Id go for the top one but I would recommend getting an i5-2500k it will cost more but you will be getting allot better performance.
Comment has been collapsed.
1st build is better, and leaves an upgrade path to Ivy Bridge later on. Looks fine for the price, but it really depends on how much you're willing to spend, so that'd be nice if you could include it. Also, what you intend to do with the rig,(game,video encoding/rendering,etc)
Also, I would swap PSUs, go Corsair or Seasonic. 500w is more than enough. DDR3 1600 is the sweet spot for ram for SB/IB. This HDD will be faster.
Comment has been collapsed.
No point getting Ivy Bridge over Sandy, if you're overclocking.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm aware, I have a 3570k @ 4.5ghz on a hyper 212 evo. It's just another path for him. He could very well go from the 2100 to a 2500/2600k as well. IB doesn't need to be clocked as high as SB, ~10% IPC increase, so my 3570k @ 4.5ghz more or less = 2500k @ 4.8, and he mentioned no interest of overclocking. He said himself he doesn't know much about computers, I doubt he would delve into overclocking anytime soon, but who knows. Not like there's anything SB/IB can't handle at stock anyways. Either way, IB gets hotter yes, but it has a higher threshold for heat, just don't expect crazy 5ghz OCs and you'll be fine.
Comment has been collapsed.
good lord no.. haha, no crazy overclocking here.
and i know something of computers, i used to build/tinker in mine in high school, and built several rigs for friends back then. i just haven't looked into PC parts for about 10 years now, and damn things change fast.
thanks for your input, def weighing more options now. :)
Comment has been collapsed.
Oop my bad, I must've confused part of your OP, with the other computer thread where the guy stated this was his first build and he knew nothing about computers, sorry if I insulted your intelligence :P
Comment has been collapsed.
no, no insult taken at all. very happy to have all the comments. :) like i said, it's been just about a decade since ive done anything like this and everything changed on me. i really appreciate the way this thread went. have an idea for a build that should suit me fine.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'd recommend more the 1st build tho change the Antec (they had done a PSU test on around ~20-25 brands and Antec was in the 'most didnt even give 50% of its capacity")
Getting a 600w or 700w (I recommend OCZ/Corsair) would be nice for a future upgrade for SLI/Xfire and other stuff) and by getting this build, you can then save money and upgrade the Processor to a i5 2500k or better. And from a lot of commentaries (asked around in various forums) ASUS and GigaByte are the best gaming motherboards. Thats all I gotta say.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yes, thats why I said to get a 600w-700w it can even go for some years, saving you money in the future. and getting the top one you just invest on a better PSU and then LATER you upgrade the processor. (What Im gonna do on my build for example, getting the mobo needed but having a weaker/cheaper processor for sometime till I get the money for a new/better one.)
Comment has been collapsed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749 for the GPU and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066 for the PSU. That PSU is pretty surprising, it provides some of the cleanest power in its range and is one of the most efficient models on the market. It also actually safely provides a bit over 450w., you can read a review on it at http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold
Comment has been collapsed.
I agree with most other comments here, but you do still need to keep things in budget so if you cannot afford a 2500k then you can't afford it.. If you go with the PSU I recommended, you will be able to handle a more hungry CPU and still have plenty of headroom. My system has a 2600k overclocked to 4.6GHz, 16GB 1800MHz RAM, a GTX460, 4 Hard Drives, a SSD, and an optical drive and it still has room to throw in another graphics card. I run a high quality 450 watt PSU.
Comment has been collapsed.
CPU: If you can get the Core i3 2100 for this price, go for it. It's much better than the Pentium, having hyperthreading and quick sync.
Graphics card: The extra for 2GB isn't worth it. If you can spare it, put it towards a faster chip.
Motherboard: Something in between. You can get one with USB 3 and more expansion capabilities (if you want them) at less than the price of the Biostar TZ77B, for example the BIOSTAR B75MU3+ (if you really want Biostar).
Comment has been collapsed.
I would recommend this one, maybe different CPU ( AMD Bulldozer hexa or octa core )
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9Dbp
Comment has been collapsed.
An i3 beats any AMD processor at this point sadly.
Comment has been collapsed.
Actually there is very very little difference in an i5 or an i7 in most situations(You will never notice a difference in games).
Comment has been collapsed.
It doesn't make a difference in most applications and doesn't make a difference in games for the most part also, you would be lucky to see more then 2 extra fps if that on most games.
Look at AMD, they have 8 cores and cant compete, cores only matter up to a certain point.
Comment has been collapsed.
in fact i5 is BETTER for gaming because the HT of i7s create about a extra 10C of heat and so the i5 can OC much higher and with the £100 you save you can buy a nice watercooler and hit something like 5ghz blowing a puny i7 at 3.5ghz away!
Comment has been collapsed.
Barely anything uses more then 8gb, only heavy video processing would touch it or something intensive like that, I barely hit 6gb while in photoshop running tons of crap in the background.
Comment has been collapsed.
I would go with an i3/i5, an GTX560ti, and 8gb of ram(Just because its dirt cheap), everything besides that is preference but at this time that seems like the best bang for buck system. Corsair also makes great keyboards, mice, and of course power supplys.
Do not get an AMD Cpu, they use to be great, they are pretty bad now, an i3 can beat any of them.
Comment has been collapsed.
top is better; I would get an i5-2500k and get a cheaper graphics card either a 5770 or 6770. I have never had an intel cpu break on me, however my graphics cards break often happened twice in the last 5 years. My intel e8400 @ 3.33 ghz is still rocking though. At the time, 2008 a quad core @ 3.3 ghz was 900 but now its only 220.
Comment has been collapsed.
Really? I never had an issue with cards breaking, had some last 5+ years, bad luck man :-(.
Comment has been collapsed.
In my honest opinion, I don't think you should mix Intel CPU and AMD graphic card or vice versa.
AMD is cheaper, but it shows off too in some games. Some buggy glitches and other problems has happened for me many times. Also need to open my graphic card set once a year for proper dust cleaning(in order to lower temps in good stance). The support on SLI hasn't treated me well, maybe single cards fair better.
Intel CPU has served me well in the other hand. I did buy a custom heatsink for it though so that I could overclock it without heat problems(I own a i7 420 processor which is overclocked at 3.7 GHz currently). CPU hasn't been the bottleneck in any games yet.
Comment has been collapsed.
thanks for all your comments, ya'll! i'll be reading and parsing it all later this weekend, seeing what kinds of builds i can get going..
my builds on pcpartpicker are about the price that i'd like to stay at.. less than $600 definitely is my goal.
as far as what i'd like to get out of the computer: gaming at a good graphic setting, broadcasting and some video/image editing [currently my laptop can barely handle having my bamboo plugged into it] and that's about it. bioshock2, batman arkham games, and other newish next gen games are what i'd like to run without heating issues like I have on my laptop..
also, overclocking isnt something that i plan on doing on my machine; so heat and power because of that isnt an issue i'm concerned with.
Comment has been collapsed.
I recently built a gaming machine for my friend. Her budget was just over $600 with monitor. Below are some suggestions. If you want more feel free to add me on steam.
First off get the 6870 instead of the 6850. It is not much more, but quite a performance increase. If you can budget in a 7850 that is the best bang for the buck card out right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561
If you want another option on case the one below is cheaper and also a nice case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075
Also you don't need a 750watt PSU and avoid OCZ. Their PSU's are terrible!
Comment has been collapsed.
1,179 Comments - Last post 40 minutes ago by Southrobin
15,623 Comments - Last post 49 minutes ago by Carenard
1,147 Comments - Last post 52 minutes ago by jzone55
23 Comments - Last post 1 hour ago by icaio
5 Comments - Last post 1 hour ago by digitaligor
24 Comments - Last post 12 hours ago by tungmapu
661 Comments - Last post 19 hours ago by SuperT
38 Comments - Last post 3 minutes ago by StarPONY
13 Comments - Last post 3 minutes ago by FranckCastle
4 Comments - Last post 8 minutes ago by EobardThawne
26,898 Comments - Last post 8 minutes ago by FranckCastle
533 Comments - Last post 12 minutes ago by Fitz10024
88 Comments - Last post 13 minutes ago by vigaristti
49 Comments - Last post 22 minutes ago by Swordoffury
i'm trying to get a decent desktop pc for gaming, so i can free up my laptop for school, and i know i can build one for far cheaper for better parts than i ever could getting one prebuilt. it's been several years since i last built a pc, and i know times have changed quite a bit as far as what's available and the prices of things. i've done a little bit of research and have pieced together two systems that seem to be cheap & fairly decent machines.
these are the two builds im messing around with right now.
any thoughts, critiques, recommendations, reasons why i should stay away from certain brands, etc etc etc?
any help is greatly appreciated. :)
===============
EDIT:::YEAH::::
===============
Thanks much to the comments below. I think I'm looking at something along the lines of this now, which means I'll have to wait a few more months to save up the difference.. But it should be a machine that is able to keep up, and has plenty of room for upgrades.
Comment has been collapsed.