Author Topic: First gaming PC (Read 16516 times)

KaidenJames · « **on:** 2014-05-21 06:02:51 »

Hey everyone. I'm building my first gaming desktop and I want to get your thoughts on what I have so far and what i'm picking up. We'll start with what I have, then what I want to get.

Mobo: MSI b85m-p33
PSU: Coolermaster EX2 525 (I bought these two components from a co-worker for 50 bucks)
Case: The case i'm getting from a friend for free and don't know what it's called but i've seen it and it looks spacious enough with good room for cooling.
GPU: Gigabyte HD 7850 2gb Windforce OC (I'm picking this up this friday for 70 bucks, Seems like too good a deal to pass up)

What I want to get-

Processor: I5 4670k 3.4 - 3.8 Turbo overclockable
Cooling: CORSAIR Hydro Series H50 Quiet Edition Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
HDD: SanDisk SDSSDP-128G-G25 2.5" 128GB

I basically want to be able to play Wildstar, Skyrim w/mods, Borderlands, Arkham series and some emulators. Thoughts and concerns definitely welcome! GO!

KnifeTheSky77 · « **Reply #1 on:** 2014-05-21 06:16:47 »

My suggestion would be to scrap the liquid cooling, the stock cooling is more than sufficient for that cpu/gpu, use those savings to upgrade that vid card. I would probably swap the sandisk for a samsung ssd

KaidenJames · « **Reply #2 on:** 2014-05-21 06:23:28 »

I was thinking Samsung in the first place lol. Would the stock cooling be ok for overclocking though? I heard that wasn't a good idea. And the GPU is going to get upgraded for sure in due time. I'm getting the 7850 because it's a lot cheaper than i've seen online (and available to me this friday) . I am on a budget. Speaking of budget, what would be a good suggestion for a GPU? Thanks for the reply!

Tekkie.X · « **Reply #3 on:** 2014-05-21 18:21:09 »

With the price of RAM these days, I'd go for 16GB, 4GB is currently and quickly becoming the recommended amount for more and more games, gonna be hitting 6 to 8GB by next year, future proof yourself a bit.

Rundas · « **Reply #4 on:** 2014-05-21 18:26:31 »

If you want to run emulators like you said, I recommend getting maybe a 4770 or a 4770k as the ps2 - gamecube/wii generation take a tremendous amount of computing power and aren't so much gpu based. If you stick with the i5 though, liquid cooling is a waste. It only matters if you have a monster of a processor.

Tekkie.X · « **Reply #5 on:** 2014-05-21 19:39:46 »

I have a i5 2500K, 640GT 2GB, 8GB RAM, PS2, Gamecube and some Wii emulation run just fine.

Rundas · « **Reply #6 on:** 2014-05-21 19:52:53 »

Depends on the game. Something like Wind Waker runs 4000x faster than Metroid Prime. Also PS2 emulation is WAY slower than Dolphin.

Covarr · « **Reply #7 on:** 2014-05-21 20:22:54 »

My experience is that GC games tend to be more demanding to emulate than Wii games. I don't really know why, but it's something I've noticed.

But yeah, that i5-4670k should do fine for any emulation. Might not achieve fullspeed on Mega Man X3 using higan/bsnes accuracy profile (accurately emulating the Cx4 chip in that game is killer), but literally any other emulated game you throw at it will be fine.

KaidenJames · « **Reply #8 on:** 2014-05-21 21:03:04 »

Thank you all very much for the advice! So eventually I will probably go to 16 gb of RAM. That's the max my mobo will carry anyways. And for emulation, Dolphin is what I was wanting to use and I have heard from a bunch of people it's more CPU intensive than GPU. On my sisters laptop she has an I5 3230m which turbos to 3.2 I think? I can play Wind Waker and Twilight Princess at 1x IR. So i'm hoping with the I5 4670k and the 7850 I could bump those up to 3 maybe 4 IR.

Again, I must ask why I shouldn't get the liquid cooling if I'm planning to OC? Does anyone have this CPU and OC's with the stock cooling? I just want to be sure. Thanks for all the comments guys!

Tekkie.X · « **Reply #9 on:** 2014-05-21 23:01:21 »

I can do 2.5 x IR, once I go any higher my FPS nosedives, playing Bloody Roar or CvS2 relies on that smooth framerate, anything less and it's a slideshow

Rundas · « **Reply #10 on:** 2014-05-22 00:29:07 »

Well, idk about ANY emulation. Ever try to run Shadow of the colossus? Or any PS2 game for that matter?

KaidenJames · « **Reply #11 on:** 2014-05-22 01:18:55 »

On my current laptop I can run Final Fantasy X at 2xIR which surprises the hell out of me (am a6-3400 1.7ghz and hd6520g) but most emulators need a beefy CPU more so than GPU. Having said that, I OC my CPU to 2.4ghz. That's why i'm excited to get the 4670k! I've heard Shadow is THE hardest PS2 game to emulate. I want to try it out once I get my beast made.

dkma841 · « **Reply #12 on:** 2014-05-22 17:13:33 »

KnifeTheSky77 · « **Reply #13 on:** 2014-05-22 17:44:22 »

Quote from: KyubiNemesis on 2014-05-21 21:03:04

Again, I must ask why I shouldn't get the liquid cooling if I'm planning to OC? Does anyone have this CPU and OC's with the stock cooling? I just want to be sure. Thanks for all the comments guys!

You would certainly have more OC potential with an aftermarket cooler, but one would also have to consider that for the price of the i5+cooler you could also go for an i7 cpu

Rundas · « **Reply #14 on:** 2014-05-22 18:23:49 »

Yeah, my 4770k is overclocked to 4.5 and I can't run SoTC full speed even on the lowest specs.

KaidenJames · « **Reply #15 on:** 2014-05-22 21:14:37 »

@Knife - Alright, I will do some research on the I7 then, thanks.

@Rundas - Holy crap, really? That PS2 game is a freaking beast haha!

Covarr · « **Reply #16 on:** 2014-05-22 22:07:53 »

SotC is quite possibly the most demanding PS2 game to emulate, and is in no way indicative of PCSX2 performance for other games. Metal Gear Solid 3 pushes the system harder than most PS2 games, and even it does not come close to SotC's slowness.

Rundas · « **Reply #17 on:** 2014-05-23 00:32:52 »

Boy does it look like shit though. I have a physical copy and it looks like total ass on my PS2 EVEN with component cables. Not to mention with AV. Unless you have a weird CRT that has component input you're out of luck.

nfitc1 · « **Reply #18 on:** 2014-05-23 03:22:01 »

Quote from: Rundas on 2014-05-22 18:23:49

Yeah, my 4770k is overclocked to 4.5 and I can't run SoTC full speed even on the lowest specs.

The PS3 can't run SotC full speed. I don't think it was designed to be run full speed in the first place.

Rundas · « **Reply #19 on:** 2014-05-23 18:33:40 »

I've seen gameplay of the HD PS3 edition and it was running at a constant 60 fps, is there really slowdown? Like I said, the game doesn't even look good. I'm talking about graphically of course, the art is fantastic.

KaidenJames · « **Reply #20 on:** 2014-05-24 01:45:43 »

I picked up that GPU today and I can't wait use it. It's in pristine condition. Dude only used it a couple of times. I have an old amd mobo/cpu i'm going to use till I get my Intel cpu. Next friday can't come fast enough so I can get some ram and a HDD! Then it's Wildstar time!

DLPB_ · « **Reply #21 on:** 2014-05-24 12:13:58 »

A decent air cooler is fine (I went for a triple copper pipe one). I don't trust water coolers because if they fail (ok, unlikely), they ruin everything. I have just had a comp made for me as follows:

Processor (CPU)   Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard   ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE

Memory (RAM)   8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card   2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

1st Hard Disk   120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

I don't believe in overclocking.

Your gpu is comparable to mine.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-7850-vs-GeForce-GTX-760

I got mine to emulate as well. I want to play Last Story for Wii, for a start.

Rundas · « **Reply #22 on:** 2014-05-24 15:39:18 »

Nice specs, I haven't invested in the 700 series yet. Is there a difference between my 600 series Titan and the new one?

KaidenJames · « **Reply #23 on:** 2014-05-24 22:15:04 »

DLPB, welcome to the thread my friend! That looks like a nice PC you got there. I was hoping my GPU would be comparable to at least a 750, so close to a 760 is just awesome. Just makes me even more excited! I want to pay The Last Story as well. Ever since I found out Nobuo did the soundtrack for the game (that was literally the selling pint for me).

Since my PC is going to be similar to yours, I believe we should be able to emulate just fine. I think I've decided on the I5 because after some research, most games don't make use of Hyper threading tech. I, on the other hand will be overclocking though. @Rundas, I don't know how the 700 series compare to your 600 Titan as i'm just learning about this stuff, but my friend just got the 750 TI FTW version and says it's an absolute beast for the price.

nfitc1 · « **Reply #24 on:** 2014-05-25 00:13:02 »

Quote from: Rundas on 2014-05-23 18:33:40

I've seen gameplay of the HD PS3 edition and it was running at a constant 60 fps, is there really slowdown? Like I said, the game doesn't even look good. I'm talking about graphically of course, the art is fantastic.

Mine doesn't play at 60. Mine plays at 30. Yes it's constant, and it can go up to 60, but it doesn't stay there.