Gtx 680 and i5 or gtx 670 and i7?

[JordanMac]

Gtx 680 and i5 3570k

Or

Gtx 670 and i7 3770k

Or

I5 3570k and gtx 670 and spend the spare money on other components

Mainly for gaming (bf3, skyrim, crysis etc) and a little bit of cad.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[davidvu396]

I would buy the i5 since there is no need to buy an i7 if you only want to play games with it. Also, i would spend the spare money on proper cooling for the i5 because the stock cooler can really get on your nerves.

[flo]

Hi JordanMac,

I will have to agree with David. 4 cores are enough for gaming, so it would be your best bet to go with a i5 3750 at this point. When the time comes and it struggles, you can over-clock it, at which point you should probably invest into a good CPU cooler. Also, a GTX 670 OC can perform almost as well as a GTX680, but at a lower price point, plus with the new generations of GPUs bound to come out sometime soon, I would not opt to spend an excessive amount of money on the most high end card out right now, but that is just my opinion.

I'd recommend:

Processor - i5 3750k: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=70541&promoid=1201

Cooler

- Air : http://ncix.com/products/?sku=64540&vpn=NH-D14%20SE2011&manufacture=Noctua

- Water : http://ncix.com/products/?sku=77648&vpn=CW-9060009-WW&manufacture=Corsair

Graphics: MSI GTX 670 OC PE: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=72914

Flo

[Bramm17]

i5 and 670 and the extra cash for an ssd or something :D!!

[Wats]

^ i5+670+ssd

[Guest]

aaaand another vote for the i5 + 670. An MSI PE 670 can be overclocked quite easily to the same if not more power in some cases than a 680. An i7 such as the 3770K isn't needed for gaming as the 3570K is more than adequate.

If you don't plan to overclock, just save money and get the 3570, however if you do, you'll need an aftermarket cooler such as a CM 212 if you're on a tight budget, a Corsair H80i or Noctua D14 if you're feeling a little more extravagant or if you really wanna push your system but can't afford a custom loop, a H100i.

[BathroomSecurity]

Ditto ^^^ :P i5 and a 670 is a good enough

[JupiteL]

Gtx 680 and i5 3570k, because i5 is good enough for gaming and 680 are way better than 670

[theproffesor]

I5 3570k with sapphire hd7970 duelX oc

Best bang for you buck

It would've been great if you told us about your current hardware or the components you've already bought MOBO, PSU etc.??

[theproffesor]

Gtx 680 and i5 3570k, because i5 is good enough for gaming and 680 are way better than 670

No...gtx680 is 6-8% better than gtx670

It would be better if you buy hd7970 ...considering it's price and performance it's a no brainer but if you wanna buy gtx670 no offense there just buy it

Power edition gtx670 is a great buy also! Good luck

[Umeshwarnath]

if gaming is your primary concern take the i5 and 680 and the performance delta (CAD) between the i5 and i7 though different isn't exponential so chill!!

if you are willing to go amd side...i would suggest the i7 and a hd 7970....together costing just about how much an i5 and 680 would cost!!

[Spite]

Go with the i5 3570K seen as you're mainly gaming with only doing a small amount of CAD, not worth spending an extra $100 if you're not going to utilize the extra threads. For a GPU, go with a HD 7970 or GTX 670, the HD 7970 will perform better than the GTX 670 with the Catalyst 12.11 drivers.

If you need a motherboard I would recommend you go with the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (~$130), it's a great motherboard for the price you pay and will allow for SLI/CrossFire in the future if you need it.

What PSU do you currently have or are planning on buying?

[JordanMac]

I5 3570k with sapphire hd7970 duelX oc

Best bang for you buck

It would've been great if you told us about your current hardware or the components you've already bought MOBO, PSU etc.??

i havent bought anything yet so everthing else is flexible.

[JordanMac]

Go with the i5 3570K seen as you're mainly gaming with only doing a small amount of CAD, not worth spending an extra $100 if you're not going to utilize the extra threads. For a GPU, go with a HD 7970 or GTX 670, the HD 7970 will perform better than the GTX 670 with the Catalyst 12.11 drivers.

If you need a motherboard I would recommend you go with the ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 (~$130), it's a great motherboard for the price you pay and will allow for SLI/CrossFire in the future if you need it.

What PSU do you currently have or are planning on buying?

I was planning on the corsair tx750m.

[Dr3nz4r]

why not go with an AMD FX 8350? ALso a very good gaming CPU...In pretty much 60% of games it's even faster then 3570k

I would then suggest:

FX-8350 (~180$) | MSI GTX 670 (~370$) | MSI GD80V2 (~140$)

Depends on where you buy.. Often the 8350 is about 50 bucks cheaper then 3570k

[MooseParade]

If you're overclocking yourself then definitely get the i5-3570K and GTX 670. The GTX 670, when OC'd, has the same performance as a stock GTX 680 while costing $80 less. Use the extra money to get an SSD. Also make sure to get an aftermarket HSF for the i5, the stock intel cooler will only work at stock speed & voltage.

[SimpleQuantumComputer]

i5 and 680 seems like a good choice but for better value I'd suggest a 7970 and an 8350.

[Art Vandelay]

In games, an i7 will not have any benefit over an i5.

Get a 670 and an i5 (or an i7 if you do a lot of CAD). The 680 isn't really worth getting, except for the E-peen.

You could also go for a 7950 and save some money, as well.

[JordanMac]

massive thanks to everyones contributions.

im definitly going to go with a gtx 670 because the gtx 680 gets like 3 fps more in most games at the max settings.

im probably going to get the i5 and spend the extra money on a 2nd ssd for raid 0

[star102]

i5 and 7970ghz , better and cheaper.

[thegamezbeplayed]

the most important component for gaming is the GPU. get the 680 with the i5. the i7 is more for work related stuff