If the goal is for overclocking it, then you're looking at paying more for a motherboard and a CPU cooler, so you end up paying more for it than for the AMD rig. And you still only get two cores rather than six.
You don't need aftermarket cooler for G3258. It's unlocked anniversary edition which can be OC'ed at least to 4.0 GHz on stock cooler, even up to 4.4 GHz if lucky.
Couple it with 45$ MSI H81 MBO and it's a killer combo for only 115$. And, it's future proof if he upgrades CPU later down the road.
Intel disables overclocking if you don't have a Z-chipset motherboard, and those start around $100. Even without that, in past generations, Core i5 CPUs haven't gotten the proper turbo boost on lower end chipsets. I don't know if Intel still hamstrings them via chipset that way. So no, that's not future proof. An AMD 970 chipset motherboard, on the other hand, gives you everything except CrossFire/SLI support.
The OS came with the computer, I do not have a CD nor a Key for it:
Well, you'd better have some way to put an OS on the new computer. A computer won't run without an OS. What are you planning to do for that, anyway, if you're not buying Windows 8.1?
Intel disables overclocking if you don't have a Z-chipset motherboard, and those start around $100. Even without that, in past generations, Core i5 CPUs haven't gotten the proper turbo boost on lower end chipsets. I don't know if Intel still hamstrings them via chipset that way. So no, that's not future proof. An AMD 970 chipset motherboard, on the other hand, gives you everything except CrossFire/SLI support.
All prices after Rebates. This will run anything. I've built several similar to this for friends needing a budget gaming rig that'll get the job done with style. Just upgrade your hard drive to a SSD when you can. I hope this helps. Happy gaming!
TOTAL: $450
Great Rosewill mid-tower Case (bought several): $60
Multiple games I tried don't work in Windows 10 yet, it's a great OS, but it won't be able to run many games. You'd also have to be able to download the ISO file and write it to a physical device with another PC, either a DVD or Flash drive.
If your goal is a really cheap PC, making it yourself is going to cost you more than just buying a premade PC imho. OEM pay like $20 for the OS to Microsoft, you're going to have to pay a minimum of $99 if you can get your hands on am OEM disc.
Making your own PC starts to make sense at around $1000 and up, it rarely makes sense to me at $600 or less, because a lot of your cost is going to go to your OS.
Then again, maybe the fun is in making the PC yourself, but it doesn't make any economical sense.
(what happens to Windows 7 without a key after 30 days, is you can no longer install things, it doesn't shut down or remove internet access like some claim, but it becomes practically unusable, you get locked out of any installs or updates)
The OS came with the computer, I do not have a CD nor a Key for it:
Duh. Rightclick on "My computer" and choose properties (or so you do on Windows 7 at least, I don't give W8 or Vista support).
You can see your key there. You can also download a CDE for free from microsoft.
There should also be a sticker on the case with the code. Harddrives can crash so everyone should have their code on paper if something happens. You cant use the factory restore if the harddrive is dead.
For my laptop I did a clean install anyways, they always put in a load of craps when you buy a laptop or brand desktop.
Duh. Rightclick on "My computer" and choose properties (or so you do on Windows 7 at least, I don't give W8 or Vista support).
You can see your key there.
I'm assuming that the OS is from his previous PC. He's not going to be able to unlock it with a different PC, since Microsoft doesn't allow you to transfer OS from PC to PC, a hardware check is done.
You can change 2 or 3 components max, and it won't accept a new motherboard.
He's going to need a new OS, and at $99 for an OEM disc, that's a large part of his cost of his PC if he's building it himself.
If your goal is a really cheap PC, making it yourself is going to cost you more than just buying a premade PC imho. OEM pay like $20 for the OS to Microsoft, you're going to have to pay a minimum of $99 if you can get your hands on am OEM disc.
Making your own PC starts to make sense at around $1000 and up, it rarely makes sense to me at $600 or less, because a lot of your cost is going to go to your OS.
Then again, maybe the fun is in making the PC yourself, but it doesn't make any economical sense.
See if you can find a $600 desktop that's suitable for gaming and isn't loaded with a bunch of cheap junk parts.
If your goal is a really cheap PC, making it yourself is going to cost you more than just buying a premade PC imho. OEM pay like $20 for the OS to Microsoft, you're going to have to pay a minimum of $99 if you can get your hands on am OEM disc.
Making your own PC starts to make sense at around $1000 and up, it rarely makes sense to me at $600 or less, because a lot of your cost is going to go to your OS.
Then again, maybe the fun is in making the PC yourself, but it doesn't make any economical sense.
See if you can find a $600 desktop that's suitable for gaming and isn't loaded with a bunch of cheap junk parts.
The budget he suggested was $400.
$400-$99 for the OS leaves $300 for building a PC, which I believe is not possible.
The problem with building your own PC at $400, is that you're paying 25% of it on your OS, while when you buy a premade PC, you practically get your OS for free.
I can't imagine anyone coming up with anything decent for $400, the suggestions don't include an OS. The suggestions without the OS are already over the budget.
It makes no economical sense to build your own PC at $400.
If he does want to build his own PC, and still do it at that low a cost, I would suggest looking at Gigabyte Brix. At least you're going to be able to be inside your budget.
Below $400, it makes sense to start buying individual components for everything, it makes no economical sense below $400, you will always end up above your budget.
There's no way someone is going to come up with something within the initial budget, including a $99 OS.
He should just wait until he has at least $600. His PC is a bit older, but trying to upgrade it for $400 is kinda stupid, that's just throwing money down the drain.
A gaming PC for that little money is not a gaming PC, it will SUCK. Save your money, or spend it on a PS4 lol, that will give you 10 times more for your buck than a crappy gaming PC that still won't be able to play any good games.
The truth of the matter is that buying a really low power PC that will lag and barely be able to handle games, is like throwing money down the gutter.
Get a PS4 if you really need something to game on for a super tight budget. PS4 graphics will blow i3 with integrated graphics out of the water.
$400 and 2 free games, and it will blow the socks off of an i3 with integrated graphics
Originally posted by LootHorder Actually alot of people recommend FX over the i3 on a budget gaming system, where its recommended you go with AMD unless you have the money to buy an i5+.Needless to say, due to just my own research & thoughts I will stick with AMD on this. Having said that, with the parts you listed I made a few changes to my projected build. Taking on your case, PSU, & ram. They where much better & saved a nice penny.
Yeah, there are lots of clueless people around...just look at this very thread, you were recommended a build with integrated VGA and that was comming from "respected member" of this community. Bah...
FX-6300 was somewhat viable couple years back but since then lots has changed and i3-4160 is simply amazing piece of hardware for the money. People recommending FX are either AMD enthusiasts or just not up-to date with today market, either way ppl you should avoid, they are stuck and biased. They repeat same mantra about multicores since 2006 when PS3 was released... Quizzical makes a prime example with his theorycrafting post above
With i3, you get better performance, way less power consumption and heat and you still have a platform for later CPU upgrade if needed/wanted. AMD desktops are dead, FX6300 represents pretty much a top of the line, a place where intel just starts...go figure.
Either way, you won't go wrong with FX, it just won't be best spent money.
Originally posted by Loke666 Duh. Rightclick on "My computer" and choose properties (or so you do on Windows 7 at least, I don't give W8 or Vista support).
Product ID is not the same as Product Key.
Product ID is created during instalation and it is used as identification to customer support.
Easiest way to find out your CD key is to download an app such as Magical Jelly Bean or similar.
Originally posted by LootHorder So i can use this windows 8.1 on my new pc???
Depends how you look at it.
If you want to follow licence terms, then no.
If you still want to try tho, you can do the activation via phone line. They usually activate your licence on new machine without questions.
I am not all that savvy when it comes to OEM licences, never really dealt with them, but I would be worried a bit about trying to re-activate OEM key that belongs to HP machine.
I'd like to make something clear that I had not fully said. My over all budget is near $700. I projected/wanted the parts for the computer to be somewhere in the range of $400-$500. Leaving me room for an OS. I've been asking, What some might call dumb questions cause lets get it st8, If i could use my old OS thats $100 bucks that could get me a new monitor or a better GPU.
As it stands using suggestions I have what seems to be a powerful computer. Using the parts from amazon I listed as well as what you guys have listed (Replacing the Ram, Hard Drive, & case). And that puts me at $550 (This isnt including shipping but I might get away with free shipping with some kind of code or amazon prime).
/Edit On a side note shipping would be $11. If I got a case that was over $35 shipping would be $0 for the entire order.
That is not however, my final build. @Remyburke suggested a $450 build $100 less. Should I go more towards what he's proposed? going for a far less mother board & Cutting down on the GPU as well.
Originally posted by Vrika Originally posted by GdemamiOriginally posted by QuizzicalIt can process multiple instructions in parallel when you've got some decent instruction level parallelism in your code.
You are still completely oblivious to how CPU works... It has nothing to do with application code.Multithreading and parallel instruction processing are 2 entirely different things.How CPU works has very much to do with the application code because if you've got code like
a = a / b;
b = a * 5;
There's no way for computer to process the second instruction before the first one's finished. CPU can only process instructions paraller to each other when it doesn't need the result of first instruction to process the second one, or in some cases when it's able to make a guess of result of the first instruction.
Quizzical used terms multithreading and instruction level parallelism correctly. If you got the impression that they are the same thing from his post then you misunderstood something.
Please don't feed the trolls. This is a rehash of essentially the same "discussion" we had a while back, with nearly the exact same bit of misinformation.
As far as the OP goes - I more or less agree with CalmOceans - at $400 you can build your own rig, but your competing against the guys that drive down costs with specialized components and mass production - your probably better off getting something prebuilt and just understanding it won't really play games well.
To get into the gaming arena, ~$600 is about as comfortable as I feel saying is a good entry price: you can build something cheaper, and if you watch the sales and do well on rebates you can probably get my $600 rig idea in around $500 - but there are a lot of variables in there and I wouldn't say you can ~always~ build a good rig at $500.
Originally posted by Loke666Duh. Rightclick on "My computer" and choose properties (or so you do on Windows 7 at least, I don't give W8 or Vista support).
Product ID is not the same as Product Key.Product ID is created during instalation and it is used as identification to customer support.Easiest way to find out your CD key is to download an app such as Magical Jelly Bean or similar.
So i can use this windows 8.1 on my new pc???
Probably not - you can try it, but there is a very good chance they will tell you that you can't use it.
A licence key from a CD that you buy is one thing - those often will transfer, even if it's against the licensing. Microsoft has no way of knowing under what condition the key was originally sold, so as long as it's a plausible condition, the automated system usually just passes it right along, often times even in cases it technically shouldn't.
A license key from an OEM - those are a different story. Microsoft knows if that serial number came from Dell/HP/Sony/whomever, or Enterprise-level keys (like from a university or large company) and very rarely allows those license transfers to occur via their automated phone line.
You can always try it, they won't arrest you or shoot you for trying, it is against an OEM license to transfer between computers (there are a few exceptions, but they are very corner cases and you almost certainly don't fall under them) - but I would just plan on following at least the spirit of the law in the first place. Either use a free OS (Linux/Win10Developer Preview/etc), or plan on paying for Windows up front.
A copy of windows won't activate with the same key from another PC.
When you enter the activation key, Microsoft's server does 2 things. It checks if the key is valid and is a genuine Windows key, and it stores the IDs of your hardware.
If you significantly change your hardware..like a different PC..the server will refuse to activate your copy of Windows.
How OEM PC (brand PC) activate is different from PC you build yourself. In an OEM PC the activation key is actually inside the BIOS, that's why OEM PC don't mind if you replace everything but the motherboard, on a self built PC, you get a pop-up if you start replacing more than 3 pieces. Like if you replace the GPU, CPU, RAM and HDD, and reinstall windows, your copy will no longer activate.
You can try to convince Microsoft to grant you Windows activation on a new PC through a phonecall, but I doubt they'll go along with it. In theory for a new PC, you should buy a new OS.
Originally posted by LootHorderI'd like to make something clear that I had not fully said. My over all budget is near $700. I projected/wanted the parts for the computer to be somewhere in the range of $400-$500. Leaving me room for an OS. I've been asking, What some might call dumb questions cause lets get it st8, If i could use my old OS thats $100 bucks that could get me a new monitor or a better GPU. As it stands using suggestions I have what seems to be a powerful computer. Using the parts from amazon I listed as well as what you guys have listed (Replacing the Ram, Hard Drive, & case). And that puts me at $550 (This isnt including shipping but I might get away with free shipping with some kind of code or amazon prime). /Edit On a side note shipping would be $11. If I got a case that was over $35 shipping would be $0 for the entire order. That is not however, my final build. @Remyburke suggested a $450 build $100 less. Should I go more towards what he's proposed? going for a far less mother board & Cutting down on the GPU as well.
All the builds posted are about the same, they differ in retailers - Amazon is more expensive than Newegg and pricepicker being cheapest but often relies heavily on rebates.
I am not sure what you are asking... The core components are the same:
Total: 420 - 530 USD, depending where you buy the parts.
You should keep your HDD, not really a point buying a new one. It saves you nice 55 USD.
SW is easier to replace than HW so save that 100 and go with Windows 10 preview, you will end up using Windows 10 anyway, sooner or later. Wait how actual licencing and pricing for Windows 10 turns out, there are big changes expected.
Windows 10 doesn't run all my games, he'll also need a flash device or DVD burner to put the ISO image on.
Also, while Microsoft last time let Windows 8 users keep their build afaik, that might not be the case this time. MS doesn't have to allow updates for beta builds, they were just kind enough to do it for Windows 8, but that was an exception to the rule.
I'd like to make something clear that I had not fully said. My over all budget is near $700. I projected/wanted the parts for the computer to be somewhere in the range of $400-$500. Leaving me room for an OS. I've been asking, What some might call dumb questions cause lets get it st8, If i could use my old OS thats $100 bucks that could get me a new monitor or a better GPU.
As it stands using suggestions I have what seems to be a powerful computer. Using the parts from amazon I listed as well as what you guys have listed (Replacing the Ram, Hard Drive, & case). And that puts me at $550 (This isnt including shipping but I might get away with free shipping with some kind of code or amazon prime).
/Edit On a side note shipping would be $11. If I got a case that was over $35 shipping would be $0 for the entire order.
That is not however, my final build. @Remyburke suggested a $450 build $100 less. Should I go more towards what he's proposed? going for a far less mother board & Cutting down on the GPU as well.
Look at how Remyburke gets his savings:
1) Ignore shipping costs entirely.
2) Count rebates as "free", giving only the post-rebate price.
3) No storage or optical drive whatsoever.
4) Cheap junk motherboard.
If you go AMD, you don't need to spend $100 on a motherboard. $70 is fine for a Socket AM3+ system. But do get one with a 970 chipset, not 760G. I linked two such motherboards earlier in this thread when I said you could save money from your build by using a cheaper motherboard.
-----
Some cases that you were looking at earlier only come with one case fan. That's dicey for a high-powered gaming rig, though it will probably work fine so long as that one fan works. But if that one fan dies and you don't notice, it's trouble, as then you'd have no case airflow at all. I linked a $40 case with 2 fans early in this thread.
They repeat same mantra about multicores since 2006 when PS3 was released...
The PS3 kind of had 7 cores, but they weren't seven completely independent cores that could do completely independent things at the same time. It was one main core and six helper cores. And that was a nuisance to program for.
But look what Microsoft and Sony did with their recent consoles. The Xbox One and PS4 each went with eight cores clocked below 2 GHz. The Jaguar cores in those consoles aren't half as fast on a per-core basis as the Piledriver cores in an FX-6300. They could have had four Piledriver cores instead if they wanted them, and had more total CPU performance even in workloads that scale well to many cores, as well as only needing four cores instead of eight for workloads that don't scale well to so many cores. But they decided that for gaming, more than four cores made more sense, even if it meant weaker cores. And they were right, at least if you don't have the graphics API overhead of legacy APIs. Which PCs soon won't.
Comments
Intel disables overclocking if you don't have a Z-chipset motherboard, and those start around $100. Even without that, in past generations, Core i5 CPUs haven't gotten the proper turbo boost on lower end chipsets. I don't know if Intel still hamstrings them via chipset that way. So no, that's not future proof. An AMD 970 chipset motherboard, on the other hand, gives you everything except CrossFire/SLI support.
Well, you'd better have some way to put an OS on the new computer. A computer won't run without an OS. What are you planning to do for that, anyway, if you're not buying Windows 8.1?
You can overclock G3258 without Z chipste. Have a look at Tom's Hardware article.
You can have turbo boost on cheaper MBO's. I have it on my MSI B75 MBO, no problem.
All prices after Rebates. This will run anything. I've built several similar to this for friends needing a budget gaming rig that'll get the job done with style. Just upgrade your hard drive to a SSD when you can. I hope this helps. Happy gaming!
TOTAL: $450
Great Rosewill mid-tower Case (bought several): $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Power Supply: $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012
Asus MoBo: $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131942
ATI R9 270 GFX Card: $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150702
AMD 6350 6core 4.1ghz CPU: $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286
GSkill 8gigs RAM: $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Multiple games I tried don't work in Windows 10 yet, it's a great OS, but it won't be able to run many games. You'd also have to be able to download the ISO file and write it to a physical device with another PC, either a DVD or Flash drive.
If your goal is a really cheap PC, making it yourself is going to cost you more than just buying a premade PC imho. OEM pay like $20 for the OS to Microsoft, you're going to have to pay a minimum of $99 if you can get your hands on am OEM disc.
Making your own PC starts to make sense at around $1000 and up, it rarely makes sense to me at $600 or less, because a lot of your cost is going to go to your OS.
Then again, maybe the fun is in making the PC yourself, but it doesn't make any economical sense.
(what happens to Windows 7 without a key after 30 days, is you can no longer install things, it doesn't shut down or remove internet access like some claim, but it becomes practically unusable, you get locked out of any installs or updates)
Duh. Rightclick on "My computer" and choose properties (or so you do on Windows 7 at least, I don't give W8 or Vista support).
You can see your key there. You can also download a CDE for free from microsoft.
There should also be a sticker on the case with the code. Harddrives can crash so everyone should have their code on paper if something happens. You cant use the factory restore if the harddrive is dead.
For my laptop I did a clean install anyways, they always put in a load of craps when you buy a laptop or brand desktop.
I'm assuming that the OS is from his previous PC. He's not going to be able to unlock it with a different PC, since Microsoft doesn't allow you to transfer OS from PC to PC, a hardware check is done.
You can change 2 or 3 components max, and it won't accept a new motherboard.
He's going to need a new OS, and at $99 for an OEM disc, that's a large part of his cost of his PC if he's building it himself.
See if you can find a $600 desktop that's suitable for gaming and isn't loaded with a bunch of cheap junk parts.
The budget he suggested was $400.
$400-$99 for the OS leaves $300 for building a PC, which I believe is not possible.
The problem with building your own PC at $400, is that you're paying 25% of it on your OS, while when you buy a premade PC, you practically get your OS for free.
I can't imagine anyone coming up with anything decent for $400, the suggestions don't include an OS. The suggestions without the OS are already over the budget.
It makes no economical sense to build your own PC at $400.
If he does want to build his own PC, and still do it at that low a cost, I would suggest looking at Gigabyte Brix. At least you're going to be able to be inside your budget.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=47&ck=104
Below $400, it makes sense to start buying individual components for everything, it makes no economical sense below $400, you will always end up above your budget.
There's no way someone is going to come up with something within the initial budget, including a $99 OS.
He should just wait until he has at least $600. His PC is a bit older, but trying to upgrade it for $400 is kinda stupid, that's just throwing money down the drain.
A gaming PC for that little money is not a gaming PC, it will SUCK. Save your money, or spend it on a PS4 lol, that will give you 10 times more for your buck than a crappy gaming PC that still won't be able to play any good games.
The truth of the matter is that buying a really low power PC that will lag and barely be able to handle games, is like throwing money down the gutter.
Get a PS4 if you really need something to game on for a super tight budget. PS4 graphics will blow i3 with integrated graphics out of the water.
$400 and 2 free games, and it will blow the socks off of an i3 with integrated graphics
Yeah, there are lots of clueless people around...just look at this very thread, you were recommended a build with integrated VGA and that was comming from "respected member" of this community. Bah...
FX-6300 was somewhat viable couple years back but since then lots has changed and i3-4160 is simply amazing piece of hardware for the money. People recommending FX are either AMD enthusiasts or just not up-to date with today market, either way ppl you should avoid, they are stuck and biased. They repeat same mantra about multicores since 2006 when PS3 was released... Quizzical makes a prime example with his theorycrafting post above
With i3, you get better performance, way less power consumption and heat and you still have a platform for later CPU upgrade if needed/wanted. AMD desktops are dead, FX6300 represents pretty much a top of the line, a place where intel just starts...go figure.
Either way, you won't go wrong with FX, it just won't be best spent money.
Good luck.
Product ID is not the same as Product Key.
Product ID is created during instalation and it is used as identification to customer support.
Easiest way to find out your CD key is to download an app such as Magical Jelly Bean or similar.
So i can use this windows 8.1 on my new pc???
Depends how you look at it.
If you want to follow licence terms, then no.
If you still want to try tho, you can do the activation via phone line. They usually activate your licence on new machine without questions.
I am not all that savvy when it comes to OEM licences, never really dealt with them, but I would be worried a bit about trying to re-activate OEM key that belongs to HP machine.
I'd like to make something clear that I had not fully said. My over all budget is near $700. I projected/wanted the parts for the computer to be somewhere in the range of $400-$500. Leaving me room for an OS. I've been asking, What some might call dumb questions cause lets get it st8, If i could use my old OS thats $100 bucks that could get me a new monitor or a better GPU.
As it stands using suggestions I have what seems to be a powerful computer. Using the parts from amazon I listed as well as what you guys have listed (Replacing the Ram, Hard Drive, & case). And that puts me at $550 (This isnt including shipping but I might get away with free shipping with some kind of code or amazon prime).
/Edit On a side note shipping would be $11. If I got a case that was over $35 shipping would be $0 for the entire order.
That is not however, my final build. @Remyburke suggested a $450 build $100 less. Should I go more towards what he's proposed? going for a far less mother board & Cutting down on the GPU as well.
How CPU works has very much to do with the application code because if you've got code like
a = a / b;
b = a * 5;
There's no way for computer to process the second instruction before the first one's finished. CPU can only process instructions paraller to each other when it doesn't need the result of first instruction to process the second one, or in some cases when it's able to make a guess of result of the first instruction.
Quizzical used terms multithreading and instruction level parallelism correctly. If you got the impression that they are the same thing from his post then you misunderstood something.
Please don't feed the trolls. This is a rehash of essentially the same "discussion" we had a while back, with nearly the exact same bit of misinformation.
As far as the OP goes - I more or less agree with CalmOceans - at $400 you can build your own rig, but your competing against the guys that drive down costs with specialized components and mass production - your probably better off getting something prebuilt and just understanding it won't really play games well.
To get into the gaming arena, ~$600 is about as comfortable as I feel saying is a good entry price: you can build something cheaper, and if you watch the sales and do well on rebates you can probably get my $600 rig idea in around $500 - but there are a lot of variables in there and I wouldn't say you can ~always~ build a good rig at $500.
Probably not - you can try it, but there is a very good chance they will tell you that you can't use it.
A licence key from a CD that you buy is one thing - those often will transfer, even if it's against the licensing. Microsoft has no way of knowing under what condition the key was originally sold, so as long as it's a plausible condition, the automated system usually just passes it right along, often times even in cases it technically shouldn't.
A license key from an OEM - those are a different story. Microsoft knows if that serial number came from Dell/HP/Sony/whomever, or Enterprise-level keys (like from a university or large company) and very rarely allows those license transfers to occur via their automated phone line.
You can always try it, they won't arrest you or shoot you for trying, it is against an OEM license to transfer between computers (there are a few exceptions, but they are very corner cases and you almost certainly don't fall under them) - but I would just plan on following at least the spirit of the law in the first place. Either use a free OS (Linux/Win10Developer Preview/etc), or plan on paying for Windows up front.
A copy of windows won't activate with the same key from another PC.
When you enter the activation key, Microsoft's server does 2 things. It checks if the key is valid and is a genuine Windows key, and it stores the IDs of your hardware.
If you significantly change your hardware..like a different PC..the server will refuse to activate your copy of Windows.
How OEM PC (brand PC) activate is different from PC you build yourself. In an OEM PC the activation key is actually inside the BIOS, that's why OEM PC don't mind if you replace everything but the motherboard, on a self built PC, you get a pop-up if you start replacing more than 3 pieces. Like if you replace the GPU, CPU, RAM and HDD, and reinstall windows, your copy will no longer activate.
You can try to convince Microsoft to grant you Windows activation on a new PC through a phonecall, but I doubt they'll go along with it. In theory for a new PC, you should buy a new OS.
All the builds posted are about the same, they differ in retailers - Amazon is more expensive than Newegg and pricepicker being cheapest but often relies heavily on rebates.
I am not sure what you are asking... The core components are the same:
FX6300/i3 - 100-120 USD
MB 50-70 USD
DDR3 1600 2x4GB - 60 USD
PSU EVGA 500W - 40-50 USD
R9 270 - 130-170 USD
Case - 40-60 USD
Total: 420 - 530 USD, depending where you buy the parts.
You should keep your HDD, not really a point buying a new one. It saves you nice 55 USD.
SW is easier to replace than HW so save that 100 and go with Windows 10 preview, you will end up using Windows 10 anyway, sooner or later. Wait how actual licencing and pricing for Windows 10 turns out, there are big changes expected.
Windows 10 doesn't run all my games, he'll also need a flash device or DVD burner to put the ISO image on.
Also, while Microsoft last time let Windows 8 users keep their build afaik, that might not be the case this time. MS doesn't have to allow updates for beta builds, they were just kind enough to do it for Windows 8, but that was an exception to the rule.
Look at how Remyburke gets his savings:
1) Ignore shipping costs entirely.
2) Count rebates as "free", giving only the post-rebate price.
3) No storage or optical drive whatsoever.
4) Cheap junk motherboard.
If you go AMD, you don't need to spend $100 on a motherboard. $70 is fine for a Socket AM3+ system. But do get one with a 970 chipset, not 760G. I linked two such motherboards earlier in this thread when I said you could save money from your build by using a cheaper motherboard.
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Some cases that you were looking at earlier only come with one case fan. That's dicey for a high-powered gaming rig, though it will probably work fine so long as that one fan works. But if that one fan dies and you don't notice, it's trouble, as then you'd have no case airflow at all. I linked a $40 case with 2 fans early in this thread.
The PS3 kind of had 7 cores, but they weren't seven completely independent cores that could do completely independent things at the same time. It was one main core and six helper cores. And that was a nuisance to program for.
But look what Microsoft and Sony did with their recent consoles. The Xbox One and PS4 each went with eight cores clocked below 2 GHz. The Jaguar cores in those consoles aren't half as fast on a per-core basis as the Piledriver cores in an FX-6300. They could have had four Piledriver cores instead if they wanted them, and had more total CPU performance even in workloads that scale well to many cores, as well as only needing four cores instead of eight for workloads that don't scale well to so many cores. But they decided that for gaming, more than four cores made more sense, even if it meant weaker cores. And they were right, at least if you don't have the graphics API overhead of legacy APIs. Which PCs soon won't.
He does have a HDD, he can install from there...