Archives > Technical Support
Help me buy/build a computer
JC:
--- Quote from: Mojo on February 07, 2016, 10:03:37 pm ---Will a wild @JC appear?
--- End quote ---
I was on holiday ##
I've kinda been out of the loop a little recently so I'm not entirely sure what the requirements for "RS NXT" are, but based on the WoW Legion requirements either of the specifications proposed should be fine.
A couple of thoughts though:
- SSD size: WoW legion needs 45GB so that'll mean on a 120GB SSD you're really going to be pressed for space with an OS' etc. Go for a 250GB at least
- Hard Drive: Do you actually need one as well? do you have movies & music that you hold locally, or do you just use netflix/spotify etc?
- CPU: The one chosen is two generations old now, assume you chose it for cost reasons? If it's significantly cheaper, go for it, but a 6000 series chip/motherboard would be better
- Motherboard: It's kinda shitty, only two ram slots & no real room to add expansion cards later (eg. WiFi), this seems better: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mds3ha or this if you're happy with full ATX: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97anniversary
Just my initial thoughts anyway, it looks like a good rig for not much money - keep in mind last I saw ATI drivers still suck balls, so it might still be worth sacrificing performance and going for the nvidia 970 anyway :3
Keith:
--- Quote from: JC on February 13, 2016, 02:39:39 am ---
--- Quote from: Mojo on February 07, 2016, 10:03:37 pm ---Will a wild @JC appear?
--- End quote ---
I was on holiday ##
I've kinda been out of the loop a little recently so I'm not entirely sure what the requirements for "RS NXT" are, but based on the WoW Legion requirements either of the specifications proposed should be fine.
A couple of thoughts though:
- SSD size: WoW legion needs 45GB so that'll mean on a 120GB SSD you're really going to be pressed for space with an OS' etc. Go for a 250GB at least
- Hard Drive: Do you actually need one as well? do you have movies & music that you hold locally, or do you just use netflix/spotify etc?
- CPU: The one chosen is two generations old now, assume you chose it for cost reasons? If it's significantly cheaper, go for it, but a 6000 series chip/motherboard would be better
- Motherboard: It's kinda shitty, only two ram slots & no real room to add expansion cards later (eg. WiFi), this seems better: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mds3ha or this if you're happy with full ATX: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97anniversary
Just my initial thoughts anyway, it looks like a good rig for not much money - keep in mind last I saw ATI drivers still suck balls, so it might still be worth sacrificing performance and going for the nvidia 970 anyway :3
--- End quote ---
-Hmm on the SSD/Hard drive point: on my current computer I have 336GB out of 500GB available (as well as having an external harddrive if I need to get rid of some space, so I suppose you're right in that I probably don't need both. I could use the extra money from not having a hard drive to expand the SSD a little bit.
-As far as the CPU goes I don't know how to tell how many generations old they are but I think I made an upgrade by using that first mobo you sent- there was a combo package that saved a little bit.
-I really don't know my approach to the video cards, I have some people saying that the 390 is better and others saying the 970 is better and I don't understand why haha.
Here's what I updated it to based on what you said:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kzfh4D
And here's that same build but with a 970 instead and a little less wattage:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CQdxnQ
Of course they turn out to be the exact same price to the cent
JC:
--- Quote from: Keith on February 13, 2016, 03:20:40 pm ---
--- Quote from: JC on February 13, 2016, 02:39:39 am ---
--- Quote from: Mojo on February 07, 2016, 10:03:37 pm ---Will a wild @JC appear?
--- End quote ---
I was on holiday ##
I've kinda been out of the loop a little recently so I'm not entirely sure what the requirements for "RS NXT" are, but based on the WoW Legion requirements either of the specifications proposed should be fine.
A couple of thoughts though:
- SSD size: WoW legion needs 45GB so that'll mean on a 120GB SSD you're really going to be pressed for space with an OS' etc. Go for a 250GB at least
- Hard Drive: Do you actually need one as well? do you have movies & music that you hold locally, or do you just use netflix/spotify etc?
- CPU: The one chosen is two generations old now, assume you chose it for cost reasons? If it's significantly cheaper, go for it, but a 6000 series chip/motherboard would be better
- Motherboard: It's kinda shitty, only two ram slots & no real room to add expansion cards later (eg. WiFi), this seems better: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mds3ha or this if you're happy with full ATX: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97anniversary
Just my initial thoughts anyway, it looks like a good rig for not much money - keep in mind last I saw ATI drivers still suck balls, so it might still be worth sacrificing performance and going for the nvidia 970 anyway :3
--- End quote ---
-Hmm on the SSD/Hard drive point: on my current computer I have 336GB out of 500GB available (as well as having an external harddrive if I need to get rid of some space, so I suppose you're right in that I probably don't need both. I could use the extra money from not having a hard drive to expand the SSD a little bit.
-As far as the CPU goes I don't know how to tell how many generations old they are but I think I made an upgrade by using that first mobo you sent- there was a combo package that saved a little bit.
-I really don't know my approach to the video cards, I have some people saying that the 390 is better and others saying the 970 is better and I don't understand why haha.
Here's what I updated it to based on what you said:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kzfh4D
And here's that same build but with a 970 instead and a little less wattage:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CQdxnQ
Of course they turn out to be the exact same price to the cent
--- End quote ---
With regard to the CPU - understanding the numbers that make it up can be a little tricky, but in simple terms this is basically what the numbers mean:
"i3/i5/i7" Gives a general indicator of the performance. Generally (but not always), most i3's are dual core with Hyperthreading, most i5's are Quad Core, most i7's are Quad Core or more, with Hyperthreading
"-nxxx (eg. -4xxx)" This gives the generation of the CPU, the current generation is 5 and 6 (they were both released together in mid 2015). In most situations, a newer generation CPU is faster even when they may have the same speed (eg. a gen 6 @ 3.4Ghz is normally faster than a gen 4 @ 3.4Ghz).
"-xnnn (eg. -x590)" indicates the relative performance of that CPU, within it's class (eg. i5), higher is typically better
Just looking at some benchmarks, the i5-4590 looks like it still is a good choice and there's not a huge performance gain from going to the latest gen chips.
With regard to the Graphics Cards, it tends to be a personal preference kind of thing. I have had bad luck in the past with ATI cards (Driver issues as above) so I generally don't recommend them as a result. Either the 390 or 970 will be great for what you want, if it was me I'd personally go for the second option.
Cheers,
JC
Keith:
Thanks buddy, appreciate it - I found a 970 for $280ish so that price reduction is gonna allow me to get at least a i5-6500 and then i also have to spend a little extra on the motherboard to deal with it but that's alright, ends up being $7 more for a pretty significant upgrade!
Ended up getting an i5-6600, a kinda crappy mobo w/2 ram slots but im getting 8gb cards so 8gb for now and 16 down the road is cool with me, the 970 i got came with some $20 adapter of some kind for free, maybe i'll need it someday who knows, also came with a free game. I also ended up with ddr4-2400 ram lol, everything seems to be all compatible and ended up being a fair amount of upgrades for only $12 more total.