New Desktop computer

gordotheman

FRC,

I am buying a new PC in a few weeks. I live in Belgium but I want to order the parts from the US because of the strength of euro. So I was wondering if the FRC community has any suggestions or tips on what hardware I should get. I am looking for a PC built solely for gaming.


Gordo

Σπεκωσποκ

Go with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 275, 280, or one of the new 260s of a reputable manufacturer for the graphics card. A fast graphics card + a good CPU + lots of RAM + a reliable motherboard + a fast hard drive are the gaming priorities, in that order, so you want to get the best you can for your budget. If you can afford it, I hear good things about midrange Intel i7 CPUs, but a Core 2 Duo/Quad will do you just fine for most things. Intel and Nvidia both have good motherboard options (if you go Nvidia, make sure it's from a reputable manufacturer).

Generally, for things Nvidia, ASUS, EVGA, BFG, and XFX are the best manufacturers, and for ATI stuff, MSI, Sapphire, and Gigabyte are generally the way to go.

As a general rule of thumb, your video card, motherboard, and CPU should cost about the same price (the GPU might be a bit more). Other than that, it is mostly up to personal preference, and cost. Generally, gaming PCs tend more toward the higher end of money spent/performance gained spectrum and the raw performance spectrum, so expect to spend more than you otherwise would, but also to have a very high-performing PC (my two year old gaming rig is still blazing fast).

You can also game on a budget, and if that's your plan I would recommend looking at the high-end stuff of the last parts cycle, and the budget-end of this cycle (some new budget parts perform better than the high-end stuff of the last cycle). If you go down this route, I would do research into the best price/performance stuff in your budget (benchmarks are easily obtained), and also into the power efficiency of such components (the electricity used is often an additional cost that goes forgotten).

It would help to know some specifics (how much you are willing to spend, if you want a high-end rig to tackle tomorrow's games or a budget rig to take on yesterday's, etc) if you are looking for some advice on specific parts to get, or if you've already got a tentative parts list or ideas or something.

WindUpBird

Don't do SLI. Everyone I know who has says it's a waste of money. I mean, maybe if you're modeling theoretical non-Euclidean solids or folding proteins...But Crysis won't need two top-o-the-line nVidia cards to look good.

Vhdblood

Go Radeon, I have 5 friends with different cards in the HD series and they all run like champs. The HD 4850 is great for the price right now.

Just do a cheap quad-core, or high dual-core, unless you just want to spend the money, because I highly doubt you'll see a performance drop from an i7, at least anytime soon.

Gigabyte P45(?) is a great board, built a computer using one a week ago, just make sure if you use IDE that you get a longer cable. The one in the box doesn't fit shit.

As Wind-up said, no SLI or Crossfire for that matter.

tl;dr - Radeon HD 4850, Low End Quad-Core, Gigabyte P-45. Should run you around $900 with everything. (Case, Power Supply, Etc.)

lackofcheese

As a general rule of thumb, your video card, motherboard, and CPU should cost about the same price (the GPU might be a bit more).

Since this PC is solely for gaming, it may be worth it to spend more on the graphics card by a significant margin. Mostly it depends what resolution screen you'll have - if you have 1920x1200 you might want to spend a fair bit on the graphics card, and, if you don't have a screen with that resolution, get one (but only if you have the cash for the screen and sufficient gfx power).

Generally, for things Nvidia, ASUS, EVGA, BFG, and XFX are the best manufacturers, and for ATI stuff, MSI, Sapphire, and Gigabyte are generally the way to go.

I wouldn't worry about the manufacturer. They're pretty much all made in the same factory in China, just with different stickers. The only things you should worry about between brands (if any at all) are the warranty and the bundle.

Don't do SLI. Everyone I know who has says it's a waste of money. I mean, maybe if you're modeling theoretical non-Euclidean solids or folding proteins...But Crysis won't need two top-o-the-line nVidia cards to look good.

That's not entirely true of multi-card configurations. Current lower-end cards are sufficiently good at performance / price that they can beat mid/high-end cards at lower prices. In fact, if high resolution is required, my recommendation would probably be 2 HD 4850 cards. However, that's only if there will be no additional cost for a motherboard that supports Crossfire.

Dr. Timo

$800 gaming PC on extreme tech.