Please review/react: budget gaming PC

[red_onion]

I'm interested in any opinions re. this from-scratch budget gaming build. Note please that my budget is ~$800, and I use the PC mostly for gaming and general use. Everything's coming from newegg:

* CPU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7660D AD580KWOHJBOX

* Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-D3H FM2 AMD A85X (Hudson D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

* PSU: CORSAIR CX600M 600W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

* RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

* Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

* HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

* Optical: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

* OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Any big issues or advice? I'm intrigued by the AMD Trinity "APU" idea, but am planning a larger PSU than I need right now so it can support another graphics card in the future when prices come down.

I appreciate your consideration: thanks all.

 

[Azn Cracker]

With an $800 budget, id go for a build with a dedicated gpu

 

[GamerXtreme2013]

As far as for gaming, Intel cpu's has an advantage over amd in most benchmarks that i've seen, but ofcourse theres always pros and cons on both side.. I'ts a matter a preference..

 

[Azn Cracker]

Heres my attempt at it. Note this doesn't have the OS included, but when you add it on, its still within your budget


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHti
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHti/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHti/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.99 @ Compuvest)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($224.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $697.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-24 15:00 EST-0500)

 

[Azn Cracker]

Btw if you want to save some monies, get a 7850 instead of the 7870 ghz which is kind of expensive.

 

[hyperstalker]

i agree with the poster above that Intel seems to be the better choice for gaming also why do you not have a dedicated graphics card? i know you have the APU but it wont perform like a dedicated one would. i know for 800$ you can do a really good build since mine currently was on that budget.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHzw
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHzw/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHzw/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $734.48
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-24 15:09 EST-0500)

heres the build above with a change to the graphics card and all the prices from newegg

 

[mclovits]

I'd get something like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHEn

Assuming you don't need peripherals or a monitor, that would be great, so much money for an OS though, is there anyone you know who might have a copy that's cheaper? Always good to ask, Windows is so expensive.

I didn't want to make an account on partpicker (I don't know how to do this without one) but I know switching to Newegg would be a little more expensive, but that 7950 blows a 7870 out of the water for the price, especially with an overclock.

 

[red_onion]

I really, really appreciate the insight. I try to support AMD when I can--Intel is too close already to ruling the world--but gaming is important to me, and I guess you can't argue with benchmarks.

I neglected to mention that I do need to tuck a new monitor as well as the OS into the same $800, but your points are well taken about the discrete graphics card.

 

[red_onion]

I'd get something like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FHEn

Assuming you don't need peripherals or a monitor, that would be great, so much money for an OS though, is there anyone you know who might have a copy that's cheaper? Always good to ask, Windows is so expensive.

I didn't want to make an account on partpicker (I don't know how to do this without one) but I know switching to Newegg would be a little more expensive, but that 7950 blows a 7870 out of the water for the price, especially with an overclock.

mclovits, great list, but you like the Intel i3 3.4GHz Dual-Core over an AMD 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Quad-Core? They're close to the same price: you'd say that the Intel i3 is still better than an AMD Trinity, even with the AMD's additional Ghz and cores?

 

[red_onion]

(DELETED - double posted.)

 

[mclovits]

For gaming, I'd go Intel, you could get a newer i3 too, I was just keeping the price down and looking for one with the highest clock rate, my friend actually has that CPU and it's pretty darn good. IF you need the extra cores, then sure a 5800k would benefit you, there are not a lot of performance comparisons, and I'm sure someone will disagree with me, but even according to the Tomshardware gaming CPU heirarchy chart, the i3 is rated better. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

 

[red_onion]

I appreciate all the excellent advice.

I'm going to give it a day or two to see if anyone comes to AMD's/the Trinity APU's defense.

Otherwise, it's Intel inside and a 7K-series Radeon.

Thanks again.

 

[mclovits]

I appreciate all the excellent advice.

I'm going to give it a day or two to see if anyone comes to AMD's/the Trinity APU's defense.

Otherwise, it's Intel inside and a 7K-series Radeon.

Thanks again.

Good call, ya, I'd go Intel for gaming personally, I've seen so many graphs where Intel just dominates, no to mention real world performance, but we'll see what an AMD defender says.

 

[camohanna]

Dont go for the fm2, mainly desinged for htpc etc.

 

[smeezekitty]

In any case with that budget you could get atleast a AMD Radeon 7850. On CPU graphics are usually so-so.