Help me buy a new PC!
- Thread starter Kamuifanboy
- 69 comments
- 4,060 views
Unfortunately, for the performance in gaming AMD isn't anywhere near Intel.
Unless AMD starts offering a reduced cost for their Bulldozer chips that are 50% cheaper than any of Intel CPUs, the price and performance ratio is still not to AMD favour.
The only thing going for AMD is that it can offer a more budget friendly processor and motherboard combination on the lower end of the scale, which the OP isn't looking for. And AMD has a good chip for laptops and all in one systems (integrated systems).
But for the OP, Intel is the only way forward to get the maximum speed for his money.
Unless AMD starts offering a reduced cost for their Bulldozer chips that are 50% cheaper than any of Intel CPUs, the price and performance ratio is still not to AMD favour.
The only thing going for AMD is that it can offer a more budget friendly processor and motherboard combination on the lower end of the scale, which the OP isn't looking for. And AMD has a good chip for laptops and all in one systems (integrated systems).
But for the OP, Intel is the only way forward to get the maximum speed for his money.
- 9,052
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
I would recommend thinking long and hard about the i7, yes, it will help with video rendering BUT if the primary use is gaming I recommend the i5 2500K (or whatever the Ivy bridge equivalent is, 3750K?). You won't need to overclock now but you may find in future you'd rather overclock than upgrade, or at least use it as a stop-gap until you can upgrade. By downgrading the processor you free up a bit of cash to put toward the graphics card, however unfortunately if you do decide to go higher than the 560Ti you'll need a better power supply as well. Also if 1600MHz RAM is appreciably cheaper then I'd go for that, it's perfect for gaming, in fact I'm sure 1333MHz would do but it's a bigger step down from 1866MHz. 8GB is a little on the high side but I wouldn't suggest halving it because 4GB isn't that much cheaper - at least it wasn't when I was buying, £35 for 4GB vs. £42 for 8GB last time I checked. Maybe I was comparing apples with oranges (or registered ECC server RAM with unregistered non-ECC desktop RAM), though, I was clueless back then.
We are forgetting one detail, though: your monitor. What resolution are you playing at? The 550 would run at 720p a great deal better than it would at 1080p.
In short, your hardware choices are a little unbalanced. If I were you I'd spend less on the processor and more on the graphics card so they're more even.
We are forgetting one detail, though: your monitor. What resolution are you playing at? The 550 would run at 720p a great deal better than it would at 1080p.
In short, your hardware choices are a little unbalanced. If I were you I'd spend less on the processor and more on the graphics card so they're more even.
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
You guys are starting to lose me with this conversation lol.
- 9,052
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Which part(s)?
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
Pretty much everything lol
As for the Graphics card. I will probably just deal with a slightly lower powered 2GB GTX 550 then upgrade to a 600 series when they get cheaper. I want more than 1GB of Video Memory and right now you have to pay 350 to get that. Which is just over my budget.
Why should I downgrade the CPU though?
- 2,128
- Australia
- N/A
- N/A
^ Having extra video memory only really helps if you're going to be running some monster resolution. 1GB would be fine for you if you're running on a normal 21" - 24" monitor. Honestly I'd recommend avoiding the 550Ti and jump to a Radeon card (6850 or such)/decent nVidia card (560Ti or such), and downgrade your CPU to a 2500K/3570K (it'll do the same job, the speed difference for rendering really won't be anything too detrimental).
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
So on a 18 inch screen this will do? No problem at all?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...TX_560_Ti_1024MB_GDDR5_PCIe_20_x16_Video_Card
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
As for the CPU. The 2700 I'm is only $40 less than the one I had previously posted. Is it really worth saving the money on a downgraded version? Or will have to upgrade after a year or two? For instance, if I bought the below link. Would it not be needed to be upgraded for at least 1.5 years or so?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/376491/Core_i7_2700K_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor#
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- 11,969
- Christchurch
"Drop" - using the term loosely as it's not exactly a downgrade - the processor to an i5-2400 (or i5-2500k if you think you might want to learn about overclocking sometime down the track), switch to a cheaper motherboard (I have one of these) and inject the money you just saved into a better video card like a 560Ti/6850/7850.
When it comes to gaming there's virtually zero difference between an i5-2400 (for example), i5-2500k, i7-2600k, i5-3570k or an i7-3770k as any bottleneck is, in 90% of cases, on the video card side of things. No reason to get an absolute high-end motherboard like a Sabertooth either if you don't care about your e-peen, a $150 motherboard does exactly the same job as a $300 one. Power supplies on the other hand... cheaper = almost always bad, and I'd recommend a minimum of a 600w for any build. Also get a modular one if possible as having tons of non-removable dangly wires that you're not needing is a nightmare.
Apart from that, you've got the right idea
When it comes to gaming there's virtually zero difference between an i5-2400 (for example), i5-2500k, i7-2600k, i5-3570k or an i7-3770k as any bottleneck is, in 90% of cases, on the video card side of things. No reason to get an absolute high-end motherboard like a Sabertooth either if you don't care about your e-peen, a $150 motherboard does exactly the same job as a $300 one. Power supplies on the other hand... cheaper = almost always bad, and I'd recommend a minimum of a 600w for any build. Also get a modular one if possible as having tons of non-removable dangly wires that you're not needing is a nightmare.
Apart from that, you've got the right idea
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
"Drop" - using the term loosely as it's not exactly a downgrade - the processor to an i5-2400 (or i5-2500k if you think you might want to learn about overclocking sometime down the track), switch to a cheaper motherboard (I have one of these) and inject the money you just saved into a better video card like a 560Ti/6850/7850.
When it comes to gaming there's virtually zero difference between an i5-2400 (for example), i5-2500k, i7-2600k, i5-3570k or an i7-3770k as any bottleneck is, in 90% of cases, on the video card side of things. No reason to get an absolute high-end motherboard like a Sabertooth either if you don't care about your e-peen, a $150 motherboard does exactly the same job as a $300 one. Power supplies on the other hand... cheaper = almost always bad, and I'd recommend a minimum of a 600w for any build. Also get a modular one if possible as having tons of non-removable dangly wires that you're not needing is a nightmare.
Apart from that, you've got the right idea
My friend suggested at least getting an i7 since I will be doing lots of video editing. My major in College and Youtube channel are pretty important to me so, I need something that will work really well with Video editing. But hey, what do I know, the i7 may have absolutely no effect on Video editing though.
Will a downgraded motherboard work well 2 years down the road? My friend suggest this high end model because he said that I will not need to upgrade it for at least 4 years. If I can get the same functionality at a cheaper price, that would be great. Also looking for quality as well though, don't really want something pooping out on me.
As for the power supply, what is generally a good price for a 600 Watt? I was just looking at this model but, there may be something better on the market?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/361423/Builder_Series_600_Watt_ATX_12V_Power_Supply
Currently what the computer will be looking like. Decided it would be easier to see and understand if I just wrote down everything and quote it. So, let me know what you think of the build so far. There have been 2 changes from the original build that I posted.
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- 1,097
- Jyväskylä
- djinline-FIN
I think that looks very nice! You will be laughing with the i7-2700K+GTX560Ti when you work with videos or play games.
Oh yeah, go with the 600W power supply to be on the safe side at all times and a cheaper Z77 should be just fine, but I don't know much about modern motherboards so I can't really go recommending anything.
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- 6,799
- United Kingdom
I would recommend these parts over the ones you chose to save some money and get a more efficient and just as powerful and more up to date system.
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor ($189.99)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388577/Core_i5_3570K_34GHz_LGA_1155_Processor
Asus P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard ($124.99 After Rebate Savings)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/393422/P8Z77-V_LK_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
Gigabyte GV-R785OC-2GD AMD Radeon HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card ($239.99 After Rebate Savings) (Sleeping Dogs and Dirt Showdown FREE!)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...n_HD_7850_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD Burner - OEM ($16.99)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/380574/AD-7280S-0B_24x_SATA_Internal_DVD_Burner_-_OEM
Thermaltake SMART Series 750 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply ($69.99 After Rebate Savings)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/383021/SMART_Series_750_Watt_ATX_Modular_Power_Supply
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor ($189.99)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388577/Core_i5_3570K_34GHz_LGA_1155_Processor
Asus P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard ($124.99 After Rebate Savings)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/393422/P8Z77-V_LK_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
Gigabyte GV-R785OC-2GD AMD Radeon HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 Video Card ($239.99 After Rebate Savings) (Sleeping Dogs and Dirt Showdown FREE!)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...n_HD_7850_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD Burner - OEM ($16.99)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/380574/AD-7280S-0B_24x_SATA_Internal_DVD_Burner_-_OEM
Thermaltake SMART Series 750 Watt ATX Modular Power Supply ($69.99 After Rebate Savings)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/383021/SMART_Series_750_Watt_ATX_Modular_Power_Supply
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
What is everyone elses opinions on these parts?
- 1,097
- Jyväskylä
- djinline-FIN
Nice and cheap, you'll stay below $1000 and still get yourself a nice rig. 👍
To be honest, i7 CPUs are a bit overkill for gaming (particularly on a smaller monitor) but excellent for video encoding and media use. i5 CPUs are more like jacks of all trades and should be perfectly fine for you.
- 2,939
- Geneva
- Kimky
- Kimky
That's a good setup, I got nothing bad to say about it.
- 9,052
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
I would probably go for that option. I would, however, also check our which Nvidia card I could get for that money just because AMD's software isn't as good and they don't support PhysX without some driver hacking. There's a video comparing PhysX with non-PhysX in Borderlands 2, I'd post it but I'm on my phone right now, if you can find it it makes a good argument in favour of an Nvidia card even though they are more expensive.
- 2,587
So.. Let me get this straight, a game that wasn't designed to have the most beautiful graphics in the world looks amazing with Physx enabled? I just checked out the video in question and honestly, it looks terrible. The comparison shots don't even sway me to want the technology.
I'm going to think of it like this, if Physx is so great, and so amazing, why is it exclusive to Nvidia? Why can't AMD have the same thing? Clearly it's able to be ran on AMD hardware(Or so you say). The only reason AMD doesn't have it, is because its an Nvidia Exclusive technology. So whats so great about it? I just looked at it, and I'm not the slightest bit impressed. It's a little bit of an extra drain on your hardware, for a little extra effects, which can't even be considered a selling point in my book.
Bottom line, I've never in my life heard anyone say, "MAN THIS GAME IS GREAT, BUT IT'D BE EVEN BETTER IF I'D BOUGHT THE GRAPHICS CARD FROM COMPANY X, INSTEAD OF COMPANY Y." Why? Because it doesn't matter.
- 2,547
- Vancouver, BC
Kamuifanboy
Very good setup for the price. Great bang for the buck and upgrade ability.
bergauk
Usually you've got some great posts but this literally makes no sense. Why if it's so great would company 1 have it but not 2? Why is Apple suing Samsung? Because they had something better that Samsung stole... Why are there patents? Because companies developing technology deserve exclusive rights to that tech for the period of that patent? PhysX makes a very big difference if it is implemented properly by the game. Unfortunately there just isn't that many games making use of it.
- 2,587
That's what I'm getting at. Physx is a gimmick, that's all it'll be until someone at a major game studio has the common sense to use it for something other than simple physics rendering, I watched the video that neema_t was talking about, and all I saw was Nvidia showing off a technology that added no new gameplay elements to the game, and would not be a deciding factor in why I'd choose an Nvidia card over a similar card from AMD.
- 9,052
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
bergauk
Borderlands 2 was a poor example but it was the only one I could remember that demonstrated the difference side by side in the same video. You can't deny that it looks better than without PhysX, though, and at the end of the day don't we buy graphics cards based on how good they can make a game look? Not to mention that some games actually use PhysX for, well, physics, which can improve the gaming experience, I guess... Being completely honest I don't know exactly what PhysX does or how, so I don't feel too comfortable going on about it. However it IS a thing, it exists and only Nvidia cards can use it without potentially wonky driver hacks. Whether you want it or not is up to the individual, and the OP may not be aware of it's existence. Personally I'm glad I've got an Nvidia card because I'm going to be playing a lot of Borderlands 2 and I'm going to be doing so with all the graphics, unless it supports Surround, in which case I may have to calm it down a little.
In any case, my main problem with AMD is their driver software, I'm sure I don't have to explain that though as it's quite a popular sentiment!
- 11,969
- Christchurch
Looks fine. A 3570K would be a very solid choice, I don't own one for no reason
I also build a PC by myself. Here are the specification.
i7 processor with 16 GB Ram, 1500 GB Hard drive (1 TB + 500 GB) with DVD Super drive. and the Nivida 8700 graphics.
It is only in $890 what do you say guys. Now I am planing to change the hard drive to 2 TB. I build it only for Gaming. I play games all times. It is working fine.
i7 processor with 16 GB Ram, 1500 GB Hard drive (1 TB + 500 GB) with DVD Super drive. and the Nivida 8700 graphics.
It is only in $890 what do you say guys. Now I am planing to change the hard drive to 2 TB. I build it only for Gaming. I play games all times. It is working fine.
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- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
Where things are right now. What do you guys think?
- 2,939
- Geneva
- Kimky
- Kimky
Unless you're gonna do some heavy encoding you dont really need a i7, a i5-3570k is more than enough for most people. As for the graphic card, the GTX660Ti is pretty good but only deliver 13% more power than a HD7870 while it cost 30% more, so a HD7870 would be more worth it and unless you're getting a 2560 monitor you wont really notice the difference. And with the money you're saving on processor + graphic card, you could get yourself a SSD drive that will speed up your system.
Be sure to check with the store that your tower can fit the Graphic card because usually new graphic card are pretty big.
Be sure to check with the store that your tower can fit the Graphic card because usually new graphic card are pretty big.
- 6,799
- United Kingdom
I guess you like the look of the ASRock motherboard
. The 660 Ti would have been my recommendation if you chose not to get the 7850 so a good choice there. I think my PSU and DVD-RW recommendation should make your system more neat and tidy and have more upgrade capacity in the future all at slightly less price with the rebate. Processor wise I think it is better to get an Ivy Bridge CPU as that is the only upgrade path you will have in the future, might as well get it now for a little bit more the 3770K if you don't want to get the 3570K, save a bit on electricity too .
- 4,022
- Cincinnati, OH
Pretty much the finalized parts list. I went to Akihabara and was able to find most of these parts, aside from the Case. I found a case that I like better anyway and will probably just get it as I didn't see any MSI cases anywhere in the 5 stores that I checked.
Hopefully things will work out great. And again, thanks for all of the help. It's so nice having a bunch of people from GTP that know there stuff when it comes to computers, because I certainly don't.
