$600 Gaming Build

[hunterpostit88]

THIS ONE ISN'T FOR ME! It is for a friend of mine who asked for my help with this.
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this week (the closer the better)

Budget Range:$600, maybe push to $650

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing web, video editting(not hardcore)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: ERETHING

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, but we were curious if y reinstallation disc would work for it? So maybe

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Microcenter(There's a local one)

Location: Houston

Parts Preferences: Quad core CPU, he was thinking FX or Phenom(he's well aware that a i3 would out perform)

Overclocking: Later

SLI or Crossfire: Later

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Just need to know about the OS

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: His broke, that is why I'm doing this for him

 

[moosy8]

THIS ONE ISN'T FOR ME! It is for a friend of mine who asked for my help with this.
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this week (the closer the better)

Budget Range:$600, maybe push to $650

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing web, video editting(not hardcore)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: ERETHING

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, but we were curious if y reinstallation disc would work for it? So maybe

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Microcenter(There's a local one)

Location: Houston

Parts Preferences: Quad core CPU, he was thinking FX or Phenom(he's well aware that a i3 would out perform)

Overclocking: Later

SLI or Crossfire: Later

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Just need to know about the OS

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: His broke, that is why I'm doing this for him

well if you want to game like wow game or wiz101 game or even diablo 3 game, don't get an amd processor unless you're on a budget. Get an intel core i3-2120. A 7750 is good for wow, diablo, overkill for wiz101, and just enough for bf3. If it's just wow forever get a 6670 or a 6770. Do not get a coolermaster psu. A regualar sized case is perfect. Good brands are Antec and Thermaltake. Get a regular atx mobo. Lowest I would go is H61 to Z77. That's it. Don't go under or above. If you do you are getting jipped. Get a decent 500w psu. Make sure to look for good reviews. 4-8gb ram is enough. Anything above doesn't affect performance. If its for mainly gaming get a 500gb hdd. Most you should get is 1.5 tb hdd.

 

[hunterpostit88]

Ummmm he doesn't play any of those except BF3. If you didn't notice I said something about the i3:/ READ

 

[Outlander_04]

well if you want to game like wow game or wiz101 game or even diablo 3 game, don't get an amd processor unless you're on a budget. Get an intel core i3-2120. A 7750 is good for wow, diablo, overkill for wiz101, and just enough for bf3. If it's just wow forever get a 6670 or a 6770. Do not get a coolermaster psu. A regualar sized case is perfect. Good brands are Antec and Thermaltake. Get a regular atx mobo. Lowest I would go is H61 to Z77. That's it. Don't go under or above. If you do you are getting jipped. Get a decent 500w psu. Make sure to look for good reviews. 4-8gb ram is enough. Anything above doesn't affect performance. If its for mainly gaming get a 500gb hdd. Most you should get is 1.5 tb hdd.

He is on a budget , and in this price range the FX 4100 out performs equivalent intels , and older phenoms .
So heres my suggestion

FX 4100
Asus M5A97 evo
2 x2 gig of 1600 MHz RAM rated for 1.5 volts
WD 500 gig hard drive
Radeon 6870
Antec ONE case
500 watt PSU
and a DVD drive

The catch is that AMD look like dropping prices on FX processors next month to sell out stock b4 they release the newer Piledriver cpu's in October

You can use a beta download of Windows 8 . That lowers costs now , but you will have to buy one later

 

[hunterpostit88]

Thanks, I was curious to if he could somehow squeeze in another 4 gigs to make 8. I think we could drop the mobo to the regular 97. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fcnV
There is an OK one. Opinions?

 

[Proximon]

Here is everything, including a stronger CPU and GPU and OS

■Seagate Barracuda ST3750525AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1463-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...
■CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
■GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3V LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
■Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
■Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
■Rosewill RANGER-M Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case
■Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120
■LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - OEM
TOTAL: $638.91

 

[Outlander_04]

8 gig of RAM wont improve gaming performance . Spending more on a graphics card will . Get a 6870 and 4 gigs of RAM .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

The M5A97 will perform the same , but lacks a few features like USB 3 front ports . The case you have in your list doesnt have that anyway so its a good call

 

[hunterpostit88]

Wow...People cannot read for the love of god(except Outlander and Azeem). And proximon a 6870 will OBLITERATE a GTX 560. And AMD. I know that 8 gigs won't improve gaming performance, it's more of video editing. I'm not so smart about RAM, I just know 8 is ideal. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fcRq
Well we went $2 over budget but that doesn't matter. we made the ideal build. Opinions once again?

 

[hunterpostit88]

Best answer selected by hunterpostit88.

 

[azeem40]

I didn't even reply on this thread before..

 

[hunterpostit88]

Whoops sorry got threads confused haha

 

[willyroc]

Wow...People cannot read for the love of god(except Outlander and Azeem). And proximon a 6870 will OBLITERATE a GTX 560. And AMD. I know that 8 gigs won't improve gaming performance, it's more of video editing. I'm not so smart about RAM, I just know 8 is ideal. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fcRq
Well we went $2 over budget but that doesn't matter. we made the ideal build. Opinions once again?

Actually,...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/543?vs=540

 

[hunterpostit88]

Actually,...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/543?vs=540

Ok so I shouldn't of used obliterate. I should've said somewhat better or almost equal. But if you go to http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=635&card2=657 the 6870 has a higher mem. bandwidth, FLOPS, Pixel and Texture fill rate. So all in all I would say the 6870 is a bit better.

 

[nekulturny]

The GTX 560 is actually pretty decently priced atm, and I'd take a hard look before I passed over it for a 6870, but both are great mid-level cards honestly.

I don't recall Outlander saying the FX-4100 outperforms i5s or i7s. It certainly don't. He did say it surpasses older Phenoms. If he means Phenom II 965s, no, they don't. A Phenom II 965 however does own an i3 in multithreaded performance, especially when its overclocked.

 

[nekulturny]

For some things it is, most things it is not. Gaming is not one of the things it does better than i5s or i7s. I still don't see where Outlander said that. He said something to the affect of, the FX-4100 outperforms Intel CPUs at similar price points, and older Phenoms. Maybe he has his reasons for believing so. Dunno what the motivations are, but its best to not put words in the mouths of others to make a point.

 

[Proximon]

Yes, Outlander is a long time member of the community and respected. If he says something you should pay attention, even if he happens to be wrong
I think he was pointing out that big price drops may be coming, making the FX-4100 a better buy.

On the GPU recommendation, I was actually going off a review of ANOTHER GTX 560... which is much stronger than a stock 6870. However, that GTX 560 is overclocked much further than the one I recommended, which I missed at the time. My recommendation was based on price though, which was lower when I posted it.

The card I posted is a bit faster than stock and probably will compete well. EVGA is a strong US-based company as well. I have no bias in this, my last two cards have been AMD.

 

[nekulturny]

Yes, Outlander is a long time member of the community and respected. If he says something you should pay attention, even if he happens to be wrong
I think he was pointing out that big price drops may be coming, making the FX-4100 a better buy.

As it is now, from newegg both the FX-4100 and Phenom II 965 are the same price ($109.99) one of two things are going to have to happen before I personally would feel comfortable recommending 4100s.

1. Phenom IIs become out of stock.
2. FX-4100s become priced lower than Pentium G850s. While, I personally would never stick a Pentium in a computer and call it a "gamer", I can't ignore that they are a hell of a CPU for just under $90.

 

[hunterpostit88]

He was just saying the FX 4100 is in fact a great buy for it's price. And i agree that it is.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

The op may be considering though, since there is a Microcenter local to him, that you can get an FX4100 and board for roughly 100 bucks in a combo.

 

[Outlander_04]

i3 2120 is better in any way than FX 4100 and (nothing to do with this thread but i5 3450-3570k are way better than an 8150 FX0

In many applications the FX performs about the same as the 2120 or even a little better . Depends on how multi threaded the app is

The same in gaming too . The intel shines in older games using DX 9 game engines that dont multithread well and where the stronger individual cores can make a difference .
The FX tends to competitive in DX 10 or 11 games that use all four cores , and more so when you overclock it to 4170 speeds
You cant OC the intel of course since the multiplier is locked .

The supposed superiority of intels for gaming is based on tests playing games at low resolutions and detail settings . These are synthetic tests that have no bearing on real life gamer situations where people want to play games at high image settings and high resolutions .
Part of the reason for that is that cpu load drops at low resolutions , and also that small cpu differences of as little as 5% load can double frames per second .
In the real world the situation is a lot closer between AMD and Intel
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1285/pg1/amd-fx-8150-black-edition-8-core-processor-vs-core-i7-2600k-review-introduction.html

Read that .
The FX 8150 is pretty consistently gaming better than a 2600k at 1080p and with details turned up .

And NO its not "gpu limited" . If it was then both processors would produce identical fps . It turns out the FX is a better game architecture . Oops for the intel fanboys

The only problem for FX is power consumption . The 4100 will use about 40 watts more than the 2120 when gaming . The FX 8150 about 75 watts more than a 2600K when gaming
Hopefully the new PD release scheduled for Oct 1 fixes that issue . It seems to if you have read the trinity reviews [ which use identical cores ]

 

[Proximon]

Just remember to figure in tax and gas when discussing Microcenter/Fry's prices. (Apparently Fry's will match prices now even with Microcenter)

There are some great deals in this newegg promo that may help:
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Aug-0-2012/48hoursale21/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL082112&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL082112-_-EMC-082112-Index-_-E0-_-PromoWord
Win7 for $80 for instance.

 

[Proximon]

That Total War result is a bit surprising. It's a bit of a mid-sized battle though. I have to wonder what would happen with a full late game battle with two full armies on each side, and a virus scan in the background.

There's no need to argue too hard though The FX-8150 is $170 in that promo I linked above... I think you will have trouble finding anyone that will disagree with the value of the CPU at that price point.

 

[Outlander_04]

Not an argument , but a discussion of the respective merits of the architectures

I have wondered if the FX 8150 would be better in games like BF3 multiplayer . The additional threading might be an advantage .

Again additional threads that can handle things like a virus scan without interrupting the game engine could be an advantage towards the FX . But I am only speculating

 

[Proximon]

Define "better".

 

[hunterpostit88]

Outlander nailed it. Sorry Intel boys but the FX 8150 is better than a 2600k. Of course it does come down to how many cores are actually being utilized.