Questions about gaming CPU and GPU

Get an i5/i7 and an AMD 79 or a 78. Nvidia might have physX, but AMD are cheaper.

Intel CPUs are clock for clock infinitely more efficient than AMD and that's why people pick them. (That means they're faster regardless of the numbers)

And for the GPU just pick whatever the best card is in your budget range.

Because of money

As far as CPUs go. Ones of differing architecture(Intel/AMD) can't be compared by just looking at things like cores and clock speed. Only true way to gauge performance in this case is to look up benchmarks about how each CPU performs. AMD's latest CPU offerings are decent, but for gaming I would stick to the i5 2500k/3570k for best bang for the buck(solely gaming) CPU. As far as GPUs go, that could go either way. There are those that'll claim that AMD drivers are sub par, which might've been true in the past, but I've heard they've made great strides nowadays. You can't go wrong in the GPU department from either side. At this moment AMD offers best bang for the buck in the GPU department. My $400 GTX670FTW is still near $400 to this day, while the nearly comparable in performance 7950 has dropped to $300. People prefer nvidia for things like brand loyalty, their drivers were generally better than AMD in the past, things like Cuda if they're into rendering, PhysX which isn't worth it imo as it's rarely used in games, etc etc.

Not sure where you heard the 1 nvidia vs 2 AMD GPU thing, there are always potential complications when running multi GPU setups. SLI(Nvidia), Crossfire(AMD). You'll need a beefier PSU to run the two cards, they'll make more noise as there's more fans, output more heat, and you might be subjected to micro stuttering in the games you play. What's your budget? Do you have the other parts picked out already?

If your getting a brand new computer, go to Intel + Nvidia

Only real problem I've had with my HD6950 has been the cursor corruption bug in the drivers. There's a workaround for that but it's somewhat annoying. Also in games vsync is pretty much mandatory as there is very noticeable tearing with it disabled.

With my old 8800 GTS I had some freezing and blue screens when playing games but that might have been caused by something else and not the GPU.

Can't say much about CPUs as I haven't had one by AMD. Intel is quite a bit ahead of AMD when it comes to manufacturing process and technology.

Intel & Nvidia -> High price but excellent performance. (if you have a lot of money you are fine with this combination)
AMD -> More bang for the bug. (if you have a specific budget for your build)

Well if your using the new pc for gaming then you wont need more than an Intel I5, that is sufficient.

As for gpu. Its honestly up to you... do you support nvidia or amd? I have gigabyte radeon hd 7850 and it plays everything on max setting with at least 30 fps which is pretty good (i havent tried BF3 on ultra tho, but i do game on triple monitors and still get over 30fps on games that support eyefinity)

Pick a budget. Pick a good GPU within that budget. Mold rest of PC around it. Intel or AMD CPU, no matter, difference for game is very minimal.

I used to buy the AMD+ATI combo. But I am now converted to Intel + Nvidia. AMD is cheaper but for best performance get an Intel chip and Nvidia gpu and you will be happy.

For CPU you really don't need more than an i5 3570k, for GPU I'd go Nvidia all the way. I currently have a sapphire HD 6870 in this build because my budget was tight when I originally built it. Ditching it for GTX 680 soon, or 780 if their release info comes soon.

dood, what have you done? the 10 year debate intel vs AMD, Nvidia vs ati XD. As far as i know AMD/ati, cheaper but hotter (compare CPU fans against intel fans). Nvidia vs ATI, same ati hotter since its AMD CPU on GPU, also Nvidia better technologies, for instance just check how many smartphones use ATI and how many use the Nvidia Tegra 4.

Compared to Intel/Nvidia:

It is my experience that ATI/AMD usually gives you nearly the same performance per generation, for lower cost per unit of performance.

Intel/Nvidia have higher performance available, but at a much higher cost than I consider reasonable when ATI/AMD are available.

There's a whole lot of information out there, only some of which you need. You really just want to start by identifying your needs.

1) Do I have a heat concern? (cooling is a problem in Arizona, but not Minnesota)
2) Do I have a noise concern? (does it bother you if your computer sounds like a hair dryer?)
3) What is my budget? (AMD + Radeon is often cheaper)
4) Am I building my own computer? (much more bang for the buck if you or a friend build it)
5) How long before I replace this one? (future-proofing is more expensive than buying older parts at discount prices)

Once you know all of the above, you can find the parts that meet your needs. For CPU and GPU reviews, I like to check Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com). That site has comparison charts and price-point recommendations you can easily access and understand.

Intel/Nvidia has much higher performance and is overall the current leader. CPUs have been maxed out, but intel has also upgraded the motherboard to work along side the cpu in 2nd/3rd generation pcs, meaning less bottlenecks and overall 60-80% performance increase from 1st gen pcs.

I would suggest it depends what you want the pc for and how much you are willing to spend. For hardcore gaming: Intel i5 or i7 with Nvidia GTX 660Ti or better!

Intel beats AMD at every price range except for AMD FX-4100 vs Intel Core i3-3220, AMD ties Intel; However the FX-4100 vs i3-3220 price range is irrelavent because its better to buy an Intel Pentium or Intel quad. Also Intel's Haswell processors are comming in Q2 2013 and are based on new architecture, not a die strink like ivy bridge was.

For AMD's FX 8 core cpu vs Intel's core i5 or core i7 4 core cpu, AMD's 8 core, high end FX processors are rubbish, the low end FX-4100 is okay for the price. First, most of the new games only fully utilize 3 cores, except GTA IV and Borderlands 2, to a lesser extent. Second, the FX processors are not energy efficient. Third, Intel's core i5 and core i7 are better in games, the FX bottlenecks in Metro 2033 and Skyrim.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407-3.html

However in the future, about the year 2020, games will fully utilize 8 core and FX may be better. Also Playstation 4 and Xbox 720 are rumored to have 8 core AMD cpus so console port games may become better optimized for AMD.

http://kotaku.com/5977849/the-playstation-4-has-a-new-controller-fancy-user-accounts-and-impressive-specs-so-far

For graphics AMD or Nvidia doesn't matter. However if you get an AMD cpu you should get an AMD gpu.

Unfortunately, you're certain to get mixed responses here. I would look up someone who works with hardware for a living, rather than asking a bunch of forum dwellers, and deciding off of a consensus :/

As others have said before me, Intel and Nvidia are the winners here if you got the money. Also, a dual-core GPU is really pointless here. While it should raise the performance to at least 150% in theory, it normally raises to 130% max. You are better off with a single-core GPU. AMD had been slacking off for too long, probably cause they thought they were invincible. However, Intel has proved them wrong with a total beatdown in performance.
GPU wise, I don't see many games using ATI as the official card for them. I see more of Nvidia than ATI. The reason is because Nvidia constantly improves their cards' performances with each new card of the same genration like 650 and 660 and generation like the 560 and 660 for not that much price change. On the other hand, ATI seems to be focused on making their cards cheaper for about the same performance per generation.

Conclusion? It's your money, so choose which side you wish to be on.

Intel CPUs are more efficient, and even an I5 is more than enough to run pretty much any game you throw at; AMD CPUs are known for their great power with multitask applications such as CAD, Photoshop and the like, and while they are cheaper, they do not have as great performance as an I5 does. So in that case, your answer is pretty straightforward: go for Intel.

When it comes to GPUs though, the high end spectrum of Nvidia GPUs do not have as much power as the AMD ones (simple comparison is between the GTX680 and the ATI 7970, not to even mention the dual GPU solutions like the GTX690 vs something like the ARES, or two 7970GHZ. Sure you won't get Physx, but with that much power you can calculate those effects off the CPU instead.

Big thing to bear in mind when talking about GPUs, is that while both mid/high end models of GPUs (either Nvidia or ATI) have an incredibly low power consumption, when it comes to the HIGH end (like the 7970 mentioned before) the ATI models require a really beefy power supply, while something like a 680 has a really low power requirement.

In the end, the high end series in both brands are damn expensive, but for the moment, ATI has the edge when it comes to performance, if you're not looking for the high-end stuff, then you have to pay a lot of attention and ask around in forums for comparisons between these brands, as well as different manufacturers.

This is the best place to get your answers Buildapc. I used it to help me buy the parts for my new pc. If you look on the right of the page you'll see a section that says Resources. That'll have everything you need.

for processor i would recommend i7 quad core 3.4Ghz and for video i recommend nvidia with 980Mhz and 192 bits, 2GB.

Go for Intel and Nvidia, you won't be disappointed. For CPU, get an i5 3570K (Ivy Bridge), you don't need hyperthreading, hence the i7 for gaming at all. For GPU get a Zotac GTX 670/680 AMP! Edition and be ready to be blown up.

buy i5 3470
and gpu HD 79xx

My combo of choice is Intel + AMD. I suggest you do what pr0totype said.

you don't even need and i5 an i3 is fully enough for gaming,but if you have money for i5 go for it!i7 is for programming and some more serious sh*t on the PC,you need a powerful GPU Nvidia - GTX 560 Ti or above! Do not buy GTX 650(you can go for SLI but its a waste)! you can go for GTX 650 Ti(doesn't have SLI) or GTX 660 and above if you intend to go for ATI go for 7000 series I do not recommend you AMD for Gaming or ATI for gaming!For gaming people prefer Intel + Nvidia and for programming ATI + AMD ;)