Help on PC hardware specs.

[6thGen]

Hey, this is my first post over here on LTT, im planning on building a PC with a budget of about $1000. My plan is to use it for gaming, and building design (AutoDesk building suite). I have a specific goal of getting Minecraft shaders to run at around 60+ fps with around 50 mods (FML).

So I have a few questions...

1. Intel or AMD. I know that amd is way cheaper, but their older processes and under powered single cored performances poses as a real worry for me.

2. AMD (formerly ATI) or nVidia? I would like to go with nVidia, because I've found a lot of cool cards with nVidia chip sets, and I'm more familiar with nVidias side. Is there any real performance gain with AMD or price to performance gain?

3. should I get slightly cheaper GPUs and get 2 in SLI or Cross fire?

Thanks for any answers, also, I'd love to see some of your PC build spec recommendations within my $1000 dollar budget, thanks! 

[Shd0w2]

If all you're going to play is minecraft, which is a mostly CPU bound game, then you can skimp on the graphics card a bit. You're budget will likely end up being more closer to like $600-$700 if all you're going to play is minecraft. I can come up with a build in a bit.

[Mira Yurizaki]

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1. Intel or AMD. I know that amd is way cheaper, but their older processes and under powered single cored performances poses as a real worry for me.

Intel. There's almost no point in getting AMD right now since their too far behind in performance. If you really want to, you could wait for Zen, but I believe that's slated for next year.

 

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2. AMD (formerly ATI) or nVidia? I would like to go with nVidia, because I've found a lot of cool cards with nVidia chip sets, and I'm more familiar with nVidias side. Is there any real performance gain with AMD or price to performance gain?

AMD tends to have a better price/performance ratio but that comes at a cost, at least with the older cards, in increased heat and power consumption. AMD also has no "high end" cards at the moment for this generation, but Vega is supposed to come out by the end of the year or so (I think, I stopped keeping track). The point of contention that both camps will argue for days is about DX12/Vulkan support. It's too early to tell if any of that matters in the future, and it's best to get something that performs well at the present.

 

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3. should I get slightly cheaper GPUs and get 2 in SLI or Cross fire?

It depends. If you're looking at say a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 in SLI, it might be worthwhile if you have a 1440p 144Hz monitor to drive. Otherwise it's not worth while. And two lower end cards, like an RX 480 in Crossfire, is not worth it.

[6thGen]

Just now, Shd0w2 said:

If all you're going to play is minecraft, which is a mostly CPU bound game, then you can skimp on the graphics card a bit. You're budget will likely end up being more closer to like $600-$700 if all you're going to play is minecraft. I can come up with a build in a bit.

Well, as of right now, (running an N celeron with IG) thats pretty much all I can play, I'd like to do some first person shooters too, like call of duty, battle field. that sort of thing. Thanks for the reply!

[6thGen]

2 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Intel. There's almost no point in getting AMD right now since their too far behind in performance. If you really want to, you could wait for Zen, but I believe that's slated for next year.

 

AMD tends to have a better price/performance ratio but that comes at a cost, at least with the older cards, in increased heat and power consumption. AMD also has no "high end" cards at the moment for this generation, but Vega is supposed to come out by the end of the year or so (I think, I stopped keeping track). The point of contention that both camps will argue for days is about DX12/Vulkan support. It's too early to tell if any of that matters in the future, and it's best to get something that performs well at the present.

 

It depends. If you're looking at say a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 in SLI, it might be worthwhile if you have a 1440p 144Hz monitor to drive. Otherwise it's not worth while. And two lower end cards, like an RX 480 in Crossfire, is not worth it.

good stuff, thanks for the reply, ill keep this in mind!

[GarnetDevil]

Just now, 6thGen said:

good stuff, thanks for the reply, ill keep this in mind!

Try building one on PCPartPicker, then we can evaluate your build

[evilarceus]

1. Intel. AMD's current processors are becoming bottlenecks. Once they release Zen, that shouldn't be a problem.

2. That's just starting a flame war. I'd recommend you'd look at some benchmarks of some AMD Polaris cards and Nvidia Pascal/Maxwell cards for yourself.

3. Some games don't have proper SLI/Crossfire scaling or don't have SLI/Crossfire at all (like Minecraft). I wouldn't recommend it for that reason, but if you're playing DX12 games it could be a different story.

[Nena Trinity]

Spoiler

PC Build Guide – AMD FX-6300 ATX: (Less than 700$)

*CPU: AMD FX-6300 + Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

*GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 8GB (can be replaced by RX 470, GTX 970 or R9 390)

*Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming ATX AM3+ Motherboard

*RAM: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-2133MHz

*PSU: XFX TS 650W

*Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

*http://pcpartpicker.com/list/KbpgtJ

 

PC Build Guide – Intel i3 ATX: (Less than 700$)

*CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 (does not need after market cooler)

*GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 8GB (can be replaced by RX 470, GTX 970 or R9 390)

*Mobo: ASUS H170-PLUS D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

*RAM: Hyper X Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L-1866MHz (most be 1.35v or less)

*PSU: XFX TS 650W

*Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

*http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3vhDxY

 

PC Build Guide – AMD FX-8370 ATX: (Less than 800$)

*CPU: AMD FX-8370 + Wraith Cooler (does not need after market cooler)

*GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 8GB (can be replaced by R9 390, GTX 1060 or R9 Fury)

*Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming ATX AM3+ Motherboard

*RAM: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-2133MHz

*PSU: XFX TS 650W

*Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

*http://pcpartpicker.com/list/vMDCLD

 

PC Build Guide – Intel i5 ATX: (Less than 900$)

*CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K + Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

*GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 8GB (can be replaced by GTX 1060, R9 Fury or GTX 1070)

*Mobo: ASUS Z170-PLUS D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

*RAM: Hyper X Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L-1866MHz (most be 1.35v or less)

*PSU: XFX TS 650W

*Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

*http://pcpartpicker.com/list/9zsb8K

 

PC Build Guide – Intel i7 ATX: (Less than 1000$)

*CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K + Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

*GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 8GB (can be replaced by GTX 1060, R9 Fury or GTX 1070)

*Mobo: ASUS Z170-PLUS D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

*RAM: Hyper X Fury 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L-1866MHz (most be 1.35v or less)

*PSU: XFX TS 650W

*Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

*http://pcpartpicker.com/list/HzZxcc

 

Complete Example Build: (your build should look like this when done the green is required)

*Case: Cooler Master HAF XB EVO ATX

*CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T + Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

*GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X

*Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming AM3+

*RAM: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3-1866MHz

*Operating System: SteamOS or Windows 10

*PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

*Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM SSHD

 

[6thGen]

thanks for all the quick replies, ill look through everything tomorrow when im not so brain dead. Thank you all!

[Cyracus]

1. definitely intel

2. kinda depends on the balancing act of your budget, you're probably best off getting a 1060 toward the msrp

3. If you have the choice always get the better single gpu as sli/crossfire support has to be coded for, I believe this holds true with dx12 as well

[Nena Trinity]

Just now, Cyracus said:

1. definitely intel

2. kinda depends on the balancing act of your budget, you're probably best off getting a 1060 toward the msrp

3. If you have the choice always get the better single gpu as sli/crossfire support has to be coded for, I believe this holds true with dx12 as well

Saying Intel does not really help, a FX-8300 is better than going for a i3, but if it is a i5 or better Intel all the way!

[6thGen]

13 hours ago, GarnetDevil said:

Try building one on PCPartPicker, then we can evaluate your build

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/6thGen/saved/#view=D7v8TW