Hi guys, *EDIT* Thoughts on this revised build excl. GPU? (In particular check the mobo etc) http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/27fRt Took the plunge and bought a GTX 770.
You could probably get a lower spec motherboard since you don't have an unlocked processor and won't be overclocking. The Z87 also supports things like triple sli which I would assume that its not something you would plan to do. So go with a H87 chipset or something similar I have one of those power supplies in a system, its quiet and hasn't blown up. Some people on the board don't like the lower end corsair stuff though.
Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White USB 3.0 140mm Fans Low Noise Mid Case FD-CA-DEF-R4-WH YoYoCode: 50209 Manufacturer Code: FA-CA-DEF-R4-WH £79.99 (inc VAT) R9 270X Asus Direct CUII Top GDDR5 2GB - R9270X-DC2T-2GD5 YoYoCode: 16455 Manufacturer Code: R9270X-DC2T-2GD5 £178.47 (inc VAT) Asus Z87-K, Intel Z87, S 1150, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), D-Sub (VGA) DVI-D HDMI, ATX YoYoCode: 1683 Manufacturer Code: Z87-K £96.99 (inc VAT) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz LP Corsair Vengeance White PC3-12800 1.35v CAS 9-9-9-24 XMP 1.5V PC Memory CML8GX3M2A1600C9W YoYoCode: 58191 Manufacturer Code: CML8GX3M2A1600C9W £77.62 (inc VAT) Intel Core i5 4570, S 1150, Haswell, Quad Core, 3.2GHz, Turbo 3.6GHz, 1150MHz GPU, 32x Ratio, Retail - BX80646I54570 YoYoCode: 76136 Manufacturer Code: BX80646I54570 £152.99 (inc VAT) Sub Total: £488.38 VAT: £99.06 Shipping Cost (Estimate): £6.91 Total: £594.35 We have done the memory in white to match the case and upgraded you on the graphics
Is it for next gen games? You'd be better off with an 8320 if so, and it'll be cheaper and can be overclocked a lot. e.g. (plus case of your choice) YOUR BASKET 1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **FREE SHIPPING** £185.99 1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99 1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99 1 x Patriot Viper "Sapphire Blue" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9KBL) £65.99 1 x Alpenföhn Brocken CPU Cooler £32.99 Total : £494.94 (includes shipping : FREE).
Hmm..I thought the i5 was a better cpu across the board? As for the PSU, there's a Be Quiet! 530W, or a 630W which has good reviews, but they're around £70.
To be honest, I think you're a bit fast throwing your toys out of the pram re: PS4. Yes, it won't support DLNA and MP3s at launch, but after the whining on the Internet you can bet your bottom dollar that Sony will patch support in - just like they did with the PS3, which was a terrible media machine when it launched. Secondly, the HD issue is somewhat unclear. You won't be able to use an external drive to install games to, but using one as a media drive may well be possible. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for the master PC gaming race, but have a proper think whether you want to do this.
No, for next gen games the extra cores are important. Game developers are suggesting 8 core AMD CPUs or an i7 for best performance. An overclocked 8320 would easily beat that i5 in BF4, for example.
So a more future proof set up would be the AMD 8 core route? At the moment its only BF4 that's using all cores though right?
BF4 is the most efficient at it so far, but no - BF3, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Metro 2033/Last Light and others will use up to 8 cores. Since you cannot overclock the cheaper i5s, it makes them unattractive for games like these. You do need to overclock the 8320s to get the best out of them though. They all reach 4.5GHz or so with a £30ish cooler, and anything around there gives excellent performance in pretty much all games.
If going for an i5 I wouldn't get one that cannot be overclocked, it just won't compete with newer games compared to a cheaper 8320 with an OC.
Yes but I've never overclocked before, the intel cpu's looks pretty dam easy just from hearing/reading about it, but never read much about AMD cpu overclocking.
AMD and Intel overclocking is more or less the same - increase frequency, test stability, keep going until you need to increase voltage. With AMD you can also increase the bus speed as well as the multiplier, which you can't really do on Intel any more (e.g. 200MHz x 20 for 4GHz or 220MHz x 19 for 4.19GHz). The 8320 at stock is ok, but 8350 speeds minimal are really needed for good performance, which is 4.0GHz. Older games especially benefit from it as they tend to use 2-4 cores only.
I see. Well to be honest seeing as I'm not shelling out for most of the system myself, I might just go for the K version of the i5, the extra £30 will be better in the long run right?
If you arent particularly OC savy I would pick up the i5. Very simple to OC. The FX systems while fast aren't as simple/easy to OC really, they get far hotter far quicker, they need motherboards with decent VRMS and you need to be aware of various power management settings because they throttle easily. They also have a lower thermal overhead, anything over 60 degrees is stability/throttle territory. I love clocking the hell out of my systems but the FX rig I have is run at stock due to heat and noise if I take it up to 4.4 lol That said a stock FX8350 is a fine gaming CPU at its stock 4ghz speed.
The FX CPUs are very easy to overclock providing you get a decent board (like the one I suggested above). With the cooler I listed, people have managed 4.8GHz stable without any throttling, and noise depends entirely on the cooler. Note that an i5 isn't 'faster' than an 8350. It depends on what the software does. The overall processing power of the 8350 is higher than any i5, but only multithreaded software will use it effectively.
