22 replies to this topic

[Dragoon20005]

Why does my game lag so much after the patch?

With the recent patch on 06 Aug which includes the implementation of 12 vs 12 matches and the addition of the new map Terra Therma . Many users have been complaining that their game play have somehow been affected in one way or another. Particularly users with low end machines. Previously their machines are still able to run the game on low setting, but now even at the lowest setting. The game is now unplayable on their system.

Until PGI/Dev fix this issues completely, I will show the actual system requirements in order to play Mechwarrior Online.

Please do note in some cases, you will either have to upgrade some hardware or forgo playing the whole game until you get yourself a decent spec PC/laptop. But this is a hard fact, since this game is powered by the same engine CryEngine 3 that created Crysis 3. Obviously a computer with Intel Integrated graphics will not play any high demanding games at all let alone Crysis 3 or Mechwarrior Online. And don't bother about the Haswell Iris Pro Integrated Graphics, that junk is not gonna get you good frame rate except WarCraft 3, Dota , CounterStrike or Diablo 2 .

What are the actual system requirements I need?

Below are the optimum hardware setup you need to play this game at least for the current beta game

Quad Core CPU 2.4GHz and above
Windows 7 64 Bit with Service Pack 1
8GB System RAM
nVidia Geforce GTX 480/560 and above with 1GB Video RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6670/7670 and above with 1GB Video RAM
Direct X 9.0c and above
4GB++ HDD space including patches

Hey my computer is faster than what you stated

Before you complain that your spec of your PC is much similar or better to the above. Please do the following on your computer.

Do a full anti virus scan of your PC to rid of viruses and spy ware
Always make sure to update your GPU and sound drivers
Empty your recycle bin
Make sure to have at least 10GB of C drive free space
Install Ccleaner and do a registry cleanup
Do a disk cleanup with CCleaner to remove unwanted junk in your disk drive to free up space.
Followed by a Disk De-fragmentation to compact the files in C Drive
Disable programs or services which are not needed when running MWO eg: Adobe Reader, Office, etc
Make sure your internet connections is stable and if possible use direct wired connection to your router.


In the game, run at medium graphics settings at 720p resolutions and adjust accordingly if frame rate is low.
If Possible run the game in windowed mode and disable v-sync
Run MWO toolkit to fix any issues with your installation.

If all the above fails to solve the issue, send a ticket for the tech support to check on your system.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 20 August 2013 - 06:27 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Ok my computer isn't up to the standards you stated what now?

If your system fails to meet the above system requirements, verify what generation of PC you are using before embarking on the upgrading path.

Your computer must be at least i Core 2^nd Gen and above series or for AMD systems must be AM3+/FM2 based motherboards. Verify your RAM type and the version of the PCI-E slots example Gen 2.0

Ok my computer is one of the following you mentioned
Ok suggest to do the following upgrades

If you have 4GB of RAM, suggest adding up to 8GB of RAM and above but make sure your OS can support more than 4GB. 32Bit OS can only use up to 3GB RAM.

if possible try to upgrade the GPU for your system first, usually a faster GPU will drastically improve frame rate of the game.

But hold on a sec, before you drop in a new GPU. Check that your power supply unit is up to the job.
Most newer GPU need at least a stable power rail direct from the PSU. Usually supplied by a 8 pin PCI-E plug.

If your PSU is really old, then you will have to invest on a good PSU. Go for at least 550 to 600 watt certified Bronze and above as these GPU do draw a lot of power at full load.

Ok I got a new GPU but it still slow

If that didn't help, suggest getting a faster CPU that your motherboard can support. Example for Z67 or Z77 chip set based motherboard swapping from a i3 Core to a i5 Core and above will improve the performance.

But if your system is hopelessly outdated, then you just have to get a new PC.

So now I need a new computer. Suggestions?

Desktops PC are by far the best option for gaming as the range of parts to choose and put together are almost limitless except your budget. But I can assure you, that you still need to invest in a certain amount of budget to make the investment worthwhile.

Things you should not restrict is the GPU power, followed by the CPU and the other parts of the computer. Any game for that matter need tons of graphics power from the GPU to render all the frames and objects.
Lets say your PC budget is around 1k, you should be spending at least 1/3 of the budget on a good GPU. Spending too much or too little is a bad idea. Take for example ready made desktops with powerful CPU like the i7-3770 Core but the GPU is the lowest end GT630 or 640 is a instant face palm for me. Also pairing a GTX680 with a i3 Core is downright stupid. You have got to balance the amount spend on GPU and CPU together to get the performance. Speed of RAM differs for AMD and Intel. It been mentioned before that Intel system don't really get a huge difference in performance when 1600MHz is used or 2400MHz, maybe a few frames . But it does affect AMD systems, but do not ovewrkill youself with the RAM since AMD CPU only support up to 1866MHz memory for the FX CPUs and 2133MHz for the APUs. The rest like HDD and OS, etc are up to your choice.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 15 August 2013 - 10:37 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Laptops

Hey I need a PC that can play MWO but I need a laptop which doubles up as my school computer


Well if you need a computer to carry around and still want to game on it. Be at least prepared to pay much higher price compare to the desktop to get the same results.

For Laptops, I would pretty much say you will need something like the below

Mobile Quad Core CPU with 2.4GHz and above
Windows 7 64 Bit with Service Pack 1
8GB System RAM
nVidia Geforce GTX480M/GTX560M/GT650M/GT750M and above with at least 1GB Video RAM
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 7670/8730 and above with at least 1GB Video RAM
Direct X 9.0c and above
4GB++ HDD space including patches

It does look similar to the desktop but do note that laptops are pretty much lower clocked variants of the usual CPU. Intel mainstream Laptop CPU are clocked from 1.7GHz up to 3GHz with Dual Core and Quad Core variants. But for MWO, you must have a quad core CPU with at least 2.4GHz to be sure you get enough power to run any high demanding games.

Another thing to point out is that you may be limited to slower RAM compare to desktops. Typical RAM speed ranges from 1066MHz up to the fastest 1600MHz only but usually they are only shipped with 1333MHz RAMs as standards due to cost.

Laptop GPU

Just like the desktop, your GPU determines if your computer is able to run high details game or not.
At all cost avoid any laptops running Intel Graphics HD. They don't have the muscle to power any recent games. And don't bother about the upcoming Haswell Iris Pro Integrated Graphics, that junk is not gonna get you good frame rate except WarCraft 3, Dota , CounterStrike or Diablo 2 . While it performs well in 3DMark tests, it still fail to produce decent frame rate for games like BioShock, at average it can deliver only below 20 frames per seconds. Nothing beats the power of a dedicated GPU from AMD or nVidia. But you still need to choose the correct GPU or you will be stuck with one which can only play games released before Crysis 3.

For laptop variants of the GPU you will need to look at least the graphics series and above to get decent frame rates. Avoid the graphics series like the GT series for nVidia and for Mobility Radeon avoid any thing below HD7670 or HD8730. Why you may ask is because the GPU clocks speed of all the GPU are way below the desktop variant and another reason is that the GDDR RAM they used are only GDDR3 and in some cases, the GPU actually make use of the system RAM for rendering the frames. Only GTX series GPU uses GDDR5 for graphics memory. You will see some laptop comes with 1,2,3 and even 4 GB of graphics RAM but do check out what kind of graphics RAM it uses. If possible look for GPU which uses GDDR5 but it will cost a lot more compared to mainstream laptops. Another reason for companies to use lower end GT series GPU is that the GPU is soldered to the main board which reduces cost since they are able to buy the main board included with GPU in bulk. And they are able to fit into the small chassis of the Ultrabook without the extra thickness to house the separate GPU board.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 18 August 2013 - 08:30 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Part List for Desktops

I have compiled a few desktop setups based on the budget of around 1k without monitor and comes with Windows 8

This system are for reference and you can still choose your own parts but the budget will be adjusted accordantly

Special thanks to StainlessSR for his 2 builds

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ulSZ

using his AMD build as the base and tweak a bit the GPU used, this setup should give some good framerate with the HD7870

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ubp3

probably the lowest you can go with a Intel system for those on a shoestring budget, you still can game on this setup but may be in a bit of trouble when playing really demanding games.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1wI69

Purely APU desktop

This setup is purely a APU based desktop, but with the fast 2133MHz Ram for the GPU to use. You can still play the game at 720P. But before you do any overclock on this desktop. Please do invest on a good cooler and best a watercooler system if you are going for CPU or GPU overclocks.


http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1rGzj

The above setup is based on the latest Intel Haswell i5 Core quad core CPU, followed by my favorite AMD Radeon HD7870 series GPU, AsRock have been the budget users choice of motherboard as it balance price vs performance. Same goes for the G.Skill RAM, and reson why I am using only 1600MHz is because Intel system don't have any benefit of running faster RAM in my opinion. Western Digital 1TB Black have a good performance against price. Casing and power supply I tried to stick to one brand for the discounts and Cooler Master have yet to fail on me on many builds. Added a DVD Writer and finally Windows 8 but you could use Windows 7.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ssJl

This AMD setup is one of my many favorite setups, and it is value for money compare to the I5 Core setup with some money to spare to get a better GPU. The HDD,casing and PSU are similar as the Intel except I am using a faster RAM for AMD systems. And found out that the HD7970 now have a huge discount since the announcement of the HD9000 series

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ssCl

Again another AMD system but this is using the newer Richland APU and it is still comparable to the Intel system and it still have a HD7870 in it which can be hybrid X-Fire with the on board GPU to boost the graphics power when the latest AMD 13.8 beta graphics driver is used. It has been proven as by another user who has a APU desktop and it does run the game at 720P without a GPU. Although the game has yet to support X-Fire setups but until that happens, you can still depend on the HD7870 for the GPU power.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1ssHH

Using the FX8350 CPU combine with the power of the HD7970 and still under 1k price is really a steal since there is a huge discount on the HD7970 to make way for the HD9000 series. You won't have issues playing any games even on high settings.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1sxrE

Another Intel System but since it is a i7 Core-4770k the price have crossed the 1k mark but still decent spec. Another power house like the 8 Core FX CPU based desktop. So the bottom line is based on the user preferred choice of Intel or AMD.


More builds coming soon

Edited by Dragoon20005, 26 August 2013 - 11:56 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Guide for buying Laptops

But all my talk about laptops, the most important thing that you need to consider about is your budget and the detail use of the laptop. Without it, you are pretty much led by the salespersons who will sweet talk you into buying the wrong laptop that you will regret buying the moment you want to run any games until you noticed it only has integrated Intel Graphics.

I will give you a low down on things to note before letting the salesperson take your cash for the laptop.


http://www.notebookcheck.net/

http://www.notebookc...ds.13849.0.html

http://www.notebookc...ards.130.0.html

http://www.notebookc...nics.123.0.html

Above are the links are for the guide for laptops CPU and GPU models and their technical specifications sheet. They even include the test of each laptop system on many games and applications. They do give a detail review for each of the GPU performance against similar classed GPU and the games it can support and in addition which notebook carries that GPU model. Give a check on the first link to check out the details of the laptop you are going to buy.

Give a rough estimate of the amount you want to spend and the features you need on this laptop, do you need touch screen or a really big screen laptop? Do you need a anti-glare screen? Do you really need those back-lit keyboards.
Drop by the computer store and touch the laptops they you are intending to buy to see if it feels good to the touch like the keyboard especially the frequently used keys, the placement of the touch pad, the location of the USB, DVD-writer.
Test to see if the screen is clear under the strong room light. Also feel the weight of the laptop to see if you are able to carry it around. And measure the size of the laptop and see if the laptop is able to fit into your current bag or you might need to buy a bigger laptop bag.
Another point to note is the placement of the heat vents, I have seen designs where the heat is vented out to the right side where you place your mouse.
Again at the computer store place you hand on the palm rest area below the keyboard and feel if the area is very warm or not. My old Acer laptop have the HDD situated below the touch pad and that area is really hot thanks to by 7200rpm HDD there. As the computer is switch on for long periods of time you will be able to feel if the overall temperature of the laptop will be any issue in certain environments.


Once you have purchased the laptop, please do remember to fully charge the laptop's battery before even switching it on. If possible, uninstall any unnecessary bloat-ware that came with the new laptop like trial software, etc and install you own anti virus if it does not come with it and some PC maintenance software to keep the computer in shape.

Install MW:O and Happy Gaming
See you in the battlefield
Regards
Dragoon20005

Edited by Dragoon20005, 18 August 2013 - 08:32 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

Budget for laptops

$500+ notebook

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834314119

personally after 2 acer products, I'm really hating them and the new updated models are not worth the money and build quality is not there. But if you budget is this low you could get it but don't expect good frame rate on such a low end laptop. At best 20+fps even on low

$700+ notebook

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834314182

again this may be my personal opinion but Acer is the last resort for laptops, uses the A10-5757M with AMD Radeon HD8750M, medium setting with MW:O at 720p should give 30+fps but might drop when the action heats up. Do note that the HD8750M still uses DDR3 for graphics RAM and its shared by the system

$900+ notebook

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152393

with a higher budget, you will be able to find many decent laptops around the 900 dollars mark from many brands like Asus,MSI,Lenovo,Dell, etc. This MSI uses a dual core i5 but the GPU is no pushover since it is a GTX series which will wipe the floor of GT series GPU.

$1000 to 1200+ notebook

at 1000 dollars you will again have many choices of laptops to choose, go for at least quad core, GT650M or better GTX series GPU. You will never go wrong with the combo, and they will run Crysis 3 on med with not much issues.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834230592

heavy discounts for the 3rd Gen i Core since the Haswell are replacing them, This Asus is a pure gaming grade laptop with a huge discount of 400 bucks!!! its a steal.


http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152409

This MSI uses the Haswell CPU and GTX760M at $1199 is a good buy and easy on the shoulders if you are going to carry it most often.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834312834

Lenovo's offering also uses the Haswell CPU but the unique thing is the GT750M in SLi configuration. So it means there are 2 GPU to power the graphics and the screen is full HD screen on a 15.6 inch. And the colour scheme is impressive. Matte Black and red back light for the keyboards

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834312835

Similar to the above but this comes with a 8GB SSD cache and bigger RAM capacity of 12GB and larger 1TB HDD

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152394

MSI Gaming laptop powered by AMD APU and GPU. With a HD7970. You should have no excuse not running on high settings

Customizable notebooks

http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP7352

Since Narcissistic Martyr mentioned about Sager notebook I will place it under special mention

Using the Haswell CPU and GTX765M you should be able to run it on med setting 1080P

http://www.xoticpc.c...0st-p-6163.html

13.3 inch mini powerhouse IMO, but do note you still need to add OS as the set don't come with Windows

$1500 Notebook

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152400

at $1500, MSI pure gaming laptop will beat the {Scrap} out of the Alienware laptop that is using GT750 at similar price. Again no excuse not to run high detail.


$1800+ Notebook

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152367

This laptop from MSI just make anyone drool. A desktop replacement powerhouse

$2000+ and above

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152402

Seriously, if you got the dough and you want the best laptop
comes with SSD for lighting quick bootup and Quad core Haswell CPU, GTX780M, Blu Ray combo. What can go wrong on this laptop?

why you may ask i avoid Dell? simple, they are overpriced especially the Alienware line. If you are looking the GTX780M and SSD+HDD combo, prices are already near the 3k mark.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 20 August 2013 - 07:58 PM.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Give a few recommended laptops at the $500, $750, $900, $1200, $1500, $1800, >$2000 price range and we'll never have to answer these questions again. (Hopefully)

[Dragoon20005]

Thats the end of my guide please do give a like or give me more inputs to expand on the details i have covered or need improvements

Thanks again for reading this guide

Edited by Dragoon20005, 19 August 2013 - 01:04 AM.

[Dragoon20005]

using the example from Microsoft Windows

Fragmentation happens to a hard disk over time as you save, change, or delete files. The changes that you save to a file are often stored at a location on the hard disk that's different from the original file. Additional changes are saved to even more locations. Over time, both the file and the hard disk itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in many different places to open a file.

from wikipedia for defragmentation

In the maintenance of file systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the mass storage device used to store files into the smallest number of contiguous regions (fragments). It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmentation utilities try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are often accessed in sequence.
Defragmentation is advantageous and relevant to file systems on electromechanical disk drives. The movement of the hard drive's read/write heads over different areas of the disk when accessing fragmented files is slower, compared to accessing the entire contents of a non-fragmented file sequentially without moving the read/write heads to seek other fragments.

maybe i confused people with the the compression word with de-fragmentation but it should be compacting the files together.

While the above does work with normal HDD, NEVER do de-fragmentation with a SSD as it will shorten the lifespan of the SSD with all the read and write cycles. while SSD are fast but they have a short read write cycle which you should take note.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 19 August 2013 - 06:28 PM.

[Dragoon20005]

About Dx11 were you referring to this?

http://mwomercs.com/...24#entry2632824

DX11

We've been working behind the scenes to address the major issues we experienced when we first tested DX11 with QA. These issues have been largely addressed and we are looking at putting DX11 up on the Public Test Servers shortly to confirm everything can move to Production.

Please note that DX11 is not intended to be a major visual update to the game, the goal is to provide a stable DX11 path that performs the same or better than the DX9 path. This helps ensure we have solid support for Windows 8 and does open the door for us to add better visual support for the game down the road.

As you can gather there is a lot of ground work still being laid, but we do expect to get back to doing more for the visuals in the near future and having DX11 in place will mean we have a much stronger foundation when we do.


But then again there still no news as to when it is released, although it estimated will arrive next month but i doubt it with the current pace of progress

But performance wise with 12 vs 12 even they have no answers as to why the frame rates drop so much as mentioned below

Performance

Part of our goal with 12 vs. 12 has been to ensure that performance doesn't decline with the introduction of 8 new Mechs in every game. We've been working hard on a variety of optimizations to various game systems to ensure that the performance drain is negated and will continue to work to pull performance up to the best levels possible.

We're also tightening up our internal work-flows for new assets and maps to ensure that all new assets meet well defined performance and memory criteria so that the community can rest assured that all new content coming down the pipe will run smoothly on your system.

NB: We’ve been monitoring the frame rate telemetry since 12 vs. 12 went live (Aug 6^th) and we are seeing some noticeable differences from the public test servers, we are currently investigating (primarily min spec) to see if there is a performance change from public test or if the change is solely related to different player compositions from public test to live.


So the aim of this thread is to pretty much answer all the usual questions asked by users as what spec of PC can work and what cannot and i am trying to cover all the bases from Desktop and laptop aspects to cater to different player base

you do have to consider some college students really need a laptop for school and due to limited space in their hostel room can't have a desktop in their room


about de-fragmentation on SSD

you mentioned that it decrease speed, care to explain in detail

unless my memory is failing, many tech forums and articles mentioned about de-fragmentation killing your SSD if you do it frequently and it is also pointless since the SSD reads its data randomly instead of sequentially like normal HDD which is where you get the speed the normal HDD can't

even Windows discourage the use of the in build defrag function on SSD and advise users to disable it when using SSD as the boot drive and any SSD for that matter.

Edited by Dragoon20005, 19 August 2013 - 01:35 AM.

[Dragoon20005]

if you are here to just troll me with you pointless post with any explaining why is my reasoning is invalid

then you are just blowing hot air

[Dragoon20005]

If you read my first post,

do you see me mention anything about defrag a SSD?

and SSDs in desktops are not common a few years back because of the price, unless your initial system do has a SSD.

you were the one who mentioned about SSD and compacting the files and i even went to correct it and admit my mistake of using the wrong choice of word

and if you think i just blindly make up a guide just for fun?

I did researched about all computer stuffs that i will be covering for the last few days before hand and creating a word document before pasting it here and do the final touches to the article.

[Fuerchtegott]

I see you mention the first thing people should do is defrag, and I see someone who has a problem when he get's pointed towards a problem.

And I believe, if I hadn't mentioned it, you hadn't mentioned it either and someone following your guide would defrag his ssd in case he had one.
Because, you did research, so why wait for me to bring it up, right?

But our discussion ends here.
Help isn't welcome, I'm fine with that.

I'll delete my posts. No problem.

You are clearely a hardware authority and you have for sure studied computersciences for ages, everyone who isn't a troll'lol'ig ***** like me can see that easyliest!

Edited by Fuerchtegott, 19 August 2013 - 06:16 AM.

[Bloodshed Romance]

we're just offering help to those who need it, if you know what your doing, great!
some people don't and need pointed in the right direction.....
no what we try to say wont ALWAYS work, but it all helps in the long run....

EDIT: defragging your ssd wont INSTANTLY KILL IT... its not to much of a point to do it but you can and not kill it.... in windows 8 it just trimms it and deletes old files that are lingering... in 7 it actually defrags and moves stuff......
SSDs work in a way that it doesn't really search for stuff because its a SOLID STATE DRIVE, no moving parts.
HDDs have to spin and search the platter to find its data... which is why its good to put all similar data in one place (de-fragmentation is what this process is called)....

Edited by Bloodshed Romance, 19 August 2013 - 07:01 AM.

[Dragoon20005]

I do hope catamount could come in to help improve on this guide

and this thread need to be pinned

[Narcissistic Martyr]

I vote for the Sager NP7330 with i7 4700QM and GTX765M for $1040 to be added. It's kind of the bang for buck king in the $1000-1200 range IMO.

[Dragoon20005]

Narcissistic Martyr, on 20 August 2013 - 12:06 AM, said:

I vote for the Sager NP7330 with i7 4700QM and GTX765M for $1040 to be added. It's kind of the bang for buck king in the $1000-1200 range IMO.

i do see the notebook but the price is now $1149

http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP7330



maybe if it was the below i will add it in NP7352 at $1099

http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP7352

[StainlessSR]

Some players may not be able to afford $800 - $1k for a new computer but do need to upgrade in order to be able to play.
Here are two builds that I beleve will run MWO at an average of 40fps(dips into high 20's). I owned the I3 system base components so I know it will run at that rate, the Amd system should run better than the I3 at stock speed and close to an I5 at a good overclock per Tom's.

Pc Part Picker for an Intel I3 ~$580 usd.

Pc Part Picker for an Amd FX-6350 ~$570 usd

Additional saving on these setups can be gained by reusing parts from a donor system. I did not include any optical drives as these days you do not really need one unless you purchase software in hard form. The majority of games are now downloaded from a service such as steam or origin and Operating systems can be loaded from a usb drive (often times faster than from a cdrom drive).

Now I will admit these setups are not that good to further upgrade upon as I was looking for the lowest base price instead of future usability. If that were the case I would recommend a Z77 SLI/Crossfire MB for the Intel setup which should only increase the price by ~$60 - $100 (I honestly have no idea on the AMD solution I provided) as you can add/change parts and pieces as you go along to make it better. Items such as an I5/I7 cpu, better video card or an SSD can be added later to further improve the system.

Another solution for upgrading an old dual/single core system is to keep an eye on your local classifieds/Craigslist. Intel has released Haswell so every early adopter will by buying one and probably getting rid of their older setups. I, just this month, have bought an I5-2500K for $60 USD (replaced my I3 cpu), also I have seen branded I5 solutions (Dell/Gateway) with 8GB ram for ~$280 USD you would just need a good GPU at that point (and possibly a full size case/larger power-supply) both were listed on Craigslist in my area.

I am sure that alot of players here are like me and only have a JOB (Just Over Broke) and not a career so money is very tight and the bestest for the leastest is the usual mode they have to operate in.

[Dragoon20005]

StainlessSR, on 20 August 2013 - 10:14 AM, said:

Some players may not be able to afford $800 - $1k for a new computer but do need to upgrade in order to be able to play.
Here are two builds that I beleve will run MWO at an average of 40fps(dips into high 20's). I owned the I3 system base components so I know it will run at that rate, the Amd system should run better than the I3 at stock speed and close to an I5 at a good overclock per Tom's.

Pc Part Picker for an Intel I3 ~$580 usd.

Pc Part Picker for an Amd FX-6350 ~$570 usd

Additional saving on these setups can be gained by reusing parts from a donor system. I did not include any optical drives as these days you do not really need one unless you purchase software in hard form. The majority of games are now downloaded from a service such as steam or origin and Operating systems can be loaded from a usb drive (often times faster than from a cdrom drive).

Now I will admit these setups are not that good to further upgrade upon as I was looking for the lowest base price instead of future usability. If that were the case I would recommend a Z77 SLI/Crossfire MB for the Intel setup which should only increase the price by ~$60 - $100 (I honestly have no idea on the AMD solution I provided) as you can add/change parts and pieces as you go along to make it better. Items such as an I5/I7 cpu, better video card or an SSD can be added later to further improve the system.

Another solution for upgrading an old dual/single core system is to keep an eye on your local classifieds/Craigslist. Intel has released Haswell so every early adopter will by buying one and probably getting rid of their older setups. I, just this month, have bought an I5-2500K for $60 USD (replaced my I3 cpu), also I have seen branded I5 solutions (Dell/Gateway) with 8GB ram for ~$280 USD you would just need a good GPU at that point (and possibly a full size case/larger power-supply) both were listed on Craigslist in my area.

I am sure that alot of players here are like me and only have a JOB (Just Over Broke) and not a career so money is very tight and the bestest for the leastest is the usual mode they have to operate in.

interesting point here i might add you 2 builds although i will tweak your AMD option, if you use a quad core instead of the 6 core FX, you might have abit more for the GPU
and darn heavy discounts for the AMD GPUs so should be able to get some good deals for the mid tier cards.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Dragoon20005, on 20 August 2013 - 12:39 AM, said:

i do see the notebook but the price is now $1149

http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP7330



maybe if it was the below i will add it in NP7352 at $1099

http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP7352

XoticPC has the best price on the NP 7330

Dragoon20005, on 20 August 2013 - 04:45 PM, said:

interesting point here i might add you 2 builds although i will tweak your AMD option, if you use a quad core instead of the 6 core FX, you might have abit more for the GPU
and darn heavy discounts for the AMD GPUs so should be able to get some good deals for the mid tier cards.

If you're using a quad core to save money get a phenom ii x4 965 instead of a fx4300. You'll save $30 bucks that way.

Edited by Narcissistic Martyr, 20 August 2013 - 07:55 PM.