GeForce/Intel vs AMD build

[DentLA16]

Hey all,

 

I am relatively new to PC gaming and will be building my first gaming pc this summer. I have two options: either go with an AMD or Intel build.  My friends are all Intel/GeForce fanboys so their judgement is often clouded (same as AMD fanboys).  I have the option of buying a used set of two sapphire r9 290 tri-x graphics cards (I would be running them in crossfire) along with an AX1200i PSU for $450 USD.  My other option is to purchase a new GTX 970 graphics card and a cheaper PSU (probably something like the EVGA Supernova 650w) ends up being roughly $400 USD.  Or I could wait a couple weeks because apparently the new radeon graphics cards are coming out.

 

My other components for my build are as follows:

-AMD FX 8350 or i5 4690k CPU(idk which I would prefer)

-Noctua NH D14 CPU Cooler

-Gigabyte GA 990FXA UD3 MOBO

-Kingston Fury Black Series 1866 16 GB RAM Kit

-Kingston SSDNow V300 240 GB SSD

-WD Caviar Blue 1TB HDD

-(insert graphics card here)

-Corsair Vengeance C70 mid tower case

-(insert PSU here)

-Noctua NF P12 120mm fan

-Noctua NF S12 120mm fan (2x)

-NZXT Sentry mix 2 fan controller

-currently don't have any money for a nice monitor, but want a BenQ XL2720Z, comment with recommendations)

[Fluffinator]

I would wait for the new cards.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Hey all,

 

I am relatively new to PC gaming and will be building my first gaming pc this summer. I have two options: either go with an AMD or Intel build.  My friends are all Intel/GeForce fanboys so their judgement is often clouded (same as AMD fanboys).  I have the option of buying a used set of two sapphire r9 290 tri-x graphics cards (I would be running them in crossfire) along with an AX1200i PSU for $450 USD.  My other option is to purchase a new GTX 970 graphics card and a cheaper PSU (probably something like the EVGA Supernova 650w) ends up being roughly $400 USD.  Or I could wait a couple weeks because apparently the new radeon graphics cards are coming out.

 

My other components for my build are as follows:

-AMD FX 8350 or i5 4690k CPU(idk which I would prefer)

-Noctua NH D14 CPU Cooler

-Gigabyte GA 990FXA UD3 MOBO

-Kingston Fury Black Series 1866 16 GB RAM Kit

-Kingston SSDNow V300 240 GB SSD

-WD Caviar Blue 1TB HDD

-(insert graphics card here)

-Corsair Vengeance C70 mid tower case

-(insert PSU here)

-Noctua NF P12 120mm fan

-Noctua NF S12 120mm fan (2x)

-NZXT Sentry mix 2 fan controller

-currently don't have any money for a nice monitor, but want a BenQ XL2720Z, comment with recommendations)

definitely buy those two 290, as that's a great deal.

go with the intel processor and a Z97 motherboard, and you'll have a nice build

[minibois]

-snip-

The i5 is better for gaming at the moment and Xfire R9 290 beats 1 970.

1 970 beats 1 290 though. 

 

970 is also quite a bit cooler and quieter, while the 290's can be quite noisy and hot (not as much true with the aftermarket coolers).

IIRC for Crossfire 290, you need 750W good PSU... Can't remember if a good 650W PSU would cut that.

SLI 970 should be possible on a good 650W PSU.

 

I would go for those 290's for that price.

[Johannes_Lazor]

Get a pair of R9 290's, They will have almost twice the performance of a single GTX 970.

Get the 4690k, It has Much better gaming performance, A AMD cpu that has more than 6 cores has no place in a Gaming build.

Get almost any other SSD, The v300 isnt very good, They are not much faster than a WD BLACK.

And go don to 8gb of RAM unless you are planning to host a server on the computer at the same time as gaming.

[Guest Kloaked]

Okay.

 

Firstly, they are halfway correct. Intel > AMD right now for CPU's being paired with a dedicated video card. So I'm not sure if you think they're fanboys because they think that, or because they're legit fanboys. 4690k is your friend. You'll also need an LGA 1150 (z97 for overclocking) motherboard if you get a 4690k, not a 990FX since it will not function even if it fits in the socket.

 

Secondly, two 290's will beat a single 970, if you're dead set on that choice. Only thing is, you have to deal with having two cards in your system. It's nothing complicated other than paying attention to temps every once in a while just in case; Crossfire seems to have a hit or miss thing with users (from what I've seen, so take that with a grain of salt): some report texture flickering in games (which gets fixed, eventually (this is also not exclusive to Crossfire)), and so on. You may not experience any issue at all.

 

 If you wanna wait, wait. We have no idea what the release dates are, but AMD is supposedly making an announcement for them at Computex (I think it is), so yeah.

[DentLA16]

Just to clarify: if i got the r9 290's, I would also get the HUGE upgrade on PSU from an EVGA Supernova 650w 80+gold to a Corsair AX1200i 80+platinum

[JebKerman]

Just to clarify: if i got the r9 290's, I would also get the HUGE upgrade on PSU from an EVGA Supernova 650w 80+gold to a Corsair AX1200i 80+platinum

no upgrade to performance on the PSU part, just more Watts to play with, and slightly better efficiency (maybe minor improvements here or there but only really effects overclock-ability of some components)

[Glenwing]

Just to clarify: if i got the r9 290's, I would also get the HUGE upgrade on PSU from an EVGA Supernova 650w 80+gold to a Corsair AX1200i 80+platinum

 

The dual 290s would be my choice. Sapphire Tri-X seems to be the best cooling unit available for the R9 290 and that power supply is a great unit as well, it's a good deal. The performance of the 290 is somewhat less than the 970 but it's not too far off. Two of them will outstrip a single 970 by quite a ways.

[DentLA16]

So based on the responses, I should snag an i5 4690k, get an MSI Z97, reduce my RAM to 8 gb (probably get Corsair Vengeance 8 gb kit) and change my SSD to a faster one like a Samsung 850 evo 250 gb.

 

If i got the r9 290's, I wouldn't upgrade my graphics cards for a couple years. But if I go for the MSI GTX 970, I will probably get another MSI GTX 970 a year or two down the road.