PC Pros, Please help!

[All_That_Chaz]

So I think it's time to retire my 6 year old compy. I'm looking at new builds and I have an Intel/nVidia option and an AMD option. They're relatively close in quality and price, but I don't know what gives me more bang for my buck. Also, I read it on the internet but I don't know if it's necessarily true that AMD processors work better with AMD cards, and the same with Intel and nVidia. This is somewhat of a budget box that I'd want to last 5-6 years with a moderate amount of gaming being done on it.

The basic question is, which is the better deal?

Intel/nVidia - $1073
Unique Parts:
i5-4670 3.4 ghz quad-core
Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX mobo
msi nVidia gtx 660 ti 2gb

AMD - $1017
Unique Parts:
AMD FX-8320 3.50 ghz eight-core AM3
Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 AMD 970 Chipset Socket AM3+ ATX mobo
AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB

Common Parts:
A low-end corsair case
8gb corsair ddr3-1600 ram
600W corsair power supply
1TB HD
Basic optical drive, no blu-ray or anything
windows 7 premium
windows office home/student

It's worth noting that I get Sleeping Dogs for free with the AMD option.

[mi40]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

You need to provide us with this piece of crucial information:

What will you be using your PC for? Rendering, gaming, office work, watching movies & TV shows.. etc.. Your purpose will decide your build.

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

Beyond

This is somewhat of a budget box that I'd want to last 5-6 years with a moderate amount of gaming being done on it.

I'd say all of the above except rendering.

[sticklydude]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

I don't know if it's necessarily true that AMD processors work better with AMD cards, and the same with Intel and nVidia.

This is false.

anyways, the i5-4670 preforms better in almost every single way except in some multi-threaded programs, plus power consumption is lower.

Radeon HD 7870 is the better bang for the buck considering it's ~50$ cheaper and performs just slightly less to the 660 Ti.

I'd take the i5 with the 7870 (unless it's like a bundle deal in which you can't seperate them)

p.s. get an SSD. you'll love it.

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

I want this machine to last a while so I doubt I could get a SSD with enough space to last that long for a price I'm willing to pay.

[.Layne.]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

While it is true that the AMD processor works better with the AMD GPU, you would probably want the intel CPU for general purposes.

[dAnceguy117]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

kind of a relevant article, because a 4-core and an 8-core are going toe-to-toe here:

http://scalibq.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/multi-core-and-multi-threading/

I might do some research here out of curiosity. I like the responses here so far.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

If you're looking for something that would last 5-6 years I'd recommend against an SSD. Of the two I like the Intel category.

The i5 processor is an overall better processor than AMD's as mentioned above, I also like the DDR3 which will enable faster read rates in your RAM. The result is improved performance.

There's some good information about DDR3 here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR3_SDRAM

Furthermore the nVidia card itself is pretty decent too, 2GB should be enough to satisfy all your gaming needs.

600W should be good power supply for you - 800 if you're looking for a super gaming rig, 400 might not be enough if you decide to be process intensive.

Just make sure the Corsair case has good enough ventilation. Larger cases generally will not overheat as much.

[Tyson ultima]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

Mind you these cards used are actually of very good quality since I have the 7870 running with my i7 ( yea balla) anywho if your willing to fork over the extra money then sure get the Intel the power consumption will be less in the long run. If you REALLY need that 50 bucks then sure go with AMD your going to get the same general experience anywho

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

I'm sure both of these builds will suit my needs. My question is that which is the better deal?

[sticklydude]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

It's worth noting that the i5-4670 is part of Intel's new Haswell line that released a few days ago, while the FX-8320 is under AMD's Vishera line and is their last generation.

[Garquillex]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

I'm sure both of these builds will suit my needs. My question is that which is the better deal?

Intel/nVidia - $1073

by a significant margin




obligatory "build your pc instead of buying prebuilt to save more money" post

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

Actually this pre-built offers a three year warranty, lifetime tech support, and is like... equal the price of the parts. I checked on newegg.

I built my current computer with the help of a friend and I'm way too paranoid about breaking parts to do it myself.

[Kibblre]

Re: PC Pros, Please help!

I feel a lot of people overlook the PSU. Grab a gold rated one and also think about getting one with a higher wattage. That will leave you some room for if you ever feel like adding a second graphics card down the line. The rest of the common parts seem fine and for the overall build I'd go with the first one. I'm an Intel/Nvidia fan.