Which of these PC's is better? Also, brand differences?

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Which one is better?

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Symthic

Honorable
Dec 26, 2012
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10,510
Hello all. I'm planning on getting a gaming PC this August, September at the latest. I have an above-average knowledge of PC power and components, but there are still some things that elude me. Particularly things like slight differences in GHz, or differences in brands (Intel vs AMD for processors, NVidia vs AMD for GPU's, etc.). It's my understanding that the Intel i7 processor is pretty much the best there is, but if true, I don't know by how much. The difference between NVidia and AMD is even more elusive.

But regardless of that, the more pressing concern I have is that I've found what appear to be two versions of the same desktop, but one is Intel and NVidia, and the other is AMD on both accounts.

Here's what I'm interested in:

AMD/AMD: http://www.rakuten.com/prod/cyberpowerpc-zeus-mini-zma400-desktop-computer-amd-a-series-a10-7700k/261457751.html?scid=pc_ci_adid25200&adid=17988&srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=34-222189330-2

Intel/NVidia: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/LandingPages/ZeusMini/ (Click "get it)

Apparently the AMD/AMD one is usually double that price, so it's a major deal. I want to keep my purchase under $1000, so it works perfectly. I'm just on the fence with the AMD hardware, as I'm not as familiar with the brand. On the other hand, there's the Intel/NVidia desktops, which I'm somewhat more familiar with, but they seem less powerful.

Can someone help me out with this? I'm sure it's simple and just going over my head, but I don't know.

I'm planning on playing games like Dark Souls II, Battlefield 4, Red Orchestra II, etc. How would these fare?

Of course, if there's any equally priced deals that are better than what I've uncovered, feel free to share.

Thank you kindly!
 
Check this one out:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X7k2WZ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X7k2WZ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($96.76 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($104.20 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1009.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-31 05:30 EDT-0400

BTW, if you by any chance already have an OS, you can drom the Win 8.1 and get an SSD right now.
Also, if you will not Overclock, you can drop the cooler, and get one later one if you change your mind.
 

It's possible, yes, but I've always been on the fence about building one from the ground-up. I'm just afraid of something going wrong somewhere and not being able to fix it, whereas if I bought a whole premade desktop, I'd have a warranty and everything.

I'm probably super naive, though.

Are they really horrible components? I must know less than I thought :??:


Thanks for the information! How well would that perform? Particularly, compared to the listed ones?

Also, I do actually have a digital Windows 8 OS license, so I can drop that thankfully.
 
I made a few changes on Pr3di's build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB TurboDuo Video Card ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $999.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-31 23:17 EDT-0400

Note that the PSU has one 53A 12v rail, which can power the GPU, as opposed to a number of 20A ones.
 


Ah, that looks more powerful. Thanks for the update!

Question: How does this compare to the setup in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WQxr59KRto
 
I also can`t check that video at work, but here`s an optimized build, which includes an SSD in your budget.
Your PC will be a lot faster with the OS installed on the SSD:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r7VqP6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r7VqP6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($369.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1001.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 05:01 EDT-0400
 
Again, edits

The PSU with only 20 A 12 V rails replaced with what, if I remember right, is a tier 2 vs a tier 3

M500 is a old model, replaced with the new MX100

More fans on the GPU :) Windforce

Cheaper HDD (The two are otherwise almost the same)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($73.95 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($73.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.91 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $995.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 06:27 EDT-0400
 


they store information electronically, so it's easier to load it, whereas a hdd stores things physically, if you know what i mean, so the time it takes to load things up takes longer, where do you live? I may be able to help you if you are scared of building it yourself
 

That's right, I forgot the technical details of what makes it better.

I live in Arizona, but I'm confident I can build it. And I have family that are very knowledgeable about this as well, so I think I'll be fine. Thanks for the thought, though!
 


Oh ahahah I wasn't going to come to your house and help you :') I was just going to say ncix does this thing where they build it for you if you buy the parts from their site :)
 

Just wanted to come back and say thanks for the list! I'm planning on building this by the end of this month or the next.

Thanks again for all the advice and info! 😀
 
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