[Brandon201]

I'm building my first PC and would like to know if it looks good. My budget is under $400 as of right now, and this is the best I could find. Please look below and mention any upgrades that will not increase the price, that I may have missed. I will be using this computer primarily for gaming, but will do a small amount of Photoshop work. Will this fulfill my needs for the time being, and will it have a problem running games such as ARMA II, ARMA III - In the future, MW3, D3, Skyrim, BF3, and similar modern titles? I do not mind running them on medium-low because I will eventually build a $1,000+ computer within a year hopefully. I would also like to confirm if all the parts are compatible. I think they are, but it is my first time and I could be wrong. Thanks for reading my post, if you need any more information just ask.

P.S. For clarification, I am buying this ALL on Amazon Prime for $375.35, not on Newegg/other sites.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G530 2.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($47.18 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Biostar H61MGC Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VM30001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.73 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($36.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($25.97 @ Newegg)
Total: $360.80
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-10 18:38 EDT-0400)

Edited by Brandon201, 10 June 2012 - 05:02 PM.

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Brandon201

Welcome to Geeks to Go

To deal with your query in what I hope is an easy to read format

1. The parts chosen are OK as far as their compatability with ONE possible exception
The ram is 1333 MHz and the processor accepts 1066 as default without changing any settings
See this please

http://ark.intel.com...-Cache-2_40-GHz

and a short article I have written explaining this
http://www.geekstogo...-do-i-purchase/

That does not mean that the chosen ram will not work, simply that you will need to alter settings to use the 1333 Mhz ram to run other than at the default settings for the processor and the gain will be UN-NOTICEABLE.
Personally I recommend you stick with the 1066 listed by Intel.

2. Before I proceed see this as an excellent guide to building your system.
It is well worth a read and written by two staff members at Geeks to Go - Troy and Artellos
http://www.geekstogo...r-own-computer/

3. The PSU. The graphics card recommends 400 watt minimum.
You have chosen Corsair - an excellent PSU.
That is good, as cheap unknown brands of PSU place the whole system at risk, from their inadequate protection against
failure resulting in over voltage supply - from the use of cheap unreliable diodes etc.

Although you will manage with 430 as the graphics card itself, uses a max of 66 watts, if I was going to recommend any change it would be that you increase the PSU to 500 watts

That said I am a liitle uncertain, as to whether this is really all worthwhile

I do not mind running them on medium-low because I will eventually build a $1,000+ computer within a year hopefully]

The reason I say that and it must of course be your decision, is that the processor at 2.4 Ghz and the 4Gb of ram are going to leave you running those games you list more at the low end spec of the games - I think.

Indeed you need to consider what operating system you are installing, if you are going to use Windows 7 - 64 bit, please see this

http://msdn.microsof...imits_windows_7

and I would increase the ram in capacity to 8Gb.

4. Returning to the processor - see this please
http://www.cpubenchm...et/cpu_list.php

click on your processor and you will see the resutls, then click again and you will see what I mean.
IN its class, it is listed bottom of the scale for its performance.
http://www.cpubenchm...530+%40+2.40GHz

5. One of the games you list ARMA 3 - its requirements
http://gamesystemreq...ames.php?id=305

and the AMD processor recommended and you may compare with yours or they recommend an Intel i5

http://www.amd.com/u...4-features.aspx

6. So in summary

What you have chosen will work. - just bear in mind the ram. by that I mean none of the items are incompatible.
Please accept that I am not in any way wishing to leave you thinking that I am being critical of your decision to build this computer, when you say your intention is to build a far more expensive system within the year.

I simply think that you should give the matter serious consideration as what you will end up with, in respect of this build, will be less than an effective efficient gaming machine.

If you add the cost of this build to what you intend to spend, on the computer you are going to build within the year you could have an excellent gaming computer.

For instance if you were going to run with two graphic cards - you would need a 700 or even 850 PSU.
The motherboard will accept only 2 sticks of ram
The processor. as I said defaults to 1066 mhz and the motherboard itself will only accept 1066 or 1333

In summary there is little that would be sutiable to transfer to the other system

However the choice is of course yours and if you need any more advice, someone else will I am sure post as well.

I am signing off now it is 0157 here in UK
Goodnight and good luck with the build, either this one if you do proceed or the later one.

[Macboatmaster]

Brandon201

Welcome to Geeks to Go

To deal with your query in what I hope is an easy to read format

1. The parts chosen are OK as far as their compatability with ONE possible exception
The ram is 1333 MHz and the processor accepts 1066 as default without changing any settings
See this please

http://ark.intel.com...-Cache-2_40-GHz

and a short article I have written explaining this
http://www.geekstogo...-do-i-purchase/

That does not mean that the chosen ram will not work, simply that you will need to alter settings to use the 1333 Mhz ram to run other than at the default settings for the processor and the gain will be UN-NOTICEABLE.
Personally I recommend you stick with the 1066 listed by Intel.

2. Before I proceed see this as an excellent guide to building your system.
It is well worth a read and written by two staff members at Geeks to Go - Troy and Artellos
http://www.geekstogo...r-own-computer/

3. The PSU. The graphics card recommends 400 watt minimum.
You have chosen Corsair - an excellent PSU.
That is good, as cheap unknown brands of PSU place the whole system at risk, from their inadequate protection against
failure resulting in over voltage supply - from the use of cheap unreliable diodes etc.

Although you will manage with 430 as the graphics card itself, uses a max of 66 watts, if I was going to recommend any change it would be that you increase the PSU to 500 watts

That said I am a liitle uncertain, as to whether this is really all worthwhile

I do not mind running them on medium-low because I will eventually build a $1,000+ computer within a year hopefully]

The reason I say that and it must of course be your decision, is that the processor at 2.4 Ghz and the 4Gb of ram are going to leave you running those games you list more at the low end spec of the games - I think.

Indeed you need to consider what operating system you are installing, if you are going to use Windows 7 - 64 bit, please see this

http://msdn.microsof...imits_windows_7

and I would increase the ram in capacity to 8Gb.

4. Returning to the processor - see this please
http://www.cpubenchm...et/cpu_list.php

click on your processor and you will see the resutls, then click again and you will see what I mean.
IN its class, it is listed bottom of the scale for its performance.
http://www.cpubenchm...530+%40+2.40GHz

5. One of the games you list ARMA 3 - its requirements
http://gamesystemreq...ames.php?id=305

and the AMD processor recommended and you may compare with yours or they recommend an Intel i5

http://www.amd.com/u...4-features.aspx

6. So in summary

What you have chosen will work. - just bear in mind the ram. by that I mean none of the items are incompatible.
Please accept that I am not in any way wishing to leave you thinking that I am being critical of your decision to build this computer, when you say your intention is to build a far more expensive system within the year.

I simply think that you should give the matter serious consideration as what you will end up with, in respect of this build, will be less than an effective efficient gaming machine.

If you add the cost of this build to what you intend to spend, on the computer you are going to build within the year you could have an excellent gaming computer.

For instance if you were going to run with two graphic cards - you would need a 700 or even 850 PSU.
The motherboard will accept only 2 sticks of ram
The processor. as I said defaults to 1066 mhz and the motherboard itself will only accept 1066 or 1333

In summary there is little that would be sutiable to transfer to the other system

However the choice is of course yours and if you need any more advice, someone else will I am sure post as well.

I am signing off now it is 0157 here in UK
Goodnight and good luck with the build, either this one if you do proceed or the later one.

[Brandon201]

Regarding your advice, thank you I will follow it. I have seen the post explaining in depth on how to build a PC when I first visited the site, and will be following that guide when all components are shipped to me.

Also I'm unsure if you play video games, but if you do, please tell me if you think my system will be ale to handle releases in the upcoming year at medium-low graphics. If not, no worries, and thank you for the advice you have given.


edit: I did not see you were continuing your post. I will wait and edit this when you are finished.

Edited by Brandon201, 10 June 2012 - 06:16 PM.