General Discussions

Ok, so for those who read my blogs, other than Shianova and maybe few others, in my latest entry I've posted a possible final build for my PC. It's an all out Intel/Nvidia setup, however Shianova suggest an all out AMD setup.

I'm posting 2 possible final builds for the PC I'll buy.

1st build: NVidia/Intel

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670k, quad core, 3.4MHz, 6MB Cache, 84W
GPU: MSI GTX770 GAMING, 4GB DDR5, Core clock 1137, Mem. clock 7010Mhz
RAM: 16GB DDR3@1600MHz (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance PRO
MOBO: MSI Z87-G43 GAMING
PSU: Corsair AX Series 760W 80+ Platinum, fully modular
CASE: Coolermaster HAF-X

Costs - 1335 euro

2nd build: AMD

CPU: AMD FX-Series X8 8350 4.0GHz, 16MB, 125W, 8 core
GPU: Sapphire HD7970 OC Boost, 3GB DDR5, Core clock 950MHz, Mem. Clock 5700MHz
RAM: 16GB DDR3@1600MHz (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance PRO
MOBO: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
PSU: Corsair AX Series 760W 80+ Platinum, fully modular
CASE:Coolermaster HAF-X

Costs - 1270 euro

What I'm looking for from this PC is:
- to last a minimum of 5 years (my current PC is 7 years old and can still play games like BF4 and Crysis 3)
- to be fast and efficient for programming and, later on, game developing

What I'd like to know is:
- how huge the performance difference between these two builds is, when and if overclocked
- all other ups and downs regarding both systems and related hardware

I'd also like to ask that you keep things civilized, I don't need or want fanboy flame war, I want facts and honest help here. The price difference between the builds means nothing to me. I'm also open for suggestions about other hardware, but keep in mind that I live in a backwater country where I can barely get my hands on a platinum PSU.

Thank you all in advance.

I have almost the exact same build as the 1st one(mb&gpu are gigabyte) and I can honestly say that I'm deeply disappointed, I thought all of the current games will run at 60 fps solid with ultra settings with no micro stutters and such, but I was way off.
Nvidia's latest drivers for the 700 series are a disaster and the cpu can't handle quite well the cpu demanding games.
In second thought maybe I should have bought the I7.
If you want more details just say so.
In any case I would recommend the 2nd build.

I support the AMD set up, but you don't need a 8350 - just get an 8320 and overclock it - You will get the same performance for a lower price. (I did this and I'm very happy with the results)

I don't know if this will last you 5 years, or if it will be suitable for programming and game developing but it will certainly be good for gaming.

You may also want to look into the new AMD R9 graphics cards, as they are performing very well with current benchmarks and are more 'future proof' than the 7970 from what I have seen so far.

Thanks for the input kingkob.

@shibby I'm not familiar with AMD's R9 GPU's to know how they perform compared to 770 or 780. All I know is that R9 290X costs a lot. Other R9s ae rather cheap so I take it they dont perform well.

I will stay say get an Nvidia card that will take off processing time away from the CPU, AMD requires more stream processing to cope and in turn can overheat the card with intensive gaming.

But Kob obviously got unlucky somehow, I have this past week help build 10 PCs with 760 and 770s for peoples Xmas presents. And on testing them thoroughly there was no problems with the 760 or 770s.

So no idea.

Belive me Dab I thought the same that I'm unlucky but after browsing the Nvidia forums for the past 5 months I no longer think that: Link.

Btw dont get me wrong, the problems were'nt major my pc is super stable now with the latest drivers, but for 5 months I sufferd from random tdr's and the infamous 36 hour idle tdr which was solved only about a month ago.
Also not very bad performance but agree that 60 fps is not the same as 50 or 45, it's pretty noticable.
The worst thing that bothered me were the micro stuttering in several games but I guess it's not a hardware issue or driver it's just those broken ass incomplete games that cause that.

I say the AMD set up. With proper attention you will not have any overheating! Plus I live by the code of Max the cooling out of your . *sighs needs money to build more*.....

[Edited by Toki, 12/5/2013 3:54:47 PM]

If it were me, I'd go with the first build. I've personally had bad experiences with AMD in the past, and I'm nothing if not impressed by the hardware in my new laptop (MSI GS70 Stealth, i7 haswell + nvidia 765M). I will admit sometimes nvidia gets some buggy drivers, but I've never had issues like kingkob.

I do a little programming work on the side (mostly for myself) as well as photo and video editing, virtual server crap, and obviously gaming. The performance I'm getting now is much better than anything I've used before (in highschool I used to video edit on OS X.. can never go back to Final Cut now that I've used Premiere).
My moms old laptop ran amd, and I'm not sure if it was bad drivers, slow tech, windows Vista, or a combo of it all, but it just ran very poorly.

That's my $0.02, anyways. I wish you luck with whatever you end up choosing!