Advices for Hard-Core Gaming System

[WickedCat]

I agree with you, I shouldn't cut corners, that is what I tried to explain.

I want my build to last as long as possible.

 

Although, I disagree with Vagrant0 when he said I would need $4.000 to have a high-end computer.

I think between 1k5 and $2k is closer to reality.

 

But still you all avoided to answer this:

Today, what is the best GPU you can buy for the money ? Preferably a GPU that will provide 90FPS on BF3 as we can see on youtube.

The parts you suggested me to buy are almost exactly the same. Though 40 FPS is quite low since you have a very short window of free FPS till it gets jerky in hot spots.

So will this setup handle the next games, or I will have to play on medium very soon.

There is a huge gap in terms of price between the 560 ti which is quite affordable and the 580 (which apparently is the ultimate NVidia GPU to this day, better than the 590).

 

I think I will buy the ASRock Z68 Extreme mobo (1155 socket, and 1600 RAM without OC it).

the 8GB from G Skill 1600 for $44, I think it's truly an awesome deal.

the i5 2500k, decent price for what appears to be one of the best CPU released so far

and obviously a 128GB SSD. I have no idea what does cache driving it mean, but I wanted to put my OS on it so that there will never be any OS loading issue while playing or whatever.

 

Help me out with the GPU!!

Edited January 4, 2012 by WickedCat

[Vagrant0]

also he wouldnt need a new OS if hes keeping his old HDD.

IIRC windows has hardware locked the software since XP, requiring windows to be reinstalled from scratch if there are too many hardware differences. If the OS came from bundled software (even if you've used upgrades since), that bundled software is designed to only work with the recognized processor/motherboard that the computer shipped with. If it's a full copy of Windows which you have purchased on the side, you may be able to re-use it, but should probably budget yourself to allow for the purchase of a new one if it doesn't work (or deal with Linux till you can buy other software).

 

If you're talking about an Apple OS... I'm just going to laugh now.

 

My 4,000 comment was if you do not live in the USA. Computer parts in Europe, Asia, Brazil, and Australia all cost about twice as much as they do in the USA even after differences in exchange rate (or more in Africa, Middle East, India, and other places). If you're in the USA, $2000 would buy you a rather good system, especially if you piece it together carefully and make use of deals and discounts.

[PowderdToastMan]

See all the results and decide for yourself.

 

Battlefield 3 GPU tests (30 of them) - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063.html

(first 5 pages is Nvdia and last 5 is radeon)

 

 

Skyrim GPU tests + CPU tests (12 GPU's and 6 CPU's) - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-3.html

 

*edit* Like i said before, i use a 100$ 6850 with my 2500k and stay at 50-60 fps on ultra settings

 

One thing i like about nvdia is they're johnny on the spot with their driver updates, but the downside to them is they use 40-50% more power than their radeon counterpart. Keep that in mind when choosing power supply.

[hoofhearted4]

ya i assumed he bought his own OS, and if he did, he might be ok. but your right, he should assume he has to rebuy it,

 

as for the GPU, the best will be 580. it is expensive though.

 

caching your SSD can be done with a Z68 chipset. what i means is that when you use your HDD, the software will take note of if and log it in the SSD. so next time you want to use that program, instead of using the HDD with all its moving parts, it will use the cache in the SSD, allowing it to be faster. and with 60GB of caching, thats quite a bit.

 

 

also the thing about PCs is there is no future proofing. you could buy the 580 today and play everything on ultra and in a couple years find yourself playing on high, then medium and so on. sure if you buy a 580, your high/ultra playing will last longer then if you bought a 560ti but you get my point....i find the 6870 to be the sweet spot. at >$400, its a decent priced GPU (as far as GPU pricing goes) you get plenty of power, to play most games on high if not ultra, as well as 2GB VRAM (which is .5GB higher then the 570) which is good for VRAM hogs like BF3.

 

 

 

and yea, in the US, $2k can get u an awesome PC. im planning my build, and im estimating between $1600-$1700, but thats with monitor, case, and keyboard. building from the ground up since its my first rig.

[PowderdToastMan]

ya i assumed he bought his own OS, and if he did, he might be ok. but your right, he should assume he has to rebuy it,

 

as for the GPU, the best will be 580. it is expensive though.

 

caching your SSD can be done with a Z68 chipset. what i means is that when you use your HDD, the software will take note of if and log it in the SSD. so next time you want to use that program, instead of using the HDD with all its moving parts, it will use the cache in the SSD, allowing it to be faster. and with 60GB of caching, thats quite a bit.

 

 

also the thing about PCs is there is no future proofing. you could buy the 580 today and play everything on ultra and in a couple years find yourself playing on high, then medium and so on. sure if you buy a 580, your high/ultra playing will last longer then if you bought a 560ti but you get my point....i find the 6870 to be the sweet spot. at >$400, its a decent priced GPU (as far as GPU pricing goes) you get plenty of power, to play most games on high if not ultra, as well as 2GB VRAM (which is .5GB higher then the 570) which is good for VRAM hogs like BF3.

 

 

I havent tried this yet but im anxious to. I am using the z68-ud5 on a 128gig chronos deluxe and a 1tb caviar green. My 128 is full and i ordered a 240 chronos deluxe to put my steam folder on that comes in today. I will put origin and swtor on there too since swtor is 18 gigs. i am gonna Dl this utility and see how it does. I currently have the smart response working and love it. but im not getting the full potential out of it.

 

 

and yea, in the US, $2k can get u an awesome PC. im planning my build, and im estimating between $1600-$1700, but thats with monitor, case, and keyboard. building from the ground up since its my first rig.

[PowderdToastMan]

ya i assumed he bought his own OS, and if he did, he might be ok. but your right, he should assume he has to rebuy it,

 

as for the GPU, the best will be 580. it is expensive though.

 

caching your SSD can be done with a Z68 chipset. what i means is that when you use your HDD, the software will take note of if and log it in the SSD. so next time you want to use that program, instead of using the HDD with all its moving parts, it will use the cache in the SSD, allowing it to be faster. and with 60GB of caching, thats quite a bit.

 

 

also the thing about PCs is there is no future proofing. you could buy the 580 today and play everything on ultra and in a couple years find yourself playing on high, then medium and so on. sure if you buy a 580, your high/ultra playing will last longer then if you bought a 560ti but you get my point....i find the 6870 to be the sweet spot. at >$400, its a decent priced GPU (as far as GPU pricing goes) you get plenty of power, to play most games on high if not ultra, as well as 2GB VRAM (which is .5GB higher then the 570) which is good for VRAM hogs like BF3.

 

 

 

and yea, in the US, $2k can get u an awesome PC. im planning my build, and im estimating between $1600-$1700, but thats with monitor, case, and keyboard. building from the ground up since its my first rig.

 

I havent tried this yet but im anxious to. I am using the z68-ud5 on a 128gig chronos deluxe and a 1tb caviar green. My 128 is full and i ordered a 240 chronos deluxe to put my steam folder on that comes in today. I will put origin and swtor on there too since swtor is 18 gigs. i am gonna Dl this utility and see how it does. I currently have the smart response working and love it. but im not getting the full potential out of it.

[novalova10]

Currently in the process of ordering my new rig.

 

 

CPU: Intel® Core i5-2500K

MB: ASUS Sabertooth P67, Socket-1155

RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9

Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhysX

Windows install HD: Corsair SSD Force Series 3, 120GB

 

THis will all be normal fan cooled...im not so advanced yet to use water cooling:P

 

any objections to it or stuff i should change?

 

my new rig will cost about 2800$

[PowderdToastMan]

Currently in the process of ordering my new rig.

 

 

CPU: Intel® Core i5-2500K

MB: ASUS Sabertooth P67, Socket-1155

RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9

Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhysX

Windows install HD: Corsair SSD Force Series 3, 120GB

 

THis will all be normal fan cooled...im not so advanced yet to use water cooling:P

 

any objections to it or stuff i should change?

 

my new rig will cost about 2800$

 

The only reason to get a p67 northbridge instead of the z68 is because it supports NF200 PCIe to run crossfire or sli at 16x16, which really only offers a 5% increase in preformance over 16x8. And that board doesnt support it.

 

If you decide to go with any aftermarket cooler - big copper pipes and fans - regular corsair vengeance heat fins will hit the fan. Corsair makes lo pro vengeance without the big fancy fans that are no difference.

 

I have a 128 gig ssd. I have windows 7, 5 steam games, oblivion, and SWTOR and a remaining 5 gigs left on my hard drive. Consider getting a bigger one.

 

I had to order a second ssd that came in today.

 

I dont see how that adds up to 2800 dollars?

[Erik005]

Change the ssd for either the crucial m4 or Samsung 840 they are generally more stable and just as fast.

[novalova10]

Currently in the process of ordering my new rig.

 

 

CPU: Intel® Core i5-2500K

MB: ASUS Sabertooth P67, Socket-1155

RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB CL9

Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhysX

Windows install HD: Corsair SSD Force Series 3, 120GB

 

THis will all be normal fan cooled...im not so advanced yet to use water cooling:P

 

any objections to it or stuff i should change?

 

my new rig will cost about 2800$

 

The only reason to get a p67 northbridge instead of the z68 is because it supports NF200 PCIe to run crossfire or sli at 16x16, which really only offers a 5% increase in preformance over 16x8. And that board doesnt support it.

 

If you decide to go with any aftermarket cooler - big copper pipes and fans - regular corsair vengeance heat fins will hit the fan. Corsair makes lo pro vengeance without the big fancy fans that are no difference.

 

I have a 128 gig ssd. I have windows 7, 5 steam games, oblivion, and SWTOR and a remaining 5 gigs left on my hard drive. Consider getting a bigger one.

 

I had to order a second ssd that came in today.

 

I dont see how that adds up to 2800 dollars?

 

thanks for the input

 

and about the cost, i live in norway, things are more expencive here...

 

Change the ssd for either the crucial m4 or Samsung 840 they are generally more stable and just as fast.

 

thanks for input

Edited January 6, 2012 by novalova10