AMD:Gaming PC £1400 to spend

[Bean239]

Hi,

I was originally planning on going Intel but I checked out AMD on a whim. I have chose this so far but am unsure whether there is anything I should swap out or change or whether I should get an Intel PC instead. I mainly will be using it for gaming and media. It said that I only need a 650w PSU I opted to put 750 on it just in case.My current PC is almost always on I imagine that the same will happen with this one although Im sure I could change my ways eventually! Any help would be very much appreciated!


Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
OVERCLOCKED AMD FX-8150 (3.60GHz @ max 4.5GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR V FORMULA: AM3+, 3-WAY SLI/CROSSFIREX, ROG
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£87)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER (£59)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
JML 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management For Your PC (£4)
Warranty


Price: £1,323.00 including VAT and delivery.

Thanks again

 

[mantadog]

I would advise an intel rig, especially for gaming. The AMD chips are not the best when it comes to gaming, as intel has them dominated clock speed for clock speed ( a 3.4 GHZ intel will dominate a 3.4GHz AMD) Since no games make use of the AMD architecture you will be far better getting an intel i5 quadcore. Even though it's only a quadcore you will still get atleast the same if not better eprformance as you would with an 8 core AMD chip. It's because AMD's cores arn't really full cores, but rather they work on a kind of paired system so they really only have 4 cores on their 8 core chips.

Also you can drop the overclock, 8GB of RAM is sufficient and a 650W PSU would be sufficient as the configurator adds +20% saftey anyway.

What kind of gaming do you do? Do you edit videos/music or just watch movies? Whats your max budget?

If you answer those i will post up a spec for you to have a look at.

 

[Bean239]

Hi

I am certainly not against sticking with Intel.

Mainly MMO but recently got back into FPS with Tribes will likely be picking up a few more. I had not played a PC FPS in a very long time!

Not much video/music editing. Used a lot for photo shop/ 3DS Max and similar editing programs.

I pretty much constantly have Samsung allshare running along with XBMC and other media players.


I will also be putting this with Samsung 3D monitor Samsung S23A700D 23"

Thanks for the help its very much appreciated

 

[Raptor]

More balanced

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE

Overclocked CPU
OVERCLOCKED AMD FX-8150 (3.60GHz @ max 4.5GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer)

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER (£59)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

£1,250.00

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-sli-overclocked/ Configure here


Intel version would be


Case
InWin CENTINAL BUC BLACK GAMING CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz @ max 4.60GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer)

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER (£59)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days


£1,266.00


Best offer, It's £79 over the limit but i'd suggest this build if you want the system to last even longer
AMD Bulldozers aren't such good CPUS if you're AMD fan i'd say wait till trinity comes out but for now sandy bridge is the best option

Case
InWin CENTINAL BUC BLACK GAMING CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER (£59)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity 1

£1,479.00

Both of the intel builds configured here
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/

 

[Wozza63]

I would advise an intel rig, especially for gaming. The AMD chips are not the best when it comes to gaming, as intel has them dominated clock speed for clock speed ( a 3.4 GHZ intel will dominate a 3.4GHz AMD) Since no games make use of the AMD architecture you will be far better getting an intel i5 quadcore. Even though it's only a quadcore you will still get atleast the same if not better eprformance as you would with an 8 core AMD chip. It's because AMD's cores arn't really full cores, but rather they work on a kind of paired system so they really only have 4 cores on their 8 core chips.

Also you can drop the overclock, 8GB of RAM is sufficient and a 650W PSU would be sufficient as the configurator adds +20% saftey anyway.

What kind of gaming do you do? Do you edit videos/music or just watch movies? Whats your max budget?

If you answer those i will post up a spec for you to have a look at.

FX-8150 beats i7 2600k in most games tested here (check next few pages after)

the FX-8150 will be much more futureproof and will be ready for when games begin to require more than 4 cores for ultra/max settings, im sure you dont want your processor causing your graphics card to use less than its full potential

OC is also a good idea for the 8150 as its not great at single threaded programs i must admit, so the OC will make them slightly more powerful

There is a hotfix on the MS site that is meant to increase FX-8150 performance by up to 20% i think and Win8 will also have this feature and will be further developed I imagine

 

[mantadog]

It's at worst really close between the 2 CPU's, the info i have seen puts intel at a slight advantage which grows bigger the more GPU's you run.

Ivy bridge is coming soon possibly wait for that, it wont cost any more than the current sandy bridge chips do.

 

[Wozza63]

It's at worst really close between the 2 CPU's, the info i have seen puts intel at a slight advantage which grows bigger the more GPU's you run.

Ivy bridge is coming soon possibly wait for that, it wont cost any more than the current sandy bridge chips do.

thats what they said about the AMD 7000 series but they cost a lot more than 6000s

just get the FX-8150 mate, it will last you years

 

[Raptor]

FX-8150 beats i7 2600k in most games tested here (check next few pages after)

the FX-8150 will be much more futureproof and will be ready for when games begin to require more than 4 cores for ultra/max settings, im sure you dont want your processor causing your graphics card to use less than its full potential

OC is also a good idea for the 8150 as its not great at single threaded programs i must admit, so the OC will make them slightly more powerful

There is a hotfix on the MS site that is meant to increase FX-8150 performance by up to 20% i think and Win8 will also have this feature and will be further developed I imagine

How can it perform better if it's on the same level as I5 2500k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kd4dvLJQP4

^ Vid, I don't trust writing because some websites are known to be bribed by either intel or amd to show their bench marks better

 

[Wozza63]

Im not watching the whole video but i believe he often uses spreadsheets to display the information, are they not easily manipulated as well?

EDIT: Yes skipped a few minutes and it sees him looking at a spreadsheet

when games need more than four cores for max, the i5 is screwed, people say its futureproof but its not, i imagine more than 4 cores will just be 1-2 years away and i could see Crysis 3 being the first to be able to use more than 4, the i7 will be fine as hyperthreadin will be properly integrated, if not crysis 3 then possibly bf4 (or BC3 or whatever it is)

 

[Raptor]

It's at worst really close between the 2 CPU's, the info i have seen puts intel at a slight advantage which grows bigger the more GPU's you run.

Ivy bridge is coming soon possibly wait for that, it wont cost any more than the current sandy bridge chips do.

Ivy bridge reports show that it is like a mini radiator ESPECIALLY if it's going to be overclocked and the performance isn't too significant thus best thing to do is once ivy bridge comes out buy the sandy bridge since it'll be cheaper and you wont notice too much difference in performance

 

[Raptor]

Im not watching the whole video but i believe he often uses spreadsheets to display the information, are they not easily manipulated as well?

EDIT: Yes skipped a few minutes and it sees him looking at a spreadsheet

when games need more than four cores for max, the i5 is screwed, people say its futureproof but its not, i imagine more than 4 cores will just be 1-2 years away and i could see Crysis 3 being the first to be able to use more than 4, the i7 will be fine as hyperthreadin will be properly integrated, if not crysis 3 then possibly bf4 (or BC3 or whatever it is)

He's known to be an AMD fan boy... So i don't assume a person who is known for being AMD fanboy would diss AMD.. But i do understand your point
The best thing i'd advise is to read up more and not trust just 1 website.... ._. that's what i personally did... and after reading up i'm staying far away from bulldozers.. Far far far away from them... however i want AMD trinity so badly... anyways sorry got sidetracked

 

[Raptor]

Im not watching the whole video but i believe he often uses spreadsheets to display the information, are they not easily manipulated as well?

EDIT: Yes skipped a few minutes and it sees him looking at a spreadsheet

when games need more than four cores for max, the i5 is screwed, people say its futureproof but its not, i imagine more than 4 cores will just be 1-2 years away and i could see Crysis 3 being the first to be able to use more than 4, the i7 will be fine as hyperthreadin will be properly integrated, if not crysis 3 then possibly bf4 (or BC3 or whatever it is)

Also if you read up... the 8 cores... aren't actually 8..
Their explanation about it (amds) is a reworded hyper threading ... instead of hyper threading they use module
so the 8 cores are actually 4... but because of the "module" design or however they called it they act as 8 cores...
1 module = 2 cores
As they were putting it

Edit: In process of trying to find the articles
Edit: Ok my mistake it's 8 cores acting as 4 modules
Edit: I am hypocritical now but ... without physically having them i can't do a comparison

Click 1
Click 2

Bench marks of multiple games and things
decide your self :\ though i may mention you shouldn't believe all of the things you see online

 

[Wozza63]

they still have two physical cores, just 4 rails delivering to them, and once this design is fully integrated into Windows then the performance will improve big time

Sadly i dont have an i5 and a similar system to test but i would do my own testing and conclusions if i did and i don't know anyone with an i5 system either, only one of the first gen i5s