Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, JustAnEngineer

 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 10:09 pm

Hello Everyone.
-------------------
Last edited by IngeniousMethod on Sat Jun 22, 2013 7:05 am, edited 19 times in total.
 
Skullzer
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:45 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 10:22 pm

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Hello Everyone.


Welcome to TR!

The members here helped me build a system last year, it was my first build too. the system guide and the "how to build a PC" guide were awesome!

What's your budget?

Everything looks pretty good but 16gb of ram might be overkill. I play the same games as you and 8gb has served me well. The PSU looks like overkill too, something between 550-700 would probably be plenty of power. I think newegg has a power supply calculater, sorry i dont have a link. Also, from my experience a modular PSU is great, keeps the cable management nice and clean.

*** I noticed after that you mentioned SLI, from what I understand at 1080p SLI should not be necessary.
Office PC:
AMD Phenom II x4 955 | ASUS M4A87TD Evo | 8GB ddr3 | EVGA GTX 970 4GB | Antec BP 550 | Antec 300 | Win 7 64
HTPC:
Intel i5-4570 | ASRock H87M | 8GB ddr3 | EVGA GTX 960 2GB | Corsair CX430M | Fractal Design Node 605 | Win 7 64
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 10:49 pm

Thanks for your input!

I thought the PSU was a bit much as well. As for your observation about the RAM and SLI, the person who would be helping me with the build voiced your same opinion on 16gb being a bit unnecessary. I just thought it couldn't hurt as it was not too much in cost. The possible SLI setup came from the idea of getting a monitor that supports higher resolutions in the future. Instead of getting a more expensive card now I could just upgrade to a dual card config, I read somewhere the GTX 660 Ti's run well in an SLI setup.

I really appreciate your advice! Hopefully come next year I can offer someone new to PC building some helpful advice as well.
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 11:03 pm

Your build looks great- you look like you've done your research (or successfully used someone else's!) and filled it out well.

As Skullzer mentioned above, 850w is definitely overkill- I couldn't get my system (below) to use more than 550w measured at the wall, which would be about 500w in PSU watts, with a pair of thirstier HD6950 2GB cards instead of the GTX670 2GB cards I have now. A good 650w unit is reasonable, though there's not much of a price nor efficiency difference from going above that; it won't really help nor hurt.\

Now, if you want max settings at 1080p, you're choice of a pair of GTX660 Ti cards certainly isn't a bad one- but get cards with the stock blowers instead of the third-party designs. Things can get screwy (and worse over time) when you use the ones that don't exhaust all of the heat out of the enclosure. Also, you'll be setting yourself up to use a 120Hz screen or a higher resolution (27" or 30" at 1440p or 1600p) monitor if you like.

The H80i (or H80) is one of the quietest integrated water-coolers when set to Low, which is still more cooling than you'll need for a decent overclock on you CPU. I'd have bought an H80 instead of the slightly cheaper H60 for that reason, in retrospect, just for quieter operation and that the H80 is less reliant on the rest of your enclosures intake fans. Good choice there.

Only further advice I could give is for you to buy just one GPU to start with, and plan on the possibility of a second. None of the games you listed will make good use of two GTX660 Ti cards unless you're running a 120Hz monitor and trying to get 120FPS.

Last, let me introduce you to Bensam123, who does a measure of online streaming.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 11:18 pm

Airmantharp wrote:
Your build looks great- you look like you've done your research (or successfully used someone else's!) and filled it out well.


lol, as I previously stated I basically have been religiously checking the System Guide for the past few iterations and done a bit of research on newegg, reading/watching overviews. My cousin the computer expert has been going on and on about AMD and how that's what he tries to use in his builds. As soon as I mentioned the parts I was considering going with he offered AMD alternatives. Is there some sort of AMD cult?
 
kumori
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 298
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:11 am

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 11:22 pm

Airmantharp wrote:
Only further advice I could give is for you to buy just one GPU to start with, and plan on the possibility of a second. None of the games you listed will make good use of two GTX660 Ti cards unless you're running a 120Hz monitor and trying to get 120FPS.


I really recommend only using one graphics card especially if its a midrange card like the 660ti. The headaches of crossfire/SLI are worth it when you could just get a faster single graphics card at the outset. The only place for Crossfire/SLI is when there is no single card solution that provides that much power.

Aside from that I think the rest of your build looks great. The only thing to consider is that Haswell will be launching in June. It might be worth it to wait if you don't plan on upgrading for a while.

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Is there some sort of AMD cult?


Some people prefer AMD parts, like some people prefer Apple products.

The system guide recommends Intel because Intel currently offers the highest performance for high end gaming.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Wed May 01, 2013 11:51 pm

kumori wrote:
Aside from that I think the rest of your build looks great. The only thing to consider is that Haswell will be launching in June. It might be worth it to wait if you don't plan on upgrading for a while.


I wasn't familiar with Haswell, I've seen it mentioned on various sites and these very forums but never knew what it was exactly. Thank you for bringing this to light. I did a quick search and read up on it. Definitely something I'm going to wait for, the actual build wouldn't have taken place for another month or so anyway. I'm going to take this new information into consideration as I was hoping this build would last me for some time. Periodic upgrades aren't out of the question but I wanted something that wouldn't need a major facelift anytime soon. Appreciate it.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 12:12 am

Skullzer wrote:
What's your budget?


Missed this earlier, just wanted to address it seeing as how this detail seems fairly commonplace on here.

I'm looking at a somewhat flexible $2,000 budget. I'm not fond of going over this amount but I'm open to adding maybe $300 more depending on what possibilities present themselves. I really want a system that isn't going to require a real overhaul in the coming years.

That being said I'm really grateful for the feedback I've gotten so far, reinforcing my confidence in the strength of this build. Means a lot to someone like myself who a few months ago had no idea what any of this meant.
 
kumori
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 298
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:11 am

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 1:35 am

If you have a $2000 budget then I'd put more of it toward your GPU. When it comes to gaming, its the GPU that matters the most. You could easily afford a GTX 680 or a AMD 7970.

My first computer I built I made this mistake because it seemed like I shouldn't spend so much money in one place.
 
Arclight
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 768
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:50 am

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 2:27 am

Tl;dr

TR made a video guide for DIY, you can find it here

Imo it's a bad time to upgrade since Haswell will be launching soon and also nvidia is rumored to launch some refreshed cards at the mid end and high end. If you compromise a bit you could actually be able to afford a GTX 760 Ti or GTX 770. Or if you compromise completely by buying half the RAM, no audio card and a lower wattage PSU you might even be able to get a GTX 780. It will all depend on their performance/price though, i'm just assuming they will be better than the current offerings. If they're not, i'm certain the old ones will still be on stock.

Also if you wait and buy Haswell, mind the new power requirements. You can read more about it here
nVidia video drivers FAIL, click for more info
Disclaimer: All answers and suggestions are provided by an enthusiastic amateur and are therefore without warranty either explicit or implicit. Basically you use my suggestions at your own risk.
 
NeelyCam
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:25 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 2:49 am

kumori wrote:
If you have a $2000 budget then I'd put more of it toward your GPU. When it comes to gaming, its the GPU that matters the most. You could easily afford a GTX 680 or a AMD 7970.


Seconded. Don't go with SLI/Crossfire - go with a single&better graphics card. IMO, your build has everything well figured out. You mention that your monitor is already sorted out... I hope you're happy with it. Since you're obviously building a high-def system, you might want to consider a BluRay drive/burner (unless you already have something else as a source).

Other than that, as it was mentioned before, Haswell (Intel's upgrade to 'Ivy Bridge') is coming out shortly. For your purposes it won't bring much to the table... maybe overclocking, or slightly lower power (=quieter cooling). But that might also bring about some discounts on both AMD and Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs - savings you could channel into a better GPU. So, I'd look at the prices of non-Haswell (below 4000-series Intel CPUs, or anything AMD) and see if there are deals available.

One last item I noticed was the 3TB 7200rpm HDD. What are you planning to use it for? I suspect you'd use your SSD for OS, games and such (anything that benefits from fast response), and HDD for media storage etc? Even the slowest modern-day high-capacity HDDs are pretty fast these days (cramming a lot of stuff into a small area conveniently speeds up the data transfer at a fixed RPM...). You could be perfectly fine with cheapo 1.5-2GB WD Greens that tend to be cheaper (so you could, again, channel more savings into a faster GPU). Also, they tend to be quieter (something I personally prefer)

I don't know what kind of a system you're coming from, but this one looks great! Good luck for your First Build!!
Last edited by NeelyCam on Thu May 02, 2013 3:08 am, edited 2 times in total.
 
NeelyCam
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:25 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 2:57 am

Also if you wait and buy Haswell, mind the new power requirements. You can read more about it here


About those power requirements: don't worry about them too much. Haswell was designed to be a super-low-power CPU, so there are some super-low-power standby modes included (mostly for laptops and such) that require some specific PSU support - that's what the articles are about. You'd be using it for a desktop, so you don't really need those power saving modes; you can pick pretty much any power supply you want, and just disable these low-power idle modes in the bios (if they haven't been disabled by default already)
 
Chrispy_
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4670
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Europe, most frequently London.

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 5:42 am

Hi and welcome to TR!

I don't have much new to add, here's my take:

Stick with 16GB of RAM unless your budget is tight; If you're doing video editing, more RAM is good, though the real reason is that if you ever want 32GB of RAM a few years down the line, you won't have to throw away the 4GB modules you'd have bought if you'd chosen 8GB (2x 4GB)

I'd stick with a single graphics card if I were you; Every site using the FCAT/FRAPS analysis of GPU performance like TR does in their reviews concludes the same thing: SLI and Crossfire both have stuttering issues, even at the best of times. Add the extra power-supply/case/cooling/noise/running costs into the mix and a single more powerful GPU is the better option.

I would also suggest you don't need to buy an 840Pro - It's probably too small to dump raw frame data to (an hour of 1080p60 is 900GB). If you're not dumping frame data to it, the extra write speed of the Pro is largely wasted on a consumer desktop workload. Save your money or get a larger capacity non-pro :)

PSU is overkill as even you yourself suggested. A 650W should give you headroom even for SLI and will operate closer to it's most-efficient 50% under load. An 80+ unit from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic - it really doesn't matter that much.

I have gone back to air cooling after trying the older H100. It gave me an extra 100MHz on my 2500K but the extra hassle and noise wasn't worth it. Neither the pump nor the radiator fans are as quiet as a good air cooler and unless you are thrashing your 3570K to an inch of its life with extra voltage, you really won't be needing anything more than a cheap, lightweight tower cooling. If you just prefer the look of it, then don't let me stop you but it'll add weight, cost and setup complexity to your build with little to no benefit outside of extreme overclocks.
Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.
 
Bensam123
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 990
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 12:19 pm
Contact:

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 6:39 am

If you're going to stream, you don't need a capture card. You would need a capture card for a second PC. Essentially you make a 'capture PC', that captures the video signal and then encodes it and sends it off to Twitch or wherever you're streaming to. There are some capture cards that offload the workload on a primary PC, but they're largely limited to streaming with Xsplit and Xsplit sucks when you can use OBS. So the only time you'll need a capture card is if you're really building a capture PC, otherwise you can use your normal PC for it.

However, streaming can put a pretty significant load on your PC. Depending on your specs, settings you choose in game, and what you plan to stream at would determine how much of a load would be put on your processor.

A good question is, how much do you want to stream? Is this something you plan on doing full time or is this something you want to do as a curiosity? I do it in my spare time pretty regularly (when I'm available) and it's a pain if you don't have the right equipment for it.

I actually originally bought a 3570k and then switched to a FX 8350 because I thought (and it seems quite rightly) that it performs better in a streaming setting as the 8350 is really quite good at multithreaded workloads. Streaming itself is very multithreaded. I've asked a few times for TR to take a look at performance while streaming, but they haven't done it yet. I don't know of any legitimate websites that do it either, otherwise I would direct you there.

If you're planning on streaming occasionally I would suggest the 3570k or whatever Intel variant people have suggested in this thread. If you have a $2000 budget I would definitely suggest getting a hex core Intel. Streaming isn't very dependent at all on your video card, it is however, very dependent on your processor.

If you plan on streaming really hardcore a capture PC may be the way to go, but I never went that way as streaming from your primary PC is quite a bit more flexible. Really any sort of suggestions I would make would depend a lot on how much you plan on streaming and what you're looking for in it. You have a pretty sizeable budget, so that could probably be expanded to include a hex core or a capture PC. Also as others noted, new CPUs and video cards will be out later this year/summer. This is definitely a bad time to upgrade.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 9:53 am

kumori wrote:
You could easily afford a GTX 680 or a AMD 7970.


The GTX680 was my first choice but I wanted to try and cut back a little. However, after seeing everyone's input here I'm considering going that route. Have to see how everything balances out. I was under the impression that having a significantly more expensive GPU than my CPU was a bad idea.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 10:19 am

NeelyCam wrote:
You mention that your monitor is already sorted out... I hope you're happy with it. Since you're obviously building a high-def system, you might want to consider a BluRay drive/burner.


--The monitor is a BenQ XL2420T 24" that a friend suggested. It's gotten great reviews so his recommendation seems validated.
-- It's an Asus Blu-ray drive, don't think I really need a Blue-ray burner.
--You hit the SSD/HDD plan on the nose.
--As you've stated, seeing as how there doesn't seem to be anything completely wrong with this build I probably won't purchase a Haswell chip itself but wait to see if any good deals come out of it.
--My previous system is ancient in comparison, it's a 6+ year old dell that was given to me as a gift (has just over a gig of ram), I barely use it anymore. My main computer is my HP laptop which isn't great but certainly does the job. Either way this system will be a huge upgrade for me.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 10:32 am

Bensam123 wrote:
A good question is, how much do you want to stream? Is this something you plan on doing full time or is this something you want to do as a curiosity? I do it in my spare time pretty regularly (when I'm available) and it's a pain if you don't have the right equipment for it.



Thank you for your feedback! I was referred to you by a previous poster and checked out your stream. At the time you seemed annoyed at your team so I thought "I'll just come back later". My interest in streaming is merely out of curiosity. Could possibly become a hobby if I enjoyed it but I'm definitely not looking to get too serious. I'm content with capturing gameplay of my friends and I and uploading it to YouTube for a good laugh later. I'll surely take your advice into consideration!
 
Voldenuit
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2888
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:10 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 10:33 am

IngeniousMethod wrote:
kumori wrote:
I was under the impression that having a significantly more expensive GPU than my CPU was a bad idea.


It's actually the other way around. If you're gaming, having a more expensive CPU than your GPU is a waste of money. The vast majority of games are GPU bound instead of CPU bound.
Wind, Sand and Stars.
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 10:51 am

Voldenuit wrote:
IngeniousMethod wrote:
kumori wrote:
I was under the impression that having a significantly more expensive GPU than my CPU was a bad idea.


It's actually the other way around. If you're gaming, having a more expensive CPU than your GPU is a waste of money. The vast majority of games are GPU bound instead of CPU bound.


I'd say that spending significantly more on one or the other is a bad idea, only because the sweetspot for 1080p happens to fall around a $200 CPU (i5-3750k) and a $200 GPU (assorted GTX660's and HD7870's) today.

The reality, though, is different: how much you spend on each should be dictated on the performance you expect from the games you expect to play at the settings you intend to play them at, and that can vary each part by quite a bit in relation to the other.

For a comparison, I spent four times as much on my graphics cards than I did on my CPU- but I'm also playing higher-end games at higher settings and at a higher resolution, like Battlefield 3 Multiplayer at 2560x1600.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 11:04 am

Airmantharp wrote:
The reality, though, is different: how much you spend on each should be dictated on the performance you expect from the games you expect to play at the settings you intend to play them at, and that can vary each part by quite a bit in relation to the other.


At the very least 1080p with stuff like BF3, Skyrim, Bioshock:Infinite on max settings. I'm not looking for a super Crysis max rig. At the same time though I don't want to close the door on possibly gaming at higher resolutions later. An upgrade may be needed somewhere down the line but for now I'm happy with 1080p max. Thank you for your insight.
 
DPete27
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3776
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 1:47 pm

IngeniousMethod wrote:
I'm not looking for a super Crysis max rig

If you're playing Crysis 2 a GTX 660Ti will give you "Ultra" settings at 1080p. I would venture a guess that you could just about max out Crysis 3 also.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 2:06 pm

DPete27 wrote:
IngeniousMethod wrote:
I'm not looking for a super Crysis max rig

If you're playing Crysis 2 a GTX 660Ti will give you "Ultra" settings at 1080p. I would venture a guess that you could just about max out Crysis 3 also.


Well that's a pleasant surprise! I wasn't savvy enough to realize this on my own so thank you! Everyone I know with a good PC makes Crysis sound like the pinnacle of PC gaming and that it requires some powerful hardware. Maybe I still don't understand the value/horsepower of the components I've chosen or they're just exaggerating. The way it's turning out I might end up with the best PC out of everyone I know. Kind of feel guilty, I probably have the least amount of knowledge on the matter but have the best setup.

Thanks for the advice. :D
 
DPete27
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3776
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 2:47 pm

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Everyone I know with a good PC makes Crysis sound like the pinnacle of PC gaming and that it requires some powerful hardware

It is, but you have to take resolution into consideration. Someone that's using a 27" 2560x1440 monitor is going to need more GPU to crank out the same framerates as someone using a 1080p or 1600x900 monitor.

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Kind of feel guilty, I probably have the least amount of knowledge on the matter but have the best setup

That's not always something to brag about. If you're buying hardware that's overpowered for your usage, you may have the best setup, but some might argue that you've wasted your money. Browse around TR reading reviews and articles. Pay attention to game settings, framerates, and the famous TR value scatter plots. That said, for 1080p gaming, a GTX 660Ti is admittedly at the top end of realistic (I wouldn't go any higher), but you're getting some extra headroom for future games that will undoubtedly become more demaning when the PS4 and Xbox Next come out.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
superjawes
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2475
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 9:49 am

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 3:17 pm

Regarding where to spend your cash...your GPU will probably have the biggest impact on your gaming performances in a broad sense, but you can change GPUs very easily. Changing CPUs could require a new motherboard depending on socket compatibility.

Set yourself up with some headroom on your CPU, and if you end up wanting a higher resolution monitor later, you can get a better GPU on the same purchase. The benefit here is that GPU hardware gets refreshed about annually, so you will not only be able to step up the class of your card (like going from x60 Ti to x70 or x80), but all the new cards should be faster to their predecessors.
On second thought, let's not go to TechReport. It's infested by crypto bull****.
 
Khali
Gerbil XP
Posts: 405
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:31 pm

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 3:18 pm

Your parts list looks solid to me. Pretty close to what I ended up with a few months back. Don't let any one give you a hard time about having more memory than they think you need. I ended up with 32GB and do not regret it. The GTX 680 is a solid GPU for the price. To get much better you will need to spend a lot more money. I like my Corsair 600T white case and the 650D is another I was considering at the time.

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Is there some sort of AMD cult?


You could call it that. Its like Ford versus Chevy. There are people in each camp that won't even consider owning the others products no mater what the facts have to say on one which is better at any given time. I think most people just look to buy the best bang for the buck and don't care which of the two happened to produce the item as long as it does the job.
 
auxy
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1300
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:25 pm
Location: the armpit of Texas

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 4:58 pm

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Everyone I know with a good PC makes Crysis sound like the pinnacle of PC gaming and that it requires some powerful hardware.
Crysis 3 requires some powerful hardware, but with the earlier games... I mean, you're talking about a console game from more than two years ago (Crysis 2 came out in early 2011); it's just not that demanding, even with the DX11 and texture packs. (I strongly recommend you disable tessellation, by the way; it's not used well and very pointless in that game.)

Crysis 1, which came out in 2007, can actually be much MORE demanding, although it's still a trivial task for any modern gaming PC. Mostly this is the result of the extremely large maps used in the game, and some poor optimization.
IngeniousMethod wrote:
Maybe I still don't understand the value/horsepower of the components I've chosen or they're just exaggerating. The way it's turning out I might end up with the best PC out of everyone I know. Kind of feel guilty, I probably have the least amount of knowledge on the matter but have the best setup.
You probably don't understand how much more powerful top-end hardware is than the games we are playing. Most games -- even PC exclusives -- are still designed within the mindset of a console game for the consoles released in 2005. When you're talking about hardware of that vintage, well, Moore's Law alone says that anything now is going to find it a cakewalk.

This is my current build; it's slightly different from my sig because I swapped out two of the SSDs for a RAID0 HDD setup for recording with FRAPS. I also have the best PC of anyone I know, but I don't feel guilty -- I worked hard for the money for my components. Well, all but one.

Okay, I feel a little guilty. \(///Σ///)\
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 7:29 pm

Chrispy_ wrote:
I would also suggest you don't need to buy an 840Pro - It's probably too small to dump raw frame data to (an hour of 1080p60 is 900GB). If you're not dumping frame data to it, the extra write speed of the Pro is largely wasted on a consumer desktop workload. Save your money or get a larger capacity non-pro :)


Any specific model you recommend?
 
Bensam123
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 990
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 12:19 pm
Contact:

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Thu May 02, 2013 11:59 pm

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Bensam123 wrote:
A good question is, how much do you want to stream? Is this something you plan on doing full time or is this something you want to do as a curiosity? I do it in my spare time pretty regularly (when I'm available) and it's a pain if you don't have the right equipment for it.



Thank you for your feedback! I was referred to you by a previous poster and checked out your stream. At the time you seemed annoyed at your team so I thought "I'll just come back later". My interest in streaming is merely out of curiosity. Could possibly become a hobby if I enjoyed it but I'm definitely not looking to get too serious. I'm content with capturing gameplay of my friends and I and uploading it to YouTube for a good laugh later. I'll surely take your advice into consideration!


lol! That's normal when playing LoL. LoL is very rage inducing. I usually start up conversation with peeps if people talk in chat though. Most of the time people just watch and no one really talks (which is actually quite boring). Talking makes things quite a bit more fun. None of my regulars were on last night either.

I'd still consider a hexcore with a $2000 budget, you could definitely afford one and it would be more meaningful then dropping a grand on a sli setup or a Titan. A hex core CPU will set you back $550.To capture gameplay from your computer you would use something like OBS which allows you to either stream to Twitch or record locally, depending on what you want to do.

OBS encodes on the fly so you don't need to dump raw capture data to a drive (if you're recording locally). It's no different then encoding a video.

http://obsproject.com/

That's pretty much the default streaming software people use now. There is also Xsplit, which is pay, but OBS largely made that obsolete except for a couple features.


...you're talking about capturing gameplay of your friends. You aren't talking specifically about like capturing gameplay from a Xbox or a console? That you would need a capture card for...
 
Chrispy_
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4670
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Europe, most frequently London.

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Fri May 03, 2013 4:19 am

IngeniousMethod wrote:
Chrispy_ wrote:
I would also suggest you don't need to buy an 840Pro - It's probably too small to dump raw frame data to (an hour of 1080p60 is 900GB). If you're not dumping frame data to it, the extra write speed of the Pro is largely wasted on a consumer desktop workload. Save your money or get a larger capacity non-pro :)


Any specific model you recommend?


The Samsung 840 - just the normal 840 and not the 840 Pro. The Pro is about 50% more expensive and for almost all consumer workloads there really isn't much difference between them.

If you do plan on dumping raw frames to the SSD, then the 840 Pro makes sense, but this requires TONS of space, which you wont have - and most capture cards will encode to H.264 on the fly, so you'd be unlikely to ever want raw frames.
Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.
 
IngeniousMethod
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Miramar, FL

Re: First Time Builder-Requesting Assistance

Fri May 03, 2013 12:44 pm

Bensam123 wrote:
...you're talking about capturing gameplay of your friends. You aren't talking specifically about like capturing gameplay from a Xbox or a console? That you would need a capture card for...


Well I'm planning on doing both. I'm aware I need a capture card for the consoles though. I already have one but it's not very reliable and I don't recommend it to anyone, it's an AverMedia Game Capture HD.

I'm looking at alternative devices to handle the console side of things, both recording and streaming. Your advice regarding the hex core setup is very insightful, I appreciate it. It's something I'm definitely going to consider. Everyone on this forum has been very helpful, offering cheaper alternatives and recommending upgrades when possible. I appreciate it all, thank you.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On