Building a gaming computer intel or AMD?

[cynosure33]

okay... i am looking to build a budget gaming pc. and at first i was for sure going for the intel cause of what i read but i have been looking on youtube at gameplay videos of arma 2 thats the game i am looking to play. and most of them have like AMD CPU's and it runs it on max... so here is my AMD build then i will show you my intel build

AMD

AMD phenom II x4 965 black edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Sapphire radeon hd 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

G. skill ripjaw series 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425

Corsair builders series 600w psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Gigabyte ga-970a0d3 mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521

western digital caviar blue 500GB hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Asus 24X dvd burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Rosewill challenger black gaming case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

windows 7 64 bit oem SP1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

total (with shipping and promo code discounts) - $679

Intel-

intel core i3 2120 3.3Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

Sapphire radeon hd 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

G.skill ripjaw series 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425

Corsair builder series 600W psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Asrock extreme4 z77 MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

western digital caviar blue 500GB hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Rosewill challenger black gaming case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Asus 24X dvd burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

windows 7 64 bit oem SP1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

total - about $735 ( plus shipping and promo codes discount)

so i would much rather go with the AMD one cause its alot cheaper and im only 16 and thats alot of money for me as it is. so saving some would help!! and i would also like to overclock and i know amd can do that. i should also mention that if i was gonna be upgrading soon i would go with intel but its to expensive for me so i wont be upgrading this year and most of next probably. but yeah i saw on youtube them playing arma 2 maxed with the amd one and i havent seen any intel core i3 2120 arma 2 maxed.. so its cheaper and does better.. so i think i should go with that one.. but any thing you guys wanna fix about my build or tell me if i left out something? or just feedback in general (and no i cannot get the i5 instead of i3 to much $$) would be greatly appreciated thanks!

 

[carowden]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

just a little food for thought. I personally would go with the i3. Also, I don't think you need a 600w PSU if you got the intel (which could save you a few bucks), but someone else with a little more experience would need to chime in on that one.

 

[nekulturny]

They're both going to game about the same. Lots of people will start huge flame wars over this statement, but it is a fact, that 1-5FPS is not a REAL difference. End of story, Intel fanboys, sit your ass down. :lol:

 

[nekulturny]

I can however, and will. "improve" both of those builds:

This power supply is more than sufficient for both builds:

Corsair CX500v2- $40 with mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

I would suggest 8GB of RAM-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

AMD- Open box deal motherboard, of better quality. Asus does honor the warranty on "open box deals", this one is $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767R

The full retail, unopened-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

-----

Intel- Cheaper, decent motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

----

As to which one I would pick personally, it should be obvious, but worth pointing out if you order that Phenom II before 7/30 its only $95 dollars. In my opinion that completely ends the debate right there.

 

[carowden]

I can however, and will. "improve" both of those builds:

This power supply is more than sufficient for both builds:

Corsair CX500v2- $40 with mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

I would suggest 8GB of RAM-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

AMD- Open box deal motherboard, of better quality. Asus does honor the warranty on "open box deals", this one is $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767R

The full retail, unopened-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

-----

Intel- Cheaper, decent motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

i think he's right on both accounts. for a budget gaming computer you could do with a less expensive motherboard and psu, and still do just as well overall.

 

[nekulturny]

Yea, that Intel board actually is pretty nice for its price. Its a Z77 chipset, which does give you the option of dropping in an i5 Ivy Bridge later on, and it has 6 power phases, so its not horrible for overclocking said i5. Although for most games, overclocking is more or less just a toy. Either CPU should give you a good 3-4 years of solid gaming performance, which is about the most you can expect out of a CPU before something bigger and badder comes along.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

open box may not come with any screws or SATA cables however.


this shoudl be better than either of your builds:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($51.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($166.49 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($54.42 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon)
Total: $718.47
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-26 15:39 EDT-0400)

you might also be able to get windows cheaper if you have a way to prove you're a student -- Win7 Pro for $30 instead

 

[nekulturny]

open box may not come with any screws or SATA cables however.

Motherboards don't come with screws, they come with the case. But you're right, thats the advantage of Asus honoring the warranty. lol.

Pretty nice build for $718, I have to admit, but I'm not a big fan of how low blow you went on the motherboard to squeeze the i5 in there. That board is crap. H61 chipset, no USB 3.0, no SATA III, only 2 DIMMs, 1 year warranty. Its junk.

you might also be able to get windows cheaper if you have a way to prove you're a student -- Win7 Pro for $30 instead

I have an unlimited key to Windows7 professional through my college and it didn't cost me a dime.

 

[carowden]

you might also be able to get windows cheaper if you have a way to prove you're a student -- Win7 Pro for $30 instead

where do you find this deal at? i found 65 on microsofts website, but nowhere stating 30

 

[nekulturny]

where do you find this deal at? i found 65 on microsofts website, but nowhere stating 30

I don't know where you buy a copy of Windows7 for 30 bucks, but I get my free Windows via Microsoft Academic Alliance. If you're in college you should find out if its available to you. My school, its only available to tech students. I have access to pretty much any kind of software microsoft has ever made for free. Although, they only give you Access in the Office line of software, Word, Excel and Powerpoint they won't give us for free, since thats actually what Microsoft makes most of their money on.

 

[carowden]

I don't know where you buy a copy of Windows7 for 30 bucks, but I get my free Windows via Microsoft Academic Alliance. If you're in college you should find out if its available to you. My school, its only available to tech students. I have access to pretty much any kind of software microsoft has ever made for free. Although, they only give you Access in the Office line of software, Word, Excel and Powerpoint they won't give us for free, since thats actually what Microsoft makes most of their money on.

i seriously just found the only good thing about going back to school for a 9th semester, im gonna get as much of this as possible. do i have to purchase it after i graduate or is it full software?

 

[nekulturny]

The "official" policy is, you're only supposed to use it for the duration of being a student. Meaning after you cease going to school you are expected to remove the software. However, this disclaimer was delivered by the professor with a *wink wink, nod nod*. Once you get a key its only good for 2 years, but Microsoft is not monitoring when you stop going to school or graduate. As such, you can use the software as long as you want.

One word of caution however, do not try to sell the software for profit, Microsoft can and does prosecute those dumb enough to do so. Apparently someone in our school tried it, I don't think they have let him out of jail yet. He was selling it on Ebay. Bad idea.

 

[carowden]

oh that was the farthest thing from what i wanted to do, i just wanted to upgrade my machine. well to the OP, to keep this related, you should definitely try to get this deal too haha

 

[Onus]

...Pretty nice build for $718, I have to admit, but I'm not a big fan of how low blow you went on the motherboard to squeeze the i5 in there. That board is crap. H61 chipset, no USB 3.0, no SATA III, only 2 DIMMs, 1 year warranty. Its junk.
...

I agree. It was indeed a nice build, except for a crappy mobo. ASRock has a couple of low-priced models that have both USB3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s.

 

[nekulturny]

BTW, should you decide order the Asus open box mobo and you find it doesn't have a SATA cable shoot me a PM with your address, I'll send you one, I have a buttload of them. But honestly, SATA cables are only 2 or 3 bucks from Newegg, its not going to really offset the savings there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119270

 

[maui67]

I can however, and will. "improve" both of those builds:

This power supply is more than sufficient for both builds:

Corsair CX500v2- $40 with mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

I would suggest 8GB of RAM-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

AMD- Open box deal motherboard, of better quality. Asus does honor the warranty on "open box deals", this one is $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767R

The full retail, unopened-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

-----

Intel- Cheaper, decent motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352

----

As to which one I would pick personally, it should be obvious, but worth pointing out if you order that Phenom II before 7/30 its only $95 dollars. In my opinion that completely ends the debate right there.

^ +1

I have to agree with nekulturney's suggestions. I would go with the AMD build with nekulturney's revisions. ScrewySqrl's suggestion isn't bad, but I have to concur with others that the quality of that motherboard is questionable.

 

[Onus]

That does not mean switching to an AMD build, however. Reviews and benchmarks ALL show that there is no price point at which Intel does not outperform AMD in games, sometimes significantly. That games are often more GPU-bound than limited by the CPU is certainly true, and I will say that during the last GW2 Beta Weekend, my 970BE+HD7870 notably outperformed my i5-3570K+HD7770. Had I swapped those graphics cards, however (I left them this way to specifically test which was the limiting factor), no doubt the i5+HD7870 would have been better still.
You could buy a Pentium 850G and a decent Z77 board today, and get CPU performance in games comparable to an AMD 980BE, but whereas the AMD build may be at or near the best it will ever get (Piledriver is an unknown), the Intel system has lots of upgrade room. Even if Piledriver matches a SB i5 (and I would not bet on that), I don't see it beating IB i5.

 

[nekulturny]

Even if Piledriver matches a SB i5 (and I would not bet on that), I don't see it beating IB i5.

For gaming IB i5 doesn't beat SB i5. But you're right its unlikely PileDriver will beat either, even so. At least, not at stock speeds anyway.


You also have to contend with the fact that next year, Intel goes LGA1150. Sure the Ivys will still be around, although I'm not one to advocate buying a CPU, using it for 6 months to a year then tossing it in the garbage for a better one. Computers go obsolete fast enough without adding your own obsoletions.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

as an alternative to the admiddedly low-end H61 in my build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157313

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

 

[nekulturny]

as an alternative to the admiddedly low-end H61 in my build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157313

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

The 2nd one, for sure. Good find.

 

[stickg1]

Get the AMD one, someone's gotta buy their stuff and keep them in business :lol:

 

[nekulturny]

Get the AMD one, someone's gotta buy their stuff and keep them in business :lol:

LOL, I doubt AMD is going anywhere. Their CPUs might go bye bye, but their video cards still rock Nvidia's world.

 

[nekulturny]

dweeb...

Yo mama!

 

[stickg1]

LOL, I doubt AMD is going anywhere. Their CPUs might go bye bye, but their video cards still rock Nvidia's world.

Yeah I was joking, I do love me an AMD GPU.

But seriously that AMD build will game really well. And it is kind of silly to start a big fight over a handful of frames in just a couple of games. I think it's important to have a quad core if you're trying to use the build for a couple of years.

 

[nekulturny]

But seriously that AMD build will game really well. And it is kind of silly to start a big fight over a handful of frames in just a couple of games. I think it's important to have a quad core if you're trying to use the build for a couple of years.

So do I. Although, I have to admit the i3-2120 does pretty well for what it is. I know, it hurts to say it and I'm sure Mal will never let me live it down. But, theres no way I'm sticking a Pentium SB in a computer and calling it a "gamer" PC. LOL