New system - thoughts?

[Markdude]

Hey guys,

 

I'm getting a new system pretty soon. I love LO and would like to get some pretty decent performance out of it (LOFC2, and of course the DCS series, but I know that the requirements are all speculation at this moment), but I also play a lot of other FPS games too. Nothing super modern or demanding though (Just Cause 2 is about the most graphically enhanced game I plan on playing).

 

How do these specs look? Anything I should change?

 

-Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor (4x 3.06GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

-6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600 RAM

-ATI Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB GPU

-ASUS P6T SE Motherboard

-600 Watt -- Standard PSU

-1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s

-24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive

 

I'm probably going to do this through IBuyPower.com, since I'm not much of a builder and I've had a great experience with them with my last computer (5+ years ago). I'd like to keep everything under $1000 USD if possible (not counting the operating system). This current potential rig comes out to $950.

 

I should also note that I'm not making films or looking for ultra-ridiculous graphics or anything like that. I run my games in 1440x900 and I'd like to have a smooth frame rate with moderately high settings (with a little bit of AA and AF). I don't require the best-of-the-best performance, triple monitors, or anything like that.

 

Will this rig fit my needs?

[zakobi]

Please, for the sake of your PC, state which PSU you are buying! Don't go cheap on those!

 

If you are fresh for OC'ing, you might want to go with the 920/930 instead, as those can achieve same speeds as 950 and 975.

 

GPU should be fine.

[Pilotasso]

Save youself the trouble and get a branded PSU. LC power makes good mid end to high end PSU's for example. Corsair are the best (a tad on the expensive side though). Got one 850W for my system (check my sig) 3 years ago and its running good still. I had a few PSU's die and take the rest of the PC with them, so please take this in consideration. They are easy to component to overlook ("bah why have a high end PSU right?") and often are chosen to cut on the system price but they can give you the worst headaches.

 

Your GFX is a little on the weak side to play FPS games too. Consider an NVIDIA 460GTX card. They are cheap but pack a much bigger punch. IMHO good choice for CPU.

Edited September 12, 2010 by Pilotasso

[RIPTIDE]

Save youself the trouble and get a branded PSU. LC power makes good mid end to high end PSU's for example. Corsair are the best (a tad on the expensive side though). Got one 850W for my system (check my sig) 3 years ago and its running good still. I had a few PSU's die and take the rest of the PC with them, so please take this in consideration. They are easy to component to overlook ("bah why have a high end PSU right?") and often are chosen to cut on the system price but they can give you the worst headaches.

 

Your GFX is a little on the weak side to play FPS games too. Consider an NVIDIA 460GTX card. They are cheap but pack a much bigger punch. IMHO good choice for CPU.

Very true. Also the no name brand PSU's make up the 600W figure by having high stated loads on relatively useless 5v and 3.3v lines where as branded PSU will have more of that 600W load reserved for the all important 12v line. Also another thing to consider is that the better PSU's have higher efficiency. Over the space of a few years this will always mean some more $$$ in your pocket.

Edited September 12, 2010 by RIPTIDE

[Steel Jaw]

For Gawd's sake!

 

Heed the advice here and spend the $$$ on a high quality brand name PSU.

 

And I would suggest 800 watts for more headroom.

 

Such a PSU should run you over $100 or more.

[Gadroc]

Go with a brand name power supply (I like the corsair's line of hx and tx as well). But you don't need to overspend on one either. Check out corsairs website they have a power supply selection utility, there are some of these on independent sites as well. Many people have jumped on the bigger is better bandwagon for PSUs which is not always the case. Try out a few different combos of video card combinations to get a feel for the range needed.

 

A high quality 650 should be fine for even SLI 57xx system, but you want to step up higher for 58xx or nvidia cards. The question is how much head room do you want for potential upgrades before you have to buy a new PSU. You won't be doing yourself any favor by getting a slower PC today just to get a bigger PSU for possible future upgrades, on the other hand if you want an upgrade path it is overall cheaper to get a slightly bigger one today.

[Gadroc]

I should also note that I'm not making films or looking for ultra-ridiculous graphics or anything like that. I run my games in 1440x900 and I'd like to have a smooth frame rate with moderately high settings (with a little bit of AA and AF). I don't require the best-of-the-best performance, triple monitors, or anything like that.

 

Will this rig fit my needs?

 

The video card you have should do fine for 1440x900, but that's a pretty small monitor by current standards. If you step up to a 21" or higher in the future you will be at 1920x1080 which could start to push that card to the limits for more heavy FPS games. Just keep that in mind. Depending on how long till you think you may make that jump it may be better to back off on the CPU from a 950 to a 920 and get a 5850 or 5870.

[Markdude]

Thanks guys, I'll definitely look into a quality brand, higher power PSU. I never realized they were so important, haha. So 800 watts is a reasonable amount? Is Thermaltake a decent brand? Corsairs sure are pricey. :(

 

I don't plan to upgrade to a bigger monitor any time soon. I'm pretty happy with just my 19" one. If I'm running at 1440x900, do you guys think this GPU would be able to handle LO and some non-groundbreaking (graphics wise) FPS games pretty well? Since it's a low resolution by today's technology's standards, will I be getting good framerates?

 

Also, is 6 GB of RAM adequate?

[Pilotasso]

I consulted the internet for PSU choosing utilites as mentioned on previous post and it gave me a 450W true output unit. So I chose 850W to make sure it could handle it 3-4 years down the road.

 

But if your up to corsair PSU's a 600W unit may be enough for you (they are much cheaper than the other higher power examples but same quality). Thats because they deliver on the power rate. The other brands just say max output and due to poor quality capacitors they loose output potential over months until they overload and burst. So you have to aim higher for headroom for the output drop.

 

6 GB is adequate. I got 4 and I can ALT TAB Lockon as easy as notepad. :) . Your 5770 will handle LOMAC easily, the problem may come with other games if they are GFX bound.

Edited September 12, 2010 by Pilotasso

[Markdude]

Oh, ok! In that case, I could definitely get a 650 watt Corsair for about the same price as a 750 watt Thermaltake. Would this be a smarter decision, since Corsair is higher quality?

 

I'm hoping the 5770 should be alright for my needs. I'm mostly planning on playing Source engine (ie: the Half-Life 2 stuff) games, at 1440x900 of course. I think Fallout 3 and Just Cause 2 are pretty much the highest quality games I'll be playing, graphics wise.

[Pilotasso]

Yes, a corsair 650W should be OK. Only multi SLI systems will need a bigger PSU.

 

Congrats for your new build. :)

 

EDIT:

 

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

this is the utility I used. Your system rates 350W true output. So you might even get away with a 550W corsair PSU.

Edited September 12, 2010 by Pilotasso

[GaryIKILLYOU]

Go for a high end PSU, like Pilotasso said, 650-750 Corsair should be PLENTY. ALSO if you're fine with overclocking then go for a i7930 and get a better graphics card. That one will be plenty to run lock on, however there are better values for the money. (Someone else mentioned the GeForce 460) And I agree that the 460 is the better value.:)

[Markdude]

I ordered my new system today and decided to get a bit better GPU than originally planned. I'm excited! Here are the full specs:

 

-Case: NZXT Gamma Gaming Case - Black

-iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion [6-Port] NZXT Internal USB Expansion System

-Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor (4x 3.06GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

-Processor Cooling: Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-1366] - [Free Upgrade] --- Standard 120mm Fan

-Memory: 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600 - Corsair or Major Brand

-Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 - 2GB - Single Card

-Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE

-Motherboard USB / SATA Interface: [Free] Internal USB 3.0 PCI-E x1 Expansion Card

-Power Supply: 750 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-750TX

-Primary Hard Drive: 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s - Single Drive

-Optical Drive 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black

-Sound Card 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

-Network Card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

-Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-bit

-USB Accessories External USB 2.0 Hub (4x USB 2.0 Ports)

-USB Accessories [uSB] 2.5" / 3.5" SATA HDD to USB 3.0 Docking Station

 

Just pre-ordered a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS and will be purchasing TrackIR5 and two sets of X-keys soon (already planned my layouts). Once the Saitek Combat Rudder Pedals are released, I'll be getting those too. And I am thinking about possibly buying a ButtKicker Gamer.

 

I can't wait! :thumbup:

Edited October 12, 2010 by Markdude

[Frazer]

About the buttkicker, a team mate of mine owns one and told me they don't work well with LockOn/FC2. Will ask him for some more info.

[Markdude]

I've read about that on a couple of games (namely Falcon), and I'm pretty much 90% sure that it's because some of the audio doesn't have a lot of low frequency content. I'm pretty audio savvy, so I'd have no problem editing the sounds and beefing them up. I did the same with Falcon a while back so that I could get a bit more rumble out of the engine (just on a regular subwoofer, not a ButtKicker).