I5-3470 + 7950 3GB VS i5-3570K + 7870 2GB

7950 build is better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.97 @ CompUSA)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg) Go with this cooler, you will not see any noticeable improvement spending more money on the EVO.
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $491.95

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($222.21 @ NCIX US) Go with the Ghz edition for $20 more.
Total: $412.19

Personally if I were on a budget I would go with the Intel i5-3570K & Radeon HD 7870 Ghz Edition, which will save me $79.76 while still having very good performance, with the right motherboard I could even 2-Way SLI another Radeon HD 7870 Ghz Edition in the future.

Also the benchmarks say that the i5-3570K W/ Radeon HD 7870Ghz Edition scores 197.15 on SysMark 2012 - Overall while the i5-3470 W/ Radeon HD 7950 scores 192.22.

The i5-3570K build is also more future proof coupled with better all round overclocking potential. In games you will see higher frame rates with the Radeon HD 7950 though.

I heard the difference between a 7870 and a 7950 is very little, is this correct?

Says here that the 7950 is on a higher tier on the gpu heirarchy :

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-car...

Here's a list of benchmarks between the two, just to give you a broad perspective of both of their capabilities. As you can see, the 7950 outperforms the 7870 for the most part, but when building PCs it's usually about what you're willing to sacrifice as far as performance/dollar. The fact that the 7950 is a 3gb card and the 7870 is a 2gb card makes quite a bit of difference as well...
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=550

Says who? Past 2GB of VRAM you get diminishing returns if running a single 1080p monitor.

getting a "K" version processor and overclocking it will not make nearly as much difference as a better graphics card.

there are a few 7870s that can overclock to the performance of a 7950 and the same can be said about the 7950 overclocking to a 7970s performance. but not all cards/gpus overclock the same.

with that said, you will get a better 'potential' performance from a i5-3470/7950 than a i5-3770K/7870 set up.

If running a single 1080p monitor, you probably shouldn't be worried about buying a high end card like a 7950 at all  

Plus, it's just a matter of opinion. I'm still relatively new to the forums myself so I can't say I've tested both personally, as I've opted to go with the 7870 myself.

So i really can't go wrong with either decision? just go with the cheaper one?

i   this card - MSI R7870 HAWK Edition


i am waiting for the 7890s to be released before my next upgrade

I hope thats a typo   , jk I know you meant 7970

what typo?
 

As I said, it's really a matter of personal opinion. Both cards perform exceptionally well, but when choosing GPUs, it comes down to if you really need everything at ULTRA or the highest settings possible in order to play the game for a gamer build. If you have it like that, and "money ain't a thing," then go ahead and spend it, but just because it costs more doesn't mean you'll need it. However, overkill is a beautiful thing for many people.

I've heard great things about the 7870 from many people which is why I'm going with it.

It's either this: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7950-d... or this: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-msi-radeon-hd-7870-o... which has the better cooling solution?

I'm wary as to what the 7890 will actually offer. The fact that they mention it's going to be competing with the 660 ti makes me wonder what their gameplan is, since the 7870 is right up there with the 660 ti already (IMO). My 7870 purchase for will probably be the only GPU I buy for a while, unless I have a bunch of cash lying around for the GTX 690.

on a side note:
i understand that production of the NON boost 7950 will cease and the 7890s will replace them. i hope to see its release and some reviews soon because i got an itch that needs scratched  

if it performs well and prices are ~$280 i really think i'll get one.

If that's true, and the price range are around $280, I might be with you on that one lol.

At 1080p resolution, the 7870 is sufficient.

What kind of games are you looking at? Typically the multiplayer mode of many games, and some games like SC2 or ones based on Source will use more CPU power.

I am looking at games like Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Dishonoured etc. Will the 7870 be able to handle these on ultra at 1920x1080 with playable settings?

yes!

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-revi...''

BF3 - 65 FPS
Skyrim - 72 FPS

Dishonoured will run ever higher frame rates.

http://teksyndicate.com/news/2012/08/16/nvidia-gtx-660-...

i prefer the 7870 a bit more. not that much more gain going with a 7950

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-car...
^
which is why Tom didnt recommend it since the 7870 is more cost efficient over the 7950.

also BF3 prefers Nvidia over AMD GPUs but should still run it smoothly. As for the others Yes it will run smoothly

Also what is the budget of the build so i can help build one.

My Budget of the build is £600-£640 MAX, if you could use Amazon.co.uk or Scan.co.uk or cclonline.com prices that would be amazing, thank you  

Sonicers did an amazing build recently for that much, I'll see if I can find it. Here it is:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£132.85 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£45.30 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£40.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card (£246.79 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: XClio Nighthawk ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.79 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W ATX12V Power Supply (£32.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £570.55
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I changed the case, added a power supply, and changed the video card to fit in your budget ( Plus the case is better. )

Thanks Thomas Creel  

For that price going for an AMD is pretty good. you get to overclock and can still perform around the same as a non OC i5.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£105.98 @ Dabs)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.30 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£58.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.99 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£71.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (£180.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (£39.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£72.47 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £652.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-12 19:19 GMT+0000)

went a bit over, you can lower down the HDD into a 500GB or something but a 1TB at this price is pretty fair

Wouldn't pay the few bucks more for the EVO, shows no improvement over the +, the case is more preference but I would still go with the nighthawk, everything else looks ship shape.

that is true i just go with evo because it is my go 2 cooler since it is so inexpensive and a cleaner install. the hyper 212 plus doesnt have the flat surface area like the evo which provides more surface area for cooling

The build i am looking to buy is this: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/ntyx
or i could change the i5-3570K to an i5-3470 because i'm not entirely sure how to overclock and i heard that it doesn't affect gaming performance that much so if i get an i5-3470 instead, that would allow me to ditch the cpu cooler and get a 7950 3GB, which option would be better? Thanks for answers btw.
EDIT: Is the xclio case any good? because it's really cheap and comes with 3 fans and it is fairly large but it has little amount of reviews so im not sure if its good or not.

that case is rather old and doesnt have USB 3.0 but other than that its a bit cheap. i usually like more quality choices like Corsair, Fractal, and Cooler Master

What case would you recommend for around 30-45 pounds? thats around $65 in usd. I am from the UK btw so the case choice is limited. So the rest of the build is fine? would you recommend an i5-3570K+cooler+7870 2GB or i5-3470+no cooler+7950 3GB? Thanks for answers btw.

most games rely on the gpu than the cpu so a 3470+7950 would be better.

looniam, will that be still true in the future? or will games soon be more CPU reliant?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£134.10 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£57.30 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£55.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£216.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Silverstone SST-RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£38.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£71.94 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£11.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £617.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-13 15:51 GMT+0000)

that is a bit difficult to be accurate in answering.

but after editing a few "long winded" responses, i'll just keep it simple and say; yes, in the near future i believe most gaming will still depend on the GPU than CPU.

Bump

how do i delete it  ((

 



see that gone!!!

Have fun trying to SLI a Radeon =)

(Crossfirex not SLI)

It says 'You are not allowed to edit this message!'

My bad XD

Thomas Creel could you please post the link to the benchmarks saying that i5-3570K + 7870 is better? Thank you

pretty much OC for gaming does not make that much more of a performance so of course if you get a higher end GPU you pretty much get the better gaming rig.

So the i5-3470+7950 combo would be better for gaming? it is also cheaper too!   but people say that the i5-3570K combo would be more future proof? is that also true?

No, I don't agree with that sentiment. When the 3470 (which I believe can be overclocked four tiers to 3.6 - 4.0 turbo) some day becomes obsolete, a slightly bigger overclock on the K version isn't going to matter. Don't you think it's silly to expect some extra 500 MHz to be a saving miracle at that point?

FinneousPJ that's so true   looks like im going for the i5-3470 combo! thanks everyone! it is much appreciated!

The i5-3570K combo is cheaper that is why I chose it; both of the video cards give great performance in games on a single monitor at 1920x1080 resolution.

The i5-3570K combo is not cheaper in my country (UK) because if i get i5-3570K + Cooler + 7870 2GB that is expensiver than i5-3470+7950 3GB because i am able to ditch the cooler because the i5-3470 is locked so i can't overclock it.