Need help with PC build please

[gadzi_h]

AMD 8350 is sub i7 and only $200.

[Fiorana]

AMD 8350 is sub i7 and only $200.

You need a really good motherboard for any of the 8 core AMDs though, the cheap ones can't hack it on the power delivery section for the most part, the 6300 is a 95 watt and can use a cheaper board and runs most games pretty good.

[Bloodclaw]

AMD 8350 is sub i7 and only $200.

I can get an i5 For cheaper than that right now, and I know it works.

[gadzi_h]

I can get an i5 For cheaper than that right now, and I know it works.

Like i said the 8350 is just under the i7 much faster than the i5. Just giving you a ballpark.

[Kittra]

Like i said the 8350 is just under the i7 much faster than the i5. Just giving you a ballpark.

I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but current i5s are just as good (if not better... no seriously) than their i7 counterparts at gaming.

i7s are really really good at video processing and handling multiple applications at the same time flawlessly, but turn off the Hyper-Threading and you basicly have an i5 of the same speed.

A couple people I've talked with have identical PC builds to mine with the only difference being an i5 CPU over an i7 CPU and their benchmarks floor my i7 PCs by a good margin.

If you go with AMD you will most likely save money on the processor and the "good" motherboards cost about the same as their Intel equivalents.
Going with Intel you'll typically spend more on the processor and good motherboards that last a long time can be a challenge to find cheap.

As it stands right now, the best bang for your buck is probably going to be an i5. Someone in my family recently purchased a PC with an i5 at it's heart for only $450 (sans a GPU to support it).

You mentioned you could get an i5 for less than $200 now, do you know what model it is by chance?
Also, do you have a budget in mind?

[NeruMew]

yay i7!!! (why people never see it's power :'( ))

I would suggest an 8core from AMD if you are going to cut the budget. =O!

Also, don't cheap out too much on motherboard, big mistake a lot don't get. (it honestly applies to all parts, but generally good motherboard + pws shows the most =O)

[Gamemako]

i7 will offer you no advantage in gaming at this time. It is more adept at repetitive tasks like video compression, but gaming will see no difference at all between the i5 and i7.

Depending on how cheap you want, FX-6300 is probably your best bet, being decent performance on the cheap. FX-6300 is ~$110, cheap-ish mobo for $50-60, 8 gigs of whatever for $70, something like an r9 270x or cheaper old 7950 for less than $200, then cheap 1TB HD for ~$50, then case&PSU. A dirt-cheap CX-430 can power something like this if you're not overclocking.

[Huginn]

The difference between i5 and i7 is firmware/software. FFXIV does not currently exploit the advantages of the i7.
Please note that there have been several reports of 8+ core processors causing this game to underperform on Windows based PCs (yes, you CAN play this game on Linux and OSX, see the appdb tab on winehq.org) and the reason seems to be the behavior of the OS using only one of the cores if too many exist.
Be aware that DX11 support will be coming for FFXI and that will be like a free upgrade igf you have a DX11 video card when we finally get it.

If you are looking for a motherboard suggestion, might i suggest the ASUS Gryphon X87 or the ASUS Sabertooth X87 (socket 1150). both offer solid construction, high copper content Japanese made capacitors, cool names and great performance on their PCIe slots (some manufacturers give you lower throughputs on different slots.)
a socket 1150 motherboard will allow you to use the Haswell core processors, which in my opinion, are better than the recall ridden poo fest that the ivy bridge and sandy bridge processors were. also, haswell performs better for gaming, as the threading on games is not usually very high, so the Ivy-E does not offer an advantage.
a socket 2011 motherboard will let you spend more money for no better performance

On the AMD side, don't let anyone tell you that AMD chips are awful. I am currently playoing on an ASUS crosshair III motherboard with a Phenom II x4 965 processor and it handles the game WONDERFULLY. Anything you can buy today should beat the pants off what i have.

And for reference, check out this site: passmark.com which will include spubenchmark.net and videocardbenchmark.net
you will find benchmarks for processors, video cards, hard drives, etc. in order to be better informed about what is better that what at certain tasks without having to invest the time and money of testing it yourself.

by the way, an AMD FX-9590 runs like an intel core i7 4820K

[Kittra]

If you are looking for a motherboard suggestion, might i suggest the ASUS Gryphon X87 or the ASUS Sabertooth X87 (socket 1150)? Both offer solid construction, high copper content Japanese made capacitors, cool names and great performance on their PCIe slots (some manufacturers give you lower throughputs on different slots).

A socket 1150 motherboard will allow you to use the Haswell core processors, which in my opinion, are better than the recall ridden, poo fest that the ivy bridge and sandy bridge processors were. Also, Haswell performs better for gaming, as the threading on games is not usually very high, so the Ivy-E does not offer an advantage.

On the AMD side, don't let anyone tell you that AMD chips are awful. I am currently playing on an ASUS crosshair III motherboard with a Phenom II x4 965 processor and it handles the game WONDERFULLY. Anything you can buy today should beat the pants off what i have.

While I will recommend an ASUS motherboard over just about anything else because of the way they're built, did you perhaps mean the ASUS Gryphon Z87 and ASUS Sabertooth Z87 motherboards?

The "X" usually denotes the E series so I was confused and a quick Google search didn't turn up anything either.

As for the Ivy and Sandy bridge processors, I wouldn't call wolf on those. I have experience with both and have been extremely satisfied with how they've performed.

There's also the fact that both Sandy and Ivy bridge processors are slightly cheaper than the Haswell processors and the performance gained from Haswell being a generation newer is not all that impressive a jump for the extra money you'll spend getting one. Since it is a generation newer, the motherboards that support it are also slightly more expensive and have yet to drop in price.

Looking at what the OP has specified so far, I wouldn't recommend the Haswell bridge, but then I wouldn't recommend the Sandy bridge either seeing as it does not support PCIe 3.0.

Stick with something simple like an i5 or a well rated AMD processor if you can, if you have a bit of money and the person you're building for wants the power, you can always go with Haswell or one of AMD's stronger chips.

(I would make some AMD suggestions but I haven't had any experience with their newer processors after the Phenom II x6 1090T <<< awesome processor btw, but no longer in production.)

[Kittra]

http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellS...9-_-11112013_1

Newegg.com had this on a Shell Shocker deal.

3 hours to go on a $400 Gateway packing an i5 3300.
(No GPU included though)