StrikerZ

Hello, I'm very new to learning about hardware of computers. I'm pretty good at working computers(better than the average guy) but when it comes to hardware I am totally lost. I have been researching a ton, and over the next year I plan to build a gaming computer. Problem is, my budget isn't too big. Right now I play on an Xbox 360 on an HDTV which I plan to hook my comp up to. So...

1. I want to be able to play Skyrim/BF3 and etc on high settings. Not the highest possible but just high. How much would a nice computer cost to build that can run these games on high?

2. On average, what do console graphics compare to? Like does Medium settings on most PC games = Console graphics?

Takaharu

To make things easier, I'll answer the second question first. Depending on the game, console graphics are the equivalent to low or medium graphics on a PC. High graphics, particularly when used in conjunction with anti-aliasing (AA) swamps the graphics powers of consoles.

You should start off with telling us a budget for your system.
Working at the recommendation of medium settings I would recommend looking at the following components:

• Core i5 2500k. Not sure what the equivalent is for AMD at present.
• 4GB DDR3 1600MHz, well-branded. If you're unsure of which brands to pick, ask.
• ASUS, Biostar, Gigabyte or ASRock I'd recommend for motherboard manufacturers. Try aiming for SATA 3 and USB 3 when possible.
• For a first gaming rig, you could probably do without a solid state drive (SSD). They're really for use when you're impatient about your Windows boot time and/or bulky software (like Adobe CS software).
• 850W power supply (PSU). You'll be recommended Corsair here. Don't rule out other manufacturers but if you find a power supply that's around £30 less than others of the same wattage, steer clear of it. Again, if in doubt, ask.
  You'd do well to have more power available in your PSU than you need as a PSU is the closest you'll ever get to future-proofing.
• I'd say go for a 500GB harddrive, unless you can afford 1TB. With today's prices harddrives are quite pricey, otherwise I would've said 1TB from the offset.
• Take a look at the GTX 560 Ti. It fares very well in both of the games that you want to play.

All of the components mentioned above can be tweaked to suit your budget but plan to spend the better part of £500 ($700, rounding down).

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StrikerZ

That sounds a bit under my budget. So that's sounds pretty good. Around how much money would it cost to upgrade It to run most games on high?

BlueMak

If you are not going to build your computer till some time in 2012, then wait till that time. Prices will change by then for at least some of the components, new models will be released etc. Do you know approximately the month you are going to buy it?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

StrikerZ

A long time. Maybe in about August.

Judas

yeah ... don't start picking out parts right now... a year in the computer realm is like 7 years for the consoles...

in a year... there will be huge changes.. 8gb will be a very common standard (as it's starting to occur now as being common).... 16gb will likely have emerged as becoming above "average"...

Entire new line of video cards will have been introduced with the possibility of a refresh by august...

new CPUS... Ivybridge may poke it's head out.... that'll be a huge plus...

Prices will have stabilized by then for hardrives..



Nothing wrong with checking out how things are now of course.


And for clarification... a few of the devs posting or speaking about Skyrim, said that the Console equivilent to PC.. is like taking the PC version.. setting most of the stuff to LOW, with the odd thing for example.. some textures at medium.... it's a LOW/Medium hybrid on both the ps3/xbox360... additionally both apparently run at a resolution just a touch below 720p on both systems too. (they are rescaled to 720p which then on most HDTVs is resample again to fit 1080p).... typically the game runs at a solid 30fps...

For LOLs...... An intel i3/i5/i7 cpu with the intergrated intel HD Graphics 3000 iGPU provided with 512mb of Vram and a system with 4gb+ of physical ram @ default clocks will produce the same graphic power and capabilities as the ps3/xbox360..

indeed a cheap intel i3 with the 3000 series HD Graphics from intel built into the cpu, will perform at precisely the same graphics quality and resolution.. and in many cases.. outperform the ps3/xbox360..

You know the consoles are getting dated when a gpu... a tiny little thing smaller than fly, is equal to or greater than the console equivilent.

The HD2000 series igpu don't perform quite as well... but... will do well enough.

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BlueMak

For fun you can take notes of prices etc, but it is almost pointless to design it now unless speaking for things like case, keyboard, mouse, which are still not certain 8 months from now.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

StrikerZ

Ok thanks. It would be smart to wait, but I was trying to find an estimate of the parts price, but that was stupid as of course prices will change too. So, I was wondering as of right now, how good can a comp around 800$s run modern games? I could probably buy parts for that comp now as I have the money but if it won't be very good I'll just wait until I get more money.

Judas

Actually about 3 weeks ago i priced out someone some parts purchasing through newegg.ca/.com (pricing is almost identical now between the 2)...

and a $1000 gets you an i7 system with relatively good graphics... and all the fixings.... just the tower.. no keyboard/mouse... and even Blu-ray capabilities.. not sure about playback software.. that would have to be purchased...

So obviously with a knockdown of 200 bucks... probably remove the Blu-ray drive which will save you about 80 dollars give or take..

and backdown off the i7 model to an i5 will drop it about 100 bucks, probably swap out the video card for a slightly lesser model saving about 20 would put you at 800 dollars..

so you can get a very good computer for about 800... but the real value is at around $1000

The price also includes Windows 7 x64 home Premimum fyi.

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BlueMak

Unless talking about things like mouse and keyboard, case and perhaps PSU, it would be unwise to buy parts now only to buy/build the rest in 8 months time.

Wait till you buy everything together.

For 800 you can get a good enough system, BUT, if gaming is your only/main concern, know that by August we probably have some news about the next generation of consoles and their release dates. So if, and yes that's a big if, there is a new Xbox or PS3 by the end of 2012, then you might want to buy that instead.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

StrikerZ

I could probably shell out 1000$ around this time to buy the parts and build it now. Then by August, I could either upgrade my PC a ton or buy a new console. Do you happen to have a link of the build for the PC? And since I will be playing on my TV I have now(Specific computer monitors would feel weird for me) would I still get good graphics?

It's not very good. It's a 40" 1080i with only 852 by 460 resolution. I LOVE how it looks with my Xbox but would it limit my PC? If so I'll just get a monitor.

Judas

unfortunately no i don't have a link to the $1000 build... i'd have to go recreate it...

as for your current tv..all you would want to make sure is that you can attach the computer via HDMI or VGA.... VGA is likely going to give you the least amount of problems... VGA is the blue 15 pin port btw....

852x460 will make it probably difficult to use as an actual computer to browse websites... even if you set the scaleing to say 75% or 50%... not sure how readable everything will be...

todays standards are basically 1280x800 for a minimum resolution for web pages... although i can get them to fit on 1024x600... but it's tough... most netbooks use 1024x600.

but graphics wise.... you should be able to blow away your xbox360 in the graphics department.. in both fluid smooth like play and considerably better graphics... at 852x460... you should be able to crank everything to the ultimate max... use a higher ugrids on skyrim.... enable even say 2 or 4x Super Sampling FSAA and still hit 60fps with approximately a 800-1000 dollar computer.

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StrikerZ

Wow! That's amazing! Mostly likely I would have my Xbox running too so I could talk with friends while playing on my PC so being able to do this is awesome and I have a nice laptop to use if I want to surf the web. I guess I'll start looking on parts as I should be able to spend 1000$ by New Years. Any specific recommendations? Or guidelines?

Someone recommended this:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=20889427

Randy P

I like this board better:

Newegg.ca - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I'm a Gigabyte fan anyway so I'm biased

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blibbax

That's a decent start. That PC would run must games maxed at 1080p (including Skyrim), maybe some games (e.g. BF3) nearly maxed. Here's my thoughts on the component selection:

• The 2500K is only significantly better than the 2500 if you want to overclock at any point. In which case you'd also probably want a different CPU cooler.
• DDR3 is so cheap atm I really don't see any reason not to get 8GB. It's well worth it, and it's not likely to get much cheaper if you wait.
• Consider an SSD to speed up loading times. You can have Windows, your most frequently used programs and the few games that you're playing at any one time on the SSD, and your movies, music, documents, other games, backups etc. on the HDD. Makes a big difference to system responsiveness.
• I'm not sure about that Hitachi HDD, I tend to trust Western Digital more. But I'll leave that up to others. Same goes for the Biostar motherboard - it's not a brand I generally associate with quality, but I'm no expert, especially on that socket.
• What are your priorities with cases? Silent? Compact? Lots of room for upgrades? High build quality? The case you've chosen is well rounded, but probably has more cooling than you need and pays for it in noise. Top-mounted vents are asking for hassle with dust, spilled drinks etc. imo, too.
• You could consider Nvidia GTX560/560Tis as an alternative to that 6870. They're faster in some games and slower in others (you need to do your research and decide which you care about). They use a little more power under load, a little less power at idle (iirc?), and have a different feature set. Launch reviews are probably your best bet to compare the options without getting biased opinions off people like me. Neither Nvidia nor AMD really make any bad cards in this price bracket as long as you get a good deal on whatever you buy.
• You might want to look at a better PSU if you want to upgrade in the future, keep the PSU for a long time, or have modular cabling.
• I'd question whether there's any need for you to go for the Z68 chipset. All that Z68 really offers over P67 is quicksync, onboard graphics and SSD caching, and for many users none of those are useful.

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