52 replies to this topic

[Burned_Follower]

I almost purchased a CPU i had picked out but ended up having to replace all my tires on my truck instead so it looks like i'll be purchasing my first PC component THIS month instead of last month.

While i was waiting for March to begin, I eventually realized it might be a good idea to do some internet shopping for both an AMD setup and an Intel setup to compare pricing. I was originally going to just do the AMD route in order to get the performance i need for MWO on max settings while saving money but i just put together a shopping list of both PC versions and it looks like going the intel route isn't really THAT much more expensive(if i did my shopping right). Keep in mind my budget is 3k for my MWO gaming PC and I already got 1/3 of that money saved up already resulting in me purchasing the motherboard this month on the 16th(my next payday). But before i make my purchase i thought i'd throw up these two variants(AMD and Intel) cuz i want to know if there is a reason i should still go the AMD route since going the Intel route is actually within budget for me. I got plenty of money to throw into this project cuz i don't exactly flip burgers for a living. I operate and program welding robots for a living so this isn't going to hurt me financially...just as long as i purchase a few components at a time per month instead of all at once.

AMD VERSION:

CPU
Heatsink
Motherboard
OS
RAM(i'm purchasing 4 of these to max out the motherboard's RAM capacity)
PowerSupply
VideoCard(GPU)
Case
Boot Hardrive
Extra Hardrive

Total Costs before taxes/shipping: 2303.87


INTEL VERSION:

CPU
Heatsink
Motherboard
OS
RAM(i'm purchasing this set of four to max out the motherboard's RAM Capacity)
PowerSupply
VideoCard(GPU)
Case
Boot Harddrive
Extra Harddrive

Total Costs before taxes/shipping: 2407.90

...As of this moment, since the Intel route isn't that much more expensive, i'm going intel so i can get the extra RAM and also get more bandwith out of my video card. Since my budget is 3k, both variants are WELL within budget for me.

The only thing i'm not very confident is the RAM stick for the Intel variant because it seems "too good to be true" to get four 16GB Ramsticks for only 79.99.

I am actually considering watercooling but i'm going to experiment with the cooling setup i have on this shopping list. But when i start learning how to overclock and if the old fashioned cooling system isn't sufficient, THEN i'll upgrade to watercooling.

I know, i made several threads pertaining to my MWO pc building project and i should have made them all into one post so sorry about that. Just ignore my other posts or tell me how i can delete them if that needs to be done. Thanks for everybody who has been already helping me so far in the proccess of helping me to learn how to shop for parts.

Edited by XxDRxDEATHxX, 03 March 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

RIght one huge flaw in your Intel build.

That CPU is junk, that you would actually be better of going for the Core I7 2700k and get the same if not better performance, quad channel ram is also pish atm as nothing will even scrape the sides in terms of gaming.

But im not going to lie to you, the 8 core AMD CPU is a waste, to the point you would actually be better at this time going for a Phenom II x6 see the same performance in the games you play (actually you'd get better performance).

sticking with Intel, and honestly that is the best choice at this moment in time.
http://www.newegg.co...16813131700#top
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115095

And then you can drop the quad channel ram, and pick up 8GB of it instead.

The CPU cooler is nice, but you also look at the Corsair H80 or H100 but you would have to do some research to make sure the H100 would fit the case.

[SquareSphere]

If you're looking at Intel I would suggest waiting a few months for the Ivy Bridge to come out. Less power consumption and a slight performance boost. Not to mention you'd probably see a price drop for Sandy Bridges.

[Kiyoshi Amaya]

I only use AMD. That 8-core is very nice and with all that power, I wouldn't even bother with overclocking.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Shrekken, on 03 March 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

I only use AMD. That 8-core is very nice and with all that power, I wouldn't even bother with overclocking.

Its a shame very few games make use of 8 core

[Vincent Vascaul]

First of all if you plan on ever running 2 video cards then you picked the right intel Proc (If I could I would gladly give up my 2700k for a 3820) Second the heatsink on the intel build it not what you need, try this (I have owned one personaly) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835608024

Next up is the 2011 mobo, you picked a very good one but my personal preference is this one http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131801

And if you go with a sabertooth board on either build check this stuff out its made to go with those mobos http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233247

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233244

Then theres the SSD I would recommend something bigger but either way I would recommend Crucial over Patriot and I am not just saying that, I just dropped $300 on one of their M4 256gb SSD's http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820148448

Now we are on to video cards, at launch the XFX dual fan seemed like the best thing out there but now, not so much. It turns out its heat sink setup may actually be less efficient than the reference design. Try Either the ASUS DCII or Gigabytes triple fan card which can be found Here http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121489 and here http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125414

[Catamount]

Indeed, 8-core CPUs are great... for about 5% of the software market.

An 8 core Bulldozer CPU in games basically just acts like a slow quad core (not that that's a problem right now; games aren't that CPU intensive, and that gamble could pay off if games because better threaded, but it's not my first choice for a CPU)

[Chas]

Vincent Vascaul, on 03 March 2012 - 10:22 AM, said:

First of all if you plan on ever running 2 video cards then you picked the right intel Proc (If I could I would gladly give up my 2700k for a 3820) Second the heatsink on the intel build it not what you need, try this (I have owned one personaly) http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835608024

The only thing I'd worry about with that Noctua cooler is clearance for the RAM. X79 boards aren't very spacious places for heatsinks unfortunately. That Noctua might obstruct the two closest RAM slots.

Quote

Next up is the 2011 mobo, you picked a very good one but my personal preference is this one http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131801

I like that board better as well. The only downside is the chipset fan on there. NOT a big fan of them (pun semi-intentional). They tend to be loud, break down all too soon, and add another point of failure for the board.

Quote

And if you go with a sabertooth board on either build check this stuff out its made to go with those mobos http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233247

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233244

Best thing to do is actually hit Asus' site and nab the PDF manual. Then look at the approve RAM list.

Quote

Then theres the SSD I would recommend something bigger but either way I would recommend Crucial over Patriot and I am not just saying that, I just dropped $300 on one of their M4 256gb SSD's http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820148448

Agreed. The M4's are excellent SSDs. And something roomier is DEFINITELY called for. I'm sitting on a 2x120 RAID0 of SSDs right now and am I ever glad I did. I'm not rocking LOTS of stuff on my boot "drive", but it's slowly been filling in the year or so since I put the system together. I'd be almost out of space right now had I stuck with 120GB.

Quote

Now we are on to video cards, at launch the XFX dual fan seemed like the best thing out there but now, not so much. It turns out its heat sink setup may actually be less efficient than the reference design. Try Either the ASUS DCII or Gigabytes triple fan card which can be found Here http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121489 and here http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125414

Agreed

[Vincent Vascaul]

That ram was made by corsair for Asus its even got color matched anodising (check asus's vids on new egg) Its also designed with lower voltage with durability in mind.

[THE 1stbreed]

I would go with Intel.

[Vulpesveritas]

I would say either will do what you need it to do. You most likely won't be able to see a difference. Though you should consider that that fan on that 2011 can die.
i will also say that I will support AMD until they are no longer an ethical business. Beyond that, both processors carry out the same number of threads, both use about the same power, the Intel processor is somewhat faster. Though price is not as much a concern for you, take into account that between CPU + Mobo you'll pay more than $400 more going Intel there. On the Intel side, you'd be better off going 1155 and an i7 2700k given you're not using one of the Intel hexacores anyhow.

Beyond that, eh. In a real life scenario you won't see much a difference. Though I will suggest getting the a different brand instead of the XFX video card.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121489
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127667
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125414


And I don't know if there's something I'm missing, but I don't see why the preference on the M4 over Patriot. (While I am me, I would like to point out Patriot manufactures in both the US and Taiwan) and it is a faster SSD (twice the random read/write speed, 100mb/s faster read, 350mb/s faster write), with the same warranty period.
Though given your budget, I will suggest considering a 240. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820220625

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 03 March 2012 - 09:56 PM.

[Catamount]

Vulpesveritas, on 03 March 2012 - 09:24 PM, said:

On the Intel side, you'd be better off going 1155 and an i7 2700k given you're not using one of the Intel hexacores anyhow.

This.

2011 motherboards are expensive, and the quad channel RAM amounts to absolutely nothing. Even low-bandwidth dual channel DDR3 exceeds the needs of any home user (in any application of which I'm aware). If there's no reason to pay $30 or so for a kit of DDR3 1866 instead of 1333, or 1600, then there's certainly no reason to pay several times that premium for useless memory bandwidth. The cheapest full ATX LGA2011 board on Newegg is just shy of $250 with shipping. With LGA 1155, that goes down to $90-$100. The CPU is actually $20 cheaper than the i7 2700k, so at the end of the day, you're paying $130 for absolutely nothing to go LGA2011 (more precisely, to get a bit of extra cache and 100mhz of clock that will make so little difference, they'd amount to a rounding error in any test comparing the two).

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 10:14 AM.

[Vincent Vascaul]

Well you do also get 40 pcie lanes as opposed to 16 with the 1155 which is a big deal to someone if they want to run alot of PCI stuff like dual cards plus accessories. but that of coarse is the need of a minority of people (which is what the x79 is meant for anyway)

[Catamount]

Vincent Vascaul, on 04 March 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

Well you do also get 40 pcie lanes as opposed to 16 with the 1155 which is a big deal to someone if they want to run alot of PCI stuff like dual cards plus accessories. but that of coarse is the need of a minority of people (which is what the x79 is meant for anyway)

Like the memory bandwidth, it really seems geared towards uses that would simply exceed that of even serious home users.

That would be more bandwidth for, say, running dual GPUs, but I don't think we'll be exceeding what two 8x PCIE3.0 slots will do for a long time in any meaningful sense. Two GTX 590s or 7990s (when they come out) probably would, but at that point, the inter-GPU latency between four GPUs is just atrocious, from what I understand; the microstutter just gets horrible. So it's not a practical GPU setup anyways. Of course... if you can really afford a $1500-$2000+ GPU setup, the more expensive CPU isn't an issue at that point I guess If someone really wants to throw that quantity of money away, I won't stop them; it just bolsters the economy

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 11:22 AM.

[Barbaric Soul]

Catamount, on 04 March 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

the inter-GPU latency between four GPUs is just atrocious, from what I understand; the microstutter just gets horrible.

Actually I've heard something totally different. From what I've read, 3 or more cards, while not really increasing FPS very well, actually reduces or removes micro-stutter. Here, check it out for yourself. Pay attention to what crazyeyesreaper is saying and check out his links- http://www.techpower...ad.php?t=159493

[Burned_Follower]

Ok I just modified my shopping list according to what i learned here. I should have mentioned this before hand...I am going just a little bit overkill on "what i really need" to max out MWO graphics on purpose. I'm not trying to futureproof my new PC build, i just specifically preferr to have too much than too little. Several years ago i had my uncle build me a PC(back before i knew how to build pcs and was still a teen) that was exacly 3x what i needed to play MW4 Mercs....I'm just trying to repeat the same bit of awesomeness for MWO.

Here's my new shopping list:

OS

Case

Motherboard

Heatsink(for CPU)-Note: I would get that bigger one but it's gonna screw up my clearance for RAM slots since i do plan on eventually having 64GB just for the hell of it later on down the road(after launch)

CPU: I'm actually going to wait for the Ivy Bridge to come out cuz i might get that instead so nevermind the CPU at the moment

GPU

RAM(Since 64GB quad channel is overkill for going overkill i'm just going to get this deal thus going for only 32GB quad channel...which is still overkill, haha)

Boot SSD Drive
-Since this is a 240GB hard drive i don't see the point in having a second 2TB hard drive. If i really need more HD space i'll just take the 1TB extra hard drive out of my current PC and put it into this one.

Power Supply
-Yeah my electric bill is gonna suck but since i don't drink or smoke or do drugs my money will be equally wasted anyway. MW is my drug! WOOT

CD/DVD ROM(I know i don't need it for MWO since it's a downloadable FTP game but i ain't building a PC without it)

Edited by XxDRxDEATHxX, 09 March 2012 - 06:04 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Well, keep in mind Ivy bridge-E probably won't be out till q3/q4 so you'll be waiting a while to get your CPU. Also, if I may recommend getting a newer CPU cooler? there are better ones at the price point you're at with that Zalman one.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835426030
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835106150
Also, if your fan dies on one of those two, you can just replace your fan. They'll also likely work on your rig after this one so no worries there.
Also; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817703028
$10 more and you're getting a much better PSU. You want a single 12v rail if you can get one. which this has. Also slightly higher wattage. And a better warranty.

And a better disk drive for a lower cost; (unless you're after that software suite.)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827106335

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 09 March 2012 - 08:47 PM.

[HeroicTofu]

I'll be honest, when I saw the title of this thread, I was instantly filled with feelings of dread. As if thousands of AMD and Intel fanboys cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

[Lyon]

...just built a gaming rig for MWO, but I will never EVER use an Intel chip, period. They have Sony-grade ethics, so I'm not giving them my money.

[Oneshot]

*Warning! Don't read this if your rolling in cash. You just don't need to worry about such things.*

Wow, @ $450 bucks for a motherboard, you would think it would support Intel chips far into the future. (Intels major fail point)

I don't know about you but longevity does mean something to me. I kinda like the idea of just upgrading to a next generation CPU without needing to hock my underwear to pay for a new board, ram, and everything else Intel would require of me. I never liked Intel because of this.
For a little more than 1/2 the price he's talking about, he could have a 2 to 5 year non-obsolescence plan. Not the fastest at this moment but plenty fast with the ability to move forward by just upgrading the CPU in the future.

Sabertooth 990FX
Hyper 212+ air (not even warm)


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Until then, he could just settle for a slow and lowely old dog like the $95 dollar FX-4100.......