Main reason why I haven't been playing for a while's because my laptop's finally given up to half a decade of constant (read: brutal) use. As title says, I'm planning to have a custom-made PC built for me in the near future.
Code:
Intel Core i3-3240 3.4Ghz 3MB (2Cores, HD2500 650MHz)
Asus P8H61-mx-USB 3.0
Corsair 4GB RAM (only one for now, will get up to 3 more in future)
WD 1TB Blue 64MB
Sparkle GeForce GTX 650 1GB
SilverStone ST50F-ES Strider 500W
Problem is, I'm no tech expert, and I have several fears about having my first-ever PC built.
One being that I'm afraid I might upgrade too far to be unable to play Discovery again.
Second, I'm hoping my chosen components are compatible with each other (note: the above setup's not set-to-stone, and might/will change depending on availability of parts and prices in market when December comes; this is only my preliminary setup as of this post).
Third, I hope my build doesn't quickly become obsolete. Ideally, I'd love to aim for at least 4 years competency, two years at worst.
Fourth, I'm confused at what OS I should be using. I've long used Windows XP and would love to use it again, but am afraid it might not be up-to-date with the latest games. I might change to Win7 because my friends are doing so, but I'm also considering Win8 simply because it's the newest OS out there (but I'm not oblivious to that OS's flaws, so it's mostly between WinXP and Win7, unless there are here in the community who'd like to heavily vouch for it).
An important note is I only have an overall budget of $580 USD (or 25,000 Php my currency). This thread's not considering other stuff, like mouse, keyboard, sound system, recording devices, screen, etc. Also, I might've missed out on other important stuff simply because I'm a noob.
EDIT: Perhaps relaying what type of games I'd like to play also help. I'm aiming to play smoothly (at low graph quality, of course) such games like EVE Online, Dota 2, Saints Row 4, Borderlands 2.
you have only got 1 stick, so it'll be in single channel mode, go get exactly same stick, from same supplier, tell them you want to be running in dual channel mode and will buy the same stick to do that.
if not, ask if you can send that stick back, and buy a dual channel set (i.e. 2x4 gig) it really makes a difference
buy them in pairs, unless the MB can do triple channel
it should be fine to play disco
my set up is, amd quad core 4x4.40
nvidia 560ti
win7 64bit
8 gig patriot ram
all over clocked stuff
1680x1050 monitor
all works perfect for disco
"Third, I hope my build doesn't quickly become obsolete. Ideally, I'd love to aim for at least 4 years competency, two years at worst."
well then win 7 minimum then, im not sure if win 8 is ok for disco, perhaps anyone else with win 8 can confirm?
i would try to go for win 7 64bit for your os, as a lot of new games and future games will only work with minimum direct x 11
I suggest an i5, but that is just me. 30$ more, but might save you the trouble of upgrading later.
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PSA: If you have been having stutter/FPS lag on Disco where it does not run as smoothly as other games, please look at the fix here: https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthrea...pid2306502
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also quick thought, your psu is 500w, its best to check that your graphics card will be supplied with enough ampage, on the 12v cables (ones going in gfx card)
eg
i had an 800w psu, and when i bought my 560ti i plugged it in thinking all was fine, after couple weeks my psu popped, it could only supply 18 amps, my 560ti needs 24
so i bought another 800w that could supply upto 35amps, works perfectly
wattage is important but not as important as the amount of amps are need to send to stuff
i dont know that 500w if its enough amps then fine
@evanz
Getting another RAM would be quite an adding expense, but I agree that increased loading speeds would be well worth it. Anyway, it's just another stick.
Link to info about psu Link to info about gfx
As for the psu amps to gfx, based on the alleged specs, the psu says it could work the gfx fine with its 34A, but I dunno how to read the tech specs properly, or if they're lying to me. Also, I'm not sure yet as how the wattage can be equally important, aside from how much electric bills I'll be paying in the future.
@Spazzy and Kazinsal
I myself wanted to pick an i5-based cpu, but when I glanced at the price tags I got a little hesitant. (link to price tags of most reliable parts dealer in my locality, circa October) But if you two are really sure that future games would leave the i3 biting the dust, I'd say getting an i5 would be that darn worth it.
In any case, thanks for all your helpz so far! This thread is far from over, however, since my PC is only (hopefully) coming on December.
@Kazinsal
//looking at avatar pic confused my manhood...
Not sure about your country, but I would take a look at the used Gfx card market on some local forums.
I recently just picked up a GTX 670 for 215 USD, might get some more bang for your buck, especially with the Nvidia 6XXX cards dropping in price due to the 7 series.
Also, I have been running Freelancer on my high end machine no problem. i5 @ 4.4ghz, 8gigs RAM, GTX560(To be upgraded once UPS gets their crap together), ASrock Z77 board.
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
OP:
I would suggest not to buy PC for that money. You cannot get decent build, better safe some more money or buy second hand parts. I would go for i5 2500k second hand combined with second-hand cheap Z77 board: http://www.behardware.com/articles/870-5...d-msi.html
CPU Cooling- Thermalright True Spirit 140 or Cooler Master 212 EVO - whatever from both that you can find cheaper, better second hand too.
cheapest possible case that allows mounting of 1 120 vent back and 1 120 vent front.
1 Cheap new 200-300 GB HDD with the idea to update later with SSD and bigger storage drive.
Till here you already spend around 300$.
You need 8 RAM (that would be even more expensive if you does not buy now because of the DDR4 and the stop of the production of DDR3) I would go second hand too so you can safe some money.
Then you must find some GPU and PSU. You cannot safe by any of both if you want gaming PC, second hand GPU is option but buy new PSU.
So go ebaying I guess. New i3 is waste of money, low grade GPU is waste of money as well. The GPU that you proposed is total crap and wont be useful at all. You can forget aiming even for 2 years with this card and CPU. Also with this tight budget I would not go for Hasswell , considering that Haswell delivers 15% more performance per Ghz not OCed and if we count OC around 5% more, meanwhile the boards and CPUs cost 30-40% more compared with the equal parts of Intel older Sandy and Ivy.
Cheap cooler for 30-40$ like the ones that I mentioned would cool the i5-2500k 3.3 Ghz stock to 4.8Ghz (at home chilling on 60 C° under load with 30$ cooler) OC that is equal on Haswell running at 4.4( Friend of mine using Corsair H100i for 120$ and getting 80 C° under load) .
The difference in price is 40% since Haswell 4670k needs expensive cooling to run at 4.4, the mobos are more expensive and the cpu itself cost 2x secondhand i5-2500k.
(10-14-2013, 09:40 AM)evanz Wrote: after couple weeks my psu popped
This happens only if you have some no-name brand bad PSU. For normal single card applications real 500-600W is more then enough, your card draws 300W max and your cpu draws 125-130 W max you power the rest of your stuff and have another 20% to cover the efficiency lost. 560 ti is just example of shitty card that drains 450 W under full load.
(10-09-2013, 10:51 AM)Knjaz Wrote: Official faction players that are often accused of elitism, never deploy them and have those weird, immersion killing "fair fight/dueling" suicidal hobbies. (yes, i've seen enough of those lolduels, where house military with overwhelming force on the field willingly loses a pilot in a duel. ffs.)
Wow, and I thought my upgrade was necessary. My parts trump your "new" ones. Maybe I don't need to upgrade. Though, the wife wants a PC so if I get a sexy i7..etc...then she can have my i5 and such >.>.....decisions.
(10-14-2013, 05:59 PM)Govedo13 Wrote: 560 ti is just example of ***** card that drains 450 W under full load.
You have got to be kidding me. Your kidding, right?
I have been running a 560 (Non Ti) for a good two years, it's ran every game I could possibly throw at it at medium-high settings.
the 560 (and ti model) can run everything current gen, and probably will run the next gen stuff for a while, at least a competent FPS.
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.