New gaming PC

[Herbert West]

Just get 4 gigs if RAM m'kay?

Depends on the OS. You don't need more than 2GB with Win XP. And even if you did, it is easy to add another memory module.

I'd take 2x2GB. With the current price it's the best choice and it makes multitasking so much better. And four is two times better than two

 

[Davaris]

I still want to learn about mythical features of Win7 that are so superior to WinXP that they are not absolutely useless gimmicks like prefetch, UAC, DirectFauX10 and OMG Windows are transparent and have shader 3.0! Ah you mean features like requiring 20 GB of HDD space and 1.5 GB of RAM just to work normally which is 10-15+ times more than WinXP require to do the exactly same things? Wait did I say same things? The 7 shit is incompatible with WinXP software and you have to run it in a goddamn virtual machine for a proper support which requires 2-3x times more resources besides standard needs.
You remind me of those Mac cretins who think that Mac is superior just cuz having it makes you kewl.

The Leadwerks guy thinks Win7 is worse than Vista and made four videos about what he thinks is broken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmgJS6vl ... re=channel

 

[Overweight Manatee]

The Leadwerks guy thinks Win7 is worse than Vista and made four videos about what he thinks is broken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmgJS6vl ... re=channel

His first problem with it (which he takes 2 minutes of crappy useless talking to get to), is that he was disappointed that his FIREWALL wouldn't work through the XP virtualization. That makes him certifiably retarded.

 

[Melcar]

That guy is a douche. Fuck him.

 

[vazquez595654]

Video card prices spiked a couple weeks ago. I want a 5770, but seems like too much of a premium for DX11, tesselation, and low power.

Is it a terrible time to build a computer?

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

its mostly a bad time for video cards because nvidia doesnt have an answer for the 58xx series, which are in high demand / low supply / no competition (thus the price hike). normally all the old cards would have gone down in price to reflect the arrival of the next generation of cards from ati and nvidia. unfortunately they were already pretty low, and the new cards just sit on top of current prices without pushing them down.

the 5770 was originally supposed to be $160 for instance, but now its $170+. a better deal might be an open box 4870, like this, for $125:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

The 4870 generally outperforms the 5770, though there is some speculation this could change with the release of better optimized drivers for the 5xxx series.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Video card prices spiked a couple weeks ago. I want a 5770, but seems like too much of a premium for DX11, tesselation, and low power.

Is it a terrible time to build a computer?

Its ALWAYS a bad time to build a computer. 2 weeks, a month, 2 months from now there will always be something thats cheaper/faster that you could have waited for. At some point you just have to suck it up and live with the fact that you might only get 90 FPS in crysis instead of 100 or that you might have to spend the price of a cheap restaurant meal extra.

 

[LazyD]

my new rig is running xcom great!

 

[getter77]

I could use some PC advice myself presently should anybody be up for it.

Budget is theoretically $2K, but I should very much like to end up as far under that as possible without some horrid sacrifice that'll hamstring me sooner or later. Money not spent on the system will be used for particualrly useful software and possibly some games.

Aside from general use, the purpose of the machine will be for catching up on quite a lot of games I've missed out on/current to come releases as well as all aspects of non-bleeding edge independent game development.

Win 7 64, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 2 monitors of some sort, a reliable keyboard that glows a bit, a reliable wired mouse, a rather proper microphone w/ stand---likewise a soundcard(I presume to be necessary for musical compositon?) and nifty stereo speakers(no room/care for 7.1 surround and such), and a usable webcam are the general things I'm sure of.

The rest, I really don't know aside from no desire to overclock and wanting everything to be as stable, supported, and long lasting as possible. A friend will be assembling whatever it winds up being shipped from Newegg come early-mid December at the start of his Winter break from teaching. I can't imagine ever bothering with a 1900x resolution or any other gigantic number lest it somehow be necessary to read the text or some such for a great many games. Don't care about Crysis and the like. Main visual feedback I'm looking for is stability/framerate alongside seeing all I'm supposed to on the screen.

Odds are pretty good I'll not have any upgrade funds anytime soon down the line so the hope is to get a good, lasting machine up and running as my 5-6 years old one leaves me missing out on much in terms of enjoyments and productive capabilities.

Otherwise, examples of games I'd like to be able to run with no issues include Drakensang + sequel, King Arthur RolePlaying Wargame, both King's Bounty games, Elven Legacy, Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands, Witcher perhaps, Titan Quest, Elemental: War of Magic, Mount & Blade, Space Rangers 2, and so on.

 

[Melcar]

You need four HD5970s.

Edit: And a pair of the largest SSDs you can find.

 

[Lesifoere]

Otherwise, examples of games I'd like to be able to run with no issues include Drakensang + sequel, King Arthur RolePlaying Wargame, both King's Bounty games, Elven Legacy, Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands, Witcher perhaps, Titan Quest, Elemental: War of Magic, Mount & Blade, Space Rangers 2, and so on.

I really don't think you need a 2k$ machine for those; I had cash to burn but even I ended well below my (much lower than yours) budget. What do you do apart from gaming and musical composition, anyway, make GFX for Hollywood?

(Though I'll admit that I pirated my Win7, which does cut down the cost by quite a lot.)

 

[Gragt]

Though I'll admit that I pirated my Win7, [...]

 

[Melcar]

All the cool kids are doing it.

 

[Destroid]

Do what you want, ‘cause a pirate is free,
YOU ARE A PIRATE!
Yar har, fiddle di dee,
Being a pirate is alright to be,
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!

(spoken)You are a pirate!
(crowd)Yay!

We've got us a map, (a map!)
To lead us to a hidden box,
That's all locked up with locks! (with locks!)
And buried deep away!

We'll dig up the box, (the box!)
We know it's full of precious booty!
Burst open the locks!
And then we'll say hooray!

(changes to electronic euro-pop crap music)

(girl's voice)Yar, har, fiddle di dee.
If you love to sail the sea,
You are a pirate!

(spoken)Weigh anchooor!

Yar har, fiddle di dee,
Being a pirate is alright with me!
Do what you want '‘cause a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!
Arr yarr, ahoy and avast,
dinky-dink-dink-a-dinkadefast!
Hang the black flag
At the end of the mast!
You are a pirate!

Hahaha! (Yay!)

We're sailing away (set sail!),
Adventure awaits on every shore!
We set sail and explore (ya-har!)
And run and jump all day (Yay!)
We float on our boat (the boat!)
Until its time to drop the anchor,
Then hang up our coats (aye-aye!)
Until we sail again!

(girl's voice)Yar, har, fiddle di dee.
If you love to sail the sea,
You are a pirate!

Laaaand ho!

Yar har, fiddle di dee,
Being a pirate is alright with me!
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!

(spoken)Yar har, wind at your back, lads,
Wherever you go!

(singing)Blue sky above and blue ocean below,
You are a pirate!

(spoken)Hahahahaa!
You're a pirate!

 

[Lesifoere]

That aside, anyone got advice re: speakers? Mine finally died after over ten years' use. No, really. They were very good, high-quality speakers.

 

[Gragt]

?

 

[relootz]

That aside, anyone got advice re: speakers? Mine finally died after over ten years' use. No, really. They were very good, high-quality speakers.

2.0 / 2.1/ 5.1 ? What speakers do you need?

For 2.0 (meaning 2 speakers) the gigaworks are excellent. I have them and they are very good for their price.

 

[Lesifoere]

2.0 will do, I don't need anything fancy (my now-dead speakers were 2.1, but what the hey)--as long as music/movies/games sound decent, I'm good.

 

[getter77]

Otherwise, examples of games I'd like to be able to run with no issues include Drakensang + sequel, King Arthur RolePlaying Wargame, both King's Bounty games, Elven Legacy, Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands, Witcher perhaps, Titan Quest, Elemental: War of Magic, Mount & Blade, Space Rangers 2, and so on.

I really don't think you need a 2k$ machine for those; I had cash to burn but even I ended well below my (much lower than yours) budget. What do you do apart from gaming and musical composition, anyway, make GFX for Hollywood?

(Though I'll admit that I pirated my Win7, which does cut down the cost by quite a lot.)

Well, the $2k worry mainly comes from how things add up when strung together---the 2nd monitor, a decent mouse/kb, mic, webcam, soundcard(?), etc since there's nothing I can salvage from my old PC. While trying to strike just the right balance of functioning well enough and having the biggest chunk of the $2k left possible. The other game dev centric parts would be programming and artisitic considerations(the rest of it in other words)---no way can I afford 3DSMax/Maya or some such....but the likes of Blender, GIMP, and so on will almost certainly be something I'll need to deal with. As an unemployed person since January, this is the last remaining chunk of savings from my prior shit retail job with the intention to do something better with my time in life.

That TR guide with the 3 or so builds a page or so back was pretty useful. In terms of driver support for 64bit, is nvidia really far superior to ati nowadays and seemingly going forward or should that not be a concern?

 

[luckyb0y]

If you want quality stereo sound and don't care for surround then get proper speakers. All those Creatives, Logitechs and the like are way too bass heavy, which is only to be expected as most sound comes out of the subwoofer.

You can get a decent second hand amp and a set of speakers for much less than some of these gaming/home theatre surround sets.

 

[luckyb0y]

What are you going to use your PC for?
Do you want as much raw power and compromise on screen/sound card, accessories quality? Or do you want a good rig for say a grand and nice pair of 23'' IPS monitors (~600$) to go with it?

 

[relootz]

Luckyboy Creative has excellent 2.0 speakers. the Gigaworks. They dont suffer the problems you describe.

 

[Destroid]

If you speakers were genuinely good, they can likely be repaired for not much money.

 

[luckyb0y]

Yeah but they are what? 50 quid. You can do much better for that kind of money if you're willing to spend some time hunting for a bargain.

 

[Multidirectional]

If you want quality stereo sound and don't care for surround then get proper speakers. All those Creatives, Logitechs and the like are way to bass heavy, which is only to be expected as most sound comes out of the subwoofer.

You can get a decent second hand amp and a set of speakers for much less than some of these gaming/home theatre surround sets.

I agree, I'm using old-ass second hand amplifier with two cheap Jamo E 350 speakers, and it sounds awesome compared to all that Creative or Logitech "5.1" nonsense. A lot of my friends have that, and when I try to listen to some track I like at their place it's like half the charm of the track is gone. I never really understood subwoofers, I like it better when there are two normal speakers with ability to produce decent bass.