Help me to choose between these options ($600 Gaming PC)

Erwitt · Apr 8, 2014

Hi guys, after several weeks looking for information and possible configuration, finally I have three candidates. It will be for a general use: Internet, watching movies, some Photoshop [strike]and design[/strike]... And also gaming. I don't need play at highest settings, but I want the best for my budget, about $600.

So, wich option do you prefer? Are two AMD FX-6300 and one Intel Core-i5, some seen in this forum. And of course, changes are welcome:

Option 1

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3c89P

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer
Total: $599.47

Option 2:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ojmZ

CPU: AMD FX-6300
Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270
RAM: Kingston Hyper X Blu 8GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500 GB
Case: Gigabyte GZ-F3HEB (this case is not in Pcpartpicker, but I don't mind choose other one)
Power Supply: Antec VP-450
Optical Drive: Samsung 24x SATA DVD RW
Total: $540

This option is cheaper, so I could improve it in some way.

Option 3

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3iKan

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $617.40

Shneiky · Apr 8, 2014

The I5. Just because of the Photoshop and design.

Guest · Apr 8, 2014

Get a bigger power supply (450W or above) in option 3 because it'll keep your system stable under maximum load and would give you some headroom for overclocking, to get some free performance boost out of your system. If your budget isn't flexible, then get a cheaper case, and just one 4GB stick of memory instead of two, and buy the other one later when you have the money.

Edit: Like so:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI B85M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cougar Solution (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $575.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-08 15:22 EDT-0400)

reubenno · Apr 8, 2014

I'd go with build 3 as Nvidia have good performance in terms of Photoshop and rendering images and the i5 is a monster in comparison to the 6300. I also second PlayerTwo's input, you will want a larger PSU, around the 500W mark, I recommend this one http://www.amazon.com/XFX-ATX-550-Power-Supply/dp/B004RJ8EKI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396985536&sr=8-2&keywords=xfx+pro+core+550w
Hope I helped

Erwitt · Apr 9, 2014

Thanks for your help! I will consider your suggestions!

So, it is the EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti a good option for the i5 build, or is there a best option for that price (o a little more)?

reubenno · Apr 9, 2014

Erwitt :

Personally I would stick with the i5 processor but go for AMD just because of the price to performance ratio they offer. If I were you I would go for an AMD r9 270 but that is $40 more than the 750Ti. The 750Ti seems like the best card for the money though if you cannot stretch your budget

xaviiniesta6 · Apr 11, 2014

If you plan to overclock then Option 1, if not then Option 3.

Erase the Option 2.

Erwitt · Apr 12, 2014

Thanks, I have not decided yet if I am going to overclock. I think it's not very likely, but if I finally do, it's not possible with the option 3?

reubenno · Apr 12, 2014

My opinion is that if you are going to overclock go for option 1 as you can overclock the 6300 to 4670k performance levels however if you are not planning on overclocking you should go for option 3 as it has the strongest cpu without overclocking

Shneiky · Apr 12, 2014

6300 can never reach I5 4670 levels. Unless you run it at 6 GHz.

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/364/AMD_FX-Series_FX-6300_vs_Intel_Core_i5_i5-4670.html

At 3.5 GHz the 6300 has Multi-threaded performance of 1 compared to the I5s 1.41. You need 50% OC on the 6300 to reach that level. 50% OC means 5250 MHz. And even so, it will be still slower in Single threaded. For single threaded you need even more OC.

reubenno · Apr 12, 2014

Okay but the point still stands that for an overclocking build the 6300 makes more sense as the 4670k can handle pretty much everything anyway

Guest · Apr 12, 2014

reubenno :

With the total money that you would need to spend on a 6300 and the equipment that you would need to push it stably close to 5Ghz, you could just get an i5, which you could easily OC to 4GHz with the stock air cooler, and have a much more powerful and efficient system.

From the Techradar 6300 review:
You will need a massive cooler and quality mobo to get to that sort of overclock, but it shows how competitive the Piledriver chip can be made. Especially considering it's only just over £100.

That said you don't really need to have an overclocking mobo to push the Core i5 up over 4.5GHz and gaming performance will quickly outstrip the AMD chip. Still, as a budget alternative, the FX-6300 is a very capable CPU offering decent multi-threaded performance, even at stock speed for use in productivity-related tasks and improved gaming performance too.

There's still no getting away from the fact that the Intel Ivy Bridge chips are ideally what you want in your machine, but the AMD alternatives are there if you can't afford to stretch all the way to a full Intel platform.

xaviiniesta6 · Apr 12, 2014

Erwitt :

No, the non-K series of i5's don't overclock, 4670k can be but it's costlier than the 6300 which can be overclock to handle pretty much anything at 1080p, the amount saved would be spend on a more powerful gpu.

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Help me to choose between these options ($600 Gaming PC)

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