Looking to build a mid-range gaming PC

[brenjacct]

I've gone the AMD route and i must say its VERY nice for gaming! From the outset the purpose for my upgrades was mailny for gaming @ 1080p on high or ultra and I'm very happy with what I got.

Rig:
FX8350 still running stock speeds (for now) paid R2600 at the time
CM Hyper 212 Evo R389
Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 paid R2223
4x2gb (8gb) Samsung Low Profile 1333Mhz ram (Brand new I scored free off a friend that I did a huge favor for)
Ocz Vertex 2 100gb SSD (did a trade on Carbonite forum for it)
PowerColor Turbo Duo R9 280X R3799 Wootware at the time and skyrocketed since!

The rest like case, psu etc. I had already...

Here's a little vid of a replay of mine on Grid2

This is on a Sony Bravia 40" lcd @ 1080p on Ultra 4xaa on which I'm getting on avarage between 55 - 65 fps. On 2xAA it goes up 75 fps!

Excuse the quality of the vid as this was shot with my now exctinct Nokia 701 lmao! In reality it looks waaay better!

THUMBSUP man

 

[CataclysmZA]

Will NagOnline System builder's Guide help much?

I'll have a new updated list in February, but so far the advice here is solid. You have a few choices:

GPU: Radeon HD7870/R9 270X or Geforce GTX660/GTX660 Ti/GTX760
CPU: Core i5 3.2GHz or faster or K-series, AMD FX6300 or better
MOBO: Intel H87/Z87 or AM3+ 970A/990FX (both former options for no overclocking, latter options good for overclocking)

I'd also like to point out that at this point, Kaveri is doing very well for itself and may present a better all-round solution in the future, but will only arrive here in late Q1 2014.

As for Radeon vs Geforce - pick the Radeon if you want Mantle, TressFX and the free games from the Never Settle bundle. Pick the Geforce if you want Nvidia's superior software, lag-free game recording, Geforce experience, CUDA and Physx. Price being equal, both manufacturers are neck-and-neck in the performance stakes at the moment.

Nvidia also has GSync and AMD has FreeSync, which both make variable refresh rates possible on modern displays. Both need displayport to work for the moment, G-Sync is limited to one monitor as of today, while AMD's solution needs monitors that support FreeSync but need a firmware update to work. My point here is that you shouldn't bank on being able to use either feature for a while, so don't factor it into your purchase.

I'd also like to mention the Radeon HD7790 2GB/R7 260X and the GTX650 Ti Boost. Both cards do well enough for 60fps at 1080p with high, sometimes max settings, but the smaller memory buses mean you'll have to lower AA levels and turn off things like Depth of Field. Otherwise, they are also very capable mid-range solutions.

At the end of the day, try to get the best you can afford and don't overshoot your budget unless it's really necessary. The hardware required for a fluid 1080p 60fps experience isn't that expensive, so there's no reason to overdo it unless you're preparing for multi-monitor or 4K (about 2 years from general consumer adoption).

 

[SaiyanZ]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I also need to get a screen. Think 23"/24". Is a 27" worth it or will I find myself having to turn my head whilst gaming?

 

[brenjacct]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I also need to get a screen. Think 23"/24". Is a 27" worth it or will I find myself having to turn my head whilst gaming?

If you can afford the 27" go for it. If your moving your head you're sitting to close. imo 22" and up are sufficient.

 

[katty]

what's your budget for the new PC?

 

[SaiyanZ]

what's your budget for the new PC?

No budget, but I don't want to spend too much more than I have to. I rather do things properly once for a little more than go too low end on one piece for a small saving. I'm guessing R10k excluding the screen is reasonable but if I R8k is fine then I will spend R8k.

 

[SaiyanZ]

Ok, so I'm placing my order today. If I go for the AMD FX-8350, 4.0GHZ I probably wont have to overclock and wont need an aftermarket cooler and expensive motherboard?

 

[Razor88]

Ok, so I'm placing my order today. If I go for the AMD FX-8350, 4.0GHZ I probably wont have to overclock and wont need an aftermarket cooler and expensive motherboard?

As I said, an 8320 would be much better bang for buck, but if you do go for the 8350(or 8320), I would highly recommend an aftermarket cooler, since stock fx-coolers are renowned to be loud (and not so great at cooling).

You don't need an expensive motherboard though. Post the one you have in mind?

 

[Nikkel]

As I said, an 8320 would be much better bang for buck, but if you do go for the 8350(or 8320), I would highly recommend an aftermarket coolers, since stock fx-coolers are renowned to be loud (and not so great at cooling).

You don't need an expensive motherboard though. Post the one you have in mind?

^+1

I also bought an aftermarket cooler mainly of how noisy and loud the stock cooler got after I got the R9 280X and running on games ultra.

If you not planning to overclock then dont go big on the motherboard and maybe shift the funds to the gpu side...?

I can tell you that the FX8350 does very well at stock speeds with a nice gpu tho plus an ssd does wonders as well

 

[Chevron]

Ok, so I'm placing my order today. If I go for the AMD FX-8350, 4.0GHZ I probably wont have to overclock and wont need an aftermarket cooler and expensive motherboard?

Nice choice.

Graphics card?

 

[SaiyanZ]

This is what I have so far. Not ordered yet:

ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5, HD7870, 2GB 256bit 4 channel DDR5, PCi-E 3.0, DirectCu II


AMD FX-8350, 4.0GHz, AM3+, Octagon (8) Core, 32nm


ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0, AMD AM3 / AM3+, on-board clear CMOS button, amd970 + SB950 cASUS M5A97 LE R2.0, AMD AM3 / AM3+, on-board clear CMOS button, amd970 + SB950 c


Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9R, 8GB (4GB x 2) kit


Corsair VS650, 650w (12v : 600w), EPS12V, ATX 12V V2.3, 24pin, with active-PFC,Corsair


Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001, 2TB/2000GB, SATA6G, 7200rpm, 64MB cache


Cooler Master CM690 III, Midi Tower, Black, no PSU (bottom placed PSU design)

Just need to add a mouse and keyboard. Any recommendations? Total so far is about R11k.

 

[Chevron]

Cool

Any reason you aren't getting an SSD?

 

[SaiyanZ]

Cool

Any reason you aren't getting an SSD?

Will get one later on. Just want to get a working system for now.

 

[Razor88]

I get the feeling that you will be paying more than you should for the Asus GPU (Asus usually have the highest prices). Where are you buying the GPU from?

 

[SaiyanZ]

I get the feeling that you will be paying more than you should for the Asus GPU (Asus usually have the highest prices). Where are you buying the GPU from?

R2585 from RebelTech. Performance is about the same as the R270x.

 

[Razor88]

Aaah nevermind, it's a nice price.