Right. Building a PC thread.

[Wolfram23]

Yeah but with this set up he could play anything Meduim-High with full Resoltion with no problem and save him self about $500. What will that extra 500 get him? like 10 more FPS on a slightly higher quality then this plan?

Yeah, pretty much! From 30fps medium to 60+ Ultra high.

Plus it would continue to perform like that for several years.

 

[viranimus]

What purpose would it serve? Well, I have my Xbox 360 for pretty much all of my AAA games. I will, how ever, use this PC to play some games. Games like TF2, Minecraft, and such on full capacity. If I would play any AAA games, it would only be on minimal settings. Besides that, I'd also use it for browsing the internet and such. I'll probably use Windows 7 or 8 depending on how long it takes me to make the damn thing.



TLR- Making PC that can run semi power hungry games (TF2 on highest quality, some AAA games on lowest) Give me any tips on any aspects o building a PC

Ok just in case no one else has told you yet, for specifically what you stated you wanted, 500$ is too much to invest, much less 1500 and thats even accounting for US Canadian exchange rates.

Not questioning if the suggested builds are worth 1500$.. Just making very sure you understand that what you asked for is absolutely nominal and can be handled with a 2.5 dual core, 4gb of DDR2 ram and a Geforce 9500 1gb. So make sure to consider all that as well.

 

[Joccaren]

Viewsonic VP2365LED 1080P 23" E-IPS Monitor $329.99
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=66781&vpn=VP2365-LED&manufacture=ViewSonic

Why settle for 1080p?
You can get a reasonable 2560*1440 monitor with free shipping for around $350.
Sadly only 59Hz, but the extra resolution...

 

[Wolfram23]

^True. A 7770 is more than enough for GPU power to get that sort of performance.

 

[loc978]

Honestly, if you're going for a budget system to play current midrange games at full detail, $1500 is overkill, even if you need all of your peripherals. Since Newegg exists in Canada, so you're covered the same as we in the states.

I'll throw an experimental price-only budget build (an actual budget build, mind you... not a $1400 middle-top system) up here... but I'm not doing compatibility research here, so you'll most likely need to swap a part or two out for something in a similar price range:

[edit]
What lies below is the thought processes that took place before I was corrected a couple of times.
this post was the eventual conclusion [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.378476-Right-Building-a-PC-thread?page=3#14804768].
[/edit]

-Proc: AMD Phenom II X4 955, 3.2Ghz, Socket AM3, quad-core, 95W [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113007]
$109.99

-Mobo: ECS IC780M-A2 [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135250]. Honestly, not a lot of good options for AM3 boards on Newegg.ca, but there aren't a lot of good budget quad-core processor options that aren't AM3s. The ECS isn't an ideal choice, but it has very good reviews. More importantly, it has no onboard video (which can be a pain in the ass to disable, depending on the BIOS the manufacturer goes with. Bad idea on your first build). If you find a better one elsewhere (preferably an Asus or a Gigabit, apparently MSI is dodgy this generation), go with that. Apparently ECS is a pain to deal with if you happen to get a bad board. My roommate calls this "cheap Chinese crap".
$54.99 or...
-Alternative: ASUS M4A88T-V EVO AM3 880G [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131827]. In case you don't mind disabling onboard video (might be a pain, might not. Either way, it'll be a better motherboard): . The more I think about it, the more I'm sure I should remove my first recommendation, onboard video or no. I'll leave it up in case you find my thought processes on the matter useful.
$89.99

-RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180]
$31.49
-Alternative: Crucial Ballistix 4GB DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148457] If you go with a motherboard capable of DDR3-2000 (like the Asus I linked):
$51.99

-Vid card: GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI V3 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125412]. Chosen more for noise, heat dissipation and stability than speed, although it has more than enough of that for your purposes (even my old 7950GTX can run TF2 on full... and it's old now).
$139.99

-Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233]. Upside: very modern, modular, friendly for first-time builders who don't want to do any metalwork on their case... also very good cooling right out of the box.
Only downside: it's all plastic on the outside. Tough plastic, but still plastic. Don't drop it down a flight of stairs.
$69.99

-Power Supply: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V Modular [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036] this may actually be overkill for this system, but you're always better safe than sorry when dealing with power supplies.
$109.99


-HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185]. Side note about hard drives... since most of 'em are made in Japan, prices have gone up and reliability has gone down in recent years... since the earthquake. There's about a 10% failure rate no matter what brand you buy nowadays, unless you spend the ludicrous amount of money necessary to get a decent sized solid state drive.
$79.99

-Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204].
+$20.99
=$672.92

-OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986]...you'd totally be able to get what you want running under Linux for free, but that would take a lot more work. Soon as Steam and Source go Linux native, it'll be no work at all...
+$109.99
=$782.91

Now, for your keyboard, mouse and monitor... it's mostly a personal ergonomic choice, though there are some monitor brands to avoid for their failure rate. My opinion on the matter may not mean much to you or most folks on this site. I've been building systems for close to 20 years now and I'm set in my ways.
I like a 2-button corded optical wheelmouse. They usually cost $15 new, $5 used around here.
The keyboard layout I use for gaming has fallen so far out of vogue, you can't find it anymore... but just about any flat, $10 keyboard should do you fine. If you want a specialized gaming keyboard, expect to pay around $80.
My eyes are so badly damaged, I may as well not have peripheral vision for other than movement, so I like 19" 4:3 monitors. this [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116463CVF] is what I would choose,this [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116437CVF] is a widescreen equivalent, and this [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116439CVF] is closer to what most people would recommend. Oddly enough, they're all close to the same price point.

I'll just assume you want the HD monitor, so
$174.99
Also, that one has speakers built into it, so no need to worry about those unless you want surround sound.

Assuming ~$150 for your mouse and keyboard... this is, at a maximum an $1100 build. Much more than I expected, but I never have to account for mouse, keyboard, speakers, monitor or operating system. I have those just laying around in great numbers. For me, it would be just under a $700 build.

Also, I'm working with what I know here. You may be able to get better performance for your dollar from an FM1 board build... I just have zero experience with those.
One thing about going Intel... only if you want top-end stuff. They've got the speed advantage, but expect to pay double for the same bang if you're not buying top-end stuff.

Went over a few things with my roommate, and if you want to build something a bit faster and more expandable with an FM1 board/processor (which is what AMD is still developing for), he recommends these:
-Proc: AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with onboard AMD Radeon HD 6550D [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001]. The on-chip video here will apparently disable itself in the presence of a dedicated GPU.
$129.99

-Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-A75-UD4H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128515]
$117.99

He also scoffed at my hard drive choice (with good reason). Recommendation:
-HDD: Seagate Constellation ES ST500NM0011 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive [http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148756]. Half the space, a bit more expensive, much better speed... a bit noisy, but also less likely to be dead on arrival. As an enterprise drive, it's designed more for business systems, with access speed and longevity in mind. If you need more storage space later, you can always add drives. No need to worry about space now.
$104.49

Everything else would remain the same. This would improve the build quite a lot at a cost of $72.50.

 

[TakeyB0y2]

To be short and sweet, a lower-end Intel i5 processor and 4-gigs of ram should be good enough. Depending on what kind of games you look to be playing, honestly, I'd say if you wanna save your money, go with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 ti should be good enough.

Example of a $270 560 ti: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608

I'd suggest going with the 560 ti with 2gb of video ram.

The motherboard is probably the most complicated part about picking parts for a PC. Go with one with good reviews, and MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS THE RIGHT SOCKET TYPE FOR THE CPU YOU'RE GETTING! If you go with my advice in getting an i5 processor, it should go with an LGA 1155 socket, but that's not always the case. Both the processors and motherboards will have the socket type in their names on Newegg. I don't know much about AMD motherboards or CPUs, but I know quite a bit about Intel ones.

SOmeone already offered aid, but I'll offer mine as well. Reply or send a PM if you would like more comprehensive help. Hell, I could walk you through picking out parts if you like, as long as you don't keep me up too late :S

 

[Baldr]

I'm A+ cert tech. Newegg usually has the best deals and almost everyone who builds their own computer uses it. They usually have great things on sale and you won't be overpriced.

How I go about building a computer:
First is selecting the CPU, this will determine your motherboard, which then determines other things.

Then look for good deals on motherboards that fit that type of CPU. Sometimes you'll find a CPU/Motherboard combo deal.

Next is Memory. Go to the manufacturers page and look up your motherboard's memory compliance list. For some reason you can have the exact type of memory that is the exact right type, but for some unknown reason doesn't work with that particular motherboard. The chances of this are really slim, but it an easy search and will save you headaches down the road.

90% of the time your Motherboard will be an ATX type or MicroATX, this will determine what Case you buy. Just be aware if it is not an ATX.

Make sure you got enough Watts for every device on your Power supply.

Everything else should be standard SATA devices.

THIS IS IMPORTANT:
There are videos on Yotube on how install about everything. Watch 1 or 2 them before attempting, they are a great resource tool if you never done anything like this before. I still watch them even though I may already know what I am doing.

And use Anti-Static gear or mats.

 

[Rastien]

snip

Right build no.2 with some escapist input We have added a monitor to this one.

i5 2500K $224.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Windows 7 $109.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Sapphire 7850 $259.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986

SILVERSTONE 600W PSU $72. 99 (with $10 rebate making it $62.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071&Tpk=silverstone%20600w

Z77 Motherboard $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 Now: $109.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

DVD Burner $20.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

2TB HDD Now: $119.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148529

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO $34.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

8GB 1600Mhz RAM $42.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226217

Viewsonic VP2365LED 1080P 23" E-IPS Monitor $329.99
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=66781&vpn=VP2365-LED&manufacture=ViewSonic


$1446.89 after rebate, $1456.89 before it

snip

I'm going with a 7850, I just don't think the boost in performance to the 7870 is worth it. A 23" is the best I could do, I think the 24" Dell was a bit too much and it went over budget and I had to get an IPS so the Viewsonic is what I chose.

I'm not too sure on the PSU but the extra wattage should give it more headroom. Saying that it may not be needed due to the efficiency of the 7850.

Left the mouse and keyboard out for now though we still have $50 there to work with and I'm sure we could edit the other parts if we are going to add one in.

Just a heads up, if this bro is using an old monitor its probably VGA he will need to chuck in a VGA to DVI converter or he won't be able to plug in his monitor

-edit i see you included a monitor my bad.

 

[Treblaine]

Well, I have my Xbox 360 for pretty much all of my AAA games.

Realise that PC games almost as standard cost about $10-15 less than on console without having to resort to pre-owned and getting strung by online-codes (and kinda leaving the game makers in the lurch).

For example Deus Ex HR is only $29/£20 on steam as standard.
LA Noire is only $20 on steam as standard.
Arkham City is only $29 (includes all the extra content normally lost trying to buy cheap pre-owned).
Hitman Absolution is $45 to pre-order.
FEAR 3 is right now only $8.

I'd suggest going with AMD bulldozer (4 core will do easily) for your CPU. Only bother with Intel CPU for any advantage if you want to spend TWICE as much for (generously) only 10% extra performance. It's an elite chipset. AMD is a workhorse.

HD 6850 is a good GPU for PC and AMAZING compared to console gaming capability (even Wii U).

I'd suggest a large HDD, large than you'd need as once the HDD starts filling larger than 60% it starts to get exponentially slower till it is full then you get the page file (virtual memory, i.e. medium term memory) gets too small and EVERYTHING slows down. 500GB definitely. 1TB if you really need it though consider having a separate media drive so C drive main drive for all your games then a larger slower media drive.

You don't need a blu-ray drive. Get a DVD drive and don't spend more than $20.

Oh, Windows 7 64-bit. Don't bother with Vista and don't worry about Win-8.

 

[Zakarath]

Well, I built this rig last year on a budget of around $800 dollars:
AMD Phenom X4 3.2 Ghz Quad-core processor (~$130) (Black Edition, OC'ed it up to 4.0 GHz, haven't pushed it farther since only default cooler)
Radeon 6850 Video Card (~$165)
Seagate 1TB HD (~$60)
8GB RAM ~$60
some Gigabyte motherboard ~$120
550W Power Supply ~$50
64bit Win7 $100
Case ~$50
DVD drive $20
Keyboard ~$20

Didn't need a monitor.

Still runs just about everything at around max settings at 1920x1080 res; Honestly I'd say spending much more than I did on a gaming rig may be a little overkill unless you really don't care about the money.

Also, Logitech MX518 mouse is best mouse.

 

[Whateveralot]

$1500? I don't know all that much about PCs but you could build a damn good PC for far less than that.

Indeed. I'm getting a top of the line PC for a similar amount. You could get away with spending 600-700, maybe a 1000 if you're getting a retail windows 7 and office. Plus:

Get a SSD drive. 80GB should be plenty. Install Windows on this drive. Your PC will boot within 10 seconds (if you've bought a fast SSD; I recommend a OCZ Vertex 3 or Kingston HyperX).

As for processors: Start here. Choose a motherboard after that. Graphics card after that. The rest doesn't really matter. Oh and make sure your power supply matches or exceeds your graphics cards' requirements.

I suggest combining an Intell I-series processor (i5 should be sufficient) with a nVidia graphics card. It's slightly more expensive than AMD + Ati, but it's overall received as more stable products (however a lot of people would disagree on this. It's kind of a console war thing, for PC builders).

Oh and, if you want silence, throw away the stock cpu cooler straight away and buy yourself another, more silent fan. Good luck!

 

[Treblaine]

Well, I have my Xbox 360 for pretty much all of my AAA games.

Realise that PC games almost as standard cost about $10-15 less than on console without having to resort to pre-owned and getting strung by online-codes (and kinda leaving the game makers in the lurch).

For example Deus Ex HR is only $29/£20 on steam as standard.
LA Noire is only $20 on steam as standard.
Arkham City is only $29 (includes all the extra content normally lost trying to buy cheap pre-owned).
Hitman Absolution is $45 to pre-order.
FEAR 3 is right now only $8.

I'd suggest going with AMD bulldozer (4 core will do easily) for your CPU. Only bother with Intel CPU for any advantage if you want to spend TWICE as much for (generously) only 10% extra performance. It's an elite chipset. AMD is a workhorse.

HD 6850 is a good GPU for PC and AMAZING compared to console gaming capability (even Wii U).

I'd suggest a large HDD, large than you'd need as once the HDD starts filling larger than 60% it starts to get exponentially slower till it is full then you get the page file (virtual memory, i.e. medium term memory) gets too small and EVERYTHING slows down. 500GB definitely. 1TB if you really need it though consider having a separate media drive so C drive main drive for all your games then a larger slower media drive.

You don't need a blu-ray drive. Get a DVD drive and don't spend more than $20.

Oh, Windows 7 64-bit. Don't bother with Vista and don't worry about Win-8.

I disagree, intel provides major gains in games and using less power to boot. And the 2500K is only about $20 more (EDIT $10, after wolfram's post with the price match) and will last longer due to being more powerful and overclocking better. On air both reach around 4.5 Ghz easily yet intel boasts more performance per clock.

Look below, the gains in games are a shitload more than 10%, hell in Dawn of War II it is over a 60% gain.

Spoiler

I mean, the phenom beats the bulldozer cores in some games. I wouldn't use AMD unless you go phenom or wait for piledriver and steamroller which are still in the distance.

The OP has plenty of cash hence why an i5-2500K with a 670 is in the current build.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/the-bulldozer-review-amd-fx8150-tested/8

You only looked at the lower resolution.

At higher resolution (like 1920x1200) that you really WOULD play these games at they i5/i7 equalise with the Bulldozer like with Metro 2033.

Yeah, where I look i5 2500k is looking to be much more expensive.

One reason I am liking AMD is their sockets are well supported, intel introduce new sockets with no backwards compatibility too often, meaning a whole new system build rather than a simple CPU upgrade.

OP may have plenty of cash but he shouldn't feel he has to spend it all. I certainly don't wan anyone reading this who does NOT have $1500 in the bank to think that is the only way to build a gaming PC. Also with AMD upgrades will mean replacing the whole motherboard less often. I don't think overclocking is to be considered that seriously with someone who is new to PC gaming, and how if you are going to OC you want to go into advanced cooling.

No need to overcomplicate this nor overspend.

 

[Wolfram23]

Bulldozer earned the name Faildozer for a reason. The problem might be Windows needing an update to treat the core modules like it does with hyper threading, but it doesn't matter because it's not doing that. So instead of allocating new threads to new core modules, it just assignes them in sequence and every 2nd thread bottlenecks the prior one as they share resources. It's not a stupid design, it's a stupid implementation.

Given that an FX 8150 and an i5 2500k are the same price, there is zero reason to get the FX. On top of that, the 2500k is clocked at 3.1ghz and easily hits 4.5ghz, while the 8150 is at 3.6ghz and pretty much tops out around the same 4.5ghz area. Given that clock for clock the 2500k is faster, plus you're boosting it by more, it leaves the 8150 in the dust.

The only advantage to the 8150 is extreme multitasking like video encoding - except, oh, right, Quick Sync. Nevermind, Intel beats even high end video cards when it comes to encoding.

I do like AMD's socket compatibility. I think that's great. I think the Phenom II CPUs were awesome and especially being able to unlock X2 and X3 cores with a little luck, it was great. But Intel took a couple steps up with their first and second gen i cores, while the AMD FX cores were a side-grade at best.

 

[Treblaine]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/the-bulldozer-review-amd-fx8150-tested/8

You only looked at the lower resolution.

At higher resolution (like 1920x1200) that you really WOULD play these games at they i5/i7 equalise with the Bulldozer like with Metro 2033.

Yeah, where I look i5 2500k is looking to be much more expensive.

One reason I am liking AMD is their sockets are well supported, intel introduce new sockets with no backwards compatibility too often, meaning a whole new system build rather than a simple CPU upgrade.

OP may have plenty of cash but he shouldn't feel he has to spend it all. I certainly don't wan anyone reading this who does NOT have $1500 in the bank to think that is the only way to build a gaming PC. Also with AMD upgrades will mean replacing the whole motherboard less often. I don't think overclocking is to be considered that seriously with someone who is new to PC gaming, and how if you are going to OC you want to go into advanced cooling.

No need to overcomplicate this nor overspend.

I don't really care where you look, Wolfram found the 2500K for $209 and the FX-8150 is $199 on newegg, it's not a big increase, Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills (especially if you OC'd it which makes the FX chips power consumption increase hugely). It makes sense for the OP to spend $10 more and get a much better chip. It doesn't matter about sockets if the OP won't be needing a new CPU for at least 4-5 years, probably more knowing his needs.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/10/12/amd-fx-8150-review/10

At 4.8Ghz the bloody system was using 586W while the 2500K at 5Ghz was using 311W. Even if you don't OC the FX chip still uses 82W more.

To overclock the i5 you increase the multiplier and maybe increase the Vcore but probably not. Anyone could do it. It's not like the old i5's where you would mess with the bclk which would overclock your RAM amongst other things.


At high-res the games become GPU dependent hence why the chips become closer together. The thing is, it shows that when the CPU matters more intel blows away AMD and for the long term intel will be a better match.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/Intel/BX80623I52500K/

I clicked through and it's now $242

"Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills"

the source you cite suggest bulldozer has lower price consumption. and any difference there is is a couple hundred watts when it is only 10 cent per kilowatt hour at the most.

I don't think the OP nor manyu PC gamers are that interested in overclocking, considering they'd have to keep an eye out for stability and overheating that they probably don't want to have to deal with.

 

[Alpha Maeko]

My computer easily costs $1500 total... not sure, though. It's been along time since I've really added any of it up. Too many upgrades that weren't accounted for.

However, Intel has been making good strides towards affordability with things like the second generation i5 processor. I just happen to be an AMD fanboy who's got the Phenom X6 1100.

I would recommend a build to you that costs about $1000 based on the AMD AM3+ platform (I just created a wishlist on Newegg, but then realized you're from LRR land), but I changed my mind after seeing Matthew94's i5 build.

It's a good recommendation, though I would've gone with the 7750 for the video card, seeing as it's the highest performance video card available that doesn't require any external power cables (like the 4-Pin and 6-Pin cables that come with your power supply. If your card needs one or more of those, it's more likely to be a power guzzler and will raise the bar for your minimum wattage on your PSU.)

 

[Zipa]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/the-bulldozer-review-amd-fx8150-tested/8

You only looked at the lower resolution.

At higher resolution (like 1920x1200) that you really WOULD play these games at they i5/i7 equalise with the Bulldozer like with Metro 2033.

Yeah, where I look i5 2500k is looking to be much more expensive.

One reason I am liking AMD is their sockets are well supported, intel introduce new sockets with no backwards compatibility too often, meaning a whole new system build rather than a simple CPU upgrade.

OP may have plenty of cash but he shouldn't feel he has to spend it all. I certainly don't wan anyone reading this who does NOT have $1500 in the bank to think that is the only way to build a gaming PC. Also with AMD upgrades will mean replacing the whole motherboard less often. I don't think overclocking is to be considered that seriously with someone who is new to PC gaming, and how if you are going to OC you want to go into advanced cooling.

No need to overcomplicate this nor overspend.

I don't really care where you look, Wolfram found the 2500K for $209 and the FX-8150 is $199 on newegg, it's not a big increase, Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills (especially if you OC'd it which makes the FX chips power consumption increase hugely). It makes sense for the OP to spend $10 more and get a much better chip. It doesn't matter about sockets if the OP won't be needing a new CPU for at least 4-5 years, probably more knowing his needs.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/10/12/amd-fx-8150-review/10

At 4.8Ghz the bloody system was using 586W while the 2500K at 5Ghz was using 311W. Even if you don't OC the FX chip still uses 82W more.

To overclock the i5 you increase the multiplier and maybe increase the Vcore but probably not. Anyone could do it. It's not like the old i5's where you would mess with the bclk which would overclock your RAM amongst other things.


At high-res the games become GPU dependent hence why the chips become closer together. The thing is, it shows that when the CPU matters more intel blows away AMD and for the long term intel will be a better match.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/Intel/BX80623I52500K/

I clicked through and it's now $242

"Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills"

the source you cite suggest bulldozer has lower price consumption. and any difference there is is a couple hundred watts when it is only 10 cent per kilowatt hour at the most.

I don't think the OP nor manyu PC gamers are that interested in overclocking, considering they'd have to keep an eye out for stability and overheating that they probably don't want to have to deal with.

Tbh the OP could just stick to the Phenom IIs, they run cool fast and stable and they do them in six core variants if you want fast multitasking. Only downside with them is the stock coolers suck ass, make sure you get something better (personally id recommend the corsair H80, they are very efficient and quiet )

Plus Phenom II boards and CPUs are generally cheaper overall.

 

[Treblaine]

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/Intel/BX80623I52500K/

I clicked through and it's now $242

"Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills"

the source you cite suggest bulldozer has lower price consumption. and any difference there is is a couple hundred watts when it is only 10 cent per kilowatt hour at the most.

I don't think the OP nor manyu PC gamers are that interested in overclocking, considering they'd have to keep an eye out for stability and overheating that they probably don't want to have to deal with.

My original post was based on it being $20 more through newegg and I still said it was good value.

Lower price consumption? What?

If you meant power then it uses about 4W less at idle, at load it uses 80W more and like I said, over 200W more if you overclock. I don't care if "the average person isn't interested", it's not hard to do and will add years to the chip and in that respect the i5 overclocks much more (as Wolfram says, the i5 has a much lower base frequency) and I showed how they both top out at around the same level.

You cannot dismiss a valid point because "the op may not do it". It probably take more work to set up windows than it does to OC the 2500K.

There is no benefit to using bulldozer except if you need 8 cores (which the OP and most do not) or if you will be upgrading your CPU often (which the OP won't need to with the i5). There is a reason professional reviewers slated Bulldozer across the board and why AMD had to do a price cut on it. It isn't worth it for the vast majority of desktop users.

Come on matthew, you know I mean low power consumption. I just want to see your maths, how many hundreds of thousands of hours of high intensity gaming would they have to spend (remember to deduct the lower cost of idle power) before the power cost overtook the $50 price difference? And wouldn't it be easier having a slightly higher electricity bill than forking over an extra $50 right now. And there is still the issue of how AMD support their sockets for longer so you'll be able to upgrade your CPU without having to upgrade your motherboard.

I'm not completely dismissing overclocking, I'm saying it's inappropriate and likely unappealing for a novice P builder to try over-clocking.

8-cores do have a use as you can be very careless running multiple different applications together without slowdown. i7 is more for one very high intensity application like HD movie editing.

"There is a reason professional reviewers slated Bulldozer"

Yes, because it wasn't good at single focus professional applications which is not what the bulldozer cores targeted at but for much more general high performance needs.

 

[Treblaine]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/the-bulldozer-review-amd-fx8150-tested/8

You only looked at the lower resolution.

At higher resolution (like 1920x1200) that you really WOULD play these games at they i5/i7 equalise with the Bulldozer like with Metro 2033.

Yeah, where I look i5 2500k is looking to be much more expensive.

One reason I am liking AMD is their sockets are well supported, intel introduce new sockets with no backwards compatibility too often, meaning a whole new system build rather than a simple CPU upgrade.

OP may have plenty of cash but he shouldn't feel he has to spend it all. I certainly don't wan anyone reading this who does NOT have $1500 in the bank to think that is the only way to build a gaming PC. Also with AMD upgrades will mean replacing the whole motherboard less often. I don't think overclocking is to be considered that seriously with someone who is new to PC gaming, and how if you are going to OC you want to go into advanced cooling.

No need to overcomplicate this nor overspend.

I don't really care where you look, Wolfram found the 2500K for $209 and the FX-8150 is $199 on newegg, it's not a big increase, Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills (especially if you OC'd it which makes the FX chips power consumption increase hugely). It makes sense for the OP to spend $10 more and get a much better chip. It doesn't matter about sockets if the OP won't be needing a new CPU for at least 4-5 years, probably more knowing his needs.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/10/12/amd-fx-8150-review/10

At 4.8Ghz the bloody system was using 586W while the 2500K at 5Ghz was using 311W. Even if you don't OC the FX chip still uses 82W more.

To overclock the i5 you increase the multiplier and maybe increase the Vcore but probably not. Anyone could do it. It's not like the old i5's where you would mess with the bclk which would overclock your RAM amongst other things.


At high-res the games become GPU dependent hence why the chips become closer together. The thing is, it shows that when the CPU matters more intel blows away AMD and for the long term intel will be a better match.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/Intel/BX80623I52500K/

I clicked through and it's now $242

"Bulldozer probably would cost more anyway due to energy bills"

the source you cite suggest bulldozer has lower price consumption. and any difference there is is a couple hundred watts when it is only 10 cent per kilowatt hour at the most.

I don't think the OP nor manyu PC gamers are that interested in overclocking, considering they'd have to keep an eye out for stability and overheating that they probably don't want to have to deal with.

Tbh the OP could just stick to the Phenom IIs, they run cool fast and stable and they do them in six core variants if you want fast multitasking. Only downside with them is the stock coolers suck ass, make sure you get something better (personally id recommend the corsair H80, they are very efficient and quiet )

Plus Phenom II boards and CPUs are generally cheaper overall.

Yeah, just got for the more recent CPU socket (AM3+) and you'll be good for future upgrades, they run so cool you don't need amazing cooling. AMD stock cooling is definitely easier than the old LGA775 cooling to install.

Phenom II if you can find a good price but bulldozer isn't that bad.

 

[Treblaine]

Yeah, just got for the more recent CPU socket (AM3+) and you'll be good for future upgrades, they run so cool you don't need amazing cooling. AMD stock cooling is definitely easier than the old LGA775 cooling to install.

Phenom II if you can find a good price but bulldozer isn't that bad.

The AMD stock cooler is the worst cooler I have ever installed. It uses a freaking seasaw which makes you have both parts down at the one time and took me a solid 40 minutes to install, it may just have been a shit cooler though. The other one only took me about 10 minutes.

For comparison it took me 1 minute to install the cooler on the new i5.

Two can use that gif. You ever installed an LGA 775 cooler?!???

[gif is only for humour, don't go mad]

PS: on the power thing you didn't factor the long term idling at 4W less power consumption or how it's easier to pay pennies over several years than an extra $50 right now (which IS the cost difference I can find).

 

[Wolfram23]

Pff all stock coolers I've seen are crap. A Hyper 212 is perfect - cheap, and easy to install. Also fits most cases and for the money it has extremely good performance.