Review budget 'gaming' build / AMD & Better GPU or Intel and worse GPU?

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ZacB

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Apr 23, 2013
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Hi i'm currently looking at creating a computer on a relatively small budget of £400 - £460. Currently i'm torn between getting an Intel i5 (3550) or AMD FX 4170.

Obviously i'd prefer to have an Intel chip but for gaming i'm wondering weather using the extra to purchase a better GPU (Currently i'm looking at Gigabyte NVIDIA GTX650Ti 2GB) [if you know a better graphics card for £120 that would also be helpfull!]

so in hopefully a more coherent summary my brief questions are:

AMD + Better gpu OR Intel + worse GPU

Is there a better GPU if i do go Intel for around £120 or what is a good gpu for more like £180 if i go with AMD? (i've looked at the VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 7870 Graphics Card?)

Thanks VERY much for any answers !

Also any improvements to this list of items would be most welcome!

Motherboard: Asus P8H61-MX USB3 Motherboard / Asus M5A78L-M LX V2 respectively

Ram: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Case / PSU i'm fine with

P.S Is the AMD i'm looking at a bulldozer or a piledriver?
 
Solution
marshallbradley
Anything by CiT is definitely not safe, and almost certainly an exploding time bomb. Get rid of it ASAP. You'd be much better off with something like the CX 500W from Corsair: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP2VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1366748483&sr=1-1&keywords=500+cx You should be able to to afford this with the savings from a well priced video card. It has enough power for any single GPU configuration you can reasonably expect to have, you simply don't need a 750W power supply (though I doubt the CiT could provide anywhere near that).

For less than £250, the 7870 XT wins every day of the week. Here's one form £193...
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marshallbradley

marshallbradley

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Sep 24, 2012
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You can't really compare an i5 and an FX 4170, esp. when it's a Bulldozer FX and an Ivy-Bridge i5. They are processors designed for different budgets. The FX 6300 competes with i3s in gaming performance, so you really can't be comparing an i5 to an FX 41xx. It's always best for gaming to spend more on the graphics card than the CPU. Very few games are dependent on the CPU for decent FPS. I think the best thing to do would be to get an i3 (i3-3220) and a decent graphics card, like a 7850/7870. This 7870 is in your price range: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11199-19-20G-CrossFireX-Multi-GPU-Technology/dp/B00A1572FK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1366745353&sr=8-6&keywords=7870 For £30 more you could get a 7870 XT though, which is an absolutely fantastic card (it's really a 7950 in disguise): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-3D-HD7870-Graphics-Processors/dp/B00AAAFE7E/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1366745353&sr=8-8&keywords=7870

Don't get a H61 motherboard either, spend the extra £10 for a H77 one. H61 is pretty old tech now, and has a lot of newer features missing (most importantly SATA 3 and USB 3.0 compatibility).

M
 
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ZacB

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Apr 23, 2013
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Thanks very much for the motherboard info! Hypothetically if i had an i5 chip for (With ASrock H77) + Ram & Case for £370 what GPU might be suggested for £220? Also i realized my PSU might be described as 'budget' - CiT 750W 12cm Silent Fan Power Supply - Gold Edition... Is this a safe power supply?
 
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marshallbradley

marshallbradley

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Sep 24, 2012
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Anything by CiT is definitely not safe, and almost certainly an exploding time bomb. Get rid of it ASAP. You'd be much better off with something like the CX 500W from Corsair: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP2VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1366748483&sr=1-1&keywords=500+cx You should be able to to afford this with the savings from a well priced video card. It has enough power for any single GPU configuration you can reasonably expect to have, you simply don't need a 750W power supply (though I doubt the CiT could provide anywhere near that).

For less than £250, the 7870 XT wins every day of the week. Here's one form £193: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11199-20-20G-CrossFireX-Multi-GPU-Technology/dp/B00AX2ONI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1366748406&sr=1-1&keywords=7870+xt It's honestly one of the best deals out there currently, and beats everything less than a 7950 (which is £250+).

M
 
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ZacB

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Apr 23, 2013
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Thanks so much, I will definitely get those two items!!! So glad i asked about the PSU!
 
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