Posted 06 August 2012 - 11:38 PM
Where did the minimum sys req's come from? The FAQ page says they currently don't have them.
Redlight Guardian already loosely made the same points I was going to make. No one else that I saw drew any attention to the importance of your PSU. If your PSU is ****, then your whole system is ****. The PSU is the most important part of the computer & it's one of those things that gets neglected and skimped on like the mobo, (which happens to be the 2nd most important part) when you buy department store pre-built junk like Dell's, and Sony's etc. When there is no rapidly evolving performance associated quantitative value attached to it, it can't be used effectively to advertise & make sales so it gets neglected. PSU's & mobo's are the first victims, RAM is probably next, but it's less expensive & less significant. BUILD YOUR OWN SYSTEM!!!! It is by far the best system you can buy for your money. Take opinions under advisement but do your own research based on your budget.
Also speaking of bang for your buck, when you buy an Intel CPU, or an Nvidia GPU, you are buying an advertising campaign as well as a processor. Almost every game that I know of including this one (and excluding Half-Life 2) has Nvidia's bullshit plastered all over it. You get better performance per dollar from AMD. They work just as good and cost less. I've used them all and in your situation it's the best route. Nvidia usually has the fastest flagship, but that won't apply to you & it's always an unnecessary expenditure. As far as CPU's go, I don't follow as closely but It's a never-ending race & the price/performance ratio is something AMD has always been known for. CPU's are of little significance in a game compared to the GPU anyway & I'm not up to snuff on AMD's APU's but Guardian seems to be so that might be the way to go. With a standalone GPU anything in AMD's line-up that is currently available ending with "850" or higher (e.g. 5850, 6850, 6870 etc.) will more than suffice. The "850" level in any given generation is usually pegged as the best banger for the money and my experience correlates closely to the reviews, benchmarks & tech specs that guided me in that direction.
Antec, Thermaltake, Cooler Master & OCZ are PSU brands that you can count on. I only have experience with Thermaltake (and unfortunate experiences with no names when I didn't know any better) and have had no reason to go anywhere else.
Gigabyte & ASUS are two heavies in the mobo market that I can speak for and I'm sure that many other people can too. MSI is top drawer also and there are others too.
Just stay outta the department stores & contrary to Guardian's advice Best Buy is a department store employing large numbers of know nothings. You got newegg.com, you got tigerdirect.com, you probably have others. I buy almost always from Canada Computers but they don't ship outside the country so that doesn't do you any good. I've had good experience with the Canadian version of Tiger Direct, but usually their prices on desktop hardware can't compete with Canada Comp's. Maybe the US has something similar. Computer salesman are rarely in my experience any different from car salesman. I would not ever take the advice of someone too seriously whether educated or not, who thinks they stand to gain something from the advice they give. There are plenty of sources to consult on the internet, unbiased sources, and benchmarks presenting cold hard facts.
You can build a system with a new case (which is of little importance despite what you might hear, if you need more ventilation, get out your drill) that will run this game (& pretty much any other) very fast for $500 if you build it right & if you keep it running lean, clean & mean.
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Fryulator, on 30 July 2012 - 03:33 PM, said:
