SOLVED New System Build. Looking for your feedback. Starting with CPU's

[Proxish]

Hey Guys,

Hope you are having a great day, and if not, I hope your day gets better. Thank you for reading this and all your advice is very much appreciated.

I'm currently building a new rig, I plan to have all parts picked over the next 12 hours. A lot of thought is going into this build as I'm a student and this is a one off build.

A bit of background, I'll keep it brief. I study Computer Art and Design. I game constantly, PlanetSide 2 being the most tasking of those, and I want a system that can handle GTA V and Watch Dogs maxed out at 1920x1080.

Obviously, the less I spend the better. I live in the UK so building this at a good price isn't going to be easy. Only decent priced websites I know are:
www.Overclockers.co.uk
www.Novatech.co.uk
www.Aria.co.uk
www.Amazon.co.uk

My absolute cap is £1500, that being roughly $2200. But like I said, that is my absolute cap and I would like to keep it around the £1000 - $1500.

So, I'm starting with CPU's and the best gaming one's I hear that are out are the 37XXK series by Intel. But I'm also quite interested in the AMD FX-8350. I've heard it is better than the i5 3750k and is also roughly £35 cheaper.

Thoughts?

Oh and I'm looking at either 2x 660's Overclocked or a 670 Overclocked.

 

[ASUS ROG]

If your chore is mostly gaming and task that can't exploit all 8 cores than go with Intel 3570k
If however you're rendering 3d, transcoding or rendering video than go with AMD FX 8350 is your choice, it offer a longer socket roadmap and give you better performance in these area{ the performance gap is not that much concider the clock and core count of the FX 8350 and Intel I5 3570k}

 

[Proxish]

Thank you for the reply ASUS ROG.
It is indeed mostly for gaming.
I've been researching both the AMD FX 8350 and the i5 3750k. As far as I've read, everyone seems to think the AMD is better in just about all areas.
There is also the possibility that I will need to start 3D rendering and video rendering in the future once I make the jump from College to University.
The price is just about the same as far as I've seen. If the AMD is cheaper than the i5 2750k, with more capabilities, would it not be a better choice?

 

[ASUS ROG]

In the end it will be your choice, if you like AMD and me and other OCF member may try out best to tell you to go with Intel, you're still go with AMD
I think that the new FX 8350 is a solid cpu and will give you a few year of good computing, just don't expect to oc it too much at the AMD is not very stable when you oc it past 4.7ghz

 

[EarthDog]

Mostly for gaming and some 3D... I vote 3770K. It has the HT that can be useful for your 3D rendering.

As far as whats better, you really need to look at the application you are using and see if its CPU based or can utilize a GPU (CUDA or Open CL). If it can utilize the GPU stuff, the CPU wont matter as much. If its CPU heavy and heavily multi threaded (more than 4 cores) then AMD is the choice there.

Its a tough call, I think you can go either way and be happy really.

 

[Proxish]

Well I did originally want to go with Intel. I was an Intel and Geforce man through and through.
Until tonight and bettering my knowledge, I learnt that when comparing the AMD FX 8350 and the i5 3750k, the AMD came out on top and was £20 cheaper.
I was originally going to go with an i7 3770k, but as far as I've seen, there just isn't a big enough power jump to justify an extra £100. (If you want I can put dollar conversions in)
The only place I think there is a major jump there, is if you SLI.

That brings in another question though. If I go for SLI, will I need a more powerful CPU than an i5?

I really want to be convinced that the i5 is better...

I'm sorry I'm being a bit of a pest, I never treat myself. This is my biggest purchase of the last 5 years and I want to do it right.

 

[EarthDog]

It comes out on top in heavily multithreaded apps. I mean you are comparing an Octo core AMD FX to a quad in the 3570K essentially..

Here ya go: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/2

 

[Proxish]

Thanks for your reply EarthDog.

Right, let's rule out rendering, because it is an if, and I don't know what the future holds.

What is your opinion then, in terms of gaming, using photoshop, and watching, but not rendering 3D content? I'm starting to lean towards an i5 3750k now.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Read the anandtech article ED posted, it pretty much spells it out for you. For gaming and photoshop you're probably better off with the I5 3750k. May I also add, one of the things most new users don't realize is that. If you do go with a FX 8xxx series cpu and plan on OC'ing it, you need to spend a decent amount of money on a quality motherboard and Cpu cooler.

just don't expect to oc it too much at the AMD is not very stable when you oc it past 4.7ghz

I disagree ROG.

 

[Proxish]

Thank you for your reply Mandrake4565.

I'll go over to that article now then. I was just investigating motherboards for the FX 8XXX, they do seem pretty pricey. I do plan to overclock it, I want to get the most out of my system, while maintaining a decent life expectancy.

I wanted to go with a water cooling system, I have heard they are far better and silent. But I know next to nothing about them and will no doubt need to watch more than a few videos and read about them too.

As for a motherboard, I know nothing about them either. All I know is that I want one that supports SLI, up to 16GB of ram at least and will also take SSD's.

On board audio would be good since I have 5.1.

 

[Proxish]

I can't seem to find that article.

But you guys have spelled it out for me.
The i5 3750k is what I'm going for.

Do I need to move this to another forum section or is it ok to continue here and ask for motherboard suggestions?

 

[Mandrake4565]

If you decide to go with a FX 8xxx series and overclock these are the boards you want
Asus Crosshair V Formula/z
Asus Sabertooth 990fx
Asrock Fatil1ty 990fx Pro
Gigabyte UD3/5/7
For a mild overclock up to 4.5:
Asus M5A99X/FX

If you go with an Intel I have a I5-2500k on a Asrock Extreme 4 Z77, it's a great board for the money.

Something to take into consideration as I mentioned in the previous post. If you go with Intel you will probably spend a little less on a motherboard and cpu cooler. This all depends on how far you want to overclock. Using myself as an example, I have my 2500k @ 4.8 24/7, using a Prolimatech Megahalems Air cooler. I have tested it 2 hours prime stable at 5.0 with that same cooler. The 3750k from what I know runs a bit hotter then the 2500k but they are also about 3-6% faster clock for clock. There isn't a chance that I would be able to run those speeds on my FX 8350 with an Air cooler.

 

[Proxish]

Ok, ideal. I'll most likely have my Pc on 24/7 as well, so keeping it cool is quite necessary for myself. And fantastic, I guess that is a board picked out as well.

I'm seriously so excited and happy right now, you guys have no idea how much your input means to me right now

I'd like to ask the question of graphics card next.
AMD or NVidia?

I know zip about AMD's side, which is why I need to ask.
My thoughts on GPU's so far are, 2x 660's 2GB overclocked or a 670 2GB overclocked.

Please keep in mind, I'd like to play GTA V and Watch Dogs maxed out. I mention these as I believe they will be two of the most demanding games of the next few years. Though I'm probably wrong.

I guess the other option would be to buy 1 670, overclock it and buy another when those games come out though.

What do you guys think?

 

[ASUS ROG]

Read the anandtech article ED posted, it pretty much spells it out for you. For gaming and photoshop you're probably better off with the I5 3750k. May I also add, one of the things most new users don't realize is that. If you do go with a FX 8xxx series cpu and plan on OC'ing it, you need to spend a decent amount of money on a quality motherboard and Cpu cooler.

I disagree ROG.

You have the right to disagree with me because i'm not an AMD guy, only have the FX 8350 to toy with for a days.
The reason i say AMD FX 8350 is not very stable when oc past 4.7ghz is because i have a chance to talk to one of the editor of MAXIMUM PC magazine on FaceBook when AMD FX 8350 first come out, he tell me the same thing

 

[ASUS ROG]

NVIDIA or AMD decision decision
Red vs green, Nvidia SLI is my choice.

 

[Proxish]

Cool. That is what I was hoping to hear.

What would you suggest, value for money, 660, 660Ti, 670 or 680?

Right now I'm leaning towards a 670 now, and another in 5 months time...

 

[Proxish]

Oh and since you guys have been so awesome, I thought I'd share this with you.
Video I found on Facebook earlier, it's extremely good and I though you guys might like it.
Give it a minute then exit if you don't like it.

 

[ASUS ROG]

You can buy one GTX 670 for now and buy another one when price have come down to run SLI
Make sure you have a good PSU to support your hardware i suggest Corsair AX850

 

[EarthDog]

Before we pick cards... What resolution are you running on?

 

[Proxish]

Cool, I'll check out that PSU now, I was just about to ask about that.

Do you think that a 670 is worth just about twice the price a 660 is?
660's here are coming in at £185 while 670's come in at £300