Design my computer!

LuckyDogInOhio

Honorable
Sep 15, 2013
11
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10,520
So, I picked a ASRock 990FX Extreme9 ($170); AMD FX 8320 ($120); and EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB GDDR5 PCIe x16 3.0 Video Card ($150) for the guts of a computer I'm building but am having second thoughts when I realized my MB doesn't support pcie 3.0. Anyone got better ideas that would stay around $440 total? I was thinking of switching to Intel Xeon E3 1230V2 3.3GHz and ASRock Z97 PRO4 MB but that would add another $20. I will likely use Microcenter in Mayfield, OH.
 
Solution
The ignorance about "Xeons" here is mind-boggling. I don't understand how having a whim of intuitive thought about a piece of computer hardware qualifies someone to comment about what a CPU is or isn't useful for. It seems like someone with no working knowledge of Xeon processors shows up here to comment about what they are and aren't good for, practically every day.

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Turkey,

The E3-1231V3 will match or outperform any stock clocked i5, in any workload, including gaming.

A quad core 3.4ghz (3.8ghz turbo) hyperthreaded haswell is a quad core 3.4ghz (3.8ghz turbo) hyperthreaded haswell, whether it has an i7 or an E3 badge on the box.

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LuckyDog,

I would normally encourage you to go with the E3 Xeon. It's a...
PCIex16 3.0 will have barely any graphics benefits, maybe 2% according to many benchmarks. For one thing you are choosing way too expensive of a motherboard. A good $80 board will save you a lot of money and perform just as well with the components. I think you would be better off with an I5 over a Xeon (Xeons are used more for servers and such stuff). But what about your case, power supply, RAM, and all that? Have you decided that? You should also use http://pcpartpicker.com
 
The ignorance about "Xeons" here is mind-boggling. I don't understand how having a whim of intuitive thought about a piece of computer hardware qualifies someone to comment about what a CPU is or isn't useful for. It seems like someone with no working knowledge of Xeon processors shows up here to comment about what they are and aren't good for, practically every day.

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Turkey,

The E3-1231V3 will match or outperform any stock clocked i5, in any workload, including gaming.

A quad core 3.4ghz (3.8ghz turbo) hyperthreaded haswell is a quad core 3.4ghz (3.8ghz turbo) hyperthreaded haswell, whether it has an i7 or an E3 badge on the box.

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LuckyDog,

I would normally encourage you to go with the E3 Xeon. It's a fantastic value flagship performer for single client gaming and workstation use. However, if you have a microcenter nearby, they may have an i7-4790/K + motherboard bungling option that would cost about the same.

In workloads that scale to 4 threads or less, or that are incapable of truly achieving saturation simultaneously across more than 4 cores at a time (that's most games), The E3 is up to 60% faster than the FX-8320. This will directly impact FPS in modern compute intensive games.

In workloads that scale to 8 or more threads really well, the E3-1231V3 has about the same compute performance as an 8 core piledriver clocked to ~4-5ghz (depending on whether the workload is more ALU or FPU intensive).

Obviously, if you can score a higher clocked haswell i7 for the same money as the E3 go that route, as that will be even better.

I would only advise a GTX750Ti if you're scoring one for ~$125, OR, if you are building a very small profile machine that would benefit from the ultra-low TDP, OR, have specific reason for wanting the Maxwell architecture for a specific GPGPU workload. For gaming GPUs at the $150 price point there's almost always an R9 270 or GTX660 that will provide better visual quality and/or performance (depending on conditions/settings, etc).
 
Solution
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZmJjsY

This is the AMD build I came up with for just under $900. I added windows 8.1 as it was a bit cheaper than 8, but it's your preference. Also added a better GPU and a CPU cooler. I assume you already have a case as that wasn't in your original list.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZmJjsY
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZmJjsY/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital 2TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($244.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $898.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-07 02:01 EST-0500
 
Thanks for your responses! I ruled out the AMD FX after reading too many reports of frame rate problems in some games. The I7's are too pricey, and I had already fallen for the "they aren't really for gaming" line. I wish I had read mdocod's endorsement of the Xeon as that build was only $20 more, but I switched to an I5 4690k with Asrock z97 extreme 4 motherboard. That combo was $290 for both just like the first processor and mb total.
 


4690K is fantastic for gaming you won't be let down.

@mdocod: I never said Xeons were not good, I know they are great CPUs. I said "Xeons are more used for servers" and never said that means its bad in a gaming PC. So maybe I was a bit blatant is suggesting an I5 over a Xeon but I have a question for you. If Xeons are so much better for gaming, how come 95% of gaming PC recommendations on this forum have I5s or I7s over Xeons?

But either way mdocod, the I5 is a bit cheaper and I think is better suited for gaming. But I would think there has to be some difference in these I7s and Xeons because why would a Xeon be so much cheaper? There has to be a logical explanation. But don't think that I don't know anything about Xeons, I know their value and I just spoke too quickly.

But in reality the I5-4690K will have better gaming performance than the Xeon E3 1230V2 because it can be overclocked. (according to this source http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/337256-28-xeon-1200-series-overclocking-1230 Xeon overclocking is not recommended, not sure if someone wants to back this up)
 
Turkey,

The E3-1231V3 gets recommended as an alternative to >$200 i5's for gaming rigs all the time. The reason you see so many i5s in gaming builds is the same reason folks like myself advise the E3-1231V3 when the budget allows: price/performance.

In the <$200 price point, the i5-4460 and i5-4590 are the best value for gaming workloads, and since gamers tend to be on a budget, this price point is a common restriction in gaming builds. With the ~$50-60 price gap between the 4460 and the E3-1231V3, they are effectively competing in different price class's so comparing the number of i5 haswells used overall in gaming builds vs E3-1231V3's certainly can not be used as a yardstick to evaluate their performance.

In the $200-250 price bracket, if given the option to pick an i5-4690, i5-4690K, or E3-1231V3, the 4690K is only advantageous over the E3 if it is overclocked, otherwise, the E3 offers more performance than either of the i5's. Standard practice here is to advise the i5 for builders who intend to overclock and advise the E3 for those who have no interest in overclocking.

The E3-1231V3 provides the exact same compute performance as an i7-4770, but does not have an active iGPU, thus, is priced lower.

The E3's have locked multipliers, just like MOST Intel CPU's. The ability to overclock is only a value-add if exploited.

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LuckyDog,

an i5-4690K + Extreme4 for $290 is a steal. Nothing wrong with that at all. An E3-1231V3 on a decent H97 gaming board would have run you ~$350 from normal sources anyway, so I'd say you made out very well.
 


Well thanks for that info, I'll be sure to recommend it to people who don't want to overclock.