Feedback on spec please?

[John_l]

Hi - my son has specced the below build. I know v little about gaming PCs so would really appreciate some advice - is there anything here that doesn't make sense or is obviously "wrong"?
Cheers


Case
FRACTAL DESIGN ARC MIDI R2 MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-6350 Six Core CPU (4.2/3.9GHZ - 8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB AMD RADEON™ R9 280X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE ST1000DX001 1TB/8GB SSHD 64MB HYBRID DRIVE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Seidon 120V High Performance CPU Cooler
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

 

[mantadog]

What kind of budget are you working on?

I can see a couple of things to change right away though.

The 2400Mhz ram is a waste, 8GB is fine but stick to the 1600mhz stuff.
I have heard bad things about the hybrid drives, if possible consider a caviar black + a stand alone SSD, if that's not possible then a caviar black is perfectly fine on its own.
The triple copper heatpipe CPU cooler is fine for non overclocked systems. I would stick with that for a small saving.
The 280x may or may not be the right GPU for you depends on budget

So yeah the spec could be improved a little but it depends on more detailed answers to the following questions.

Budget?
What kind of tasks will you be using the system for? Gaming, video editing, photo editing, is noise an issue because it is in a family room etc?
Any preference with regards to specifically AMD CPU/GPU like you have selected or would you be open to Intel/Nvidia rigs too?

 

[SpeedyPC]

Pay less of a price with the caviar black! as hybrid drives have problems, plus the caviar black is basically one of the fastest hard drive available plus it is as fast if not better, and get 2 1tb with raid 0 if you can, It will be FAST,

Plus buy a single 8gb stick (and not 2400mah) this is to stop hassle if you need to have more than 8gb in the future

 

[John_l]

Thanks for the quick responses. Budget is £1k max, it'll be used in his bedroom mainly for gaming although it'd be nice if he also did some schoolwork on it too :yes: He's currently studying for A levels.

 

[mantadog]

Schoolwork you say? Pretty alien concept to me these days but i'm sure he will do some... at some point.

Here is my take on a 1k gaming spec.

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN ARC MIDI R2 MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache Intel wins over AMD for gaming (and just about everything else also to be honest) i5 is the gaming CPU of choice.
Motherboard
ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE + **FREE GAME**
Free Item
FREE BATTLEFIELD 4 GAME with Z87-A MOTHERBOARD!
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB) More than sufficient at the moment, easy to add a 2nd stick later, just clicks into place
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready Slightly better than the 280x, same price but a decent performance jump
Free Item
FREE BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS GAME with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Free Item
FREE ASSASSINS CREED BLACK FLAG & MORE with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) As pointed out above the hybrid drives are a little iffy
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ MODULAR TXM-650 V2-80 PLUS® (£79) Quality PSU, room for future expansion should you wish.
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £981.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/VQDXESXpJH/

A litter under budget, stick on the £5 warranty for a years worry free computing if you want, job done.

 

[keynes]

Slightly better than the 280x, same price but a decent performance jump

I thought the R9-280x was slightly better.

 

[mantadog]

I thought the R9-280x was slightly better.

Hmmm I checked a couple of other benchmark sites and it seems you might be right. Real close though, the benchmarks I was using had the 770 leading by 2-3 fps on some games and up to 5-6 on others, now im looking at a variety of different sites and they have the 770 behind by 1 or 2 fps or in front by the same margin. Looking at the titles the 770 leads on, they seem to be older so maybe the 280x is the better choice.

So yeah go for the 280x, it wont hurt performance if you would rather have that.

Good spot Keynes