First gaming rig build ever, price range of 600 to 750.

faxmonkey

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May 13, 2012
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Greetings everyone, i am building first gaming rig and i need some help. Now the games i am looking to play are diablo 3 , tera online , world of warcraft , bf3 , mw3 i think you get the picture haha.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next week

Budget range: $600-$750

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/Surfing the web/Youtube/videos

Parts Not Required: Mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Cooler master haf 912 case

Overclocking: I am not sure since i don't know what this is and how to do it

SLI or Crossfire: I am not sure since i don't know what this is and how to do it

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Just the BEST gaming computer it can be for the price range , games i would like to play i want to play at MAX settings.
 

faxmonkey

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May 13, 2012
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Probably will not be overclocking anytime soon i would have to read more about it and learn before i attempt it.

Crossfire/SLI in the future i probably will then , since i do plan on upgrading the computer over the years.

No AMD/Intel preference , what ever gives me the best gaming rig possible for the budget price and is able to max out settings for said games.
 
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348766 $57.99 - $49.99 after rebate savings +.99 shipping
Antec High Current Gamer Series 520W ATX Power Supply

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-LGA1155-CrossFireX-Motherboard-GA-B75M-D3V/dp/B007R21JKE/ref=sr_1_21?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336938230&sr=1-21 $69.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Gigabyte Intel B75 LGA1155 AMD CrossFireX DVI/D-Sub Dual UEFI BIOS mATX Motherboard GA-B75M-D3V

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-2120-Processor-Socket-LGA1155/dp/B004KZDV8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336938322&sr=1-1 $124.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Intel Core i3-2120 Processor 3.3 GHz 3MB Cache Socket LGA1155

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336938610&sr=1-1 $21.27 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-12800-1600mHz-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B/dp/B004QBUL1C/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336938901&sr=1-5 $48.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST500DM002/dp/B005CT56R6/ref=sr_1_2?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336939090&sr=1-2 $79.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 16 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST500DM002

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_sim_e_19 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.amazon.com/SAPPHIRE-Radeon-6870-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B005C8RTTU $169.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card
 

kelthic

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Feb 28, 2012
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 HAF 912 $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769 WD Caviar blue 500GB $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948 Radeon 6870 $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 Corsair 500w PSU $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424 8GB RAM Kit $38.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128488 Gigabyte UD3 $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077 i3-2120 $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 Windows 7 64 bit OEM. $99.99

Total $753.92 so a few bucks over

Ah crap, left out an optical drive, so another $16.99 for http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244 if you don't have one that is SATA to reuse.

EDIT again: Why me has a similar idea as i do, but the difference is his board will not do crossfire/SLI in the future, so that's something you will want to take into account. (No offense Whyme!)
 
Those intel based builds are reasonable but you can save some money with AMD .

Replace the intel dual core with this AMD quadcore
AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
The two are very similarly matched in this kind of build for gaming , except in older games that cant use more than two cores . In that situation the intel is a little better . The AMD is generally more responsive when you are multitasking , and it easily out performs the intel in encoding and rendering . As a bonus its also spectacularly easy to OC to improve performance when you are ready [ and the intel cannot be over clocked ]

ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+ $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262
Latest technology mb .

The rest of the hardware suggested above is a good match for either of these cpu/mb sets , but the AMD is cheaper and will generally perform better
 
^ Lol fail.

Please show the benchmarks. Not cherry picked ones. General ones. Most games like BF3 actually benefit from 4 cores. Modern games that don't include COD are generally able to use quad cores now. Or at least they're better optimized.

You also forgot to mention, almost all BD chips lose HUGE amounts of efficiency after overclocking. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bulldozer-efficiency-overclock-undervolt,3083-19.html
Much worse than Intel's chips after overclocking.

Also, AMD may be cheaper in the short run. In the long run though, you have no upgrade path with the FX-4100. The 8120 is terrible, in gaming the i5 2500K always prevails with more frames (subject to the game of course, but on average about 10-20 FPS gain). If you went with the i3 2100/2120 you have the option to go i7 or just stick with the i5 3570K/i5 2500K and still see performance gains.
 

faxmonkey

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May 13, 2012
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Ok so i mix matched everyones build opinions to fit budget needs and opinions .

Here is what i have please let me know if this build will max settings the games i wish to play

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

Western Digital Caviar Blue
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

ASRock 970 EXTREME4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

CORSAIR Builder Series
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424

AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

COOLER MASTER HAF 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.939098

Now cooler master HAF 922 lil more expensive but comes with combo deal.
Should i opt in the deal and get the

Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard

OR

WD Caviar blue 500GB
 
AMD is really not the route you want to go with specially not for gaming.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/the-bulldozer-review-amd-fx8150-tested/8
You're not looking at the FX-8150 but that's the general idea.

Here's a more relevant link.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136-9.html
Again, it's subject to the game. However, with the i3's you have an upgrade path. With Bulldozer you don't. Just check out the summary, the FX-8150 performs similarly to the FX-4100 in gaming... That's just sad.
 


^ LOL FAIL

Benchmarks from Tomshardware gaming comparison of the i3 2100 and the FX 4100 using the type of graphics card the OP will use
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136.html
In almost all games the FX matches the 2100 very closely . It does fall a little behind in some DX9 games , but since its easy to overclock you can reasonably expect it to out perform the intel in those situations too .

And here
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1766/

The upgrade path for the intel stops dead in 11 months when socket 1155 is dropped . Tick tock .
AMD are still using the same socket configuration they used over 5 years ago , and there is atleast one more entire future generation of processors that will drop right in .
 



Expressing your opinion is one thing , but outright dishonesty is not acceptable .

There is an entire new generation of AMD Piledriver cpu's being released later this year , and intels tick tock cycle ends production of socket 1155 cpu's in less than a year if they stick to their own schedule
 
What does that even mean though? Just because the socket ends means nothing. He can still move to Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge. Unlike BD where the FX-8150 is still equivalent to the FX-4100 in gaming and slightly better in encoding but still it doesn't compare to the i7 while slightly beating the i5 in certain benches but the i5 and FX-8150 swap blows in certain multi-threaded benches.

However the i5's still beats out the FX-8150 by a long shot in gaming.

 
What's the upgrade path Outlander. You're quite the AMD troll. I liked AMD before, no doubt. But with BD that was just a disappointing launch.

The FX-4100 performs almost as good as the FX-8150, while the i5 3570K performs much better than the FX-8150.
 

faxmonkey

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May 13, 2012
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So now it's more of a choice between an intel motherboard/processor vs a AMD motherboard/processor then.

I do want to upgrade this computer in the future if that kinda narrows out the choice for me.
 


^ LOL FAIL

The FX 8150 more often than not is faster at rendering and encoding that i5 intels and is sometimes faster than the i7's
 

kelthic

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Feb 28, 2012
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/sigh this inevitably happens.

@ OP The truth is that both intel/amd have merits, as well as both arguements that are being made. While AMD does support their CPU sockets longer than Intel, both CPU's are about the same for what you are going to be doing with them. With intel, you will have the option of upgrading your cpu to a very nice i5 or i7, which will be a very nice gaming cpu.

Unless you plan on getting into rendering or something in the lines of productivity, etc., you will not see much benefit out of most of the amd upgrades. There is a reason that Intel dominates the top two tiers of Tom's hardware's gaming cpu list. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html and you will ultimately have to make a decision on whether you want to prioritize gaming, or you want to prioritize other tasks.
 
No prioritizing is necessary Kelthic

The FX and i3 are very similar at stock speeds across a broad range of tasks . The FX a little better in some , the intel a little better in others at stock speeds.
Of course you can then increase the performance of the FX by 30% or so with some overclocking and the intel is stuck at stock clocks and cant be overclocked


IMO the FX is the winner because it is cheaper , and so is the motherboard . You get more potential for less . And the approximately $40- 50 you save can be spent on a better graphics card right now , or you can keep the cash in your pocket .
 

kelthic

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Feb 28, 2012
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More potential now for less potential later, as i stated in my thread. And honestly not trying to start a flame war here, just help the OP out. If the OP's intention was not to upgrade later, i would be right with you on the AMD chip. Since the OP intends to upgrade later LGA 1155 currently offers much better gaming cpus at the high end than anything AMD currently offers for gaming. That says to me that over the long run, the Intel build is the smarter purchase.

I'm sorry if you disagree, and if that's the case, let's agree to disagree, ok? Honestly, bickering is not helping the OP at all.