AMD vs Intel

[Gorrillasnot]

A friend wants me to build him a middle class gaming PC with a budget of $500-$700.
I have put together 2 wish lists at newegg.com. 1 AMD and 1 Intel.

I am thinking of switching to a 500GB hard drive, DDR2 800 RAM, and a dual core processor to swing back towards the $500 range and maybe switch to a 4870 or nVidia equivelent to save a few bucks as well.

There will be mild to no overclocking involved.

What would you guys/girls change and which platform would give more bang for the buck. AMD or Intel?

AMD Wish List


Intel Wish List

thanks

 

[Eureka]

Right now bang-for-buck lies on the AMD camp. You're getting a much faster quad core for the same price. And I also recommend going to DDR2 800 RAM, if you don't need bleeding edge speed. DDR2 800 is now coming out to $30 or less AR for 4gb. Your drive is fine.

The 4870 is a better value card than the 4890. You can score the 4870 as cheap as $120 shipped after discounts, and it should be within 10% of the 4890's performance. The nVidia equivalents are not as good of a value.

Also, maybe you want to look into a Phenom II x4 940 combo? Like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.200065 It's roughly the same price, but you get the BE version of the processor, with the unlocked multiplier.

 

[Herr Kutz]

If you go with the AMD route and get the 920, make to use AMD6812 coupon code to drop the price to $141.

 

[Gorrillasnot]

thanx for the info..I kinda figured the 4870 would be the better option but wasn't 100% sure.

thanx for the code

 

[Hacp]

Integrated power supply? Really?

 

[Eureka]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Integrated power supply? Really?

Ooh yeah... I missed that. You may want to invest in a slightly better PSU, while a 500w should handle that system fine, those parts can pull a bit of power and you want something more reliable than a generic PSU.

 

[Gorrillasnot]

Advise taken and lists are updated. How they look now (besides the fact the 920 is out of stock)?

thanks

 

[Eureka]

Originally posted by: phatTweaker
Advise taken and lists are updated. How they look now (besides the fact the 920 is out of stock)?

thanks

The 920 is out of stock.

Everything else looks great. The earthwatts 500 is a beautiful midrange supply, I have one in my system right now and it runs everything well. Another quip is that I don't like budget cases, you should just splurge and get a Silverstone TJ09.

Also, make sure you look in the hot deals section for the 4870/4890, ewiz has them for $20 less than Newegg usually. But its your call on Newegg vs. ewiz.

 

[mmntech]

For a gaming rig, I would go with Intel myself. Most games are still single threaded so it might be better to go with a fast dual core rather than the quad core. The Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz would be ideal and its roughly the same price as the quad core. In most cases the E8400 is faster than the Q8200 except for Far Cry 2. Even there, it's not much slower.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=56&p2=52

If you must go with multicore, take a look at the AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition. Once again, the performance difference between it and the quad core 920 in gaming is negligible and the 720 is $20 cheaper and comes with unlocked multipliers.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Phenom II 720BE / Asus 790gx AM3 combo: $210 AR
note: AM3

And unless you feel like you just have to go quad it's hard to top the e8400

 

[zxc367]

upgrade the cpu on the amd. the phenom II 940 is only like 30$ more.

 

[Denithor]

I'm gonna have to second hhbb's suggestion - grab the X3 720 instead. For a mid-range system an X3 provides more power than will typically be needed, overclocks very well (and easily - just turn up the multiplier). And that combo with motherboard for $210 is yummy.

 

[Gorrillasnot]

thnx everyone.