I pretty much only game and watch the odd movie on my PC and that's all it really has to do. I will have around $1000 Canadian probably around early November so there is no rush on this. At the very least I'm waiting to see what the in store prices are going to be on the new AMD CPUs but they will likely be a bit out side my budget or needs any way but I'm going to probably go with a AM3+ MB just for the sake of options later on. I'm not set on anything yet though. Basically this has got to play battlefield 3 and SWTOR since SW can almost be played on a tablet at this point we are really looking at BF3. so recommended spec for BF3 are OS: Windows 7 64-bit Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU RAM: 4GB Graphics card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850 Graphics card memory: 1 GB Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version So here is what I have so far and keep in mind I have no loyalty to any part maker or brand so if you can find better for around the same price or even a little more by all means feel free I only have a very cursory understanding for any of this stuff any more including who makes the better products. And if you can fit a Naga mouse in the budget that would be great too :bigeyes: Oh and the 1000 has to include everything including taxes, shipping and the OS + 50 for assembly at the this shop http://www.ncix.com/ . Don't worry too much about exact prices or sale prices right now just want to get a preliminary build and ballpark price to work off of later. To make things easier later please use NCIX.com. The cheaper you can build for the better as long as it can play Battlefield 3 at middle to low-high settings it's fine. Video card http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=56262&vpn=HD687AZNFC&manufacture=XFX MB http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61850 CPU http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53854&vpn=ADX640WFGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1310
This processor is significantly better, and not that much more money: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=47459&vpn=HDZ955FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1310 The 7k series will hopefully be out in November, so maybe hold on for that. But is there a difference between the card you picked out and this one: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62756&vpn=HD687AZHFC&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1310 They look exactly the same spec and feature wise to me and this one is cheaper. Same company too. That MB is fine, but if you can afford it you should really get this one instead: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62403&vpn=GA-990FXA-UD3&manufacture=Gigabyte And you will want a set or two of these: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61213&vpn=F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL&manufacture=G.Skill and power it all with a quality power supply: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=47754&vpn=ST85F-P&manufacture=Silverstone Technology The rest of the stuff doesnt matter too much, but if you can afford it I would recommend a 120GB SSD to put the OS, TOR, and BF3 on. With the pasts you picked out and what is listed above, you should be somewhere around $650 so far. So that is still plenty of budget for things.
If I can fit one in the budget yes if not I'll be using my TV until I can afford one but I'm not all that worried about it right now. Probably an Asus they look like they have a nice performance/price ratio. Thanks for the tips EniGmA1987 I'll probably ask you if you want to change any thing when I get closer to buying it.
The reason for the different motherboard is because of 4 things, first being that the 990FX chipset has an extra feature or two in it over the 990X as well as many more PCI-E lanes. So if you ever go multiple graphics cards then that will help. The second reason is the back I/O panel has eSATA on it, including a powered eSATA6. Good for external HDD connectivity. The 3rd is the different placement of capacitors on the board, the 990x board has a capacitor right next to every mountain hole. Which means a bit more danger of bumping it when your screwdriver or shorting against it with the screw. And lastly, who doesn't love an all black motherboard? However, if you want to do some big overclocking on the processor, you should get this one instead: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61546&vpn=GA-990FXA-UD5&manufacture=Gigabyte It is different because it has an additional two SATA6 ports (for a total of 10) and has a more advanced voltage regulation for the processor that makes it more efficient and able to supply better power for a bigger overclock.
Na I don't overclock I like stuff to last as long as it can. And I was looking at that other CPU you mentioned before I posted this just wasn't sure if it was necessary for what I need. I don't know how AMD does things do they pull their old product off when they put new stuff out? Because if they do pull old product or simply stop producing it there may not be any of these CPU available when I get around to buying any way. Also I'm not stuck on AMD so if you think I'm better off with a I3 or I5 or going with Nvidia add those to the list as well. But as I said I'm just trying to get a ballpark right now and so I can keep an eye on some stuff in case of a good sale when I have some cash saved.
Bad Company 2 worked better with AMD graphics cards, so I was following that assumption and recommending an AMD card for BF3. AMD processors do go EOL shortly after a new design is released, so it is pretty much just what stores have left in stock. An i3 wouldn't be good enough for you on a new gaming computer, i5 would be the minimum. Currently the i5 motherboards are about the same price through NCIX for the average boards from Intel as are the average/good ones for AMD. The only real difference is processor pricing, which Intel is higher. It will probably be about even though when AMD launches their new product since it will be so new and is rumored to be quite the beast. If you overclock properly then the processor will last just as long as it normally would have. You just need to make sure you stay within the proper voltage area and heat limitations, and probably limit yourself to only an extra 500MHz or so of extra speed. AMD processors of this last generation greatly benefited from overclocking the northbridge core, which is the memory controller and also L3 cache controller. Over 100% gains were seen as speed increased. Like for example, if you were stock of 2GHz and raised the speed to 3GHz, that is a 50% increase in speed yet it gave you an 80% increase in L3 and memory performance, which is greater than 100% scaling!
Yes it will still work fine, although you may have to set a timings or two slightly higher. Which you have to set the timings yourself anyway with all performance RAM for whichever platform you go with, so it will be easy enough for you to do.
I'm guessing here but are the FM1 boards deadend tech? As in they won't be doing anything else with it besides what they have out now?
FM1 is new, but it is for low end systems. Mainly designed for mobile stuff like laptops. They use "Llano" processors which are the first fusion processors from AMD. They are a bit lacking in CPU performance but have the best integrated graphics performance of anything yet. That being said, the integrated graphics are still crap if you are trying to do some good gaming on them and you wont be able to turn the settings up to max. With the A8-3850 you will be able to play most games of medium settings, and maybe even quite a few games on high settings. But you wont be able to max out everything in all games and force even higher quality stuff through the graphics control panel. So while you could get it and build a VERY cheap gaming computer, the point of a gaming computer is to have the best graphics while you play, Llano wont be able to give that to you. Socket FM1 will be replaced at the end of next year I think it is for the FM2 socket and the next generation processors. What you want is either a socket AM3+ or a socket 2011 when it is out. Maybe a socket 1155, which is the current Sandy Bridge tech. I will however build out a socket FM1 system so you can see if you like it. Because on the one hand, while you cant quite max out everything, it would let you spend money in other areas like a large SSD and monitor. Also I know you said you dont like overclocking, but the gaming performance will see massive performance increases on an FM1 system by getting really fast RAM and overclocking it even more. GPU performance is bottlenecked by not enough memory bandwidth, on graphics cards this isnt an issue due to 256-bit memory interfaces (desktops have 128-bit) and very fast MHz speeds. CPUs have MUCH slower memory and it is the largest performance limitation of integrated graphics.
Na the reason I am looking at AM3+ MBs is that while right now I have to go cheap but "good enough" on most parts down the line I want to have the option to upgrade to one of the AM3+ processors if I need too. So if FM1 isn't going to get any upgraded processors it's not really what I'm looking for. I'll just have to wait and see what NCIX has left in stock when I got the cash to buy the stuff.
Ok so here is an FM1 build for $1000 if you want it. Normally this would be a lot cheaper but really fast RAM, a nice monitor, and a large SSD really suck up a lot of money... I forgot until I was almost done that you are in Canada, but maybe you can find this stuff at the Newegg Canada site. Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001463 This is a really nice monitor that has higher brightness than most as well as better contrast ratio than most LCD monitors. DVI-D cable for monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119012 Tower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352009 Fractal Design makes some pretty good quality towers that look nice. DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289 Just an average DVD drive. PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151097 Seasonic makes some quality power supplies. And this one is gold rated so it is very efficient, helping you save money on your electric bill. With this computer the max power draw from the wall will probably only be 140w or so MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157259 A pretty decent FM1 board with a modern bios and support for lots of different stuff. This will also allow you to OC the memory if you want. CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103942 Top end Llano processor. Quad core with built in 6550 graphics. here is a short of its graphics performance, the red score lower down is with DDR-1333 RAM, the top red score is with DDR-1866 RAM, so you can see the scaling you would get if you through on some DDR-2133 RAM instead The Intel HD2000 graphcis are what comes with Sandy Bridge processors... lol RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468 Fast RAM of high density. SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147125 A quality SSD that will last a long time and has good speed. You cant install tons of games on it, but you can fit a few on here and then delete an old one you dont play anymore to make room for a new one. Total price should come out to be right around $1000 after all taxes and shipping. To anyone who wants to buy one for a cheap kinda low end gaming machine, you can save about $350 by using a regular hard drive and not buying a monitor. This computer would be VERY quiet, probably couldnt even tell it was on. It would also produce very little heat, and doesnt use much power so it would save on the electric bill. While heavy gaming it uses about as much power as having 2 light bulbs on. While idle, less power than a single light bulb.
I was thinking more along the lines of using it for just the processor and still sticking a 6870 in it. Or at the very least using the highest card they let you do the crossfire thing with don't know what the comparable graphic ability is to other higher end cards though running by them selves on the FM1 platform. Also don't know if bottlenecking will become a concern which is why I like the AM3+ because if I buy a new card down the road that starts bottlenecking I can get an AM3+ processor to fix it without having to replace half the comp all at once. But availability of phenom II x4 CPUs is going to start becoming a concern by the time I buy this thing and I may not be able to fit the new FX CPUs in the budget which is why I asked about the FM1 stuff.
The Llano processors are not as powerful as the current Phenom II x4's anyway. I agree with Blackice, the first stuff we were talking about is much better
I agree the first set up is my first choice just wanted to talk about other options in case of lack of availability. Have they announced any official pricing on the new FX CPUs yet I thought I seen something awhile ago about a $200 low end one which I might be able to squeeze in the budget any way.
Just read most of this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-a8-3850-llano,2975.html After reading that I don't think I would go with FM1 no matter what. Doesn't seem like it would even come close to what I need it to do.
Ok here is what I got right now I had to drop to lower priced parts on some of it to fit in my budget I'm going with the base prices not the sale prices but if there happens to be some sales when I buy I may kick a part or two up or slip an SSD in it. MB http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62519 CPU http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=47459&promoid=1307 VC place holder TBD at time of purchase http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62756&promoid=1307 RAM http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57953&promoid=1307 PSU http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35456 HD http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=50895&promoid=1307 Case http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=55583&promoid=1307 Windows http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1307 DD http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60731 Assembly/ Store warranty http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=7842 They do an up to %20 markdown price match as well so may still be able to kick a few of the parts up even with out sales. Shipping is about $30 and tax is %14.
uhh... That made me want to weep a little bit Looks decent enough. Good motherboard, but some suggestions: Add in another $100 for the CPU which will hopefully be able to get you a new Bulldozer processor Get a reputable brand power supply, not the OCZ crap. Silverstone, SeaSonic, Antec, Corsair. Your going to want some DDR-1866 memory, as that is the spec Bulldozer uses. http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58519&vpn=F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL&manufacture=G.Skill http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53717&vpn=CMPSU-750AX&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1307 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=47755&vpn=ST75F-P&manufacture=Silverstone Technology