HELP! New Diablo III System for a buddy, need to make a decision.

[CPU_Polizei]

My buddy and I are close to finalizing his new computer for Diablo III. He's going to be ordering it this week but we're waffling on the last few details. His budget is roughly $950.

Here's what were pretty much set on-
Antec Three Hundred Case
Antec Earthwatts 650 Watt Power Supply
LG 24x DVD Burner
Mushkin 120GB SATA III SSD
Mushkin 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM
Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit

HERE IS THE QUESTION

Does he get this-

Intel i5-2500K 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 Motherboard
Nvidia GTX 460 1GB or Radeon 6850 1GB

OR

Does he get this (about $45 cheaper and a better video card)-

AMD FX 4100 Zambezi 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Asus Sabertooth 990FX Motherboard
Radeon 7850 2GB or Nvidia GTX 570 1.25GB

I'm honestly not sure what would get better gaming performance here. I know the Intel system would be nicer for general use, but for games do you think the better videocard in the second configuration would boost more than the better CPU in the first system? His primary gaming would be Diablo III, World of Warcraft, and whatever occasional LAN games us boys play.

Help me Onions!! You guys are always lifesavers don't let me down :)

[russ18uk]

What's his budget? I'm guessing he has a several months before he needs to make a (final) decision?

[CPU_Polizei]

My buddy and I are close to finalizing his new computer for Diablo III. He's going to be ordering it this week but we're waffling on the last few details. His budget is roughly $950.

See what I wrote above ^^

[russ18uk]

See what I wrote above ^^

Hmm, I scanned that post 3 times, missing the more obvious location [chin]

My honest opinion? If he can't get a better VC now, get the i5 anyway. Year or two down the line he can upgrade and OC, if he wants. But for WoW and Diablo, whose devs are well known for not creating groundbreaking graphics, the GPU is not going to be the issue. WoW is more CPU-reliant, particularly when throwing loads of addons at it, from my experience. Diablo 3 would probably run on a 386 if Blizzard thought they could get 300 more customers.

[OrionCheung]

This is what I use:

and single XFX 5770 1GB. Max setting on Diablo 3. I get around 60-106FPS.



You could read other people issue here, both nvidia and ati card, random cards having issue during the beta testing: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/3374140/

[DhinShin]

I think those games will be more CPU limited.

[CPU_Polizei]

You guys are awesome as always, he'll be going with the intel system. Thanks again!

[will_perdikakis]

Any chance that you can get a better Power supply? People tend to skimp on these and I am not sure why.

[TurtleBay]

Any reason for the high end motherboards? You can save $80 on the motherboard and be able to spring for the $250 video cards with 2500k by going H67 or with a budget Z68 board.

[Darksieg]

Also why Windows 7 Pro? isn't the Home Version good enough for gaming?