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Price breakdown by merchant /
Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($325.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($101.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.98 @ PCM)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($175.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($101.11 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $1125.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-29 14:51 EDT-0400)
Here is the Intel build I came up with.
The CPU is the new Haswell architecture and has awesome per-core performance which will allow you to run the best games, plus the socket will be around for a while due to Haswell being in it's infancy.
The CPU Cooler is a good match for budget and efficiency.
The memory will allow you to utilize the dual channel architecture of your motherboard.
I got you a good sized SSD to store your operating system and any programs that require quick reading of the hard drive (not necessarily games). The HDD is where you will store the bulk of your data. I would suggest putting games there because the bulk of your game will be loaded from the HDD to RAM and won't be going back and forth between the hard drive constantly (to save room on your SSD).
The video card will handle modern and upcoming games on high/ultra.
I got you a full tower because the biggest rule in gaming is COOLING. If you system overheats you have an $1100 pile of burnt metal. The full tower will allow for maximum airflow.
The PSU is a
Tier 2a PSU (high quality on a budget).
I also put an optical drive and an operating system on.
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant /
Benchmarks
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($92.54 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.98 @ PCM)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card ($285.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($101.11 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $1076.40
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-29 15:05 EDT-0400)
Here is the AMD build I came up with.
The main differences are the CPU will be a bit slower per core, but it has more cores to work with (which games are moving towards) so it isn't going to give you a noticeable slow down versus the i7-4770k.
The GPU (the most important piece) is WAY better and will give you a very noticeable difference in gaming performance versus the 7870 GHz edition.
Plus, it's under your budget of $1100 versus the Intel being 1% over your budget.