Time to build need advice!

Hello, I'm a new member to toms forums and an ameteur pc builder. I'm looking to building a new system before or around BF3 release. I'm looking at a few options and I need some advice. I've been reading and watching reviews pretty much all day and its time to get some definate answers. For the last few years I have built AMD based gaming PCs, however Intel is becoming very intriging. I have pretty much stuck with the ATI/AMD processors for their cost/performance attributes. Currently my system is:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE mild OC @ 3.81ghz with Corsair H50/dual fan c Asus M4A79 Deluxe BIOS-3603 board
4GB GSkill DDR2 1066
ATI Radeon HD 5870
Corsair 650W PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
CoolerMaster HAF 922 case

I have to admit this PC runs really well, I don't have any problems with COD Black Ops, Fallout 3 New Vegas....but, as any PC gamer I want more, I want fast. I'm not planning on doing a full PC build. I'm going to keep my 5870, PSU, and HDs which I have a question about that coming up. However, for starters here is what I have been debating in terms of systems.

At first I was thinking of staying with AMD and going with this:

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T BE
Asus Crosshar V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600

Then I started to compare this set up with my current and realized that a 6 core isn't really necessary for PC gaming, and probably my biggest gain would be the DDR3 memory and 2 more cores. However, I just watch a top performing rig for what I can afford. Then I saw and read about the Bulldozer release coming in September, and with the hype of this chip I still question how well it will perform head to head with sandy bridge cpus.

As for my other option an Intel based system. However, I don't really know much about Intel so this is why I need help

Intel i5 2500K Sandy Bridge or
Intel i7 2600K (however, not sure if I really "need" hyper threading)
Asus P8Z68-V Pro
or
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3
or
ASRock Z68 Extreme4
GSKill Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600
or
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600

From what I have researched the i5 2500k would be a very sturdy platform for gaming. I don't do any video editing, and I figure if i build the gaming rig off the intel setup and I make my AMD 965 set up my editing PC. Just a thought. From the benchmarks I've seen the i5 is awesome for gaming and overclocking where as the AMD platforms are great for video editing etc. I'm stumpped on the motherboard also, I see good and bad reviews to all boards. However, I am familiar with Asus and I really like their boards. So I'm leaning towards the P8Z68-V. The reason I'm looking at the Z68 series is I'm interested in an SSD which I haven't done yet. Memory wise, I've seen on some reviews that the i5 chips like 1333mhz, so then again I don't know what speed would be good to go with. Again I have never built an intel based PC.

Last but not least. I am not that familiar with SSDs to this point. I know they offer great performance and would help any system gain performance. However a few things I am curious about them
1. I know you can pretty much transfer the data from a current HD to the SSD and run as is. However, if I just want to run the OS off the SSD and nothing else. IE use my other HD to install games and other applications. Would that only give me better start up performance or would I have to place my games on the SSD to get better load times.
I play FSX and it takes up soooo much space, I just can't see having it on the SSD. SSDs are pricy, and games take up alot of space so I don't see where having the SSD as the only HD being beneficial as I am on a budget. If I went with an SSD I figured I would have to just use it as my OS drive, and use another from applications and storage. Or am I missing something?

Thanks for your time, this was BIG question, but I haven't been able to pinpoint my questions and get the answers I need. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forums!

Why not wait for Bulldozer to come out before you decide to upgrade? If you do not wish to stay with AMD, chances are that Intel's CPU's will drop dramatically in price to match Bulldozer's priceerformance ratio.

On the topic of SSD's... They are best used for boot drives at the moment until they offer better price per gigabyte ratios. If you *need* a drive that is 256g+ as a primary drive expect to pay a premium. For *most* gamers, a 1tb WD Black drive is faster enough. If you need speed, grab a 65gb SSD boot drive or a 128gb drive to throw a couple of games onto. Most games do not utilize SSD's other than decreased load times. For FPS gamers, its not about the hard drive its about having the fastest CPU:GPU ratio.

High core clocks are needed for gaming and I guarantee that BF3 will abuse multicore processors

My advice, wait for AMD's Bulldozer. Compare with Intel. Purchase.

In my opinion, you'd be wasting your money buying a new build. Your current CPU is fine until Bulldozer comes out. Since you already have most of the system, might as well just get a motherboard and some other stuff to hold you over.

With just your OS on the SSD, a LOT of things feel faster since the OS responds faster. IMO, it's extremely worth it, just a 60GB drive is enough for OS+productivity apps.

Just grab this, and a used 5870 to Crossfire with. Drop in a Bulldozer CPU when they come out, and you're good to go.

Thanks for the advice guys! I will definately wait and give the bulldozer cpu its chance to shine. As I said I'm an avid AMD fan, and with the hype of the Bulldozer chips they sound promising.
So I was thinking of going with the Asus Crosshair IV Formula, and some GSkill Ripjaws X series however would upgrading my Mobo and ram to DDR3 really be worth the time to do it now or just wait for the bulldozer and do it then?
Also, with the SSD just drop everything on the OS drive and mirror my OS drive on a 60gb SSD and just run it that way? and install my games and other applications on my HDs?
What about the games that are on my primary drive with my os? is it possible to move them to another drive with out having to reinstall them? and start over?

Knufire said:

In my opinion, you'd be wasting your money buying a new build. Your current CPU is fine until Bulldozer comes out. Since you already have most of the system, might as well just get a motherboard and some other stuff to hold you over.

With just your OS on the SSD, a LOT of things feel faster since the OS responds faster. IMO, it's extremely worth it, just a 60GB drive is enough for OS+productivity apps.

Just grab this, and a used 5870 to Crossfire with. Drop in a Bulldozer CPU when they come out, and you're good to go.

View attachment 98789

Click to expand...

So why the Gskill sniper over the Ripjaws even thought its apart of the combo? Is there really any needed difference between the 990FX and 990X?

They're five bucks cheaper.

What do you think of the Asus Sabertooth 990FX over the M5A99X Evo? I like my Asus board that I have right now, but after reading reviews on Newegg it seems many are having problems with Asus over the likes of Gigabyte and MSI

Some people like them, some people don't. I've personally never been a fan of the Sabertooth boards, as the TUF jacket seems to inflate the price more then it should.

Knufire said:

Some people like them, some people don't. I've personally never been a fan of the Sabertooth boards, as the TUF jacket seems to inflate the price more then it should.

Click to expand...

In that case if I were going to spend my hard earned dollars then I should go for a higher tier board maybe. I just watched some reveiws on some boards mainly the Asus Formula V and the Gigabyte 990FX UD7 and both have very good reviews. However with any board there are some with quirks. I haven't had a Gigabyte board yet, but the Asus Formula V looks like a good board. Pricy, but good! I do plan to do more OC with the next PC I build

IMO the higher tier boards are only for people running more then two video cards or extremely heave OCers/benchers, but I'm an extremely budget conscious builder. I'm a firm believer that midrange boards, and in this case, any 990FX board is plenty good for the typical computer enthusiast.

I will give you this. Can't match the looks of those ASUS ROG boards.

Knufire said:

IMO the higher tier boards are only for people running more then two video cards or extremely heave OCers/benchers, but I'm an extremely budget conscious builder. I'm a firm believer that midrange boards, and in this case, any 990FX board is plenty good for the typical computer enthusiast.

I will give you this. Can't match the looks of those ASUS ROG boards.

Click to expand...

yeah, I hear you on the looks. Well, I plan to xfire my cards at some point. Either xfire two 5870s or 6870s....PC gaming is a big hobby of mine so I don't mind spending a few extra $ to get performance and options. The great thing about AMD is great performance for the money. I couldn't justify spending 1k for a CPU (hint hint Intel). Which I have no idea how much the Bulldozer CPUs are going to cost. But I'm sure AMD will keep them in a legitimate price range

I don't know if it was a rumor or actually confirmed, but I always hear $320 as the price point for the top octocore Bulldozer, same price as the 2600K.

Thats about what I was expecting, so not bad as long as it competes with the i7 performance and OC ability

Knufire said:

I don't know if it was a rumor or actually confirmed, but I always hear $320 as the price point for the top octocore Bulldozer, same price as the 2600K.

Click to expand...

Unless AMD undercuts and drives Intel to competitive prices. I am amazed how tight AMD has managed to keep this so close to the chest.

Is it really worth buying the new mobo and ram at this point. I mean I'm sure going from 4bg ddr2 to 8gb ddr3 would be beneficial. Not to mention the OC ability for my 965 on the formula V board. I know the SSD would be an upgrade but I have more than 64gb used on my OS drive. would I have to uninstall them or could I mirror them to my other drive to work? I currently have my OS running on a WD 160gb drive and a second WD 250gb drive.

You'd have to reinstall.

I'm not sure what you mean by worth it? Bulldozer should be out in weeks, and what's the difference between now and then when it's probably the exact same board and RAM?

Knufire said:

You'd have to reinstall.

I'm not sure what you mean by worth it? Bulldozer should be out in weeks, and what's the difference between now and then when it's probably the exact same board and RAM?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm retarded my GF was distracting me while I wrote that... Anyways, I mean we don't know how these boards are going to handle the bulldozer. Would it be wise to wait for the quirks to get tweeked out before I bought the new board. Well the boards are different I'm running the M4A79 Deluxe, and going to the Formula V 990FX different chipset and going from ddr2 1066 to ddr3 1600. I'm eager to build but just trying to decide if its worth getting the new board and ram and run my 965 while I wait for the bulldozer to release. Or should I wait and see the performance and how good they really are before I decide if I'm going to stay AMD or go Intel. I'd like to stay AMD but hype is hype.

So you're saying if I go to SSD I may as well refresh my whole system? Which I could do, its just a pain updating and setting everything back up.

These ARE the Bulldozer motherboards. The 9xx chipsets are for Bulldozer. You probably won't see any more high end boards from ASUS or Gigabyte on this chipset. If there are quirks, it'll be fixed with nothing more then a BIOS update.

From what we've seen, the Bulldozer core is just slightly slower then the Sandy Bridge core. But it's 8 cores vs 4 cores so overall performance, IMO, is probably going to be about tied, probably the edge to Sandy Bridge in gaming. But in the future, as stuff becomes more optimized for more cores, Bulldozer will win. If you upgrade often, maybe go with Sandy Bridge since there will be a whole new line of CPUs on the 1155 socket (Ivy Bridge). There's also a new Intel socket coming out (LGA2011) with $500-1000 CPUs, quad channel RAM, 14 SATA ports, standard 4 way SLI and true x16 SLI. All for a extremely hefty price tag. This is coming out in november, but expect to shell out probably close to $2000+ for those systems.

I'm not about to shell out 1k for a cpu... I'm just looking to build the best gaming rig I can in a good price range. The sandy bridge cpus are pretty well priced right now. It is hard to say when game designers will be having games utilize more cores so even now I don't really need an 8 core processor. I built this rig back in October of 09 so I'm around 1.5-2 years between builds right now.
Whats the outlook like on the Ivy Bridge cpus? What is significant with these chips over the sandy series? At this rate even with the bulldozer release once Ivy releases then AMD will be in the hunt again.
Thanks for your help Knufire you've answered and helped me think about what I wanna do. But, now I just really need to figure out what is best for what I do. From what you said with your last statement. Intel is hard to beat when it comes to gaming cpus, and with Ivy Bridge set to release AMD will be behind again. So either I just take a change and drop an i7 rig in my case, or stay loyal to AMD and wait for bulldozer to come....choices choices!

Ivy Bridge is a die shrink, 32nm to 22nm. It won't be much of a performance upgrade as much as a efficiency upgrade, draw less power and produce less heat.

I wouldn't be surprised if BF3 could use 8 cores. Just fired up BFBC2 and it was loading all four cores on my 920, none of the secondary threads though.