wars, I am not a fanboy, I just need to know the best choice. 
Most importantly, any help appreciated. Sorry for the long post...

- N4Cer

P.S. I cannot answer quickly because I am leaving to go to India tomorrow morning, and internet there is just -_-

 

 

Oooh India, that should be fun.

1. AMD processors do tend to bottleneck higher end GPUs as, in general, games do not use very many cores. If you play any games that use only 4 cores or less, then the GPU will not be used to its full potential. The processor won't be either, and will be significantly slower than an Intel processor.
The motherboard should be fine.
I'm not so sure about the cooler, though I think any aftermarket cooler is far better than stock.
It should do well for 1440p and 1080p for years to come, especially with 8 cores. However, as I mentioned earlier, if games continue to use <4 cores, it will be bottlenecked and you will not be able to take full potential in games.
If you can, get an Intel processor (i5-4460 is a very popular option, though expensive) and a decent motherboard to go along with it. I feel you will be much happier in most games compared to the 8320. The GPU will work just fine with Intel, despite being an AMD GPU.

2. Both are fantastic options, but the AMD R9 390 has 8GB of VRAM which will be very useful in upcoming games, especially with high end textures and high end resolutions. I would still recommend the 390 no matter what resolution you're running at, though. The drivers on NVIDIA GPUs are a bit buggy currently, especially with the release of Windows 10. Many people have received driver crashes with the GTX 970, including myself. They're nothing to worry about, but the drivers are a bit buggy. AMD drivers are a little less buggy or just as buggy, so the drivers are about identical in that area.
I thought AMD had something similar to Shadowplay/NVIDIA Control Panel, but I'm not entirely sure. They may have removed the recording bit, at least.
The cooling is not as bad as many make it seem. While AMD cards do run hotter than NVIDIA cards in general, most aftermarket coolers take care of most of that problem. The MSI R9 390 is a fantastic choice, and will only run a small bit hotter compared to the 970. Sapphire AMD cards are also a favorite among the PC community.

Overall, I would choose the 390. With an aftermarket cooler, the temperature problems are taken care of. With a *usually* cheaper price with slightly better performance, and 2x the VRAM, the MSI R9 390 will be a great choice for 1080p-1440p for several years.

<snip>

Edited August 2, 201510 yr by AlconH

On top of what theninja35, the build is pretty solid, however:

That CPU is waaaay overkill. Unless you use some high end 3D modelling software or something similar, there's no way you'll use 8 cores. I'd swap down to something more suitable and invest in some good quality case fans. That brings me to my second point below.

Fans. Where are they? You'll want 4+ good quality fans from a decent brand to keep everything nice and cool.

Corsair CX600?! Don't do it! They're awful. Look online, they're the worst. I went through 4 of them in 6 months and corsair kept replacing them. Everyone seems to have trouble with this model. Go for something else.

The monitor is nice, I've got a dual BenQ 27" setup. They're sweet as.

Thanks so much guys :D Yes, I knew about the PSU but the EVGA ones are even worse, and I cannot splash out too much money either lol :)

As for the CPU, it is equivalent to an Intel 4-core, and I might render some videos soon. Ok, I will take the beQuiet! Pure Wings 2, as they are super high quality, low noise, best airflow, for £7 each.

Any good CPU then?

Oooh India, that should be fun.

1. AMD processors do tend to bottleneck higher end GPUs as, in general, games do not use very many cores. If you play any games that use only 4 cores or less, then the GPU will not be used to its full potential. The processor won't be either, and will be significantly slower than an Intel processor.
The motherboard should be fine.
I'm not so sure about the cooler, though I think any aftermarket cooler is far better than stock.
It should do well for 1440p and 1080p for years to come, especially with 8 cores. However, as I mentioned earlier, if games continue to use <4 cores, it will be bottlenecked and you will not be able to take full potential in games.
If you can, get an Intel processor (i5-4460 is a very popular option, though expensive) and a decent motherboard to go along with it. I feel you will be much happier in most games compared to the 8320. The GPU will work just fine with Intel, despite being an AMD GPU.

2. Both are fantastic options, but the AMD R9 390 has 8GB of VRAM which will be very useful in upcoming games, especially with high end textures and high end resolutions. I would still recommend the 390 no matter what resolution you're running at, though. The drivers on NVIDIA GPUs are a bit buggy currently, especially with the release of Windows 10. Many people have received driver crashes with the GTX 970, including myself. They're nothing to worry about, but the drivers are a bit buggy. AMD drivers are a little less buggy or just as buggy, so the drivers are about identical in that area.
I thought AMD had something similar to Shadowplay/NVIDIA Control Panel, but I'm not entirely sure. They may have removed the recording bit, at least.
The cooling is not as bad as many make it seem. While AMD cards do run hotter than NVIDIA cards in general, most aftermarket coolers take care of most of that problem. The MSI R9 390 is a fantastic choice, and will only run a small bit hotter compared to the 970. Sapphire AMD cards are also a favorite among the PC community.

Overall, I would choose the 390. With an aftermarket cooler, the temperature problems are taken care of. With a *usually* cheaper price with slightly better performance, and 2x the VRAM, the MSI R9 390 will be a great choice for 1080p-1440p for several years.

Cheers! VERY helpful advice, thanks for your help. And India is my home country as well lol, but mostly I will be stuck at home. Ok, so finally I will definitely go for the R9 390, sounds amazing. Much more future proof as well, I can't upgrade for the next year. So, I think as of now, I will need to change the PSU and CPU, which probably means a new motherboard.

Edited July 31, 201510 yr by N4Cer
stuff

That CPU is waaaay overkill.

Now before I say anything let me make it clear I'm not a fanboy, I have an FX-8320 myself. It's not overkill. As an AMD user I'm not going to sit here and act like it's superior to Intel when it's not. No doubt that Intel has superior single threaded performance. Overclocking the core frequency of the FX chips past 4Ghz could help a bit. Some are even on par with Intel i5 processors at high enough speeds. AMD processors are nice if you are on a budget and would like a better price/performance ratio and plan on overclocking. FX-series chips overclock real well with some nice cooling.

Downgrading processor to invest in case fans? For one those are dirt cheap and two they're going to do nothing towards performance aside from possibly keeping case temps down a few degrees which in turn will help cool the components a few degrees, at most. Wouldn't cost that much to get a few Corsair SP120 fans, not to where it would warrant taking the budget out of core components. Just my .02

 

@ OP -

If I were you I would get the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 instead for a little more if you can fit it in your budget. Would be a nice board to overclock that processor down the road if you wanted, assuming you get better cooling as these chips run hot.

Edited July 31, 201510 yr by covertcrayon

<snipped>

Edited August 2, 201510 yr by AlconH

As people already said, the AMD does get bottlenecked on single core games. Going from an FX6350 oc @ 4.5Ghz to an I5-3570k made a huge difference in games such a GTA V, Arma 3. I personally would try to find an used I5-3570k so you can overclock it and the performance is better than the 4460 but this is an old chip so upgrade potential isn't the greatest. Also, this is strictly my experiences, I would go for the GTX970 if you are playing at 1080p as it overclocks way better than the R9 390 and we see a more lean towards Nvidia in terms of optimization for games. If you are playing at higher res, go for the R9.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd 

Thanks guys!

I have made some changes, and updated the list. Here is my final PC:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (£110.16 @ Aria PC) 
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£16.55 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£76.99 @ Novatech) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£44.02 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£44.54 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (£269.99 @ Aria PC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£38.48 @ Novatech) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  (£9.65 @ Aria PC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.00 @ Aria PC) 
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£90.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £804.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 09:28 BST+0100

You should seriously think about changing the processor for an Intel i7 clocked at around 3.5Ghz and an Nvidia card with 3-4GB RAM (The 980)?

Remember on Nvidia you get PhysX in certain games :)

For the love of god change the motherboard! I have the Z97 Gaming 9 MSI motherboard and honestly.. it's the first and last time i'll go MSI. Their Wifi adapter is horrible, the slightest bump it will break (i learnt that from changing my cases).. The pins on the connector are that small and fragile that any slight bump (that's even including screwing the two wifi sticks in) can break it. and to replace it.. well you'll either have to put a warranty claim in or buy a new board.

Stay clear of MSI.. go with a better brand.

 

I have made some changes, and updated the list. Here is my final PC:

You should seriously think about changing the processor for an Intel i7 clocked at around 3.5Ghz and an Nvidia card with 3-4GB RAM (The 980)?

Remember on Nvidia you get PhysX in certain games :)

Yes, perhaps not an i7, but an Intel Core i5 with a similar clock speed.

The 980 is too expensive, but actually you (N4Cer) should take a look at this EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SC (benchmark of it in GTA V here). I noticed that the 970 that you chose had a lower base clock speed, even though it had more video memory, but 2GB vs 4GB does not show much of a difference (video comparison), and this card has a significantly higher clock speed, which is evident in the benchmark video. My friend actually owned this 970 with 4GB of video memory and was getting only 40 FPS in GTA V on full settings.

(my reply made in somewhat of a rush, maybe didn't consider everything)

Yes, perhaps not an i7, but an Intel Core i5 with a similar clock speed.

The 980 is too expensive, but actually you (N4Cer) should take a look at this EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GBit in GTA V here). I noticed that the 970 that you chose had a lower base clock speed, even though it had more video memory, but 2GB vs 4GB does not show much of a difference (video comparison), and this card has a significantly higher clock speed, which is evident in the benchmark video. My friend actually owned this 970 with 4GB of video memory and was getting only 40 FPS in GTA V on full settings.

(my reply made in somewhat of a rush, maybe didn't consider everything)

Either your friend has an AMD CPU that is bottlenecking the GTX970 or its not a 970. I have an Asus Strix 970 and run the gun with near max settings (except grass and msaa) and easily get a stable 60fps with vsync on. 60-80 without. I'm assuming your friend has an AMD CPU as the 970 is much better than the 960. 

And as mentioned before, try to go Intel if you can. I had an FX-6350 clocked at 4.4Ghz and it definitely bottlenecked my game till I switched and bought an used 3570k. Huge difference in performance. There is no point to go I7 especially if you are on a budget as you'll see such little difference in gaming performance. Pick up a I5-4460 and a cheaper Z97/H97 board and you'll be set. It'll perform better than the FX. That also allows you to upgrade down the road to a better i5 or even i7. 

*Also, why the heck would you get a 980? An overclocked 970 matches the performance of a 980 and he should be more focused on a better CPU. The 970 is perfectly fine...

Either your friend has an AMD CPU that is bottlenecking the GTX970 or its not a 970. I have an Asus Strix 970 and run the gun with near max settings (except grass and msaa) and easily get a stable 60fps with vsync on. 60-80 without. I'm assuming your friend has an AMD CPU as the 970 is much better than the 960. 

And as mentioned before, try to go Intel if you can. I had an FX-6350 clocked at 4.4Ghz and it definitely bottlenecked my game till I switched and bought an used 3570k. Huge difference in performance. There is no point to go I7 especially if you are on a budget as you'll see such little difference in gaming performance. Pick up a I5-4460 and a cheaper Z97/H97 board and you'll be set. It'll perform better than the FX. That also allows you to upgrade down the road to a better i5 or even i7. 

*Also, why the heck would you get a 980? An overclocked 970 matches the performance of a 980 and he should be more focused on a better CPU. The 970 is perfectly fine...

I have the 960, and I can't seem to get it to stop crashing. No mods, and the launcher log isn't much help either, have you ran into any problems like that? I'm hoping my drivers are just bugged, will do a reinstall of the drivers later, but figured I'd ask.

 

I have made some changes, and updated the list. Here is my final PC:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  (£110.16 @ Aria PC) 
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£16.55 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£76.99 @ Novatech) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£44.02 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£44.54 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (£269.99 @ Aria PC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£38.48 @ Novatech) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  (£9.65 @ Aria PC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.00 @ Aria PC) 
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£90.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £804.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 09:28 BST+0100

I personally would try to find an Intel processor, from what I've read and experienced, a similar speed (3.5ghz for example) runs games better when it's intel vs the AMD. Though AMD is definitely the cheaper option. I recently got an Intel i5, and am much happier with it than my AMD I had before.

 

--Edit--

Just realized the last post is over a week old, feel like an idiot.

Edited August 18, 201510 yr by trippin7464
Being dumb

I have the 960, and I can't seem to get it to stop crashing. No mods, and the launcher log isn't much help either, have you ran into any problems like that? I'm hoping my drivers are just bugged, will do a reinstall of the drivers later, but figured I'd ask.

 

I personally would try to find an Intel processor, from what I've read and experienced, a similar speed (3.5ghz for example) runs games better when it's intel vs the AMD. Though AMD is definitely the cheaper option. I recently got an Intel i5, and am much happier with it than my AMD I had before.

 

--Edit--

Just realized the last post is over a week old, feel like an idiot.

lol no worries, if you want send me a PM and I'll help you there directly and without spamming this older thread.

Thanks. I will go fro an Intel CPU but I will stay with the 970, probably not MSI. I am not on a fast internet connection, I will be offline for a few weeks. Thanks again

I found an unmissable bargain, this is my final PC and I doubt I will change it, researched all the parts to fit and everything.

Mods feel free to close the thread.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K (Its was £12 cheaper than the 4590 :O sorry for dead link)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£24.95 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: Asus Z97-P ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£65.13 @ Dabs) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£43.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£42.66 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£38.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (£247.19 @ Aria PC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£44.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£46.32 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  (£9.65 @ Aria PC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.00 @ Aria PC) 
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£90.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £824.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-21 09:20 BST+0100

Edited August 21, 201510 yr by N4Cer
*sigh* Final CPU change.

I found an unmissable bargain, this is my final PC and I doubt I will change it, researched all the parts to fit and everything.

Mods feel free to close the thread.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K (Its was £12 cheaper than the 4590 :O sorry for dead link)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (£24.95 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: Asus Z97-P ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£65.13 @ Dabs) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£43.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£42.66 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£38.98 @ CCL Computers) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (£247.19 @ Aria PC) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  (£44.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£46.32 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  (£9.65 @ Aria PC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  (£7.54 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 51.4 CFM 120mm  Fan  (£7.00 @ Aria PC) 
Monitor: BenQ GL2250HM 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  (£90.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £824.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-21 09:20 BST+0100

Looks solid! Easy 60FPS maxed out on games :)