Budget OC Gaming build

[swinfi2]

At this point I've had my old pc for several years and its struggling to play newer games, so I'm looking to get the most for my money (of which I have little) and build cheap hardware I can push to its limits with room to upgrade when I can afford to.

so far I've been looking at:
MSI 990FXA-GD65
AMD FX-6350
Corsair Hydro Series H100i
Crucial 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866Mhz Ballistix Elite CL9 1.5V

with the rest of my machine coming from old build (to be upgraded later)

ATI AMD Radeon HD 5670
120GB Sata-III SSD
1TB HDD
DVD Drive
400W PSU (probably need a better one)


so, if anyone has experience with these parts, or knows of any problems I may have OC'ing it I would be definitely grateful. from what I've read elsewhere 4.5ghz is where people have got on air cooling. and if anyone has any ideas how fast I could get it as-well that would be helpful!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You'd be better off looking at this:

FX-6300
GA-970A-UD3P
(RAM is fine, but also consider some 2x4GB G.SKILL Ares 2133MHz CL9)
Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler - it'll get you into the mid 4.5GHz range, cheaper than the H100i, and quieter.

With the cash saved check out a 750Ti for the build. Very low power draw, great performance.

 

[swinfi2]

looking at the parts you recommended the mobo was cheaper and better. (didnt see it *facepalm*)
Im new at this, so im probably missing somthing. why is the 6300 better than the 6350? i did see more cache but its slower. or are they the same just clocked differently?

 

[Mandrake4565]

They have the same Cache, the 6300 is 95 TDP and the 6350 is 125w at stock settings. The 6350 is just a slightly OCed 6300.

 

[Lvcoyote]

If gaming is your main thrust here, spend the money on graphics card.

 

[Theocnoob]

If gaming is your main thrust here, spend the money on graphics card.

GPU is a moot point if he's running an old as dirt 2 core CPU (ie, Pentium D, Phenom 2 555, Core 2 duo, etc). He needs to get a semi-decent current gen CPU first and worry about the GPU second. I agree with the Gigabyte board and FX6300.

I also agree that for the price and low power draw, 750Ti is hard to beat. However, obviously, if the OP can put together more cash, something like an R9 280X (can be found for $240 these days) would be even better. By a large margin.

A better PSU should also be in the cards for this machine. At least 80+bronze.

 

[Lvcoyote]

GPU is a moot point if he's running an old as dirt 2 core CPU (ie, Pentium D, Phenom 2 555, Core 2 duo, etc). He needs to get a semi-decent current gen CPU first and worry about the GPU second. I agree with the Gigabyte board and FX6300.

I also agree that for the price and low power draw, 750Ti is hard to beat. However, obviously, if the OP can put together more cash, something like an R9 280X (can be found for $240 these days) would be even better. By a large margin.

A better PSU should also be in the cards for this machine. At least 80+bronze.

I didn't mean not to upgrade the rest of the system, was just trying to point out that with upgraded parts he listed to spend as much as he can on a GPU.

 

[swinfi2]

So, i've built my rig, had a few headaches along the way but i've pulled it off.
I've not followed all the advice but i think i've done the right thing;

the case i bought was wholly inadequate, the PSU was just wrong. but now i've got a decent case and PSU.

still need to spend some hours tuning this thing but currently running

AMD FX-6300 4.32 Ghz (18*240)
1866Mhz Ballistix @ 2240 Mhz (CL10)
AMD Radeon R9 270 (not overclocked yet)
MSI GAMING 970
Corsair H100i CPU cooler,
Corsair 600M PSU,

gets about ~5050 on 3Dmark
and windows experience is 7.5, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 7.3 (cpu, ram, 3d, 2d, HDD)

What do you guys think?

 

[Mandrake4565]

Have you at any point tested for stability and what program have you used?
WEI is not a really good tell on performance.
Is that 3d Mark firestrike?

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

How do you like the msi board because that's what I wanted but I was told it's not a good board to overclock on.

 

[swinfi2]

Have you at any point tested for stability and what program have you used?
WEI is not a really good tell on performance.
Is that 3d Mark firestrike?

That is fire strike on the 3Dmark test,

and for stability i ran a thing called "heavy load" to max out the processor, i only ran it for about an hour and have had like 2 bluescreens and turned things down until i can spend some time getting everything right and a proper stability test. (i did only just put the thing together lol)

With the MSI board, i've not looked at all the options yet i'll post back when i've learned more.

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Ok I'd be interested to see how it does for you. I've alwasy wanted it for the color scheme since it went with everything else. But I've always been told it's not a good oc'er for the fx series

 

[Theocnoob]

You bought a GTX 970 with an FX 6300? Holy bottleneck batman... that wasn't a good move.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You bought a GTX 970 with an FX 6300? Holy bottleneck batman... that wasn't a good move.

Bottleneck? With the OP running at 4.3GHz? Nope.

 

[Mandrake4565]

swinfi2 if you're going to OC then I suggest you follow the Bulldozer Oc guide

You bought a GTX 970 with an FX 6300? Holy bottleneck batman... that wasn't a good move.

Where do you see a GTX 970?

From sig

AMD Radeon R9 270 (not overclocked yet)

Am i missing something?

 

[Theocnoob]

AMD FX-6300 4.32 Ghz (18*240)
1866Mhz Ballistix @ 2240 Mhz (CL10)
AMD Radeon R9 270 (not overclocked yet)
MSI GAMING 970
Corsair H100i CPU cooler,
Corsair 600M PSU,

Upon further observation, it's a 970 chipset mobo, not the GPU. My bad.

Sorry .

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

AMD FX-6300 4.32 Ghz (18*240)
1866Mhz Ballistix @ 2240 Mhz (CL10)
AMD Radeon R9 270 (not overclocked yet)
MSI GAMING 970
Corsair H100i CPU cooler,
Corsair 600M PSU,

Upon further observation, it's a 970 chipset mobo, not the GPU. My bad.

Sorry .

Lol had me confused there for a minute thought I was missing something.

 

[Mandrake4565]

AMD FX-6300 4.32 Ghz (18*240)
1866Mhz Ballistix @ 2240 Mhz (CL10)
AMD Radeon R9 270 (not overclocked yet)
MSI GAMING 970
Corsair H100i CPU cooler,
Corsair 600M PSU,

Upon further observation, it's a 970 chipset mobo, not the GPU. My bad.

Sorry .

No need to apologize, I just thought I missed it on another post.

 

[swinfi2]

this is how its currently running, i had a weak core (6) so i disabled 5 and 6.
re-ran fire strike and got 4660, (im going to test again with all 6 slower)
edit: on all 6 cores at 4.37 i got 4922, i think i'm going to leave it on 4 fast though, as most games don't use 6 cores.

i've found the mobo quite easy to use, as far as i know its stable, ran prime95 through once, (will test overnight tonight)

From the picture ^ does everything look ok? anything about to explode? are the ram timings awful?

 

[Mandrake4565]

So we can all be on the same page, it is easier for us to help you if we know what were looking at. Please download Hwmonitor "non pro" open it and run prime blend for 20 minutes, this will tell us what the Pc is doing under load. Then post screen shots of Hwmonitor and the "spd" tab in Cpu-Z. Since you already posted the memory tab that isn't needed but to see if the timings are within spec the spd tab is needed. Additionally how are you overclocking the cpu, are you using the OC Genie?

this is how its currently running, i had a weak core (6) so i disabled 5 and 6.
re-ran fire strike and got 4660, (im going to test again with all 6 slower)
edit: on all 6 cores at 4.37 i got 4922, i think i'm going to leave it on 4 fast though, as most games don't use 6 cores.

If you had a core that was unstable, it's likely that it needs a bit more voltage. After you post the ss of Hwmonitor we can see how much headroom temperature wise, you have.