Project Reality Forums

How much you lookin to spend?

Iceburg wrote:Abuot 600 GPB, Is the computer I linked to no where near the mark?

Well I would do a better power supply and cooling. Also I would think about a SSD and a standard hard drive.
After what I did you are at 813 total.

Few things to consider when going with pre-built setups like that:

-Better GFX card, if you want Nvidia then GTX is the way to go.
-Better BOX: Read, cooling. With new rigs you want maximum ventilation, maximum.
-Better PSU: 80+ certified, plenty of juice to run everything and then some more to make sure for longevity (you dont run your car at max RPM on 2nd or 3rd gear, you get into the 4th)

These *build you system yourself* dropboxes thingy have a trap, they make it look like your paying for what you get, but infact they inflate the prices on each part just a little bit. So you end up paying more even thinking the assembly is free.

Id strongly suggest you to build the system yourself. You will save a considerable amount of money and its really not that complicated. They just love to make it look like that to scare people and score more money out of you.

Also, When building a rig consider 2 important things:

1-Future upgrades, exemple, going for an AM3 instead of counterpart INTEL mobo gives you a chance to later switch CPU without changing the whole rig. AM3 runs phenom x2, x4 and x6 CPUs. Same thing for the new i7 sockets. You can buy a 300$ CPU to then 2-3 years later switch to the ones that now cost 1000$, but will be even less then 300 then.

2-The tasks you want it for. You dont buy a V8 pick up truck if you never move stuff.

Happy shopping Whatever you end up doing, it is a MUST to do intensive reading of reviews, benchmarks and innovations of the market.

Iceburg wrote:Cheers for the replies guys,

Espcailly the very detailed last one by JohnnyTheIED.
I hear what you are saying about it being cheaper to build it yourself, And yes I rekon I could build it phyiscally myself I have after all upgraded my GFX RAM and HDD's before and its all pretty easy.. most things only fit in one hole.

The trouble I would have is sourcing the components, Like you said about the motherboards, future proof is what I want and the only thing I want this computer for is gamming, Nothing else will be on it at all. The problem I face is that when I looked at upgradding my old CPU before the socket was redundant and i could not find anything that would fit.. So if I did find a new mobo and cpu knowing my luck I would choose one that a year down the line wont exsist any more.

Ergh! its a pain in the arse! I just dont have alot of spare time on my hands to do all the re-search. Maybe ill buy a book or a magazine about self builds, there has to be some out there

Thanks again

Save yourself a headhache and go with AM3 boards. Theres a good chance that even for future CPUs its gonna be compatible. And were talking several years.

Intel as a tendency to switch sockets almost every year. My last build (excluding the one im doing right now) was about 5 years ago, Everything is still flawless exept for the MOBO who died on me, was a great board but it got abused and then some.

Now my problem was, trying to find a replacement MOBO for a p4 socket 478 with an AGP video card. LOL, most computer stores were simply laughting at me.

So I decided to give up the search and rebuild one.

Like many im opting for the AM3 platform with the best CPU for budgets, Phenom x4 965. I could go with a Phenom x2 555 and unlock easily the 2 other cores to turn it into a 955, but thats a bet im not willing to take for 50-60$. (often the 2 hidden cores have failures).

The good thing about AM3 is that even tho they might switch to AM4 platform in a few years, Id still be able to get a Phenom x6 1090t for mad cheap later. Thats of course if the AM4 CPUs arent compatible with AM3 motherboards. which is highly unlikely.

Intel is caught in a never ending miniaturization of their production, while AMD went for the simplicity.

For gaming you really dont need much, high Ghz on the CPU, forget about hyperthreading. SSD (solid state drive), good video card, 4-8 gigs of RAM and youre good for several years.

My budget is around 800-900 CAD for a complete rig, its gotta be much less then yours in pounds. And I know Ill end up with something very good for gaming for years to come.

Some more things to consider.
- Buying a mobo/cpu combination which allows you to use DDR2 memory can save quite a bit, especially as a lot of people are moving to i7.
- Core2Quad processors are still cheap, and you might find a system built around one secondhand quite reasonable.
- Consider carefully your heatsink if you are wanting a non-retail one, not all heatsinks will fit on your mobo. Fins from your mobo might stick up, the heatsink be too tall for a midi-tower sized case, might obscure a connector you need, or might make removing your GFX card difficult. Be careful with older DDR2 PCI-E boards and the latest generation of heatsinks.
-Consider -very- carefully your PSU, size of unit, no of connectors -exactly- and how long the cables are. Some PSU's are designed to thread in and around the large new generation of gaming cases for ultra neat and managed use and others are designed to just reach your components "as the crow flies". Also seriously consider a modular PSU with cables you can connect as you need them.
- Consider the length of your GFX card, as some can be 30 yes 30 cm long.

6 PCI-E slots... Don't bother. Unless you are seriously considering buying 2 or three cards NOW and such a possibility is even realistic for you forget it. Buy very expensive mobos if they offer something really unique, like built in or inclusive X-FI or a SAS controller, or you are VERY interested in overclocking.

Consider future memory compatibility, and the chance of you being able to buy exactly the same memory in future make sure your mobo can take all the memory you need now. Seriously consider populating your board now with LOTS of memory rather than spending all the cash on an uber hobbyist overclocking board.

I would recommend buying a CPU / Memory / Motherboard "kit", like these ones.

http://www.scan.co.uk/shops/3XS/bundles ... p=yH5WRg6u

Overclocked bundles are very handy, and you know that they are tolerant to the same, even if you choose to turn the overclock off.

Also hard to go wrong with a nice EVGA or Asus Republic of Gamer Mobo, as the latter have Xfi included.

Iceburg wrote:Next I have changed the CPU from a 6 core to a AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 970 Black edition.

Am i correct in thinking if a game such as ARMA does not support multi core processing then it would run on a single core so a x4 3.50ghx would run better than a x6 2.8ghz?

I currently built a new PC using Intel's i7. I was surprised to see that (also supported by my motherboard) it utilizes Hyper-threading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Playing BF2 and having a G15 display I could watch the performance of each core live. I noted that instead of having one core at 100% (like on my old system) the load was spread across the cores.
Whether this increases my actual performance (compared to turning HTT off) I do not know. But maybe this is a feature you might want to keep in mind when you already know you are shooting for a non-multi-threaded game.

side note: your build is the exact opposite of mine: i went intel, nvidia and gigabyte

A 5850 should run ArmA 2 very solidly. I doubt you'll be disappointed with it

In related news, I recently made a build with an Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3, it's a great mobo. I also put a Phenom II quad core (955) in it, so far it's making me a happy man.

CPU fans are usually switched because of the noise the stock one cause - overheating issues should not arise.

A pack of thermal paste should be shipped with your CPU (at least my Intel had it).

The cables will be in the motherboard's box.

However you might want to consider buying an extra USB3 cable and extra SATA 6GB/s cables. My board (Gigabyte) had only SATA 3GB/s cables although the board is 6GB/s capable (this ofcourse only matters if you are actually connecting USB3 or SATA 6GB/s devices - which I think your HDD is not).

You can check the contents of your boxes by before-hand downloading the manuals and checking the package contents section which every manual should - and most do - have.


A thing I really like on my new build is the SSD. Booting and loading of games is significantly fast. There are a few SSD related threads in this forum already - you might want to have a look on advantages/disadvantages.