Which is the better Gaming PC for its price?

[MonsterGlue]

Hello, I am looking for a new PC mainly for gaming and an upgrade for my old PC.
I would like to know which of these two would be better for the cost of it.

#1
The Cost: $498

iBuyPower 'Build Your Own' Gaming Desktop Bundle -- Choose Case, Processor, Memory, Hard Drive, and more
Case
(NZXT Black Phantom Gaming Case)
Processor
(AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 (3.2GHz) Processor)
Operating System
(Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit Edition)
Memory
(2 x 2GB = 4GB DDR3-1333 Gaming Grade Memory Module)
Hard Drive
(1TB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive)
Graphics Card
(NVIDIA GeForce GTX550 1GB PCI Express DVI Graphics Card)
DVD/Blu-ray Drive
(24X DVD+/-RW DL Optical Drive)

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d…


#2
The Cost: $808
CyberpowerPC Black Gamer Ultra GUA140 Desktop PC:

Key Features and Benefits:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor
3.2GHz, 6MB L3 Cache
4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 8GB)
Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work
1TB SATA hard drive
Store 666,000 photos, 285,000 songs or 526 hours of HD video and more
24x DVD+/-R/RW Drive
Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats
10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
Connect to a broadband modem or wired broadband router with wired Ethernet
AMD Radeon HD 5450 Graphics
With 512MB video memory, DVI and VGA capabilities
Additional Features:

6 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1 x VGA port, 1 x parallel port, 1 x COM port, 2 x PS/2 ports
2 x PCI slots, 1 x PCI Express (x1) slot, 1 x PCI Express (x16) slot, 4 x external 5.25" bays, 2 x external 3.5" bay, 6 x internal 3.5" bays
Software:

Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition (To learn more about the features of Windows 7, click here)
Microsoft Office Starter 2010: Includes reduced functionality versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, with advertising. PowerPoint or Outlook are NOT included. Purchase Office 2010 today and get the most out of your new PC. (To learn more about the features of Office 2010, click here)
Backup and Restore options built into Windows allows you to create safety copies of your most important personal files, so you're always prepared for the worst

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d…

Thank You

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Hello, I am looking for a new PC mainly for gaming and an upgrade for my old PC.
I would like to know which of these two would be better for the cost of it.

#1
The Cost: $498

iBuyPower 'Build Your Own' Gaming Desktop Bundle -- Choose Case, Processor, Memory, Hard Drive, and more
Case
(NZXT Black Phantom Gaming Case)
Processor
(AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 (3.2GHz) Processor)
Operating System
(Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit Edition)
Memory
(2 x 2GB = 4GB DDR3-1333 Gaming Grade Memory Module)
Hard Drive
(1TB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive)
Graphics Card
(NVIDIA GeForce GTX550 1GB PCI Express DVI Graphics Card)
DVD/Blu-ray Drive
(24X DVD+/-RW DL Optical Drive)

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d…


#2
The Cost: $808
CyberpowerPC Black Gamer Ultra GUA140 Desktop PC:

Key Features and Benefits:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor
3.2GHz, 6MB L3 Cache
4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 8GB)
Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work
1TB SATA hard drive
Store 666,000 photos, 285,000 songs or 526 hours of HD video and more
24x DVD+/-R/RW Drive
Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats
10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
Connect to a broadband modem or wired broadband router with wired Ethernet
AMD Radeon HD 5450 Graphics
With 512MB video memory, DVI and VGA capabilities
Additional Features:

6 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1 x VGA port, 1 x parallel port, 1 x COM port, 2 x PS/2 ports
2 x PCI slots, 1 x PCI Express (x1) slot, 1 x PCI Express (x16) slot, 4 x external 5.25" bays, 2 x external 3.5" bay, 6 x internal 3.5" bays
Software:

Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition (To learn more about the features of Windows 7, click here)
Microsoft Office Starter 2010: Includes reduced functionality versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, with advertising. PowerPoint or Outlook are NOT included. Purchase Office 2010 today and get the most out of your new PC. (To learn more about the features of Office 2010, click here)
Backup and Restore options built into Windows allows you to create safety copies of your most important personal files, so you're always prepared for the worst

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d…

Thank You

It should be fairly obvious, but the first one. The price is actually decent if you compare it with building your own, especially taking into account it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

The Phenom II X4 955 should overall be 10% faster in gaming than the Phenom II X4 840 because of the 6MB L3 cache, but the GeForce GTX 550 Ti is 7x (700%) faster than the Radeon HD 5450, which means overall it should be around 690% faster in gaming.

So yes, for gaming the first config will be a lot faster. The Radeon HD 5450 isn't even a gaming Graphics Card, actually.

 

[ElFenix]

the 5450 is not a gaming graphics card, so the first one easily

 

[MonsterGlue]

So would the first one be able to playing games such as WoW in Ultra settings?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

So would the first one be able to playing games such as WoW in Ultra settings?

Yes, though resolution can play a factor. At what resolution will you be gaming? At 1680x1050 a GTX 550 Ti with a moderate 50MHz over-clock on the Core can play the game at Ultra settings and DirectX 11 enabled at 50 FPS average. At 1920x1200 it can also play it, but a bit slower at 42 FPS average. Now, you should take into account the CPU reviewers use in testing are faster than the Phenom II X4 840, so in reality you should see around 45 FPS at 1680x1050.

 

[MonsterGlue]

Would the 1st one be able to play games such as WoW in Flawless Ultra settings?

 

[MonsterGlue]

Yeah I play at 1600x900 atm.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Would the 1st one be able to play games such as WoW in Flawless Ultra settings?

Hmm, I think that may be a bit much, but at 1680x1050 and Ultra with DirectX 11 enabled it'll play it smoothly.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The first one has a slower CPU but is much better for gaming because it has the GTX 550. It's a good deal for $500.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/9.html

For ~$1,000 you could do much better than that Cyberpower system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227322

i5-2400, GTX 560 ti, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD

Comparison of the i5-2400 against an X4 920 which is faster than that X4 840:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/81?vs=363

GTX 550 vs. 560 ti, the 560 is ~50% faster:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150



. . . . much nicer, but of course it _is_ twice the cost.

 

[MonsterGlue]

Do you feel that the specific iBuyPOWER PC is one of the best they have for its value on Newegg?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Do you feel that the specific iBuyPOWER PC is one of the best they have for its value on Newegg?

The best price/performance is the first one you linked that had the Phenom II X4 840 and the GeForce GTX 550 Ti for $500. The second one with the i5 2400 and GTX 560 Ti is definitely better, but it depends on what games you're playing if it'll deliver a better experience at your current resolution.

So, what games will you be playing apart from WoW?

 

[Qbah]

It's simple, really.

If you have $1000 to spend, get that Core i5 2400 and GTX560Ti build.

If you have $500 to spend, get that Phenom II 840 and GTX550Ti build.

 

[shortylickens]

The radeon 5450 is not a gaming card. I know, I have one.
You cant even play most older stuff well. I tried running KOTOR on it and it looks like crap at 1600x1200 with minimum settings. Like a freakin slideshow.

However it is great for HD Netflix and such.

I recommend the cheaper system and slap in a good video card.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Do you feel that the specific iBuyPOWER PC is one of the best they have for its value on Newegg?

It's the best value for ones that include a GTX 560 and cost $1,029 and under. For gaming, it's a little bit better than the $1,069 AMD X6 + AMD 6950 system at newegg.

I usually build my own, and I have no personal experience with iBuyPower systems but the specs are good.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Neither of those systems is exactly great for playing WoW on ultra. My system can play it on Ultra at 1080p but with slowdown to the low 30's in some places. I also have my x4 955 overclocked to 3.8 GHz. WoW loves CPU power and I would recommend at least an i5 2500k if you want to run it at Ultra view distance.

 

[Arkaign]

The first system is the way to go. At some point down the line you might look at grabbing a new mobo/cpu/ram for it if you felt like getting into the PC hobbyist realm, but I wouldn't worry about it until things start slowing down for you (1-2 years down the line, you get a new game, WoW2 comes out, whatever, and your current system feels too slow for you).