Safe to buy?

[10pies]

Hello. I listed this in the "prebuilt" section yesterday but no one replied. I guess I put it in the wrong section. I'm looking to buy a new desktop, mainly for gaming. I'll just say now I'll most be playing battlefield 3. My budget is $650 tops. I found some really good deals out there for some computers, but all the ones from hp or dell needed a new GPU AND a new power supply. I'm not exactly experienced enough with computers to trust myself to install these, so I've decided to buy a custom computer. I've found a deal on Craigslist from this guy that builds and sells computers for a living. I was going to buy this for sure when I realized that it was from craigslist. and buying anything from there is kind of risky... So thats why I'm here asking this question, is it safe for me to buy this computer? I won't be giving the link for obvious reason, but I will be copying/pasting the whole description, except for his credentials of course.

"Brand new gaming system. Assembled, updated and tested. Free delivery included. Price $650.
Cash or Bitcoin only. No trades. Computer only. Not parting out.
My name is Adam. You can text, call or email me anytime.

($129) Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 550TI 1GB | 2 Year Warranty
($230) Processor: Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 3570k 4.0GHZ | 3 Year Warranty
($50) Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition | 3 Year Warranty
($29) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ | 2 Year Warranty
($118) Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1TB 7200RPM SATA | 1 Year Warranty
($22) Disc Drive: Samsung DVD-RW SATA | 1 Year Warranty
($99) Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium x64 OEM
($95) Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Pro3 Socket 1155 | 3 Year Warranty
($42) Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series CX430 v2 | 3 Year Warranty
($46) Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600 | Lifetime Warranty

Total Cost $860. (Prices on Newegg.com)."

So this is the whole posting other then his number. Once again, my question is: Is this computer safe to buy? I don't know if its important, but heres a picture of if thanks!!!

 

[blazorthon]

I'd go for a much better graphics card and a weaker CPU at that budget.

 

[10pies]

The GPU is good enough for the current monitor I have. (and old 19" 1024x768 Dell LCD). By the time I come around to buy a new monitor, then I'll also buy a 6870 or so. But do you think the computer is a reliable buy?

 

[blazorthon]

Reliable, sure. However, again, it's not the way that I'd go. You could easily fit a Radeon 7850 into this budget and that'll beat a Radeon 6870 significantly. Even at low resolutions, you could pump up AA, tessellation, and such to get reasonable performance and graphics quality.

 

[10pies]

Well, you're probably right. I'm too stubborn to get a cheap processor though. I have a phobia that it'll get old soon or will fail me or something like that. I also prefer the i5s over the quad AMDs and the i3s as well... Even though CPU isn't the most important factor when it comes to gaming, I'd still prefer a more powerful one. If you have any deals other then the I posted one here, I'll definitely consider everything.

 

[blazorthon]

I'd recommend getting an AMD Phenom II x4, overclocking the CPU frequency of it, and overclocking the CPU/NB frequency of it. It's no LGA 1155 i5, but it's more than close enough for a mid-ranged build such as this and has more overclocking performance per dollar with a much lower price. Something such as the 955 or the 965 would fit into your budget a lot better than an i5 with still great results. You'll also have the advantage of AMD supporting AM3+ with their next three or four CPU generations, so by the time this CPU isn't enough, you'll have better options than an i5-2500K/3570K to go for.

 

[10pies]

Well something that really discourages me is the difference between benchmark scores on passmark. Theres a REALLY big difference between the 3570k and the 965. Ah well, that still leaves more room for a GPU like you said before. It'll definitely be one of my considerations.

 

[blazorthon]

Well something that really discourages me is the difference between benchmark scores on passmark. Theres a REALLY big difference between the 3570k and the 965. Ah well, that still leaves more room for a GPU like you said before. It'll definitely be one of my considerations.

Again, overclocking and CPU/NB frequency overclocking (Intel doesn't have that). Also, Passmark is junk. The i5s win overall, but that doesn't change how nearly useless Passmark is. It is a synthetic benchmark that is not necessarily representative of real-world performance. It's only good for comparing CPUs that use the same architecture, if even then.

 

[10pies]

Alright, I will take that into note about Passmark. I looked around a bit more and found this http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=102 compares 2500k to 965, 2500k wins overall, but advantage of the AMD is the very nice cheap price. Its a tough one, and I'll have to take it into deeper consideration. Thanks!

 

[blazorthon]

That was at stock and considering that there were only two games where the Phenom II dropped below 60FPS (even then, it was still above 50FPS) in those tests, so the i5's win is largely irrelevant on a 60Hz display, at least in those tests.

Glad to help.