First time builder, is this a decent setup?

[Tyjet]

Hey

So, I want a new PC to do a bit of light gaming with (mostly the Sims 3 + EPs) and everywhere says the most cost effective way to get a gaming PC is to build it yourself. Anyway, here is the build I'm thinking of: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/gjSM

I'm just wondering if there's anything I should be wary of, or maybe if I could get the same/very similar build at a lower price. I'm going to salvage the disk drive from my current PC because it's relatively new and I'd RATHER not spend money I don't have to.

Also, any general advice would be much appreciated!

[UltimateImperative]

That seems reasonable to me. You could save a bit on the power supply by going for This XFX unit; The case is very nice, but it's on the expensive side (but not overpriced). It's your call, but you could go with an Antec 302 or a Bitfenix Shinobi on the ATX side, or, since your motherboard is micro-ATX, or a Silverstone PS-07/TJ-08-E, which would save space, if not money.

[Tyjet]

Aah, but that PSU is only 450W, my graphics card requires 500W

And I didn't realise it was on the expensive one! I may consider changing to one of those since they look more or less the same, just cheaper.

EDIT: Since my graphics card requires a 500W PSU, would you advise going for something over 500W (say 550W) just to be sure?

[Arclight]

The build is more than ok for the intended use. You did a fine job. I don't know where else you could save money, personally i'd spend a bit more on some items, like the PSU (the CX series are fine but not known to be the best...). Also the GTX 560 Ti is old now, but at that price from current gen idk if there is something better.

Edit:
A sensible upg. from that 560 Ti would be the HD 7870 Hawk (at £215.99):
http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/msi-vid ... -r7870hawk

According to this article:
http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvid ... reviewed/4
I know the review is about another card, but coincidently the test includes both the 7870 Hawk and the GTX 560 Ti.

[Chrispy_]

Hey, welcome to TR.

The Corsair 500W unit you've picked is fine - you can spend more but it'll be more than adequate and it's a reasonable price. Graphics cards that "require a 500W power supply" are just the manufacturer covering their own arse. Cheap 350W supplies probably can't even reach 350W so they are just overcompensating. That 500W Corsair will be able to provide a constant, solid 500W without problems.

The build looks pretty sound - I have two recommendations:

Firstly, the 560Ti is old and not particularly competetive anymore. For £185 you can get much more for your money, such as this £150 HD7850. For significantly less money it will be anything from 10% to 75% quicker - depending on the game.

From your description though, that's overkill; Something quieter and cheaper will be more than enough for you at the moment. How about this £90 HD7770 which will run even the latest games at high settings on a 1080p screen.

Secondly, if you value a responsive system I would suggest going with the HD7770 to save almost £100, and using that money to buy a solid-state disk. The hot favourite at the moment is the Samsung 830, though this Kingston is a good deal at the moment. You would install Windows, your programs, and maybe a few of your favourite games on it, then keep everything else on the 1TB drive. If you've not used a computer with a solid state disk yet, then you should know that it's pretty amazing at making everything feel snappy and responsive.

[jokinin]

If you only play Sims3, you can go with a cheaper GPU , something like a AMD Radeon 7750 at about 100€. That will be more than enough. Rest is a very nice system.

[Tyjet]

Thanks for the replies!

On the subject of the graphics card: for The Sims 3 I don't think anything more powerful would be necessary (at the moment anyway) and I would rather stick with an nVidia card as ATI cards are a lot more prone to compatibility issues with the game and are more likely to have graphical glitches etc. Of course I could get the ATI card and it could be perfectly fine, but I'd rather not run the risk.

I'm not going to go ahead and order anything until nearer christmas (don't really have the money atm anyway) so I still have a while to research and see what's best. I also should have mentioned that my budget is about £700. Which I'm just about managing here (I just realised that something on my list has jumped up in price by about £7 ).

What exactly are the pros & cons of an SSD? Are they quicker?

EDIT: I also changed the case to the bitfenix Shinobi

[piecerad]

I'm a long term AMD graphics card user but also have extensive experience with nvidia, and can say with confidence that AMD cards are definitely not more prone to incompatability or 'glitches'. If anything I would say the reverse has been more true recently, and for the level you're buying at the 7770 or 7850 are definitely far better value. I have also been using a Crucial M4 as the main drive in my system for nearly a year and a half now, and I would say there are almost no cons of SSDs apart from the prices, which are now far more resonable than when I bought mine. The speed difference between the SSD and the mechanical drive in my last system is night and day, and I think they should be essential to almost any build. The samsung 830 is a very good choice for price and performance. otherwise the system looks great, I agree with others regarding the power supply being more than enough and case wise, I would reccomend getting an mATX case as you're getting an mATX board and this will make for a potentialy cheaper, more compact, and sometimes cooler running machine. the silverstone PS07 is a really nice mid-budget option, or for incredible value have a look at the fractal core 1000. I built a machine for my dad in the core 1000 and was very impressed with the build quality, aesthetic design, cooling and low noise for £27.

[JustAnEngineer]

I would rather stick with an nVidia card as ATI cards are a lot more prone to compatibility issues with the game and are more likely to have graphical glitches etc.

That stopped being true many years ago. NVidia has had some spectacular driver failures in the past few years, too. I choose whichever one offers the best value at the time that I'm purchasing. Right now, that would be: Radeon HD7770, HD7850, HD7870, GeForce GTX660Ti, Radeon HD7950, GeForce GTX670, GTX680, or Radeon HD7970. All of these use current-generation GPUs fabricated at 28nm. For your budget, I recommend something like a Radeon HD7850 2GB, hot-clocked from the factory at 975 MHz (vs. the original 860).

I'm not going to go ahead and order anything until nearer christmas (don't really have the money atm anyway).

If you're not buying in the next 30 days, there is no point in wasting time coming up with component lists. In three months, new products will be available and prices will be different.

What exactly are the pros & cons of an SSD? Are they quicker?

Yes, very much so.

[Tyjet]

I'm not talking in general when I say AMD cards are more prone to compatibility issues, I mean specifically with TS3. I was reading a thread there the other day where people were saying shadow issues are common because of some hardware issue. Although tbf, I don't think any card is perfect. I'll do some further research on AMD cards with TS3 and decide then! I may go for that HD7850 if things are ok with it!

Thanks

[Chrispy_]

What others have said about AMD and Nvidia drivers is true. I've been using both brands simultaneously and whilst both have improved over the years, the Nvidia drivers currently misbehave more frequently. Certainly some games can still have problems with specific drivers but it's been years since I saw something that wasn't fixed by an update.

The reason you are seeing AMD recommendations is because Nvidia have completely failed to release any entry and midrange products this year - they're a good 12 months behind AMD at the moment. If you're not buying in the next few months, Nvidia will soon have either a Geforce 650GT or a GTX660 (without the Ti) which should be selling in the £150 range. That will probably be a good alternative to AMD but until it comes out we won't know for sure.

Building a new machine without an SSD is probably going to be a mistake soon. Due to the popularity of ultrabooks, tablets and decreasing flash memory costs, solid-state storage is becoming the default, with mechanical storage becoming optional for all but the cheapest desktops and laptops. Software is starting to leverage the fact that SSD's have 100x higher performance on small files and I suspect in the next few years mechanical disks will be left out in the cold - unable to perform adequately because the software was written, tested, and optimised for an SSD with 100x the IOPS of a mechanical disk.

[Saccheri]

What exactly are the pros & cons of an SSD? Are they quicker?

I only build systems with SSDs as a primary drive these days - the performance jump is significant. The OCZ Vertex 3 and Samsung 830's are all in my current "parts" lists.