A bit of a problem

korgtronix · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:03

Hi

I have roughly £500 to do some upgrades on my PC, I need to upgrade the graphics card eventually for the new games but I will wait on that so this £500 will be to upgrade the rest of my machine to something that will last me for as long as possible. Otherwise the fiancee will kill me.

My current PCs specs
CPU: AMD 8120
GPU: Sapphire HD7850 OC Edition
M/B: Gigabyte 970
RAM: Cosair Vengeance 1600mhz
PSU: Corsair CX600M
Case: Antec 1100
SSD: Crucial M4 60GB
HDD: 2x 500gb Caviar Blue (3-4yr old)

I have two choices as I see it to get the most out of my £500

Intel Route:
CPU: i7 4770k
M/B: Gigabyte G1.Sniper
SSD: 250gb Samsung EVO

AMD Rout:
CPU: FX8320
MB: Asus Sabertooth
SSD: 250gb Samsung EVO
HDD: 1tb Seagate Barracuda

The price difference is around £70 in AMDs favour here but I know that the i7 makes for a faster system with the ability to eventually go smaller (itx/matx) in the future.

I am not sure though which will be the best for me and which will last the best out of the two. I mainly play older games atm due to my current set up and card but will be shelling on a non-ref 290 once the prices settle and they are out. Just need some decision making done for me.
The part that is making it hardest is that £70 really, otherwise I would be on Intel.

DaleTheWhale · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:31

What games do you want to play?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £517.56 (includes shipping : £8.00).

60GB SSD > Windows
120GB SSD > Some games, BF4, Crysis 3, whatever.
1TB HDD > Other games which won't require a super fast boot up.
500GB's > Files/folders.

AngryB · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:39

You will only ever get one opinion on these forums. Intel all the way.

I don't always agree with this tbh, but it's the way it goes right now.

Personally, I'd probably pile all my money into an SSD, GPU & more RAM. Your CPU might be knocking on a bit but I don't think it will struggle with modern gaming. You could even push to a decent 990 Board and clock the pants off it if you want.

FYI, I use a 3570K. Just so you know I am not a raving AMD fanboy. I just feel AMD are better value if you have a tight budget to stick to, especially given their reluctance to change the sockets on the CPU which gives you a much more varied upgrade path.

AngryB · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:43

Also (and I know I keep posting this link, but I think it is a good read which is full of great advice if you are upgrading or building a rig), This Digital Foundry Article is a great read.

Stoner81 · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:47

Another option would be to drop the i7 and go i5 instead to shave off a few quid.

Stoner81.

korgtronix · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:47

AngryB said:
You will only ever get one opinion on these forums. Intel all the way.

I don't always agree with this tbh, but it's the way it goes right now.

Personally, I'd probably pile all my money into an SSD, GPU & more RAM. Your CPU might be knocking on a bit but I don't think it will struggle with modern gaming. You could even push to a decent 990 Board and clock the pants off it if you want.

FYI, I use a 3570K. Just so you know I am not a raving AMD fanboy. I just feel AMD are better value if you have a tight budget to stick to, especially given their reluctance to change the sockets on the CPU which gives you a much more varied upgrade path.

I will be throwing money at a new card eventually but none of the games I play require high end graphics atm i.e. L4D2, Civ 5 and Dead Space. The current set up works well for the games I currently play but I have recently been doing a lot more video encoding etc. and want to have the best performance I can afford.

I know the i7 would be better performance but want to know if the extra money spent couldn't be better used upgrading other parts to my build.

korgtronix · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:49

ThaReaperGuy said:
What games do you want to play?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £263.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
Total : £517.56 (includes shipping : £8.00).

60GB SSD > Windows
120GB SSD > Some games, BF4, Crysis 3, whatever.
1TB HDD > Other games which won't require a super fast boot up.
500GB's > Files/folders.

Thats not a bad idea about dropping the 250gb to 120gb to squeeze the 1tb in. Honestly didn't consider it.

korgtronix · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:49

AngryB said:
Also (and I know I keep posting this link, but I think it is a good read which is full of great advice if you are upgrading or building a rig), This Digital Foundry Article is a great read.

I have read that, it was part of decision to consider the AMD version as a possibility.

Josh · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:51

I'd vote Intel route with that budget, better upgrade path etc.

120Gb will easily cover OS, programs and some games. I have a 250 with OS, Programs, BF4, Sims and Skyrim and I sill have around 115Gb free.

DaleTheWhale · 16 Dec 2013 at 15:55

korgtronix said:
Thats not a bad idea about dropping the 250gb to 120gb to squeeze the 1tb in. Honestly didn't consider it.

Make's sense, meaning you don't have to compromise on the chip or motherboard.

korgtronix · 17 Dec 2013 at 07:07

I think the intel route it is then. Second question I currently have a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo providing the cooling for my CPU, with the intel board I have specified what is realistically the best OC I can achieve or should I try and squeeze an AIO cooler instead.