Getting back into PC building game

Hi

I've also just got back into it, few more years than yourself though :D, last system i built was an xp2400 ;) one thing i'd say is get a SSD 128gig are very reasonable and it transformed my laptop. Just built an i5 3750k system with one for OS and games and other drives for storage, one word awesome :D

Simon
 
I do plan on getting an SSD but I'd rather spend my current budget on good barebones for now. I can always slap in an SSD in six months time.
 
Ok, so I've just watched this and now I'm conflicted :

Wow. That's impressive. I hadn't even considered getting an AMD CPU but I'm seriously considering it now. What do you think?

If I did go for AMD, though, would I be best to get an ATI GPU, with them being from the same company? I just wondered if there'd be any benefits? I'd rather have an NVidia GPU though as their Linux drivers are much better.
 
I thought the 660 outperformed the 7850? ATI drivers are notoriously bad in Linux, but they do support open drivers (unlike NVidia). That being said, I'd probably end up playing most games in Windows anyway and there's always the possibility that the Linux drivers will improve.

What's your opinion on the FX8350? The benchmarks I've seen are great compared to the i5 3570k it's just that AMD don't have a great reputation at the moment.
 
An OC'd 7850 (Easy to do, don't fear it :)) should be a bit better. Maybe think about a 7870 or a 7870XT since they're pretty close in price.
Pay no mind to the Anandtech benches as they use older drivers, unless someone can confirm they've updated.

The 8350 isn't bad and is perhaps a bit underrated, but I'd still take a 3570k unless I used a lot of multithreaded applications and couldn't stretch to a 3770k.

Edit: In regard to your heatsink question; You'll get a basic intel cooler with the 3570k in your spec. It'll be ok even with a mild OC, but if you want to go any further, you'll want an aftermarket solution.
 
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I'd have thought overclocking would be easy regardless of OS because you use a 3rd party software piece like MSI Afterburner.

Heres my take on it:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £35.99
1 x **B Grade** Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
2 x BitFenix Spectre Plain BLACK 120mm Fan £4.8 (£9.60)
Total : £705.52 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
I'm going to go with the AMD 8350, based on the reviews and benchmarks I've seen. What do you think to this setup:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 WindForce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £66.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £35.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £617.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



A LOT cheaper than getting an i5 3570K. I'm actually thinking about replacing the motherboard above with this one (but it's out of stock at the minute): http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-460-AS
 
It's less than 20 quid cheaper than an i5 3570k.
Certainly not the rig I'd be buying at that budget, more so because of the 660.

You can fit in a 7870 XT/3570k/Z68 "B-Grade" Gigabyte board, and that'd run rings around the FX8350 and 660.

EDIT : It's actually more expensive because of your board choice.
 
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For gaming the i5 is the better setup at stock and even more so when overclocked.

I'd only buy the 83** series if I was doing something like encoding and using x264 software.
 
Bacon? said:
For gaming the i5 is the better setup at stock and even more so when overclocked.

I'd only buy the 83** series if I was doing something like encoding and using x264 software.
Click to expand...

All the benchmarks I've seen put the FX8350 above the i5 3570k nine times out of ten. Did you see the video I posted earlier?
 
redneon said:
All the benchmarks I've seen put the FX8350 above the i5 3570k nine times out of ten. Did you see the video I posted earlier?
Click to expand...

Oh, not *that* video again.
Games don't really use more than 4 cores, each core of the 3570k is faster than an FX8350 core, go figure which one's better in gaming?

There's some games that can use the cores, but it's not performing better than the i5 3570k, more on par.

In productivity stuff that can make use of the 8 cores, then the FX8350 is better, but for purely gaming, if your budget can stretch to it, the i5 3570k is king.

Bacon? said:
What benchmarks are we talking about?
Click to expand...

A rather sketchy video which has impossible results.
 
I thought I'd seen more stats that showed the 8350 beating the i5 3570k but I can't find them now. They might have been anecdotal anyway.

So, as you're all so passionate about the i5 I think I'll switch back...

The only thing that concerns me is that both Durango and Orbis (next Xbox and PS3) are rumoured to be eight core so perhaps when they're released the eight core malarky will be better for PC ports. I'm not going to worry about that now, though.
 
You can't really compare the consoles to the PC though, since the console is designed purely for gaming and as such its software and the games are optimized in a different way.
 
So, I'm back to this build now:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 WindForce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £66.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVI38G160C9K) £35.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £26.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £658.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



What do you think?

I'm going with the NVidia graphics card purely for Linux driver compatibility. I'm not too fussed about overclocking the graphics card and it's more important to me that I get a decent result in Linux.

I think I'm going to stop procrastinating and get it ordered today otherwise it'll all be out of date by the time I get round to ordering it :)
 
Spec looks good :)

Though definetley get a better case, one which doesnt rattle so much and has USB 3 ;)

Like a Corsair 300 or a NZXT 410 maybe?

Oh and I'd personally buy a modular PSU.
 
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