24 replies to this topic

[Akula]

So for a long time, since back in 2014 I had entertained the idea of upgrading my current pc to get more out of my games. My current build is actually the remnants of the last one my father built.

Currently I have.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770
Asus Striker II Extreme mother board
4x 2GB Kingston DDR3
Gigabyte GTX 680
128GB SSD
1TB Hard drive
All on Windows 7 64 bit

I would to get a new rig which is up to date and while I do play several games such as Battlefield 4 or Arma 3 and would like to run them well, MWO is my main focus and as such I'm willing to adjust the build to maximise performance with in it.

I'm not the most knowledgeable about computers by all means, but I've been reading the forums and I know that MWO is very CPU heavy so getting a good one (intel) is the key factor to attaining a good fps. I thinking of getting one of the new GTX 900 series, a 970, maybe a 980 if I want to splash out a little more. This isn't really a budget build as I'm looking to get a good gaming build, of course I'm not looking for anything over the top such as getting two graphics cards and doing an SLI build.

So I turn too the knowledgeable people of these forums for advice on what pieces I should look to get to run MWO on high graphics with a good FPS.

[Surn]

Kruiser, I dont know if you remember me from the old Mechwarrior Registry (Mechreg) league, but I used to develop and admin that site. I am a Microsoft Partner and have been Mech gaming for a long time.

What I have found to work in MWO is a processor that is over 4.3Ghz, dual core is sufficient. AMD chips are inexpensive at this range. Also, don't get the APU's as they are more expensive for the same processing power as they include a built in GPU. It is likely you will not be using the APU's built in GPU.

http://shop.amd.com/...?k=%22FX%204%22 is my processor recommendation. The 8 core chips get very hot at 4.0 GHZ and above.

For a video card, I am partial to the AMD R9's, but a R9 280x or 290 is probably as much as you will need unless you are running 3 24" monitors and running the game full screen like some mech nerds (me).

[Summon3r]

well if your not on a budget and its strictly for gaming i5-4690k with a z97 mobo check out ASUS, 8gb RAM is mroe then enough but 16 why not if no budget and the 64 bit version of mwo is out now. a gtx 970 is more gpu then u will need assuming 1080 on 1 monitor, or even 1440 on 1 monitor. if going 1440 and the no budget then why not a 980?

hell if there is no budget go with a i7-4790k stock 4ghz is awesome and word has it that it OC's very well (so does the 4690k)... get yourself a good cooler aswell. i use a phanteks air cooler with a 3970k OC'd to 4ghz np

[Smokeyjedi]

There are a metric tonne of MWO based game build in these forums........Almost any K series intel build will work, Your 680 isnt totally outdated, its just a bit heavier and hotter than and will draw lots of power.....big deal///i see no problem.unless you want 3 screens and or 2560X1080P screens or UHD 4K...........

The X99 -E haswell + DDR4 will be your absolute best performing chipset due to MWOs crazy IPC and memory bandwidth issues..........a few % better performance per core than any I7s or I5s out of the box.( not to mention the handful of extra cores.....

5820 OCs well
5960 is more $ but has 4 threads more.......and will OC well........

but a 5820 + 980 GTX would smoke any and all games.....for a while......until you get crazy ideas about resolution....still than you would probably be ok.

[Lord Letto]

if you truly have no Budget:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($564.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($366.23 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($272.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($464.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($609.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($104.98 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($179.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2886.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-19 22:37 EST-0500

Custom Water Cooling and you should be Set!

[Catamount]

Okay guys, let's assume he does, in fact, have a budget here. OP, just let us know what you want to spend.

[Akula]

Haha, yeah. I guess I haven't got a strict limit that I must not cross, but naturally I don't want to spend what I don't have too. I'm a UK player, so I would be okay with say a rough £1000 budget or so. I can always step a little more over that if I can justify it. Hard drives are a low priority as I can make do with what I already have if need be.

Edited by Kruiser, 19 January 2015 - 08:17 PM.

[Tumbling Dice]

Summon3r, on 19 January 2015 - 05:19 PM, said:

well if your not on a budget and its strictly for gaming i5-4690k with a z97 mobo check out ASUS, 8gb RAM is mroe then enough but 16 why not if no budget and the 64 bit version of mwo is out now. a gtx 970 is more gpu then u will need assuming 1080 on 1 monitor, or even 1440 on 1 monitor. if going 1440 and the no budget then why not a 980?

hell if there is no budget go with a i7-4790k stock 4ghz is awesome and word has it that it OC's very well (so does the 4690k)... get yourself a good cooler aswell. i use a phanteks air cooler with a 3970k OC'd to 4ghz np

Your first paragraph almost nails my machine. And for the OP's information, I run the i5 4690K with 16 G's corsair vengeance ram, a Zotac GTX 970 all mounted on a ASUS Maximus VII Hero. I run surround portrait mode with (3) 23" monitors at 3240 x 1920 resolution. Although I do not run on "High" settings in MWO I have only altered a few settings to make it a custom experience. I have the CPU slightly overclocked at x43 without a change to the voltage. I run a consistant 60-70 fps ingame, even in intense situations. I do drop to the 40 fps range while in lobby for CW. Lol. Didn't mean to laugh, had to.

[Lord Letto]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£244.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 OC FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£179.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£70.33 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: GALAX GeForce GTX 980 4GB SOC Video Card (£436.39 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (32-bit) (£69.89 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1001.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-20 04:29 GMT+0000

[Tumbling Dice]

Lord Letto, on 19 January 2015 - 07:38 PM, said:

if you truly have no Budget:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($564.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($366.23 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($272.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($464.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($609.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($104.98 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($179.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2886.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-19 22:37 EST-0500

Custom Water Cooling and you should be Set!

The I5 4690K will run MWO about the same as the I7, and the GTX 980 can be matched by an overclocked GTX 970.

[Lord Letto]

really, a i5 (Quad Core) is the Same/Better than a i7 Hexa Core, Where's your proof to back it up? also, 980=OCed 970, How About a OCed 980?

[Smokeyjedi]

Lord Letto, on 19 January 2015 - 08:30 PM, said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£244.94 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 OC FORMULA ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£179.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£70.33 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: GALAX GeForce GTX 980 4GB SOC Video Card (£436.39 @ More Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (32-bit) (£69.89 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1001.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-20 04:29 GMT+0000

Other than probably needing a nice gold rated PSU over budget, this getting stuffed into your existing case with fresh install (on old HDDs) and overclock would be insane. Period.

[Keira RAVEN McKenna]

Wolfiac, on 19 January 2015 - 08:34 PM, said:

The I5 4690K will run MWO about the same as the I7, and the GTX 980 can be matched by an overclocked GTX 970.

Thats like the machine my man had built for me. I wanted the i7 just because it was bigger and I didnt know much else aparts from its bigger. The shop guys convinced us to save the money and get the i5 4590 and its turned out to be a rocking fun machine for the 2 games I mostly play.

As they said to us, dollar value return vs performance. For alot more money you get a marginally better machine. For an above average amount of coin we ended up with a brilliant above average machine and save a few dollars to go buy clothes and silver jewellery and important things like that.

Edited by Keira RAVEN McKenna, 19 January 2015 - 09:53 PM.

[Akula]

Smokeyjedi, on 19 January 2015 - 09:44 PM, said:

Other than probably needing a nice gold rated PSU over budget, this getting stuffed into your existing case with fresh install (on old HDDs) and overclock would be insane. Period.

What PSU's would you recommend? Like I said I don't mind over stepping a little.

[Summon3r]

Kruiser, on 19 January 2015 - 09:57 PM, said:

What PSU's would you recommend? Like I said I don't mind over stepping a little.

u jsut got a evga 850w gold rated supernova psu for 120 cdn, apparently one of the top psu on the market right now.

[Tumbling Dice]

Lord Letto, on 19 January 2015 - 08:40 PM, said:

really, a i5 (Quad Core) is the Same/Better than a i7 Hexa Core, Where's your proof to back it up? also, 980=OCed 970, How About a OCed 980?

The OP stated he is building around MWO needs. An i7 offers very little if anything over the i5 4690k for MWO performance.

My 970 runs 60-70 fps constant on a surround portrait using three 23" monitors. What benefit would a 980 bring to me in MWO? Remember, he is building around THIS game, as I did. Why spend an additional $500-$700 on a minimal difference in THIS game if THIS game is what he is building for.

Edited by Wolfiac, 20 January 2015 - 01:39 AM.

[Keira RAVEN McKenna]

its male thing I think...

[Flapdrol]

A 4790K i7 has some added value in games compared to the 4690K, but that's only 5-15% and the cpu is 50% more expensive.

The 5820K is even more expensive, especially with the price of an X99 board and ddr4, but compared to the 4790K it's a lot of cpu for the money.

[Smokeyjedi]

I5 if you are concerned with power usage and listening to what other people say...............

I7s are if you can blow the money and or/ to have the headroom with future proofing.......How many people still go on about 1st gen I5s Noone, but 1st gen I7s are still going strong.......untilll MWO.........think about it.

5820K + DDR4 + Mobo is pretty expensive, but considering it will last for years to come, due to the fact that it is not topped out by any programs out to date..............probably a few years before all the threads are tapped out...................specially if you have the 5930 or 5960 with 8/16threads./

[Insects]

Smokeyjedi, on 19 January 2015 - 05:36 PM, said:

.Almost any K series intel build will work,

All K means is that is is unlocked to allow overclocking, otherwise it is the same as non K.

Dont bother going down the overclocking path unless a computer modding enthusiast, it is cheaper to just buy the faster CPU to begin with because decent overclock hardware costs more.
You literally have to apply "double heatsink" to your computer with monster heatsinks.



Which is fun if into that, but for the general person wanting a computer which they just use then its not a worthwhile path to take.

This game is years behind the current game technology and it doesnt take much to run it.
$150 GPU, midrange CPU and its going to be sweet for 60fps 90% of the time. A modern computer deserves 8G ram and an SSD too, dont cripple it with less.
Also spend $30 (or more) on a gaming mouse if not using one already. The extra buttons are a huge help in this game and features like DPI cycle really help with the games oversensitive advanced zoom.