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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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 Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:32 Post subject: Let's get Horrordee PC Gaming again!! *hardware recommends* |
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Yo folks!
I have been out of the game for WAY too long. I used to PC game up until I went to university... that was, I believe 6 years ago now (maybe 7?). Since then, i've kept a minimal eye on the world of PC's - and an even smaller eye on the world of PC gaming. To that extent, I've missed some real crackers - Crysis, STALKER, to name a few. I've not been entirely dumbfounded - I own all of the consoles and have played most of their exclusives. I've also played any big FPS game that's been multiplatform.
The truth? Console gaming just isn't as fun as PC gaming. It's taken me fucking ages to realise this, but the truth is I foam at the mouth at the concept of playing Modern Warfare 2 on a keyboard and mouse. YES, i'll be loosing the "surround system" setup I have in my lounge - where the PC is located there is no room / sensible layout for a 5.1 system - I'll have to stick to 2.1 for the time being, unless these new "surround sound headphones" are really that great - in which case, i'll invest.
So, what do I need from the humble folks at NFOhump? Simple - everything bar the money. I have some money saved up, which I want to spend on either upgrading my current system, or building a new one. I'm in the UK, and plan to use eBuyer or OCUK if need be (although they don't have free shipping and I'm a tight wad...!).
I thought i'd begin by listing my current PC specification. Please don't laugh, I mean, it's not terrible, but it's certainly nothing special. If you believe i would be wise to use any of this bar the obvious (dvd writer, hard drive, etc), then please say so... (maybe I could reuse the ram or something...)...
Motherboard: Gigabyte M57SLI-S4. Socket AM2. Chipset is nForce 570 SLI. Contains PCI-E x16 port. Compatible Processors: Athlon 64, Sempron, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2 apparently, according to http://tinyurl.com/352fmcj - however, according to this it also supports AM3/AM4?! http://tinyurl.com/2umohzt - but the bus would be lowered?
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. Not overclocked. Core speed 2000 MHz, multiplier x 5.0. Bus 200MHz.
Memory: 4 x 1gb DDR2 memory. Yes, FOUR sticks. Two of these are Kingston running at 400 Mhz, two are GEIL (CL5-5-5) running at 333 Mhz.
GPU: Geforce 7600GT. XFX AGP 256MB DDR3.
HDD: Maxtor 320gb SATA / Samsung 500gb SATA.
So, thats it. There is also a DVD Rewriter in there, which i'd like to keep. It's creamy white though so would need to go into a case that hides it I suspect. My monitor is relatively new, and while not HDMI or 1080p, i like it (720p via DVI is what I currently use).
Firstly, I'd just like to state that i'm not very bothered about overclocking. If there is an obvious overclocking route here - like a card which was MADE for it and is perfectly fine, stable, and not too hot, then I'd definately consider it - but most of all I want to be able to game without noise / heat issues.
Secondly, the purpose of this system will be to game. Game older games, like Crysis, STALKER, BC2, etc, but also to play new games for the next year or two. I appriciate with my budget, I won't always be able to play the newest games on the highest settings - but I want to be able to play the games of TODAY on high* settings. *Not "highest" as I know some games require 10k machines to run at max.
Finally, my budget is a MAX of £500. I don't really want to spend all of this, I want bang for buck. I dont want mega top end, I just want something reasonable, thats good value and will kick the shit out of current games.
As discussed earlier, I know nothing of the gaming cards of today... i've seen people comment that the ATI 5770 is a good card, and also that Nvidia 460 is as good as the 470 but cheaper? I've got no idea how much memory on the cards I will need - 512? 1gig? I guess this is going to be the most costly part of my system (maybe along side CPU?) so I guess I'll proabbly be spending between 100 and 200 on gfx.
CPU wise, I don't think I need i7 - not that I know alot about it, I don't plan to video edit, or do anything other than browse the net, extract RAR files and play games. I suspect a fast i3 or i5, or maybe even an AMD would be OK here?
Everything else: down to you! Should I be looking at DDR3 ram when I've already got 4 1gb sticks of DDR2 I _could_ use? Or is that shit slow? Should I get MORE than 4gb of Ram for a windows 7 gaming machine? or would it be wasted? Is everything actually OK bar the graphics card? Would I be more worthwhile and cost effective just replacing the graphics card with a fast PCI-E GPU? (and maybe upgrading the CPU as the mainboard supports socket AM2?)
OVER TO YOU GUYS!
Space for rent. Contact me for rates!
Last edited by Horrordee on Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:39; edited 1 time in total
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:36 Post subject: |
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core i5 750 or 760 whatever u can find
mobo with Intel P55 chpset with sli and crossfire support for the future
4gb ddr3 minimum (forget about ddr2 lol)
gtx 460 1gb can be overclocked to perform like 470
decent psu
an so on
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:40 Post subject: |
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Hmm my current mainboard apparently supports AM3/4 CPUs:
http://gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2539#
So maybe a quicker CPU / GFX card would be more sensible than a full upgrade?
The site does say:
*Note: If you install AMD AM3/AM2+ CPU on AM2 motherbord, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0(5200MHz) to HT1.0(2000 MT/s) spec; however, the frequency of AM3/AM2+ CPU will not be impacted. Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.
Space for rent. Contact me for rates!
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:46 Post subject: |
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what is the point in quad core? does it improve any current games? is the i5 really worth spending 50% more for, over the i3?
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:48 Post subject: |
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70 bucks for an AMD 440 is all you ever need for gaming
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:48 Post subject: |
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"So for the user working professionally with video editing, Core i5 is the CPU to go and there is no question about it. "
I just plan to game, which is why I kinda think i5 may be unnessicary?
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 16:58 Post subject: |
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what you could do is get an AMD 440 3.0ghz tripple core ( from what i read on reviews 90+% unlock rate to quadcore ) they OC to 3.6 pretty easely , but even at stock you wont need more.
get a cheap 70 dollar AMD 770 chipset board that accepts DDR2 ram , this way you can use your 4gb ram , dont worry about the 400mhz instead of 533.
Add a Sapphire 5770 1gb card with custom cooling for 145 dollar and viola , great system that can run all current games for a minimal cost
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:03 Post subject: |
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case he wanted to unlock , but he can save the money if he wants to cause as i said locked and at stock it will run anything he throws at it
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:05 Post subject: |
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If i installed a AM3 CPU, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0(5200MHz) to HT1.0(2000 MT/s) spec
What is the realistic implication of this?
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:13 Post subject: |
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http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235763
Putting that in would be possible, but would drop bus from HT3.0 to HT1.0... shame I don't know what that means...
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:14 Post subject: |
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:16 Post subject: |
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That didn't really explain it in real terms, e.g. what the impact on gaming would be
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:24 Post subject: |
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horror if 500 pounds is what you want to spend on it , maybe new mainboard would be best idea, the lacking HT downgrade and unlock/OC capabilities would make the investment worth , also you get better onboard sound etc
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:27 Post subject: |
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yes I think 460 overclocked would be my route of graphics, regardless.
the choice of CPU / motherboard / RAM is a bigger one. Using an AM3 CPU in my current board, with my current memory would cost me £60 - e.g. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235763
however, would that graphics card be wasted on that CPU? Specially considering the slower bus of HT1.0?
If i went to an i3/5,i'd need to replace mobo, ram AND cpu, and would be an additional £350 for potentially limited gain...
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:29 Post subject: |
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yup thats why i would go with AMD 440 and a 770 board + your current ram
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 17:32 Post subject: |
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u can always try to go amd route with your current mobo, but u may experience some bottleneck, just like i had with c2q and 470, i5 would be your best choise of performance, also don't get dual core i5 if u can get quad, 10-15 pounds difference lol
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 18:13 Post subject: |
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I agree with Mort.
With i5 you'll be safe for two yrs and more. DDR3 is a must. You can buy decent but cheap 1333MHz DDR3 and later in future replace it by some better mem. Because your memory atm sucks 
Also a MBO that supports it all preferably with SLI for future.
GTX460 is more expensive than 5770, but is also better than 5770. And will satisfy your gaming needs.
And don't worry about it being old in a future. Most ppl who says OMG your system is so old and it suckorz!!11 are stupid kiddies who depend on their mommy and like to be tucked in at night
The reality is if you buy somewhat newer hardware that supports a bit modding in the future, you're set ^^
For instance my MBO supports Phenom II X6, up to 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, has 2 PCI-E (altho it's capped when in SLI/CrossFire, not that I intend to have another card  ), so in two yrs I can easily update those things if I want ^^
"Quantum mechanics is actually, contrary to it's reputation, unbeliveably simple, once you take the physics out."
Scott Aaronson | chiv wrote: | | thats true you know. newton didnt discover gravity. the apple told him about it, and then he killed it. the core was never found. |
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Horrordee
Soderator
Posts: 8867
Location: England
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 18:37 Post subject: |
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Hmm it's alot more money though... lol ALOT
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 19:07 Post subject: |
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| Horrordee wrote: | | Hmm it's alot more money though... lol ALOT |
Depends on where you buy... But I think that for 500 pounds you can get a decent rig (the above mentioned).
@Mort: I said in 2 and more
"Quantum mechanics is actually, contrary to it's reputation, unbeliveably simple, once you take the physics out."
Scott Aaronson | chiv wrote: | | thats true you know. newton didnt discover gravity. the apple told him about it, and then he killed it. the core was never found. |
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 20:46 Post subject: |
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I'd replace your base platform anyway Horrordee, downclocking and limiting everything like that is not a good idea. Out of the other two systems you linked, the i5 system will last you longer and it will be faster in any game, because the architecture is just much more efficient.
However, both are sufficient for any game out there right now, and that will stay like that for at LEAST another 2 years, depends on when the next derpbox comes out. You could just go with the AMD platform now, use it for a year or two and then upgrade properly. Both AMD and Intel are releasing a new architecture in 6 months or so, which seems to be faster than current products. That means that in 2 years time, we'll have a smaller version of those faster products, resulting in even faster chips at less cost 
Your choice, and either route will do you fine to be honest
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Horrordee
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Posts: 8867
Location: England
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Sep 2010 21:47 Post subject: |
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Horror you are back in England? Probably would have cost a lot less in the States... :\
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