Budget Rigs for ARR - First Timer

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12-08-2012, 06:06 AM
Tsukichu

Budget Rigs for ARR - First Timer

Hey all, I'm trying to fashion together a new rig that can run AAR at max settings and a few other games I'm looking to pick up in the downtime until 2.0 releases.

I have never purchased nor built my own gaming PC before, I really don't know the first thing about which parts are better than others. I've done a little research on Newegg and on several different forums and this is what I've come up with:

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

ASRock Z77 Extreme3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card

Corsair CX500 V2 Power Supply

All that up there is about 900 dollars including the tower that I haven't mentioned.
I have 1000$ to work with, but my husband would like me to keep it down to 900 if I can.

Any help is super appreciative, and be nice to this noobie. ^^; It's alright if I can't run it at max settings too, I would just like to, I just want it as pretty as possible.

Thanks! (Sorry if this is off topic mods!)
12-08-2012, 06:14 AM
Cedri

I would wait to build anything until you get your hands on ARR.
12-08-2012, 06:15 AM
Duuude007

Sapphire has a erm.. stigma to it. may want to read reviews before you unbox it, if you haven't already.
12-08-2012, 06:16 AM
Naraku_Diabolos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cedri

I would wait to build anything until you get your hands on ARR.

How will she be able to put ARR on the computer when she wouldn't have a computer first? You mean to use on the older one and see if it runs on there? I'm also wanting to upgrade my desktop's graphics card (it's an NVIDIA GeForce 260 GTX) to a 660 Ti later on.
12-08-2012, 06:16 AM
Tsukichu

That's what my husband was telling me but I wanted to buy it after the holidays so I could play GW2 and Tera on it among other things. The above rig has been tested to run Blade and Soul at max settings/fps. I would just like a little advise on whether or not I can get the same power for cheaper.

How does it stack against 1.0? I know we have no clue to ARR recommended specs yet.
12-08-2012, 06:18 AM
Tsukichu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

How will she be able to put ARR on the computer when she wouldn't have a computer first? You mean to use on the older one and see if it runs on there? I'm also wanting to upgrade my desktop's graphics card (it's an NVIDIA GeForce 260 GTX) to a 660 Ti later on.

I've been playing 1.0 on my macbook pro...Tis why I would like to get a proper PC. ^^ It worked fine but you know...It was laggy amongst other things.
12-08-2012, 06:27 AM
Aenarion

It's hard to get a good handle on how much hardware you'd need for ARR until the benchmark is out, but at first glance your list looks alright. It'd be worth keeping an eye out for deals this shopping season and see what you can snag for cheap, especially a SSD.
12-08-2012, 06:28 AM
Tsukichu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aenarion

It's hard to get a good handle on how much hardware you'd need for ARR until the benchmark is out, but at first glance your list looks alright. It'd be worth keeping an eye out for deals this shopping season and see what you can snag for cheap, especially a SSD.

-nod- If I play my cards right I believe one of my relatives have an SSD waiting for me under the tree. ^^
12-08-2012, 06:57 AM
Jynx_McNinja

The only recommendation I would make is get an nivdia graphics card instead of AMD, now I am biased towards nvidia but I'm building my own PC as well & I've found out in my research that nvidia cards are optimized for intel CPUs, so if you want the most out of your graphics card i would go nvidia (i personally recommend a GTX 500 series or better). Hope this helps & good luck with your build! :D
12-08-2012, 08:49 AM
Tsukichu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jynx_McNinja

The only recommendation I would make is get an nivdia graphics card instead of AMD, now I am biased towards nvidia but I'm building my own PC as well & I've found out in my research that nvidia cards are optimized for intel CPUs, so if you want the most out of your graphics card i would go nvidia (i personally recommend a GTX 500 series or better). Hope this helps & good luck with your build! :D

Thank you, I've heard that as well but Nvidia's seem to be slightly more expensive I've noticed. But it turns out for 12 dollars less I can actually get a GTX 660 ti 2gb. I'll probably go with that instead.
12-08-2012, 09:26 AM
Oriana

hey i see you trying to build a pc well i was checking some stuff in ebay and i found a really good computer there for 900 maybe u can get it cheaper if you talk to the people but idk but here in the website this might help you there :) http://www.ebay.com/itm/221168532125...84.m1555.l2649
12-08-2012, 09:32 AM
Aenarion

It's not so much that nvidia are optimized for intel cpu (it doesn't really work that way), but rather that nvidia as a whole tends to have better driver support. Software optimization depends on each specific program, and there will be games that runs better on one or the other.

Personally, I place significant weight on power efficiency and thermal envelop when it comes to GPUs, so I was solidly in AMD's camp with the 5800 series when Nvidia was the powerhog, their position have since reversed, with Nvidia's 600 series being the efficient one.

Edit:

lol @ the obvious self-advertisement :p

An used Phenom II system with gtx460 for $900? {Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.}
12-08-2012, 09:35 AM
Naraku_Diabolos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsukichu

Thank you, I've heard that as well but Nvidia's seem to be slightly more expensive I've noticed. But it turns out for 12 dollars less I can actually get a GTX 660 ti 2gb. I'll probably go with that instead.

Yeah, I was telling Babydoll that earlier about the GTX 660 Ti card. I may see if Best Buy has any deals for the card, but money is tight for me right now so I have to wait.
12-08-2012, 09:43 AM
Oriana

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aenarion

lol @ the obvious self-advertisement :p

An used Phenom II system with gtx460 for $900? {Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.}

is not self-advertisement i like to check stuff in ebay and i think it was good and she said her price range was 900 idk if is really good or not but is looks decent
12-08-2012, 09:48 AM
Aion

actually, ati hd 8000 series will come in few months,if you able to wait, maybe you should check that. If it isnt, gtx 660ti is solid choice, hell 670 will be perfect. common perception is, if you are going to use higher res than 1080 and higher AA, go to ATI high end card (not saying you should btw)
12-08-2012, 09:48 AM
Aenarion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oriana

is not self-advertisement i like to check stuff in ebay and i think it was good and she said her price range was 900 idk if is really good or not but is looks decent

Outdated cpu that was underwhelming when new, coupled with a gpu that was mid range two generations ago.

Not good at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aion

actually, ati hd 8000 series will come in few months,if you able to wait, maybe you should check that. If it isnt, gtx 660ti is solid choice, hell 670 will be perfect. common perception is, if you are going to use higher res than 1080 and higher AA, go to ATI high end card (not saying you should btw)

She's operating under a pretty strict budget, and new GPUs will carry a premium for awhile, so probably not a good fit there.
12-08-2012, 09:55 AM
Tsukichu

Motherboards

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H -- 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16, 4x USB 3.0

MSI Z77A-G41 -- 2x USB 3.0

Which do you believe is better? I save 40 bucks by switching to either one.
12-08-2012, 09:56 AM
Nix

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

Yeah, I was telling Babydoll that earlier about the GTX 660 Ti card. I may see if Best Buy has any deals for the card, but money is tight for me right now so I have to wait.

If you have the time to wait, I'm a huge fan of crawling Newegg for their daily deals. Took me a while to get my pc giblets but I saved so much money D:
12-08-2012, 10:06 AM
Aenarion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsukichu

Motherboards

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H -- 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16, 4x USB 3.0

MSI Z77A-G41 -- 2x USB 3.0

Which do you believe is better? I save 40 bucks by switching to either one.

both looks pretty even, I'd go with the gigabyte purely because of more usb 3.0 ports for normal use. If you're looking to OC your system, then more detailed research into both would be required.
12-08-2012, 10:24 AM
Naraku_Diabolos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nix

If you have the time to wait, I'm a huge fan of crawling Newegg for their daily deals. Took me a while to get my pc giblets but I saved so much money D:

My laptop NVIDIA card has 3GB of RAM built into it. Hopefully in the years to come, there will be a way to freely switch your graphics cards by just taking out the chip and popping in a new one, much like putting a game card into a Nintendo DS.
12-08-2012, 10:29 AM
Andrien

If you can play 1.0 on standard, chances are you can play 2.0 on high setting.
12-08-2012, 10:33 AM
Tsukichu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrien

If you can play 1.0 on standard, chances are you can play 2.0 on high setting.

Is what I'm hoping for, but I didn't have a proper pc playing 1.0. I used my macbook pro.
12-08-2012, 10:39 AM
Nix

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

My laptop NVIDIA card has 3GB of RAM built into it. Hopefully in the years to come, there will be a way to freely switch your graphics cards by just taking out the chip and popping in a new one, much like putting a game card into a Nintendo DS.

Oh gosh, here's hoping!! lol
12-08-2012, 10:39 AM
Andrien

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsukichu

Is what I'm hoping for, but I didn't have a proper pc playing 1.0. I used my macbook pro.

This is a very cool site. You can customize everything to fit your budget, plus they have sales right now.

http://www.ibuypower.com/lobby.aspx
12-08-2012, 10:43 AM
Tsukichu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrien

This is a very cool site. You can customize everything to fit your budget, plus they have sales right now.

http://www.ibuypower.com/lobby.aspx

That's where I'm getting the computer from. ^^ I'm customizing a rig while cross referencing prices on Newegg, I decided it was cheaper to let them build it for me.
12-08-2012, 12:16 PM
Aenarion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

My laptop NVIDIA card has 3GB of RAM built into it. Hopefully in the years to come, there will be a way to freely switch your graphics cards by just taking out the chip and popping in a new one, much like putting a game card into a Nintendo DS.

You already can, but it's fairly limited. Many Clevo/Sager based laptops have user upgradable GPU cards.