I have recently decided to skip the next console generation (at least until there's some really solid exclusives and a price drop) and instead invest in a decent gaming set up. I have some experience building budget/general use machines for my family but this will be my first dedicated gaming system.
Here is the build so far:
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Bluemoon93/saved
I have come here to ask for advise on improving the system, and to check I'm heading in the right direction. I'd like to keep the budget around the £800 mark which I guess would translate to a $1000/1200 build with taxes etc.
There isn't a cooler included as I have that sorted already.
Another major factor to consider is "future-proofing". I'm a student, and money is fairly limited so I'd like to invest in something that will be able to run new games at a decent level for the next few years without any major upgrades.
It looks good I would reccomend a XFX 550w or a seasonic powersupply instead and if you are going to overclock check out z87 motherboards and like a hyper 212 cpu cooler
May I ask what the pros and cons are with the 4670k/7950 vs FX 8350/7970? With ragingh4vok's power supply recommendation, there's an £83 difference. Am I better off going with the AMD option or update the Intel build with a better processor and/or graphics card?
hi, i'm a student too :) ... i brought my rig a few days ago, and it is very similar to yours.
here are some tips for you.
the cpu: the 4670K is a great choice. it's performance is awesome, no lag, no overheating.
the motherboard: it's decent, but if you are looking to future-proof your system, consider a Z87 motherboard from asus or msi, to allow you to overclock. or you could stick with your current motherboard and buy another if you feel the need to later.
the socket 1150 is future-proof as intel is planning on releasing new Haswell cpu's in 2014 that perform better than 4670K and 4770k.
the video card: i'd stay away from AMD, that's just me, Nvidia cards run cooler, consume less energy, and have lots of support and technologies. I'd get the gtx760 or even gtx770.
storage: i'd get SSD's from Kingston.
since geforce 9600gt all cards with x6xx or x6x are great performing cards with affordable price.
the 9600gt, 460, 560 ti, 660 ti, and 760... are all affordable and future-proof video cards.
to sum it up.
great cpu that will last you up-to 4 years. the video card isn't a great choice still a good one.
@JimxZ I tend to hear that for the mid-range cards, AMD give the best bang for your buck. Would you say that the GTX770 you posted a link to is worth the additional cost compared to say, an overclocked 7950/7970 and why?
nvidia is a neater choice. better support better games optimizations and future-proofing.
i had both nvidia and amd cards and i was always much happier using nvidia.
amd cards in general have an issue that is lag. you may get 60 FPS in battlefield for example using an amd card but the game will feel much smoother if you were using an nvidia card.
there are dips and lag when using amd cards (sometimes)
the gtx770 is a bit faster than the 7970. and the gtx770 have lots of features and newer technologies.
after all it won't make much difference. after weeks of research i ended up getting the evga gtx760 sc acx. and it's a great video card. it overclocks like crazy and competes with the gtx680 at stock.
the gtx770 and the 7970 are a bit expensive for us students with limited budgets. so i found the 760 to be the best option.
Again thanks for the replies. I've updated the builds and have a few variations to choose from. I'm not building this until November/December so things can still change. I'll try my luck for some good deals around Cyber Monday too.
by December new video cards will be released from amd, nvidia 800 series should be released in Q1 2014... so hold tight. in the mean time research both amd and nvidia. and save more money :)
Good spot. That was in the suggested AMD build from Mich, I didn't add it. Going from the advise, I'm more than likely to go for the 4670k anyway so no worries. :)
Sorry, but I see a lot of Intel and Nvidia fanboys over here. They say that the 4670k is a very good CPU and that the fx-8350 CPU is questionable. Let me explain: The 8350 has 8 cores with 4.0gHz per core (this can be OC'ed to 4.5 with something like a hyper 212 EVO). Games like Battlefield 4 will be able to use all 8 cores, so this will be a HUGE advantage. AND the money you spare can be used for a better CPU cooler (something like an H80/H100) so you get 4.6-4.9gHz on your clocks! This Processor is an absolute beast with those clocks.
About the Videocard, Nvidia and AMD are both good. The Nvidia cards are optimized for Nvidia optimized games and the AMD cards are optimized for AMD optimized games (BF4), so you really need to know which games you want to play. Do you think you will be playing a variety of games, take an Nvidia card, do you stick tightly to games like BF4, take an AMD card. Also, the AMD cards OC like crazy (just like the gtx 760!).
Shortly:
CPU:
Do you play games that are optimized for 4 cores/less, take an Intel
Do you play games that are optimized for 4/more cores, take an AMD
GPU:
Do you play (mostly) games that are Nvidia optimized or a wild veriaty of games, take an Nvidia
Do you play (mostly) games that are AMD optimized, take an AMD card.
Hope this helps you a little bit and to neutrealize the fanboy reactions, just to let you know that the 8350 and AMD cards are also beast. (the 8350 even beats the 3570k at heavy games that use lots of cores)