Low-end choice help

[yojo98]

Hello
I am building a PC with my friends, with me doing all the part choosing and us building it together. I am building as a cheaper gaming rig based around the MSI-Cyclone II GTX 550ti. I will want to leave him the option to SLI in the future if performance needs it. I also want him to have the ability to upgrade the proc when needed. I currently have a i3-2120 and a Gigabtye GA-P67X-UD3 in the build, but I am debating going AMD with a FX-4100 or phenom. Which would be best with the total cost of proc and Mobo going for $230?

 

[Hydroc10]

Get a Phenom II 965BE 3.4ghz from newegg for $125w/free shipping.You should be able to find a nice board for $100 it performs better than the FX CPUs and can clock to 4.0ghz easy.You'll want an aftermarket cooler like a cooler master hyper 212+ as the stock fan will drive you nuts. Around $25.

 

[Hydroc10]

You can find a motherboard for $80 I'm sure. It's going to be easy to install the cooler before you install the motherboard.

 

[yojo98]

Yes, but can you get SLI on a AM3 board without paying more than bout $120?

 

[amuffin]

Pentium G860.

Though i really recommend the Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 and i3-2100.

 

[Guest]

Pentium G860.

Though i really recommend the Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 and i3-2100.

+1

 

[wr6133]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510

GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+

$129.99 or $119.99 after rebate. You can SLI on it.

If you like safe get a 965BE to sit on that and OC it

If you like a gamble get a 960T it will OC about the same but MAY if your lucky unlock to 6 cores.

 

[yojo98]

Thanks, I think I might go with the 990X board and a amd phemon X4 proc, but is there any disadvantages to using a amd cpu with a nvidia gpu?

 

[amuffin]

No.

 

[joafu]

AMD CPU with nvidia GPU? No problems.

If you go AM3 socket Phenom, you will be pretty much at the top of your tower in terms of upgrades. Yeah, you could get a six core, but that won't do much for gaming at this point. (edit: not that there's anything wrong with the 965, it's a fantastic CPU and the one I have in my main tower)

amuffin's suggestion to stick with the i3 or even go with a G860 is the unattractive solution when compared to the Phenom, but you will have much sexier CPU upgrade paths in the future, either with an i5 or i7, or something from IB when that comes along. Both the i3 and G860 do quite well for gaming, and your original CPU combo looks like a good one.

 

[yojo98]

Ok thanks.

 

[cmi86]

Thanks, I think I might go with the 990X board and a amd phemon X4 proc, but is there any disadvantages to using a amd cpu with a nvidia gpu?

I used a GTS-250 with my 960T when my 6950's were being RMA'd ran just fine.

I agree with joafu that the intel platform does have a better upgrade path (unless by some miracle piledriver is amazing) But for now with your budget an AMD rig is the way to go. Yeah the intels may crank a couple (literally a couple) more FPS but the Phenom II X4 will slaughter them in basically everything else.

Microcenter has the 960T (not being a fanboi) for $99.99 (which is $25 less than 965) This chip can easily clock with nothing more than multi adjustments to match the 965's clock. The 960T will easily clock to 4+ Ghz and has about an 80% chance of unlocking to a 6X.

Nothing against deneb's (they are great CPU's) But as of late all of the new denebs are nothing more than factory OC'd units and I do not support paying for clocks on black edition chips. Just trying to save ya some loot man.

 

[Pedrovsky]

Everything looks just fine i3 2120 is actually a very good choice as a gaming cpu and usually beats p2s on stock frequencies and some oced ones...MB is fine but you can get better for the price...Now what i would recomend you is to actually change the GPU your building your system around... gtx550 ti is probably the worst performance per buck you can buy... i'd get a h67 MB and get me a 7850 or a gtx 560 ti

 

[HEXiT]

yep the 2120 is the better option and not just by a small amount in gaming it really will punish most amd cpus and even trade blows with older higher end quad i5's

 

[yojo98]

Any other videocards you would recomend that are in the same price range, like the 7770?

 

[cmi86]

If you are going to be sticking with this chip for a while just remember, yeah the 2120 is good at gaming(better than a phenom II by a handful of most likely un noticeable frames MAX). If you intend to do anything else with your system other than game the Phenom is going to greatly outperform the i3 in just about every way possible.

 

[yojo98]

Ah, well I a building this for a friend who would be primaraly gaming. So, any other videocard in the $150 range that would be good for heavy gaming, with medium-high setttings?

 

[yojo98]

Best answer selected by yojo98.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey