Building a computer. What parts should I get for this?

[Taiwan Legion]

I'm building a new computer soon. Obviously, it's not going to be only used for this, but I'd like to be able to play this without any problems at all.

So what kind of parts should I be looking at?

My budget is 700-800, but that's for only the tower. I don't need things like monitor, printer, mouse, speaker etc cuz I already have those.

Thanks for the help.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

That's such a complex question that no credible answer can be given except in general terms.

I'd recommend for thhat kind of cash to principly focus on the core now. So get a decent motherboard, a high end CPU, harddisk and powersupply. Don't spend much cash on RAM or graphics card as they are easy to add /replace later. Get the basis as good as you can instead.
So for example make do with 2 gig RAM for now, add more later.

Two real recomendations I would make though, though it does depend on gaming habits weither they apply to you:
A high end dual core might be wiser then an average quad core. Quite a lot of games make little or poor use of multiple cores so in games where only one core gets used you are better of having that one core have serious 'oomph'.

Avoid ATI based video cards. They are performing only marginally better then nVidia, typically. But they get that by using some rendering shortcuts (read, a marginally lower quality) But worse, their drivers tend to suck balls and may cause you headaches with issues. True, ever since 8800 series nvidia ain't that great either, though they are getting better again and still not quite as bad as ATI drivers on their worst days.

[pevergreen]

What currency is that 700-800.

Always good to make that clear.

Move to Hardware/Software?

What can you carry over from old system? RAM? Hard Drive?

[Taiwan Legion]

sorry, forgot to mention. 7-800 USD. I don't think I'm gonna carry any old parts over from the old system other than peripherals like mouse/keyboard, monitor, speakers etc. All of my parts are super old (4.5 years old), and it's just not worth parting it when I could have another computer that I could give to my parents since the most intense thing they do is watch 720p movies that I download for them (which my old comp does very well).

I realize it's a pretty general question, but I'm looking for general answers. I know that this game is famous for its problems with hardware, and I just want to know what kind of parts I should avoid. For example, that game Saboteur won't even work on ATI cards. I just want to know what to avoid, what to get etc to maximize my performance on this game.

[antisocialmunky]

Que?

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3563

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3610

[Lemur]

This looks tailor-made for you: How to Build an Awesome Gaming PC for $647

Note that $105 of that is for Windows—if you have student access you can cut that down to $65 in the USA, even less elsewhere. And if you already have a legitimate copy of Windows, you can cut that to $0, bringing the cost of the build to $542. (I'd use the savings to move up to a slightly beefier videocard.)

-edit-

I don't understand the ATI hate in this thread. Yes, there are problems with ATI cards, and we all have to wait for a patch/fix. Are you suggesting that this simply does not ever happen with Nvidia cards? Bugs and patches are a feature of modern PC gaming. Driver problems are not unique to any company, and if anything, Nvidia has a richer and more epic history of such problems. If you can't stand that, best to consider moving over to a console.

[Taiwan Legion]

This looks tailor-made for you: How to Build an Awesome Gaming PC for $647

Note that $105 of that is for Windows—if you have student access you can cut that down to $65 in the USA, even less elsewhere. And if you already have a legitimate copy of Windows, you can cut that to $0, bringing the cost of the build to $542. (I'd use the savings to move up to a slightly beefier videocard.)

-edit-

I don't understand the ATI hate in this thread. Yes, there are problems with ATI cards, and we all have to wait for a patch/fix. Are you suggesting that this simply does not ever happen with Nvidia cards? Bugs and patches are a feature of modern PC gaming. Driver problems are not unique to any company, and if anything, Nvidia has a richer and more epic history of such problems. If you can't stand that, best to consider moving over to a console.

thank you, but I already have two keys for Windows 7. I'm looking to spend 700-800 on just the tower alone, so something better than what you posted.

Thanks for all the help in this topic so far. So there are no "do not buy" manufacturers with this game?

[pevergreen]

$802.92 USD (excluding shipping, dunno about taxes and so forth)
But, with a $25 mail in rebate

edit:

Tax: All customers outside of California, New Jersey and Tennessee will not be charged any tax. Therefore, customers in those locales do not need to fax or set up any reseller tax exemption form.

Thermaltake TR2 W0388RU 600W
Plus
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $109.98

Intel Core i5-750 - 199.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0GB/s - 74.99

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA - 27.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - 104.99

ASUS ENGTS250 DK/DI/1G GeForce GTS 250 1GB
plus
ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX
plus
ASUS Power of 3 Game Coupon ($50 game download voucher, for SFIV, RE 5 or Dark Void) - 284.98


You're not giving me a lot of money to play with.

Decent RAM, good HDD, and an okish video card.

[Lemur]

ASUS ENGTS250 DK/DI/1G GeForce GTS 250 1GB
plus
ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX
plus
ASUS Power of 3 Game Coupon ($50 game download voucher, for SFIV, RE 5 or Dark Void) - 284.98

I don't understand why you'd opt for the GTS 250 when for ten dollars more you could get the 5850, a substantially more powerful video card. Are you worried about the power supply?

[pevergreen]

Irrational ATI hate.

And, the 5850 is $289.99 by itself.

The mobo, the graphics card and the voucher together cost less. Hes on a tight budget.

[antisocialmunky]

I dunno, I always skimp on the other parts:

-Mid-Range CPU
-Overclocking Mobo
Overclock the CPU like crazy
-2 sticks of ram
-Blow everything else on a graphics card

[pevergreen]

Why bother to overclock an i5/i7. It isnt gunna help much...

[Belgolas]

O.K. You best bet is to go AMD for the CPU with DDR3 as it is cheaper and go with the most expensive GPU you can afford because that is where you need the performance in 90% of the games out there. So the faster the GPU the better.

I say the Phenom 2 550 BE is a good CPU and if you are lucky it can be unlocked to a quad core. I would also try and get a DX 11 GPU just so you can at least stay with the latest DX.

Although by far the greatest advice right now is to WAIT for an upgrade as nvidia will be releasing their next GPU line-up in a month or 2 which will lower prices for ATI.

[pevergreen]

I don't see a game worth running that doesnt support DX9.

AMD CPU?

Intel are leaps and bounds in front here mate...

[wumpus]

Okay, here's my 2-cents' worth of contribution, friend Taiwan. I'm in the process of building a PC myself (which I haven't completed yet, because I'm still saving up some cash for other vital parts), so here goes: You want to go gaming, so AMD is the processor for you--I don't care what the Intel-lovers say. For motherboard, look for one with model number that starts with K9 or K10 (of the brand that you can trust); then buy a quad-core processor. My friend who's a hardware repairer (an AMD fanatic like me) advised not to buy dual core, 'cuz hardware development is so fast-paced that it would be wiser to go quad-core right away (dual-core, he says, will be obsolescent in about 2 or 3 years). And what pevergreen says about part of your $800 to be spent on shipping, I am fortunate that I don't need to do that--I can buy parts direct from stores (and have a chance to see face-to-face what I'll buy too), so if you've a situation similar to this over there, then luckily you don't need to spend extra on shipping and handling (and 'cuz ordering things by mail just ain't in vogue here). And that's right: if you have the cash for it, Elmar Bijlsma"s suggestion to start with a 2-GB RAM is an excellent idea. But what I don't understand is, why avoid ATI in favor of NVIDIA? For me, whatever matches the rest of your hardware is good enough. My first GPU card was ATI by intention, my second was only what was available in the market (my old mobo still uses an AGP slot) and it happened to be ATI too; but if an NVIDIA had been what was available, I wouldn't make it a big issue (and, hey--because of my new ATI GPU, my PC can install and run Empire TW even if my CPU speed is only 1.5 GHz, when the game's specs suggest I must have at least 2.0 GHz!). Well, noble friend, this is all for now. Keep your heart open for other nice suggestions--we are all friends here. Hawooh.

[pevergreen]

No offence, but I can't take what you say seriously when you say this:

(dual-core, he says, will be obsolescent in about 2 or 3 years)

Obsolete?

Pentium 3,4, Celeron et al are still going around in the business world.

Intel pushes foward with tech. You get the i5, you then will have DDR3 memory, which in my build is 1600MHz, (thats good) you have USB 3.0 for future protection, on the panel.

If he wants a decent video card, he has to spend more money. Its as simple as that.

[redriver]

how big is your screen? you can get away with a very decent system that will play this game and games like Crysis on high settings with no probls in sub US$ 500 budged..
however, if you've got a very large LCD screen your might need more than one GPU or a very expensive one....

[pevergreen]

if you've got a very large LCD screen your might need more than one GPU or a very expensive one....

I don't think (if he is keeping his monitor from the old system) that he might have a 30" screen. I run dual 22" on a 9800.

Reception runs dual 19" on a 9400.

[Belgolas]

I don't see a game worth running that doesnt support DX9.

AMD CPU?

Intel are leaps and bounds in front here mate...

Not if you are on a very tight budget.

If he were to go Intel the best CPU he could afford would be an i3 which is a great CPU if you know how to overclock. If you don't know how to overclock then the Phenom 2 550 BE is a good alternative.

Get the cheapest motherboard as possible and get cheap ram too as those both don't need to be the highest end.

If you want I can put together a list of hardware for you that would be the best possible for frames per second in the average game. I have built dozens of computers in the past year and have 2 awesome computers for my self (one for my everyday gaming and one for lan parties). So I know what I am talking about as I spend pretty much every day researching computer hardware and building them for friends, family and who ever wants one.

One part that would really help us out would be to know the screen resolution as if you have a small screen res than you don't need as powerful as a GPU but a better CPU. But if you have a larger screen size of 1680 x 1050 or up you need a faster GPU than CPU.

[Megas Methuselah]

Did my old buddy Peve just get owned?

[Durallan]

go for cheap ram if you must but not no name stuff, that can be dangerous.

[Nelson]

Time to move this to where it belongs.

[flisterseven]

I am trying to get the best PC that I can for $800. I don't want to save money because if I dont spend it I lose it. Any suggestions to get the best bang for my buck are welcome. I will mostly use this machine for gaming. psiphone for pc jiofi.local.html

[sersivid]

I would also try and get a DX 11 GPU just so you can at least stay with the latest DX. vidmate instagram video download

[alamin]

amazon is a good option