anyone good with pc's ?

[Rauthaz]

I'm stuck between a choice of AMD FX-8320 and HD 7870 or should I go with i5-3570K and GTX 660? I'm planning to build a pc for some CAD work, gaming and maybe some coding.

[ChexGuy]

I usually look at other user reviews and compare them to see how they are.

 

Also, a quad-core vs a cheaper octo-core...I know cores don't automatically mean the processor is better, but I'd still choose the AMD.

 

Does it have to be one or the other? You can't go with the AMD and the nVidia or Radeon/i5?

Edited April 17, 2013 by ChexGuy

[desi]

I would go with the i5-3570K and GTX 660. The AMD + ATI combo might be a little cheaper, but gaming wise you can't beat intel + Nvidia combo. The intel processor will be better for gaming and overclocking if you choose to go down that route. The GTX 660 and 7870 have very comprable benchmark scores as well.

Edited April 17, 2013 by desi

[Rauthaz]

Thanks for the advice. It might all depend on the budget. I could mix the CPU and GPU but AMD own ATI so I guessed they would work better together.

[SaruDa]

I'd say go for the 7870 with intel. I have a 7850 and i5 2500k cpu and I'm pretty happy with it. Runs just about anything max settings at 1600x900.

[iLoveTsundere]

I would go with the i5-3570K and GTX 660. The AMD + ATI combo might be a little cheaper, but gaming wise you can't beat intel + Nvidia combo. The intel processor will be better for gaming and overclocking if you choose to go down that route. The GTX 660 and 7870 have very comprable benchmark scores as well.

 

Seconded.

[sanahtlig]

Keep in mind you're responding to a tech advice request from months ago, and the OP has probably already made his purchase. On top of that, the advice has already been rendered obsolete by new releases.

 

For home use, I heavily lean towards Intel processors. Core for core, they're faster than AMD processors, and most CPU-intensive tasks that a home user would do (such as gaming) don't multithread well (which is necessary to take advantage of multiple cores). For such tasks, you won't see a difference between 4 and 8 cores, so the faster clock rate per core wins (choosing between a fast 2-core processor and a slower 4-core processor would be more challenging). In addition, Intel processors are more energy efficient, so you'll save money on energy bills in the long run.

Edited June 18, 2013 by sanahtlig