i need some advice

[xxghostxx]

current rig
phenom 2 970
8gigs of mushkin radioactice ram
sabertooth 990fx rev.1
gtx 550ti
antec true power trio 650watt
patriot 64gb ssd
1 tb wd green drive
totally trashed case(thermaltake armor +mx) )
 
the problem being do i upgrade into a fx or do i do a full system rebuild with intel?new case and cooling solution is going to happen with out a doubt thoe.i game ,surf the web, converting files. i would like to stream or at least record my gaming session. any suggestion?
,

[tp4tissue]

Full rebuild with intel...

I know you might be tempted.. but AMD really doesn't have a competitive gaming cpu..

Support AMD by buying the GFX cards over Nvidia.. 


Thats the rational thing to do....


We want to support AMD, to subvert the tyranny of INTEL,

but at the same time,  We don't want to use an inferior product..


Go RED TEAM

[xxghostxx]

thats what i was think but was wondering if the fx were even still relavent probly not....

[The Mad Professor]

If you're planning a system rebuild with Intel processor and AMD GPU, I recommend this setup:


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant


CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($205.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($209.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Desktop HDD 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($144.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1665.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-08 20:19 EDT-0400
Let me explain my rationale for these particular part setups:


1) You really can't beat an Intel K-series processor and ASUS mobo for gaming. The aftermarket cooler is there because, well, stock coolers are **** when you run a processor at full load or above.
2) You want an SSD. The difference in speed is absolutely phenomenal. Use it as your boot disk and install your OS and games here.
3) I added an HDD because even though SSD prices are falling, you still get more reliability and storage for your buck out of an HDD.
4) Crossfired GPUs are amazing for graphics purposes, and together, these two cost around the same as a single GTX 780 Ti
5) The Corsair Air 540 is a fantastic case all around.

[Puddsy]

Crossfiring is MASSIVE waste, considering that 90+% of games that are currently out don't get more than a 5% advantage from it.

That PSU is overkill.

a 4TB hard disk and a 512 SSD... Ever heard of Murphy's law? A 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD has gotten me through 3 years no problem. The point about getting an HDD is good though. They're good for storage. A 2TB HDD is fine too.

Not everyone overclocks. Ditch the really expensive cooler and go for a 212 EVO if you really want to.

Motherboard seems like serious overkill.

[xxghostxx]

i was thinking of a 290x becuase not sure all the games i play will take advantage crossfire .i also have a cm evo 212+ cooler but im thinking of building a custom loop just for the cpu. i like matx but personaly i think i would not use everything the rog boards make available.i like ocing my cpu but i was thinking of maybe a asrock oc formula board anyone have exp with these boards.

[Badwrench]

current rig
phenom 2 970
8gigs of mushkin radioactice ram
sabertooth 990fx rev.1
gtx 550ti
antec true power trio 650watt
patriot 64gb ssd
1 tb wd green drive
totally trashed case(thermaltake armor +mx) )
 
the problem being do i upgrade into a fx or do i do a full system rebuild with intel?new case and cooling solution is going to happen with out a doubt thoe.i game ,surf the web, converting files. i would like to stream or at least record my gaming session. any suggestion?
,

Save your $$ and just upgrade to an 8-core FX, a better gpu, and a new case for better cooling.  The FX is still pretty good and unless you are just going for synthetic benchmarks, the feel of the machine will be roughly the same.  Most performance will come from the gpu though as the Phenoms still do pretty good for gaming. 

Also, what games do you play and want to stream?  For streaming, I would go with a decent Nvidia card to take advantage of Shadowplay (760/770 for 1080p or 780/780Ti for 1440p).  There is a minimal hit to the system performance as long as you have a quad core or greater cpu which you already do. 

[Puddsy]

If you do a custom loop, do it for the whole system. Makes it looks less confused.

[xxghostxx]

games i play

swtor
D3
wow(dont hold this against me )
games i wana play
Star citizen
borderlands presequel
skyrim
ect...
but i would like to run two monitors one atleast 1440,i have a 1080p 19" i ocd to 75hz

[Badwrench]

games i play

swtor
D3
wow(dont hold this against me )
games i wana play
Star citizen
borderlands presequel
skyrim
ect...
but i would like to run to monitors one atleast 1440,i have a 1080p 19" i ocd to 75hz

All of those games except for Star citizen will run great at 1440 with a gtx770.  There are diminishing results from there in the $/fps.  Star citizen will need some horsepower to run at high fps with all the eye candy turned on @ 1440p (cryengine 2). 

[The Mad Professor]

For SC, based on the projected requirements, I'd go for a dual 780 Ti setup with a minimum of 8GB RAM at DDR3-1866 if you want all the eye candy on (and let's face it... A game is at its best when running at full tilt...).

[xxghostxx]

 i got 8 gigs set my current machine maybe 1866 just downclocked do to denebs native speed,its mushkin radioactive set .ill just grab another kit.and would a 290x be able to push two monitors in the game and record some?(i would like to still go amd gpu ) am i asking to much without the gaming being out yet?

[The Mad Professor]

Most GPUs can support four monitors simultaneously, with some doing 6. To get the 1440p resolution, it's recommended that you get a monitor that does DisplayPort or HDMI, as DVI and VGA can't really go that high effectively.

[dorkvader]

Most GPUs can support four monitors simultaneously, with some doing 6. To get the 1440p resolution, it's recommended that you get a monitor that does DisplayPort or HDMI, as DVI and VGA can't really go that high effectively.

That is completely false.

Dual link DVI goes up enough and for a while was a lot higher than anything HDMI could muster. VGA con output much higher resolutions than that (I know because I ran them on my sony FW900) but will have artifacts unless you have an expensive cable. I don't recommend VGA for such high res but it will work.

Did you forget about all those cheap korean panels with the 1440 screen and the only input is dual-link DVI?

[The Mad Professor]

Did you forget about all those cheap korean panels with the 1440 screen and the only input is dual-link DVI?

It's difficult to forget about something when you don't know it to begin with.

Cheap parts are antithetical to my philosophy, so when I see a piece of equipment that is selling for far below what the average domestic price is, I think to myself "Gee, what's wrong with it?"


It would be like an auto manufacturer building a car and claiming that its performance is on par with a Ferrari, but that it's priced on par with a KIA. If it seems too good to be true, odds are that it is.

[Badwrench]

i got 8 gigs set my current machine maybe 1866 just downclocked do to denebs native speed,its mushkin radioactive set .ill just grab another kit.and would a 290x be able to push two monitors in the game and record some?(i would like to still go amd gpu ) am i asking to much without the gaming being out yet?

As of now, 8GB of ram is plenty for a gaming rig.  The 290X will not be an issue with 2 monitors, but you will then need to run either a capture card or streaming software (pick which one you like the most), and those are generally quite cpu intensive (ie: get an 8 core FX or complete upgrade to 4770K or higher).  Also, as you said, the game is not even out yet and may still be a while. 

[tp4tissue]

i got 8 gigs set my current machine maybe 1866 just downclocked do to denebs native speed,its mushkin radioactive set .ill just grab another kit.and would a 290x be able to push two monitors in the game and record some?(i would like to still go amd gpu ) am i asking to much without the gaming being out yet?

As of now, 8GB of ram is plenty for a gaming rig.  The 290X will not be an issue with 2 monitors, but you will then need to run either a capture card or streaming software (pick which one you like the most), and those are generally quite cpu intensive (ie: get an 8 core FX or complete upgrade to 4770K or higher).  Also, as you said, the game is not even out yet and may still be a while. 

The reason you'd want to stick to 8GB,, is actually more because it's easier to overclock..

2000mhz + makes ram much snappier... about 30% more bandwidth..

[Fire Brand]

I would say go with just getting the changing the cpu in the current system, seems like the better choice to one of the new  FX 8350E? look to be nicer when it comes to power consumption, and also the price has been dropped on the FX lineup so it may be worth looking into

[tp4tissue]

I would say go with just getting the changing the cpu in the current system, seems like the better choice to one of the new  FX 8350E? look to be nicer when it comes to power consumption, and also the price has been dropped on the FX lineup so it may be worth looking into

No it's not...

the total price of a computer  will be within $100-200, between AMD and Intel Top end processors.


So for a $1000 intel vs $800 amd..  You're paying 20% more, for roughly DOUBLE the gaming performance..   much higher minimum frame rates..  higher average, etc

[xxghostxx]

well it looks like im gonna do a complete rebuild . 290x ,4670k or 4770k and 16 gigs but if the ocing side of things limit me due to instability with dual channel ram them ill just buy a nicer set of ram .as far as capturecards go im not rele familiar what would u suggest.

[IvanIvanovich]

I would get 6 or 8 core FX used if you can get a good deal on it. Replace GPU with 3GB or 4GB 770 or R9 since more vram is good for 1440p if you are going there. For capture card I think avermedia stream engine is looking like a good way to go if you want to take offload. Then you could get a new larger SSD like 240GB+ for primary OS and applications drive and use the one you have now for encode/scratch use. For memory you really don't need that much probably. Even some of the 64bit games I don't see it load more than maybe 5-6GB at the very most. Doing that could save you a lot of money and get you through for awhile to save up and get something really nice when Skylake/Sunrise Point platform comes out.

[xxghostxx]

if i can find a fx used ill jump on it asap  . im not sure how it will preform compared to i5s and i7s ,since i havnt had a intel system since pentium days.the sythetic benchs look like there are a 15% difference in performances and thats where im worried not so much in gaming but gaming and recording/streaming at the same time its somthing my current rig hasnt been able to handle and i want it to work

[IvanIvanovich]

Which is why I mentioned using one of those avermedia cards as it will offload the work to the card and not use CPU/GPU resource. If you are going to be doing a lot of live streaming and/or working with media encode/transcode those cards can be worth getting regardless of the rest of the system. There is even some MSI X99 board that come with it integrated.

[tp4tissue]

Which is why I mentioned using one of those avermedia cards as it will offload the work to the card and not use CPU/GPU resource. If you are going to be doing a lot of live streaming and/or working with media encode/transcode those cards can be worth getting regardless of the rest of the system. There is even some MSI X99 board that come with it integrated.

I hearz drivers are buggy on those..

[xxghostxx]

going check on the recording cards. x99 being kool and all is way overpriced if you ask me

[tp4tissue]

going check on the recording cards. x99 being kool and all is way overpriced if you ask me

overpriced YES,,  but m0re cores really help encoding / streaming.   especially if you want to stream games

[xxghostxx]

i will have to consider all options .

[Fire Brand]

I would say go with just getting the changing the cpu in the current system, seems like the better choice to one of the new  FX 8350E? look to be nicer when it comes to power consumption, and also the price has been dropped on the FX lineup so it may be worth looking into

No it's not...

the total price of a computer  will be within $100-200, between AMD and Intel Top end processors.


So for a $1000 intel vs $800 amd..  You're paying 20% more, for roughly DOUBLE the gaming performance..   much higher minimum frame rates..  higher average, etc

Shussh TP anyway I was suggesting going for the cpu for the sole reason ddr4 being on the horizon, maybe a year or two down the line something good might come up so it would be more to tide over until then.

[xxghostxx]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

[tp4tissue]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

ddr4 is generally Faster than ddr3...  probably about 30-50% faster than ddr3 1600..

now vs Overclocked ddr3,  it's not such a Huge difference right now..   but in time... it will be Glorious..


And think about it..  x79 is still relevant TODAY..  it's been a while hasn't it..


I highly doubt z107 after x99 will perform better.....


the thing with z97 today,, is that the Good OC boards cost within $100 or x99...

so wtf is the point.. might as well grab x99. cuz u KNOW for sure the quality of components is there..
 

[dorkvader]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

ddr4 is generally Faster than ddr3...  probably about 30-50% faster than ddr3 1600..

now vs Overclocked ddr3,  it's not such a Huge difference right now..   but in time... it will be Glorious..


And think about it..  x79 is still relevant TODAY..  it's been a while hasn't it..


I highly doubt z107 after x99 will perform better.....


the thing with z97 today,, is that the Good OC boards cost within $100 or x99...

so wtf is the point.. might as well grab x99. cuz u KNOW for sure the quality of components is there..
 

1. buy (or use) really old hardware for super cheap
2. only play retro games.
2.5 alternatively do the 5 years model

[tp4tissue]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

ddr4 is generally Faster than ddr3...  probably about 30-50% faster than ddr3 1600..

now vs Overclocked ddr3,  it's not such a Huge difference right now..   but in time... it will be Glorious..


And think about it..  x79 is still relevant TODAY..  it's been a while hasn't it..


I highly doubt z107 after x99 will perform better.....


the thing with z97 today,, is that the Good OC boards cost within $100 or x99...

so wtf is the point.. might as well grab x99. cuz u KNOW for sure the quality of components is there..
 

1. buy (or use) really old hardware for super cheap
2. only play retro games.
2.5 alternatively do the 5 years model

The retro model doesn't really work for young people


All video games are rehashes of Times-past..  and Generally the New iterations are improvements..


So, if some kid, has never played  an FPS EVER,   it's better that he starts on say CS Go or Battlefield 4.. 

Because those games are much more refined and makes for a better experience..


Old-farts like Us only like the old stuff better, because that's what WE grew up with.



There's no real reason for the kids of today to retro game...

[dorkvader]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

ddr4 is generally Faster than ddr3...  probably about 30-50% faster than ddr3 1600..

now vs Overclocked ddr3,  it's not such a Huge difference right now..   but in time... it will be Glorious..


And think about it..  x79 is still relevant TODAY..  it's been a while hasn't it..


I highly doubt z107 after x99 will perform better.....


the thing with z97 today,, is that the Good OC boards cost within $100 or x99...

so wtf is the point.. might as well grab x99. cuz u KNOW for sure the quality of components is there..
 

1. buy (or use) really old hardware for super cheap
2. only play retro games.
2.5 alternatively do the 5 years model

The retro model doesn't really work for young people


All video games are rehashes of Times-past..  and Generally the New iterations are improvements..


So, if some kid, has never played  an FPS EVER,   it's better that he starts on say CS Go or Battlefield 4.. 

Because those games are much more refined and makes for a better experience..


Old-farts like Us only like the old stuff better, because that's what WE grew up with.



There's no real reason for the kids of today to retro game...

It worked for me. When I was a kid in the 1990's I had lots of fun playing older games (snake and gorillas on an old 486 we had). Later, I played early lucasarts games from the early 1990's, as well as other games like sonic or ecco the dolphin. In all cases the games were 5-10 years old at the time I played them. I didn't even know they were old.

But the internet was a much different place in the 1990's.

But it really depends on what you want out of your video game. DO you like video games as art? do you admire character development and choices? do you like puzzles or stories? games exist for all that.

If, instead, you prefer a test of skill, speed, reflextes, etc. Then other games may be more your thing. In all cases there are good and bad games and genres of games, the most recent are not always the best.

If you are only into huge AAA titles, then it's probably true that the newer ones are better, but I'm not into that so I can't comment.

[tp4tissue]

Will consider it if prices drop but for now Im probly gonna go z97 since current prices and the fact ddr4 latencies are horrible.ddr4 currently has nothing spec wise that merits it over ddr3.

ddr4 is generally Faster than ddr3...  probably about 30-50% faster than ddr3 1600..

now vs Overclocked ddr3,  it's not such a Huge difference right now..   but in time... it will be Glorious..


And think about it..  x79 is still relevant TODAY..  it's been a while hasn't it..


I highly doubt z107 after x99 will perform better.....


the thing with z97 today,, is that the Good OC boards cost within $100 or x99...

so wtf is the point.. might as well grab x99. cuz u KNOW for sure the quality of components is there..
 

1. buy (or use) really old hardware for super cheap
2. only play retro games.
2.5 alternatively do the 5 years model

The retro model doesn't really work for young people


All video games are rehashes of Times-past..  and Generally the New iterations are improvements..


So, if some kid, has never played  an FPS EVER,   it's better that he starts on say CS Go or Battlefield 4.. 

Because those games are much more refined and makes for a better experience..


Old-farts like Us only like the old stuff better, because that's what WE grew up with.



There's no real reason for the kids of today to retro game...

It worked for me. When I was a kid in the 1990's I had lots of fun playing older games (snake and gorillas on an old 486 we had). Later, I played early lucasarts games from the early 1990's, as well as other games like sonic or ecco the dolphin. In all cases the games were 5-10 years old at the time I played them. I didn't even know they were old.

But the internet was a much different place in the 1990's.

But it really depends on what you want out of your video game. DO you like video games as art? do you admire character development and choices? do you like puzzles or stories? games exist for all that.

If, instead, you prefer a test of skill, speed, reflextes, etc. Then other games may be more your thing. In all cases there are good and bad games and genres of games, the most recent are not always the best.

If you are only into huge AAA titles, then it's probably true that the newer ones are better, but I'm not into that so I can't comment.

But you can't analyze that situation in retrospect..

because a kid who has not the Complete experience in Video gaming, would not KNOW what he/she likes or wants out of a game..

So Given that the new games are polished reiterations of the old ones..


If we were to choose FOR the child,  it makes more sense to give him the polished game..