Hello.
So I'm looking up parts to build a gaming PC. I won't be needing the best of best components. I am mostly trying to get a descent setup where I can play games on 1080. I wont be playing cutting edge games on ultra. More like Serious Sam 3, Skyrim, Need for Speed etc.
My current selection is:
CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 quad core (2.7/3.3GHz, 6MB Cache, 350MHz-950MHz )
MOTHERBOARD: MSI H110M PRO-D
RAM: 8GB kit (2x4GB) Kingston or Corsair
POWER SUPPLY: Corsair VS Series™ VS650, ActivePFC,
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2 GB GDDR5
I'm kinda lost when it comes to graphics card. The one listed is suggested by a friend.
So if anyone could help me out here, i would be most appreciated. Tips as in is this setup good, what could be changed etc...
Thanks!
if money isn't an issue, you should probably swap the GPU to a GTX 1060 or 960. Either one works for the games you wish to play , Ultra and 60FPS. And to handle older/newer titles of this generation at moderate quality.
Those are tempting, however the price kind of puts me off. Another graphics cards I've been wondering about are the Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti and AMD Radeon R9 270X.
Any opinions on those?
The GPU should always be the one you put your budget into. Within reason. Focus on the card first and then build the PC around it.
What is your budget?
Depending on that I can suggest something.
(08-23-2016, 09:05 PM)DragonRider Wrote: [ -> ]Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti
I got one of those. So far I only had a problem with it once - some new drivers that NVIDIA released were rather buggy and caused my card to trigger restarts for the PC, but ever since I reverted to my older drivers things have been fine.
I was thinking about this subject myself over the past couple of months and I found a book called Build Your Own Gaming PC by Russell Barnes and Adam Barnes. It's published in the past year so it is very up to date and thoroughly explains the pros and cons of various components. If I remember correctly, they recommend the Nvidia cards over AMD. The book also discusses test results of comparable motherboards, RAM, and video cards, so it looks like a handy resource for planning purchases. I'm sure the prices listed in the book are out of date, but they're probably still relatively accurate when comparing one card with another. I got the book at my library, so I suggest seeing if there is something at your library that can give you some tips. My guess is that you can build a pretty robust system for under $1000, though it won't be top of the line. It should be able to handle most games though. One thing the book warned about was using off brand look a likes. They might save some money but they also have far less quality control in manufacturing (which is why they are cheaper) and may be more likely to fail and have to be replaced. That may not be as big a deal for RAM, which is pretty cheap already, but I'd stay with a major name brand for the graphics card and mother board.
(08-24-2016, 03:49 AM)Xoria Wrote: [ -> ]I was thinking about this subject myself over the past couple of months and I found a book called Build Your Own Gaming PC by Russell Barnes and Adam Barnes. It's published in the past year so it is very up to date and thoroughly explains the pros and cons of various components. If I remember correctly, they recommend the Nvidia cards over AMD. The book also discusses test results of comparable motherboards, RAM, and video cards, so it looks like a handy resource for planning purchases. I'm sure the prices listed in the book are out of date, but they're probably still relatively accurate when comparing one card with another. I got the book at my library, so I suggest seeing if there is something at your library that can give you some tips. My guess is that you can build a pretty robust system for under $1000, though it won't be top of the line. It should be able to handle most games though. One thing the book warned about was using off brand look a likes. They might save some money but they also have far less quality control in manufacturing (which is why they are cheaper) and may be more likely to fail and have to be replaced. That may not be as big a deal for RAM, which is pretty cheap already, but I'd stay with a major name brand for the graphics card and mother board.
Actually the most important part of the system to shoot for quality on is the PSU. If a card or a board goes, it can be replaced. If a PSU goes, its liable to fry your entire rig. Never skimp on your PSU, go for a good, solid brand name. I've got a 750 watt Raidmax PSU and I swear by it, it has never failed me once through numerous power surges, but any of the big names should do.
Boards - Gigabyte trumps all, but ASUS isn't bad either.
Cards - A lot of card manufactures are good, but EVGA for nvidia cards and XFX for Radeon cards is the cream of the crop.
RAM - Honestly don't worry about it.
CPU - Not getting into that dickwaving fest.
(08-23-2016, 08:45 PM)DragonRider Wrote: [ -> ]Hello.
So I'm looking up parts to build a gaming PC. I won't be needing the best of best components. I am mostly trying to get a descent setup where I can play games on 1080. I wont be playing cutting edge games on ultra. More like Serious Sam 3, Skyrim, Need for Speed etc.
My current selection is:
CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 quad core (2.7/3.3GHz, 6MB Cache, 350MHz-950MHz )
MOTHERBOARD: MSI H110M PRO-D
RAM: 8GB kit (2x4GB) Kingston or Corsair
POWER SUPPLY: Corsair VS Series™ VS650, ActivePFC,
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2 GB GDDR5
I'm kinda lost when it comes to graphics card. The one listed is suggested by a friend.
So if anyone could help me out here, i would be most appreciated. Tips as in is this setup good, what could be changed etc...
Thanks!
That looks good to me. I have a very similar setup, except that my i5 is a first generation "Lynnfield" model, but it's still going strong.
(08-23-2016, 09:05 PM)DragonRider Wrote: [ -> ]Those are tempting, however the price kind of puts me off. Another graphics cards I've been wondering about are the Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti and AMD Radeon R9 270X.
Any opinions on those?
Ah, video cards. Different people have different likes/dislikes. The old nVidia vs AMD battle is getting to the point where it's similar to the Apple vs PC thing.
The latest PC Powerplay basically says that nVidia has one end of the market locked up, while AMD has the other end, AMD's end being being the 'budget power' thing.
As for the Radeon you are talking about, I actually have the R9 380 series, it isn't top of the line, but it is up there meaning it's not too cheap, but totally worth the money.
In the relatively short time I've had it, it hasn't missed a beat or messed up FL's graphics at all and seems to quite happy to run the various games (older games) that I have with all of the bells and whistles going.
The DDR5 memory on the video card is the thing to look for, my old video card had that, only 1GB of it and it was awesome.
I am currently running a FX-8350 with a GTX960 2GB version and I can tell you that that 2GB VRAM on the GPU already tends to bottleneck me on titles like GTAV. It seems that in 2016 titles, 2gigs are the absolute minimum. If you want a mid-range card, I suggest you shoot for a GTX 950 2GB for a 150$ range or the new XFX RX 480 / GTX 1060 for the ~200$ range. Otherwise pairing up a 6400 i5 with a (these days) low-end 750 seems like a bit of a waste.
But in the end setting up your own rig is the fun of it. I suggest you see what price-performance level you can grab yourself these days.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_value.html (Take all of this with a grain of salt - the list is formulated by running the test via artificial benchmarks and all games will have different results in terms of FPS vs Price.)
And as Dur already pointed out, do NOT skimp out on the PSU. You should not need more than a 500W for an Intel build, but make sure it is certified, preferably a 80W Platinum.
Oh, another thing. Do not be afraid to buy stuff used. Right now with the release of new cards and CPUs, you can grab the last two generations for half the price.