How does my current system rank?

[Bresser]

This is my current system:
CPU: AMD Athlon II 250 3.0ghz
MOBO: Stock Dell inspiron 570
PSU: Extreme 500w
GPU: XFX Double D r9-270x
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD

Is this a low, mid, or high range computer?

This is my future setup(a month or two from now):
CPU: i5-3570k
MOBO: ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
PSU: Corsair 600W
GPU: XFX Double D r9-270x (two if i feel it isnt good enough, or if the cpu is bottlenecked)
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracudda 7200Rpm
SDD: 128GB Samsung SDD

Would this be a low, mid, or high range computer.


Also what RAM should i get for my future combo? I am looking at getting 8gb or 16gb not sure if i need 16 but if its only like 20$ more i probably will.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

Your current setup is on par with a solid gaming PC as far as the GPU is concerned, however it falls well short with the CPU.

Your planned upgrade offers a much more balanced build, however you should not be getting an Ivy Bridge CPU (less powerful, dead platform - no upgrades). Go with the 4670K and something like the ASRock Z87 Pro4. That with an R9 270 (or two) would be an awesome gaming platform with nice upgrade potential.

Also, if you're planning on overclocking and crossfiring, get a better PSU. Here's a great one

Finally, get the 64 MB cache, 7200 RPM 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue. Seagates have a shockingly high failure rate.

 

[Bresser]

Can you give me some info on why I should choose the 4670k and asrock z87? why are those better than the ones i was going to get?

 

[Adroid]

I disagree. The 3570k is fine. If you overclock the 3570k properly, it will give near identical performance in games to anything haswell has to offer. The Z77 platform may not be the latest, but it's equal to the Z87 from a gaming performance standpoint - still faster than anything AMD makes.

A generic recommendation for a gaming rig -

i5 3570k OR 4670K
Cooler master 212 evo
650 watt seasonic or xfx PSU
50$ western digital caviar blue 1TB
Samsung 128 is great, or crucial M500 for boot drive.
I would recommend a GTX 760 or 770, but this is a matter of cost and preference.

Only serious recommendations I have for your build above are 1) Make sure to get a good PSU. some corsairs are junk, some aren't. Corsair doesn't make PSUs. The best corsairs are made by seasonic and that's why I recommend them. 2) I would spend a little more on a better GPU and your PC will be near top of the line. Get a 280 or GTX 770 if you can spare the extra 100$.

 

[Adroid]

And your current system is low end. Your proposed system is medium. If you put a slightly better GPU it will be medium-high end. If you throw in a 780ti, which I personally think is too much money for the performance, you would have extreme high end system which the same core components. I also recommend the 650W seasonic PSU because it allows you to upgrade to a higher-end graphics card in a few years and still have a top-notch system.

Don't forget 8GB of DDR3 1600 mhz minimum.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

I disagree. The 3570k is fine. If you overclock the 3570k properly, it will give near identical performance in games to anything haswell has to offer. The Z77 platform may not be the latest, but it's equal to the Z87 from a gaming performance standpoint - still faster than anything AMD makes.

Not entirely true. Haswell consistently delivers at least 10% greater performance than Ivy Bridge when both are at stock or overclocked. Plus, Haswell has a lot of ISA extensions that are not in Ivy Bridge and will help with future applications. Furthermore, there are no new releases coming to LGA 1155, however 1150 has the Haswell refresh among other things.

The biggest thing is that there's a negligible price difference between Haswell and Ivy Bridge, so you might as well get the one with the higher performance. Additionally, he's switching to a whole new brand, so it's not like he's upgrading from Ivy Bridge to Haswell.

There's just no point in getting Ivy Bridge.

Can you give me some info on why I should choose the 4670k and asrock z87? why are those better than the ones i was going to get?

Depending on your budget, you can adjust fire with the components you buy. If you have ~$150, get the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H, ~$120 to spend, get the ASRock Z87 Extreme4. Under $100, the ASRock Z87 Pro4 is a good value option for overclocking. I recommend you not buy Ivy Bridge for the reasons above. It's a dead platform, and while not far behind Haswell, there's absolutely no reason to buy Ivy Bridge over Haswell since you're upgrading to a new socket anyway. The 4670K is one of the best processors you can own for gaming.

Quick question: will you be playing at 1080p?

 

[Adroid]

I disagree. The 3570k is fine. If you overclock the 3570k properly, it will give near identical performance in games to anything haswell has to offer. The Z77 platform may not be the latest, but it's equal to the Z87 from a gaming performance standpoint - still faster than anything AMD makes.

Not entirely true. Haswell consistently delivers at least 10% greater performance than Ivy Bridge when both are at stock or overclocked. Plus, Haswell has a lot of ISA extensions that are not in Ivy Bridge and will help with future applications. Furthermore, there are no new releases coming to LGA 1155, however 1150 has the Haswell refresh among other things.

The biggest thing is that there's a negligible price difference between Haswell and Ivy Bridge, so you might as well get the one with the higher performance. Additionally, he's switching to a whole new brand, so it's not like he's upgrading from Ivy Bridge to Haswell.

There's just no point in getting Ivy Bridge.

Can you give me some info on why I should choose the 4670k and asrock z87? why are those better than the ones i was going to get?

Depending on your budget, you can adjust fire with the components you buy. If you have ~$150, get the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H, ~$120 to spend, get the ASRock Z87 Extreme4. Under $100, the ASRock Z87 Pro4 is a good value option for overclocking. I recommend you not buy Ivy Bridge for the reasons above. It's a dead platform, and while not far behind Haswell, there's absolutely no reason to buy Ivy Bridge over Haswell since you're upgrading to a new socket anyway. The 4670K is one of the best processors you can own for gaming.

Quick question: will you be playing at 1080p?

The 10% gain in performance is theoretical. Please show me where you are getting these numbers. I would be shocked if you are getting 10% performance gain from a Haswell system with the same GPU and RAM etc, especially at clocks of around 4.3-4.6ghz.

 

[Adroid]

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/haswell-v-ivy-gaming/8/

This is apples to oranges because it's showing i7 comparison. I understand that Haswell is slightly faster for synthetics, but for gaming I really don't see 10% anywhere. MAYBE 3-5% in a perfect world.

The equalizer is that Ivy can be a better overclocker, but that's not consistently fact either.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

You won't see a difference (within margin of error) for most single player games. The difference only shows itself when you compare CPU intensive games (some multiplayers)

I agree 10% is a little over zealous, but there is a difference. I can't seem to find any supporting numbers that aren't of single-player games (nobody does multiplayer benchmarks).

Again though, there's no point in getting Ivy Bridge.

I'll keep looking for the numbers I was thinking of in the meantime.

 

[Bresser]

If my system can run it then yes the idea would be 1080p on ultra settings right now im looking at 720p(my tv is only 720) and probably on medium on high. id like high but it may not run well for gw2

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

If my system can run it then yes the idea would be 1080p on ultra settings right now im looking at 720p(my tv is only 720) and probably on medium on high. id like high but it may not run well for gw2

Your R9 270 will rock anything at 720p. When you upgrade to 1080p, you will start to run into some issues on ultra, but by then you might want to upgrade your GPU or add another 270.

 

[Turb0Yoda]

If you wait, there is the haswell-E and Devil;'s canyon.;; I think it will; be released in July.

 

[Bresser]

My birthday is June 30th and thats when i was planning on buying the stuff. So i might get those? What is special about the haswell-e and Devil's canyon?

 

[Turb0Yoda]

My birthday is June 30th and thats when i was planning on buying the stuff. So i might get those? What is special about the haswell-e and Devil's canyon?

There's a new TIM that makes it run cooler. Devils Canyon is an enthusiast version with some other changes. Look it up, it will have more information than I do.

 

[Adroid]

Devils Canyon looks like the new 4930 chip. Expect to spend around $500+

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

Devils Canyon looks like the new 4930 chip. Expect to spend around $500+

Devil's Canyon is the Haswell refresh. They released a new set of LGA 1150 processors with improved TIM = lower temperatures and higher clock speeds.

You can read more here.

Haswell-E is nothing you should be looking at, unless you have a massive budget and the need for insane CPU power. It's an LGA 2011 CPU supported by the up and coming X99 chipset.

 

[Vic 40]

Finally, get the 64 MB cache, 7200 RPM 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue. Seagates have a shockingly high failure rate.

I don't see the 1tb seagate mentioned in that graph? With the western digital it is,so they are quite specific about that.