What CPU and GPU for custom build gaming PC?

Eddie K

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Hi,

So I am a novice to this whole computer building and hardware thing. However, lately I've done quite a bit of research and benchmarking so I have an idea of the basics at least now. xD
Anyway, what GPU and CPU should I get? My budget is not certain but I'm aiming for around $1000 (including all other components. not including monitor/ keyboard/ mouse). I can spend more or less so it's not rigid. I however would like to get the most bang for my buck and so I am strongly thinking of AMD. The goal is to be able to play current high demanding games and games that will come out in the future on maxed out settings.

These are the ones I'm thinking of. This is a list I complied and I decided to benchmark some statistics.
P.S. stands for Performance score (retrieved from http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html)
The CPU/Mark Value and benchmark price is based off this site. There is a second price as well from Canada Computers- the most realistic price for the region I live in (Canada). It does really suck how it's noticeably more expensive than other countries.


I am strongly thinking of going with the AMD FX 9370 as a CPU. Second choice is FX 8350 or 8320, and third is FX6300. Is this a good decision? And what GPU would go well with it so there is no bottleneck?


GPU:
(P.S 6198) (CPU Mark/Value 19.99) Consider GeForce GTX 770 Benchmark price - $310, $380 @ CanadaComputers
(P.S 4997) (CPU Mark/Value 22.21) Consider GeForce GTX 760 Benchmark price - $225, $280 @ CanadaComputers
(P.S 5137) (CPU Mark/Value 17.12) R9 280x Benchmark price - $300, $350 @ CanadaComputers
(P.S 4651) (CPU Mark/Value 18.17) Radeon HD 7950 Benchmark price - $255, $250 @ CanadaComputers
(P.S 4521) (CPU Mark/Value 24.44) R9 270x Benchmark price - $185, $230 @ Canada Computers



CPU:
(P.S.10 267) (CPU Mark/Value 31.11) AMD FX 9590 Benchmark price - $330, $315 (Original price $345) @ CanadaComputers (Would buy but Intel has better CPUS at same price range)

(P.S 9683) (CPU Mark/Value 42.10) AMD FX 9370 Benchmark price - $230, $250 @ CanadaComputers (Not far off from FX 9590 in P.S., great price, intel cpus of same P.S. are much more expensive)*

(P.S 9038) (CPU Mark/Value 36.15) AMD FX 8350 Benchmark price - $250, $220 @ CanadaComputers

(P.S 8092) (CPU Mark/Value 50.58) AMD FX 8320 Benchmark price - $160, $175 @ CanadaComputers (Great price, much lower P.S, Intel CPUS of same P.S. are much more expensive)*

(P.S 6367) (CPU Mark/Value 58.96) AMD FX 6300 Benchmark price - $108, $140 @ CanadaComputers* (A bit too weak though in P.S)

(P.S 4317) (CPU Mark/Value 53.97) AMD Athlon X4 750K Benchmark price - $80, $80 @ NewEgg.com

 
Solution
The Fx 6300 is usually a great price to performance cpu, would look at an aftermarket cooler and a gigabyte ud3p board and overclock to help performance, something u could do at a later point after getting use to tinkering, or using guides. If your budget allows go for the 8320, especially if u can get for $160 to the 6300s $140 if pricing is same. Do not get the 9370, its just a higher binned factory overclocked 8350 with a 220w tdp, the same can easily be done with a 8350.

I like the Gigabte 970 ud3p for its quality and vrm setup for the price at least in the US is under $100.

For a gpu the 270x is slightly below the 7950, as the r9 280 is a rebranded 7950 basically, and a 280x is a 7970 ghz ed, the gtx 760 performs like a gtx 670...
If you're considering a 9370, i'd say consider going with an intel i5 4690k if you want to overclock. It'll play games on high farily well.

As for a gpu to pair with it, to max out you'd probably want to consider a GTX 770 or r9 280x at least. Paired with the i5, you'll most likely have 1080p @30fps+ in almost every game I'd imagine.
 
The Fx 6300 is usually a great price to performance cpu, would look at an aftermarket cooler and a gigabyte ud3p board and overclock to help performance, something u could do at a later point after getting use to tinkering, or using guides. If your budget allows go for the 8320, especially if u can get for $160 to the 6300s $140 if pricing is same. Do not get the 9370, its just a higher binned factory overclocked 8350 with a 220w tdp, the same can easily be done with a 8350.

I like the Gigabte 970 ud3p for its quality and vrm setup for the price at least in the US is under $100.

For a gpu the 270x is slightly below the 7950, as the r9 280 is a rebranded 7950 basically, and a 280x is a 7970 ghz ed, the gtx 760 performs like a gtx 670. The Gtx 770 performs slightly faster than the 280x. Best bang for our buck would probably be the 7950 or gtx 760, as there the middle price of the others, and the 7950 beats the 760 in performance, but comes down to brand specific features from nvidia and amd.

Best bang for your buck I would go FX 8320 w/ overclock at some point, and a 7950 for $425, a 9370 and 770 would be like $630.

For the future the website you linked for cpu and gpu benchmarks is not the most accurate with its numbers but isnt the worst for a quick comparison, the best way to look is using gaming and synthetic benchmarks from reputable websites, they are way more accurate and realistic.
 
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Eddie K

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I'm hoping for the entry level 60+ fps though.
 

Obnoxious

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It's completely your call if your decide to go with AMD or Intel; however AMD's single-core performance is not up to par with Intel's offering, and going with Intel will give you a better route if you decide to upgrade in the future. AMD's sockets (AM3+ and FM2+) are pretty much outdated. Personally I would go with an Intel i5 in your scenario, sure it's not an i7 but it's performance is still solid for gaming; you shouldn't need anything more "powerful."

Also PassMark is great for putting out video card rankings into figures, however it's not great for a comparison. For video card ranking, you're better off looking at Tom's Hardware Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart which shows a better representation of GPUs.

With all the above said, I personally think you're much better off with Intel and within your budget, you should go with the following build I just curated below. It's all in Canadian Dollars, and includes a Windows 8 license. You should be able to max most, if not all games out at full. I've kept the build within your budget of $1,000. I have also included a WiFi PCI card (hence your computer has WiFi) and an additional case fan.

Feel free to change anything below, but I believe the build below is solid for your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.88 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($103.95 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.78 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.97 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280X 3GB IceQ X² Video Card ($259.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($17.82 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($105.84 @ DirectCanada)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI Wi-Fi Adapter ($14.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-C2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.34 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $995.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

The above PSU is more than adequate for the build above, however if you're willing to stretch past your $1,000 budget by $10, I'd get the following PSU instead:

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $79.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

All the best. :)
 

Eddie K

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Oh okay, I didn't know about the FX 9370 being a remodeled FX8350. Anyway, I noticed you didn't mention 8350? Is there a reason why? Is 8320 the same thing basically?

What FPS would I be getting at maxed settings on today's demanding games with the 8300 series and 7950?

Oh and could you list a few sites for game benchmarks? I'd appreciate it. :)


 
the Gtx 770 and 280x will ultra 1080p 60fps bf4 so ull be fine with them for other games. I use a oc'd 8320 to 4ghz so a 8350 with a 7970, basically a 280x and play bf4, hardline, titanfall, crysis 3, bioshock infinite, etc no problem either maxxed or very high at 1080p. I also have a Phenom II X6 1055t overclocked to 3.7ghz with a 7970 Ghz edition and performance is same to my 8320 and non ghz 7970, in your price range even though the fx 6300 would handle any of the gpus u listed, go for a 8320/8350 at least.

Also just to throw it out there as Calnin mentioned intel, you could go for a Xeon E3 1230 V2/v3 as its an i7 with no igpu, and lacks the overclockability, but is a 4 core with HT like a i7 but at the i5 price.
 


Tomshardware does plenty of benchmarks related to gpu and cpu in many games. really just google the gpu or cpu u want a benchmark on such as Fx 8320 benchmark or radeon 7950 benchmark, and one of the top results is probably a reliable site and search for a game you play in the benchmark. Usually the most common is gpu benchmarks as for most new games the 8300 line gets similar results as an i5/i7 that are used in the bench tests.

Basically the 8320 is the stock @ 3.5ghz and the 8350 is a factory overclocked 8320, and so on. Based on your pricing the 8350 is quite a bit more money than the 8320 so there for your bang for buck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qim-asQrT_Y - r9 280 vs gtx 760, the 280 is basically a rebadged 7950. just a quick video i remembered seeing, dont remember the games and benchmarks used tho.
 

Eddie K

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Great info. Yeah, I was already aware of Intel's better single core performance. The way gaming seems to be heading though (such as X box 1 and Wii U utilizing AMD drivers and the multiple cores) seems that it utilizes multiple cores which is one of the main reasons I was thinking AMD.

I didn't know about the outdated sockets of AMD though. How does that work? Does it mean in order to upgrade I will need to get a new motherboard if I go with AMD now?

Anyway thanks for the build! :)
Half of the things mentioned flew over my head...haha that's how bad I am at this. What FPS would I be getting at current games with the i5 and 280x?
But yeah, I'm seriously debating in my head now whether I should get the intel i5 or AMD 8000s series.
 
go look for 280x benchmarks at your resolution and games and basically the numbers they show give or take a few for a different system but should basically be on par with the benchmarks.

The AM3+ socket is dead has no upgrade path the roadmap for FX steamroller cpus have been dropped, amd has a future for 8 core apus i think no idea when or if im right, but going with a lga 1150 gives you haswell and devils canyon, and broadwell, with haswell being out and devils canyon being the refresh so there is an upgrade path there.

Strictly gaming the i5 is a great cpu and is good for recording, broadcasting games. the 8000 series is good for multitasking but really its a huge debate as both do great in gaming and other applications. If you want a cpu upgrade without replacing your board a lga 1150 would be the way to go, and other than 8 cores and slightly lower price the 8320 is still a great gaming cpu.
 

Eddie K

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Okay, that's great know. So 280x and 8320 will work out and have great performance. So it's either that build or switching out the 8320 for the i5. Not sure which one results in better performance, and I'm still trying to figure out what Obnoxious meant by the outdated AMD sockets. Are they a problem to you? seeing as you have an AMD CPU.
 

Eddie K

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What exactly is a lga 1150? Is it a CPU or GPU? or is it a board?
 
The AM3+ socket that the 8320 uses is still produced, but has no upgrade path or future cpus to be released, amd only has their apus, like the FM2/fm2+ and AM1 sockets that have new cpus coming out.

Plus the am3+ socket has not been updated since the bulldozer release in 2011, so along with the 990fx chipset and the revisions made when piledriver came out the 8300 series, hasnt been updated since 2012 so compared to intel is outdated. The am3+ socket came out with lga 1155 and sandy bridge cpus like the i7 2600k and i5 2500k, intel is now on lga 1150 and i7 4790k etc so 2 full generations behind or 3 if u count the haswell refresh on lga 1150

The 8320 is a great cpu, but would surely at least overclock to 8350 speeds, which isnt hard with proper cooling and a good board, asus board have a auto OC mode that does quite a good job, i got the 8320 over the 8350 because i knew i could overclock it plus i got it on sale for $130

Edit: Lga 1150 is the intel socket on their motherboard for the haswell cpus such as the i7 4770k, i5 4670k
 

Eddie K

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It's a good idea, but I didn't even recognize it hitting high $300s. I don't think I'm gana be hitting the high 300s to low 400 range for a GPU unless theres gana be games coming out that require a higher performance than the 280x to run on maxed settings.
 

Eddie K

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If I get the LGS 1150, can i use the AMD 8000s series CPU? And if I do get the cheaper 8000s series instead of the intel i5, do I have to buy a more expensive cooling system than the one Obnoxious recommended in his build? since AMD CPUs produce more heat.
 
Lga 1150 is a intel socket so it is not compatible with the 8300 series, and the 8300 series i only compatible with amd AM3+ sockets. The 8350 do produce more heat than the intel cpus, the stock cooler does work, and the build Obnoxious posted uses the intel stock cooler, so would the amd one use its own stock cooler. By cooling i mean the cooler for the cpu not the case or the case fans. Even if u dont overclock or go with intel or amd i would still get an aftermarket cpu cooler for good temps and noise levels.
 
If you go with the AMD fx8xxx series, it's suggested that you buy a better cooling solution. If you're tight on budget, a Hyper 212 evo will do just fine for now. It'll still provide a decent overclock.

in regards to the 8xxx series. The fx 8320 is basically the base chip. Each 8 core increment up ie 8350, 9370, 9590. Is basically an overclocked version of that. The 8320 + a 990fx motherboard or the gigabyte UD3P can overclock it fairly decently I'd imagine.

In the end, the price would even out to an i5 system I believe. At the very least, it'l be an unoverclockable i5 system.
 

Eddie K

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Okay thanks, so I think I will go the intel cpu and AMD 280x. I wouldn't mind putting 100$ into the CPU though, is there anything better I could get which would be worth it? or the 100$ might as well be put in the gpu?