1. #1

    New PC - Switching to Intel - need advice

    First off i am a AMD/ATI enthusiast. Always have been. This was the main problem i had when i built this system a few years ago, as i didn't have a big budget, and despite the performance gains from going intel, i couldn't justify the price, i was forced to adhere to a budget, and i went with AMD/ATI.

    My current system is not bad per-se, it runs everything pretty decently (but not super crazy good) i primary play wow, and other mmo's (Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Rift, GW2) and i get pretty good fps in wow, most settings on high a few on medium, i raid a lot and i don't lag very often, but i also have never just maxed out all settings, i always end up tweaking them down to gain more performance

    So my first step is narrowing down an Intel build and a AMD build but this time around i am fully open to doing an intel build if the performance vs price is warranted

    My Budget (approximate....waiting on my tax return) 1000-1500
    My current PC cost: ~550 in February 2012

    My current specs:
    CPU:AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition @ 3.6ghz
    RAM:Corsair 8gb (4gb x2) PC3 10700 @667mhz
    MB:Gigabyte 970A - D3
    HD:250gb Sata II (not ssd)
    Case:Forget
    Power: Thermaltake 750
    OS: windows 7 64 Ultimate
    Video: XFX Raedon 6870 2gb

    What i want:
    CPU: at least 4-core, don't care about overclocking, not super power hungry, or run super hot (I'll get a heat sink too though) 4ghz or higher speeds or at least 3.6+ghz (my current cpu is 3.6)

    Ram: 12gb (or 8 if price is right) fastest DDR3 (higher than the 10700, maybe the 1800?) If i go with an intel CPU was thinking i could run triple channel, if the performance would be better, 4gb x3 so that's why i said 12 gigs if that is optimal

    Motherboard: Gigabyte, or Asus, or something similar in high quality enough to run everything above. Don't need super fancy board, no built on wi-fi or any of those bells and whistles, standard internet onboard, i plan on getting a sound card, so onboard sound is optional, board can hold 16 gig of ram, but not super important (as long as it holds 8-12) not looking for a board really that has a good upgrade path later, i typically run my builds 3 years+ and then use my old systems for my kids or other purposes, rather than upgrade them.

    for Hard drive i want to finally get a nice SSD setup, as i have never had an SSD. I def want probably at least a 240 gig, if the price is decent, or higher if its not much more for say a 320. I dont know all the details and specs for SSD's but i want something that is very reliable, and fast and with good reviews etc, brand dont matter as i dont know anything about them.

    For a case i am looking for a mid-tower, nothing huge but not small either, would like front usb/audio, tooless design or easy to put together, if it has extra fans or fan slots, be great, also the fans have mesh grills that can be cleaned. Main feature i would like to find this time around is something that is sound proof or super quiet...my current system when its humming at night is pretty noticeable, not super loud but if i can get something that has some noise dampening in it, when i hit power it doesn't sound like a jet taking off (fans etc) and stays relatively quiet, be great.

    I also need a new power supply, as i am not going to be taking any parts from this PC to a new build, i am going to keep it for other purposes (kids etc)

    my current monitor is an old Viewsonic, its pretty old LCD 19" (i think) its a VG910s model, its max resolution is only 1280x1024, so i have suffered for far to long with such a small resolution, despite my beefy video card, i would like to find a 2048 (or whatever) 1080 and i dont need 120hz necessarily but be ok to have. 20-25" would be ideal, unless find a really good deal on higher. Brand dont matter.

    I'll need a DVD drive, but dont need OS
    I would like speakers, and a sound card, gaming keyboard, and mouse (but that doesn't factor into the total budget i can get those later)

    I am very experienced in building/researching all of this but i am not familiar as much with Intel and ssd's and newer technology so just need some good advice on getting the best gaming performance i can, budget can be moved up or down, but I'd like to stay under 1500, even 1200 would be great.

    I'll also want a complete AMD setup, comparable part by part so in case i want to stick with AMD/ATI, but this year i am going to try making the switch to intel.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.99 @ NCIX US)
    CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.43 @ OutletPC)
    Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
    Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
    Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($359.99 @ B&H)
    Case: BitFenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.41 @ NCIX US)
    Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
    Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118BB DVD/CD Drive ($13.99 @ Newegg)
    Monitor: LG 24EA53V-P 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($196.25 @ NCIX US)
    Total: $1438.99
    (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
    (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-18 17:07 EST-0500)

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Try this build:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($225.99 @ NCIX US)
    CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.43 @ OutletPC)
    Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
    Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
    Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($334.98 @ SuperBiiz)
    Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
    Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
    Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118BB DVD/CD Drive ($13.99 @ Newegg)
    Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
    Total: $1381.57
    (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
    (Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-19 04:28 EST-0500)

    Changed the monitor primarily to drop the cost by 70 bucks or so for now. Everything else is much the same, barring the use of a GTX770 over an R9-280x, because with the mining going on, the GTX770 is more bang for the buck.

  4. #4
    Pit Lord Ghâzh's Avatar
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    Mainly agree with both builds suggested above but I'd like to pinpoint some of your concerns regarding the build.

    Ram: You don't wanna run triple channel with the latest Haswell (or Ivy/Sandy) processors. They are optimized for dual channel so 2x4gb / 4x4gb /2x8gb /4x8gb work best if your motherboard supports it.

    Case: There are some options for soundproofed cases but really, if you want the best Fractal Design R4 is, by far, considered the best out there. It has the build quality, perfect size for a mid tower, comes with good enough fans and doesn't cost a lot making it awesome for the price. And as well we all know tastes differ but personally I think it's one of the sleekest cases out there.

  5. #5
    K so i did research all day yesterday, and i have some more ideas/thoughts/questions for you all. First off i guess this whole intel vs AMD thing comes down to gaming vs multithreading, and the fact that if i am just gaming and not doing high end computer stuff, design, editing etc, then the older I5 4670k is perfectly fine/best compared to spending 300$ on the I7 4660 etc.

    Also this means that when it comes to AMD vs intel, having the idea that despite newer/faster processors, performance vs the money and for gaming i dont need the "newest" or fastest etc, just one that will be a great value and do what it needs to do.

    Also my plans have changed slightly as i am going to re-purpose this pc to my girlfriend but I'll be keeping the power supply and video card, so that will cut down cost a bit, but that also means i have to buy her a video card and p/s still

    I currently have a 750w power, is this overkill? all this time i have read/thought i needed a beefy power for what i currently have, and the builds i see run a 600 or 625...for more powerful stuff than i have now!? i dont understand that...

    So the "build' would look more like this:
    CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
    mobo: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
    ram: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
    HD 1 - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
    HD 2 - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
    case: havent decided yet (100$ budget)
    power: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (buying for my girlfriends setup, not my own)
    Monitor: 150$ budget

    so that only comes out to being: ~831$ leave 100$ for a case (could be a bit less, but lets give max 100) thats 950, add in 150 budget for monitor, looking at ~1100 and i'll need a decent 1 or maybe 2 gig video card for girlfirends build, doesn't have to be high end, cheaper the better, but with good performance, as close to 100-125 ballpark as can get, doesnt matter long as it its somewhat newer, maybe 2011-2012 ish, so that puts me at 1200/1300 and i'd have 2 systems

    this pc is far far better than what my gf has, she is running an old 2008 system, it has amd dual core x2, 4 gigs of DDR2, 512 8300gs video card, XP...so this Phenom II x4 Quad, 8 gigs of ddr3, and get her a 1 gig newer card, would be an extremely good upgrade for her

    also whats with the liquid cooler, its on everyone's build list on the Pcpartpicker, and on here, is it that highly recommended? i was just going to go with a decent nice air cooler...why does everyone recommend the liquid cooler? i read reviews, and nothing stood out compared to any other cooler i looked at. Not really wanting to spend 89$ on a cooler...that seems absurd to me.

  6. #6
    To answer your question CPU's and GPU's have benefited in power consumption over the years due to a manufacturing process called a die shrink as well as focusing on becoming more power efficiency. Add on top of that the fact that AMD enthusiast CPU's were never that focused on power consumption in the first place and that's why an Intel build for you today would use less power than an AMD build from a few years ago.

    As for the CPU cooler a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo would be good enough for a mild overclock. You should consider doing so as well since you are picking an overclocking CPU and mobo. For a $100 budget on a case I'd recommend the Fractal Design R4 as well. It's a nice, classy case and not very flashy.

    For your gf's video card you should probably wait for Nvidia to release their new low end Maxwell GTX 750 Ti due in February before making a decision since you will probably see a price shift in the low end market because of it.

  7. #7
    Well, the 4670K isn't "older." The i7-4770K is pretty much the 4670K, but with HyperThreading that games won't really use (at least, not right now). The two released at the same time though, both are Haswell processors at the top of their respective brackets (mainstream i5 and i7, respectively).

    For the case, if you're going to allot $100 towards it, I'll suggest my case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147107
    If you want a little more flash, it comes in a "blue" variant as well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147192

    I like the case because it's got the 6 front USB ports, and it also has slots inside the case to feed cables through the back of the case, allowing for a bit easier time with cable management (putting the HDD, optical drive, and case cables through the back of the case means they're not hanging inside the case). I'm not in love with the LED fans, but they're not bad, even in the dark. That case is also a bit under the $100 budget you have, $10 for the black one, $20 ($35 after rebate) if you go blue. But you can find plenty of decent cases for less, it's mostly about what you want and need elsewhere.

    I'd say that since solid cases exist in almost every price bracket, don't go cheap on your GF's GPU to get a better case. Make the case the last thing you pick, and get a solid monitor and video card first, then pick a case in the remaining budget's price range.

  8. #8
    Thanks for clearing up the I5/I7 thing, makes sense, i just always thought the I5 was an older cpu, and the I7 was the newer one, for no real reason other than the number 5 and 7, thinking 7 is newer than 5. Seems the i5 is "new" and fast its just that its cheaper and more budget friendly than the super high end I7.

    As for a case i really like that blue blackhawk case, that is looking awesome, thinking strongly about getting that. I also was looking at the Rosewill challenger case, its only 49$ and pretty good looking/reviews

    As for the video card, anything is better than 512 geforce 8300 from 2007 ish, and my taxes (if government doesn't have a delay this year again) will be back in first week of February maybe mid-Feb at latest, so if that Maxwell card is close and i haven't ordered anything yet, I'll look into it, if not doesn't matter to much what i get her for a card, as long as its pretty decent 1 gig+ card, not looking to max out settings by any means, just way better for her to play wow than currently.

    Also although i am strongly thinking about intel setup this go around, i still am doing research on an AMD build, to compare them

    Looking at the AMD list, what is the "newest' chip for AMD? is it the FX 9590? 8 core. If i were to get the latest Fx chip, and a mb, keep the build about the same, it comes out being the same price as the intel build i posted earlier, the newest fx chip is 299$

    Now how would that compare to an intel i5 4670? I'm not really an overclocker, although i guess i wouldn't mind tinkering with it, i generally always just leave stock settings, but the Fx AMD is running 4.7ghz stock, 5.0 turbo, but it also is running 220w, which is pretty beastly, compared to the 84 or whatever of the Intel I5? And to cool the fx 5.0ghz you'd probably have to have some crazy good heatsink/fans/cooling to run it well? I'd imagine it runs hot

    Also my 750w power would be then utilized more, if the cpu alone would take 220w, vs running a 600w for the intel setup total. And the last question is, if i had a higher end cpu, how important is ram speed and amount of ram? is 8gb of the 1866 enough for Fx 9590? would i need 2000+ ram? what about the I5 4670?

    thanks for all suggestions so far

  9. #9
    The Lightbringer Toffie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Urza29 View Post
    As for the video card, anything is better than 512 geforce 8300 from 2007 ish, and my taxes (if government doesn't have a delay this year again) will be back in first week of February maybe mid-Feb at latest, so if that Maxwell card is close and i haven't ordered anything yet, I'll look into it, if not doesn't matter to much what i get her for a card, as long as its pretty decent 1 gig+ card, not looking to max out settings by any means, just way better for her to play wow than currently.
    Theres no point waiting for the 750 Ti, It's just there to replace the budget gamer GPU (650 Ti).
    You're better off with the 770 or 280x.
    8700K (5GHz) - Z370 M5 - Mugen 5 - 16GB Tridentz 3200MHz - GTX 1070Ti Strix - NZXT S340E - Dell 24' 1440p (165Hz)

  10. #10
    Pit Lord Ghâzh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Urza29 View Post
    Looking at the AMD list, what is the "newest' chip for AMD? is it the FX 9590? 8 core. If i were to get the latest Fx chip, and a mb, keep the build about the same, it comes out being the same price as the intel build i posted earlier, the newest fx chip is 299$

    Now how would that compare to an intel i5 4670? I'm not really an overclocker, although i guess i wouldn't mind tinkering with it, i generally always just leave stock settings, but the Fx AMD is running 4.7ghz stock, 5.0 turbo, but it also is running 220w, which is pretty beastly, compared to the 84 or whatever of the Intel I5? And to cool the fx 5.0ghz you'd probably have to have some crazy good heatsink/fans/cooling to run it well? I'd imagine it runs hot

    Also my 750w power would be then utilized more, if the cpu alone would take 220w, vs running a 600w for the intel setup total. And the last question is, if i had a higher end cpu, how important is ram speed and amount of ram? is 8gb of the 1866 enough for Fx 9590? would i need 2000+ ram? what about the I5 4670?

    thanks for all suggestions so far
    The FX9590 isn't really comparable to the i5 4670k since it's a 8 core CPU. It's trying to compete with i7 4770k (4 core with hyperthreading so essentially 8 core) but is mostly worse overall, not to mention that it consumes twice the power. Bottom line is if you are gaming you don't need 8 cores, strong 4 core will do. So, for gaming your best option is i5 4670k. The only reason you'd want to buy the AMD is personal preference.

    When it comes to RAM, you'll get some benefit going above 1600MHz but seeing as you are on a bit of a budget you don't wanna spend too much on it since the money spent on nearly any other component will give you more performance. If you can grab a cheap 1866MHz kit go for it but above that, not worth it.
    Last edited by Ghâzh; 2014-01-19 at 10:48 PM.

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