Two Possible CPU's to buy. Help me choose please. :)

[invulnerableking]

I have two options here, and what I would like to know is:

A.) Which one will perform better for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
B.) Which one will perform better overall.
C.) Which is the better value for purchase.

I've been up and down the internet trying to compare the two machines piece by piece, so I figured the best option would to Register here and ask the community.

Machine #1: ($740.00)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3(R2.0) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL

Tower: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply

Vid Card - (Two, crossfiring) TWO ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit Service Pack 1

Machine #2: $(720.00)

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1055t 2.8 Ghz. (3.3 Ghz. Turbo)

RAM: 12 GB G.Skill Ripsaw DDR-3 SDRAM

Motherboard: Gigabyte AMD 880G Socket AM3 motherboard with dual PCI Express Slots

Hard drive: 300 GB 10,000 RPM Western Digital Raptor SATA Hard drive (OS)
1 TB 7,200 RPM Western Digital Caviar Black Hard drive (Storage)

Vid Card: XFX Radeon 6850 PCI Express Video Card 1 GB RAM (Extra slot available for a second card.)

Tower: CoolerMaster BTX Gaming case with 3 120 mm cooling fans and custom lighting

Power Supply: Corsair 750 watt power supply

Additional Accessories:
Front Mounted USB and audio ports
Logitech Illuminated USB Keyboard
Logitech G9 Gaming Laser Mouse
Logitech THX 5.1 speaker/subwoofer set
HP 24" 1920 X 1200 LCD Monitor(Dual DVI Input)

(END)

 

[invulnerableking]

I don't know what to buy here. Trying to play Star Wars; The Old Republic at Ultimate settings. I'm not a huge gamer and this system will be used exclusively for that game. What is the better value?

 

[GI_JONES]

Over all the first system is better. The dual video cards give it a huge advantage and you can update to a better cpu later. The 2nd one has a more powerful cpu, but it is the end of the line for that cpu socket, and there will probably never be a better cpu to put in it. Also games wont take advantage of more than 3 or 4 of the cores, so for gaming the other 2 or 3 cores are kinda wasted. (btw, I'm not an intel fanboy, 3 of my 4 pc's are amd) Also even thogh number 2 has more ram.. you'll not even use all 8 that system 1 has. The second one would be better if you also did video editing, cad, etc, but not so much for gaming

 

[Cazalan]

SWTOR only uses 2 threads on my 4c/8t CPU, so you're probably better off with the i3.

 

[wr6133]

The 2nd machine with 8gb RAM and the 1st machines GPU's

Failing that the 1st machine will likely do you better

 

[invulnerableking]

Hard drive for Machine #1: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD103SI 1TB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Here is the thing... I don't have a monitor, mouse, or keyboard at the moment. The second machine comes with these things, in contrast to the first one.

The Mouse is 80 dollars, the keyboard is 80 dollars, and the monitor is 360 dollars. Based on what I have seen around.

I suppose my major dispute is, is the second machine so much behind the first that these extra's don't help the value of the deal? I'm trying to get the most for the least money here.

 

[GI_JONES]

My god! is the mouse gold plated?. You can get a mouse for $15.00 anywhere.same for a keyboard. A nice 21-23 in monitor can be purchased for $150 . Where do you live..you can get them at walmart

 

[wr6133]

The Hard drive on machine 1 is no good. a Green low speed HDD as your main HDD will be slow.

On that basis maybe machine 2 and the $$$ you would have spent on monitor and stuff you can always put to a better GPU

 

[invulnerableking]

So, essentially I feel it would be cheaper to upgrade Machine #2 than it would be to buy a keyboard, mouse, and monitor of the same quality. I'm going to go with Machine #2. Thank you all, namely wr6133.

 

[the great randini]

machine 1 is the better overall choice, both will play the game just fine though.
i just build a machine in that price range for my bro and he has no lag at all
$764
(hard drives have come down in price since then so price will varry)
ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279
PowerColor AX6850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131374
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074
lg sata dvd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240
Raidmax SMILODON Extreme Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156078
Patriot Signature 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220570
segate 500 gb 7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

i would change the mobo to > for you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

stick with the earth watt psu and u should be good