Intel or AMD for a First time Self-Built Gaming PC

[Watsitfoxsixx]

Hey guys, I just signed up to Tom's Hardware seeing as you guys seem to answer almost all the questions and give great feedback and own personal experience.

With that said, I live in Australia and I know most of the people that will probably view this will more than likely be from Across the pond. Prices over in Australia aren't exactly the same as British Pounds or the American Dollar so be mindful. And sadly I don't think buying from Newegg or Amazon is really viable for me, However posting links can still be helpful for me so I can get an idea of the name and product line.

I'm looking at a budget of $800 to $900. which would work out to be $650 to $750(give or take). Also, I don't intend on buying an Optic Drive, I find in this day and age it's really pointless to spend $18 on something I'm only going use once.

At the moment, I keep arguing with myself to get something that will last another 5 years. While continuing to argue with myself to get something that would in fact last 2 to 3 years seeing as this is my first real Gaming PC.

So, I'll post some of the builds I made up within' my mind for AMD and Intel and if you guys and give me any advice or tweak them to something that'd run better that would be extremely helpful. This is a Gaming PC. To give you guys an Idea of the games I own and play and wish to play are. Arma 3, Battlefield 3, 4, Hardline, Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, Space Engineers and Hopefully Black Desert.

AMD:
CPU: FX 6300 Black /FX 8350 Black
Mobo: 970 or 980 Chipset
Ram: 8gb (2x4gb 1600mhz)
HDD: 1TB WD Caviar Blue
GFX Card: R9 270x
Case: Antec GX700
PSU: 550 Watt or 600 Watt +80 Bronze
CPU Cooler: Deepcool Gammax 300 or CoolerMaster Hyper Evo 212

Intel:
Cpu i5 4590 /i5 4690k
Mobo: H97 or H81 or B85 Chipset for 4590. Or Z97 for 4690k
Ram: Same
HDD: Same
GFX Card: R9 270x or R9 280/280x< (Second Hand)
Case: Same
PSU: 550 to 600 for 270x. Or 600 to 750 for the 280/280x
CPU Cooler: Same for the i5 4690k

I probably should have put that on a better lay out. But this is mostly the jist of it. I have no solid knowledge of overclocking which puts me in the i5 4590 bracket. However if I did buy something I could overclock I would, So the money would not be wasted.

Is there any parts you would change or replace?
Which builds would you recommend.?
And If you would choose the 4690k How long would it last in terms of technology?

All of those 3 questions get shot around my head every time I look go to add PC parts in the shopping cart.

 

[theonerm2]

The Intel build would be the best.

 

[slyu9213]

Honestly for a first time build I will say just go for the Intel. AMD should be left to the enthusiasts that own multiple builds and know how to pull the most performance out of the old chips. With Intel whether you go locked or unlocked you will have a good CPU that lasts a good long time.

 

[DarkSable]

What I did was spend less money on my first build, and went with an AMD Phenom II quad core... of course, that was back when they were still decent processors, but the point still stands... you're going to make mistakes on your first build, and you're going to learn from them for your second.

I learned a lot about airflow and parts choices and noise from my first build, which led my into my second, a small form factor build, and then finally into watercooling.

That being said, the intel build is a stronger build, but probably more expensive... so the choice is up to you.

 

[ykki]

Give this a try=
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($132.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $817.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 00:04 EST-0500

 

[Zygor91]

Hi there,

Intel would be your best choice since its technology is far advanced than AMD, Intel has stronger cores and such.

AMD, cheap price per performance but is not ahead of Intel in technology. You can still use AMD for gaming but Intel would be the most effcient choice as said.

Goodluck with your first build!

 

[wss_003]

I currently have an AMD 8320 oc to 4.7 and will soon be switching teams to intel i do love my fx chips but the advantage in performance is becoming to much to ignore at this point and also i dont feel that the am3+ socket will have any significant upgrade path so my advice would be go with the intel cpu as for which one that depends on if you will oc or not and if you are going to stick with z97 chipset like you said

 

[theonerm2]

Give this a try=
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($132.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $817.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 00:04 EST-0500

That won't work because he is from Australia and the prices in Australia are quite a bit higher.

 

[smorizio]

the amd fx cpu right now is a two year old cpu going on three.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_900_chipset_series
three year old chipset.
the intel x97 is about a year old now. going to be replaced with x101 1151 pin skylake at the end of the year.
http://wccftech.com/intel-preparing-chipset-skylake-platform-confirms-soc-design-2015/
do to issue at intel both the brodwell (1150) pin cpu and skylake are dropping the year. if you can wait the skylake is the newer intel core tech and ddr-4 ram. with the newer mb and cpu you have 2-3 years to upgrade to a new cpu if needed with a bios update. on the gpu side nvidia dropping 960 cards at the end of this month and amd is looking to drop some newer gpu this year too. if you cant wait a long time then i would pick up a h97 mb and a locked brodwell or haswell cpu. use the extra funds for a good fast gpu and 1866 or faster ram. make sure you buy a good name brand gpu like cosair or seasonic or a rebranded seasonice unit. look at power supply review and there load test info...units with bad reg or ripple are not units you want in a gaming pc.

 

[slyu9213]

the amd fx cpu right now is a two year old cpu going on three.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_900_chipset_series
three year old chipset.
the intel x97 is about a year old now. going to be replaced with x101 1151 pin skylake at the end of the year.
http://wccftech.com/intel-preparing-chipset-skylake-platform-confirms-soc-design-2015/
do to issue at intel both the brodwell (1150) pin cpu and skylake are dropping the year. if you can wait the skylake is the newer intel core tech and ddr-4 ram. with the newer mb and cpu you have 2-3 years to upgrade to a new cpu if needed with a bios update. on the gpu side nvidia dropping 960 cards at the end of this month and amd is looking to drop some newer gpu this year too. if you cant wait a long time then i would pick up a h97 mb and a locked brodwell or haswell cpu. use the extra funds for a good fast gpu and 1866 or faster ram. make sure you buy a good name brand gpu like cosair or seasonic or a rebranded seasonice unit. look at power supply review and there load test info...units with bad reg or ripple are not units you want in a gaming pc.

Typo 'good brand gpu' you want good brand psu. You also don't want to just look at the brand but the size, quality in general and the amperages (A) on the 12V rail etc.