Configuration help

[Lord_Realer]

Hello everyone, new member here. I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum, if not correct me on where to post it. Anyways, im buying a new PC by Christmas and i was making some configurations myself when i realized that i dont know enough about PCs to make a ideal configuration. So if anyone would be kind to say their idea for a gaming pc(ill use it for games, recording, video editing and photoshop) with a budget of 450$ i would appreciate it
First of all, im not sure if i should chose a i3 intel or a AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE. Im also in a dilemma about a good graphics card that fits in the budget. And so on and so on. I plan to use the PC for at least 4 years and i need the newer games and the ones that will come out to work properly.

Budget Range: 400-450$ or euros :3

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Reocrding&Video Editing, Photoshop

Are you buying a monitor: No



Parts to Upgrade: Whole PC

Do you need to buy OS: Not really

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.winwin.rs Its a serbian site/store on serbian language, but thats where i will be buying(note that 1000 dinars is 100 euros)

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Belgrade, Serbia

Parts Preferences: both

Overclocking: maybe

SLI or Crossfire: probably not(wont fit into the budget)

Your Monitor Resolution: widescreen

Additional Comments: None really

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My PC broke and im using a temp dump of a computer which can barely do anything.

 

[jay2tall]

So are you looking to buy a pre-built PC or build one yourself? If building, you will want to read the below sticky thread and provide the information ask in it for this thread. It's kind of like a form you fill out so people have a place to start with giving you proper advise.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

 

[squirrelonfire]

May be with a $800 budget, not sure about $450. If you play game on only medium quality, an I3 will do just fine.

 

[Lord_Realer]

So are you looking to buy a pre-built PC or build one yourself? If building, you will want to read the below sticky thread and provide the information ask in it for this thread. It's kind of like a form you fill out so people have a place to start with giving you proper advise.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

Im looking to build one. Though if a pre-built good one shows itself i will consider it. And ill edit out the OP according to the sticky
@squirrelonfire
Well i already had some great suggestions on which BF3 would work and probably on high. And since a lot of people have been telling me, ill probably take the I3 with a mix of the Radeon HD 7770 GPU. But im still not totally sure about it.

 

[Lord_Realer]

The OP is edited according to the sticky now.

 

[Lord_Realer]

BUMP?

 

[jay2tall]

Im looking to build one. Though if a pre-built good one shows itself i will consider it. And ill edit out the OP according to the sticky
@squirrelonfire
Well i already had some great suggestions on which BF3 would work and probably on high. And since a lot of people have been telling me, ill probably take the I3 with a mix of the Radeon HD 7770 GPU. But im still not totally sure about it.

Unfortunately, I am having some difficulty navigating the site you provided even after translating. The i3 would most likely be a good choice for gaming over an older Phenom II x4. Since alot of games don't perform tremendously better on a dual core vs quad core you will want to faster dual core CPU. Now onto GPU. The 7770 is on the lower end of the gaming card spectrum. I would look at keeping your system cost down and throwing everything you can at the video card since that is really what BF3 and most other games need to run at higher graphical settings.

Did you have a pre-built or specific components you were looking at? Send links.

Also here are 2 articles from Tom's for CPU and GPU choices for gaming. They are in USD $ amounts, but should give you a reference.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

 

[Lord_Realer]

Unfortunately, I am having some difficulty navigating the site you provided even after translating. The i3 would most likely be a good choice for gaming over an older Phenom II x4. Since alot of games don't perform tremendously better on a dual core vs quad core you will want to faster dual core CPU. Now onto GPU. The 7770 is on the lower end of the gaming card spectrum. I would look at keeping your system cost down and throwing everything you can at the video card since that is really what BF3 and most other games need to run at higher graphical settings.

Did you have a pre-built or specific components you were looking at? Send links.

Also here are 2 articles from Tom's for CPU and GPU choices for gaming. They are in USD $ amounts, but should give you a reference.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

Well for the i3 i have this configuration:
Intel i3 2120
h61m-s1
dvd sony
4gb ddr3 patriot
WD Caviar Blue 500GB
Radeon HD 7770 Powercolor
LC Power 933b
The whole thing costs 410e
And for the Phenom:
CPU AM3 AMD Phenom™ II X4 965
MB AM3+ 970 MSI 970A-G46
VGA Nvidia GeForce GTX460 MSI 1GB/DDR5
Memorija DIMM DDR3 4GB 1333MHz Kingston HyperX
HDD SATA3 7200 500GB Seagate Barracuda
DVD+/-RW Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE / SATA/ black
Napajanje 400W Seasonic SS-400ET
Kućište Chieftec BM-01B-OP
And that comes out 440e. My main worry is that the Phenom quad core will surely be better at multi-task things while the Intel i3 would give better preformance in games. So what do you say between these two configs?

 

[jay2tall]

Are both of these prebuilt machines?

I'd say you are pretty correct with the i3 vs PhenomII x4. The i3 will be better at gaming and the Phenom will be better at multitasking. However, You would have to ensure that your applications would take advantage of 4 cores. In the long run the I3 is probably the better option. The 7770 vs GTX460 is pretty much a toss up in performance, I believe. They are both relatively lower end gaming cards and will perform similarly.

 

[Lord_Realer]

Are both of these prebuilt machines?

I'd say you are pretty correct with the i3 vs PhenomII x4. The i3 will be better at gaming and the Phenom will be better at multitasking. However, You would have to ensure that your applications would take advantage of 4 cores. In the long run the I3 is probably the better option. The 7770 vs GTX460 is pretty much a toss up in performance, I believe. They are both relatively lower end gaming cards and will perform similarly.

Those are custom configurations. I know a lot of people are saying that if i buy the i3 i can update to the i5 later. But later i plan to buy a new PC, which is like 5 years away from now when i get my own income. So i think that im probably gonna take the AMD Phenom since i will be running the games at 1280x1024 at high/ultra settings. So i think it should be good. As for the GPU, im willing to throw a bit more money for a GPU thats, lets say 150 euros. Cuz i want a 2GB GDDR5 GPU so i dont have any worries. Since i know that GPUs are more important then CPUs in gaming. If you have any suggestion for such a GPU please post.
For instance, is this GPU a good one: VGA Nvidia GeForce GTX650 Gigabyte OC 2GB,DDR5/HDMI/DVI/128bit/GV-N650OC-2GI

 

[Lord_Realer]

CPU AM3 AMD Phenom™ II X4 965
MB AM3+ 970 MSI 970A-G46
VGA Nvidia GeForce GTX650 2GB DDR5
Memorija DIMM DDR3 4GB 1333MHz Kingston HyperX
HDD SATA3 7200 500GB Seagate Barracuda
DVD+/-RW Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE / SATA/ black
420W LC Power 7015B,black

OK, this is my final and i think ideal build. It costs 440e, basically i took away the costy PSU and the voltage and brought in a much cheaper and better PSU(with its own voltage and cooling system) and a better GPU. What do you think?

 

[jay2tall]

The AMD would be fine. I'd personally go with the I3, but really it's not a huge difference. Some games would favor the I3 though.

For your GPU, you do not need 2GB of vRAM, especially at 1280x1024. 1GB of vRAM is sufficient even for 1080P resolution. When you get over that resolution is when more than 1GB is needed. DDR3 vs DDR5 is only going to make a difference if your GPU is fast enough to take advantage of the difference, however, most of the new cards use DDR5. At least here in the US a GTX650 2GB card is the same price as a GTX650Ti 1GB card. The GTX650TI will out perform the GTX650 all day long. The vRAM will not give you any performance increase unless you are running a very large display or multiple monitors.

 

[Lord_Realer]

The AMD would be fine. I'd personally go with the I3, but really it's not a huge difference. Some games would favor the I3 though.

For your GPU, you do not need 2GB of vRAM, especially at 1280x1024. 1GB of vRAM is sufficient even for 1080P resolution. When you get over that resolution is when more than 1GB is needed. DDR3 vs DDR5 is only going to make a difference if your GPU is fast enough to take advantage of the difference, however, most of the new cards use DDR5. At least here in the US a GTX650 2GB card is the same price as a GTX650Ti 1GB card. The GTX650TI will out perform the GTX650 all day long. The vRAM will not give you any performance increase unless you are running a very large display or multiple monitors.

Ill probably just keep it in the config. Since i probably will use a res above the 1280x1024 sometimes, so its better to be prepared.

 

[Lord_Realer]

But thanks for the help

 

[jay2tall]

Ill probably just keep it in the config. Since i probably will use a res above the 1280x1024 sometimes, so its better to be prepared.

As mentioned it would benefit you more to get a better GPU than 2GB of vRAM, even if you were running at 1920x1080. I would choose a GTX650Ti 1GB if it is the same price as a 2GB GTX650.

 

[Lord_Realer]

As mentioned it would benefit you more to get a better GPU than 2GB of vRAM, even if you were running at 1920x1080. I would choose a GTX650Ti 1GB if it is the same price as a 2GB GTX650.

Well i failed to find it on the website im buying on.