Gaming spec priorities

[dave85uk]

Hey guys i'm considering building this rig (i've only ever built one):

Cpu: AMD FX 8120 Black edition (8 cores 3.1 Ghz, 8mb cache) - supports up to 1866Mhz (£150)
MoBo: Asus M5A97 (chipset 970) - supports up to 1866Mhz (without OCing) (£80)
GPU: Sapphire HD 6870 (1GB) (£150)
RAM: Corsair Vengance 8Gb PC3-15000C9 duel channel (2x4GB DDR3, 1866 MHz, 9 10 9 27) (£60)

Total cost £440, budget for main parts ~£500 (Full rig inc HDD etc costs £740, budget is £800)

Now i'm a big gamer (play most popular Rpg's and Sbg's), and so naturally this will be a gaming rig and so have a few questions.

1. Should i opt for a cheaper cpu to get a better Gpu or are they ok?
2. The cpu can support 1866Mhz and so went for Mobo and RAM that can support these speeds, however is this required?
3. Specifically, the RAM is quite fast should I go for slower RAM (1600Mhz) with more channels (tri/quad) or more memory (for cheaper or same price, corsair/kingston brands)
4. Does RAM still have to be installed in pairs, i.e is it not recommended to install 3x modules (4GB each) to give 12GB?
5. Does Ram speeds still have to be a multiplier of CPU speeds
6. Picked up a copy of CustomPC and from there bench marks AMD appears to still be better for gaming, but intel is better for video rendering, multiple programs etc, this still true?

I've been out of touch of the pc compounent world for a while (3 years, a long time!!) and so not sure if my knowledge is out-dated so just need to confirm the above. cheers

 

[016ive]

1-better get the i5 2500k (if you are still asking about the GPU what is your monitor?)
2- you can have 1600 1333 ram kit with no problem
3-for just gaming you need at least 4GB ram 8 to be in a safe zone (Ram kits are cheap)
4-depends on the motherboard you have (dual channel or tri...) if you put in three dimms each module work in single mood
5-not really but if you plan to overclock it will help (it gives a small boost in the performance barely noticeable)
6-no way in hell Get the intel 2500k

 

[dave85uk]

Monitor: Samsung T200HD 20-inch Widescreen LCD TFT Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T200HD-20-inch-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B0017P9U7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330777754&sr=8-1

3. Guess 8Gb is plenty then
6. I'd rather see some evidence of this? april 2012 p39 BF:BC2 bench marks

AMD A8-3870K 35-50FPS
Intel Core i3-2100 9-15FPS

Can't see how an i5 2500 will be on par with AMD FX 8120

 

[FinneousPJ]

6. If you can read a magazine, you can use google.

 

[dave85uk]

ha true, just being a bit lazy, doing alot atm so hoping someone had a handy link for me that i can glance at

 

[serialkiller]

even an pentium is faster than 1090t and i3 faster than any amd processor

games dont use more than 2 core the only thing matters is the per core perfo and clock performance.
Get an i5 2500k if ocing

and ur gpu is powerfull
but why not 6950 which can be unlocked to 6970

 

[suddenstop]

As others have said the i5 2500 is really a nice cpu. I would prioritize around that cpu if it were me and i was buying right now. Since you have been out of it for a little while, I will mention that nVidia and amd are releasing next gen chips, a couple weeks may make a difference in prices. Intel is also about to release ive bridge - next iteration of their cpu series. While it may not change the parts you get - it should make them cheaper for a small wait.

 

[dave85uk]

Ok looking at reveiws the i5 is much better, back to the drawing board! Is there anything wrong with using a AMD graphics card with a intel processor?

 

[de5_Roy]

Monitor: Samsung T200HD 20-inch Widescreen LCD TFT Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T200HD-20-inch-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B0017P9U7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330777754&sr=8-1

3. Guess 8Gb is plenty then
6. I'd rather see some evidence of this? april 2012 p39 BF:BC2 bench marks

AMD A8-3870K 35-50FPS
Intel Core i3-2100 9-15FPS

Can't see how an i5 2500 will be on par with AMD FX 8120

possible that the a8 vs i3 bench was done to test the igpu's strength. amd's igpu is much, much stronger than core i3's.
this one has the cpu gaming strentgh tested for several cpus:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120.html
if you're building for gaming, the 2500k is better than the 8120.

 

[Louis_96]

GHz > Cores for gaming, and if your budget allows, go Intel

 

[FinneousPJ]

Ok looking at reveiws the i5 is much better, back to the drawing board! Is there anything wrong with using a AMD graphics card with a intel processor?

Nope nothing wrong.

 

[016ive]

Monitor: Samsung T200HD 20-inch Widescreen LCD TFT Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T200HD-20-inch-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B0017P9U7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330777754&sr=8-1

3. Guess 8Gb is plenty then
6. I'd rather see some evidence of this? april 2012 p39 BF:BC2 bench marks

AMD A8-3870K 35-50FPS
Intel Core i3-2100 9-15FPS

Can't see how an i5 2500 will be on par with AMD FX 8120

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

if your gaming at 1080p you can push to get 6950 or the nvidia 560TI if you can't the 6870 is a marvelous card
if you are gaming at less than 1080p the 6870 will be phenomenal
8GB is the sweet spot now