Several changes this month with the introduction of the FX-6100 (instead of the FX-4170), cheaper motherboard & memory. Benchmark results can be seen below or @http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/3248994 .
The FX-4170 CPU used last month has risen to $119.88 this month & it just so happens the FX-6100 is cheaper. The FX-4170 CPU does out perform this CPU in some benchmarks but the FX-6100 outperforms it in others.
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.
This month has seen minor changes with the motherboard & graphics card changing making way for a better case. Benchmark results can be seen below or @ http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5047424 .
Again I’ve gone for the 8320. This CPU has shown to be cooler than the 8150 which has slightly higher clock speeds. Benchmarks seen here show a slight rise in performance but nothing major.
This month I have decided to change motherboards. Mainly due to price, but this motherboard does include pretty much all the features shown on the Gigabyte GA-990FX-UD3.
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.
Not much change this month, only really the case & GPU. Benchmark results can be seen below or @http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5004191 . Bear in mind the benchmarks show the 680 with 2GB VRAM rather than the 4GB VRAM in this builds 680.
Yet again, this CPU is included in this build. This CPU has shown to be cooler than the 8150 which was used two months ago, and this CPU provides much better performance.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks guys! A lot really.. 😀
Yeah I know the Phenoms are a dying breed and my question was purely for a gaming rig I would like to build probably save a few bucks here and there.. 😉
A know for a fact that the new FX processors would build a better rounded machine in terms of general computing capabilities..
I am not a big fan of overclocking so I would probably stick with the current $1000 dollar build.. It more than fulfills my desire to game at 1080p without stuttering in BF3.. 😀
Hey Obit! Nice work once again with these AMD builds!! They are awesome.. 😀
But I’ve a doubt.. If most games aren’t optimized for multi-core CPUs (read 8 cores).. What if I paired a GTX 680 or an HD7970 with a previous generation Phenom processor, perhaps with the fastest previous generation processor? Or would that cause too much of a bottleneck for these new cards? Just a thought I had..
The consensus it seems with the article Obit has posted are that you may or may not have a bottleneck… In my personal opinion, if you wanted to get a previous generation Phenom right now for a gaming build, right now may be a great time because of prices (You can grab a Phenom 965 X4 for $99!) That means getting a GTX 680 could be warranted most definitely if you factor it into the overall price. Could it cause a bottleneck? Probably, but you will still get top notch performance on a high end graphics game at higher resolutions (1920×1080 and over) and can even out the bottleneck easily by overclocking to 4Ghz.
How about the multi core versus the quad Phenoms? Well this is another fuzzy corner, as technically games are not optimized for more than 4 cores max yet. Although looking at benchmarks such as these ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-14.html ) The AMD 8350 Vishera is not quite as competative as the Intel i5’s, but it is within AMD’s world (still beating AMD Phenom X4 980); albeit not by a ton but still.
So all in all going for a Phenom may be a great choice, although they are running out, which makes it hard to make a generalized recommendation. Either way, you’ll be good.
Thanks so much for taking the time to put these together, I’ve been reading for a while and am going to build your 1000 build this month. I just had 1 concern. The MSI motherboard this month has a gen2 slot for the video card, and I believe the 7970 is a gen3. Correct me if I’m wrong on this, I believe that cold inhibit the video cards performance, albeit by a few percent but still. Am i missing something? And if I’m right would going to the previous months motherboard be a better idea? Thanks again for your great work Obit.
Currently, from what i can see, there is no AM3+ mobo on the market that has gen3 PCIe support. And you shouldn’t notice a difference with the 7970 in a PCIe gen 2 slot. After reading this http://www.overclock.net/t/1091319/which-motherboard-should-i-get i would suggest going back to last months motherboard.
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 500GB $54.99.
Comments 8
Thanks guys! A lot really.. 😀
Yeah I know the Phenoms are a dying breed and my question was purely for a gaming rig I would like to build probably save a few bucks here and there.. 😉
A know for a fact that the new FX processors would build a better rounded machine in terms of general computing capabilities..
I am not a big fan of overclocking so I would probably stick with the current $1000 dollar build.. It more than fulfills my desire to game at 1080p without stuttering in BF3.. 😀
Hey Obit! Nice work once again with these AMD builds!! They are awesome.. 😀
But I’ve a doubt.. If most games aren’t optimized for multi-core CPUs (read 8 cores).. What if I paired a GTX 680 or an HD7970 with a previous generation Phenom processor, perhaps with the fastest previous generation processor? Or would that cause too much of a bottleneck for these new cards? Just a thought I had..
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. this article http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/video-cards/52666-upgrading-gtx-680-phenomii-worth.html says that Phenoms will bottleneck 680’s. And looking at this article, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-benchmark-core-i7-3770k,3181-21.html , a phenom II 1100t would out perform previous generation FX-8150. Unless you had a phenom II 1100t, which are fairly rare, you will notice a bottleneck from what i can read
Hey guys! A Merry Christmas to you.. 😀
Have a blast 😀
Author
Hey Aedan,
To you too! And If you went with the $1000 build, then I hope you enjoy it!
Author
Hey Aedan,
The consensus it seems with the article Obit has posted are that you may or may not have a bottleneck… In my personal opinion, if you wanted to get a previous generation Phenom right now for a gaming build, right now may be a great time because of prices (You can grab a Phenom 965 X4 for $99!) That means getting a GTX 680 could be warranted most definitely if you factor it into the overall price. Could it cause a bottleneck? Probably, but you will still get top notch performance on a high end graphics game at higher resolutions (1920×1080 and over) and can even out the bottleneck easily by overclocking to 4Ghz.
How about the multi core versus the quad Phenoms? Well this is another fuzzy corner, as technically games are not optimized for more than 4 cores max yet. Although looking at benchmarks such as these ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-14.html ) The AMD 8350 Vishera is not quite as competative as the Intel i5’s, but it is within AMD’s world (still beating AMD Phenom X4 980); albeit not by a ton but still.
So all in all going for a Phenom may be a great choice, although they are running out, which makes it hard to make a generalized recommendation. Either way, you’ll be good.
Hey there,
Thanks so much for taking the time to put these together, I’ve been reading for a while and am going to build your 1000 build this month. I just had 1 concern. The MSI motherboard this month has a gen2 slot for the video card, and I believe the 7970 is a gen3. Correct me if I’m wrong on this, I believe that cold inhibit the video cards performance, albeit by a few percent but still. Am i missing something? And if I’m right would going to the previous months motherboard be a better idea? Thanks again for your great work Obit.
-Caleb
Hey Caleb,
Currently, from what i can see, there is no AM3+ mobo on the market that has gen3 PCIe support. And you shouldn’t notice a difference with the 7970 in a PCIe gen 2 slot. After reading this http://www.overclock.net/t/1091319/which-motherboard-should-i-get i would suggest going back to last months motherboard.
Obit