New computer, suggestions? - Modern Warfare 2 Forum: Free Call of Duty MW2 Community

kll131 · 06-06-2010, 10:34 AM

This is what i am currently looking at:
INTEL CORE I7 930 2.8GHZ 8MB S-1366
motherboard: ASUS P6T SE X58 S-1366 ATX
Ram: CORSAIR 6GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I7 9XX PC12800 1600MHZ CL9 (3X2GB)
Harddrive: WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 750GB 7200RPM SATA/300 32MB
Graphics: ASUS GEFORCE GTX 275 896MB DDR3 PCI-E DVI

Hope i got all of this correctly, ordering from a swedish site so i hope all of it is available for you guys looking.
I have not yet decided on the tower: ANTEC MIDITOWER THREE HUNDRED ATX BLACK , It seems as if it is a very good case, but makes alot of noise =/
I also might upgrade the motherboard, so that it fits 2 nvidia graphic cards if i want that in the future.

This is the first time i build my own computer, so i pretty much have no idea what i'm doing.

EDIT: I run windows 7 ultimate, power supply CORSAIR TX 650W NÄTDEL ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V is what im thinking of. Image is fail, but it is basicly the shopping cart

Schosch · 06-06-2010, 11:35 AM

Good choice of graphics card and harddrive, I have almost the same ones (Leadtek GTX 275, 2x WD Caviar Blue 640GB).

By choosing a 1333 MHz RAM instead of 1600 MHz you can save a lot of money and there is almost no performance reduction. (You can still overclock it to 1600 MHz later like me if you want to.)

If the case is too loud you can still equip it with more silent fans afterwards. I have the Cooler Master CM 690 and it doesn't get on my nerves (or ears).

By the time you want to buy a second graphics card it is usually better to just buy a new one.

Could you post the prices for all those items in Euros? (I can't really see anything in your screenshot

)

kll131 · 06-06-2010, 11:48 AM

I think 11000kr = 1100 euro.

oneinchwunda · 06-06-2010, 01:16 PM

Antec 300 case is perfect. abc can tell you why. Although maybe a little small if you're going to be adding another GPU later.

Power supply is fine.

For HDD, go for a Samsung Spinpoint F3. Fastest HDD available without getting an SSD, and the same or cheaper than a Caviar Black.

Now onto the GPU. Buying Nvidia at the moment is near pointless. ATI is much better value, and you can get DirectX 11 without buying an overpriced power plant. My suggestion would either be to get a HD5770 which is a bit less than a GTX275 but not far off in performance, or pay a little extra and get a HD5850 which is much much better.

Motherboard seems fine. If you aren't overclocking, any board with crossfire will do as long as its X58. I won't complicate things with the processor and sockets etc., the i7 should be fine.

Once again RAM is fine if you aren't overclocking.

mattv2099 · 06-06-2010, 01:18 PM

I'd get a couple of those solid state drives. 1 for the OS. 1 for the game of choice.

kll131 · 06-06-2010, 01:23 PM

So what graphic card would you recommend?

oneinchwunda · 06-06-2010, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kll131

So what graphic card would you recommend?

It depends on how much you want to spend. The HD5770 is PERFECT if you're on a budget, and they scale very well when put into crossfire. The HD5850 is PERFECT if you have a little more money. It also scales very well, is great value for money and requires much less power then Nvidia's Dx11 cards.

**abc** · 06-06-2010, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattv2099

I'd get a couple of those solid state drives. 1 for the OS. 1 for the game of choice.

With a 4 figure budget you'd be forgiven for simply assuming that somewhere you'd have an SSD. Whilst the benchmark figures are impressive, hudreds of MB/s read/write and an access time of... er... 0.0001 seconds (as opposed to 0.011s for an F1/F3/caviar-black) there are a few things to bear in mind:

SSD in RAID 0 are crap so don't skimp on space.
Intel X25 drives are by far the king of price vs performance.
SSD only benefit non-mission-critical aspects of computing. The average user doesn't care if it's twice as fast to transfer a 20GB file, who does that regularly anyway? Likewise whether your OS/game loads in 35 seconds as opposed to 55 seconds really doesn't impact your life much...
Opinions vary, but I couldn't see a noticeable difference between an SSD and a samsung F1 (slower than the newer F3. What should be mentioned is that my PC was meticulous, I only had 2 startup programs so it was very responsive/fast-to-boot anyway)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kll131

So what graphic card would you recommend?

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneinchwunda

The HD5770 is PERFECT if you're on a budget, and they scale very well when put into crossfire. The HD5850 is PERFECT if you have a little more money. It also scales very well, is great value for money and requires much less power then Nvidia's Dx11 cards.

That. Crossfire really does scale excellently these days even at 1680*1050, to the point that it's almost worth buying a crossfire setup instead of a single monster-card.

Be realistic. It's a nice though, but realistically in 18 months are you really going to buy a 2 year old GFX card to crossfire, or are you just going to jump straight to a new mid/high end card of similar value, similar performance but brand new and more future proof?

Be realistic. The HD5850 is an absolute beast. Crossfire 5770 is astonishing. I don't know what res you're using, I didn't check, but a single 5770 will wtf-rofl at any console port like MW2, and still manage to play Far Cry 2 or Crysis on very high/extreme settings with all the real goodies (namely anti aliasing etc) turned right up.

Price comparison websites. A potentially sales-conquering card exists, performs slap bang between the 5770 and 5850. Namely, the 5830. Unfortunately the pricing strategists at ATI had a 5850-success-celebration-office-party the day before and were so hungover they had to leave the pricing up to the work experience kid. Long story short, for £200 the 5830 is crap value compared to the £240 HD5850 and £110 HD5770. HOWEVER if you shop around you'll find a HD5830 (remember, not massively slower than a 5850) for a staggering £140. That is pure win if you're not liking the 5850's price tag, but want to have a bit of a comfort margin for future titles (the 5770 is quick, but not spectacular. It's circa HD4890 performance)

ATI - cheap, very powerful, runs nice and cool.
nVidia - even the queen can't afford one, slightly faster than the ATI equivilant, also doubles up as a central-heating unit.

ATI are also much better with their driver support etc than they used to be.

Cases

At your sort of budget all the crap stuff is irrelavent, and really any circa £80 case will offer excellent airflow, expandability and ease-of-use features (tool-less installation, CPU cooler backplate cut out, removeable/washable dust filters etc)

At the cheap end, the Antec 300 is simply fantastic. They are not as popular as they are for no reason. Unrivalved space, quality, cooling performance and expandability for the money. Once you're looking at Antecs/Coolermasters/etc that are above £60 then really it's just a case of looks.

If you want to be a little bit different to the usual Antec 300, 900, 900-2, CM 590, 690 etc then there are two options: uber-expensive-CM/Antec stuff or a Lian Li case. Lian Li cases are simply win. Great looks, amazing quality, loads of features, great performance, good pricing. The only downside? Lian Li aren't stocked in many places, but then again that just makes them a bit more special.

Power supplies

First step: Select "corsair" under "filter by brand"
Second step: Decide whether you want a modular supply
Final Step: Choose your wattage

Why Corsair?

Rock solid stability.
Great efficiency.
Fantastic power delivery.
Great build quality.
Good looks.
Trusted brand.
5 year warranty.

PC power & cooling, Silverstone etc do have all of the above too... but it'll set you back another £50 - £100.

Other stuff that I've just thought of

Oh, one small suggestion... I don't know how comfortable you are with 1100 euros, but if not... say a very welcoming "hello" to the Intel Core I5 750. Extremely good CPU regarding the price/performance.

One other critical question, overclocking? Yay, definitely? Nay, cba? Possibly - I'd-like-to-have-the-hardware-just-in-case-I-fancy-a-go? The answer will define how much you spend on the RAM, CPU cooling and motherboard.

Pretty sure there was something else, but I've forgotten. Oh 1333MHz vs 1600MHz RAM, with the big price-hike RAM has taken recently and for the virtually non-existant performance hit, the 1333MHz stuff is rather tempting.

kll131 · 06-07-2010, 10:35 AM

Ok, so i'm going to get a Ati instead of nvidia. You say that Ati requires less power, does that mean i can/should get a cheaper power supply or should i keep the one i have?
I also searched for HD5850 on the website i'm ordering from, and got 20 results that all pretty much look the same to me. but vary up to 100 euros in cost.

So basicly i want a computer that can record cod black ops with high preformance. The computer i have now drops to 30ish fps while recording.
If you guys had around 1000 euros, what would you build? or do you think i could get a high performance computer for much less?

Also i don't really know what my feelings towards overclocking are, because i am so uneducated in that matter.

**abc** · 06-07-2010, 12:56 PM

A VX550 would match a HD5770 system perfectly, but for the sake of 10, 15 euros you may as well grab a TX650 especially if you're thinking of a 5850.

Considering activision's history and the fact that Black Ops will be on consoles too, it's a very safe bet that all the GFX cards we've mentioned will absolutely blow any COD game away well into 1920*1080 type res.

If recording is a bit of a priority then that confirms an I5/I7 is the right direction and also makes the extra power in reserve that a 5850 has a top shout.

I'm not saying it's the only thing to do, but how I choose GFX cards is thus:

1) sort by price, lowest first
2) scroll down the page till I get the first one which satisfies the following: a non-refference cooler, top brand, no weird/suspicious stuff (e.g. it comes with the refference amount of memory, isn't some underclocked eco-edition or anything odd like that) then me being interested in OC'ing will read a review just to double check it's not a complete dud at OC'ing.

An I5 750, 4GB 1600MHz G.Skill Ripjaw, Antec 300, DVD+-RW, VX550, Asus HD5770, Samsung F3 500GB, decent P55 & windows 7 comes to $870. That's an absolutely rock solid base to start with for a respectible gaming system. That is absolutely fine, but as you've almost $350 extra to spend... I'd go TX650 & 5850 for definite. With the remaining pennies you might just squeeze an I7 into the budget OR if not, I'd go for 8GB of RAM.

kll131 · 06-07-2010, 02:01 PM

You can cut windows 7 out, i have a windows 7 ultimate 64-bit *cough*torrent*cough*
I also have an old computer that i'm going to take dvd driver, a extra hardrive, some fans ect out of.
I also talked to my friend about the samsung f3 500g, and he says that the WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 750GB 7200RPM SATA/300 32MB (sorry for caps) is better value ect. The price is 85 euro for the western digital and SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F3 500GB 7200RPM SATA/300 16MB (again caps, copy paste) is 50 euro.

EDIT: also what screen would you guys recommend?

**abc** · 06-07-2010, 04:13 PM

Errm ok, time for benchmarks & some maths it is! I'll just assume your friend hasn't seen any benchmarks for either drive... I'm sorry but the F3 is just better in every single way: max, min & average transfer speed.

WD Caviar black:

Samsung Spinpoint F3:

Intel X-25v SSD, for the hell of it:

Some differences in hardware are small, minute, not really worth bothering with, but I'm sorry you just can't ignore the F3's big performance gain. The ONLY thing the F3 loses on in the above example is access time which, if you believe the manufacture is the same for each drive. Oh and I think you'll find it's better value per GB too:

Caviar, 750 GB / 85 euro = 8.7 GB per euro
F3, 500 GB / 50 euro = 10 GB per euro

* Technical note: Both graphs were produced on 500GB versions. HDD are made of layers or "platters" of smaller disks. The higher capacity each individual disk, the higher the transfer speeds. The 500GB F3 uses a single 500GB platter, the 750GB Caviar black however uses three 250GB platters IIRC. This partly explains why it's substantially slower. The 640GB caviar black however uses 320 GB platters IIRC and is a tad faster than the 750GB version, but still no way near the F3.

** Whilst I think I comprehensively showed why the F3 is the king of 7200RPM (aka normal) hard drives at the moment by a long shot, the value per GB is very good on both drives and whilst the F3 is upto 50% faster, when was the last time you wanted to load a file that big... (actually, maps in games are big enough to notice the difference...)

*** Peel your eyes away, if you will, from the ~200MB/s read speed of the SSD and note the access time. That's the point of an SSD. A normal HDD has to spin up, look for the file, move it's disc heads etc etc, whereas an SSD having no moving parts can find a file instantly. Oh, and once it's found that file, it then smokes a normal HDD in the race of reading it...

kll131 · 06-07-2010, 04:18 PM

Wow thanks for all the help, I swapped hardrive and graphic card today on the shopping cart (hd5850)

**abc** · 06-08-2010, 08:11 AM

No problem, I don't know how tight your budget is looking at the moment, but it's probably worth seeing how much you'd save by getting an I5 750 + P55 + 4GB/8GB instead of an I7 + X58 + 9GB.

Oh, infact for that matter here is my view on memory. Of course you don't have to follow it at all...

1) Make sure you're getting a 64bit copy of Windows 7 (I lie, you DO have to follow this one otherwise windows will only use 3.3GB maximum of RAM, which is 1) slow and 2) a waste since you paid for so much more!)
2) Memory is very expensive and you don't need more than 6GB, 9GB is definitely a waste of money.

X58 motherboards (the only ones you can use with an I7) have got 6 DIMM slots (a "DIMM" is one individual stick of memory) and are "triple channel" meaning life is a bit easier and the system is a bit quicker when you use either 3 or 6 (2x3) slots.

3a) 6GB works out nicely as 3x2GB. 6GB is a very cost-effective amount of RAM.
3b) using 3 DIMMs leaves 3 slots spare for future upgrades.
3c) 9GB would probably be 3x2 + 3x1, which would use all three slots and mean to ADD memory in the future you'd have to THROW AWAY (or sell, but you're not going to get anywhere near what you paid) the 3 1GB DIMMs.

Have you had any thoughts about which case?

kll131 · 06-08-2010, 11:08 AM

Antec 300 for 50 euro is what i'm currently leaning towards (heavily)
Found this: SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F3 1TB SATA/300 7200RPM 32MB for 65 euro.
the GPU i found is a ASUS RADEON HD5850 1GB for 287 euro.
My ram is Crosair 1600MHZ 3x2GB for 190 euro.
Processor: i7 930 for 278 euro
motherboard: ASUS P6T SE X58 S-1366 ATX for 200 euro
power supply: corsiar 650w for 95 euro.

So right now it's looking pretty expensive, probably going to downgrade the hardrive to a 500g. The rest feels like if i downgrade one thing i have to downgrade everything.

EDIT: What is the difference between SSD and HDD? And i have an old computer from that i can take stuff, like an extra hard drive, fans ect. How do you think i would use that extra harddrive best?

EDIT 2: Put this together today:
INTEL CORE I5 750 2.66GHZ 8MB S-1156 ---200euro
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I5/I7 PC10600 1333MHZ (2X2GB) --- 123euro
Antec 300 ---50euro
CORSAIR VX 550W NÄTDEL ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V ---90euro
SAMSUNG ECOGREEN F3 500GB 5400RPM SATA/300 16MB ---57euro
ASUS RADEON HD5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI ---165euro (Found a HD 5830 for 225 euro)
ASUS P7P55D-E P55 S-1156 ATX ---165 euro
Total: 855euro

This is a decent amout cheaper than the first, iirc totaled around 1100 euro.
Would this be able to run future games/ record cod: black ops without to much performance loss?
Also would this be a good build to overclock, and what can a begginer overclocker make of it?
When i searched for samsung f3 i get two different results, one is called spinpoint and the other ecogreen, what is the difference?

EDIT 3: can i trust tomshardware?

Thanks for all the help btw.

**abc** · 06-08-2010, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kll131

The rest feels like if i downgrade one thing i have to downgrade everything.

Yes. But "downgrade" in this sense really just means "less of." The only sensible direction downwards is an Intel Core I5 750, as you've picked below. The core I5 750 really is very good. For single/dual core activities (e.g. gaming) it's on a par/slightly-faster-than an I7. However for much more intensive stuff (heavy video editting etc) the I7 will pull out an easy lead.

EDIT: What is the difference between SSD and HDD?

Quote:

Originally Posted by abc

Samsung Spinpoint F3:

Intel X-25v SSD, for the hell of it:

Peel your eyes away, if you will, from the ~200MB/s read speed of the SSD and note the access time. That's the point of an SSD. A normal HDD has to spin up, look for the file, move it's disc heads etc etc, whereas an SSD having no moving parts can find a file instantly. Oh, and once it's found that file, it then smokes a normal HDD in the race of reading it...

Oh, thought it was kinda obvious from looking at the difference between the graphs (the graphs shows speed against space. Being a circle, the outside of the hard drive spins faster than the middle and thus is quicker. So the more you put on the drive, the closer the data is to the middle and the slower it is) & the explaination. I'll try again:

The HDD not only tops out at around 150 MB/s but the more of the disk you use, the slower it gets. It has an average transfer speed of 100~ MB/s
The SSD tops out at a much higher 200 MB/s but as you can see it delivers 200 MB/s across the entire disk
The HDD takes 15~ milliseconds to find every single file before loading it at an average speed of 120 MB/s.
The SSD takes less than 0.1 milliseconds to find each file (150 times faster) and then loads them at ~200 MB/s

Non speed related advantages:

SSD are silent, hard drives have a high pitch whir/scratching noise
HDD get quite hot (30 - 40 degrees celsius) whilst SSD are cool to touch
HDD use a lot of power, around 30w per drive, whilst SSDs in comparison use virtually none
SSD are shock resistant should you ever get angry and hit your computer, it fall off the desk etc - you'll still have your data
SSD are about £2 per GB. HDD are about £0.1 per GB. Store windows, your favourite programs and a game or two on your SSD for super quick loading then keep all your music etc on a normal HDD.

And i have an old computer from that i can take stuff, like an extra hard drive, fans ect. How do you think i would use that extra harddrive best?

You won't need more fans. The Antec 300 comes with two fans, and two of the right type of fans in the correct places (which they are, on the 300) is all you'll ever need. Too many fans isn't bad because it's pointless, too many fans is bad because it can actually make your cooling WORSE and increase temperatures.

Extra hard drive - use it as a backup for your "my documents" folder and other much loved files?

Can I assume that you're also rescuing a DVD+-RW?

EDIT 2: Put this together today:
INTEL CORE I5 750 2.66GHZ 8MB S-1156 ---200euro
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I5/I7 PC10600 1333MHZ (2X2GB) --- 123euro
Antec 300 ---50euro
CORSAIR VX 550W NÄTDEL ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V ---90euro
SAMSUNG ECOGREEN F3 500GB 5400RPM SATA/300 16MB ---57euro
ASUS RADEON HD5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI ---165euro (Found a HD 5830 for 225 euro)
ASUS P7P55D-E P55 S-1156 ATX ---165 euro
Total: 855euro

This is a decent amout cheaper than the first, iirc totaled around 1100 euro.
Would this be able to run future games/ record cod: black ops without to much performance loss?

I got around to mentioning it up there ^^^ (think I said it before, but with three "advice on new computer" threads it's a lil confusing atm) errm dropping down to an I5 won't actually hit gaming performance much at all as well as saving lots of money on RAM/Motherboard.

Funnily enough no-one really benchmarks "playing whilst recording" but I'd be suprised if an I7 offers a significant improvement in FPS over an I5. Let's face it, they're both quad cores, they're both similar clock speeds, they've both got enough cache, I5's main advantage (turbo mode) doesn't apply because it'd be using lots (3 or 4) of cores and I7's main advantage (hyperthreading) doesn't apply because it's using too little a number of cores (3 or 4)

Also would this be a good build to overclock, and what can a begginer overclocker make of it?

All computers will OC a little.

This is where brand/model of (PSU, mobo, RAM, CPU cooler, case cooling) makes a difference. Better brand = better build quality = higher tolerance of heat (enemy no. 1) = can reach higher speeds before the system becomes unstable enough to crash.

With the above hardware I'd expect an I5 to reach 3.2GHz as a minimum and 3.6GHz as a rather lairy maximum.

The I5 750 & corsair PSU are very good OC'ers. By spending another 100 euros on increased quality (namely mobo, RAM & a new cooler) 3.8GHz + is a very realistic target.

When i searched for samsung f3 i get two different results, one is called spinpoint and the other ecogreen, what is the difference?

The spinpoint is the normal HDD. Ecogreen is (drum roll) an eco friendly & green hard drive. In computer terms that ALWAYS means slower & uses less power and possibly more expensive for the "priviledge" of knowing that you're saving the planet, one polar bear at a time.

~~Samsung has an excellent naming scheme, very easy to understand:~~

F1 is faster than F2.
F3 is faster than both of the above.
Apart from the F3 ecogreen, that is slower than an F1 but possibly faster than the F2!

TL

R F3 spinpoint ftw.

EDIT 3: can i trust tomshardware?

yep. Trust the site. As with any forum you just have to judge who can be trusted and who is a newbie.

Thanks for all the help btw.

no problemo.

Actually, a note on crossfire (putting two ATI GFX cards in one PC to = faster graphics)

If the game is designed to make good use of it (usually high budget titles, even if they're console ports like MW2 quality, or PC-only titles) and you play at a high resolution (1680*1050 or above really) then adding two GFX cards will improve FPS by an average of 70% or so.

The Good:

Two 5770s are much cheaper than one 5850. If the software is very good and you're screen is big you can get increases in excess of 90%. This makes two 5770 MUCH faster and much cheaper than a 5850.

The bad:

Need a decent mobo (X58, yes. P55? I'd be safe and get one of the more expensive P55s) Need a decent PSU (check) Need a big screen. This all costs extra money.

If the software is bad you'll only get a 25% increase in FPS from having 2 GFX cards. This is like paying for 2 cards and only getting 1 and a bit. Whereas the single 5850 which cost roughly similar money is now faster than "1 and a bit" 5770s.

2x 5770 use more electricity than 1x 5850.

Crossfire/SLI used to be pretty crap but it's got to the point where most of the flaws are ironed out and it does look pretty attractive in some cases, especially since there is nothing worth buying between the 5770 (£110) and the 5850 (£250+)

kll131 · 06-08-2010, 04:35 PM

Ok, so if i take this:
INTEL CORE I5 750 2.66GHZ 8MB S-1156 ---200euro
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I5/I7 PC10600 1333MHZ (2X2GB) --- 123euro
Antec 300 ---50euro
CORSAIR VX 550W NÄTDEL ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V ---90euro
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB 5400RPM SATA/300 16MB ---50euro
ASUS RADEON HD5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI ---165euro (Found a HD 5830 for 225 euro)
ASUS P7P55D-E P55 S-1156 ATX ---165 euro
Total: 845euro

If i want to crossfire, does this sound correct?
add another hd5770 (cheapest i can find is 160 euro so far)
Take a x58 ---200euro
upgrade the power supply (only like 6 euro for 100 more W)
Take a spinpoint ---10 euro cheaper
This makes 900 euro, but i feel like 4gb ram is a little low, so i'm going to make that 6gb, so add around 50 euro for that i think (i get two results for the ram, one with 1600MHZ CL9, and one with 1333MHZ and no CL9. What is cl9, and why is the 1333MHZ 10 euro more expensive?) .
Cheapest HD5830 i can find is 225euro.
Cheapest HD5770 i can find is 160euro.
Cheapest HD5850 i can find is 290euro.

Still think it's worth to crossfire, or should i go back to what i had before (p55, with single 5770, or possibly a 5830). Or should i spend a little extra and get a 5850?

Depending on what graphic card/s i choose, it seems like the price will be around 800-1000euro. If i want a i7 it will be the sort of same i linked in the original post, but with ATI GPU and samsung f3 500g and will be around 1100 euro.

From what i've learnt, there isn't really a huge difference/noticable for a casual person like myself between the i5 and i7. And it seems like the hardware is abit ahead of the games, so a single HD5770 would be able to handle black ops without problem. Right now i'm leaning towards crossfire or HD5830 depending on what prices i can find (they seem to varie alot here in sweden compared to you)

It really doesn't seem like i can go wrong with what i have now, i only have to decide on the graphics card (Doesn't seem like thats going to be easy).
Anyway, thanks for all the help.

**abc** · 06-09-2010, 01:52 PM

Can't use an X58 with a I5. X58's CPU socket is a different shape and only fits I7 9xx series. An I5 can be used with a H55 or P55 chipset. For a performance PC, you want the P55. Will explain this later, as I think I may have said that an X58 is better for two video cards... so I'll explain how to solve this one...

Sammy s.point F3, more RAM, TX650 is all a very smart decision.

Err RAM. "CL9" is a kinda "average" of something called "RAM timings" - it's a bit like much "lag" the RAM has. Obviously less = better, but on an I5 750 "CL9" works out as 1/2660000000th second faster than CL8 - so I really wouldn't bother fussing over that. All RAM has "lag" - no idea why they wrote it in one title but not another product.

Speed of RAM is dictated by it's memory chips. There are memory chips and then there are memory chips. As a result there is RAM and then there is the buggatti veyron of RAM with lots inbetween. Better the memory chips used, the more the RAM will OC, the lower you'll be able to set the RAM timings (reduce "lag" making it a tad faster) and it'll probably last a bit longer too. That is why some RAM seems abnormally expensive. As I said the only difference it will make is let you get a higher number when you OC so it all is a bit pointless. Because you're building a quality system I wouldn't shove the cheapest stuff I can find in, I'd go for a good brand like G.Skill (search for "ripjaw" and choose the cheapest? = win? Reliable, capable of high performance, OCs well, looks good) or crucial etc, but likewise I wouldn't buy a stupid kit like those Corsair Dominator GTs (which cost £££s) because the cost just isn't worth the benefit at all for anyone on this forum.

Ya, as you say, deciding on graphics will be the hardest bit. So, the bit about crossfire. PCIe lanes are not all equal. Some are faster than others. Slow PCIe lane (typically the first lane will be fast and the second CF/SLI lane much slower) + massive GFX cards inCF/SLI can = problems. Unfortunately this is a really hazy topic and people haven't done much investigation - BUT the general consensus is that this issue only affects high end cards on older/cheap mobos. A 5770/5830 crossfire should be fine on any P55 mobo.

What screen res do you have/hoping to buy/use?

Meh, we'll do a summary and you can decide on the GFX card.

5770 - fine for all games on highest settings. Just.
5830 - Much close in price to the 5850. Close in performance to 5770.
5850 - expensive, but wow.

Crossfire. Pros: can give amazing performance for little money. Bad: Dodgy. A single 5850 will always be as fast as a single 5850. CF 5770 will only be as fast as the software/drivers allow. On very well programmed games (crysis, FC2, COD) the 5770 CF own the 5850, on poorly designed games (lower budget, older games, badly ported console games) because it's just like having 1.2 5770s a 5850 would have been quicker, even if it were a tad more money.

The TX650 has enough connectors & power to cope with CF 5770 (not quite two 5830, that would require purchasing some adapters - but the PSU would be able to cope with it for a few years) or upto a single 5870.

It probably doesn't matter to you, but the 5850 actually uses less electricity than the 5830.

How about a 5770 now, and then grab another for $100 in a few months or just before black ops?

kll131 · 06-13-2010, 06:25 AM

Small question, crossfire HD5750 instead of HD5770, huge performance loss?
Charts, benchmarks 2010 Gaming Graphics Charts (High Quality), Battlefield Bad Company 2
I can't find a chart with HD5770 CF, but according to this chart HD5750 CF is great.

oneinchwunda · 06-13-2010, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kll131

Small question, crossfire HD5750 instead of HD5770, huge performance loss?
Charts, benchmarks 2010 Gaming Graphics Charts (High Quality), Battlefield Bad Company 2
I can't find a chart with HD5770 CF, but according to this chart HD5750 CF is great.

I think you'll find HD5770 CF is much better still.

kll131 · 06-13-2010, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneinchwunda

I think you'll find HD5770 CF is much better still.

Ok.
Does it matter if i take a 550w instead of a 650w Power supply? Or do i need 650w for hd5770 CF?
Also, g.skill ripjaw does not exist in sweden, what would you use instead? And would i get a big performance loss for going 4gb instead of 6gb?
Also, this is the mobo i'm leaning towards with my current build is the ASUS P7P55 LX, P55, Socket-1156.

oneinchwunda · 06-13-2010, 09:21 AM

4Gb is fine. Unless you are doing HEAVY video editing or CAD or something.

If you don't have Ripjaws, then just look for a good name brand, i.e. G-skill, Geil etc. If you're not overclocking it doesn't matter too much as most good brands give you a good warranty and service.

You probably don't NEED 650w if you're buying a Corsair. However, it would be more future-proof to get more power than you need and it would be cheaper than buying a new more powerful several years down the line.

kll131 · 06-13-2010, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneinchwunda

4Gb is fine. Unless you are doing HEAVY video editing or CAD or something.

If you don't have Ripjaws, then just look for a good name brand, i.e. G-skill, Geil etc. If you're not overclocking it doesn't matter too much as most good brands give you a good warranty and service.

You probably don't NEED 650w if you're buying a Corsair. However, it would be more future-proof to get more power than you need and it would be cheaper than buying a new more powerful several years down the line.

ok, so does this one seem ok: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz 4GB CL9?
This is what i'm going to buy i think:
Intel Core™ i5 Quad Processor i5-750
ASUS P7P55 LX, P55, Socket-1156
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
Corsair TX 650W PSU
Antec 300
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz 4GB CL9
XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 (going to start with one, then later if i feel i need a bit more get another and crossfire, or do you think i should do this but with the HD 5830? I could even try this with the HD5850, CF on that seems pretty nice

)
Samsung 24" LCD Syncmaster P2450H

And then I need a headset (steelseries siberia i think) and a mouse (have not decided)

oneinchwunda · 06-13-2010, 11:10 AM

Perfect build. Can't do much better really.

I would say definitely go for the 5850 if you have the money. Much easier to upgrade in the future. 5830 is kinda crappy value for money in comparison.

As for headset, go with Sennheiser as you play on PC. Better quality than any "gaming headset", and if you buy a pair like mine, HD555s, you can buy a half-decent clip-on mic which does the job. I suggest PC151s if on a tight budget, and HD555s if you have a bit more.

There was a mouse thread recently that should give you some ideas.

EDIT: What you gonna put it in?