new pc ??

[jamesfox]

buying a new PC for gaming and customised most of my compnents here www.buildyourbox.co.uk

These are the specs im looking at whats best?:

CPU:
2500K or bulldozer FX 8120?

GPU:
GTX 580 1536MB or AMD HD 7850 3GB?

Cheers

[usually_quiet]

An i5 2500K will be faster than an FX 8120 and consumes less power. I ran a benchmark comparison here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=434 using an i5 2500K and a Bulldozer FX 8150 (which is a faster CPU than than an FX 8120). The comparison showed that even an FX 8150 is faster than an i5 2500K in only a few specific heavily threaded applications that can make use of its 8 cores.

Best VGA card depends somewhat on what you will be doing with the PC and the software that you want to install. Probably more applications can make use of NVidia GPU acceleration, and the GTX 580 outperformed the Radeopn HD 7850 for most games. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148-21.html However, according to that review the Radeon HD 7850 apparently uses less power, and may cost less.

[JimmyS]

The GTX 580 and the HD 7850 are in different price and performance catagories. The 580 runs about 450 - 550 $US (depending on make & model) where the 7850 is projected to be about 250 $US. The HD 7950 is more in the same price\performance catagory as the 580. The one you select should depend on how well it performs on your favorite games. Here are some more benchmarks for comparison.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/amd-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-radeon-hd-7850-revie...uthern-islands