Help Garabaldi build a computer (for games, obviously)

Garabaldi · 2010-07-03, 19:04

And yes Garabaldi does refer to himself in the third-person now and no, that was not a request, it was an order.

But seriously.

I haven't played anything or kept up with developments in hardware or software since late '07 I think.. I traded my P4 3.00 GHz/7900 GT/2G RAM to my buddy for a 32" flatscreen television; I figured I'd give up gaming and just use my laptop for Internet-browsing/world-processing/academic pursuits. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for all of the problems my laptop is plagued with.. it especially loves stalling and locking up when I've got more than a few windows open, and turning off randomly when I'm in the middle of writing essay's, so I can't wait to be rid of it as my main (and only) computer. Still, it's more than adequate for doing what I need it to do (which is basic word-processing and Internet-browsing for university.)

Anyway..

I've put this together.. from what little reading I've done it seems more than capable of running what I want it to run (that rhymed) - I'm mainly interested in Arma 2, Crysis, Call of Juarez, Mass Effect 2, GTA IV, Just Cause 2, Oblivion and.. I don't know.. whatever other good games I've missed since i've been out of the loop, lol. I'll be building it myself since I've learned (from my past Dell purchase) that paying somebody else to build a computer for you is like paying somebody else to wipe your own ass.. while ultimately easier, you could save a substantial amount of money and still do it faster and more efficiently by yourself.. regardless, a dedicated ass-wiper is an interesting thought.. I'll jot it down in my 'Ideas for When I'm Supreme Ruler of Earth' notebook.

Here's what I've got so far.

I'm just looking for some advice on hardware and software (what's Direct X 11 like? How's Windows 7?) I've only ever used nVidia cards but from all the benchmarks I've seen the latest crop of Radeon's offers similar performance to the new nVidia 470's and 80's but are significantly cheaper. No PhysX support, but I don't really care about that. How are ATI's drivers? I was really happy with both of my nVidia cards (a 6800 and a 7900GT that I volt-modded and overclocked) so I'm curious about ATI's selection - I've heard Arma 2 favours ATI cards - correct? I'm also interested in using an HDMI cable to connect my 32" flatscreen and the computer, but I don't know if it's worth it, as I have my doubts that the computer will be capable of playing anything at such a high resolution.. will still be useful for movies though, but would be a nice little extra if there was the possibility I could play games on it. Basically the same story for the i5.. it seems to wipe the floor with any current AMD processor and is at least equal to the i7 in terms of gaming performance at the moment; you guys can correct me if I'm wrong because like I said, I'm not up-to-date with current tech, so if an AMD/nVidia build or an AMD/ATI build or an Intel/nVidia build would serve me better, let me know.

I do plan on overclocking, also. What kind of speeds do you think I'll be able to get out of the 5850 and the i5 with just basic air-cooling?

I've been playing through some older games to tide me over.. Deus Ex and Freelancer, mostly, but both are barely playable on my laptop. Watching gameplay videos of Just Cause 2 and Arma 2 gets me all hot and bothered.

Snippers · 2010-07-03, 23:42

Always awesome to see people upgrading, I just went a P4 3.0ghz to the i5 750, you will really feel the difference, specially with differences in the improved RAM speeds as well. Now going more on topic: Is there a reason you buying a network card? Most motherboards come with a Ethernet port on them now, including that motherboard you have in the list which I might add supports faster speeds.

My i5 750 + Ati Radeon 5770 played Just Cause 2 just fine with some anti aliasing (1600*1200 resolution too). Yes I got the i5 for the same reasons as above, I have been meaning to overclock but the heat has been turning me off the idea.

Hopefully the tip about the network card says you a few bucks.

Garabaldi · 2010-07-04, 02:27

I wasn't sure whether or not an ethernet port came standard with most motherboards or if it was normal to buy a dedicated network card.. shows how much I've forgotten, lol.

I've made a few changes based on some suggestions on another forum.. swapped out the motherboard for one with an extra PCI-e 16x slot, upgraded the HD to 1TB, changed the sound card to a ASUS Xonar DX 7.1, upgraded the PSU to 700W.. I think that's it.. only $50 bucks extra. I'll hold off on buying any fans/cooling for a few months until I've broken it in and then I'll see how much I can OC it.

SocketMan · 2010-07-06, 09:51

32'' is the size,not resolution.Even if your TV is 1080i (1920x1080 resolution) non of these games should cause any issues for a card like 5850.
With HDMI ideally you want to plug that into a Dolby/DTS receiver for the 7.1 sound (need the speakers too) as the video card has it's own audio controller that supports all the latest and greatest like BlueRay,Dolby True HD,DTS True HD,etc .
Straight into the TV would work as well.

2010-07-03, 19:04	#1
Garabaldi Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,546 Canada	Help Garabaldi build a computer (for games, obviously) And yes Garabaldi does refer to himself in the third-person now and no, that was not a request, it was an order. But seriously. I haven't played anything or kept up with developments in hardware or software since late '07 I think.. I traded my P4 3.00 GHz/7900 GT/2G RAM to my buddy for a 32" flatscreen television; I figured I'd give up gaming and just use my laptop for Internet-browsing/world-processing/academic pursuits. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for all of the problems my laptop is plagued with.. it especially loves stalling and locking up when I've got more than a few windows open, and turning off randomly when I'm in the middle of writing essay's, so I can't wait to be rid of it as my main (and only) computer. Still, it's more than adequate for doing what I need it to do (which is basic word-processing and Internet-browsing for university.) Anyway.. I've put this together.. from what little reading I've done it seems more than capable of running what I want it to run (that rhymed) - I'm mainly interested in Arma 2, Crysis, Call of Juarez, Mass Effect 2, GTA IV, Just Cause 2, Oblivion and.. I don't know.. whatever other good games I've missed since i've been out of the loop, lol. I'll be building it myself since I've learned (from my past Dell purchase) that paying somebody else to build a computer for you is like paying somebody else to wipe your own ass.. while ultimately easier, you could save a substantial amount of money and still do it faster and more efficiently by yourself.. regardless, a dedicated ass-wiper is an interesting thought.. I'll jot it down in my 'Ideas for When I'm Supreme Ruler of Earth' notebook. Here's what I've got so far. I'm just looking for some advice on hardware and software (what's Direct X 11 like? How's Windows 7?) I've only ever used nVidia cards but from all the benchmarks I've seen the latest crop of Radeon's offers similar performance to the new nVidia 470's and 80's but are significantly cheaper. No PhysX support, but I don't really care about that. How are ATI's drivers? I was really happy with both of my nVidia cards (a 6800 and a 7900GT that I volt-modded and overclocked) so I'm curious about ATI's selection - I've heard Arma 2 favours ATI cards - correct? I'm also interested in using an HDMI cable to connect my 32" flatscreen and the computer, but I don't know if it's worth it, as I have my doubts that the computer will be capable of playing anything at such a high resolution.. will still be useful for movies though, but would be a nice little extra if there was the possibility I could play games on it. Basically the same story for the i5.. it seems to wipe the floor with any current AMD processor and is at least equal to the i7 in terms of gaming performance at the moment; you guys can correct me if I'm wrong because like I said, I'm not up-to-date with current tech, so if an AMD/nVidia build or an AMD/ATI build or an Intel/nVidia build would serve me better, let me know. I do plan on overclocking, also. What kind of speeds do you think I'll be able to get out of the 5850 and the i5 with just basic air-cooling? I've been playing through some older games to tide me over.. Deus Ex and Freelancer, mostly, but both are barely playable on my laptop. Watching gameplay videos of Just Cause 2 and Arma 2 gets me all hot and bothered.
Garabaldi Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,546 Canada

2010-07-03, 23:42	#2
Snippers Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 29 United Kingdom Location: London	Re: Help Garabaldi build a computer (for games, obviously) Always awesome to see people upgrading, I just went a P4 3.0ghz to the i5 750, you will really feel the difference, specially with differences in the improved RAM speeds as well. Now going more on topic: Is there a reason you buying a network card? Most motherboards come with a Ethernet port on them now, including that motherboard you have in the list which I might add supports faster speeds. My i5 750 + Ati Radeon 5770 played Just Cause 2 just fine with some anti aliasing (1600*1200 resolution too). Yes I got the i5 for the same reasons as above, I have been meaning to overclock but the heat has been turning me off the idea. Hopefully the tip about the network card says you a few bucks.

2010-07-04, 02:27	#3
Garabaldi Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,546 Canada	Re: Help Garabaldi build a computer (for games, obviously) I wasn't sure whether or not an ethernet port came standard with most motherboards or if it was normal to buy a dedicated network card.. shows how much I've forgotten, lol. I've made a few changes based on some suggestions on another forum.. swapped out the motherboard for one with an extra PCI-e 16x slot, upgraded the HD to 1TB, changed the sound card to a ASUS Xonar DX 7.1, upgraded the PSU to 700W.. I think that's it.. only $50 bucks extra. I'll hold off on buying any fans/cooling for a few months until I've broken it in and then I'll see how much I can OC it.
Garabaldi Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,546 Canada

2010-07-06, 09:51	#4
SocketMan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,677 Canada Location: Vancouver,B.C. \| Golden Camel Land	Re: Help Garabaldi build a computer (for games, obviously) 32'' is the size,not resolution.Even if your TV is 1080i (1920x1080 resolution) non of these games should cause any issues for a card like 5850. With HDMI ideally you want to plug that into a Dolby/DTS receiver for the 7.1 sound (need the speakers too) as the video card has it's own audio controller that supports all the latest and greatest like BlueRay,Dolby True HD,DTS True HD,etc . Straight into the TV would work as well.