New PC build to equal PS4 or XBOX 720

[jripper28]

Hello everyone, I just wanted some feedback on a build i'm making for a friend of mine. He's coming from console gaming and diving into PC gaming which is a huge jump for him. His maximum budget is $900, but this is really stretching it, The $700 range is obviously more desirable for his budget. He really emphasized having good graphics and he also wanted all the bells and whistles of the current PS3 (bluray drive, wifi, and a card reader).

With that said, I was thinking about using an I5 (k series) paired with a 7850. Here is the breakdown I put together:

I5 3570k $215 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

ASUS P8B75-V LGA MOBO $90.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131835

Seagate 1tb HD $70.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

XFX DD HD7850 2gb $210.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

Corsair 600w PSU $70.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

LG Bluray Drive $55.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136252

Rosewill Card Reader $15.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820223103

Apevia Mid Tower ATX Case $50.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144259

Enermax Wireless Keyboard and Mouse $14.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823219009

The estimated cost for this rig is $910.00 USD. After rebates, it should be $850.00 Please note that additional SATA cables and additional case fans may be required; therefore, the price may slightly rise.

When I showed him this build and the specs, he was happy with it, but he just wanted to make sure it would keep up with future games for at least 3 years (running high and ultra). I've already told him that video cards will eventually be outdated and may not be able to play every new game at ultra settings.He just wants to make sure that whatever money he's putting into this system will be worthwhile, emphasizing "wanting to make sure I don't regret spending all this money when I could have just bought a PS4/XBOX 720." Based on speculation and rumors (which aren't ever reliable), the PS4 and Xbox720 are suppose to have an A8 core with a dGPU 7670 in a crossfire configuration. I'm assuming that these specs are less than spectacular and will run games around 30 FPS. These next gen systems won't be released until next yearish, so these specs can always change. I've also explained to him that he cannot save money and future proof at the same time.

I can try to cut corners to lower cost (switching the I5 to an I3) OR completely switching to an AMD CPU and MOBO combo, but i'm just worried about bottlenecks. Any suggestions or completely new rigs will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Sret43rg]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8B75-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Other: Rosewill Card Reader ($15.00)
Other: Enermax Wireless Keyboard and Mouse ($14.00)
Total: $878.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-05 15:29 EST-0500)

This is a MUCH better build for gaming as i have changed your 7850 to a 7950 which will be a huge difference, but i had to sacrifice your CPU overclock ability in order to cover the costs, everything else is more or less the same, i also changed the case as the Rosewill Challenger case is a tiny bit more expensive but higher quality and an overall much better case.

 

[jripper28]

Thank you for the reply Sret43rg, I really appreciate it.

That looks like a great build, but I do have another question. He will be using a 42inch LCD TV and I just want to make sure everything will scale right and have some good FPS 40-60 range on max settings, will this be achieved with the 7950?

Also, would it be unreasonable to swap the I5 CPU for a FX 6300? We could potentially save $100 from this combination, so I just want to know if that's viable. Will the CPU bottleneck a 7950? Even a 7850 perhaps? Any help is welcome!

 

[Hazle]

how well it looks on the TV will depend on the TV and how far he sits from it. performance-wise, the 7950 should perform well in your expectation at 1080p in most but not all cases.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/1.html

go with sret43rg's build. the 6300 would've been fine if you were on a strict budget. but seeing as you were ready to spend on an i5, may as well. personally, that $100 is worth it. and no, no current single card setup will bottleneck an i5.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-3.html

http://techreport.com/review/23246/inside-the-second-gaming-performance-with-today-cpus/3

 

[Sret43rg]

There will be NO bottlenecks whatsoever in that build, it is well balanced, the 7950 can easily handle most modern games on max settings at 40-60 FPS at 1080p, including games like BF3 that are very intensive, personally i don't recommend you to change the i5 to an FX-6300 because AMD CPUs are not great at single threaded applications like games, the FX will be around on par with the i5 at multi threaded applications like photoshop. But if you really do want a 6300 to save the extra money then do so but you will sacrifice some gaming performance, also the 6300 shouldn't bottleneck the 7950.

 

[twelve25]

Why are you pushing him away from the console? With a limited budget, console wins every time and the best part is that you know your Playstation will play every Playstation game that comes out. Unlike with PC where every year some groundbreaking game (bf3, ahem) that makes you "need" an upgrade.

I guess I'd say if someone likes the console, leave them be!

 

[jripper28]

Thank you all for the great feedback! I'll let him know what our options are.

Oh and i'm not pulling him away from console gaming, he was actually the one who approached me about it. He has seen me game on my rig before and he has seen the oooos and ahhhhhs of console gaming, so he's willing to take the plunge. I've already mentioned to him that it's definitely not cheap

Consoles are great because the average consumer doesn't need to worry about whether or not they can run it, that's true, but the reality is not all games play at 1080p resolution.

http://forums.n4g.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=697345&mpage=1#697356

Some PS3 games barely play on 720p and some even lower resolutions! Plenty of them don't even have AA on. This is why I love PC gaming, it allows me the option of selecting what I want and potentially playing the game the way it was supposed to look! Granted, there are some horrible PC ports, but the advantage of higher resolutions accompanied by AA and more FPS makes PC gaming hold its own.

The question is if next gen consoles will play 1080p at 60FPS with AA and all the nice things a decent graphics card can do now

But again, back on topic. If we opt for a FX 6300, i'm hoping performance won't be hit too hard. Heck I was even considering putting a phenom 965 in there, but that's just me being biased haha.

 

[vicioushunter]

965 BE worked great for all the games I played, skyrim, sc2 and max payne 3. I did upgrade to intel i-5 chip with ivy north bridge so I could do better in the large scale wvw battles in gw2. But after the upgrade, the battles were averaging 6 fps smoother. Smore server side difficulties I conclude.

I would be worried about the reliabilty of the enermax wireless keyboard and mouse. If he gets some radio interference when someone turns on an appliance in the house with these cheap wireless peripherals it may ruin gaming. If he is not a competative gamer maybe you can decide to make the purchase.

The best thing about buying multi-platform games on the PC is the load times are so fast. That is even using mechanical drives not installing games on your SSD.

 

[jripper28]

Thanks for all thee feedback guys, I really appreciate it. I'll let him know what our options are and go from there. Thanks again, you were all very helpful.

-JR

 

[jripper28]

Best answer selected by jripper28.