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Is this a really good gaming computer?
Intel Core i7 960 (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)
12GB Triple Channel 1333MHz DDR3
Single ATI Radeon HD 5970, 2GB GDDR5
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
My computer knowledge is abit limited. I'm pretty sure this is a good computer. But is it like top of the line amazing or just good for now. I want to make sure I'm future proof for at least a few years. I'd like to be able to play the next crop of upcoming MMO's at max settings, stuff like Perfect World, and the new CCP horror game.
Comments
Yes it is. The 12 gb ram is actually a lot more than you need.
But it wont hurt with an Intel X-25 SSD instead of a harddrive. You have that for the OS (windows 7 64 bits I guess) and the games, then you should also have a media drive, like a 1,5 TB Seagate Barracuda.
Otherwise are wise men fighting if the 5970 or the 480 GTX is the best, they are both superb cards.
But you can't build a much faster computer than that today, good luck with it
nope its not top of the line!that would be the intel 980 6 core(32nm) 12 hypertread.
I think you should take the core i7 930 instead of the 960 because the only difference between them is the clock speed and they're really easy to overclock. I think it's about half the price of the 960. If you want the absolute best that's the 980X.
12GB of RAM is a lot! I wouldn't suggest an Intel X-25 SSD due to many reports of failed firmware and new reports are coming out about its extended use and it degrading over time in a "standard desktop enviroment".
That system should do you just fine. You won't need the 12 GB for gaming but I'd still keep it if you use any 3D or 2D graphics programs. It makes multitasking a snap.
As to just following a games system requirements, they are not often accurate. There are too many combinations of software and hardware setups that can cause performance issues to accurately set one base line requirement for everyone, plus companies tend to err on the side of optimism with their specs.
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Thanks for all the responses.
The 960 was actually only alittle more then the 930 so I figured I would go for it. The XL980 cost so much more it was insane, I'm fine with second best.
I'm afraid I don't know what a barracuda is or what you were saying. Were you talking about different hard drives? I got a 1T SAT II, nothing amazing I know but I never had a problem with my hard drive holding me back.
I just wanted to make sure I was getting quality for the money I was spending :P Had a bad experience in the past buying what I thought was a gaming laptap and it was total garbage.
In my opinion that thing is overdimensioned. You're trying to build something for gaming for more than 3 years, I'd rather build a rig for half the price and game with it for 2 years and use the other half then to build another updated rig.
The more performance you gain if you double the money you spend is just marginal. You're looking at 10-20% more fps for a 1600$ rig over a 800$ rig.
If you heavily use multimedia (creating videos, photoshop, pretty much adobes multimedia suite) then that's another thin.
Have fun anyways with your PC.
12Gb is not enough.. you need 24 or better 64GB of RAM!
op!let me give you an advice!if you cannot have direct cache access out of the box from intel then buy an amd
it will be almost as fast and a lot cheaper.i was gona get a intel till i found out activating direct cache access is a nightmare
and since it is the only reason why i would recommend an intel ,if you cannot or dont know how to activate it or even check if
that system support dca then stay with amd their top of the line will be fast enough for decade to come(unless firefox comeup with fr in their browser)dont laugh firefox 4 is adding this :
http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2010/04/firefox-next-alpha-4-is-both-performance-and-looks/
ya i love it too!
Yes. You should keep that drive but also get a small Solid state drive. Basically it is a flash drive, it has no moving parts and it reads a lot faster than a regular drive. It is also totally silent and generates no heat whatsoever. The problem with it is that there only are small one right now and the do cost a bit.
An Intel X-25 80gb to keep Windows and your games on is perfect, it will increase the speed and at the same time silence the computer a lot, since we all know that harddrives sounds a lot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167018&cm_re=x-25-_-20-167-018-_-Product This is the regular version, I have 4 of these suckers myself
. A lot faster than your current harddrive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167013&cm_re=x-25-_-20-167-013-_-Product This is the extreme version, there is a larger one too but it cost an insane amount of money.
All the stats are there. The part when these drives really shine is the fact that they don't need to move the head to the next part of the file. This is the new technology, old harddrives are on their last run. Some people however think this is to expensive and small in size and predict other types to win in the long run.
The small size is the reason that you also should have a ordinal drive to store movies, music and all other things you don't need that fast access to. The OS is however always working and to have it on a fast drive is a good idea, I used to have a 15000 spin SCSI drive for it before but this is sweeter and more silent to a better price.
They also use less electricity so in the long run it saves money.
This is sarcasm right?
And yeah I understand about diminishing returns and sloping prices. Theres a reason I was aiming for the second best and not the best everything. I probably would be better off spending less and getting a whole new computer in two years. Thing is I get emotionally attached to my computer, and I don't like "planning" to replace things. Thats why I would never lease a car, I know I'm wierd lol. Your point though is very valid and I appreacite the opinion.
My computers don't get outdated as fast as standard gaming rigs as I only use my PC for playing MMO's; a genre which typically lags behind other games. I use my 360 for the majority of my regular gaming.
Solid state drives are an interesting idea, but I actually like loud hard drives; the sound helps me sleep.
If your concern is "future proof", the two most important items are not in your list.
You need to be more concerned about your motherboard and your power supply. Try to build your machine around the latest motherboard technologies and newly released motherboards. Just because you have a 1366 motherboard does not mean it will be supported as long as another 1366 motherboard.
For instance, SATA III and USB 3.0 are starting to become available on select motherboards. Odds have it this board will be supported longer than the first generation 1366 motherboards. Take this motherboard as an example, its Asus latest 1366 rampage motherboard. If I were to purchase a motherboard right now..today.. it would be that. Its likely to be supported much longer than the predecessor rampage II 1366 board
As for the power supply, I would suggest forgetting about LED's and flashing advertisements and focus more on its 80 efficiency certification. You dont need a kilowatt PSU, but something in the 750w-850w range and 80 silver certified minimum. With that said, if I were to purchase a PSU for the above motherboard Id want something efficient and that supports the dual 8-pin connection that motherboar has. Something like this Seasonic 750w Modular PSU that is 80 Plus Gold Certified
everything else are simple upgrades. I definitely wouldnt suggest going the route of solid state drives right now, theyre way too expensive and for a gaming rig theyre a huge money sink. Unless you're playing games filled with loading screens, a SSD is not going to help you out. Even if you're games are filled with loading screens, the performance gains are marginal. Its not going to benefit your FPS so from a min-max perspective theyre not a smart buy.
Excellent points, you are quite right. Power Supply and mobos are very important. I'm getting a 1.1KW PSU so I'm pretty sure I'm set for power supply. I dont know what kind of motherboard I'm getting though so I'm alittle concerned about that now.
i7 920 - OC's fine and it's easy as long as you have a good cpu cooler & mobo
6gb ddr3 @ 1600mhz + will be better than 12gb of 1333
Remember your hierarchy if you're not on an unlimited budget.
Mobo -> CPU -> RAM -> HDD -> GFX -> PSU
1100w PSU is overkill........ bad
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Yep thats a pretty beasty rig. It's excessive on its RAM for gaming though, you only need about 6GB.
I'm having second thoughts on the system but its in production and to late to change my mind. I'm thinking maybe I should have gone with the 980XL and bumped the ram down to 6 gigs to help with the cost abit. Not that it matters at this point but what kind of performance difference are we talking between the 960 and the 980? And will having 12 gigs of ram ever be useful for gaming or is everything above 6 just a complete waste?
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op!buy the new 930 its very cheap and can be oc to 3.6 easy !did i mention its cheap(290$)
For a second there I thought this post was 15 years old and you wrote 64MB of Ram.
I'm doing some fancy kung-fu to cancel my order. Buying a I7 980XL six core with 6 gigs of DDR3, Still getting the 5970 and I threw in a sound blaster titanium sound card. Can't wait to get it and start violating AOC.
Thanks for all the help guys.