Bang for buck gaming rig now?

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb: $100

It comes with a $10-off every week or so -- put the extra $130-$140 toward your video card.

ive heard mixed reviews on that tho. you recon it will be better for then the i5 3750k?
money aint really a prob id be get 1 piece each week on a $500 a week budget so im looking for the best parts but not the ridiculously over priced unnecessary parts.
and its not like i hell want amd that bad.
and id also like to beable to run physx: but do that really make much of a difference?

It's the video card.

It's the video card.

It's the video card.

It's the video card.

(in the over-whelming majority of games)


AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb - Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 AM3+ 990FX: $237

Boogie on.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-o... worth a read. Amd has clearly stated that they are no longer trying to compete with intel at the high end any more. So if you are looking for performance at the high end (where the 3750k is) then i'm afraid you are stuck with an intel build for now. The newest cpu from amd the a10-5800k does compete quite well with the i3 3220 and most i3's.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-intel-cpu-apu-proc...

The best bang for the buck would probably be what you need it for. The best gaming cpu for gaming right now is a toss up with the i5 2500k or the 3750k. Wisecracker and what he says is true without telling you why though sadly. And what that means is that most games are gpu dependent. So a cheaper cpu and a more expensive gpu will more often then not get you more fps gains then a cheap gpu and an expensive cpu. The best performing cpu right now for gaming is a toss between the 2500k and the 3750k. And they offer the best bang for the buck performance in games right now. And while i'm an amd fan they do not really have anything to fully compete with it at the moment.

For a $500 budget I agree with wisecracker get a phenom II overclock the pants off it and spend as much as you can on your GPU

I would get a cheaper mobo than he suggests though $500 bucks is tight to spend that much on a mobo when this will do
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Wont let me edit but i just re-read your post and you have $500 per week to spend?

If that's the case save up 3 weeks and buy the Intel rig in my signature it'll max out anything.

Spend less money and be really happy. Even consider an i3 - LOL (lot of truth, there)

The Next Best Thing is always right around the corner, with faster offerings, better tech and less cost.

A PhII 965, AM3+ -FX, HD 7950, 8GB of fast RAMs and an SSD for your OS/Apps is $600. That'll play.

As will an i3 in a similar price range. Paying 50% more for another 5-10% increase in performance just ain't worth it in the big scheme of things when you are in the upper 5% anyway - LOL.