Like we mentioned a few days ago, AMD has released the RX480, the graphics card with the best price/performance ratio to date, and there were a lot of you who asked us about what the perfect combination of components would be. Ok then, we’ll try to shed some light on this.
One of the biggest concerns is if this new line of GPUs from AMD are as CPU dependent as previous graphics cards from the red giant, well, we are sorry to inform you that this is still the case.
What does this mean? That a CPU will be used more if we use an AMD graphics card than one from NVidia, which will cause it to reach its limit earlier with an AMD, which will give us less frames per second. Now, this shouldn’t worry us if we have an Intel CPU newer than the sandy bridge models or an FX83xx or superior, but if you have an FX6300 or something less powerful, your graphics could be limited.
Does this mean that you won’t be able to play if you have one of these processors? (or a worse on…) Not at all! What it means is that the graphics card won’t perform at 100%, but it will still be able to maintain a high enough frame rate to play, even though the graphics card could perform better with a better CPU.
Having said that, on this occasion, and due to the inferior performance, we will not advise you to use AMD CPUs below the FX8350 due to the more limited performance, which can even go below 60 fps on some current games at frequencies higher than 4ghz, so we will recommend Intel. Also, we will not include a graphics card in the next configurations for obvious reasons, since these budgets are to go hand in hand with an RX480.
Remember that you can buy this card online for 220$ for the 4GB model and 280$ for the 8GB model, even though they have heat sinks, which are pretty noisy or can get really hot (one or the other). Models with improved dissipation should arrive during the second half of July.
As with our previous releases, we will stick to our three most important principles:
- Maintain the best performance/price ratio possible.
- Utilize high quality components to avoid problems down the line.
- Obtain an attractive design that will allow you to put your PC wherever you want.
Low Cost Gamer PC
- Intel Core i3-4170
- MSI B85M-E45
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
- Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB)
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- EVGA 500 W1, 80+
- Rosewill Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
Total: 370 dollars
As you can see this is a very low budget computer, but it will still allow us to use the RX400 at 100% if we aim for 60fps. An inexpensive machine, pretty and quiet.
Level 3 Gamer PC
- Intel Core i5-4460 178
- MSI Intel Z97 LGA 1150 DDR3 USB 3.1 ATX Motherboard
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 28
- Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 43
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- EVGA 500 W1, 80+
- Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus
Total: 472 dollars
A PC with a powerful 4 core i5 processor and very fast RAM, all of with a spectacular chassis. A PC built to last.
Level 2 Gamer PC
- Intel Core i5 6500 204
- MSI Gaming Intel Skylake B150
- Kingston HyperX FURY Black 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 2133MHz DDR4
- Corsair Hydro Liquid CPU Cooler H60
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- Samsung SSD 750 EVO 250GB SSD
- CORSAIR CXM series CX550M 550W 80 PLUS BRONZE
- Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02 Mid Tower Gaming Case
Total: 618 dollars
No we’re talking about the big leagues, an i5 Skylake at 3.2ghz, 8GB of high speed RAM, a very speedy 250GB SSD, all of this in a very compact package and also very quiet. It includes liquid cooling and a modular power supply.
Level 1 Gamer PC
- Intel Core i5 6600K
- Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX DDR4 Motherboards
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz
- Noctua CPU Cooler [NH-U12S]
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- Samsung SSD 750 EVO 250GB SSD
- CORSAIR CXM series CX550M 550W 80 PLUS BRONZE
- NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case CA-S340W-W1
Total: 750 dollars
One heck of a PC, simply put. A i5-6600K and a great motherboard, to comfortably pass the 4.5ghz mark, together with an impressive ultra quiet heat sink in a luxurious enclosing.
Top Level Gamer PC
- Intel Core i7 6700K
- MSI Z170A Gaming M3
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz
- Enermax Liqmax II 240 90
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- Samsung SSD 750 EVO 250GB SSD
- Seasonic M12II 620 BRONZE
- Phanteks Phanteks Enthoo PRO
Total: 927 dollars
Our ultimate PC. A 4ghz i7 processor, that can easily be overclocked, a 1TB HDD, 250Gb SSD, an extremely high quality power supply, a spectacular enclosing… Everything you need to get the most out of your graphics card, whatever the conditions might be. It may even be too much for a graphics card like this one, but it’s future-proof.
As always, we recommend getting a smaller machine, but one that will be able to be expanded, and with doubtless performance.
As with the rest of the gear in this report, and given the current situation regarding the change in graphics nodes, we have considered that it’s best not to incorporate a graphics card, in order for us to use one that adapts to our needs, be it RX480 or another one with similar characteristics.
- Intel Core i3-6100
- Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H GSM
- Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB)
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
- WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
- Rosewill Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case SRM-01
Total: 332 dollars
We have before us a Mr. PC, very powerful for playing, with an attractive enclosure and a 1TB HDD and 256GB SSD.
I hope you liked the recommendations in this edition. Remember that you can use any graphics card apart form the RX480, since they are powerful enough. We’ll be back with interesting information about AMD’s new technology, be sure to come back!