Opinions?

I want to build a PC. I've got all the parts and a tight budget of 550, so here is the list. Any opinions?
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/n9hW4C

P.S. What order should I buy the parts in? I can't buy them all at once.

 

It's pretty good, but there's a few problems.

Minor:
- Do you really need an optical drive? I don't have one, and I haven't ever needed it. I installed Windows by USB, and really that's the only reason most people have optical drives: OS installs.
- Get a small SSD to put your OS on. You will not believe how much of a performance impact it makes. Just a Silicon Power S60 would do, it's only around $30. If you can't afford that, ditch the HDD and get a bigger SSD.
- Don't get those fans. The Corsair Spec-02 comes with front and rear fans that's plenty enough.
- You don't need thermal paste: the Hyper 212 comes with good stuff.

Major:
- That CPU sucks big time. Like, that's almost the worst "current" gen CPU you can get. Either wait until Zen comes out if you want to go AMD, or get an Intel system, because that's a crap CPU on a dated platform. An unlocked Pentium on an LGA 1151 motherboard would give you an upgrade path to Kaby Lake i7s, and even the Pentium would destroy that FX-4350, and would cost a similar amount

 

Order wouldn't really matter if you can't buy all the parts at once since you can't really do anything until you have it all.

You don't really need those fans, your case should come with fans already. The cpu cooler has thermal paste on it so you don't need that extra thermal paste.

I would suggest you get an ssd too. Even if it's small it makes a huge difference in speed.

 

I have a love of older PC games, and have the disks for all of them, so people like me would require an optical drive. Games like RCT1/2/3, AoE2/3, EE1/2, Total Annihilation, Transport Tycoon, etc. While most are available through Steam, I don't feel like spending $80 to replace games I already have.

 

That's why I phrased it as a question, instead of an imperative statement. OP is on a budget, so anything that may be superfluous to his build is money for better components. You're right, if you need to read or burn disks, don't hesitate to get an optical drive.

 

Even so, you can get a BluRay writer for 35 bucks, which means it's about the extra cost of a good over a bad motherboard.
So if he has a good motherboard, he may as well. You never know when it could come in handy.

 

I can't count how many times I have downloaded total annihilation off the Internet because I didn't have an optical drive to install it. I ended up getting it on steam just because.

 

Thanks for all the help! I've updated the list with a few of your suggestions.
Can I live without a GPU for a little while?
Here is the updated list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/BombBoy4/saved/7YMnQ7
(It's saved separately incase this one is worse.)
Both lists are updated FYI

 

You'd have a hard time with games like beamng, but you could go without a gpu for a while. That cpu comes with a stock cooler so you could wait for the cooler too since you can't buy it all at once. I still would go for an ssd if you can though.

 

Good build! I'd say go ahead, but if perhaps look into Skylake (6th gen CPU, 100-series mobo) before pulling the trigger. It's a generation newer (in manufacture fab and architecture) but sometimes it costs quite a bit more, sometimes not. If not, Haswell (4th gen CPU & 90-series mobo) is perfectly fine.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/qzHVwV
Has SSD + HDD, Skylake i3, 8GB, a 950, and a much higher quality PSU. Only compromises are that it's mATX (smaller chassis and fewer PCI-E slots) and only has the stock cooler. The cooler is a relatively inexpensive upgrade down the road anyways. Comes in just $5 over your budget.

 

Wooaahh I don't think a $100 650W 80+ PLATINUM power supply is needed for this kind of hardware. Get a quality $40 PSU (CX430, 500B, etc) and use that $60 for an i5.

 

You generally don't want to skimp on the power supply. If you get a quality power supply, it'll last you a long time. The PSUs you mention are Tier 3 hardware, so they're not exactly "quality", they're just average at best. http://i.imgur.com/koLUPLh.jpg
I'd at least go for Tier 2. You can get a bronze-rated (Tier 2) Seasonic M12II for $65, alternatively.

 

I can tell you from experience that the PSU you recommended is way overkill. There's a reason that pre-builts only use 400W super-china power supplies: computers these days don't draw nearly as much power as before - and remember, it's still in the manufacturer's best interest to not deal with failures. The power supplies I recommended are all well-known manufacturers, have Japanese (Tier-I) & Taiwanese (Tier-II) caps, decent solder work, and a good warranty on them. Check out JonnyGURU's reviews of them, he's an electrician with all the equipment to verify the quality of the product.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=351

I have a 500W 80+ Gold power supply, and my rig when stressed to the max (CPU and GPU) only draws about 300W at peak according to my friend's meter. OP's to-be rig is a much lower power consumption - probably peaking at 200W, so a 650W Platinum is ridiculously overkill at three times the max power draw. I understand if you don't want to go and get an "average" power supply like what I recommended, but it's totally unnecessary to get a $100 650W platinum power supply. Even at the higher efficiency curve, it's still not as efficient as a lower wattage power supply at higher load.

 

Updated
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/yPWntJ
Based off of thewiz's list, with a few reductions and adds.

 

Just gonna input my opinion. Do you need that 40 dollar cpu cooler? wouldn't a hyper 212 do just as well for a little cheaper? Other than that, it looks pretty good

 

Not really. You don't need a custom cooler to keep the i3-6100 cool. Other than noise concerns, there's no need for it in a tight budget.

You probably don't need that network adapter because the motherboard comes with its own.
Did some changes and swapped the 950 for rx 470 for almost 2x performance gain but it's 7.71$ over budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/rk2Kpb

 

Before I swapped my phenom 2 six core for an 6600k, I measured 400 watts maximum from the wall running a game with a 290x. My monitor was also going thru my kill a watt. It's a misconception that you really need more than 400 watts for a gaming pc that isn't duel card or absurdly over clocked. I have an 850 and have never used half the rated capacity in my life and I've had a few crossfire setups in my day.

 

So the i3 comes with a sufficient cooler?
--- Post updated ---

I'll upgrade later, I just need something that can play .drive better than my laptop. Thanks though.

 

All retail CPU's include sufficient coolers at this point - the i3 included. As randomshortguy was telling you, you still have some wasted money in your list. If JonnyGuru gives a PSU the OK then it's OK, and a modern PC draws little power - especially the small components you are looking at.

1. Network adapter is built into the motherboard, remove the TP-Link..
2. Optical drive is a waste of money (for someone on a shoestring budget) but go with it if you want...
3. I always think of the case as a waste of money... I realize that not everyone has easy access to old PCs, but if you look, ask, and/or beg around you'll be certain to find an old case for free! A modern PC can often run in a 1-fan or no-fan chassis without complaint. Generally your "free" case comes with PC guts in it that you must remove... sometimes a free optical drive. (Hint: Don't ask people about old PC cases, ask them about the old PC's. Offer to take out the HDD and help them destroy it to protect their sensitive data.)
4. This isn't a position that everyone will agree with but... I rarely recommend spending <$200 on a GPU. The integrated GPU in a Skylake processor like the i3-6100 is surprisingly powerful and will let you play games (sometimes badly) until you can afford a $200+ GPU. OTOH if you just aren't ever going to have that money, a GTX 950 will be much better than the iGPU.
5. A "1TB" hard drive for $50 just seems like a bad deal to me these days. Between the cost of your SSD and your HDD you're already at $88 for only ~1.2TB. The SSD is small so you won't be able to install many games or much content onto your 'fast' OS drive (the SSD). Why not drop the overpriced HDD and go with a 240GB-to-256GB from [Samsung, Crucial, Sandisk, Intel] for $70-80? Or, what I'd recommend... put some more money towards this item and get a 480-512GB sized drive for $120-150.
6. A $75 "Rosewill" (house-brand) power supply wouldn't be my first choice, especially for this build. For many, many years a lot of FUD has been circulated about power supplies and how much you need. Simply go with a quality PSU which will handle a bit more than you plan to throw at it... which is probably less than 200W as spec'ed! The CX430 is a fine option and will leave you plenty of room to grow.

If you nix the case, optical drive, and network adapter and fix your PSU selection you should net ~$117 in savings depending on rebates/promotions/etc. How to spend the extra money?

1. For regular gaming I'd recommend putting the extra money towards a faster GPU - something in the $200-300 range. Pairing that i3-6100 w/ a decent GPU still wouldn't be a perfect build by any means, but I prefer to be able to have higher graphics settings.
2. For BeamNG I'd recommend considering a CPU upgrade. Quad-core Skylake i5 prices start at $190, so you only really need $80 extra to upgrade to a quad. In fact, if you ditch the 1TB HDD and do the other things you'll have enough money to upgrade the SSD to something in the ~480-512GB class! That still leaves a somewhat lacking GPU in my opinion so my advice about just using the iGPU until you can afford a little better still stands... if possible!
3. While many people operate computers with only ~256GB of storage since it's a common size of SSD, it's easy to run out of space once you start installing many (~10) modern AAA games at the same time - or working with video content (streaming, mastering, recording) or doing serious pro work in a variety of industries (professional photographer etc). If you need to use your PC like this then you might consider putting that money back into more storage. With $88+$117=$205 budgeted for storage you can either purchase a small SSD + decent HDD or save yourself a lot of hassle and (on a sale) purchase a decent brand ~1TB SSD.