First Build Mid budget PC, Which GPU and refinements?

drtoast

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May 10, 2013
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Here's the deal, First solo build for what I'm hoping will prove to be a relative futureproof powerhouse, with potential to evolve into a full gaming rig. Will be running a single HD monitor (to be selected) to start with however.

After shopping around and using various buildtools I have arrived at this.

AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer

Originally I had planned to use an i5 3570k with ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard.

Now I dont have any regrets over the mobo and cpu change but feel free to let me know if my friend has erred my judgement here.

However as a result of the i5 I had planned to utilize a gtx 670 2gb.

Following the spec change Im questioning the use of either a gtx 670 or the radeon 7950. I dont know much about the 7950 as the reviews I've seen comparing with them are evenly split. Any help with this decision would be appreciated.

Also i recently found my chosen case is only available in the US.
So I would like to know if this
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/nov-prowl3.html

will meet the space requirements and if the stock cooling supplied will be enough for the system.

If not I would appreciate any and all answers to both questions answered with availability or shipping in/to the UK in mind.

P.s if solutions would keep a budget around $800 or £550 in mind that would be exceptional.

P.p.s I forget to mention if it isnt obvious this will be primarily for gaming with immersive graphics. I enjoy exploring richly textured games and would hope this rig will stand up to running most new games for the next year or two at max graphics.
 

drtoast

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May 10, 2013
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Is the recommendation for the i5 because of the matching mobo with pcie 3.0?

Or because from what i read most current games favour intel cpu's?

I seek clarification because I read that the newer generation of games were starting to see performance differences favouring AMD's many cores over the intel power?

Also because I need to know if the difference is worth the £30 higher cost :p
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Is the recommendation for the i5 because of the matching mobo with pcie 3.0?

Or because from what i read most current games favour intel cpu's?

No it's because pretty much every benchmark on the planet you could look up says that the i5-3570K is much faster than the FX-8350 for gaming. I'm not saying that the FX doesn't have its' applications but for gaming it's far better to go with the Intel.
 

drtoast

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May 10, 2013
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Okay, changing the build back to i5, I came across a single other contender for the motherboard.

opinions on this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130674&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

versus my original choice of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
?