Help Me Build an ArmA II rig on the cheap

[BloodBane611]

Aright, I'm looking to upgrade to something more powerful than my macbook pro. I'm going to build a desktop rig to save money and get a good product, but I'm a giant tool and have no idea what parts I should be looking for.

My challenge is basically this:

Build the most economical computer possible that will still make ArmA II look decent (and give me max view distance, or at least 15km or some such)

Primarily I just want to know about GPU, CPU and motherboard, but more suggestions are always welcome

[Johncro]

How much.
500-1000?

[BloodBane611]

Yeah, that's a good range

[boilerrat]

What's your email? I just finished a wish list build for myself on newegg for about $800 (including items to make it a complete set up, which would be totally optional for you).... but assuming you have those items, it would turn out to be about $600

It should be able to play ARMA 2 at a very reasonable quality level.

[boom50cal]

Actually a crazy nice combo here @ newegg. Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

Should play ArmaII really well. My 2 cents, other's can differ

[FuzzySquirrel]

So your only looking for Mobo/Ram/GPU and other things to make those work? (PSU/Case) but you already have the HDD's, and dvd drive?

[BloodBane611]

I'm really just looking for a good GPU/CPU/Mobo combination to put my own computer together from, the rest I can basically figure out, but I've been avoiding learning about CPUs and GPUs for a while now.

[FuzzySquirrel]

Well.

Phenom II X6 1050T $200
Asus 980a SLI Mobo $140
4GB DDR3 1333Mhz $100
Nvidia GTX 470 $300
- - - - - - - - - - - $740
Then you'll probably need a PSU So
Cooler Master GX750 $80
- - - - - - - - - - - $820
Then Case/DVD/HDD
Any Mid ATX Case $60
HDD $50
DVD-RW $25
- - - - - - - - - - - $955

[BloodBane611]

Cheers fuzzy, thanks for the help. We'll see what kind of money I can scrape together

[killonsight95]

for a case i recomend the coolermaster HAF922 really good case, lots of space and comes with 3 fans alreadyly installed, it has lots of room for more DVD/Hard drives also it look cool and its massif!

[Dev1200]

"Recommended" says:

CPU
Recommended: Intel Core 2.8 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or faster

RAM
Recommended: 2 GB

OS
Recommended: Windows XP or Vista

Video Card
Recommended: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT / ATI Radeon HD 4850 with Shader Model 3 and 512 MB VRAM or faster


Make sure you don't skimp on some of your items, you really don't want your computer to "bottleneck", such as the most common error, getting the best graphics card but running a single core CPU @ like 2.2GHz.

ARMA2 mostly uses CPU and GPU, RAM doesn't play that big of role unless it's at 1GB or lower, then you'll bottleneck there. If you spring for a higher CPU and GPU, you'll be safe to skimp on other items.

[SocketMan]

I'm really just looking for a good GPU/CPU/Mobo combination to put my own computer together from, the rest I can basically figure out, but I've been avoiding learning about CPUs and GPUs for a while now.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

The board has an IGP that will run arma 2, until you see a nice deal on the video card.
5850 or 2x5770 (what I use with the above board) are good.Older cards like 4890 and
4850 x2 2gb(if you can find any) are more then adequate for the task.
Crossfire and SLI do work pretty good with A2 (took them around 6 months),but the scaling on the Operation Arrowhead can still be better (and will be with time,hopefully before October )

Avoid GTX 480/470/465,the only NV card worth buying is the GTX 460 1gb (not the 768mb).

[FuzzySquirrel]

SocketMan;1416762']Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

The board has an IGP that will run arma 2, until you see a nice deal on the video card.
5850 or 2x5770 (what I use with the above board) are good.Older cards like 4890 and
4850 x2 2gb(if you can find any) are more then adequate for the task.
Crossfire and SLI do work pretty good with A2 (took them around 6 months),but the scaling on the Operation Arrowhead can still be better (and will be with time,hopefully before October )

Avoid GTX 480/470/465,the only NV card worth buying is the GTX 460 1gb (not the 768mb).

Please tell me why the 470/480 are a waste of money and a 5850/70 isnt. Also the Athlon X4's are ok, but I would splurge on the extra $40 and get the L3 Cache on the Phenom.

[Psyrus]

Just to throw a bit of confusion into the mix, I've read on several reviews that Hz for Hz, the i7 range will yield higher FPS in ARMA2. I'm not sure if 1.05/OA changed this, but it is worth considering.

Old benchmark (Phenom X4 vs i7)
ArmA 2 tested: Benchmarks with 18 CPUs - ArmA 2, CPU, Test, Armed Assault 2 - PC Games Hardware

Newer one (Phenom X6 vs i7)
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T & 1055T (page 9: Crysis, Arma 2) - BeHardware

[FuzzySquirrel]

Just to throw a bit of confusion into the mix, I've read on several reviews that Hz for Hz, the i7 range will yield higher FPS in ARMA2. I'm not sure if 1.05/OA changed this, but it is worth considering.

Old benchmark (Phenom X4 vs i7)
ArmA 2 tested: Benchmarks with 18 CPUs - ArmA 2, CPU, Test, Armed Assault 2 - PC Games Hardware

Newer one (Phenom X6 vs i7)
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T & 1055T (page 9: Crysis, Arma 2) - BeHardware

It might give you a slight increase, but I don't think 5fps is worth another $130

[Tofurkeymeister]

Newegg.com - ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

Newegg.com - XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750



Newegg.com - LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

OR

Newegg.com - LIAN LI Lancool PC-K58 Black CECC Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

And you'll need this:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

[BloodBane611]

How does this look:

(This is the Mobo/CPU combo socketman suggested) - Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard, Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

(2 of these) Newegg.com - Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model KVR1066D3/2GR

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular LED Power Supply

Newegg.com - HEC 7106BB Black 1.0mm Thickness ATX Desktop Computer Case

Total cost = ~$500

I'd probably spring for a new card in about a year

[FuzzySquirrel]

That onboard probably won't cope with ArmA 2 very well, Just because it's got the 90 doesn't mean it's capable. and I would really suggest Phenom over Athlon.

[Psyrus]

That onboard probably won't cope with ArmA 2 very well, Just because it's got the 90 doesn't mean it's capable. and I would really suggest Phenom over Athlon.

+1... especially since you want to put the view distance up.

You want at least some sort of discrete graphics processor. Check out this review
Report: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 (page 11: ArmA 2) - BeHardware

My recommendations would be the obvious GTX460 (for slightly lower cost) or the HD5850 (for slightly higher FPS)

GTX460 recommendation
Gigabyte Factory OC $229.99 including shipping

HD5850 recommendations
HIS $289.99 including shipping

XFX $297.99 including shipping

[BloodBane611]

The main difference between Athlon and Phenom is the L3 cache right? How important is that (i.e. how much will I notice the difference)?

If I will notice the difference, I would spring for this:
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX945WFGMBOX


As far as GPU goes, its going to be my most expensive single part, which means that if I can put off getting it and still have a running computer to use for various stuff I'd be very happy (and my wallet will be even more so)