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- AMD Gaming PC Build of the Month ($500): November 2012
- AMD Gaming PC Build of the Month ($1000): November 2012
- AMD Gaming PC Build of the Month ($1500): November 2012
AMD <$500 Build November 2012
Gaming PC Build Recipe:
All hardware is linked to Amazon.com – You Can also try Amazon.ca (CANADA) • Amazon.co.uk (UK) Newegg.com (US) • Newegg.ca (CANADA) Scorptec.com.au(AUS) pccasegear.com (AUS) to shop for these parts.
This month I have decided to go back to a high powered CPU + discrete graphics card due to this build being marginally better in benchmarks. Rather than compare this build with Corey’s equivalent, I’m going to compare it with the previous months build. The results can be seen below as well as at http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/4691950/3dm11/3662214 .
Processor: AMD FX 4170 4.2 GHz Quad Core $104.99.
I’ve gone back to this CPU this month and since it was last used there has been a $20 drop in price which can be put down to the release of the new FX CPU’s.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 $87.98 after rebate $77.98.
This has to be one of the best value-for-money motherboards on the market. It has a whopping 16 USB ports as well as crossfire capability. You may have to flash the bios in order to use FX series CPU’s though (the CPU in this build is a FX series CPU). There has been a slight price drop since it was last used but nothing major.
Graphics Card: XFX Double D Radeon HD7770 Black Edtion $139.99 after $119.99.
This is a very quiet card, so those who want an ultra-silent gaming pc, this is the graphics card for you. This card is also energy efficient; hence, this build has a 500w PSU.
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz $35.99.
Just the same old standard 8GB kit really, and again this build can take advantage of the 1600Mhz speed.
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 500GB $56.93.
This drive should provide plenty of space for your storage needs.
PSU: Corsair CX500W PSU $49.99.
I opted for this PSU because it is 80 Plus certified and it has 500w, enough to run this rig to its full potential.
Case: Cooler Master 690 II Advanced $79.99 after rebate $59.99.
Due to a far bit of cash left, I decided I would put a decent case in.
Optical: ASUS Internal 24x DVD-RW $19.98.
I am throwing this in again, because, like I said last month, I have had no problems with my one I use currently.
Total: $575.84 after rebate $525.84.
The price was below the $500 mark but I decided to throw a decent case in.
AMD $1000 Build November 2012
Gaming PC Build Recipe:
All hardware is linked to Amazon.com – You Can also try Amazon.ca (CANADA) • Amazon.co.uk (UK) Newegg.com (US) • Newegg.ca (CANADA) Scorptec.com.au(AUS) pccasegear.com (AUS) to shop for these parts.
The only difference between this months and last month’s build is the CPU. It has slightly improved benchmarks, but nothing major. There are currently no valid benchmark results available for this CPU + GPU setup.
Processor: AMD FX-8320 $179.99.
Due to the release of the new Vishera FX CPU’s, the 8320 has been brought in to replace the 8150. Benchmarks seen here show a slight rise in performance but nothing major.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ $124.99after rebate $114.99.
This motherboard is the same as the one used in the previous months build, but has dropped a further $10 drop. It can take 32GB of ram, plenty of USB ports and supports 2-way SLI and 2-way crossfire (which is the norm on today’s boards). What more could you want?
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz $79.24.
I choose this kit again because of its price and it leaves 2 spare slots for future upgrades. In the long run, it saves you having to buy 4 modules later down the track. The kit has had a minor price drop from last month.
Graphics Card: MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr III $469.99 after rebate 449.99.
Again I’ve managed to squeeze a 680 in this build. It far exceeds the 7950 in Corey’s builds as seen in the benchmarks.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB $54.39.
Again I was unable to fit a 1tb drive in, but 500GB should be enough for your storage needs.
PSU: Corsair CX Series CX750 $86.00.
Same PSU as last month, but with a slight price increase. 750w will be enough to run this rig to its full potential plus its 80 plus certified.
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 Mid Tower $37.10 after rebate $27.10.
This case was chosen again because it is super cheap, and is a perfect fit for the gigabyte board and can fit full-length graphics cards.
Optical: ASUS Internal 24x DVD-RW$19.98.
I am throwing this in again, because, like I said last month, I have had no problems with my one I use currently.
Total: $1051.68 after rebate(s) $1011.68
AMD $1500 Build November 2012
Gaming PC Build Recipe:
All hardware is linked to Amazon.com – You Can also try Amazon.ca (CANADA) • Amazon.co.uk (UK) Newegg.com (US) • Newegg.ca (CANADA) Scorptec.com.au(AUS) pccasegear.com (AUS) to shop for these parts.
Due to the introduction of the Vishera FX CPU’s, this build has seen massive changes, namely the CPU + graphics. I will again compare this month’s build with the previous month’s equivalent built. Results can be seen below or at http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/4390690/3dm11/4741871 .
Processor: AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz $214.62.
This is probably the biggest change in the build. The only noticeable difference between this CPU and the 8150 is the clock speed with the 8150 stock clock speed being 3.6Ghz and the 8350 being 4.0GHz.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – CPU Cooler $29.30.
Tests have shown that air cooling is just as effective as water cooling so this month, like last month, I’ve decided to include an air cooler rather than a water cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 $189.00.
I choose this motherboard again over the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 because of it possessing the majority of features on the UD7 and being much cheaper.
Ram: Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB Kit (2×8 GB) 1600MHz DDR3 $73.74.
Same kit as last month, but with a slightly lesser price tag.
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 FTW 4096MB GDDR5 $549.99.
Went back to the 680 due to the introduction of the FX-8350, but this card will still provide enough power for all your gaming needs.
SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB $86.69.
For optimum boot speeds, you need an SDD. This SSD is perfect size for OS and any games to be quickly loaded. I’ve decided to change the SSD to a slightly smaller one due to budget constraints.
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB $128.99.
I choose this because it provides you with plenty of storage for all the essentials, and you shouldn’t run out anytime soon. And because I saved approximately $20 on the SSD, I managed to get a 3TB hard drive in the build.
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 850M $123.29.
This PSU has enough power to run everything with power to spare, if need be you could throw the 1200W Corsair professional Series PSU in but you shouldn’t need that much power. And it is modular.
Case: Corsair Carbide Series White 500R Mid Tower $99.99.
This case is identical to the case seen in Corey’s equivalent build. It has excellent airflow for keeping cool; it is easy to use, made of solid materials, has an SSD holder, plenty of room for larger hardware & in my opinion, looks nice.
Optical: ASUS Internal 24x DVD-RW $19.98.
I am throwing this in again, because, like I said last month, I have had no problems with my one I use currently.
Comments 13
Hi Obit! Congrats on another round of great builds.. Those are some serious performance figures from your rigs.. 😀
But as mentioned in some of the posts above, if there is a scarcity of good multi-threaded games or there is lack of optimization for 8 cores.. what happens if I want to build a rig based on the previous generation high-performing Phenom chips?? I mean if I change my processor from these Vishera based chips to the older Phenom black editions??
The phenom CPU’s will work in these builds. http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/amd_fx_8150fx_8120fx_6100_and_fx_4170,6.html . that may help you in your decision. it shows how some of the higher end phenom CPU’s compare to the newer CPU’s
I wouldn’t use the word ‘hate’ but thank you for considering.
Author
Hey Jay,
Thanks for your input 🙂
I may be the only one that thinks this, so take my comment with a grain of salt. When I look at the different builds- $500, $1,000 and $1,500; I find rebates should not be factored into the purchasing price. If I only have $1,000.00 to spend this month, over spending that limit to receive $ back at a later date not feasible. Now, I agree with how Corey is adding a section on suggestions to buy if you have more money. In my opinion, building a computer under the budget isn’t a bad thing, but going over can sometimes be problematic. Thanks for the builds, I enjoy reading them.
Thank you for notifying me of your hate of this.
wouldnt the 680 bottleneck with the 8320?????
Author
Hey Darren,
The GTX 680 and AMD 8320 should not cause a bottleneck, although it would be hard to conclude that in every piece of software would be hard to tell since bottlenecking essentially occurs when either the CPU or graphics card cannot keep up with one another. ie. The CPU is running at max capacity and the graphics card cannot be used to its full potential.
Plus looking at the AMD blog they are using a Radeon HD 7970 (Pretty close to a GTX 680) & an AMD FX-8350 (really close to an FX-8320) and ran tests with them just fine – http://blogs.amd.com/play/2012/10/22/the-passion-of-the-pc-enthusiast/
Thanks for the new AMD builds Obit.
I have a question after looking at the November $1500 build from Corey. Seeing as the 3dmark scores for his are higher, would it be better to use this build with a 7970 or does it hinder the performance?
I also wanted to let you know there is a typo at Gaming PC Builds of the Month–>Obit’s AMD Gaming PC Builds 2012–>AMD Gaming PC Builds-November “0212”.
Author
Thank you for letting us know, will fix ASAP. In this benchmark, http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/3855347 , the 680 FTW 4gb achieved Graphics Score: 11516 Physics Score: 8213 Combined Score: 8092 . In this benchmark, http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4425440 , the 7970 achieved Graphics Score: 9252 Physics Score: 10177 Combined Score: 8588. It would depend on what your doing, but considering the price of each card, the 7970 would be better as there is roughly a $100 difference between the 7970 GHz edition & the 680 FTW 4gb edition.
Author
Hey Alex,
Thank for pointing out the typo – all fixed. As Obit has pointed out the 7970 is $100 cheaper than the GeForce 680 FTW & as he also said it depends on your goals in a build. Even though they are labelled as gaming pc builds, they are all good for gaming, but may be slightly better at different tasks. The biggest reason for this comparing both $1500 builds is first and foremost that the AMD FX-8350 is an eight core processor; Not necessarily the #1 processor for purely gaming, but overall a fantastic processor if you plan to use your PC for everything (multitasking, graphics work, video work, gaming, media etc).
However, the $1500 using the Intel 3570K + Radeon 7970 might get you better performance for purely gaming. Why? Because its a quad core processor that well, dedicates its four cores to its main task. Most games are not programmed to utilize more than 4 cores in a processor, so you will get more dedicated gaming “processing” with an Intel 3570K processor.
A quick overview video of gaming and core use – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4PDoy-mi0A (video came out before the newer FX-850 eight core cpu)
Let’s look at another view point with the 3D mark scores as well in these four scenarios –
1. Say you have a GeForce 680 FTW & an AMD FX-8350; combined score = 10392 ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4759800 )
2. Say you habe a GeForce 680 FTW & an Intel 3570K; combined score = 14564 ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4211556 )
3. Say you have a Radeon HD 7970 & an AMD FX-8350; combined score = 11944 ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4882979 )
4. Say you have a Radeon HD 7970 & an Intel 3570K; combined score = 14108 ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4792768 )
The scores sometimes make sense and sometimes do not (For example: How the AMD 8350/Radeon 680 and AMD 8350 / Radeon 7970 were roughly the same), but overall decide on what your uses for your new build are going to be.
Both builds have their definite plusses 🙂
Let us know if you have any more questions!
I appreciate the response very much. Thanks for the info. 😀
i noticed this article which may help in you, http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/amd_radeon_hd_7970_vs_nvidia_geforce_gtx_680_take_two