Building a new PC.

[Theminimanx]

So after deciding to upgrade to windows 7, I realized that many of my games need 4 gigs of RAM instead of 2. And since my motherboard doesn't have that many RAM slots, I would need to replace it, and by extension, replace pretty much everything else in my rig as well. So I figured this would be as good a time as any to buiild and entirely new rig.

Unfortunately, I lack the technical know-how of which parts are any good. Which brings me to you, fellow escapists. Can you recommend me a reasonably high-end rig (let's say battlefield 3, 1920 x 1080, ultra settings, 30 fps), preferably with room to upgrade without having to replace my motherboard again.

The absolute limit I'm willing to spend would be ?800 (around £650 or $1000) but I'd like to keep the price lower than that, so I would have some money left to spend on actual games. A new mouse and keyboard will have to be factored into that price, because I'm selling the entirety of my old rigs to my parents. Recommendations on a good 1080p monitor are also welcome, but don't need to be factored into the price, because my parents will buy it for me.

TLR I want to buy a new high-end gaming rig and I need your help deciding the specs.

EDIT: Also inb4 "Yay, it's this thread again."

 

[Kordie]

I am kinda in the same boat, need more RAM, and that means new mobo and CPU. So I too would welcome some advice for my next upgrade that wont break the bank. For me, I'm using an intel core 2 2.66ghz processor and sitting on 2 gigs of DDR2 RAM.

For the OP I am not sure about the rest of your rig, but I have heard good things about the Radeon HD 6850 videocard as far as price to performance goes. You can check it out among others ( http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html ) It is in the 2700 rating range.

 

[Theminimanx]

You can just buy 1 4GB stick or 2 2GB sticks. If you are using DDR3, RAM is very cheap.

If you are using DDR2 it is probably worth upgrading.

Also, no need for the inb4. Most people here are happy to help you out with a new rig.

Well, windows 7 isn't the only reason I decided to upgrade. You see, while modern games run just fine on my current small monitor, I need a bigger monitor even be able to read the text in games like shogun 2. And bigger screens require better rigs.

Ah, speccy just finished it's magic and it turns out I have DDR 2.

 

[number2301]

£650 is almost exactly what I spent and I got -

i5 3570k
8Gb Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz RAM
MSI 7850 Twin Frozr
MSI Z77a GD65 Motherboard
Corsair TX650M PSU

You can't really go wrong with that set up. Although if I was doing it again I think I'd save a couple of quid and go for a the none M version of the PSU. The M is semi modular which just seems to mean it isn't half as neat as my shitty old PSU.

You could shave a bit of money off the motherboard and still be fine, the GD65 is a bit overkill for me as I'm not a big overclocker.

The GPU could easily be swapped out for a 560Ti 448 core if you prefer green to red and want to save a bit of cash.

 

[Theminimanx]

snippy

There is this website where I ordered my previous graphics card, but I haven't found a way to make the text appear in anything other than dutch.
http://www.zercom.nl/
I'll search around for some more and I'll let you know if I find any.
EDIT: On second thought, just give me the names of the parts, I'm sure I'll find some place where I can get them for cheap.

 

[Kordie]

snippy

There is this website where I ordered my previous graphics card, but I haven't found a way to make the text appear in anything other than dutch.
http://www.zercom.nl/
I'll search around for some more and I'll let you know if I find any.

http://www.newegg.com is good for finding parts

 

[Kordie]

snippy

There is this website where I ordered my previous graphics card, but I haven't found a way to make the text appear in anything other than dutch.
http://www.zercom.nl/
I'll search around for some more and I'll let you know if I find any.

http://www.newegg.com is good for finding parts

We all know that newegg is big with the dutch, you know, seeing as it only ships in North America.

I guess I got it wrong why you were looking for a shops page. I gathered that he just wanted an english website that he could compare specs on.

 

[.No.]

Could you give us a rough budget, please? That'll be really helpful for deciding what sort of parts to put together.

"The absolute limit I'm willing to spend would be ?800 (around £650 or $1000) but I'd like to keep the price lower than that, so I would have some money left to spend on actual games. A new mouse and keyboard will have to be factored into that price."
From the OP.

 

[VladG]

£650 is almost exactly what I spent and I got -

i5 3570k
8Gb Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz RAM
MSI 7850 Twin Frozr
MSI Z77a GD65 Motherboard
Corsair TX650M PSU

You can't really go wrong with that set up. Although if I was doing it again I think I'd save a couple of quid and go for a the none M version of the PSU. The M is semi modular which just seems to mean it isn't half as neat as my shitty old PSU.

You could shave a bit of money off the motherboard and still be fine, the GD65 is a bit overkill for me as I'm not a big overclocker.

The GPU could easily be swapped out for a 560Ti 448 core if you prefer green to red and want to save a bit of cash.

That should give you more than enough power to max out BF3, but here's a tip, avoid MSI at all costs. They have incredibly bad components. Take this from a guy who's worked warranty at a major IT retailer. MSI has by far the highest percentage of faulty equipment that goes into service of any major manufacturer.

 

[VladG]

snippy

There is this website where I ordered my previous graphics card, but I haven't found a way to make the text appear in anything other than dutch.
http://www.zercom.nl/
I'll search around for some more and I'll let you know if I find any.
EDIT: On second thought, just give me the names of the parts, I'm sure I'll find some place where I can get them for cheap.

Due to the way intel does things, you will have to get a new motherboard if you wish to upgrade in the future. This is less likely with AMD but they aren't worth getting at the moment.

Sure they are, just don't go for the A6 and A8 cpus, those are crap. Phenoms are awesome value for money, especially if gaming is what you want out of your rig.

Actually let me look up an AMD rig for you real quick. Standby for edit.

http://www.amazon.de/Sapphire-Radeon-HD6850-Grafikkarte-Speicher/dp/B0048027IQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340523269&sr=8-1 (it's only slightly weaker than the 7850 but at nearly half the price right now. This gives you more than enough power for now, and some cash saved for an upgrade a year or two from now)

http://www.amazon.de/970-Extreme4-Mainboard-Prozessor-Speicher/dp/B0058HUQJ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340523176&sr=8-2 (very good mobo, Asrock is Asus' budget division - don't be afraid, they have very good tech, they save on having a very basic box package - you should have everything you need from your old pc anyway)

http://www.amazon.de/Corsair-Vengeance-Arbeitsspeicher-PC1600-DDR3-RAM/dp/B004CRSM4I/ref=pd_bxgy_computers_img_c

http://www.amazon.de/AMD-Phenom-Black-Edition-Prozessor/dp/B002SRQ214/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1340523517&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.de/Corsair-TXM-Serie-PC-Netzteil-Watt/dp/B005DPBAT2/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1340523642&sr=1-2 (this gives you room to upgrade, maybe a crossfire/sli config, and it offers good safety and quality components)


I used Amazon.DE because I figure it might have very similar prices. Either way, you can look up those components wherever you like.

The total is 460 euro, this gives you plenty of power to play anything currently out at max detail and 30+ fps (there's also quite a little OCing room). It also saves you money for upgrading in a year or two, not to mention that AMD has wonderful backwards compatibility, something that Intel has never managed.

It's indeed a little weaker than some of the other builds out there, but the price/value ratio is better. Bottom line is, it's more than enough to play anything on max settings today.

Oh, and spend a little money on a nice big case with good airflow if you're using a tiny cramped one. It's really a onetime investment (I'm still using a huge case full of fan ports I got nearly 10 years ago - sure, the airflow is not as well designed as modern cases, but it still moves air about very well and keeps my components very cool under stock coolers)

Having good ventilation is a lot more important than most people think and can help you squeeze a lot of extra power from your rig if you're into OCing

I'd also like to note that with the 350 euro you save now, you can upgrade in a year or two to whatever is a good buy then, and that will net you way more power for the same money than the i5/7850 config. Since it's AMD and a modern mobo, compatibility won't be an issue.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Single monitor gaming?

4G ram, gtx 560Ti, i5 2500 w/ stock cooler, 500W PSU, mid-range Gigabyte P67 mobo, 1 TB HDD. pick an NZXT case that's in your budget. Done.

 

[VladG]

snippy

There is this website where I ordered my previous graphics card, but I haven't found a way to make the text appear in anything other than dutch.
http://www.zercom.nl/
I'll search around for some more and I'll let you know if I find any.
EDIT: On second thought, just give me the names of the parts, I'm sure I'll find some place where I can get them for cheap.

Due to the way intel does things, you will have to get a new motherboard if you wish to upgrade in the future. This is less likely with AMD but they aren't worth getting at the moment.

Sure they are, just don't go for the A6 and A8 cpus, those are crap. Phenoms are awesome value for money, especially if gaming is what you want out of your rig.

The phenoms are old and are being phased out and bulldozer was shit and it's worth it for gaming. I stand by what I said.

The APUs are not bad for the price as they aren't for high end gaming.

The APUs are pretty bad for gaming, they have terrible bottlenecks, and aren't that cheap. Those are really only worth it if you want to play some not very demanding stuff on your office pc.

Phenoms are indeed getting a bit old, they do drain more power than current Intel architecture, but for gaming the difference in performance is too small to make the price difference really worth it. If you use your PC for serious photo/video editing, rendering, stuff like that as well as gaming, Intel is the way to go. If all you're looking for is gaming, AMD gives better value.

 

[VladG]

The APUs are pretty bad for gaming, they have terrible bottlenecks, and aren't that cheap. Those are really only worth it if you want to play some not very demanding stuff on your office pc.

Phenoms are indeed getting a bit old, they do drain more power than current Intel architecture, but for gaming the difference in performance is too small to make the price difference really worth it. If you use your PC for serious photo/video editing, rendering, stuff like that as well as gaming, Intel is the way to go. If all you're looking for is gaming, AMD gives better value.

I finished Metro 2033 on my APU. My real world experience says different from what you say. I'll go with what I've seen in real life.

Which is, they offer good value for money. An OC'able quad core Athlon II and a 5500-esque GPU for £90 is good value.

You finished on max detail? And what APU exactly? Because the OP wants to play the most demanding games on max detail with good fps. So for the purpose of discussion, anything else is not very relevant

Edit: Even so the information is only for my edification. Regardless, APUs are weaker for gaming than Phenoms for the same money if you're looking for performance. The integrated graphics keeps the clock speed somewhat low and the memory controller is not up to snuff. Even if you use an APU with a dedicated GPU you get lower performance than with a similar CPU and the same GPU.

It's better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU.

 

[broadbandaddict]

You finished on max detail? And what APU exactly? Because the OP wants to play the most demanding games on max detail with good fps. So for the purpose of discussion, anything else is not very relevant

Edit: Even so the information is only for my edification. Regardless, APUs are weaker for gaming than Phenoms for the same money if you're looking for performance. The integrated graphics keeps the clock speed somewhat low and the memory controller is not up to snuff. Even if you use an APU with a dedicated GPU you get lower performance than with a similar CPU and the same GPU.

It's better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU.

I wouldn't call 30 FPS "good". The APUs do fine if you are on a budget. More so if you team one of them up with a dedicated card and run Crossfire. I don't know what you are talking about with clock speed being low but the memory controller in them is fine. It just needs faster RAM than most systems.

It could be better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU. But the best would be an APU and GPU, then crossfire them.

 

[RobotDinosaur]

I spent around $600 on an upgrade a while ago and got:
-Intel Core i5
-8GB RAM
-A motherboard - don't know which one and can't be bothered to look it up right now. Something with the right processor socket and some PCI-E x16 slots, beyond that I don't know what features they put in MoBos to justify more than $100 or so.
-550W PSU with 80+ Gold rating
-GeForce 560 Ti
-120 GB SSD
-Wireless card and a few other things that made up a small part of my budget. I also reused my case, secondary HD, and W7 install.
My build wasn't meant to be as robust as yours - built more for strategy games and some action games at modest resolutions. You might sink extra into a better graphics card or a Core i7 to boost performance. (But I wouldn't consider any other CPUs.) The SSD is shiny but not strictly necessary. If you're worried about upgrade-ability, extra PCI-E slots are a good idea, and at least two x16 slots means you have two-card options (although some bigger graphics cards will block two slots.) As for retailers, I gather you're not from the US so can't help you much there. It also might mean your prices won't match mine - I caught a few sales when buying my parts, so don't be surprised if you end up spending a bit more than I did for the same parts.

 

[VladG]

You finished on max detail? And what APU exactly? Because the OP wants to play the most demanding games on max detail with good fps. So for the purpose of discussion, anything else is not very relevant

Edit: Even so the information is only for my edification. Regardless, APUs are weaker for gaming than Phenoms for the same money if you're looking for performance. The integrated graphics keeps the clock speed somewhat low and the memory controller is not up to snuff. Even if you use an APU with a dedicated GPU you get lower performance than with a similar CPU and the same GPU.

It's better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU.

I wouldn't call 30 FPS "good". The APUs do fine if you are on a budget. More so if you team one of them up with a dedicated card and run Crossfire. I don't know what you are talking about with clock speed being low but the memory controller in them is fine. It just needs faster RAM than most systems.

It could be better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU. But the best would be an APU and GPU, then crossfire them.

It's not. Look for benchmarks and reviews. Same AMD GPU combined with a regular CPU and an APU at the same price point, the APU combo yielded poorer results.

Not to mention that not all games are optimized for Crossfire.

 

[VladG]

The APUs are pretty bad for gaming, they have terrible bottlenecks, and aren't that cheap. Those are really only worth it if you want to play some not very demanding stuff on your office pc.

Phenoms are indeed getting a bit old, they do drain more power than current Intel architecture, but for gaming the difference in performance is too small to make the price difference really worth it. If you use your PC for serious photo/video editing, rendering, stuff like that as well as gaming, Intel is the way to go. If all you're looking for is gaming, AMD gives better value.

I finished Metro 2033 on my APU. My real world experience says different from what you say. I'll go with what I've seen in real life.

Which is, they offer good value for money. An OC'able quad core Athlon II and a 5500-esque GPU for £90 is good value.

You finished on max detail? And what APU exactly? Because the OP wants to play the most demanding games on max detail with good fps. So for the purpose of discussion, anything else is not very relevant

Edit: Even so the information is only for my edification. Regardless, APUs are weaker for gaming than Phenoms for the same money if you're looking for performance. The integrated graphics keeps the clock speed somewhat low and the memory controller is not up to snuff. Even if you use an APU with a dedicated GPU you get lower performance than with a similar CPU and the same GPU.

It's better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU.

That wasn't the topic of conversation. You were saying that they weren't that good for gaming, I am saying that that is incorrect. For the money you get good performance.

A phenom II is better than an Athlon II? I can tell you are a real whiz for pointing that out.

Are you talking about APUs? Or about Athlons? Because they are NOT the same thing. The Athlon is a regular CPU. Do you even know what you have? Oh, btw, a single core cpu is great value for money if all you want to do is play solitaire. Better than An OC'able quad core Athlon II and a 5500-esque GPU. Is that in any way relevant to the discussion? No.

And yes, APUs not being capable enough for high performance gaming is EXACTLY what the conversation is about. I'll point out AGAIN that the OP wants something that can play games on max settings, not something that can play games.... kinda. So you pointing out that hey, I can play on low settings on a low resolution monitor without the game stuttering too bad on my APU is very much off topic.

Just to put an end to a pointless discussion, an AMD APU alone, while cheap and good value for money if what you're looking for is some low quality gaming is NOT going to cut it for what the OP wants his PC. Also an APU plus a dedicated GPU crossfired yelds weaker results than a CPU costing as much as the APU and the same GPU, thus making the APU a bad choice any way you put if for this discussion.

 

[Griffolion]

So after deciding to upgrade to windows 7, I realized that many of my games need 4 gigs of RAM instead of 2. And since my motherboard doesn't have that many RAM slots, I would need to replace it, and by extension, replace pretty much everything else in my rig as well. So I figured this would be as good a time as any to buiild and entirely new rig.

Unfortunately, I lack the technical know-how of which parts are any good. Which brings me to you, fellow escapists. Can you recommend me a reasonably high-end rig (let's say battlefield 3, 1920 x 1080, ultra settings, 30 fps), preferably with room to upgrade without having to replace my motherboard again.

The absolute limit I'm willing to spend would be ?800 (around £650 or $1000) but I'd like to keep the price lower than that, so I would have some money left to spend on actual games. A new mouse and keyboard will have to be factored into that price, because I'm selling the entirety of my old rigs to my parents. Recommendations on a good 1080p monitor are also welcome, but don't need to be factored into the price, because my parents will buy it for me.

TLR I want to buy a new high-end gaming rig and I need your help deciding the specs.

EDIT: Also inb4 "Yay, it's this thread again."

First of all, you're in the wrong forum, try Toms Hardware.

But while we are here, there you go (this is from Newegg.com):
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB
Mobo: ASUS M5A88-M AM3+
GPU: XFX FX-785A-CNFC Radeon HD 7850
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB)
CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz
Mouse/Keyboard Combo: RAZER Arctosa Silver USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard + RAZER Abyssus Mirror Special Edition Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Mouse
Optical: SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM

After rebates, $820.

 

[VladG]

The APUs are pretty bad for gaming, they have terrible bottlenecks, and aren't that cheap. Those are really only worth it if you want to play some not very demanding stuff on your office pc.

Phenoms are indeed getting a bit old, they do drain more power than current Intel architecture, but for gaming the difference in performance is too small to make the price difference really worth it. If you use your PC for serious photo/video editing, rendering, stuff like that as well as gaming, Intel is the way to go. If all you're looking for is gaming, AMD gives better value.

I finished Metro 2033 on my APU. My real world experience says different from what you say. I'll go with what I've seen in real life.

Which is, they offer good value for money. An OC'able quad core Athlon II and a 5500-esque GPU for £90 is good value.

You finished on max detail? And what APU exactly? Because the OP wants to play the most demanding games on max detail with good fps. So for the purpose of discussion, anything else is not very relevant

Edit: Even so the information is only for my edification. Regardless, APUs are weaker for gaming than Phenoms for the same money if you're looking for performance. The integrated graphics keeps the clock speed somewhat low and the memory controller is not up to snuff. Even if you use an APU with a dedicated GPU you get lower performance than with a similar CPU and the same GPU.

It's better to get a dedicated CPU and GPU.

That wasn't the topic of conversation. You were saying that they weren't that good for gaming, I am saying that that is incorrect. For the money you get good performance.

A phenom II is better than an Athlon II? I can tell you are a real whiz for pointing that out.

Are you talking about APUs? Or about Athlons? Because they are NOT the same thing. The Athlon is a regular CPU. Do you even know what you have? Oh, btw, a single core cpu is great value for money if all you want to do is play solitaire. Better than An OC'able quad core Athlon II and a 5500-esque GPU. Is that in any way relevant to the discussion? No.

And yes, APUs not being capable enough for high performance gaming is EXACTLY what the conversation is about. I'll point out AGAIN that the OP wants something that can play games on max settings, not something that can play games.... kinda. So you pointing out that hey, I can play on low settings on a low resolution monitor without the game stuttering too bad on my APU is very much off topic.

Just to put an end to a pointless discussion, an AMD APU alone, while cheap and good value for money if what you're looking for is some low quality gaming is NOT going to cut it for what the OP wants his PC. Also an APU plus a dedicated GPU crossfired yelds weaker results than a CPU costing as much as the APU and the same GPU, thus making the APU a bad choice any way you put if for this discussion.

The CPU cores in the APUs are Athlon II cores, I thought you would have known that. So yes, they are the same thing. And about the 5500-esque GPU, that's what the integrated graphics in the desktop A8s are roughly equivalent to.

Where the hell did you read they are based on Athlons? A8 APUs are based on mobile Phenom architecture while FX-8150 (and the other Bulldozers) are based on Opteron architectures. Oh, you might notice that AMD actually has different types of APUs, and you have yet to answer my question, what APU exactly are you using? And much more to the point, does it actually have the power to max out games? If not, please stop wasting everyone's time, and find a thread that wants "a 300pound pc that plays games... kinda"

Regardless of the answer, I won't bother replying. You don't know what you're talking about, are wasting my time, and the OPs if he's even bothering to read this anymore.

And if you want performance gaming, A8 IS crap. You can get better results with cheaper CPUs.

 

[Tallim]

I'd take a look at this:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-introducing-the-digital-foundry-pc

extra cheap so you can save budget to boost the bits you want and because they are DF they did tests on it running all sorts of things. Results were pretty impressive given the money they spent.

Unless you are just going "crazy" I suppose.