24 replies to this topic

[S00N3R FR3AK]

Ok so thanks a lot for that Microcenter idea.Picked up a GTX 670 today as they only had two in stock and I didn't want to risk them not having it when I went in to buy everything else Friday. Payed same price online but I will be saving some money on the other parts.
i5-3570k $189.99 - I can get a 2500k for $169.99 if I wanted to. The motherboard is a GA-Z77-D3SH and since I'm buying it with either one of those CPUs it will only cost me $59.99. Found a nice cheap case there for like $30. Even with taxes once I get the rebates back it will be just a tad bit cheaper.

[NextGen_Gamer]

S00N3R FR3AK, on 24 June 2012 - 05:58, said:

Well there is a microcenter in Dallas not to far from me so I will have to check that out after my paycheck goes through Saturday. Would like not having to wait on shipping lol but I do also get to avoid taxes on newegg so we will have to see.

Ok have a new price of 1,070 with these changes.
XFX Double D Black Edition 7950 $379.99 with $20 mail in rebate, as well as 3 free games right now. So I may just go ahead and order it.
G,Skill Ripjaw 8Gb (2x4GB) $46.99
core i5-3450 (what is the difference with the S version?) $199.99
MSI Z77A-G43 $99.99
Seasonic 520W $59.99
Win Home 64 bit $99.99

Will this 7950 be good enough for at least two years without me having to Crossfire the card?



Yeah i have thought about an SSD for Windows and whatever game I am playing most right then but it costs just a bit much and I might just grab that for my birthday at the end of August.

Every Radeon 7900 series card comes with the 3 free games - that's an AMD promotion, not something XFX-exclusive. So don't let that be a factor in your decision. Personally I would just buy whatever Radeon HD 7950 is the cheapest between the following brands I trust most: XFX, ASUS, PowerColor and Sapphire. As for the SSD, you can always buy that later. Prices have dropped through the floor recently. Even the 128GB OCZ Vertex 4, arguably the fastest 128GB SSD you can buy, is only $130 right now. A month ago it was $180 lol

mr.r9, on 24 June 2012 - 10:41, said:

That PSU looks like a steal, veeeery good find. Regarding the GPU, I'd go with the 670 based on this: http://www.anandtech...duct/550?vs=598
Have you considered the i5-2500k? It'll give you the opportunity to OC in the future when you feel the need to.
Imagine 6 months from now, you'll have a bit of cash to buy an SSD and a cpu cooler, like the CM 212+ , then you'll be able to OC the cpu with no problems up to 4.5GHz rather than being stuck with 3.1 or 3.3...

Those benchmarks are outdated. Recent driver improvements have pushed AMD ahead in Crysis, Metro, DiRT, Skyrim, and made a tie in Shogun Total War. NVIDIA is still ahead in Portal 2 (but that seriously doesn't even matter when talking about 100+ fps) and Battlefield 3, but the person who this whole thread is about already said he bought Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360 instead of PC. That's why for him I think the Radeon HD 7950 is the better card.

Prices have also made the GeForce GTX 670 look worse now. At $420, it is makes more sense to buy the Radeon HD 7970 (which is faster overall) for only $10-$20 more. Once you get up to $500 it is a tougher decision, as the performance between the GeForce GTX 680 and AMD's new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (stupid name, but whatever) is a complete wash.

@ S00N3R FR3AK: The 520-Watt SeaSonic PSU is totally fine for one Radeon HD 7950, but two might be pushing it. The Radeon HD 7950 is rated for 200-Watts; the Core i5 3450 is 77-Watts; then factor in another 30-Watts total for motherboard components, HDD, memory and optical disk drive. That brings you up to 310-Watts total. Adding another 200-Watts into the equation brings you too close to the limit of the SeasSonic PSU I picked out. If you do think there is a good chance you'll pick up another video card in the next year or so, then go with a 600-Watt+ SeaSonic model instead. Should increase the price by roughly $30-$40.

[S00N3R FR3AK]

NextGen_Gamer, on 24 June 2012 - 23:49, said:

Every Radeon 7900 series card comes with the 3 free games - that's an AMD promotion, not something XFX-exclusive. So don't let that be a factor in your decision. Personally I would just buy whatever Radeon HD 7950 is the cheapest between the following brands I trust most: XFX, ASUS, PowerColor and Sapphire. As for the SSD, you can always buy that later. Prices have dropped through the floor recently. Even the 128GB OCZ Vertex 4, arguably the fastest 128GB SSD you can buy, is only $130 right now. A month ago it was $180 lol



Those benchmarks are outdated. Recent driver improvements have pushed AMD ahead in Crysis, Metro, DiRT, Skyrim, and made a tie in Shogun Total War. NVIDIA is still ahead in Portal 2 (but that seriously doesn't even matter when talking about 100+ fps) and Battlefield 3, but the person who this whole thread is about already said he bought Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360 instead of PC. That's why for him I think the Radeon HD 7950 is the better card.

Prices have also made the GeForce GTX 670 look worse now. At $420, it is makes more sense to buy the Radeon HD 7970 (which is faster overall) for only $10-$20 more. Once you get up to $500 it is a tougher decision, as the performance between the GeForce GTX 680 and AMD's new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (stupid name, but whatever) is a complete wash.

@ S00N3R FR3AK: The 520-Watt SeaSonic PSU is totally fine for one Radeon HD 7950, but two might be pushing it. The Radeon HD 7950 is rated for 200-Watts; the Core i5 3450 is 77-Watts; then factor in another 30-Watts total for motherboard components, HDD, memory and optical disk drive. That brings you up to 310-Watts total. Adding another 200-Watts into the equation brings you too close to the limit of the SeasSonic PSU I picked out. If you do think there is a good chance you'll pick up another video card in the next year or so, then go with a 600-Watt+ SeaSonic model instead. Should increase the price by roughly $30-$40.

Yeah I'm going go with 650w instead. Now on the card I bought the 670 as they are hard to find and if I want to I can return it. My mom has a friend who works for nvidia so I'm going to contact her to see if I can get any help that way towards a card. I'm almost leaning towards the nvidia as the two cards I have had (9500 GT current 4650M) I felt like drivers were always better dealt with on the nivida card

[Slammers]

I have to ask, why are you going to play BF3 on 360?! Is it because your friends play it on console?
Because your setup will smash it on ultra easily, and you want be limited to tiny amoutns of players per map etc.

[S00N3R FR3AK]

Slammers, on 25 June 2012 - 04:02, said:

I have to ask, why are you going to play BF3 on 360?! Is it because your friends play it on console?
Because your setup will smash it on ultra easily, and you want be limited to tiny amoutns of players per map etc.

Yeah my friends play it on the 360. Also 24player isn't to bad. I like how Rush just makes it to where each part of the map gets played on the bigger ones. I was adverse to it at first but enjoy it now.

[mattmatik]

Wow, S00N3R, you found a 3570k for $190? Damn, I feel like I raped myself

The difference between the 3450/3450S is the S is clocked about 300mhz slower but power consumption is 12w less (65w v 77w). The bus/core ratio is also less (28 v 31) so your max turbo clock is a little less. Probably more ideal to use a S processor in a HTPC or something similar.

[S00N3R FR3AK]

mattmatik, on 25 June 2012 - 05:18, said:

Wow, S00N3R, you found a 3570k for $190? Damn, I feel like I raped myself

The difference between the 3450/3450S is the S is clocked about 300mhz slower but power consumption is 12w less (65w v 77w). The bus/core ratio is also less (28 v 31) so your max turbo clock is a little less. Probably more ideal to use a S processor in a HTPC or something similar.

[S00N3R FR3AK]

Stupid phone, I hit reply by accident and when I went to edit that post lost internet. Anyways yeah when I saw that deal I was like holy ****.

So anyways new things to talk about. Some people are pressing hard for me to do AMD(he admitted to be a fan boy and wanting everyone to use them). What am I losing in that $70-$80 price drop besides PCI 3.0? Compare it to the i5-3570k which I plan to get right now and that I am paying $190 for it and getting $50 off a motherboard.

[LaP]

S00N3R FR3AK, on 24 June 2012 - 05:58, said:

XFX Double D Black Edition 7950 $379.99 with $20 mail in rebate, as well as 3 free games right now. So I may just go ahead and order it.

From what i can recall the Double D cooler was not very well rated in review. Here in canada the Ggigabyte windforce card is less expensive and the cooler is better. You should look if it is the case in USA too. The Windforce 7950 is 370 CAD so should be less in USA probably around 350.

[LaP]

psionicinversion, on 24 June 2012 - 13:00, said:

The 670 is $420 , 7950 is $380 with additional $20 rebate meaning theres a $60 price difference.

You find better deal for a 7950 in USA i'm sure of that.

I have right here one for 370$ CAD with a very good custom cooler and not stupid MIR.

http://ncix.com/prod...te&promoid=1048