A few questions about a pc I'm thinking of building.

  • Thread starter Gdog96
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Gdog96

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United Kingdom
England
I want to build a pc to play the latest games, including sim racing, and:
1. I have done a bunch of research into this but I would like to ask people here for abit more conformation, so the 1st question is, would these specs be enough to play the latest games at decent frame rates at high settings? Like battlefield 3 and f1 2011 and more?
AMD phenom ii black edition x4 975 3.6 ghz,
Asus M5A97 PRO 970,
PowerColor HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 graphics card,
8 gigs of ram,
500 gb 7200 rpm hard drive,
650 power supply.
2. Why is an intel i5 more money than my chosen processor? From what I can tell the AMD is better(no fanboy wars intended :D)
Thank you guys, I know I'm being a noob, but I'm 15 and this is a massive chunk out of my savings that will ultimately buy me a car.
 
This would be better asked in the Computers & Tech forum, but I'll answer anyway:

Those specs are fine (especially if the 6950 is unlockable to a 6970), although an i5 2500k would be a better choice for the CPU as it's appreciably more powerful than a 975BE and racing sims in particular benefit from raw processor grunt. Intel's CPUs are superior to AMD's offerings - don't let the numbers fool you, my 2009 mid-range Intel CPU out-benchmarks AMD's 2011 Bulldozers in some areas ;)
 
The I5 2500k is one of the best gaming CPU's money can buy, if you check the benchmarks on CPU heavy games (Battlefield 3 is not one of those, quite the opposite its all graphics card) the sandybridge processors are just in a league of their own, originally even out performing the previous generation of extreme edition processors at gaming, though new processors have come now, the 2500k is still the king of affordable gaming processors.
 
Firstly you should move the thread to the computers and technology section, you will get a better response there (Thread tools -> Move) It will help.

Secondly, I don't think a phenom II would be the best option unless you are seriously limited by your budget. An Intel i5 2500k is pretty much the best value/performance option on the market (Well, it was 3 months ago, technology moves pretty fast). The Intel processors have better performance and use less power than an equivalent AMD processor.

Thirdly, a 2GB 6950 offer very little extra performance over the 1GB model, infact it some benchmarks it performs worse (or so i've heard). You only need the 2GB if you're planning on running multiple screens for graphically demanding programs (Like having a triple screen setup in a racing game for example). It would be wise to go down to the 1GB version, it will save you a bit of money and won't be any worse performance wise.

What PSUs have you been looking at? The wattage figure is often very mis-leading. The PSU should not be overlooked, you should get the best one you can afford.

EDIT: Three replies, three i5 2500k recommendations, need we say more? :D
 
Gdog96
Moved, and thanks I will go with the i5, and the psu is a Antec TruePower New 650W Modular PSU, ( http://www.ebuyer.com/159920-antec-truepower-new-650w-modular-psu-0761345-07660-9 )
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Antec are a good brand of PSU, that should easily be good enough for the components you've listed :)

And as Sharky mentioned, some 2GB 6950s can be unlocked to 6970s, so it might be worth looking into that, though i'm fairly sure only earlier models were unlockable. A 1GB 6950 should suffice for most games, or perhaps a Geforce GTX 560 Ti, they're pretty evenly matched but it depends on the game, some games tend to favour one over the other for some reason (Though i'd personally recommend a 6950, the 560 Ti is just an alternative. If you can get a good 6950 cheaper, get that one).
 
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The only 1gig cards I can find are actually more expensive, so I am going to go with the 2gig 6950, its only 6 pounds more than a GTX 560ti, which is only 1 gig, so I might aswell have the extra gig if I ever want to get a multi screen setup.
 
Apart from the ability to overclock, is there any difference between the i5 2500k and the regular i5 2500? I don't plan on overclocking it because I don't know how or anything, so I might aswell save a few pounds. :)
 
It's good to shop around to find the best deals, try scan.co.uk or dabs.com aswell as ebuyer. Also, amazon sometimes have good deals on individual parts like graphics cards so it may be worth looking there.

I don't think there is a difference between the 2500k and the 2500 apart from one being unlocked. I think the 2500 is fine if you don't plan on overclocking. Although, the price difference is minimal and the potential to overclock means it is essentially a free upgrade if you do overclock in future.
 
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Seismica
the potential to overclock means it is essentially a free upgrade if you do overclock in future.
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Pretty much this, all the K signifies is the CPU multiplier (= main method of overclocking) is unlocked. It might not seem like much of a benefit for the extra $10-$15 or whatever they're priced at where you are, however the two K-series Sandy Bridge CPUs have ridiculous overclocking capability (I know of a guy who runs a 2500K at 5.2GHz, stock is 3.3) and with a good cooler it's literally free performance.

As for unlockable 6950s, I believe Sapphire's Toxic and Dirt3 edition cards are still unlockable which is also free performance :)
 

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