Building a Desktop, which one?

[corruptDNA]

Hi guys.. i have decided to build a desktop for my sister (an excuse, im going to use it :devil: ) and im looking for a really good graphic card that is not too expensive but works really well.. im thinking for going for geforce gtx 480 but i think its an old card.. but nevertheless its cheap and has a good rating on passmark.. any advice on the cards i should get.. btw, i game a lot.. i play games like planetside 2 .. battlefield, shogun 2, hawken etc..
i would also like for my graphic card to play crysis 3 on a 1920 x 1080 resolution monitor with sexy graphics... i might be asking for too much, but some advice would be appreciated.. thanks

also thinking of gtx 660, gtx 560 ti, gtx 570, gtx 760, radeon hd 7870..

 

[Faladu]

How much is the 480? It's 3 generations back Nvidia style, but still good for gaming, but a 250W card.
[Won't want to skimp on a power supply, at all, see jonnyguru.com for supreme info on them]

Compares well to a Radeon HD 7870.

GeForce GTX 480 vs Radeon HD 7870 – Performance Comparison Benchmarks @ Hardware Compare

Texel rate is AMD's thing, Pixel rate is Nvidia's. Should you care that much, probably not.

1920 by 1080 isn't pushing my Radeon HD 7950 around, and I am doing that res on 3 monitors at once if I want.

Really just comes down to budget, so what's the $#?

 

[corruptDNA]

How much is the 480? It's 3 generations back Nvidia style, but still good for gaming, but a 250W card.
[Won't want to skimp on a power supply, at all, see jonnyguru.com for supreme info on them]

Compares well to a Radeon HD 7870.

GeForce GTX 480 vs Radeon HD 7870 – Performance Comparison Benchmarks @ Hardware Compare

Texel rate is AMD's thing, Pixel rate is Nvidia's. Should you care that much, probably not.

1920 by 1080 isn't pushing my Radeon HD 7950 around, and I am doing that res on 3 monitors at once if I want.

Really just comes down to budget, so what's the $#?

well the budget depends on my negotiating skills since my dads paying for my sisters desktop (sure .. its hers ) .. but if i get a really pricey card, then ill have to skimp a little on the cpu.. planning to get core i7 -3770k .. is it good? can it be overclocked and can it meet my needs for a gaming pc.. ? because if i get this oen, then i might be able to get a pricey but not too pricey video card..

 

[Faladu]

Still need the $#.

Overclocking is probably ill advised, adds to cost and stability issues not worth it, imho, if it's a budget rig.

CPU is more critical than the video card, + motherboard chipset, then best video card within the budget, since it's upgradable with ease later if need be.

Here's a sample build I put together:

AMD FX-8350, HIS Radeon HD 7850, Rosewill REDBONE - System Build - PCPartPicker

Costs start to add up quick!

 

[kbrady1979]

I think AMD cards are holding the best bang for the buck title at the moment, but I'd get a 5XX or 6XX model Nvidia card over the 480 any day of the week.

 

[Britton30]

I have a new GTX 650Ti which seem to do very well, the sell for ~$190 and are low power users. I would got with an i5 CPU and save about $110 or so. Be sure to get a good CPU cooler, Intel stock one aren't very efficient.

 

[corruptDNA]

Well i have kinda finalized my cpu .. going to go for intel core i7 3770k or 2600k .. 16 gb ram, and 2tb hdd + 64 ssd . .my range would be around $250 max for a graphic card atm.. i might get an amd since they are famous for overclocking their cpus.. depends on what the computer store im going to offers..

 

[AddRAM]

You can save some money by getting the 3570k, it`s awesome.

Here`s 2 card suggestions.

Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2765-KR GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support w/ EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card

MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

 

[Dude]

I agree with the above, an I5 3570K is very well good for OCing and for gaming, use the extra cash saved to get a GTX 760.

 

[Faladu]

16 gigs of RAM is a waste of $ for 99%, 8 is more than fine with Win7, that will save you some dough for other options, and not all RAM sticks are equal, pay attention to the CAS, lower is better, the normal low is 7, typically sold is more like 9.

OP making plans with dad's $ for his 'sister' and then adds wanting to overclock?

[Someone seems IN over their head on the technology should not be talking like that.] :devil:

Meanwhile dad sees $400 Walmart special and says good enough, and OP is
[That would be my dad back in the day with offering me a Sinclair that required soldering with not even a real keyboard. He didn't think I was serious about computers! :roflmao:]

 

[Boozad]

Well i have kinda finalized my cpu .. going to go for intel core i7 3770k or 2600k .. 16 gb ram, and 2tb hdd + 64 ssd . .my range would be around $250 max for a graphic card atm.. i might get an amd since they are famous for overclocking their cpus.. depends on what the computer store im going to offers..

As others have said go for the 3570k, or the 4670k if you fancy Haswell instead, both will be more than adequate for gaming. 16GB RAM is overkill for gaming too, 8GB is plenty and you can easily upgrade in the future which would probably be a better way with RAM prices being what they are at the moment. An SSD isn't essential either, I'd go for a Caviar Black 2TB HDD, that will give you more cash to throw at the GPU.

 

[kbrady1979]

Here are the components I would shoot for. For what you are wanting to do with it, there is no reason to go much over this general list.

CPU: Intel i5-3570K(If you really want to OC) Intel i5-3350P(if you don't want to OC)
CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster 212 Evo(because the factory Intel cooler is garbage)
RAM: 2x4GB kit of Corsair Vengeance, or G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600MHz and a CAS Latency of 9
SSD: Samsung 840/840 Pro, OCZ Vector, Plextor M5 Pro, Corsair Neutron GTX, OCZ Vertex 4
GPU: AMD Radeon 7850 or above: Nvidia GTX 650Ti Boost or above
PSU: A quality made 500-600 watt from SeaSonic/Antec/Corsair will be more than enough
MOBO: Too many to really choose, anything Z77 really...and I prefer Asus boards
Case: Anything practical with cable management and good airflow. Should be $60-90


All of this is more than you can use now, but will only make the PC last longer as things get more demanding. I would see no real reason to upgrade(providing a component doesn't go bad) for a handful of years. Like someone said, your dad will see a $400-500 "new" computer and wonder what exactly is the difference. Do your homework and explain it to him, or better yet, save some money up and offer to purchase some of the parts yourself.

If those parts totally blow through the budget, we can trim it down some....as you might have noticed, I didn't add in a hard drive, or keyboard/mouse/monitor/card reader, etc.

 

[corruptDNA]

16 gigs of RAM is a waste of $ for 99%, 8 is more than fine with Win7, that will save you some dough for other options, and not all RAM sticks are equal, pay attention to the CAS, lower is better, the normal low is 7, typically sold is more like 9.

OP making plans with dad's $ for his 'sister' and then adds wanting to overclock?

[Someone seems IN over their head on the technology should not be talking like that.] :devil:

Meanwhile dad sees $400 Walmart special and says good enough, and OP is
[That would be my dad back in the day with offering me a Sinclair that required soldering with not even a real keyboard. He didn't think I was serious about computers! :roflmao:]

hahaha.. well i did consider that situation happening to me so i didn't involve my bro, my dad doesn't know much about computers other than how to use one.. on the other hand, my brother is the one who taught me everything i know ..
core i5 3570k ? lets hope they have it at the computer store im going to.. otherwise ill have to decide between corei7 3700k or an amd fx which i know nothing about.. how does amd fx 8350 sound? its cheaper than i5 3570k and my friend says its an overclocking beast.. i just want to be able to play my games on high settings properly.. do some photoshop.. experiment with 3d graphics on my customized ubuntu ..etc..

 

[Britton30]

I can say from experience that an i5 Intel system will be much faster all around at stock, than an AMD overclocked to the max. I however have read that 2-3 high end games perform better in an AMD system with AMD graphics, but I don't game at all, I just like the overall speed and responsiveness.
To keep costs down AMD is the way to go, for better performance it's Intel all the way. As a Dad myself, I may not buy all that though.

 

[corruptDNA]

I can say from experience that an i5 Intel system will be much faster all around at stock, than an AMD overclocked to the max. I however have read that 2-3 high end games perform better in an AMD system with AMD graphics, but I don't game at all, I just like the overall speed and responsiveness.
To keep costs down AMD is the way to go, for better performance it's Intel all the way. As a Dad myself, I may not buy all that though.

haha.. well im pretty persuasive.. he says no, im going to blackmail him.. muhahahahaha.. 4.0 gpa in my first year.. if i bring that up, i can even buy a ferrari!!! .. but i hope i dont have to use that card.. im saving it for something later..

 

[Britton30]

..yeah, like a Ferrari.

 

[corruptDNA]

..yeah, like a Ferrari.

something that moves on 4 tires would be a better description

 

[AddRAM]

I can say from experience that an i5 Intel system will be much faster all around at stock, than an AMD overclocked to the max. I however have read that 2-3 high end games perform better in an AMD system with AMD graphics, but I don't game at all, I just like the overall speed and responsiveness.
To keep costs down AMD is the way to go, for better performance it's Intel all the way. As a Dad myself, I may not buy all that though.

haha.. well im pretty persuasive.. he says no, im going to blackmail him.. muhahahahaha.. 4.0 gpa in my first year.. if i bring that up, i can even buy a ferrari!!! .. but i hope i dont have to use that card.. im saving it for something later..

You can`t say muhahahaha in your posts as that`s Faladu`s LOL

 

[Britton30]

You can`t say muhahahaha in your posts as that`s Faladu`s LOL

Don't encourage him/her. :shock:

 

[Faladu]

As long as you have a top end AMD or good i5+ then the chipset and video card will make the difference for gaming satisfaction, imho, it's the folks expecting Crysis 3 to play on a $500 laptop that are really and got bad advice somewhere or did no research before buying...

muhahaha! [whatever]