Building a Gaming PC : What to Look for (2013)

[WoodenMarker]

an i3 has only 2 cores and the point was made clear 4 cores was better. also if your on a budget a A10 5800k would be better for the simple reason it has a gpu. and with the i3 a dedicated graphics card would be needed as it has no integrated graphics.

The i3 has integrated graphics...

In most "budget" builds, you can find a way to stick in a dedicated graphics card anyway. It's not that hard to stick in a 7770/7850 most of the time.

[MasterJV]

Nice guide, very organized and unbiased too. Read this just in time too, gonna build a pc with my friend

[Lemonsquare]

an i3 has only 2 cores and the point was made clear 4 cores was better. also if your on a budget a A10 5800k would be better for the simple reason it has a gpu. and with the i3 a dedicated graphics card would be needed as it has no integrated graphics.

 

Clearly you completely misunderstand how performance, cores, clock speed, and architecture (etc.) all relate. I'll leave my source to back up what I said earlier: http://www.hardcoreware.net/amd-fx-4300-vs-core-i3-3220/7/

 

If the point you're referring to was made by anyone, then they are wrong, including you. 

[extremescouter]

Great tutorial, you covered a lot of information!

[david cassar]

Where is the phenom ii x4 ?

[6kenyonm]

Clearly you completely misunderstand how performance, cores, clock speed, and architecture (etc.) all relate. I'll leave my source to back up what I said earlier: http://www.hardcoreware.net/amd-fx-4300-vs-core-i3-3220/7/

 

If the point you're referring to was made by anyone, then they are wrong, including you. 

i was talking about gaming performance without a dedicated GPU the A10 would be better than an i3 the source you have is using a 7850. and as such means you dont need an apu in the first place and i would still then go for the 4 core 4300 over the 2core i3 purely games are now being made to use them. you might get a few extra frames with the i3 but not enough to say you wouldnt be better with 4 cores. if you really want an intel that badly get and i5. and stop moaning and being biased.

[boggle4321]

you seem to be too worried about bottlenecks 

[Duluxdoggy]

Where is the phenom ii x4 ?

this is a basic guide on what to buy in 2013, the phenom ii x4 (whilst still a decent cpu) is a few years old now, cpu architecture has moved on, quite a bit

[david cassar]

this is a basic guide on what to buy in 2013, the phenom ii x4 (whilst still a decent cpu) is a few years old now, cpu architecture has moved on, quite a bit

Still the price cannot be underestimated and it beats the apus while costing around 50-30 dollars cheaper. 

[Froggyy0]

Heyy thanks for the great guide!

Could you take a few minutes to have a look over my build plan? Tell me about any BottleNecks

CPU: i5 3570k

Motherboard: ASRock z77 Pro3

Memory/RAM: 8gb Corsair Vengance

CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Evo

SSD (Boot Drive): Sandisk 128gb

HDD (Storage): WD 1tb Caviar Black

GPU: Either 650 Ti Boost or 660 Ti

Optical Drive: Not Buying One, I have an external drive

Case: Sharkoon T9 Value Case

Fan Controller: Lamptron FC5 v2

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

I'm also debating getting some other fans for my case and some LED strips! :D

Thanks for reading.

[Henry]

Heyy thanks for the great guide!

Could you take a few minutes to have a look over my build plan? Tell me about any BottleNecks

CPU: i5 3570k

Motherboard: ASRock z77 Pro3

Memory/RAM: 8gb Corsair Vengance

CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Evo

SSD (Boot Drive): Sandisk 128gb

HDD (Storage): WD 1tb Caviar Black

GPU: Either 650 Ti Boost or 660 Ti

Optical Drive: Not Buying One, I have an external drive

Case: Sharkoon T9 Value Case

Fan Controller: Lamptron FC5 v2

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

I'm also debating getting some other fans for my case and some LED strips! :D

Thanks for reading.

There will ALWAYS be a bottleneck, no matter how small..but...

I recommend 7850 instead of 650 ti boost and 7950 instead of 660 ti.

Its purdy sexy build! I recommend waiting for Haswell, its already out. Should be in stores this week. *ncix, hint hint*

Also, knowing AMD, 8000 seris is coming....VERY SOON. So wait.

[DeathSentinels]

Very decent guide!, filled with a ton of useful information!
One thing I think you should take a look at as well is CPU cooling options,

most people building their own rigs, probably wouldn't want the stock cooler that comes with the chip,

so for example options like corsair H80-100-100i would be a great place to start!
 

[Froggyy0]

There will ALWAYS be a bottleneck, no matter how small..but...

I recommend 7850 instead of 650 ti boost and 7950 instead of 660 ti.

Its purdy sexy build! I recommend waiting for Haswell, its already out. Should be in stores this week. *ncix, hint hint*

Also, knowing AMD, 8000 seris is coming....VERY SOON. So wait.

 

Thanks for giving such a straight forward and helpful answer! :D And i'm abit of a NVIDIA fanboy :P So i might have to persuade myself to get a AMD GPU. Keep the good stuff coming my friend! :D

[ERSCreeper]

Thanks for giving such a straight forward and helpful answer! :D And i'm abit of a NVIDIA fanboy :P So i might have to persuade myself to get a AMD GPU. Keep the good stuff coming my friend! :D

 

Yeah, I too had Nvidia but when I upgrade I went AMD because it was cheaper, faster, larger Vram and Free games :P

[DontUSASme]

You don't actually need an optical driver to install windows, you can make a bootable USB :P

I was about to say OPTICAL DRIVES? WHAT IS THIS, 1997?!

[Hanazaki]

You should add a Soundcard Option, since this is Gaming, alot of Audiophiles are Gamers actually and want the best possible Audio, Asus Xonar series is nice

[TheJuiceBox]

Thanks for this guide. I'm sure lots of people will benefit from this information you provided us with.

[MsTrMind]

Great guide!
You should add some information about the motherboards, for example the difference between the 970 chipset and the 990fx.

[Sfobrien52]

Thanks for giving such a straight forward and helpful answer! :D And i'm abit of a NVIDIA fanboy :P So i might have to persuade myself to get a AMD GPU. Keep the good stuff coming my friend! :D

Hey don't give up on nvidia yet! If you're gonna wait a little bit see if the 700 series nvidia gpus release the mid price range units soon enough. Honestly theres not much difference between AMD and Nvidia though (price point to price point, the performance is almost always the same). I just like nvidia a little more because of driver stability and being optimized for more games I like

[Godlygamer23]

Clearly you completely misunderstand how performance, cores, clock speed, and architecture (etc.) all relate. I'll leave my source to back up what I said earlier: http://www.hardcoreware.net/amd-fx-4300-vs-core-i3-3220/7/

 

If the point you're referring to was made by anyone, then they are wrong, including you. 

More cores isn't always better, but it CAN be better.

[Godlygamer23]

I was about to say OPTICAL DRIVES? WHAT IS THIS, 1997?!

I still use my optical drive.

[Sfobrien52]

More cores isn't always better, but it CAN be better.

More cores is ALMOST always better. Single threaded applications are starting their march to extinction, and more cores will only be bad if you're sacrificing a ton of clock speed to get them

[Henry]

Thanks for giving such a straight forward and helpful answer! :D And i'm abit of a NVIDIA fanboy :P So i might have to persuade myself to get a AMD GPU. Keep the good stuff coming my friend! :D

Try and convince yourself my friend. Unless ur a rich boy who has the money for water cooled titans(+ GPU Boost 2.0 = Overclock porn)....Stick with AMD because overall, they are better.

No problem :)

[Henry]

More cores is ALMOST always better. Single threaded applications are starting their march to extinction, and more cores will only be bad if you're sacrificing a ton of clock speed to get them

Of course its better, but the question is, Is it worth it?

Ex: MOST games.

[Henry]

You should add a Soundcard Option, since this is Gaming, alot of Audiophiles are Gamers actually and want the best possible Audio, Asus Xonar series is nice

Im a GAMER, only gamer, so I dont really know much about audio...