Doubting between 2 rigs!

[JohnnyGui]

Hey all,

I've been doubting for quite a long time now which of the 2 gaming rigs I should buy. I am planning to play games like the Crysis series, BF 3, Portal 2, Metro, Dark Souls, Sonic Generations etc.

So my question is; which one of the 2 rigs below is the best for gaming?

Gaming rig 1:

Intel Core i5-3550 Quad Core 4x 3.3 Ghz
ASRock B75M-GL 1155
1 TB Harddisk
8 GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 670 2 GB

Gaming rig 2:

Intel Core i5-3570K
ASRock Z77 Pro4 1155
1 TB Harddisk
8 GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 TI 2 GB


Basically, the first one has a better GPU while the second one has a better CPU with overclocking options.

So what would you guys advice me?

Thanks in advance

 

[szplay]

The GTX 660 Ti has less memory bandwidth, which is important for games like Crysis and BF 3. On the other hand, for games such as sonic and portal the GTX 660 will perform very close to the GTX 670.

I think i would go with the rig 1.

 

[simon12]

Rig one is better for gaming as for gaming the GPU is the main priority. If you want to upgrade in future rig 2 will last longer before you need a new motherboard and cpu so in the long run may work out better but if you just want to run it until you go for a new PC the get rig one.

 

[JohnnyGui]

I'm not planning to buy a new pc again in the near future.

Wouldn't overclocking the i5-3570K and, eventually the 660Ti too, bring rig 2 to GTX 670's performance?

 

[sam_p_lay]

I'm not planning to buy a new pc again in the near future.

Wouldn't overclocking the i5-3570K and, eventually the 660Ti too, bring rig 2 to GTX 670's performance?

Could do, but on that basis, why not also overclock the GTX670? I'd also go with the first. Or skip a couple of takeaways and put that money on the best of both worlds ;-)

 

[blacknemesist]

I think rig 2 is all around better if you plan on OC the Cpu.Surely you wouldn't be using the rig just for games right?The GTX670 is better then the GTX660 ti but way more expensive.
I would use rig 2 with GTX 670 is possible,just make sure you got good air flow and a Noctua NH-D14 and you got a CPU and motherboard to last for years.
The GPUs are always getting better and better so in a few years you will need to upgrade,either with a new card or SLI them.
I give most value to rig 2 because it can do anything.
If sole purpose is games then go rig 1 hands down.
If you OC the GPUs then get the MSI version or Gigabyte,they run the cooldest from what I have seen.The MSI even surpases the Gigabyte because of OCing capabilities.

 

[JohnnyGui]

@ sam_p_lay:
That is, if I have that money

So you're saying it IS possible to bring the second rig to the first rig's performance??

I'm sorry guys for being so picky, it's just because I'm afraid that I'll be limited in the future because of the lack of overclocking with the i5-3550.

@ blacknemesist:
No indeed, I won't just use it for gaming. I agree that they're always throwing new GPU's at us and eventually I'll need a new one.

The question is, I think, how fast do I need a new GPU while having a 3570K. And how fast do I need a new CPU when I go with rig 1???

 

[sam_p_lay]

@ sam_p_lay:
That is, if I have that money

So you're saying it IS possible to bring the second rig to the first rig's performance??

I'm sorry guys for being so picky, it's just because I'm afraid that I'll be limited in the future because of the lack of overclocking with the i5-3550.

Well I certainly won't guarantee it, but I think it's certainly possible. I stopped bothering with overclocking when I was about 15 (didn't see worthwhile performance gains for the sake of voiding warranty) so check with somebody else on here with more up-to-date overclocking experience. I personally buy what works best at stock and leave it alone at least until the warranty expires

 

[sam_p_lay]

Maybe it's different where you are but price difference in the UK seems pretty tiny anyway - a 3550 on scan.co.uk is £155, vs £168 for the 3570K. So £13 difference?

 

[JohnnyGui]

@ sam_p_lay:
Here in the Netherlands it's also just € 10 difference. What I mean is that I'll have to buy a new CPU for the original price AND a new motherboard too since the B75M doesn't support overclocking.

 

[sam_p_lay]

@ sam_p_lay:
Here in the Netherlands it's also just € 10 difference. What I mean is that I'll have to buy a new CPU for the original price AND a new motherboard too since the B75M doesn't support overclocking.

Ah OK, well I think you'd be getting a good setup either way, but I'd personally choose the GTX670 setup. See what people have to say about overclocking potential though. Assuming the GTX670 stands to gain as much from overclocking as the GTX660 Ti, it would come down to whether or not the CPU overclock could close the performance gap between the two cards.

 

[bystander]

Are you planning to use a 120hz monitor? For the most part, the first one is the best for gaming. The only times it might not be the best is when you run into a CPU bottleneck, but that doesn't normally happen until you go beyond 60 FPS, and only on CPU limited games. On a 60hz monitor, you won't run into that very often, if at all.

 

[JohnnyGui]

@sam_p_lay: I was wondering though, since the B75M doesn't support overclocking, is it still possible to overclock the GPU on that mobo?

@bystander: I'm using a 60 hz monitor, so I guess there (almost) wouldn't be a CPU bottleneck right?

I'm really thankfull for helping me with this guys!


Now the next question: Any overclockers here know if I can gain significant performance with gaming by overclocking the 3570K and eventually the GTX 660Ti card to reach stock GTX 670 performance??

 

[bystander]

@sam_p_lay: I was wondering though, since the B75M doesn't support overclocking, is it still possible to overclock the GPU on that mobo?

@bystander: I'm using a 60 hz monitor, so I guess there (almost) wouldn't be a CPU bottleneck right?

I'm really thankfull for helping me with this guys!


Now the next question: Any overclockers here know if I can gain significant performance with gaming by overclocking the 3570K and eventually the GTX 660Ti card to reach stock GTX 670 performance??

I guess I should say it may still bottleneck, but it wouldn't matter most the time, as you'd be beyond your refresh rate before it kicks in. At least in the majority of the cases.

 

[sam_p_lay]

@sam_p_lay: I was wondering though, since the B75M doesn't support overclocking, is it still possible to overclock the GPU on that mobo?

@bystander: I'm using a 60 hz monitor, so I guess there (almost) wouldn't be a CPU bottleneck right?

I'm really thankfull for helping me with this guys!


Now the next question: Any overclockers here know if I can gain significant performance with gaming by overclocking the 3570K and eventually the GTX 660Ti card to reach stock GTX 670 performance??

Glad to help And it's only CPU overclocking that is restricted - graphics card overclocking is separate.