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Hello So I plan on building a PC which will be able to run any game on the highest setting.
I am also going to be editing audio files and using photoshop.

A friend of mine recommended these two builds. Which one would give me the best performance for years to come? And what monitors and keyboard/mouse would you add with it?

Build Option 1
CPU AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard
Memory Team Dark 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage *Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card
Case Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case $22.99
Power Supply Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Total ~ 470$
Build Option 2

CPU Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card *Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card
Case Fractal Design Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total ~ 720$

Would the first build perform just fine? The smaller the price the better
I won't doing too much gaming, it will mostly be used for editing audio files, most intense game i'll play often is starcraft 2.

Thank you

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xhH6jX
second option would be your best bet , the power supply is overkill for what you have unless you are planning to expand later on , if you want to expand later on i would also recommend getting a bigger case and add an additional cpu fan
Edit: forgot to mention if you are planning on using it for audio /photoshop / video editing then i would also recommend a ssd 512 gb .
Hope this helped abit!!

I am not planning on expanding it later on. What other cases would be compatible with this build though? I'm not sure how the sizing system works for PC's.

Once you buy these parts, there's a few you're likely want to reuse in your next build.

In my case I got a new Graphics card for free about a month ago. It was supposed to be compatible with everything, but then it turned out my PSU didn't have enough cables coming from it to power the card...
I only had 6 pins available, but I needed 12.

Stupidest. Incompatibility. Ever.

Confirm that your have enough if this issue hadn't crossed your mind.

With that in mind also consider buying one with a few cables extra, so you can reuse your PSU in a next build.
Your PSU also doesn't need to be particularly high. usually a 500~600W PSU would be enough (and with room to spare).

You might also wanna consider a bigger HDD.
1TB sounds like a lot right now, but games and media are getting more bloated. A game easily gets to 50GB nowadays, so imagine what It'll be like in a few more years.

To me personally your 1st build sounds like the better thought out one, but I'm not very knowledgeable in this area yet, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mhNft6
this is what i should choose it costs a little bit more but there wont be any compatible issues ,
also the case is important that enough airflow can go trough ( little case that is filled will more likly get warmer then a big case that lets more air go trough) and if you want your cpu to have a low temperature at possible i would suggest getting one of these http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-mas ... 212e20pkr2
hope i helped a little bit !!
also if you want more proffesional help there is still http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

In your first option you have a Micro-ATX mobo and a mid-tower case. It might be a better idea to get an ATX mobo in that case, could be a bit better for cooling if everything isn't very close together in one corner.
And yeah, Cooler Master 212 is a good one, although then it would be better to get a tray version CPU so you don't pay extra for that stock cooling you'll throw away.





I got a bit confused by that.

The audio editing part shouldn't be that demanding. If you are going to be handling loads of audio files at once, you'll be using RAM (8 should do it though). Some programs have a "keep on disk" option which will instead read the audio from the hard drive (useful for huge files), so an SSD would be a good bet for those kinds of operations. FX and whatnot placed on the audio live will use CPU.

Build Option 2 is clear winner

They are not close enough to really be considered similar options in terms of power and performance, one is a budget option the other is a power option so use that to make your mind up.

soo much contradiction:
run any game on the highest setting
won't be doing much gaming...
which is it?

graphic cards benchmark -> http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

what do u really want/need?
If u want it to last a few years; spend some more money now
Case, PSU -> depends on cpu, graphic card, amount of HDD/SSD's

Our basic setup:
Antec 4482B with 380W PSU
MSI Z97-G43
i5-4590
8-16GB RAM 1600mhz (corsair or kingston)
WD10EZEX
Simple dvd-writer: SH-224

gaming'ish:
Antec threehundred V2
Corsair PSU 600-1000 (semi or full modular; depending on the rest)
MSI Z97-G43 or a gaming series from MSI
4790k (becuz overkill)
16-32GB RAM
960-980GTX

and concerning 'airflow' -> if u don't overclock or go SLI/Crossfire
the PC doesn't generate much heat, stock fans are more than enough
just don't put your case in a closet or in some bracket under your desk that is
completely closed off...

Case really depends on chosen motherboard (ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX)
PSU -> what graphics, amount of disks, CPU

on a personal note: fck AMD
don't like it 1 bit; yeah it's cheaper... and I know why
can't compete with intel on any level anymore


there is always a way...

Slightly confused about what im looking at...
You plug the white part into the PSU or something?

I've got an OCZ StealthXStream 500W PSU
All the cables stick out from a hole in the metal... would I have anything to plug that into?

What is that type of cable/part called anyway? (like how would I go around asking in a store if they have it ?)

Stop right now, both AMD and Nvidia are releasing new parts within the next 6 months. Even if you arent interested in the new parts, the old ones will sell for less.

This.

AMD will be releasing their 300 series graphics cards, I haven't heard of Nvidia releasing any new hardware in the near future though.

Good thing about graphics cards, it is one of the most universally compatible pieces of hardware in your PC, next to ram and storage. So if you want, you can buy your build minus the graphics card for now (only if you go for Intel! AMD cpu's don't come with integrated graphics except their A series chips).

What is your budget for a new build?

It's called Molex to 6pin (PCI-e/graphic card); also exists as 8pin
Your PSU is a normal one (non-modular); every PSU has Molex (even the newest PSU's)
Molex -> SATA
Molex -> Fan
1 Molex -> 2 Molex
Nearly everything exists as Molex -> ...


Well, within the next 6 months...
There is never a 'good' moment for new hardware
Every month something new gets announced
When something gets released -> higher price, harder to get, unknown problems may arise
(hello GTX 970...)
Sometimes it's even worth the wait; eg 780gtx; dropped in price when 9x0 got released
it's still one of the best cards out there; but now cheaper & a tad harder to get

Concerning budget -> depends on the country & dollar/euro exchange rate
so can't really tell how expensive some things are for someone outside Western-Europe

SSD's are fast as hell; BUT they come at a cost
WD10EZEX (1TB) -> 70€
samsung evo 850 series; 250GB -> 150€

It's actually a 4pin molex to a 6pin pci-e power connector. I don't recommend using those as the PSU may not be designed for it and cause it overheat, shut down, or catastrophically fail. If you replace that R9 290 with a GTX 970 you really won't have power concerns. The i5 also is pretty conservative on power usage.

Indeed Molex, forget the name; but they'll know what u mean.
(post above edited)

As long as PSU W > max W usage complete pc (in theory), it's fine
Buying 750W PSU doesn't give an actual 750W, there is always some loss
Depends on the brand & the series (Corsair has everything very detailed on their website)

PSU is often overlooked in a pc build; but there is an actual difference between the good (more expensive) & cheaper brands
For PSU, we always look towards Corsair
Their cheapest PSU -> 2y warranty
mid-high range: 3-5y
top tier: 7y

oh, don't go for H81 motherboard...
Newest series is 97 & Z>H
H is used for basic basic computers, not something u want to game on
MSI Z97-G43 or Z97m-G43 (micro atx)
(if u want the technical differences between H81-Z87-Z97; google is your friend)

What separates 'gaming' mobo's from regular mobo's anyway? What do you even look for in mobo's in the first place :S ? I only know you gotta watch some of the sockets :/

Should be more than enough. You can always upgrade later.

the series in the first place, the limits to USB, SATA,PCIe, lies in this (as mentioned -> google)
what differences:
amount of sata 3 & sata 2 ports (4-4 / 4-2 / 2-4 / 2-2 / 6-2)
amount of USB 3 & 2 ports (backpanel + 1-? on the board itself (to connect front case usb))
audio -> 2.1 vs 5.1 support
msata or M2 support
PCIe (1,2,3) how many are x16
PCI (becoming obsolete)
SLI or crossfire support
difference in BIOS
Gaming motherboards usually have some extra design
better capacitators
OC / 1click OC
on/off button on motherboard
LED indicators on the motherboard to show boot status

there is so much to look at on motherboards
but in most cases, mid range or first level gaming motherboards are fine
high end are for the fanatic ones (like me)

if u want to compare all the chipsets:
http://ark.intel.com/#@Chipsets

even sockets aren't safe anymore u know
LGA 1155 -> first CPU were 'sandy', later on 'ivy' was released
BUT, the first Z/H77 series motherboards couldn't handle ivy; unless u flashed the bios
but to flash the bios, u need a working cpu

That eliminates first option.

There are definitely good moments for hardware. Black Friday/Boxing Day would like a word with you.
Q1 is the worst time to buy hardware, it's right after CES and everything is at their maximum MSRP.
970 was terrible on Nvidia's part (I own one), but for the price it was released at, and being a 1080p gamer, I can't really complain about the hardware. However, being lied to about 4GB is definitely a deterrent.
I bought mine for $339 CDN (it's around $440 CDN now).

There is something new announced every month, yes, but those announcements are not always GPU/CPU reveals. AFAIK we're nowhere near to a new chipset release by Nvidia; so the next best thing is the 300 series by AMD. They already have the 390x ready and the 290s are often on sale with $100+ MIR here; so you know they're prepping for the release relatively soon (Q3).

We don't have Boxing Day/Black Friday and all that other stuff here...

Intel is releasing their 5th gen CPU (atm only mobile is released, desktop should follow in june or so)
End of the year, DDR4 is expected to come to normal desktop users

Concerning GTX 970 -> it DOES have 4GB; 3.5GB fast RAM & 0.5GB slow

But apart from that, maybe squirt can give us an update on what he wants/has decided (+ budget?)