Advice on new gaming rig

[Guest]

A family member asked me for advice on what to get for a gaming PC and I'm afraid I'm not up with the times. The last PC they a few years ago blows and I don't want to repeat the same mistakes. I want this thing to not need upgrading anytime soon.

 

Basically the kids play Minecraft, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Sky Rim.

 

Any advice? The last thing I knew was when I got my i5 2300 @ 2.8 GHz per CPU. That was close to state of art back then.

[Tripredacus]

A lot of new games are requiring a 64bit OS these days. If Minecraft is involved, I would stick with Windows 7 x64 for now, the edition you choose is up to you... Reason being is there are lots of problems with Windows 8/8.1 video drivers not having the correct WDM version. Basically, I say, take the newest game of the bunch: Skyrim. Here is the recommended requirements:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:System_Requirements

Even that is a bit behind the times! So you don't want to lock into the old games recommendation as you will have to upgrade sooner. I'd say take a look-see what a newer game recommends and start there. For example see Call of Duty: Ghosts:

http://www.ign.com/wikis/call-of-duty-ghosts/PC_System_Requirements

I don't think you really need to get that recommended video card, as in, it might be a bit much.

So get Win7 x64 (or do the research on the Win8/WDM/Minecraft issue), quad core CPU, 6-8GB+ RAM and a decent video card.

[Guest]

Yeah, They are already running Windows 7 64 bit and I planned on keeping them on that. 

 

I'll use that second link as to what to shoot.

 

Thanks

[puntoMX]

6 To 8GB of RAM, I don't think so. These days we are talking about 16GB RAM and a 3GB Video card like the 290X or a nVidia with the "same" speed. Intel i5 k should be fine for the next years for "openworld games" like Sky Rim (old game engine so Win 7 is okay for now, might go with Win 8/9 in the future for the latest games (if the video card supports it)). 

 

I might be too late to tell you this. If not, what is the budget and what is your favorite shop (online)?

 

ps. MineCraft has mods for the graphics, they don't help?

[Guest]

The budget is under a $1000. Something like 700~800. We are thinking of buying from iBuyPower. They use off the shelf parts. They are basically computer builders. They called them a few days ago and they set up a system but it was over $1000 and it only had 4 gigs of ram.

 

My computer died and my old one takes 5 minutes to load gmail. It's unbearable. I'm only able to post this because I teamviewered into a relatives PC that has a quad core Intel. It's not easy to do this so I may fall silent for lengths of time.

 

Thanks

[puntoMX]

Can you build a system yourself?

[Guest]

Yes but they live far away.

[puntoMX]

 

Case1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Gaming Case

Processor1 x Intel® Core™ i5-4690K Processor (4x 3.50GHz/6MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core™ i5-4690K

Processor Cooling1 x Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-1150] - Standard 120mm Fan

Memory1 x 8 GB [4 GB x2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand**Free Upgrade to DDR3-2133 G.SKILL RipjawsX.

Video Card1 x AMD Radeon R9 270X - 2GB - FREE Upgrade to R9 280 3GB - Single Card

[FREE Game Download] - AMD Never Settle Forever Gold Reward - Select 3 Free Games (Choose from Alien Isolation, Star Citizen, Sniper Elite III, and more) - Free with purchase of R9 270, R9 280, and R9 290 Series Graphics Card

[FREE] - 802.11AC Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter FREE with iBUYPOWER Desktops

[FREE] - McAfee Antivirus PLUS 2014 - FREE with any System ($49 Value) <------------------------------------ like you want that

Motherboard1 x MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition -- 2x PCIe x16, 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

Power Supply1 x 430 Watt - Corsair CX430 V2 - 80 PLUS - *Free Upgrade to 500W Corsair CX500 V2 - 80 PLUS Bronze

Primary Hard Drive1 x 240 GB Kingston V300 SATA-3 SSD -- Read: 450MB/s; Write: 450MB/s - Single Drive

Optical Drive1 x 24x Dual Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black

Sound Card1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Operating System1 x None- Pre-formatted Hard Drive Only

Keyboard1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard

Mouse1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse

Warranty1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service

Rush Service1 x No Rush Service (Usually Ships in 10-15 Business Days)

 

Something like that but it's 911 USD. I'm sure if you build it yourself you sill be done for 150 USD less (Newegg?). And the power supply, they recommend a 600W but I can tell you that a good 450W will do the trick as well. I use a CS450M and it has a gen3 i5 k @4.7GHz (stock voltage), AMD 280X, 2x 2TB "green" drives, SSD, 16GB and watercooling (kit) and it has no problems at all.

[Guest]

Thanks. I'm in the middle of a computer disaster but I will take a look at it as soon as I'm able.

 

They wont be overclocking so no need for anything more than the stock fan. I have an i5 2300 @ 2.8 GHZ Sandy Bridge with a stock Intel fan and never noticed anything wrong but correct me if I am wrong.

[puntoMX]

I know, but the watercooling seems to be included in the package, but, you can drop the "k" i5 and go with a 3.2GHz one as well, running it at it's turbo frequency of 3.4GHz on all 4 cores with some BIOS/EUFI tweaking; this will drop the price 70USD. I just checked Newegg and they went up with their prices for the end of the year "sale". Seems that iBuyPower is even cheaper than Newegg; 3 year warranty and they build it for you for the same price (or a bit less) as components cost at Newegg.

[Guest]

Sounds good.

[Guest]

Sorry mods for double post but I want to make sure puntoMX gets an email telling him I asked the following question.

 

How do I get it to turbo with that BIOS/EUFI tweaking? Can you explain the process?

 

Thanks

[puntoMX]

It has been a while that I OCed a non "k" Intel CPU as I'm out of the computer retail business for a year (cheap all in one, netbooks, tablets and phones killed my fun).

 

When you go into the UEFI screen it should let you change the multiplier of the CPU to the speed of the turbo frequency. You might need to disable the turbo function to let it work (I know, no logic). No need to tweak other settings. If the previous doesn't work (it should as far as I know), use the OC Genie function in the BIOS and let it OC your system automatically. Sure there is no guaranteed success but if it works it's a nice plus to get those extra 7% on CPU power.

 

btw, I didn't subscribe on this topic but I'll be around a bit more on MSFN .

[puntoMX]

By the way, there seem to be less expensive cases too, I just went with the stock one. You could save up to 47USD or so there.

[Guest]

Thanks a lot but I just got an email from her that she ordered something. I couldn't do this earlier because my main rig died and it took a full 5 minutes for Gmail to load. I tried playing with the cart they set up for her but the page was unresponsive. Now that I'm back on a fast computer it's too late.

 

I'll try the on doing that trick on my i5.

 

Hey on another note, what are safe temperatures for Intel i5's and stuff? My stock cooling fan is being held on by one of those stupid stock plastic clips and a nut and bolt going through one of the plastic clip holes. I've broken 7 of those clips trying 2 CPU coolers. Seems they are made to only be used once. They start spreading and bending and eventually break off. I got 10 spare ones arriving today.

 

Thanks again.

 

EDIT: NM. I could just use Google to find out.  I'm still groggy as I just woke up but go ahead if you want to add anything.

Edited December 9, 2014 by -X-