First build in over 15 years. *Opinions wanted

[c0nes]

Decided to get back into PC gaming after about a 15 year hiatus. Used to build my own PC's but its been awhile. Just looking for some help, advice, suggestions. My current plan is a Micro ATX.

Chassis - Bitfenix Micro ATX Phenom
PSU - Corsair CX Series 500 Watt ATX/EPS Modular CX500M
MOBO - ASUS Asus GRYPHON Z97
Processor - Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz 6MB Cache Quad-Core
Cooling - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Memory - G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
HDD/SSD - Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III

As far as the GPU, thats probably going to come down to price/deal at the time of purchase. Currently considering Geforce GTX 970, Radeon R9 280x, GeForce GTX 760.

Fans, the plan was 230mm on bottom, 120mm on back, 2 120mm's on top.

Any advice, better suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Why not go with a k series cpu for overclocking potential, You already got a board and cpu cooler covered. And GPU wise with the way the new cards are it would deffinitely benefit saving up for at least the 970.

 

[c0nes]

Wasn't really planning to overclock. Is it a pretty significant performance boost?

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Its free performance. Depending on the tasks it could be somewhat significant in some instances. With my cpu I can see close to 10fps jump in certain games running at 4.8 compared to 3.9.

 

[c0nes]

Cool, thanks for the advice. Ill definitely take it into consideration. Looks like the K series is only about 30$ more. As far as the other parts go, are there cheaper equivalents out there, or even cheaper ones that are better?

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Well for the most part cpu , gpu, and psu should be where you don't skimp necessarily. Depending on how much performance you want. No if your wanting a basic gaming rig that is in a lower budget you could go amd but it's all preference. Intel has better single core performance but a lot of games are starting to use multiple cores.

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Mostly depends on your budget and how much you want to spend.

 

[EarthDog]

Wasn't really planning to overclock. Is it a pretty significant performance boost?

It can be...

But if you are not going to overclock, why spend money on an aftermarket cooler?

I would also go with the 970... newer, faster, and less power hungry than the cards you listed.

There is nothing there i would go 'cheaper' on.

 

[c0nes]

Like I said been awhile since my last build. Which I had overheating problems with. I assumed I needed a cooler no matter what. That doesn't appear to be the case. That's why I'm here.

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

If not planning any overclocking the stock heat sink will be fine.

 

[c0nes]

If I don't overclock would a Xeon Processor at a similar price point be better?