26 replies to this topic

[Vulpesveritas]

Staplebeater, on 11 May 2013 - 12:37 PM, said:

vulpesveritas,

Could you do a build based around a mini or micro atx form factor. Been thinking of going that directions for simplicity as i only have a single optical drive and don't really plan to SLI/crossfire

I would have no problem doing this as a 1:1 build for you specifically, however standard ATX cases offer better price/performance in most cases, and the price range / feature set between ATX/micro ATX is usually small enough that ATX is the better option. Furthermore the newer AMD AM3+ Chipsets are only available on standard ATX motherboards, so much of the low-mid range price options are forced to go ATX.

[FEK315]

Vulpesveritas THANK YOU!!!!!

I just got a job, after 3 years of just scraping by and now it is time for me to get a new computer focused on MWO. WOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Anywho, thank you for the prices and the explanations of each price point. I am going to have some one put together your 1200.00 model. It sounds like Win7 is the OS i should use. Do you have a guestimation on a final price that includes OS and labor?

BTW: I have never build a computer before so I don't trust myself and I wouldn't be able to take things back if they don't work.

Last question: How long will that 1200.00 rig last, meaning how long until i would need to up grade to play MWO?

Edited by FEK315, 09 June 2013 - 11:04 AM.

[MaradrX]

Thank you very, very much! I didn't find this thread when searching, and the assemblies are awesome to think about for the price points. The combos come and go, but mostly they are sweet to keep the price down.

[CG Chicken Kn]

Quite a useful thread. Wish I could bring my thread on min spec system and upgrades on a budget back from the closed beta forums.. As in no more than $200 ish at a time, except for my current vid card that I stretched to almost $300 tax in for a single purchase.
Pretty happy with my current set up.
Runs MWO at max settings in 1920x1080 between 50 and 60 fps,consistently. At 60 fps (vsync on) 90% of the time.

Starting system when I first got my beta invite last June.

X2 250 dual core
craptastic mobo
9800gtx given to me by a friend.
25-30 fps on low settings with much config tweaking compliments of Colonel Pada Vinson.
15-18 fps for that one patch where it all went horribly wrong.

Current set up.
975 BE quad core, overclocked to 4.1 Ghz. NB at 2600 (965's on Newgg for $110 or so)
Sabertooth 990fx Gen3/R2 mobo ($210)
8 gb Mushkin Redline set at 1600. ($55 on sale)
Gigabyte Windforce 7870 OC ($260 ish, plus games bundle, depending on sales)
Corsair 850 watt modular psu ($ 160 or so, again watch for deals)
Coolermaster HAF 912 case ($55, and a real bargain)
Cooler master cpu cooler, S524 downdraft ($30 and change)

Scores 6800 plus in 3DMark11. Runs 51 C cpu temp playing MWO for as long as I can stay in the chair.

Being on a limited income kept me from just building a whole new system, since saving for 6 months or more probably would not have happened. So I bought what I could afford, with my end build in mind as I upgraded.
So for anyone who has an upgradeable system, some research can get you to a very well performing system, while never needing more than a couple hundred bucks at a time to spend. Less for some steps, a little more for others.
AMD based platforms are more forgiving for slow upgrade paths, since the latest socket (AM3+) is backwards compatible with older cpus, thus letting you change one part at a time.

I went quad core cpu/cooler first, (massive difference just from that), then case/ram, then vid card, then psu for possible crossfire later. Mobo came first of this month, which let me run the overclock up to it's current level. May or may not put an 8350 in, depending on whether Steamroller is AM3+ socket or not.

I have tested MWO with cpu underclocks as low as 1.6 Ghz, and can say that ANY decent quad core, paired with a reasonably recent vid card , (7770 or 650Ti) , will play MWO at acceptable frame rates.

So don't despair if you can't get five or six hundred dollars all in one pile. I couldn't , yet still have reached gaming goodness.


Very nice range of builds across many price points Vulpes. Well done there, bet it helps quite a few people build to budget.

Edited by CG Chicken Kn, 09 June 2013 - 12:12 PM.

[ArmageddonKnight]

OP some advice. Use PcPartPicker.com.
Less links and is nicely layed out. Means people dont need to open multiple tabs with those newegg links.


Oh and that £5k build is ..obsolete.
Try this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/14GPz
Now add a custom water loop to it and you will be around $5k.

Edited by ArmageddonKnight, 09 June 2013 - 12:55 PM.

[Vellinious]

I run a 3770k overclocked to 4.4 with an EVGA GTX670 FTW at stock clocks, and hold 60fps constantly, even while recording or streaming on high settings. I run a custom loop but.....I didn't have to spend $5k to get 60fps....

[Vulpesveritas]

Update 6/17.

I'm back.

ArmageddonKnight, on 09 June 2013 - 12:40 PM, said:

OP some advice. Use PcPartPicker.com.
Less links and is nicely layed out. Means people dont need to open multiple tabs with those newegg links.


Oh and that £5k build is ..obsolete.
Try this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/14GPz
Now add a custom water loop to it and you will be around $5k.

I've been away from a month. Of course the whole post is obsolete. In the case of the $5k one however, I only had to change out the discontinued RAM.

Few things, first is that I prefer newegg links as I search for parts via newegg. Makes it easier on me. Plus PC part picker can have some weird ideas.

Second thing, I prefer reliability to a degree vs speed. Hence the single 512gb SSD instead of a RAID 0 array of smaller drives. It also means more programs can be put on the SSD.

Third, I would prefer a quad-sli setup via 690s vs twin Titan cards to remove microstutter.

Fourth, the Asrock Extreme11 is a better OCing mobo.

Fifth, the Kingwin PSU is superflower based, 80+ platinum, and more than enough to run the system.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 17 June 2013 - 04:44 PM.