Is the i5 3750k worth the loss of a better GPU?

Hi there!

Hmm, its definatly a difficult choice. higher cpu or higher GPU? okay, what do you want to do more of, gaming or muti tasking?

Depends most on system usage. BTW you should build your own system anyway!

I wouldn't get the AMD 4170 if you plan to be gaming... Get the newer version at the least... The FX-4300. The GTX 650 is low end gaming GPU... I wouldn't get anything less than a GTX 650 Ti or AMD 7850 for a gaming computer - and nothing less than a FX-4300 CPU.

I'm planning to do a lot of gaming on it, hoping to run some of the top-end games.

But what you've said kinda makes me feel like both systems are flawed so they can't do that  

Thats right im afraid, if youn plan on doing high end gaming on good graphics then you're looking at at least an £800 spend. Food for thought though, I built my friend a gaming rig for £800 with an i7-3770k, 8Gb corsair vengeance 1600Mhz RAM and an Msi Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 GPU. I know £800 is a fair chunk more than £550, but with it you will get a bloody good gaming rig. =)

Actually the AMD rig (the first one) will play games very well while the second one will be only OK.
The difference in performance will be around double.
And still you can build something much better for that price.

If you spend a bit more (5%) you can build yourself a truly high end PC.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£76.79 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£37.50 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£235.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Silverstone SST-RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer (£17.63 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£67.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £721.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-05 19:32 GMT+0000)

Look no further than my signature my friend  

No if a gamer...

for gaming i would rather have a stronger graphics card. i would keep the 7850 and try to squeeze in a fx 6300. the difference between the 7850 and 650 is huge.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=681

Keep in mind people, he may not want to build his own computer. He seems to be a bit new to this, and is putting specs for pre-built computers. Just keep that in mind.

OP: Do not get a GTX 650 for gaming. I wouldn't call it a gaming video card. The 650 Ti would be the base for that. You're better off with the AMD build, but try to find a build with an FX-4300 as that processor is actually pretty damn good for gaming.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yeah, I'm pretty new to this whole thing and am a bit daunted by building a new computer. I'll keep it in mind but right now I want to see what pre-built computers have to offer.

Is the FX-4300 the best AMD processor for gaming, in the FX series?

I'm afraid not, the Fx-4300 is a 4 core cpu, whereas the best FX series processor is the 8350, but this is about £160 new (At least it wwas for me from Amazon.). However for a gaming CPU my old CPU, the FX 8120 is more than adequate, and you can pick one up now for around £100. With this and a ddecent GPU you can play many modern games like Skyrim (THE BEST GAME EVER!) COD and Batman AC on high/ultra graphics, and if you are a Minecraft person, then you will happy to know that the 8120 more than fits the bill. =) You should find tthat If you buy the first setup with the FX-4170 in, you can replace this with the 8120 as they aare the same socket type. Also, you can then sell the 4170 and make some money back! Kaching!

First build is great, I would just chuck in a few extra quid and change the CPU to the FX6300.

Really shouldn't buy a new rig with the intent of replacing something right away... Buy what you need from the start and save money... For AMD the best gaming CPUs are FX-8350 > FX-8320 > FX-6300 > FX- 4300.