Looking for PC parts midrange (300 USD budget)

[Deleted]

Hello,

I'm helping a friend looking for PC parts for a new PC we're going to build for him. Right now he has a pc case, HDD, GPU (GTX580), monitor and peripherals.

What we're looking for is: PSU, Mobo, CPU and Memory. Anyone got any tips for cheap parts that wouldn't bottleneck the GTX580?

[Klutzington]

You aren't going to get all of those parts that aren't second-hand and maybe a little old for that budget to not bottleneck the gpu. You would need AT LEAST an overclocked i5-2500k (now a little dated), a mobo to fit it, RAM (kinda cheap), the PSU (around $60-$70 new), and a heatsink to cool the OC CPU.

Rough estimate to buy from Amazon or the like:
CPU: ~$200
MoBo: ~$70-80
RAM: ~$55
PSU: ~$60
Heatsink: ~$30

tl;dr - it'd be about $400.

[Fluorescent0]

Z77 motherboard for future-upgrading to an i5 3570k if he feels the need for a more powerful CPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($94.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $313.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-16 19:35 EDT-0400)

If he doesn't intend to upgrade, a B75 is fine.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($75.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $294.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-16 19:36 EDT-0400)

If he can push it to 450$ (kinda high since it's 50% over but I might as well point it out)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($94.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $423.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-16 19:37 EDT-0400)

[Deleted]

How would a http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B009O7YORK be in comparision to a i3-3220 ?

The AMD processor seems to be pretty boss for that price.

[BicycleMafioso]

Thread moved to the subforum.

[Biernot]

How would a http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B009O7YORK be in comparision to a i3-3220 ?

The AMD processor seems to be pretty boss for that price.

For most games and normal use, the i3-3220 and the FX-6300 are pretty identical. But there are some games, where the i3 will do better (e.g. WoW and some other MMOs). On the other hand, the FX-6300 will do better in video editing and if you plan to stream while gaming.

[TyloBedo]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $308.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-17 16:59 EDT-0400)

Slightly over budget but for $300 you're going to have a hard time finding a better value than this.

[Fluorescent0]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $308.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-17 16:59 EDT-0400)

Slightly over budget but for $300 you're going to have a hard time finding a better value than this.

Given that 99% of the games only use two cores at max and that the i3-3220 is ahead in single core performance, no. Not for gaming.

[TyloBedo]

Given that 99% of the games only use two cores at max and that the i3-3220 is ahead in single core performance, no. Not for gaming.

Few things:
1. lol @ 99% of games only using two cores
2. the 8320 isn't too far behind on single core performance vs the 3220 and because you can overclock it the gap can be even smaller.
3. Even if a game only uses two cores your operating system and other programs require processing power too.

Please kindly check out some recent unbiased comparisons of fx 8350 vs 3570k (Linus and teksyndicate are some good ones) and then try and argue that a i3 3220 is going to be better than a 8320 for gaming.

[Deleted]

If going the AMD route, I would pick this mobo instead

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyt...oard-ga970aud3

I think it is the only mobo with a 970 chipset and 8+2 powerphasing. And its only 10 bucks more, but with overclocking it might be able to reach 4.8-5 Ghz (with a good cooler of course )

[jmt]

Don't buy the i3 with the intent to upgrade. The difference is $100. Just save up.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($117.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Biostar TA970 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $285.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-17 17:54 EDT-0400)

You're going to need the CPU cooler and heatsinked VRAM on the mobo to OC the CPU to surpass the i3. It will be more capable than the i3, but an i5 is the ultimate goal. To reach a locked i5, you'll need another $50. It's worth it.

There's no reason to buy an AMD higher than a 6300 for gaming.

[Fluorescent0]

Passmark singlethread results.

i3-3220: 1761
FX-8320: 1409

25% more single threaded performance.
Overclocking on the stock heatsink won't produce anything which comes even remotely close to closing that gap.
The OS requires less processing power than you seem to think.

Let's not even get into choosing a bad quality PSU and the risks it warrants.

[vesseblah]

1. lol @ 99% of games only using two cores

Lolling wont make you sound any more intelligent, rather opposite of that. It also won't make you right sadly. You can still count with the fingers of average human the mainstream games that benefit from having more than two cores. First chart here should be rather illuminating for you if you check out where i3-2100 is located in relation to Bulldozers. Another interesting test is this one on another site if you'd prefer TH instead.

Crysis3 actually uses more cores, but it belongs in the list of dozen or so games you can count with your fingers.

2. the 8320 isn't too far behind on single core performance vs the 3220 and because you can overclock it the gap can be even smaller.

If you OC FX-8350 to the max it will match i3-3220 in WoW, but if you don't, there's pretty notable difference in 25man raids and busy cities. And the OC-able heatsink will add extra cost too.

3. Even if a game only uses two cores your operating system and other programs require processing power too.

Check out the CPU usage on empty desktop while you aren't running any games. Mine hovers in 1-3% range. 3% when mouse cursor is over Firefox window where this page is open. OS and other background tasks' CPU usage is so small today that you can totally ignore those when figuring out the core usage of modern processors.

Please kindly check out some recent unbiased comparisons of fx 8350 vs 3570k (Linus and teksyndicate are some good ones)

Who made you the authority to decide what reviews or benchmarks are unbiased? Anyway, here's something to think about:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=289 (game benchmarks are at the bottom)