Here is the intel build. A little different than the one you got going. Check it out:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hwEnWent with i5 2500K. It'll OC like crazy while staying cool on a hyper 212 plus. No ddr3 1600 or pcie 3.0, but who cares?
This msi mobo will let you push the i5 2500k and has both usb 3.0 and sata 6gbps. You can drop in more ram if you want.
Went with 2x4GB of ddr3 1333 that is decent latency, low profile, low voltage, and the same name brand as the last build.
This build has the same HDD as in the 965BE build. Your choice if you want a storage drive for stuff besides os and apps.
This gpu will overclock past hd7970 levels, allowing you to enjoy games at 5760x1200 if you want.
The case, power supply, optical drive and os are all the same as the 965BE build. The total is a few bucks over 1000
before rebates and a little under 950 after 75 dollars worth of rebates. Your screen resolution, games you play, desired
settings and app mix will determine whether you go with 965BE and hd7970 or i5 2500K and hd7950. I hope these help.
Edit: go 965BE and hd7970 if gaming is a higher priority, go i5 2500k if gaming is less of a priority and you want to get work done faster
and use less wattage while both working and gaming. I live in an apartment where power use is included in a fixed monthly rent, and I
don't do much cpu intensive work myself. I know which setup I would pick(gaming, all amd). Your system usage and power bill may vary.
Chrispy_ wrote:jtenorj wrote:
Scott's most recent CPU article shows you that unless you don't care about gaming smoothly, AMD are
years behind Intel.
Sure, the average FPS numbers might be competetive, but when we look at FPS charts, we are really trying to guage is what really matters -
smoothness, which is consistent frame times.
For a gamer's money, AMD is a poor choice and things won't run as
smoothly. For non-gaming tasks, AMD are priced competetively. I don't hesitate to recommend them where they're suitable.
For what it's worth, your updated build looks solid. jtenorj is right about OS, you can't legally transfer an OEM license to another PC. If you don't have W7 retail, pick up Windows 8 (cheap) and downgrade to W7 if you can't stand it.
Yes, I read that article as well. The PIIx4 980(or mildly OCed 965BE) is the fastest AMD cpu for gaming(right now) and sits close to the older
i5 760(represents i5 2300 in this test) but is much cheaper. The older i5 760 and i7 875k are fine for gaming, sandy and ivy are just a little
better. If you push 965BE to 4ghz+(totally doable) you enter i5 760 and i7 875k territory while costing much less. Enough to bump an intel
build with hd7950(like what was used in the article) to hd7970. In something like battlefield 3(tested in singleplayer mode so results are
repeatable) where we are gpu limited, the 7970 and a 4ghz+ quad core 965BE should allow for even better performance( and frag online
smoother than something like the i5 655K that represents socket 1155 core i3s in this article). I guess I am saying that for an unlocked cpu
that does so well for the price versus much more expensive options that don't really give you more in gaming, the 965BE is a tremendous
value right now(especially if it lets you bump up the graphics muscle and stay within budget). Also, look at this sneak peek of Piledriver FX:
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/13 ... erformancePIIx4 980 trades blows with i5 2300 in these multithreaded tests, and FX8350 trades blows with the i7quads. More games are using
extra threads all the time, and both the amd procs are unlocked and fairly overclockable, but that i5 is not. If overall performance and
price is right for fx8350, it will make for a great upgrade on am3+. I believe steamroller may be on that socket too. There may be another
speed bump or two yet for ivy, but haswell will be on LGA1150. If you go intel for a while with i5, you are done as far as upgrading, but if
you go amd you can get a nice speed boost soon if you want and may be able to get something even better after a while longer. If required.
Also, I have recommended the gpu reviews of the last year or so here on techreport to others on other forums, and have actually used that
graph you linked from the last page as a selling point for a really cheap 965BE and cheap but feature rich and powerful amd mobo versus both
the much more expensive LGA1155 i5 quads and the inferior LGA1155 i3s. LGA1156 i5 quads and i3s were great values because you could
overclock them to 4ghz+ on a decent air cooler(i3s on the the stock intel cooler, in fact). Current i3s and i5s are not such great values
compared to the likes of 965BE because you get less cpu on the low end and pay a lot more for not much more bang on the high end with intel.