9 replies to this topic

[Skrapheap]

Every time a new game starts to head for beta, particularly one anticipated as greatly as MWO, there is a flood of "I need a new PC HELP!!!" threads. This time is no different, So I am starting by providing a "shopping list" and a brief explanation on why I chose each component. As always with any list I do for anyone, this is just a suggestion, and I will not reply to an attempt to start a flame war. Prices are current as of 05/14/2012 on Newegg.com.
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite grey and black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case - $99.99 All you need in a case is it to be able to hold all of your gear, and keep it within reasonable temps. This case will do both and it doesn't break the bank.
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $159.99 -$20.00 Instant $139.99 A solid feature rich mobo.What more can you ask for.
XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ... - $374.99: As a rule of thumb you want to get the most powerful single card solution you can afford. This one fits the bill nicely, and it balances out well with the core i5.
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750M 750W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance ... - $129.99 -$10.00 Instant $119.99: The way I see it if you are going to spend more than $800 on a PC for any reason, you should cough up the extra dough for a solid PSU. This one covers that, and because of it's modular design cable management will be a snap.
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - $244.99: I saw a few people spouting off about i7s and I think yeah they are nice, but do I really need in essence 8-12 cores for gaming, not to mention quad channel memory. The answer is no, and this chip will serve you nicely for 3-4 years at least.
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $199.99 -$80.00 Instant $119.99: This is for your OS and a few games. Just don't defrag it....
G.SKILL ECO 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8Q-8GBECO - $99.99: You will see a lot of people saying this brand or that brand, but to be honest your PC looks at 1600 speed RAM as 1600 speed RAM. All that matters is that it is stable, and the lowest timings possible.
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $139.99 -$10.00 Instant $129.99: Yeah SSDs are great for a few games and as an OS drive, but I know and you know you have a lot more than 120 GB of assorted crap, and if you don't you will. This is a great place to store the aforementioned crap.
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM - $16.99 : Yes you could afford a BRD, but lets be honest. You only need this to install windows, and you will probably stream HD video anyway.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - $99.99 : If you have no plans of going beyond 8 GB of ram, this OS is the ticket. Not to mention if in the future you decide to push up to 16 it's not exactly hard to upgrade.
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel ... - $34.99:Yeas there are better coolers on the market, however not for $35 U.S.D.

I hope this helps some, and I will see you all on the field shortly....as soon as beta opens....HINTHINT.

.

Edited by Wulffemein, 14 May 2012 - 03:10 PM.

[Aegis Kleais]

You'll be fine, just fine. I have an i7 920 2.67GHz Quad / 12GB DDR3 / GTX 285 OC / Win 7 Pro x64 and it ran Crysis 2 (on CE3 engine) at 1920x1080, High Settings 50-60+ FPS.

[Skrapheap]

Aegis Kleais™, on 14 May 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

You'll be fine, just fine. I have an i7 920 2.67GHz Quad / 12GB DDR3 / GTX 285 OC / Win 7 Pro x64 and it ran Crysis 2 (on CE3 engine) at 1920x1080, High Settings 50-60+ FPS.

This wasn't me asking for help, though I do accept the compliment on my choices. This is here so other people HOPEFULLY will not flood the forums with hardware help threads.

[Fresh Meat]

Wulffemein, on 14 May 2012 - 12:07 PM, said:

This wasn't me asking for help, though I do accept the compliment on my choices. This is here so other people HOPEFULLY will not flood the forums with hardware help threads.

Well I for one enjoy helping people with that

[Skrapheap]

Fresh_Meat, on 14 May 2012 - 12:16 PM, said:

Well I for one enjoy helping people with that

I don't mind helping them, but at the same time 20,000 threads about the same thing gets redundant. B)Now if you will excuse me I have to act like I'm busy so my boss doesn't noice me NOT working on the clock.

Edited by Wulffemein, 14 May 2012 - 12:23 PM.

[Barbaric Soul]

problem with a thread like this is it doesn't take into account sales certain e-stores may have going on week to week.

[Skrapheap]

Barbaric Soul, on 14 May 2012 - 12:35 PM, said:

problem with a thread like this is it doesn't take into account sales certain e-stores may have going on week to week.

Which is the reason I dated the price as current as of today. It is a given that prices fluctuate throughout the year, even at your local computer shop, do to sales, instant rebates, and price slashes.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Now i have been to sleep and just woke up for diablo 3 launch so it may be my blurry vision.

Xfx 7950??? bad choice, if your going for a card under the 7970 your either going 7870 or GTX 670, the 7950 has been made pretty redundant.

4x2GB ram sticks? Im going to assume that was a typo and what you actually ment its 2x4GB ram as this set is cheaper http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231468

[Skrapheap]

DV^McKenna, on 14 May 2012 - 01:55 PM, said:

Now i have been to sleep and just woke up for diablo 3 launch so it may be my blurry vision.

Xfx 7950??? bad choice, if your going for a card under the 7970 your either going 7870 or GTX 670, the 7950 has been made pretty redundant.

4x2GB ram sticks? Im going to assume that was a typo and what you actually meant its 2x4GB ram as this set is cheaper http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231468

After some research I'll give on the 7870, however the RAM I am standing by for one reason:timings. The set you posted has 11-11-11-30 timings, so while it has more bandwidth, it actually has a slower response time. The memory I chose,while it is a four stick set with lower bandwidth, has better response time (8-8-8-24-2N), not to mention lower voltages. Now before you use the "upgrade to 16 GB later by adding 2 sticks" argument, you know as well as I do that it is best to use kits whenever possible, and we would have to swap OSes to Windows 7 Pro to get past the 8 GB limit. On top of that I am a bit OCD, and must fill all ram slots. Again as I said in the original post these are suggestions, not end-alls.

Edited by Wulffemein, 14 May 2012 - 03:11 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

I would recommend getting the HIS IceQ Turbo over the XFX design. That XFX model is The Worst of all a non-reference designs on the 7870, where as the HIS IceQ is the coolest air cooled 7870, and one of the quietest. It's also cheaper; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161404 $350 http://www.guru3d.co...turbo-review/24
Motherboard wise; I recommend this; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157293
AsRock makes great boards now, and you're getting a Z77 board for $10 less than that Z68 board, plus better USB and wired network speed. (and no xfast is not a gimmick http://tinkertry.com/xfastusb/) You're also getting a better UEFI, and better overclocking.
RAM: Intel chipsets get less than 0.5% improvement moving from 1333mhz RAM to 1600mhz RAM, unless you're doing insane LN2/CO2 Overclocking. While Gskill is great, this AMD RAM; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820103006 is a little under half the cost for the same performance, amount, with a lifetime warranty, and a double set of quality control (Patriot + AMD QC) as well as a compatibility guarantee for any future RAM sets, and that it will work on any AMD or Intel motherboard with DDR3 period. While it uses more power, DDR3 RAM doesn't use much in the first place, so this point is moot. It also has extruded aluminum heatsinks which are a bit more durable.
Given the saved money, I suggest this heatsink, 2nd fan, and thermal paste as an upgrade to the Hyper 212 Evo, and you'll be able to OC higher, run cooler, or be quieter, based on your preference;
Heatsink: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103176
Extra fan: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835168006
TIM: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835426020