AMD vs Intel help gaming computer PLEASE

[tyrannical]

I have about a $1200 budget after taxes.

my friend is recommending an AMD 980 over the i5 2500k because he thinks the intel motherboard for my budget wont support dual cards properly when i decide to upgrade. I notice almost everyone is going with the i5 im just curious it seems like id either be limited by my CPU or GPU.

ill be probably using the XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI 2x Mini DisplayPort. on either setup.

if someone wants to recommend a whole setup with reasons behind it that would be great

All feedback is appreciated

 

[inzone]

What Intel motherboard are you thinking of getting ?

 

[tyrannical]

1 x Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

but im open to suggestions

 

[jimmy1194]

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5

CPU: Intel i5 2500k
For its Quad core nature and great headroom for overclocking, but no HT support

Mobo: [strike]ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68[/strike]
For many possibilities of expansion, such as a sound card , Dual Crossfire or Dual SLI.

Or for the a more budget oriented build GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68
For same reasons, but its half the cost of the Asus Mobo.

PSU:hec Zephyr MX 750W
Gives you enough power for a dual SLI/dual Crossfire along with the core i5 2500k.

Memory:G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
For 1866MHz and 8Gb...Great ram (WEI rating of 7.5)

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Case: Up to you.

So the Grand Total, tax and shipping, at most is...

Spoiler

$975.29

 

[zooted]

^please do not buy that hec psu... stick to a more reputable brand. As far as the build goes it would be absolutely insane to go with amd at this price point. Stick with intel.

 

[zooted]

PCI Express 2.0 x16: 2 (x16, x8) is what was listed for the motherboard you chose. So it will support dual graphics cards. Just at 8x8x which is fine there is a almost no difference between x16 and x8.

 

[jimmy1194]

^please do not buy that hec psu... stick to a more reputable brand. As far as the build goes it would be absolutely insane to go with amd at this price point. Stick with intel.

I was looking at the psu early on and forgot to change it since I had gotten the final cost to about $975.
I agree with him and instead you should spend a couple more bucks to get a better PSU that still is 80 PLUS certified.

 

[Twoboxer]

That mobo supports x16-x8 which is fine for sli/cf. x16-x16 (which I presume your friend is recommending) allows for higher badnwidth, but is not necessary for the system you plan to use.

If you were gaming at 2560 or higher resolution, and using 2x580 or better, investment in a 16x-16x motherboard makes more sense.

Further, why would you give up automatic fps gains in games that become cpu restricted (2500k vs 980) in return for the theoretical ability to handle video cards you're not using?

You didn't give a complete build-out, but your mobo is fine. Don't use *anything* other than a quality psu - Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or a specific make/model that has been reviewed by a qualified reviewer.

 

[inzone]

XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $349.99 and a $20 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517

Or;

VisionTek 900394 Radeon HD 6870 x2 2GB 2 X 256bit (256bit) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $499.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129183

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $124.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

Mushkin Enhanced Radioactive 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 997005 $54.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226219

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $129.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible $33.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $214.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer SGC-1000-KWN1 Black SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX PS2 / EPS 12V (optional ) Power Supply $79.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240

Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply $89.99 and a $20 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051&cm_sp=Cat_Power_Supplies-_-Spotlight-_-17-371-051

The total for this is , $1058.92 and that is with your XFX card , if you go with the 6870 two gpu card you add $150 to that and you have a crossfire solution in one card and the total would be $1208. With the motherboard I chose you could go either way as you have the slots to do so.The 6970 card requires a 650w power supply and if you go to the 6970 x2 cards setup I would get a 900w power supply which would add $70 to the $1058 = $1128.

Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-900 900W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $139.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050

This is just a list I put together and you can certianly add or subtract components to suit your likes and dislikes.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Get this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
with PCIe 3.0

 

[FinneousPJ]

Oh damn inzone you posted while I was typing... same board! :lol:

 

[inzone]

Oh damn inzone you posted while I was typing... same board! :lol:

Then it must be a good board .

 

[nordlead]

Here are two suggested builds, with all the common components first. Prices from newegg.com

GPU: XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB - $330 after rebate
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 - $125 after rebate
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 - $95 (I chose a popular case, there are plenty of other good options to choose from, take your pick)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $25
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB - $55
Optical: DVD burner, take your pick - $20
Memory: 2x4GB DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5V, take your pick - $35 after rebate (current cheapest price)

The corsair is a quality PSU and you'll need 60A on the 12V to power those cards and overclock the processor. Each 6970 takes 250W max (or 21A each) and the processor could take 10-12A depending on which you chose and how much you overclock (no reason to get an i5-2500k and not overclock). Throw in peripherals, HDDs, and so forth and you are getting up there. You might be able to find another quality PSU for slightly cheaper, but I didn't feel like searching too much.

8GB ram is enough for any gaming build, and $35 is a good price. CPU cooler is needed for overclocking and this one is good for simple overclocks. If you want to go crazy get something better. The GPU is the one you chose.

Sub-total: $685

Intel:
CPU: i5-2500k - $220
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 Z68 - $200 after rebate (P67 version is $160)
Total: $1105

ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 is very "future proof" capable of supporting SLI/Crossfire, Sandy Bridge, PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0 and overclocking.

AMD:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 - 980, You can overclock a 955 to 980 levels, so pick whatever you want - $120-170
Motherboard: ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X - $150
Total: $955-1005

The ASUS board has pretty much everything you can get out of an AMD board. You can get more of everything with more expensive boards, but this one is good for overclocking and not a bank breaker. I'd also probably get the 955 and overclock it. I might not get as fast as I would have with a 980, but I should at least be able to get to 980 stock speed.

Still Needed:
OS - $100 for Win 7 Home OEM
Peripherals - $x whatever you decide to spend

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I were to choose between the two, I'd probably go Intel, however with the $150 saved you could buy a SSD with the AMD build. However (again), with that said, you can buy an ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 for the Intel build and save $75 and buy an SSD with that money.

 

[tyrannical]

this is what i had in mind:

CPU: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=6096 [...] acture=AMD *** 980 phenom here

Motherboard: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62403
This is one of the new gigabyte boards it has all the new stuff including
SATA3, USB3, and the brand new AMD Chipset which supports crossfire and
sli.

RAM: http://ncix.com/products/index.php [...] omoid=1208
Just the basic Mushkin DDR3 here.

Graphics card: http://ncix.com/products/index.php [...] omoid=1208 ***6970 here

PSU: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=58382 *** 750w

Hard Drive: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57432 ***help !

Case: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=64419 *** id love a cheaper case not so flashy for a lower price as long as all im giving up is looks

i will be playing BF3 almost exclusively and iv read that there is alomst no difference between the AMD and the intel at my price point.
i planed to add a second 6970 next month so iv been told intel boards are expensive or not good for 2 cards and i dont know any better.

i would love if someone could put together a better setup from my site of choice here in canada because i really dont know what im doing.

thanks for all your feedback so far!