Budget AMD Gaming System

IntoTheVoid

IntoTheVoid

IntoTheVoid

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Joined
31 Dec 2002
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458
Hi, I am considering the following AMD budget gaming box. Would appreciate your views and advice. I have considered Intel alternative, but do not want to go for i3-3225 at this point and i5 Ivybridge and Haswell is too expensive for my budget. This system will be for my daughter who likes to play Skyrim and Battelfield 3 and similar games. Would like to game in 1080p resolution:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T) with FREE GAMES £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £86.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 620W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £67.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX) £53.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £47.95
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £630.88 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
I'd definitely change the board - the ASRock isn't very good at all. The Asus 970 EVO R2.0 is much better for £3 more.

The rest looks good, but I'd get a CPU cooler in order to keep things quiet or to overclock. If you can push the budget, I'd get the MSI Twin Frozr 7950 card, or at least the 7870 LE for about £12 extra.
 
Don't get the ASRock though because it'll throttle the CPU, it's just not suitable for an 8320.

You could spend a little less on the PSU if you'd like to cut the budget, or get the 7870 LE.
 
hi, just had a look at the 7870le and it is too expensive!!!!! also are AMD systems stable and solid with stock coolers? are the motherboards solid also? been a while since I have built an AMD system.
 
It's £162 vs £150 for the 7870?

The system will be completely stable with the stock cooler, it'll just be noisy at full load. The board I mentioned is completely solid, people run highly oc'd 8320s on them without a problem.
 
Hi, sorry must have looked at the wrong card. is the VTX card going to be fairly quiet? what would you consider one of the best 990 AMD motherboards for less than £100? thanks.
 
For someone bothered with sound, it makes no sense to go for the FX8320 with a stock cooler.

The i5 with Z68 is attainable, it's the better option.

Seems it's just falling on death ears though :confused:
 
The AMD stock coolers are pretty rubbish. Though even a £10 one would cut the noise to next to nothing if it's not overclocked.

My 4770K stock cooler was near silent at regular load, noisy at full load - but I expected that.
 
The AMD stock coolers have been crap for years, despite being quite thick and heavy.

There's no plus for getting the FX8320 rig unless overclocking, stock for stock in gaming the i5 3570 is generally going to be the better choice.
 
I'd overclock the 8320 - with a cheap fan it'd still be quiet at load, just not silent.

For games like these the FPS will be fine for both CPUs, but the b-grade board may not support Ivy without a BIOS update.
 
teppic said:
For games like these the FPS will be fine for both CPUs, but the b-grade board may not support Ivy without a BIOS update.
Click to expand...

Last time I got that Z68 board it was fine straight off, he could always request OCUK flash it before hand as it's B-Grade I can't see them saying no.

Or, bump up another tenner and get an entry Haswell set up and he'd be future proof (Or some what)

teppic said:
If your budget is fixed, you won't get close.
Click to expand...

He'll get close, it'll only be ~ 20 more than the 3570.

Which he could make by lowering SSD/PSU tbh (Although I wouldn't I'd just sell myself on the street for a quick hour)
 
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