PC construction help GPU Vs CPU

[Archonic Energy]

that should make it clear what the thread is asking,

i am building a PC for a friend on a limited budget. and i have hit a snag...

if i have a mid range card & CPU i break the budget.
if i have a low range CPU and a mid GPU i'm ok..
and vice versa

so my question is which should take the hit in a low spec gaming rig, the CPU or the GPU? :smallconfused:

[Brother Oni]

so my question is which should take the hit in a low spec gaming rig, the CPU or the GPU? :smallconfused:

CPU in my opinion.

I've got a single core Athlon 64 in my spare computer which will run League of Legends, Minecraft and (non browser) Spiral Knights just fine.
I'm having more issues with the graphics card as it's a X800 GT, which doesn't support SM3, despite it having the physical grunt to handle relatively modern games.

However if all your friend does is play browser/flash games, I suggest the GPU takes a hit instead, since those are CPU intensive.

[Reluctance]

What specific parts are you thinking about? On the one hand, midrange processors are more than capable of eating most things you throw at them nowadays. On the other, graphics cards are easier to swap/install at a later date when he has more money freed up.

[Archonic Energy]

CPU in my opinion.

I've got a single core Athlon 64 in my spare computer which will run League of Legends, Minecraft and (non browser) Spiral Knights just fine.
I'm having more issues with the graphics card as it's a X800 GT, which doesn't support SM3, despite it having the physical grunt to handle relatively modern games.

However if all your friend does is play browser/flash games, I suggest the GPU takes a hit instead, since those are CPU intensive.

not browser, more like Dawn of war, company of heroes, Tf2.
standalone games.

[Brother Oni]

not browser, more like Dawn of war, company of heroes, Tf2.
standalone games.

I know that setup I listed will handle DoW (not DoW2) and CoH on medium to low settings as that's what I used to game on.

Reluctance raises a good point for future proofing though - it's certainly easier to upgrade your graphics card than it is to upgrade your CPU. What specific parts were you looking at?

[Archonic Energy]

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom-pc-quote.php?id=169281

lets say i have just over £300... :smalleek:
and 4 weeks till the birthday.

and when i jump to the i3 systems i can't get a graphic card worth a damn.

[Brother Oni]

Do you really need a 700W PSU? You could probably drop down a bit and still have no issues.

Have you considered an AMD CPU as they tend to be a bit cheaper than their Intel equivalent? Although that CPU is a duo core, the clock speed is a bit slow, which may have issues.

That graphics card will work just fine and since it doesn't need an auxillary power supply, it cuts down the PSU needs some more.

[Archonic Energy]

Do you really need a 700W PSU? You could probably drop down a bit and still have no issues.

Have you considered an AMD CPU as they tend to be a bit cheaper than their Intel equivalent? Although that CPU is a duo core, the clock speed is a bit slow, which may have issues.

That graphics card will work just fine and since it doesn't need an auxillary power supply, it cuts down the PSU needs some more.

I have considered AMD though it's been such a while since i've specced up an AMD system i'm not really up with the current processor lines...

I dropped the PSU a notch (bam) and upped the Cpu to the G840.

it's been SOOOOO long since i've built on such a tight budget.
at least i don't have to worry about an OS. or Monitor

[Erloas]

You aren't actually building this computer, you are getting specs together to have someone else build it?
I don't know the exchange rates, and I know they don't fully apply on computer parts, so its hard to give a good breakdown on pricing...
But you can almost always come out ahead actually building it yourself rather then having someone else assemble it.

That said, neither the CPU or the video card in that build are even mid range, they are both low end. Though enough for almost every game depending on quality and resolution settings.
Generally speaking for a low end system an AMD processor is the best bet in terms of price versus performance and Intel is better at the mid to upper ends.

I also have no idea anything about the company you are buying from, but there are a few things about that build that make me question their quality. First is the 80GB hard drive... its harder to say now because of the flooding that killed the hard drive supply last year, but 80GB is nothing (even the free upgrade to 160GB) is too low, 500GB drives were common 4-5 years ago, and generally the price increase to upgrade to a larger drive is pretty small. Newegg (the leading seller for stuff like this here) doesn't even carry new 80GB drives, they are all refurbished, and they only have 1 new 160GB drive and they are the same price for drives up to 320GB, even the common 500GB is only $5 more expensive (or 7%). It just says to me that they have old drives that have been sitting around for years that they are trying to pawn off on people that don't know any better.
And second is the 700W power supply. That system is probably not going to need more then about a 350W PSU, if that, I would bet the system under load is probably closer to 250-280W. Any decent 700W power supply is going to be way too expensive to fit into a low priced build. You are 100x better off getting a high quality lower powered PSU then a low quality high powered PSU. PSUs are also very inefficient when ran at the really low or high end of their ranges, fitting into the 50-80% range is the best bet. Also the fact that they give no information at all about the PSU makes me think its some generic PSU that isn't worth having. And a cheap PSU is the most likely thing to have fail in any system and is responsible for more hardware issues on computers I've seen then all other parts combined. And when a power supply fails they have a very good chance of destroying a lot of other stuff in the process. Even when running they can cause stability issues.

[Tyndmyr]

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom-pc-quote.php?id=169281

lets say i have just over £300... :smalleek:
and 4 weeks till the birthday.

and when i jump to the i3 systems i can't get a graphic card worth a damn.

I would strongly consider looking at prebuilt systems from newegg(or whatever is similar in the UK). Refurb machines and the like can be quite inexpensive.

[KuReshtin]

If you're going for pre-built stuff, maybe this one could be an option, just needing a graphics card added...

Zoostorm from Misco (http://www.misco.co.uk/Product/190816/Zoostorm-G840-Tower-PC-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-G840-6GB-250GB-DVD-plus-minus-RW-1-Year-Warranty)

[factotum]

I agree with the people suggesting going AMD--I have a 3.2GHz AMD X3 in my rig at home, along with a Radeon 5770; neither of these are particularly high-end bits of kit, but I'm able to run Skyrim and Dead Island at 1920x1080 without difficulty.

[Archonic Energy]

You aren't actually building this computer, you are getting specs together to have someone else build it?
I don't know the exchange rates, and I know they don't fully apply on computer parts, so its hard to give a good breakdown on pricing...
But you can almost always come out ahead actually building it yourself rather then having someone else assemble it.

That said, neither the CPU or the video card in that build are even mid range, they are both low end. Though enough for almost every game depending on quality and resolution settings.
Generally speaking for a low end system an AMD processor is the best bet in terms of price versus performance and Intel is better at the mid to upper ends.

I also have no idea anything about the company you are buying from, but there are a few things about that build that make me question their quality. First is the 80GB hard drive... its harder to say now because of the flooding that killed the hard drive supply last year, but 80GB is nothing (even the free upgrade to 160GB) is too low, 500GB drives were common 4-5 years ago, and generally the price increase to upgrade to a larger drive is pretty small. Newegg (the leading seller for stuff like this here) doesn't even carry new 80GB drives, they are all refurbished, and they only have 1 new 160GB drive and they are the same price for drives up to 320GB, even the common 500GB is only $5 more expensive (or 7%). It just says to me that they have old drives that have been sitting around for years that they are trying to pawn off on people that don't know any better.
And second is the 700W power supply. That system is probably not going to need more then about a 350W PSU, if that, I would bet the system under load is probably closer to 250-280W. Any decent 700W power supply is going to be way too expensive to fit into a low priced build. You are 100x better off getting a high quality lower powered PSU then a low quality high powered PSU. PSUs are also very inefficient when ran at the really low or high end of their ranges, fitting into the 50-80% range is the best bet. Also the fact that they give no information at all about the PSU makes me think its some generic PSU that isn't worth having. And a cheap PSU is the most likely thing to have fail in any system and is responsible for more hardware issues on computers I've seen then all other parts combined. And when a power supply fails they have a very good chance of destroying a lot of other stuff in the process. Even when running they can cause stability issues.
correct, I am speccing it up at a (cheap) company or two. I could build this system but then it would be without warrantee and I'd be "technical support" ... i'd rather avoid that if possible. i suppose i should have said speccing but the word doesn't look right so "building" it is.

I am aware that these are basic parts however as stated i have a very limited budget which I can't really break, and a breif that requires I get the best gaming system I can for the money allotted. the point of the question is more "GPU Vs CPU" rather than spec me up something. because something's gotta give and it won't be the budget. if I were paying for it it i'd just throw more money at it... as in "i5 & nV 670" but i can't. :smallfrown:

with regards to the company, i've looked them up. mostly positive with a few complaints... i don't really know alot about them other than they are cheap... i know it's not a good sign but she picked it and it'll be her money. i'd prefer she buy from a more reputable company but they cost more for the same parts...

with the 160GB HDD i can install Win 7 and an additional 500 GB drive from my personal stores to make up the storage drive. it's not ideal but it's how i'm going to have to get around the constrains if my brief.

yes the PDU will be cheap. the whole system is cheap. will the cooler master 500W be any better?

I would strongly consider looking at prebuilt systems from newegg(or whatever is similar in the UK). Refurb machines and the like can be quite inexpensive.
I am looking at uk websites, but there is no equilivent to newegg over here... :smallsigh:

If you're going for pre-built stuff, maybe this one could be an option, just needing a graphics card added...

Zoostorm from Misco (http://www.misco.co.uk/Product/190816/Zoostorm-G840-Tower-PC-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-G840-6GB-250GB-DVD-plus-minus-RW-1-Year-Warranty)
Thanks Ku, i'd prefer a whole system so should anything go wrong there's somewhere it can be returned to.

[Tyndmyr]

GPU, then. For a more general purpose machine, I'd prioritize the CPU, but GPU is big for gaming.

[Archonic Energy]

GPU, then. For a more general purpose machine, I'd prioritize the CPU, but GPU is big for gaming.

thank you... now i just have to figure the AMD chips out and see what i can save going that route.