Need help with new Gaming PC build

[Shargrath]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming and web surfing.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$1500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA. Amazon.com.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Always loved the AMD processors, but it seems AMD has fallen far behind, so I will go with Intel if advised.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

HD : WD Black 1TB
Mouse/Keyboard/Monitor
Maybe ram (8GB G.Skill DDR3)

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Run at default speed.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

1280 by 1024

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Within the month.


Now that I got those out of the way, here are some builds I am juggling in my mind.

Core I7 3770K
ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x8GB
Samsung 120GB ssd
Corsair 750W psu
EVGA GTX 680
Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 VN300M1W2N No PS Full Tower Case (Black)

Now, the AMD Setup would be...

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard -
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop
EVGA GeForce GTX770 SuperClocked with EVGA ACX Cooler, 2GB GDDR5 256bit, DL DVI-I,
Memory F3-1600C9D-16GXM
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 750 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze (TX750)
Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 VN300M1W2N No PS Full Tower Case (Black)

Now, with the AMD build I can get a beefier video card, but how big of a difference will the CPU make if I am doing nothing other than playing games?

Any feedback is very much appreciated.

 

[jpeyton]

$1500 is a pretty large budget. You should be aiming for top-end performance.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=22625585

Although personally, with the low prices on Radeon 7950 cards right now ($260 AR), and the new AMD frame-pacing driver due out next month, you could save a little money with a single 7950 now and get another one later if you find the performance lacking.

 

[Shargrath]

If I can save money I will, but looking at reviews, it seems Haswell doesn't have as many benefits for a strictly gaming system.
Also I don't order on Newegg, they make me pay tax and shipping

 

[sgjackson]

Any particular reason you're spending 400+ on a video card to run games at 1280x1024?

 

[Shargrath]

Future proofing? I always get the beefiest video card I can get when putting together a new system...

 

[DSF]

There's not much to be said for future proofing. The further into the future you go the smaller the difference between midrange and high-end parts of the same generation becomes.

Considering how inexpensive monitors are becoming I would look at upgrading your monitor if you're totally sold on getting the best video card you can. Otherwise I would step the video card down at least a notch.

 

[Shargrath]

There's not much to be said for future proofing. The further into the future you go the smaller the difference between midrange and high-end parts of the same generation becomes.

Considering how inexpensive monitors are becoming I would look at upgrading your monitor if you're totally sold on getting the best video card you can. Otherwise I would step the video card down at least a notch.

Whats wrong with my monitor though? I have this one,

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-S23A35...ncmaster+sa350

Samsung S23A350H, 23-Inch Class LED Monitor with HDMI

 

[sgjackson]

Whats wrong with my monitor though? I have this one,

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-S23A35...ncmaster+sa350

Samsung S23A350H, 23-Inch Class LED Monitor with HDMI

Now I'm confused why you run games at 1280x1024 when your monitor does 1920x1080.

 

[Shargrath]

Now I'm confused why you run games at 1280x1024 when your monitor does 1920x1080.

Because higher res just stretches things out and becomes annoying. I was using 600X800 as my desktop for as long as Windows allowed me to, lol.

 

[sgjackson]

Because higher res just stretches things out and becomes annoying. I was using 600X800 as my desktop for as long as Windows allowed me to, lol.

How does a higher resolution annoy you?

 

[Shargrath]

How does a higher resolution annoy you?

Everything becomes so smaal and hurts the eyes

 

[Torn Mind]

At such a low resolution, the CPU probably will become the limiting factor...

If you're not overclocking, you might as well get the 4770, as it has AVX2 and TSX instructions. TSX is not available on "K" Haswells anyway...

 

[sgjackson]

Everything becomes so smaal and hurts the eyes

UI scaling doesn't fix this for you? In games, everything should be the same size, but you're losing out on a lot of clarity and detail by going at a lower resolution. Given, your games also probably have awesome frame rates, which I can also see the appeal of.

In the event I can't sway you, at least consider running at a lower resolution which matches the aspect ratio of your monitor. 1280x1024 is 4:3, while your monitor is 16:9.

Edit: As DSF pointed out it's 5:4. Whoops!

 

[DSF]

Well either way. If 12x10 is the resolution you're sticking with and you know that for sure, I would still step the video card down. (Incidentally, it's not even 4:3..it's 5:4, which is moving further and further away from widescreen. For me it would be a diminished gaming experience, but to each his own.)

If you might change the resolution to 1920x1080 later I can understand picking up a nicer video card, although I almost always argue against the very high end.

 

[sgjackson]

Well either way. If 12x10 is the resolution you're sticking with and you know that for sure, I would still step the video card down. (Incidentally, it's not even 4:3..it's 5:4, which is moving further and further away from widescreen. For me it would be a diminished gaming experience, but to each his own.)

If you might change the resolution to 1920x1080 later I can understand picking up a nicer video card, although I almost always argue against the very high end.

I'm bad at math today.

 

[jpeyton]

Ok, if you want a build with better bang for the buck, try this: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=27835947

At 1280x1024, a single 7950 will run any modern game at high settings.

And while Haswell isn't a huge step up over Ivy Bridge, socket 1155 is a dead end on Intel's roadmap. Get a socket 1150 CPU/mobo.

 

[Shargrath]

Thank you for the suggestions and possible builds everybody! I am going to play around some more with the possible builds...another question if you guys have the time. I never heard of MSI as a manufacturer, I like the boards they have in terms of price/features, but I've never heard about them before. Reviews seem generally positive, but whats the general consensus on them as a manufacturer?

 

[mfenn]

And while Haswell isn't a huge step up over Ivy Bridge, socket 1155 is a dead end on Intel's roadmap. Get a socket 1150 CPU/mobo.

All Intel sockets are dead sockets unless you upgrade every year.

 

[mfenn]

Thank you for the suggestions and possible builds everybody! I am going to play around some more with the possible builds...another question if you guys have the time. I never heard of MSI as a manufacturer, I like the boards they have in terms of price/features, but I've never heard about them before. Reviews seem generally positive, but whats the general consensus on them as a manufacturer?

MSI is totally fine, you should give their products solid consideration.

 

[mfenn]

Because higher res just stretches things out and becomes annoying.

It's interesting that you would say this. In reality, using 5:4 (1280x1024) on a 16:9 (1920x1080) panel will stretch everything out massively. I guess you are used to things being much wider than they are supposed to?