Should I upgrade my CPU and Mobo?

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690
Hey everybody! So, my friend offered me a GREAT deal on his gaming pc. I'm definitely taking it, but I'm wondering if I should replace some of the components.

Here's his current build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hgd3

And here's my possible upgrades: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hGmu

They have roughly a $100 difference, which is not too much.

Notice the changes in the CPU, Heatsink, Mobo, GPU, Case, and Memory

He is not including the monitor, so this is what I have chosen: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049 (1920x1080)

I'm mainly debating between AMD and Intel, and also a little on the graphics card, so please backup any advice you have, not just because you are a fan of either. I'm definitely changing the memory and case, however (I just don't like the look :p).

My MAIN purpose for the build is gaming, and maybe some music production applications. I want to be able to run most games (Skyrim, BF3, Crysis, the like) on HIGHEST settings smoothly (40+ fps), and to also be future proof. I'm not too educated on overclocking or bottlenecking, so some advice and info on that would be welcomed.

Thank you so much in advance for the help!
 
Solution

Kamen_BG

Distinguished
DO NOT CHANGE THE MEMORY!!!
His memory kit is really really good.Yes it does run at 1.65V but you can undervolt it so it can run at 1600MHZ CL8 which is still really really good.

Also his cooler is much, MUCH better than the Hyper 212 EVO

His case is also higher-end (better) than the one you chose.

The GPU upgrade is pretty pointless as the GTX 560 SLI is a very powerfull combination.
Of course the GTX 670 will use less power, create less noise and perform a bit better but i'd personally never pay 400$ just for those little things.
His graphics setup is a bit weaker than a HD 5970 so in this article you how little (if at all) it gets bottlenecked by the Phenom II X4.
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/cpu_scaling_with_the_radeon_hd_5970,13.html
And your friend has an excellent cooler and a very high-end motherboard so you can probably overclock his CPU to 3.8+GHZ.Just for comparison an overclocked Core i5 3570K would be as fast as a 5GHZ 1st gen Core i7 in games.

The only situation in which you'll need the CPU upgrade is if you buy two GTX 670's.(they'll perform a lot like a GTX 690)
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_690_review,12.html
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

Are you sure about the memory? I've heard really really good things about G.Skill. And my reasoning behind the upgrade is because A) It would be a newer card, and B) it will have the same performance with one card, which leaves room for expansion.

But, like I said, my main concern is with the CPU/Mobo. I've heard a lot of things about AMD just being overall inferior when it comes to performance per clock cycle, where as it's better with graphics. But is it enough to compromise on performance. And, he offered to RAID0 the two sets of hard drives and ssd's, and said a change in mobo will mean I would have to redo all of it, which I am not experienced enough to do.

Btw, PLEASE PLEASE elaborate on that bottlenecking comment, because I don't fully understand it. Do you mean the current CPU won't handle a better card?
 

idroid

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
1,525
0
11,960


Tell him to Fock off.... here, buy this:

this build is MUCH better than that crap he is selling you:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($41.56 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($364.50 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $970.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-17 00:43 EDT-0400)

and all the parts are BRAND NEW.
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

So you agree with a lot of my changes then? lol I'm going to buy it just because it's a good platform to start on. I will probably incorporate my upgrades later on. Now, I had no idea PCPP had a benchmarks feature so thank you for that! So, what is your thoughts on AMD vs Intel?
 

idroid

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
1,525
0
11,960


no no no no.... don't buy that piece of sh!t, trust me, it sucks for its price.

My thoughts on AMD vs Intel are very clear and objective. AMD sucks, Intel doesn't, plain and simple. its UNACCEPTABLE that a $80 intel G850 has more gaming performance than a ~$180 FX-8150
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

And what's your stance on RAID?
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

Well, he's got his ssd's in RAID0 as well as his hard drives.

The reason I ask is because his main point against the change to intel is that I would basically lose all of his work on the RAID setup. (In fact, I just realized: what will happen if I decide to make the change? What will happen to everything I've saved in the current setup? I guess I could just back up everything, AND THEN remove the RAID and save everything on the hard drives again.)
 

idroid

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
1,525
0
11,960


That guy is an idiot, you're waay better off having 1 SSD than dual SSDs in RAID-0 and because they don't TRIM support they will get slower over time and Vertex 3 SSDs aren't very realible.
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

Sorry, I'm not really knowledgeable on this, so what is TRIM? I've heard Crucial's are the best, but I don't know lol
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

So it basically tells the ssd's to delete unneeded stuff?

And yes, those three I've seen are very popular. I would probably feel more comfortable with a single SSD instead of a raid setup, since it will be carrying my OS and whatnot lol
 

idroid

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
1,525
0
11,960


Yep!
 

abraham_mammogram

Honorable
Sep 1, 2012
74
0
10,640
really, the AMD processor is fine. It's fantastic for gaming, the only place you may hiccup is in a huge BF3 multiplayer map, and that is remedied by overclocking. This is coming from a guy with a 2600k in his main rig, as well as an athlon 635 in his other rig.

I would certainly upgrade to the 670 if I were you. It is a substantial in several ways: first, it will be a single card, as you stated, which will allow for SLI down the road. Second, its a fantastic card all around, I got the overclocked version for 320$, so if you can wait for a sale, it is extremely hard to beat this option. Third, depending where you live, this may have more impact, but the 670 has a much smaller power draw compared to the 570.

w3YnW.jpg



Now as you can see, one 670 is more efficient than one 570, at both idle and full draw. However, if you have two 570 installed, then you will really see an increase in efficiency if you upgrade to the 670.
 

abraham_mammogram

Honorable
Sep 1, 2012
74
0
10,640



Ok, I'll bite.


First, lets make this clear, for all your supreme intelligence, you picked the wrong cpu in your AnandTech comparison. It's the 965, not the 955.

Second, we were comparing stock cpu's, I know, it's not fair to compare an overclocked phenom to a stock i5, and vice versa, but that is still what I am doing. The OP has made it clear that he is going to buy this system and upgrade it incrementally. So tell me, do you think it is worth spending $380 ($220 cpu + $150 motherboard) for a roughly 20% increase in synthetic benchmarks that have no direct correlation to gaming performance?

YAuw7.jpg


This is with a stock phenom 965, now if you overclock it, you will be going places. I would much rather have him sink the money into a more efficient/faster graphics card.

Finally, what games can you name off that will be severely hindered by this overclocked AMD processor. Can you name even one?
 

idroid

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
1,525
0
11,960


Anandtech doesn't have the 3570k available for bench-marking.

those benchmarks are bullshit, look at the gaming ones.
 

abraham_mammogram

Honorable
Sep 1, 2012
74
0
10,640



Finally, what games can you name off that will be severely hindered by this overclocked AMD processor. Can you name even one?
 

Smeg45

Honorable
Mar 9, 2012
892
0
11,010


Every single game I have is hindered by my old 965 which I sold for $60. Minimum FPS in particular. AMD is crap for gaming. I often argue with idroid but he is spot on here. Don't buy AMD until Piledriver (if its even worth it).
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690
Like abraham said, I am, for now, going to keep the build as is, and just gradually upgrade what I need to. My MAIN concern is with the CPU/Mobo: Should I go Intel and sell the AMD setup. And then a lesser priority, should I keep SLI 560's or just sell them and go 670? And then the minimum priority: Should I bother resetting up the RAID setup he has, or just get larger drives?

^^My question in a nutshell, and the majority seems to side with the Intel side.
 

abraham_mammogram

Honorable
Sep 1, 2012
74
0
10,640



I don't know where you live, but the average price for electricity in the US is $0.12/kwh. Assuming that, I have calculated the difference in electricity cost that you will experience between the 670 and the SLI 560's over a six month period, assuming that you never shut it off, and game 10% of the time it is on.

SfVre.jpg


you'll save approximately $76 over six months if you switch to the 670 over the 560's.
 

llguitargr8

Honorable
Feb 27, 2012
160
0
10,690

Seeing as a single card is, I've heard more reliable, you have convinced me. And yes, I live in the US lol Now, what are your thoughts on AMD vs Intel? In this post, I've scored it 2 for AMD and 2 for Intel! lol I generally hear better things about Intel, where people just buy AMD because it's cheap, but you get lower performance per core and lower processes per clock cycle.