AMD or Intel mid-level gaming hardware

[Eyenstyn]

I am considering upgrading my motherboard, CPU and GPU but wanted to find the most cost-effective with relatively good performance gains.

At the moment I have an AMD 6000+, Asus M2NPV-MX and ATI 5770. I also have a 24inch screen which I play games at 1920x1080 resolution. I also have a 585watt psu. I can play games relatively fine on medium graphics at 1920x1080p but would like to max the settings.

I am considering buying an AMD machine as opposed to an Intel Core i5 machine. My budget at the moment is 3000.

Any suggestions for a CPU, motherboard and GPU?

 

[Sarinaide]

The problem is getting hold of a Phenom II setup, I have seen a few users in the classifieds selling Phenom II x4 setups for rather good prices, there is a user also selling a FX 8120 for R1400 which is amazing, problem is you need a 970,980,990fx mobo which costs from R1000-2800, then there is a GPU which costs around 1.6k for a solid enough 560 or 6870.

If you can find the parts;

Phenom II x4 965BE or Phenom II x 6 1090T
Gigabyte GA-970FXA-UD3
GTX 560 or HD 6870
As to the PSU specs if you can provide your model name so as to find the specs for it.

 

[kllr123]

The problem is getting hold of a Phenom II setup, I have seen a few users in the classifieds selling Phenom II x4 setups for rather good prices, there is a user also selling a FX 8120 for R1400 which is amazing, problem is you need a 970,980,990fx mobo which costs from R1000-2800, then there is a GPU which costs around 1.6k for a solid enough 560 or 6870.

If you can find the parts;

Phenom II x4 965BE or Phenom II x 6 1090T
Gigabyte GA-970FXA-UD3
GTX 560 or HD 6870
As to the PSU specs if you can provide your model name so as to find the specs for it.

Agree 100% with Sarinaide

 

[yourang]

i would go for amd a8 3870k R1300
a75 mobo R800
Hd6670 R800 (dual graphics mode with the apu)
8gig ddr1333 el cheapo ram R500?

this will play bf3 on high even 1920x1080, should overclock the cpu to 3.6ghz or so.

if you can wait a few month a10 5800k trinity apu should be here, running at 3.8ghz stock , should be a nice cheap performance rig build

 

[PancakesZA]

http://www.carbonite.co.za/f10/amd-phenom-ii-x6-1055t-29670/

 

[Eyenstyn]

@Sarinaide: I have a 585 Gigabyte Odin PSU: Prophecy.co.za - Gigabyte ODIN 585W 24-Pin Power Supply

@AtiBoy: it looks like you might already have a buyer.

Thanks for the feedback. I thought maybe get a low cost intel H67 motherboard and an i5 cpu. I would also need a new hd and the ocz vertex 3 ssd's are quite inexpensive at the moment.

case: R273 Coolermaster Elite 343
ram: R400 8GB DDR3-1333 Desktop Memory
motherboard: R1000 P8H67-MLX
cpu: R2000 Intel Core i5 2500K Processor
psu: R506
hd : R1000 ocz vertex 3


These prices are from various websites.

 

[Sarinaide]

You are not going to benefit from a 2500K on a H67 motherboard, you can always settle with a i5 2400 or 2300 on a H61 or save even more by going with a i3 2100. The PSU should be sufficient for single card setups of this nature although its not great. Don't trade of SSD performance for graphics performance, rather get a rather cheap H61/i3 setup and pool the savings and SSD money towards a better Graphics card, you will notice the difference more than a SSD.

 

[JollyJamma]

That PSU is very weak. Suggest a new one. Seriously.

 

[Oj0]

Do a Google on performance differences between the i3-2120 and i5-2400, most of the time the difference is under 2 %. That PSU is bad though, I'd get rid of it.

 

[Sarinaide]

Coolermaster GX550w Bronze and Corsair CX500 are rather cost efficient units that will power a single card setup easily.

 

[ThatGuy_ZA]

I have 8gbs of ddr3-1333 ram that I'm selling. Drop me a PM if interested.

 

[Eyenstyn]

Thanks really appreciate all the info. I might just save up for a better pc and purchase diablo 3 and street fighter x tekken (pc) later this month.