Best arrangement of Computer parts for Fallout 3 (or better)

[aureolus]

I'm planning on building a computer when i get back from Navy boot. But to be honest i know only a few things about putting them together.

 

So this is what this topic is about, keeping in mind of what works best with what, also trying to keep this under $1,000 what would be the best hardware for playing fallout 3, or other graphical, or system needy heavy games?

 

(and when I'm asking for fallout, i mean playing without crashing. Because yes i can play on my current machine, but everyone says "oh your graphics sucks, and NEED MOAR RAM. so tell me what I should get.)

[Rabbit1251]

Congratulations on choosing Navy!! I've noticed that even on the best systems people still complain about crashing so I'm not sure that is a guarantee. I just bought a machine when Windows 7 came out and both TES Oblivion and Fallout 3 hum along like a Swiss sewing machine. If you are curious about what I am running check my profile. Also make sure that it will take Fallout New Vegas when it comes out later this year. There probably won't be much of a difference, but with the speed that technology is improving you never know.

 

 

Rabbit

[aureolus]

Congratulations on choosing Navy!! I've noticed that even on the best systems people still complain about crashing so I'm not sure that is a guarantee. I just bought a machine when Windows 7 came out and both TES Oblivion and Fallout 3 hum along like a Swiss sewing machine. If you are curious about what I am running check my profile. Also make sure that it will take Fallout New Vegas when it comes out later this year. There probably won't be much of a difference, but with the speed that technology is improving you never know.

 

 

Rabbit

 

oh definately. i'll be getting 7 for sure, and I'll be going crazy if i can't get new vegas.

[Rabbit1251]

My set up may not be the best or the most economical (I had it built for me), but what I am saying is that it works and works well for my Bethesda games.

 

 

Rabbit

[ElPuerco]

www.newegg.com

 

You can find all the parts you need there for good prices. They all have reviews too, so you can be sure you're buying good stuff. If you aren't comfortable enough making it up yourself, there is a place on the site where other users post the systems they are building - you could use that as a reference guide of sorts.

 

You should be able to build something that can easily handle FO3 for under $1000.

[aureolus]

www.newegg.com

 

You can find all the parts you need there for good prices. They all have reviews too, so you can be sure you're buying good stuff. If you aren't comfortable enough making it up yourself, there is a place on the site where other users post the systems they are building - you could use that as a reference guide of sorts.

 

You should be able to build something that can easily handle FO3 for under $1000.

 

Yep, I've already got a list built. I can post it if you guys want to judge it.

[cloak174]

Go ahead and post your list. bear in mind though, primarily, graphics aren't dictated by RAM, but the graphics card. Don't get me wrong, I have 6GB of RAM and love it, but you want to get yourself a good graphics card to really crank poo up.

 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9800gt_us.html

 

That's the card I have. I can turn on tgm, and shoot a wall point blank with the experimental MIRV, and not experience much lag at ALL. Generally, you'd want about 500MB memory in your graphics card. That one has 2GB, so you should be fine, heheh. Lemme know if you need any info about any other parts that go into computers. I don't know, nor claim to know, tech support levels of stuff, but I'm more than happy to share what little I do.

[aureolus]

I've got everything picked out, so i don't know if this link will work but here's what i want.

 

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=18212108

 

(I'll be waiting about 4-5 months to get these parts so i may be adding, or replacing things depending on pricing after i get out of boot camp.)

[Rixirite]

Personally, when I bought my rig I had to do a lot of research. Do you have a ATX case you were going to put your new hardware into? I did the same thing where my budget was only around 1,000 bucks and got a nice rig.

 

Graphics card:

I would get the GTX 260 Core 216 instead, that card will last longer than the 9800gt as far as performance will go in the next year. For 190 - 230 bucks it is well worth the money. The Benchmarking on this card is well done and averages fallout 3 at 50 - 60 FPS maxed out with full anti-aliasing and Ansotropic filtering. However, many people experience stuttering in fallout 3 with ultra settings due to driver problems, you will have to install a older driver for fallout to run smooth with no hitching, or stuttering. Nvidia driver 186.18 is the last known driver to run Fallout 3 without hitching. This hitching can be a pain when explosions go off, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434&cm_re=gtx_260_core_216-_-14-130-434-_-Product

 

Power Supply Unit:

Also make sure you have a 500 - 600 watt PSU with 2 6-pin power connectors. The PSU is important for the video card, VERY important. Consider getting a 700 - 1000 watt if you plan on doing SLI in the future having 2 pr 3 video cards. But honestly one card will do the trick.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&cm_re=antec_earthwatts_500w-_-17-371-007-_-Product

 

Processing/Motherboard:

For the Processor, I personally got the Core i7 because of its value for what it can throw out. 8 64-bit processors with one huge heatsink gives you massive processing power. But getting a quad core or a Core i5 would be good. (The Core i7 is practically overkill and was made for processor-heavy computing.) An equal motherboard that supports PCI Express 2.0 16x is important when getting a new computer. If you get a motherboard with AGP 8x or normal PCI then your Graphics card will not be able to connect to your motherboard. The motherboard must have compatability with the processor you buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

 

Memory:

As far as memory goes: make sure you get at least 4 gigabytes for gaming. Anything lower might not handle well on some games that require a lot of memory performance. Since you are planning on getting Windows 7, 4 gigabytes will do better compared to Vista in which you would need 6 gigs (I have Vista 64-bit so I have three-channel 6 GB).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

 

OS:

Make sure if you get windows 7 it comes in 64-bit flavor. Since your processor will be a 64-bit you need the matching OS bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716&cm_re=Windows_7-_-32-116-716-_-Product

 

Prices:

$134.99 - Motherboard

$214.99 - GPU

$119.99 - Memory

$69.99 - PSU

$199.99 - CPU

$179.99 - OS

 

Total cost:

$920.99

[aureolus]

Personally, when I bought my rig I had to do a lot of research. Do you have a ATX case you were going to put your new hardware into? I did the same thing where my budget was only around 1,000 bucks and got a nice rig.

 

Graphics card:

I would get the GTX 260 Core 216 instead, that card will last longer than the 9800gt as far as performance will go in the next year. For 190 - 230 bucks it is well worth the money. The Benchmarking on this card is well done and averages fallout 3 at 50 - 60 FPS maxed out with full anti-aliasing and Ansotropic filtering. However, many people experience stuttering in fallout 3 with ultra settings due to driver problems, you will have to install a older driver for fallout to run smooth with no hitching, or stuttering. Nvidia driver 186.18 is the last known driver to run Fallout 3 without hitching. This hitching can be a pain when explosions go off, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434&cm_re=gtx_260_core_216-_-14-130-434-_-Product

 

Power Supply Unit:

Also make sure you have a 500 - 600 watt PSU with 2 6-pin power connectors. The PSU is important for the video card, VERY important. Consider getting a 700 - 1000 watt if you plan on doing SLI in the future having 2 pr 3 video cards. But honestly one card will do the trick.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&cm_re=antec_earthwatts_500w-_-17-371-007-_-Product

 

Processing/Motherboard:

For the Processor, I personally got the Core i7 because of its value for what it can throw out. 8 64-bit processors with one huge heatsink gives you massive processing power. But getting a quad core or a Core i5 would be good. (The Core i7 is practically overkill and was made for processor-heavy computing.) An equal motherboard that supports PCI Express 2.0 16x is important when getting a new computer. If you get a motherboard with AGP 8x or normal PCI then your Graphics card will not be able to connect to your motherboard. The motherboard must have compatability with the processor you buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

 

Memory:

As far as memory goes: make sure you get at least 4 gigabytes for gaming. Anything lower might not handle well on some games that require a lot of memory performance. Since you are planning on getting Windows 7, 4 gigabytes will do better compared to Vista in which you would need 6 gigs (I have Vista 64-bit so I have three-channel 6 GB).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

 

OS:

Make sure if you get windows 7 it comes in 64-bit flavor. Since your processor will be a 64-bit you need the matching OS bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716&cm_re=Windows_7-_-32-116-716-_-Product

 

Prices:

$134.99 - Motherboard

$214.99 - GPU

$119.99 - Memory

$69.99 - PSU

$199.99 - CPU

$179.99 - OS

 

Total cost:

$920.99

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but did you see the link in my last post? I've pretty much stettled. also you're missing hard drives in that calculation, I want 2 1TB hard drives (Samsung or whatever else is least likely to die quickly) which will bump that over budget. not to meantion, no i have no case so I'd have to get one. so yeah. i have NO spare parts but a loose CD drive, and a 13 GB hard drive that came out of a Millenum Edition PC that was crap. (didn't even get to format the drive yet, my enclosure is broke.)