Pls help me choose between two cheap gaming builds (amd vs intel)

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zichus

zichus

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Aug 29, 2013
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Hello experts,

I need your comments and suggestions which build to go for and maybe you can find some flaws in either of the builds. My idea is to build very low budget gaming which would be upgradable in the future. Before the build I can mention that I have very old PC (some 5-7 years old) from which I want to reuse case and PSU (Fortron PNR300).

And probably have to mention that I live in Latvia (eastern Europe), so not everything you suggest will be available here (and probably more expensive).

Right now I have no budget, I want to make it as cheap as possible to be able to play decently on 1680x1050 resolution (syncmaster 2032mw) and low settings is ok for me for now. I play Dota2 and Starcraft2 HOTS mainly, sometimes civ5 and torchlight2. Would be nice to be able to play BF3.
So the first build in mind was AMD APU system:
AMD A10-6800K 90LVL
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 37LVL
KINGSTON 4GB 1866MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC CL9 DIMM KIT2 22LVL

WD CAVIAR GREEN 500GB 3.5" SATA3 IP 64MB 35LVL
DVD RW SATA 24X INT RET/BLACK SH-224DB/RSMS SAMSUNG 13LVL
ASUS USB-N53 Dual-Band Wireless-N600 PCI-E Adapter 20 LVL

Case and PSU reused.

Upgrades later
Possibility cheapest:
SAPPHIRE HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 (doesn’t need external power cord – draws power from PCI slot). 60 LVL

Possibility not so cheap:
GTX 650 1gb ddr5 60 LVL
Corsair vs550 32 LVL

This build is quite cheap (1 LVL = 0.521 USD) as the total will be 217 LVL (416.5$) main build and 60 LVL (115$) cheap upgrade or 92 LVL (176$) expensive upgrade. This build is quite cheap, but not very upgradable. I can put in some good GPU, but CPU probably won’t come any better for this socket. So I thought maybe I could get away with this build which is GPU and CPU upgradable but is more expensive:

Pentium G2030 3.0GHZ 36
MSI B75MA-P45 37
GTX 650 1gb ddr5 60
G.SKILL Ripjaws GaminG - DDR3 1600 MHz - 1 x 4GB 26
Corsair vs550 32

WD CAVIAR GREEN 500GB 3.5" SATA3 IP 64MB
35
DVD RW SATA 24X INT RET/BLACK SH-224DB/RSMS SAMSUNG
13
ASUS USB-N53 Dual-Band Wireless-N600 PCI-E Adapter
19.97
Case reused.

Total 259 LVL (497 $). It has potential for upgrades and comes with better GPU from the beginning but the CPU is weaker. But as I have read then games aren’t optimized for quad core chips, so dual core is enough?

So any comments, suggestions, flaws and questions are more than welcome?
 
Solution
U


How much more is the cpu? And also u will really BARELY, if even possible, notice the difference between 1600 and 1333 so if the cpu is just a bit too much more then go for corsair value ram 1333 4gb. (my friend has it and its not really any different except that the 1600 has a heat sink) At a later stage when u want to u can upgrade your ram.
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Unknown-bjorn

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I would suggest going with the bottom Pentium build for now if ur budget is low. You will at least be able to get a vid card now and the Pentium will be upgrade-able to a decent cpu at a later stage. Most games wont require the full power of a quad core though more and more games are starting to use that. But a Pentium will be fine for now especially because its cheap enough to upgrade later. I'm not sure how much ur G.SKILL costs but i think they are generally more expensive! So if its available then get a Corsair Vengeance 1600 4gb stick. It should be cheaper. I have that ram my self and I'm quite pleased.
Enjoy!
 
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zichus

zichus

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I was leaning also towards the intel build because of the upgradability, but the AMD APU i was reading was good in games too. So i have a dillema. :) Will check about the corsair stick.
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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It may be better for now in games because the Pentuim isnt a gaming cpu but it wont last in the long run. U will have to upgrade ur motherboard also if u want a better 1. I would really suggest you get the intel 1 now. Im not being a fan boy or anything here. But in terms of upgradeablitly i would say intel and they are generally better at gaming. And yes it does have built in graphics but really not gaming worthy, yes it can go on the internet and stuff. But also if u buy the intel with the 650 then it will be better than the APU alone.
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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How much more is the cpu? And also u will really BARELY, if even possible, notice the difference between 1600 and 1333 so if the cpu is just a bit too much more then go for corsair value ram 1333 4gb. (my friend has it and its not really any different except that the 1600 has a heat sink) At a later stage when u want to u can upgrade your ram.
 
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zichus

zichus

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G2130 is for 50LVL (96$) and the G2030 is for 35 LVL (67$). So probably will go for the cheaper version, especially if i'm thinking of upgrading it anyway in future. And maybe find some cheaper 1333mhz RAM.
 
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zichus

zichus

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thx for the advice - any other comments? Some other thoughts?

And another question - with fortron pnr300 PSU will the HD7750 work (and with the intel build above)? Will the wattage be sufficient? Because the 7750 doesn't need external power (my psu doesnt have the plug).

Maybe i can save 60$ :)
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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Yes the 300W psu will be enough for the 7750! Will run just fine from what Ive read! The only other thing I can ask is.. There is the new 4th Gen haswell.. and there is the pentium G2230 I think it was called. Its alittle bit more expensive.. And the mother board could be more or the same price depend on which u look at! But that will give u more future proof-ness but just a thought maybe check it out. Other than that Enjoy hey! :D
(please select a solution, I'm trying to work on my badges:)
 
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zichus

zichus

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the intel G3430 costs 56LVL (107$) so its a bit more expensive than G2130 is for 50LVL (96$). Cheapest MSI MB i found is Matx MSI B85M-P33 Intel LGA1150 MATX DDR3 MB for 38 LVL ( 73$) not a huge difference.

But Haswell to my understanding is more efficient but the performance isn't much more than Ive Bridge had - am I right?
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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sort of! The Haswell is slightly better BUT it has more features! The motherboarda will be better ans since its a new generation its more future proof because if anything New is added to the motherboards it will be to thellatest generation.
 
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Derppppp

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AMD have really good Graphics Cards for all Budgets. In the GPU14 event, many GPUs were revealed. One of them being $89 (with 1GB Vram and a decent score for the price) and the other $139 (2GB Vram).
For Budget Builds, people tend to use AMD more, since they're way cheaper, and give more bang for your buck (Price/Performance).

Edit: I didn't read your description, so I don't know the full details of your question...
 
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zichus

zichus

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What do you think about this build:

1) Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 4GB DDR3 CL9 KIT OF 2 CML4GX3M2A1600C9B 1 x 31.62 Ls = 31.62 Ls
2) D-Link DWA-140/D1 Wireless N USB Adapter 1 x 6.75 Ls = 6.75 Ls
3) Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 1 x 34.33 Ls = 34.33 Ls
4) Intel® Pentium® Dual Core G2030 3.0GHz 3MB LGA1155 BX80637G2030SR163 1 x 35.66 Ls = 35.66 Ls
5) OCZ ATX 2.2 CoreXStream 500W (Barošanas bloki (PSU) :: Datoru komponentes) 1 x 25.95 Ls = 25.95 Ls
6) Samsung DVDRW 24X SATA Black SH-224DB/BEBE (Diskdziņi :: Datoru komponentes) 1 x 9.85 Ls = 9.85 Ls
7) Sapphire AMD/ATI Radeon HD7770 1GB GDDR5 PCIE 11201-17-20G 1 x 61.65 Ls = 61.65 Ls
8) Seagate BARRACUDA 7200 1TB SATA 64MB ST1000DM003 1 x 37.55 Ls = 37.55 Ls

Total 243 LVL = 466 $

Case will be reused.
I know that my CPU doesnt support 1600 MHz RAM, but it will clock it down to 1333Mhz. Am i right?

Any other concern about this build? Will the PSU be ok?
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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That build is very good! I have personally had a sapphire 7770 oc and for its price its a very decent card! Yes u will be able to clock it down in the bios... Well at least I can on my mobo. The PSU will be enough also.
 
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zichus

zichus

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got the parts, put it all together, but it doesn't fire up. No idea whats the problem. Seems that the PSU is working - when i put it in the power outlet it hums quietly. But to check whether the PSU is working properly will test with my old PC and mobo - will connect to it and then see if it starts or not.

Will probably tear it all down and start from the beginning if the PSU is ok.
 
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Unknown-bjorn

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Make sure your ram is inserted properly. Ur CPU fan attracted as tightly as possible and ur mobo must be a CLEAN as possible! No fibers or anything. And read through the manual carefully to see if there is anything to prepare for it.
 
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zichus

zichus

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Yeah - will do that. But so frustrating that it doesnt work from the beginning :)

Yesterday when i was putting all together I spent so much time on the connectors for the power, reset and LEDs, but it turns out you can put at least power and reset buttons any way you want and they will work - at least I read smth like that :)
 
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zichus

zichus

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I turned it like 15 times in one and another direction and dug everything in the web about that. I doubt that is the problem :) Bu as I said will test the NEW PSU with my other build (old mobo) and will see if my old PSU can be connected to the NEW mobo. Then will see how it goes and work from there.

Will probably go through every step described here :)
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems
 
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