which platform for a budget gaming build and these prices?

[carancho]

Hello. I'm about to build a PC for, among other uses, gaming. It's been 4 years since I last built a system, and there are some many options now (mainly from AMD) that I don't know what to pick!

Budget is a serious concern, so I don't have a specific performance target other than trying to play without serious slowdowns and an acceptable quality on 1080p if possible (tough I'll play from the couch on a 40" tv, so lowering resolution a bit to keep FPS and quality could also be acceptable). I come from a nVidia 9800 on a C2D e4400. I won't be OCing anything.

I already have a case, PSU, storage, etc. I've got my mind set on 8gb of ram.
I need a general recommendation on what to choose as a platform (Intel or which AMD). The following prices are among the lowest possible on Argentina (I'll be purchasing from a wholesaler - retail prices are about 12% higher depending on the component; I could get more variety that way but paying more.). Importing parts privately is ruled off by the current import restrictions. I'm thinking of purchasing this:

i3 3220: USD 150
Mother Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V: USD 88
XFX HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 (FX-777A-ZNF4): USD 210
​

Target budget for these components: USD 450
(I'm willing to go maybe USD 100 lower or higher if the performance/price elasticity justifies it - eg. you have about the same % increase in performance as in price.)

Some other prices in order to get a picture of the market:

CPUs

Pentium G645: USD 76 (this is one of the possible reasonable downgrades: is the performance of a 3220 that much better in games so that I pay double for it? Would the G645 result in serious stutter?)
Core i5-3470 USD 235

AMD A4-5300: USD 61
AMD A6-5400k: USD 86
AMD A8-5600k: USD 130
(the cheapest FM2 motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Socket FM2 at USD 89 so no differences there)
AMD FX-4100: USD 131
AMD FX-8120: USD 193
(AM3 motherboard start with a Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 at USD 101).​

Video

EVGA GT650 Ti 1Gb Ddr5: USD 251
XFX Radeon HD 6770 (HD-677X-ZAF4): USD 149.
Also at about USD 160 there are several GT640.
​

So, should I go Intel? And should I get the i3 3220?
Should I purchase the 7770? (It seems that it has the best perf/price ratio).

Thanks!

 

[meeshu]

What is the brand and model of the PSU you already have?

And how long have you used it for?

 

[carancho]

What is the brand and model of the PSU you already have?

And how long have you used it for?

Thanks for answering. I have this PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500W http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3738 (Since I'm not at home right now I looked in my emails for the purchase; I'm sure absolutely about the brand and "eXtreme" model but I'm under the impression I might've actually changed the purchase at the retailer's for a more powerful variant - the 550w or 650w model.)

I bought it in october 2008 (the original post is wrong; I built the PC in that month). It hasn't been used though in the last year or year and a half. That computer had several problems: both the on board and PCI ethernet quit working, as well as the two supertalent memory sticks. The memory works ok on an original athlon X2, so I swapped memories (and the C2D is now with only 2gb of 667mhz ram instead of the original 4gb@800mhz).

 

[frozentundra123456]

Hello. I'm about to build a PC for, among other uses, gaming. It's been 4 years since I last built a system, and there are some many options now (mainly from AMD) that I don't know what to pick!

Budget is a serious concern, so I don't have a specific performance target other than trying to play without serious slowdowns and an acceptable quality on 1080p if possible (tough I'll play from the couch on a 40" tv, so lowering resolution a bit to keep FPS and quality could also be acceptable). I come from a nVidia 9800 on a C2D e4400. I won't be OCing anything.

I already have a case, PSU, storage, etc. I've got my mind set on 8gb of ram.
I need a general recommendation on what to choose as a platform (Intel or which AMD). The following prices are among the lowest possible on Argentina (I'll be purchasing from a wholesaler - retail prices are about 12% higher depending on the component; I could get more variety that way but paying more.). Importing parts privately is ruled off by the current import restrictions. I'm thinking of purchasing this:

i3 3220: USD 150
Mother Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V: USD 88
XFX HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 (FX-777A-ZNF4): USD 210
​

Target budget for these components: USD 450
(I'm willing to go maybe USD 100 lower or higher if the performance/price elasticity justifies it - eg. you have about the same % increase in performance as in price.)

Some other prices in order to get a picture of the market:

CPUs

Pentium G645: USD 76 (this is one of the possible reasonable downgrades: is the performance of a 3220 that much better in games so that I pay double for it? Would the G645 result in serious stutter?)
Core i5-3470 USD 235

AMD A4-5300: USD 61
AMD A6-5400k: USD 86
AMD A8-5600k: USD 130
(the cheapest FM2 motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Socket FM2 at USD 89 so no differences there)
AMD FX-4100: USD 131
AMD FX-8120: USD 193
(AM3 motherboard start with a Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 at USD 101).​

Video

EVGA GT650 Ti 1Gb Ddr5: USD 251
XFX Radeon HD 6770 (HD-677X-ZAF4): USD 149.
Also at about USD 160 there are several GT640.
​

So, should I go Intel? And should I get the i3 3220?
Should I purchase the 7770? (It seems that it has the best perf/price ratio).

Thanks!

I would not get the pentium. I would go for the i3 or if it were available at a decent price, an FX6300. The best option is the i5 for sure if your budget can fit it in.

I would avoid the GT640. For your video card choices you list a 6670, but later talk about a 7770. The 650ti will offer somewhat better performance, but is a bit overpriced in my opinion. A 6670 is decent if you get a ddr5 version, but I would try to get the HD7770.

 

[carancho]

Thanks for helping out, frozen tundra.

I want to get this strait, you'd choose a FX6300 for, say, USD 150 and a total with motherboard of USD 250 than the i3 3220 for a total of USD 240?

For what I can see the 6770 has a 3dmark score of 1810, not much better than my 9800GT's of 1340.

Actually the 3dmark11 scores are:
9800GT: 1310
6670: 1850 (18,0 3dmark points per dollar)
6770: 2500 (16,8 ppd)
7770: 3410 (16,2 ppd)
650 ti: 4750 (18,9 ppd)

Based on 3dmark scores they are all on correctly priced, though the performance delta on 3dmark between the 7770 and the 650 ti is much higher than what really seems to be based on the bench results http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=680.

I think I'll go for the 7770 (3400 score); the 650 Ti seems as you say overpriced relative to the 7770's prices.

The 7770 is the minimum to try to play in 1080p, right? I think going with much less could be a problem if devs start to target the performance of a radeon 7850 HD@1080p because of the PS4. A 7770@720p would be about as fast as a 7850@1080p, so I could go on playing at an acceptable 720p in the future with that kind of build.

 

[Sleepingforest]

The 7770 will play most things at 1080p on medium--essentially, it'll look like a console game but run much smoother and at a higher framerate. If you're willing to accept a slightly slower framerate, the 7770 will probably continue to be "adequate" (40+ frames per second at medium detail) for a couple of years.

The FX and a low level i3 are roughly equal in costs--$140 vs $130. On the other hand, the i3's motherboards will be slightly more expensive. You'll spend roughly the same either way.

On the other hand, an AM3+ motherboard will be a useful socket for longer than the LGA1155 socket, meaning you'll be able to put new CPUs in the same AMD motherboard for another year, but your choices on the Intel side are slightly more limited without getting an new motherboard. It really boils down to whether you think AMD will continue to be competitive with Intel in the middle range.

 

[meeshu]

I have this PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500W http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3738 (Since I'm not at home right now I looked in my emails for the purchase; I'm sure absolutely about the brand and "eXtreme" model but I'm under the impression I might've actually changed the purchase at the retailer's for a more powerful variant - the 550w or 650w model.)

I bought it in october 2008 (the original post is wrong; I built the PC in that month). It hasn't been used though in the last year or year and a half.

Thanks for your prompt and detailed reply!

OK. The Cooler Master eXterme Power Plus series of PSU's are not recommended (see here, here and here).

These PSU's use lower grade components and their performance is not very good.

If possible, it is recommended that another PSU with better performance and reliability be used to protect the investment of your new build. Some suggested brands to consider are Seasonic, XFX, Corsair, and Silverstone.

. . . I won't be OCing anything.

In this case, a PSU rated around 400~450W should be fine for your proposed build.

I already have a case, PSU, storage, etc. I've got my mind set on 8gb of ram.

Get TWO modules of 4GB RAM (8GB in total) so that the RAM operates in DUAL channel mode to maximize memory bandwidth.

. .I'm thinking of purchasing this:

i3 3220: USD 150
Mother Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V: USD 88
XFX HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 (FX-777A-ZNF4): USD 210
​

Yes! Very good choice!

Pentium G645: USD 76 (this is one of the possible reasonable downgrades: is the performance of a 3220 that much better in games so that I pay double for it? Would the G645 result in serious stutter?)

G645 has two cores, no Hyper-Threading, clocked at 2.9GHz, 3MB cache, 65W TDP.
I3-3220 has two cores, Hyper-Threading (equivalent in performance to somewhere between 2 and 4 "effective" cores), clocked at 3.3GHz, 3MB cache, 55W TDP.

Hard to say how much difference in performance there is between the G645 and the better performing i3-3220.

So, should I go Intel? And should I get the i3 3220?

Basically yes! Less power consumption and more efficient processing, especially for single and dual threaded tasks.

 

[carancho]

I'll buy the 7770 then.

Not many opinions on the CPU - seems that there's no point in going lower for more GPU and that the AMD/Intel offers are the same, save for the power consumption.

 

[mfenn]

The 7770 and GTX 650 Ti are the only two cards you listed that have any chance of playing games at 1080p. The GTX 650 Ti is the faster of the two, but it's not worth the price increase IMHO. You have to go up to the next level of card (7850 and GTX 660) to really benefit.

For games, I'd always rather have better single-threaded performance before I invest in higher core counts. Thus, I'd stick with the i3 3220.

Also, I think some expectations-setting is in order. The 7770 is not a very powerful card in the grand scheme of things, and it will struggle at 1080p with details turned up in newer games. It'll work great at 720p and high details though.

Personally, when sitting relatively far away from the screen, I'd prefer a lower resolution but more/fancier effects than a higher resolution but fewer effects.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Thanks for helping out, frozen tundra.

I want to get this strait, you'd choose a FX6300 for, say, USD 150 and a total with motherboard of USD 250 than the i3 3220 for a total of USD 240?

For what I can see the 6770 has a 3dmark score of 1810, not much better than my 9800GT's of 1340.

Actually the 3dmark11 scores are:
9800GT: 1310
6670: 1850 (18,0 3dmark points per dollar)
6770: 2500 (16,8 ppd)
7770: 3410 (16,2 ppd)
650 ti: 4750 (18,9 ppd)

Based on 3dmark scores they are all on correctly priced, though the performance delta on 3dmark between the 7770 and the 650 ti is much higher than what really seems to be based on the bench results http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536?vs=680.

I think I'll go for the 7770 (3400 score); the 650 Ti seems as you say overpriced relative to the 7770's prices.

The 7770 is the minimum to try to play in 1080p, right? I think going with much less could be a problem if devs start to target the performance of a radeon 7850 HD@1080p because of the PS4. A 7770@720p would be about as fast as a 7850@1080p, so I could go on playing at an acceptable 720p in the future with that kind of build.

No, I did not mean I would choose the FX6300 over the i3. What I meant was I would choose the FX6300 over the 5800K (edit: over any of the A series AMD apus or the older BD FX x1xx series). It doesnt make much sense to me to buy a processor whose best point is its igp and then add a discrete card. It is pretty much a toss up between the i3 and the FX6300. The i3 is more efficient and possibly a bit faster in poorly threaded games. The FX6300 uses more power and may overtake the performance of the i3 in new games which are becoming more highly threaded. The FX can be overclocked as well, but you need the proper motherboard and a good power supply. I would defer to others for these suggestions if you go that way.

Yes, I would consider the HD7770 the minimum for 1080p gaming. Obviously you can run some games at 1080p with a lower card, but in order to be able to run all games at decent settings at 1080p you would need at least the HD7770. I have a 7770 BTW, and can run all current games at medium or above at 1080p. I have not tried the latest most intense games like crysis 3 though. I think the 7770 would really struggle with that.

 

[bononos]

The i3 is the budget cpu of choice for gaming. Very few games (like BF3 multiplayer and Crysis 3) can make efficient use of the extra AMD cores to be faster than a comparable i3 in price.