2500k or GPU

[m0ssy]

Popping my cherry on this forum. lol So I'm putting together a budget build for gaming purposes. Games would consist of FPS's like BF3 and COD MW3 when they come out. I pretty much have been working on two builds.

Case, psu, hdd, ram, and rom are the same for both builds so far.

Case - Antec Two Hundred
PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance PSU
Ram - Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
HDD - Barracuda 7200rpm 500g or a Momentus XT 500g
Rom - Samsung dvd/cd burner

Now here's where I've been stuck at. Basically back and forth between a good build with a really nice $300 video card or a really good cpu with a $200 video card. Should I get the 2500k (which I'll overclock) with a $200 GPU; been looking at the Zotac AMP! GTX 560(fermi). Or should I get an AMD x4 695 BE with a $300 overclocked GTX 570(fermi) or maybe a overclocked GTX 480.

Any thoughts, inputs, and/or additions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[jhansman]

I look at upgrades in terms of moving the bottleneck around. Something is bound to be the slower or less efficient component. You put in a kick ass CPU, and a middling GPU. Or, a screaming GPU and low-end RAM. Or, zippy RAM and a 7200 RPM magnetic drive. I have often wondered, given a blank check, what system I'd build if I could. As it is, I (like you) have to live within realistic budgetary restrictions, so something gets shorted. I'm not helping, I know, but your dilemma is one we all face sooner or later, and compromises get made. Me, I'd put the cash in the CPU and hedge on the GPU. Since you are overclocking, that 2500K will get a goodly amount of your attention. Once you have it purring, you can turn to your video and see if you can help it keep up. Just my $.02

 

[happy medium]

2500k overclocked with a gtx560ti overclocked.

 

[taltamir]

Popping my cherry on this forum. lol So I'm putting together a budget build for gaming purposes. Games would consist of FPS's like BF3 and COD MW3 when they come out. I pretty much have been working on two builds.

Case, psu, hdd, ram, and rom are the same for both builds so far.

Case - Antec Two Hundred
PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance PSU
Ram - Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
HDD - Barricuda 7200rpm 500g or a Momentus XT 500g
Rom - Samsung dvd/cd burner

Now here's where I've been stuck at. Basically back and forth between a good build with a really nice $300 video card or a really good cpu with a $200 video card. Should I get the 2500k (which I'll overclock) with a $200 GPU; been looking at the Zotac AMP! GTX 560(fermi). Or should I get an AMD x4 695 BE with a $300 overclocked GTX 570(fermi) or maybe a overclocked GTX 480.

Any thoughts, inputs, and/or additions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

1. Can you link to the ram you are looking at? I have a feeling you are buying unnecessarily "fast"/expensive ram that you do not need. Might as well use that money elsewhere in the build.
2. Your PSU is way too much. Get a 500 watt one.
3. Definitely get the 2500K.

 

[Fallengod]

You shouldnt need to spend more than like $40-$50 for 8gb these days for ram. Just keep eyes peeled for deals.

To be honest, I think your only option is to go for the 2500k then buy whatever video card you can with money left over. If you go vid card first, and have a mid range cpu, you wont get the performance out of it and youll be stuck.

 

[Ben90]

The point at which setup is faster really depends on how hard you want to push video settings. This is basically up to you. If you want a solid 30-45FPS, the AMD + 570 setup will probably get you the best visuals. However if you want to push things to near 100FPS or beyond, the Intel + 560 will be your best bet.

We don't know how CPU/GPU intensive these games are yet so its hard to really give you a solution perfectly tailored to you. I can however tell you that no matter what the Intel + 560 will never choke before the AMD system as long as you don't mind reducing visuals.

As someone who is always after the best performance possible, I would choose the Intel system hands down. However not everyone shares my opinion and can't stand looking at aliasing or non-filtered textures. For those always looking for the best IQ, putting more money into the VGA system wins. Generally most people average somewhere in the middle.

 

[toyota]

do you want a cpu that will already gimp your performance from day 1? 2500k is not much more money in the whole scheme of things and uses way less power. you can get by with a much weaker power supply with the 2500k if you were going to oc both the 2500k or X4. really even stock the 2500k is much faster than an oced X4 will be and again will use MUCH less power. in fact you will not even really need to oc the 2500k and can get by with the stock cooler for a while is you need to cut some initial costs down.

so yeah I would go gtx560 Ti and 2500k for now if you cannot get both the 2500k and gtx570. at worst you will have to turn down some AA compared to the gtx570. remember too that a gpu is a pretty simple upgrade and that 2500k platform will last you quite a while. any money you save no will be of little consequence since you will have to upgrade that X4 much sooner if you want to actually get the most out of your future gpu upgrades.

 

[Crap Daddy]

2500k and the 560Ti is the best choice, you can get a Ti at around 200$ considering rebates, forget the 560 non Ti. And yes get a decent PSU, you'll need it for OC, I'd say Corsair TX650.

 

[CFP]

m0ssy 0ak is that you?

 

[Will Robinson]

Get the 2500K its a badass CPU and pwns AMD.
Forget the GTX480 its a volcano and sucks power like a ...ah....er..well it sucks power.:whiste:

 

[biostud]

2500K+560Ti +1

 

[m0ssy]

1. Can you link to the ram you are looking at? I have a feeling you are buying unnecessarily "fast"/expensive ram that you do not need. Might as well use that money elsewhere in the build.
2. Your PSU is way too much. Get a 500 watt one.
3. Definitely get the 2500K.

I figured DDR3 1600 is pretty much a good standard nowadays. It's also on sale for $38 after the rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220558

Same goes for the PSU. Good brand and got a deal on it with the dvd burner for $60 together after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.720805

 

[Rhezuss]

Yeah, go 2500k and a midrange GPU like the 560 Ti/HD6870 or HD6950 if it's in your budget.

I own the 560 Ti and it's a amazing little power house of a card. Not too expensive and it delivers awesome performances for that price range.

So, like most said, get the 2500k, it'll last you a little while plus add a $200 midrange awesome GPU!

Good gaming!

 

[Denithor]

2500k + 560ti

A year from now you'll be much happier with the 2500k than you would be with an X4. And in 1-2 years it'll be much easier to replace just the 560ti than to have to replace the cpu/mobo/gpu just to up your gaming performance...

 

[mnewsham]

I figured DDR3 1600 is pretty much a good standard nowadays. It's also on sale for $38 after the rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220558

Same goes for the PSU. Good brand and got a deal on it with the dvd burner for $60 together after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.720805

That RAM is 1.65v (bad for sandy bridge) get two of these instead. The combo looks fine it is a little over kill though.

 

[kalrith]

2500k + 560ti

A year from now you'll be much happier with the 2500k than you would be with an X4. And in 1-2 years it'll be much easier to replace just the 560ti than to have to replace the cpu/mobo/gpu just to up your gaming performance...

This. I'm still using my Q6600 @ 3.2 GHz that I purchase in 2007 (I think), and I'm looking to purchase my 2nd or 3rd video-card upgrade since then. The 2500K should last you several years, but 2 years from now video cards will likely have jumped much more than CPUs, and you'll want to upgrade whether you spend $200 or $300 on a video card today.

 

[taltamir]

I figured DDR3 1600 is pretty much a good standard nowadays. It's also on sale for $38 after the rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220558

Same goes for the PSU. Good brand and got a deal on it with the dvd burner for $60 together after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.720805

For PSU I recommend this 500W instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371035
Yours has 0 reviews, I am not willing to trust the brand name due to various reasons, 700W is too much for you and will hurt your efficiency & cause unnecessary heating up of your case, and MIR are BS.

For RAM I would recommend you get something else, that ram is overpriced. And as someone else mentioned the voltage is too high. Unfortunately the ram he suggested instead is completely out of stock so you can get anything from here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E&Pagesize=100
Personally I would go with one of the cheaper ones.

 

[wand3r3r]

Definitely the 2500k + 560 ti. If the GPU is underpowered in the future you can go SLI, but if you went with the amd you'd need a cpu/mb combo when you upgrade (assuming you upgraded to intel).

I'd still say the PSU can be that powerful as you are prepared for SLI if you decide later on you want to. Regardless PSUs are 80% efficient from about 20% usage up to 100% (I should verify this but I'm pretty sure I've read this) so it's probably pretty efficient even if it's overkill atm.

Alternatively you can use the 560 ti for physix (not too familiar so maybe it's overkill) and get another card when the next gen comes out if it's insufficient.

 

[taltamir]

Regardless PSUs are 80% efficient from about 20% usage up to 100% (I should verify this but I'm pretty sure I've read this)

An 80% can dip below 80 at extremes. That particular PSU (see links to HardOCP bench below) showed 81% efficiency at 171W and 77% efficiency at 687W.
Which is actually not bad since a lot of PSUs dip a LOT further down

It is important to get a quality review of your PSU, I think the best site is this:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
for PSU reviews. They specialize in reviewing PSUs.

So, a quick google search and some reading later and this is what I found out:

The specific PSU you want is sourced from a mediocre company (its a rebadge) by OCZ and originally failed on HardOCP review:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4989
Although HardOCP pulled the original review and replaced it with this tidbit:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/03/03/ocz_modxstream_pro_700w_40c_update/

OCZ changed their package after the original review went live, altering the PSU's rated temperature to 40c from 50c and contacted HardOCP to explain that the previous package was a "honest mistake", that it was 40c all along, and from now on all packages state it as the correct value of 40c not 50c.

So now HardOCP is saying "well, it failed at 5c over the rated spec rather then 5c under so it is good" (it failed at 45c)... HardOCP is very trusting, HardOCP also doesn't check PSUs as well as jonnyguru, [H] only checks to see if the PSU will output the advertised amount without exploding (typical failure method for a PSU, some actually catch fire)
But they don't do oscilloscope testing to test quality of power so I don't know how much stock I would put in their PSU reviews (other then ones which result in the PSU totally failing on use). Oscilloscope testing will tell you how stable your power output from the PSU to the components is, it is the #1 factor in how long they are going to last, an unstable power source can have more immediate results too like causing your HDD to silently corrupt files as they are written.

Basically, I am not sure how good/bad that PSU actually is since I lack a good review of it... but being able to deliver 98% of its rated wattage without exploding puts in the top tiers.
Most, literally over 50% of the PSUs out there would explode at about 60 or 70% of their rated wattage. This is a big cause of people/companies recommending such ridiculously high wattage requirements.

high quality PSUs also don't explode when you try to overload them, they gracefully shut down to protect themselves

 

[m0ssy]

For PSU I recommend this 500W instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371035
Yours has 0 reviews, I am not willing to trust the brand name due to various reasons, 700W is too much for you and will hurt your efficiency & cause unnecessary heating up of your case, and MIR are BS.

For RAM I would recommend you get something else, that ram is overpriced. And as someone else mentioned the voltage is too high. Unfortunately the ram he suggested instead is completely out of stock so you can get anything from here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E&Pagesize=100
Personally I would go with one of the cheaper ones.

Yeah I noticed the 1.65v after reading some reviews on here. I've also read a couple of benchmarks that should little to no performance boost when comparing 4g against 8g's of RAM for gaming. Would anyone care to chime in on this subject? Because if that's the case, I'll put that $25 towards the cooler.

 

[hrbngr2]

from my cursory reading on the subject, get 8gb, if u need the extra for any program that is poorly written w/memory leaks, yadda, yadda, you will have it. Per one of the anandtech articles, if i remember correctly, the SB mobos dont perform too differently with different speeds of ddr3--might be worth some research to confirm, though.

 

[happy medium]

Yeah I noticed the 1.65v after reading some reviews on here. I've also read a couple of benchmarks that should little to no performance boost when comparing 4g against 8g's of RAM for gaming. Would anyone care to chime in on this subject? Because if that's the case, I'll put that $25 towards the cooler.

I had 8gb of memory and sold 4gb and I dont notice anything different.

 

[toyota]

I had 8gb of memory and sold 4gb and I dont notice anything different.

you will not notice it in 99% of games. its certainly more useful if you like to keep a bunch of things open though. I exceed 4gb of physical ram several times a day so 8gb is nice. in fact with prices like they are even 16gb is not all that silly to get. heck that will be the standard for Sandy Bridge E. btw the 8gb ram kit I paid 80 bucks for a few weeks was on sale today for 50. :'(

 

[taltamir]

There are some games that go over 4GB, they aren't all that common but they are there.
There are times I go over 4GB with non gaming programs.
It is possibly you wouldn't notice any difference, but RAM is just so cheap nowadays that I couldn't help myself and went 8GB

 

[Destiny]

Get the CPU first... the GPUs prices may drop when the new GPUs come out in the next few months... or save up to stretch your budget to get a better GPU later.