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Budget System for Gaming and Streaming?
Hi, I'm looking to put a new build together. I mostly play WoW and Hearthstone. Although I'm sure I'll play some other games in the future. I'd also like to do some streaming on twitch. I prefer not to overclock or use sli/crossfire. I do have an xfx pro 550w PSU, monitor, and keyboard/mouse. I live in Florida, so I pay tax at tigerdirect and amazon. My budget is $800-$900.
Is my budget workable, or should I try to save up a bit more? Any recommended build ideas would be appreciated.
Comments
Here is a decent AMD build for around $800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128602
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231477
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113327
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103182
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202050
Comes to $810 before $20 in mail in rebates. $790 after
This is using your PSU and assuming you can build it yourself.
You can change the GPU to this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789
Total $890 before $50 in mail in rebates, $840 after. Plus you get 3 free games from AMD with that GPU.
I wouldnt go any higher on the GPU side unless you want to replace the PSU. Its a decent power supply but a 280 is about all I would do.
Thanks for the advice. One question I have though. I can get an fx-8350 for around $155. Would that be a better deal than the fx-6350?
If you have the extra money to spend then yeah it would be just fine.
But it won't hurt anything, and you could call it "future proofing", although I don't really advocate a large amount of future proofing.
Personally I would go for an i5-4590 it is slightly more expensive then the FX-6350 ( about $60 more ) but I just find nothing beats intel. Intels 4 cores can go through a process faster then amd's 8.
Both are good processors and are very capable processor that will do you well for gaming. I just prefer intels method of more effecient cores vs AMD more cores with faster clocks but less efficient.
*edit
Changed from i5-4570 to i5-4590, they are the same price but i5-4590 is the new revision ( faster )
You neglected to mention the increased cost for a motherboard as well. Spending an extra $60+ on a cpu and another $60 + on an intel motherboard makes it out of his stated budget unless he skimps on other hardware.
On an $800 budget AMD is the way to go. My current gaming system is an Intel, my previous one was an AMD build. Both do / did very well. For gaming the difference is minimal. I would personally get an AMD cpu that can OC over a locked intel I5 any day of the week.
Now if he had a $1000 + budget Intel would be the choice.
There are comparable intel boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128712&cm_re=motherboards-_-13-128-712-_-Product
* edit
This is a board I would recommend with i5 on a budget
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157528&cm_re=motherboard-_-13-157-528-_-Product
I linked to the micro atx version originally
I agree intel is overall better. Thats why I spent the extra money and built an intel system for my current gaming rig. But I still stand by the fact of on a roughly $800 budget OP is better off going with AMD.
Getting an unlocked AMD CPU and a better mobo for cheaper allows him to spend money on a better GPU, Bigger SSD, ect. On a tight budget skimping on other hardware just to get a locked intel CPU and a cheap intel mobo for gaming would not be MY choice.
The difference in all exept the most demanding games / software is minor at best.
But thats just my opinion.
OP can decide what best fits him.
That was my intention was showing some other possible options. As I said they both are very capable processors.
Going for the intel board and processor keeps him under 900 and you can get that price lower since the intel stock heatsink /fan is good enough for gaming and will keep it cool enough for turbo mode to run ( chip clock goes 3.7 when needed).
http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-retail-gpu-cpu-benchmarks/
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2832654625397986936/
I think the days of saying AMDs are just worse than Intel are over. It really depends on the application. If you are using CAD software and rendering... you want AMD. In games its starting to be shown that AMD CPUs handle higher resolutions better. Companies are also starting to support the Bulldozer and Piledriver architecture better.
I think the big fallacy on poor AMD performance in games has to do with the test setup. Many review sites try to prevent GPU bottlenecks. They do this by reducing as many GPU related calculations as possible. This means low resolution, no extra graphics effects, turn off the VSync, and see how many hundreds of frames a second each setup produces. However, this is not a realistic test and does not properly target all the things that a CPU does in a game. Above 100fps the results are also inaccurate, and the test method heavily favors architectures with small caches and a low amount of cycles per clock.
The other way to test CPU performance is to use an overkill GPU and push all settings so much the CPU begins to be bottleneck. When we look at these types of results, the AMDs start to shine because of their larger cache, higher clock, and more cores. I think those review sites forget that the CPU and GPU work in tandem.
If you are going to go AMD, spend more on the 8c. The architecture means in most games it will be treated as a 4c. This is the main reason AMDs perform in the ballpark of Intel Cores. The most ideal choice for future proofing is the Core i7-4790, it will be able to handle predicted future CPU game workloads the best.
Ok guys, first, thanks for your help. Although I did end up choosing some different parts. I Used your suggestions as a guideline for my build. I've just ordered my last part, and this is what my build will be
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YCWxRB
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YCWxRB/by_merchant/
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($177.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Zeus yellow 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($218.50 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($60.74 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $897.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-09 17:02 EDT-0400
Everything(excluding the PSU) Cost me $795 ($725 after rebates)
One last question. I was thinking of using the savings to possibly make one final upgrade. If you were to choose between adding another 8 GB of memory, more powerful psu, or a second HD(non SSD). Which would you choose? The only reason I list the PSU as an option. I found some debate on whether or not it could safely power an 8350+r9 280(which lists minimum psu at 750W?). The majority said it wouldn't be a problem, but a few said it was dangerous?
There's no point in getting more than 8 GB of memory for that system unless you have unusual needs. Given that memory costs about double today what it did at the end of 2012, I'm betting that memory prices will come back down in the future. It's likely that if a few years from now, you decide that you need 16 GB rather than 8 GB, it would be cheaper to buy 8 GB today, then a few years from now, throw away the 8 GB you got today and buy 16 GB new than to buy 16 GB today and never replace it. Not that you'd need to throw away the memory you get today unless it's defective; you can easily add an additional 8 GB, as you have four memory slots.
You're completely missing an optical drive. If you're salvaging one from another computer, that's fine, but if you don't have one at all, you can't install Windows.
Whether or not to get a hard drive depends on how much capacity you need. Buying a hard drive and then never putting anything on it is a waste of money. But if you plan to transfer 1 TB of stuff to the new computer the day you buy it, you definitely need a hard drive.
The power supply will be fine if it's new or nearly so, though I wouldn't go nuts with overclocking that hardware on that power supply. If it's already five years old and you're salvaging it from an older computer, then I'd replace it just on general principle. Power supplies do degrade as they age.
I think your PSU will be fine as long as you do not overclock anything.
Personally I would go with an HDD for storage & media.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
Your build is very balanced.
The PSU may be an issue. Under full load I would estimate the FX-8350 will draw 240w, the R9 280 will draw about 300w under full load at stock speeds. This means you will be kissing your GPUs peak power. 750w would be the ideal to have with your current system configuration. This will give you the 550w + 100w for other components + some leeway as when you approach near peak power you lose efficiency. Its also not such a huge wattage that you will lose efficiency in lower power states. I would choose one between these three:
Seasonic M12II - $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151107
eVGA SuperNova G2 - $114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438017
Cooler Master V750 - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171094
You might also want an HDD for storage of data. 250GB tends to fill up fast.
The FX-8350 has a TDP of 125 W--meaning, AMD promises that it won't use more than 125 W for meaningful periods of time at stock speeds. Meanwhile, the Radeon R9 280 has its power consumption capped by PowerTune, probably at 250 W.
If you do get a new power supply today, this is the one you want:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151118
That's $75 before rebate, $60 after rebate, for an excellent quality 650 W power supply. At that price, it's almost stealing.
I got my numbers from power draw numbers from benchmarks. In some workloads if you can be pushing 100% CPU and GPU power. So even though it will rarely hit those numbers I think its best to at least be able to meet them. You are right, a 650w is still probably the best.
The PSU I suggested are some of the best rated in terms of quality.
Power draw as measured where? Not many people have the equipment to directly measure the power that a video card is pulling. Even fewer have the equipment to directly measure the power that a CPU pulls. If it's measured at the wall, you're adding in power supply inefficiency, as well as other hardware besides the CPU and GPU.
Thumbrule I use for power supply sizing:
(TDP of the CPU) + (TDP of the GPU) + (100W for everything else) = ideal PSU size, in Watts
Double TDP of a component if you plan on overclocking it.
Most people get away quite nicely with a 600-650W PSU - that is the sweet spot for single-GPU builds and pretty well will support any GPU + CPU with modest overclocks and not go horribly overboard on the PSU wattage (which hurts efficiency, noise, size, and cost).