Need Pre Built PC Help

[Aerowyn]

I am in kind of a similar situation about a new computer except my current one was from Cyberpower several years ago and I am about to build a new one myself. I usually build my own systems but wasn't able to last time and am looking forward to making a new one.

I will be purchasing a couple of components a month so it will take several months to get everything before I can build. My main question revolves around AMD vs Intel. I have used both processors in the past and am pleased at the way they both work. FFXIV Version 2.0 will have a better game engine so I am wondering if I can get the same/similar performance out of a AMD FX6100 versus an Intel i7. Budget wise the AMD is very attractive and FFXIV is the most system resource intensive program I run.

Current Specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit (the new system will be 64 bit)
Intel E8400 (dual core, 3.0GHz)
4GB ram
500GB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive x 2 (non-raid, unfortunately my current motherboard can't do raid)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (1GB ram)

The current specs can run the game fairly well for my taste but it maxes the CPU and the load time is slower than I would prefer. I don't need nor do I want to spend the money for a high power gaming rig and so I would like to try to stick to $500 to $600 for the new parts. I figured I could reuse the current video card to save some money as well as my optical drive. I also figured I could pull the HDDs and make a raid 0 striped set and up the HDD performance (trying to hold off on the SSD drives for another year until the price drops a bit more).

I know any upgrade will help the game performance at this time but taking into account version 2 can I get by with a $150 FX6100 or have to cave in and spend $300 for the i7?

Thanks all!

[Goma]

honestly the 6100 will do you fine and I wouldn't say you'd need the extra cash for the i7 2600k the 2500k is just as good for gaming and runs around 200~250$ US. Having said that the 6100 isn't so amazing for gaming as it cannot utilize the extra cores as well. It is great however if you do a lot of multi tasking but most os's are not optimized for AMD's architecture just yet, hopefully in the future..

I would not recommend buying a pc part by part over a long period though. If your mother board is bad and you don't find out until 6 months down the line you've lost that much time on your warranty, you're better off saving and buying all your base parts at one time.

Also as far as running FFXIV in high settings, check out my blog I have a mini guide detailing how to squeeze more performance out of your game with ATI and Nvidia cards. Everybody who has used it has seen a FPS boost and diminished lag. Any problems and you can catch me in game or try me on my blog.

P.S. Forgot to add, the 6100 will run the game just fine, go for it if it's in your price range, the performance is worth the ticket cost.

[JakeRoon]

Prebuilts are a ludicrous rip off.....

I know about close to 0 about computer hardware.

Bought a decent quad core for 400 bucks, bought a decent power supply for 70 bucks, bought a decent game card for 160 bucks...stuck it all together and game runs great fine and beautiful....it all just pops right in.

got it all at Best buy as I recall, did some website price matching....yeah so 700? Hell you could even pay the geek squad to install it all for you I think...for WAY WAY cheaper than 1400 bucks.

EDIT: oh I DO know that AMD PWNS intel