Ok, so I'm building a desktop with a budget of around $800. I've pretty much picked everything out, save for a processor, which I need some help on. Also, I want to make sure that all the parts I have picked will work together--never done this before so I don't want to screw it up right away by buying the wrong things. Here's what I'm looking to order: Case: http://www.amazon.com/Crafted-Series-Tower-Steel-Chassis/dp/B004MYC6O8 Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131767 Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814130662 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820144489 OR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231556 Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID= And here's where I need a recommendation, the CPU. I'd like a 6(or more) core processor that isn't terribly expensive, but again, guide me here if that seems unnecessary or whatever, I haven't paid a lot of attention to hardware in a few years. Here's one I was looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-103-961 It would be a great help if someone could look over this stuff for me and specifically help me out with the CPU. I've pretty much got it all nailed down, would just love some extra opinions on the matter. Thanks in advance.
For a budget build you sure picked an expensive case imho. Get one of the 50$ cases. As for ram, id go with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 or <- my personal pref. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226184 As for video card, id wait few weeks for Nvidia GTX 660 Ti, which should launch somewhere in august. All in all, your setup looks good and parts will match fine. That Zabezi cpu you picked is a good choice.
With CPUs, I always try to be ahead of the curve, make an attempt to future-proof, whatever you want to call it. When I bought my gaming laptop years ago, it had a quad core cpu which was pretty much not utilized by anything yet at the time, but it's kept up fairly well as a result. Like I said though, haven't paid much attention to hardware in the past couple years so if 6 or more cores is not as great as it sounds or a waste of money or whatever, I would understand. Yeah, while I understand it seems disproportionate to the cost of the rest of the parts, I figure it's an investment for the long run. Can always keep using the case and it won't go out of date or anything like that. It's nice and big, room for upgrades, etc.
May I suggest NZXT's newest full chassis? If I didn't want a hulking piece of case on my desk I would have bought this. The Switch 810. Its a marvelous case. Although I've heard good things about the Phantom as well. Also, please get a modular, or somewhat modular PSU - it helps tons with cable management and case clean up. Perhaps the HX Corsair series (I have an HX850). A little bit more pricey, I caught mine on sell at Newegg + rebate only ended up spending around $110 -- but totally worth it.
I have that case. While it does look nice, it isnt a quality tower. As you said, it is roomy and has room for upgrades. Just dont expect it to last if you lug the computer around places very often. Most people never move their tower after it is built, so this shouldnt be an issue. I just wanted to warn you about the build quality though. It is no better built than a $50 tower, maybe even less so. As for RAM, I like Doxy's suggestions. Both of those are great sticks, my personal preference is Mushkin though The processor you are looking at has a very good memory controller, whatever you go with you will most likely be able to overclock it pretty well if you wanted to. If you go with the Mushkin, it should work at DDR-1866 speeds using 1.5v and 8-9-8-26-1T timings. If you raise things to 1.65v you may be able to push up to 2133MHz with 9-10-9-28-1T. But thats not to say those G.Skills could possibly do the same. I just prefer Mushkin because they are an American company, have some of the best tech support I have ever seen in RAM, and have never once had a single problem with any of their RAM stick (and I have bought at least 20 of their sticks). The CPU is fine, but I highly suggest overclocking it to reach best performance. While I have recommended Bulldozer processors to many people on this site, if you want to get ahead of the curve you will NEED to do two things: 1) dont buy that processor but wait until its successor is released in 2-3 months. 2) overclock the crap out of it, at least 4.6GHz. 5GHz would be preferable. Those processors may be the newest from AMD, but they are a step backwards in performance of single threaded programs. To make up for the performance hit when using 1 or 2 cores, you must run far higher clock speed than the older generation of processors. If you go with that processor (or its successor, the FX-8320) you will want a good aftermarket cooler. Look into the Corsair H80, H100, or Antec Kuhler 920. To make up for additional cost of this cooler, you can get a cheaper tower to help offset things. Oh, and if you want to be on top of the current curve, you will want to move to Intel and an Ivy Bridge processor. Slightly behind the top performance curve would be the current Bulldozer/Zambezi processors. Also if you wait a few months for the processor, you can go with Doxy's other suggestion of the GeForce 660Ti. I would look for a modular power supply as well, and preferably a Gold rated PSU. But whatever, Gold rating isnt absolutely necessary.
This confirms a few of my concerns. Looking at AMD processors I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I'll need an aftermarket cooler. Buying a cheaper case to offset that cost is a great idea, thanks. Especially considering your experience with it. As for waiting for newer versions of parts to come out, to be honest, waiting very much longer is not a great option. This might sound silly, but I've been saving up money to build this thing all summer, and once I'm back at college in a few weeks, there's a much bigger risk of me draining my funds on beer and french fries. So I think I'm gonna work with what's on the market now and just do the best I can. Thanks again to everyone for the advice.