First build

[pidevildog07]

Looking to go no higher than 1200$ for a gaming rig.

What I have so far:
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
Ram: 2x (4gb) Kingston Hyper X Fury kit (ddr3 1866 cl10 240)
CPU cooler: Cooler Master hyper 212 evo
Dvd drive: asus 24x r/rw

I WAS following a build guide until I started getting myself learned up on the finer details of components that go into an individual build. First it started with the suggestion by the guide that I should go with asus's z97-k. The problem is if I wanted to add a second gpu it would not be possible with this particular board. Second I realized that there were not enough connectors for the chassis' fans (4) which were three pin and not 4 pin which the board requires unless you used a controller? of some type? I still plan on purchasing an ssd, psu, and hdd. This is where I've stalled. My unknowns (knowing what I know now) are CPU, motherboard, and gpu(s). PLEASE HELP! [emoji27]

 

[jarlmaster]

ASUS Z97-A LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Great mobo. Supports 3 pin and 4 pin power modes and has 6 fan headers! That's plenty. This is the motherboard I have used in the last 2 builds I did for other people.

Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Refresh Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K - Newegg.com - Newegg.com

The only logical choice.

GIGABYTE GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

I have this card and it is AMAZING. OC's like no one's business while staying quiet and cool.

 

[NikonGuy]

I can't stand how everyone jumps on Intel like apple. Intel is over priced, and while you get some tech that's a little bit better than the rest, AMD is much better when it comes to getting something worth your pay. If I were the OP i'd grab an AMD over an Intel for the same price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113347&cm_re=AMD_cpu-_-19-113-347-_-Product This kicks the i5's butt, and is same price.

Much cheaper, but still very good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&cm_re=AMD_cpu-_-19-113-284-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

 

[pidevildog07]

Would the fact that each individual fan having its own manual speed control switch affect anything? I've been looking and haven't found a reference to it yet.

Check check on the i5, it's referenced everywhere where CPU use isn't as intense as gaming (at this price point anyway) but still being formidable in certain applications.

I've seen almost everywhere telling me to go with the r series gpus. The one thing I wish I saw in my searches is wattage draw. That's one thing I forgot to mention in my previous post. It's helpful to know when I shop around for a psu. 😁

 

[pidevildog07]

Amd over intel. Please discuss. The debates on this very topic look like gibberish to me lol. I need it expressed to me as barney style as possible.

 

[jarlmaster]

AMD makes crappier procs that use way more power, are out of date, and tend to push core count instead of efficiency/single core performance. Generally speaking, AMD's "latest" can't compete with Intel chips a few generations old. My i7 920 STILL hangs with some of AMD's latest chips. That's sad. AMD still pushes chips using outdated architecture whereas Intel is pushing the envelope constantly. AMD is often cheaper but Intel beats AMD chip for chip at every price point generally speaking. Any serious gamer/enthusiast goes Intel.

Sorry but AMD REALLY needs to step it up. Their APU game is on point though. SOC's and APU's are where AMD excels. Oh and their laptop line is pretty much nonexistent. They have basically given up in that department.

 

[Celery]

I used to be an AMD guy now that Intel are making fantastic CPUs. I found that out when I built myself a budget PC while buying parts to build a better system from time to time. I went with a Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge CPU since it was only $50. I was surprised at how well the Celeron run. I decided to upgrade it to an i3 for the HTT, Sandy Bridge too. That CPU ran like a runaway train.

I built an i5 system which is what I'm using now. It's a 3.4 Ghz now locked in 3.8 Ghz.

I've since learned that AMD runs hot and need a good cooler. My i5 never broke 40c with a stock cooler now being cooled with the Xigmatek Gaia cooler.

Go Intel.

As to the PSU, Get a Seasonic made PSU. They'll cost more but cheap insurance in protecting your system.

 

[BikerEcho]

Here is a 3rd guy favoring Intel.
AMD can be something to consider on budget builds, specially if you want a budget multicore machine for CPU rendering. But Intel right now is just soo far ahead of AMD. They actually delivers a true next gen architecture for every new series. This improves both performance, power saving, heat output and usually some new or updated features are included.
AMD just continues to disappoint with every new lineup of CPU's. It shows in their popularity. Only budget builders and hardcore fans of AMD buys them today.

 

[NikonGuy]

Anyone saying that AMD is behind intel is wrooonnnnnnngggggggg, that changed not that long ago. Keep up with the news lol! It is no longer the case that AMD is far behind. They are still not always as good true, but @ $239 that AMD smokes that i5. Buy and Intel at that price you might as well buy a mac. Extremely over priced, good, but absolutely nothing special. My 6300, came VERY close to the i5 3570k. My CPU won in value, combined core speed, overclocking. It lost only in single core speeds, the i% had better single core performance. I know this because with extensive tests online, my friend has that i5, and we did a direct test. Also knowing that Intel pretty much does what China does with Human slavery, and also imports their people from Malaysia and paying very minimal Malaysian currency, and not hiring our own american engineers etc who went to school for it. But hey, everyone for themself

 

[BikerEcho]

You think it's just for shits an giggles that the 3 of us disagree?

1: Intel is overpriced.
Ohh really??. You can get the I5-4690K for the same price (or even slightly cheaper) than the FX-9590.
And the top of the line Intel Core i7-4790K devils canyon CPU for the 1150 socket can you get for 340.

2: lost "only" in single core.
You see, this as where you can easily tell how effective an architecture is. Single core tests are important as well.
The I5 takes a dumb on the AMD in single core rendering.
Not all programs can utilize 8 cores effectively. If you disabled 4 cores from the amd the I5 would win in most (if not all) rendering benchmarks. even if you only disabled 3 core on the AMD the intel would still win. I believe it would tie in at 4 intel cores vs 6 amd cores.
Benchmarks like cinebench are heavily multi threaded. So it really depends on how good the program is to utilize all the cores.
To be fair, most professional editing software are excellent at that.

But the piledrive architecture is still a piece of garbage. Only reason it's relevant is because it's cheap.
Why else does it take 4 extra cores and 800mhz each core to beat a I5-4690K?

Not to mention the heat issues and power usage.