Need A new Gaming PC! Help Needed!

[ChooChooBot]

I made a thread awhile back on getting a new Gaming PC in the summer but I'm still unsure on what I should get. I want it to play the newest PC games at full resolution with no lag or frame-rate issues. I will mainly be playing BF3, and the new Star Wars the Old Republic on it. I'm not looking for some $1000+ beast like an Ailenware. I would like it to be in more of the $500 to $800 price range. Below I have some specs of some of the games I wish to run. I would like the PC to run these and many games like this for the next few years with ease at a very high setting.

TOR

Minimum System Requirements
Disk Drive8x or better *Minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM and Shader 3.0 or better support.Operating SystemWindows XP, Vista/7ProcessorAMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better · Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0GHz or betterRAMWindows XP: 1.5GB · Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB · PCs using a built-in graphical chipset, 2GB RAM recommended.Video CardATI X1800 or better* · nVidia 7800 or better* · Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better*

BF3

Recommended System Requirements
OS: WINDOWS 7 64-BIT
PROCESSOR: QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY: 4 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD: DIRECTX 11 COMPATIBLE WITH 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 OR ATI RADEON 6950)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBund ... mbo.755247

This combo can get you a respectable frame rate for Battlefield 3.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bat ... 063-8.html

[ChooChooBot]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.755247

This combo can get you a respectable frame rate for Battlefield 3.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bat ... 063-8.html

That computer looks awesome. Thanks for the find!

[Erik_Twice]

I'm not looking for some $1000+ beast like an Ailenware.

If I remember correctly Alienware was the company that makes the second most overpriced computers in the market.

My advice when it comes to computers is simple, if it's a big shop, like Wal-Mart, you are going to get ripped off. Buy on small, specialized shops.



That combo looks quite good too. It supports Eyefinity so go and buy two more screens! =P

[CRTGAMER]

I made a thread awhile back on getting a new Gaming PC in the summer but I'm still unsure on what I should get.

So why a new thread for a repeat discussion? Update and use the info from your old thread.

[vlame]

what are the specs for SW:OR?

[Pulsar_t]

Not particularly high

http://www.swtor.com/info/faq#171060

[isiolia]

I'm not looking for some $1000+ beast like an Ailenware.

My advice when it comes to computers is simple, if it's a big shop, like Wal-Mart, you are going to get ripped off. Buy on small, specialized shops.

Eh, small, specialized shops are boutique computers (like Alienware...originally) - which tend to be overpriced.

I look at it more like, if you're trying to get the cheapest thing possible, a big-box store will be hard to beat price-wise. Particularly if you're being legal about the OS. To be clear, I mean something like spending $300-400 on a PC. You take $100 from that for a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium, and you're not left with all that much to build with. Compromises will be made.

The more expensive you go, the more of a margin companies will try to make, leaving you more room to save by building. That said, the point of building is less about saving money, and more about putting the money you do spend into the parts of the system that matter most to you. You won't find many off the shelf systems that work a $250 video card into a $750 system, as an example.


I don't think much has changed (yet) as to what'd be recommended. Still really an i5 2500k, pretty much the same video card lineup (though both companies should be releasing new product lines within a few months).

IMO, the linked-to combo isn't that appealing. Phenom II X6 isn't great for gaming (or much at all really, some have overclocked them a lot, but still), the PSU, nice as it is (and not something you want to completely cheap out on) is maybe over-specced for the system as a whole, HDD is very expensive (though they've spiked up due to plants getting damaged), a Blu-ray drive isn't necessary, could get a slightly cheaper case...and you could take savings from cutting some of that and get a better GPU at least.

[Pulsar_t]

The X6 is a nice mid-range processor and gaming was never that CPU-intensive to begin with. As for the GPU I suppose if the PSU and BD drive are cut down he can go for a better card or he can slot in another card for Crossfire when the need arises.

[isiolia]

The X6 is a nice mid-range processor and gaming was never that CPU-intensive to begin with. As for the GPU I suppose if the PSU and BD drive are cut down he can go for a better card or he can slot in another card for Crossfire when the need arises.

Gaming can be CPU intensive, just not as often as it is GPU intensive. What'd be more accurate is to say that it's more often GPU limited. Performance differences between CPUs aren't seen because that's not where the bottleneck is.

For example, look at the gaming benchmarks from the Bulldozer review on Anandtech here - and keep in mind that it's an 1100T not the 1090T, so it'd actually be slightly slower than that.
On higher setting, things become pretty equal, because the bottleneck isn't the CPU. When it is, the difference in performance for most things is fairly pronounced.

IMO, if you go with the performance for gaming/GPU limited argument, then there's little compelling reason not to cut $40 off the price and go with a Phenom II X4 965 instead, which would likely be pretty much on par.

On the "midrange" angle, paying $20 more for an i5 2400, which will tend to trounce the X6 in almost every respect, makes more sense (and keep in mind that if there's a MIcrocenter nearby, you can get an i5 2500k for $180 in-store).

X6 just doesn't make sense to me, objectively speaking.