I3 2105 Sandy Bridge vs AMD phenom ii x4 965 BE

[zeldas12]

Making a gaming build on a budget of $500-550 but I'm not sure whether to go with the i3 sandy bridge or the AMD.

My other parts:
ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+
Corsair TX 650W
8GB DDR3 Ram
MSI R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition

 

[chargedgod]

Making a gaming build on a budget of $500-550 but I'm not sure whether to go with the i3 sandy bridge or the AMD.

My other parts:
ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+
Corsair TX 650W
8GB DDR3 Ram
MSI R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=102

Here's a fairly detailed comparison.
For newer tech+low power consumption+gaming+over all better performance go with i3 build

 

[drew13]

IMO, spend the extra ~$60 and get the 3570k if you can (Microcenter prices) for much better performance. And like chargedgod said, go ahead and go to anandtech for good comparisons. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

965 BE/ cpu cooler/ overclocking is better than the sandy i3.

it looks like you already have the motherboard. does not a FX-8350 fit in the budget? or is the $550 including what you listed?

 

[zeldas12]

965 BE/ cpu cooler/ overclocking is better than the sandy i3.

it looks like you already have the motherboard. does not a FX-8350 fit in the budget? or is the $550 including what you listed?

It's $550 including what I listed, $565 to be exact. I don't mind dishing out a little extra money and going into the ~$600 price range if it'll mean better performance. I haven't ordered any of these yet, I wanted to get some input beforehand as this is the first PC build I'm doing. I've been getting alot of help from different people, telling me the pros and cons of this and that.

 

[Guest]

It's $550 including what I listed, $565 to be exact. I don't mind dishing out a little extra money and going into the ~$600 price range if it'll mean better performance. I haven't ordered any of these yet, I wanted to get some input beforehand as this is the first PC build I'm doing. I've been getting alot of help from different people, telling me the pros and cons of this and that.

well lets talk about a few things here.

first that PSU is overkill in two ways you do not need 650 watts and the price is too much for your budget. as much as i am one of those that insist to never skimp on a quality PSU; it also needs to be tempered with what is necessary. 650 watts is for a SLI or Xfire setup and if your are not going for it now or in the very near future drop it. a 500-550 watt PSU will be all you need for any cpu and single graphics card set up.

please do NOT say you are going to Xfire 7770s! that is such a waste in so many ways and just begging for a micro stutter problem; it rears its ugly head with lower end cards.

also you have to look at your budget. if you dump a lot of cash on a PSU that means you will have to cut corners somewhere else, like either the motherboard, well you can a little there, or the CPU, now your going to not like that too much, or worse the graphics card; where you do not want to skimp at all if you plan on gaming.

seriously, its a bit silly to get a PSU before getting your cpu platform, it ought to fit like a glove; too small is asking for trouble overloading it and too big is causing it to run inefficient since efficiency takes a nosedive under 20% load.

if you are getting a 7770, 650ti or even a 7850 gpu then the corsair CX 500 will give you some room for overclocking an AMD rig and also cover you with ANY graphics card (except some 7970s) or you can toss in the seasonic s12II 520 or the antec NEO ECO 520 if you have the money.

but to spend $90 ($70 after rebate) for a PSU with wattage you don't need on a $550 budget isn't wise . . just saying.

(edit: i removed the CX430 from the list of suggestions because it more $$ than the CX 500 now after rebate. but had you gone with an intel rig and any of the three card i listed 7770, 650ti, 7850; even THAT is enough!)

 

[zeldas12]

Best answer selected by zeldas12.

 

[zeldas12]

Wow, very helpful!

If I go with the corsair CX 500 that leaves me with alot of extra money to spend. Any suggestions on what I should upgrade? The current total outcome is $530 (keep in mind this is not including the rebates). I'm okay with spending up to $650.

 

[Guest]

Wow, very helpful!

If I go with the corsair CX 500 that leaves me with alot of extra money to spend. Any suggestions on what I should upgrade? The current total outcome is $530 (keep in mind this is not including the rebates). I'm okay with spending up to $650.

i went crazy with these suggestions. the total before rebates is closer to $700 but this gives you a 7870; which is a phenomenal graphics card
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2105 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($66.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Base Total: $697.91
Combo Discounts: -$10.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$40.00
Shipping: $11.98
Total: $659.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 13:25 EST-0500)

this is with a 7850; which is still better than a 7770 gpu:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2105 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-GL Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($66.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Base Total: $617.91
Combo Discounts: -$10.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$30.00
Shipping: $11.98
Total: $589.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 13:28 EST-0500)

this is an AMD set up, the cpu is cheaper and will give a bit of a difference when overclocking but you'll need a cooler for it (and i pick a bit cheaper of a board to try to keep the cost down)
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI 990XA-GD55 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Base Total: $665.90
Combo Discounts: -$10.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$30.00
Shipping: $4.99
Total: $630.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 13:32 EST-0500)

to be as unbiased an an intel fan like me can be: honestly the i3 build has better potential. though a piledriver cpu can be used later in the AMD rig (FX-8350), most any i5 will perform better when upgraded to one in the intel rig.

what looks super cool is the CX 500 is a combo deal with new egg with the corsair 300R case


while as i was at it, i went for a GTX660, which will trade blows with a 7870. but the 7870 will overclock better. the slight price difference i used to get a Z77 motherboard so you can even get a i5-3570K and overclock the cpu later . .
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2105 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Base Total: $697.91
Combo Discounts: -$10.00
Mail-in Rebates: -$40.00
Shipping: $11.98
Total: $659.89
Total: $659.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 13:41 EST-0500)


oh yeah, i am a bit of a nvidia fan too



cheers and happy new year!