73 réponses à ce sujet

[kong009]

Well I can tell you that gaming at 1920x1080 on my 37" 650 series Samsung TOC TV is an absolute dream. I can also tell you that when I first hooked it up, it looked horrible. This was due to a combination of the graphics card having overscan set at -15% and the TV trying to stretch the image to fill the screen (sort of a reverse of what the graphics card was doing). Once I turned off overscan on the graphics card, the image is perfectly 1:1, pixel for pixel, from computer to TV. In MY years of doing electronics retail, I can tell you to look for a clearer image (especially on a high-res signal coming from a computer) on an LCD/LED TV than a plasma.



In general, if your TV has a PC input and/or is capable of what Samsungs call "game mode," then you should be fine because the TV is prepared for being connected to a computer and can help reduce the inherent delay HDTVs have because of the post-processing they do to images to enhance them. If you have a weird looking picture when you first plug it in to your TV, make sure scaling is turned off on both your graphics card and your TV. I know most Samsung, LG, Sony, and Panassonic TVs are capable of a type of "game mode", which reduces the refresh rate to 60hz and decreases the delay in milliseconds of your picture (mine went from ~25ms down to ~5, which is wonderful for an HDTV of any kind) by disabling those pretty post-processing enhancements.



As far as hardware, I would suggest picking the processor (CPU) first. This dictates the kind of motherboard you can choose, which then chooses your graphics card, which chooses your power supply, so on and so forth. The required hardware has been covered pretty well above.



I will tell you the information about OEM versions of windows presented above is largely incorrect. The ONLY difference between a retail box copy of Windows 7 for $199 and an OEM version of the same thing for $99 is Microsoft support. That's it. This does not mean you are excluded from Windows Updates or anything like that -- what that boils down to is if you have any trouble with Windows and need Microsoft's help, you're SOL with an OEM version on a custom built machine. The support for an OEM license comes from the manufacturer of your system, which in this case is you... and there's the dilemma.



I bought and use an OEM license on my own machine with no trouble at all. You can snag an OEM license of Win7 Home Premium from newegg for $99.



Best of luck to you on your build! I'm doing another one here shortly myself... get excited!

[RaenImrahl]

kong009 wrote...

Well I can tell you that gaming at 1920x1080 on my 37" 650 series Samsung TOC TV is an absolute dream. I can also tell you that when I first hooked it up, it looked horrible. This was due to a combination of the graphics card having overscan set at -15% and the TV trying to stretch the image to fill the screen (sort of a reverse of what the graphics card was doing). Once I turned off overscan on the graphics card, the image is perfectly 1:1, pixel for pixel, from computer to TV. In MY years of doing electronics retail, I can tell you to look for a clearer image (especially on a high-res signal coming from a computer) on an LCD/LED TV than a plasma. 

I agree about LCD versus Plasma.  Screen size and viewing distance will be factors as well.  Of course...  you're in retail electronics you know "LED" is a misleading term... but I digress

[Ballsagne]

Thanks for all the responses everyone

[Ballsagne]

Are there any good controllers out there that are similar to the PS3 Controller? Ive been on that controller since PS1 (which was like '96 lol) so its just what Im comfortable with

[b0ksah]

What's wrong with a standard mouse? ... the PC version of DAII is tailored for mouse ... well for other game u mean ... hmm .. I dont really know .. I have always been the mouse guy

[bikeracer4487]

I know someone already mentioned Tom's Hardware's Best Graphics Cards for the Money and Best Gaming CPUs for the Money articles, which are both excellent resources for system building, but Tom's Hardware also writes System Builder Marathon articles on a regular basis where they build gaming systems based on a pre-established budget and then benchmark the system at stock speeds and then also overclock the system and benchmark that. Anyways, they detail ALL the parts they chose (which are all bought from Newegg) and why they chose them so it's a great resource if you're building a system from scratch. Back in December they did builds for $500, $1000, and $2000.

Also, I found the eXtreme PSU Calculator to be much more detailed and up-to-date with the latest components than any of the PSU calculators you can find at Newegg or other manufacturer websites and I've used it for all of my builds.

[DargaardKeep]

I have xp (real) with building a system.

Don't forget to purchase clips for the motherboard.

I found out the hard way!



Nowadays, it may be more worthwhile to buy a basic system and then upgrade those components yourself.

[Ballsagne]

Since the first thing I would have to decide is a processor I checked out those Tom's Hardware articles and I basically narrowed it down to the i7-2600, i7-2600K, and the i7-960. Honestly besides the price I really dont know the difference between the three in terms of how they might affect playing a game, but these are three of the ones I was looking at anyway and Toms Hardware seems to like them. I know there is cheaper stuff but If getting one of these means it will be a longer time before I need to upgrade Im willing to drop the cash

[Mike_Hawthorne]

Hi

Go to Falcon Northwest and look at the Talon Computer.

Go through the configure utility and when you have exactly what you want, save the config and have it emailed to you. You will have a compete parts list.
No one builds better gaming computers then Falcon Northwest.

Then go online price out the parts.
If you don't want to build it just buy it from them.

My Falcon Talon will run Age of Conan at 220 fps, if I don't limit it.
Lord of the Rings online at 250 fps, unlimited.

I've never found anything it wouldn't run at max settings, 1920 by 1200 in DX11.
Since I bought mine 2 of my friends have bought them too, none of had any problems.
And as you will see not as expensive as everyone says.

You can actually buy a standard Talon for under $1,500 the last time I looked.
Ad what ever you want or use the configuration to build you own, it has to cost a lot less then that to do it your self so you should be it your price range somewhere.

Mike

Ps, you don't need an i7 processor to run games the i5 works fine, I have an i7 because I run all Adobe Graphics programs, often several at the same time.

My favorite monitor for gaming the Dell UltraSharp 24", the only problem is it costs as much as a computer.

Modifié par Mike_Hawthorne, 25 février 2011 - 08:52 .

[Kloreep]

kong009 wrote...

I will tell you the information about OEM versions of windows presented above is largely incorrect. The ONLY difference between a retail box copy of Windows 7 for $199 and an OEM version of the same thing for $99 is Microsoft support. That's it.

It seems we're both wrong. (Or half right, if you prefer.) I was wrong about upgrades, you can change just about anything you want in your computer with a Windows 7 OEM. But not the motherboard. If you put a new motherboard in, your license is smoke.

So, if you think you're going to be keeping the mobo for a while, the OEM version may indeed be a good way to save money. (Sounds like a good reason to wait for LGA 1155 and a core i5-2000, to me. Make sure you have a good CPU socket/CPU, that will be sure to last you for some time, if you're going to be locking your motherboard in to your Windows license.)

Ballsagne wrote...

Are there any good controllers out
there that are similar to the PS3 Controller? Ive been on that
controller since PS1 (which was like '96 lol) so its just what Im
comfortable with

I believe there are drivers out there for PS3 controllers. You should be able to use them with Windows.

Don't expect a controller to work well with DA2 though, if either DAO or the DA2 demo is an implication. When pointing & clicking is this tied in, even a keyboard emulator won't make a game controller-suitable.

DargaardKeep wrote...

Don't forget to purchase clips for the motherboard.

?

If you mean standoffs and screws to mount the motherboard in the case, I think cases will generally come with those (though it's certainly good to check).

If you mean something else, I'm obviously not aware of what "clips" mean.

Modifié par Kloreep, 25 février 2011 - 10:05 .

[Daniteh]

Since we're on this topic, i have a simple question:



Will a power supply main connector of 20+4pin work with my pc that requires 24pin?

[Kloreep]

I'm not the expert on power supplies/connectors, but I'm pretty sure 20+4 is just meant to indicate that that main connector will also work with a 20 pin motherboard. (I've also seen "6+2" pin PCI-E connectors. Just means that 2 of the pins can fold back and forth to make it fit either a 6 pin or 8 pin card.)

[fenderstrat6]

ok i'll give ya my 2 cents, you sound like your hooked on intel CPU's an that's fine if you have money coming out of your ears, my brother and me have been building desktop's almost 20 yrs. an we use AMD CPU's, for the difference in price you can't beat'em. an alway's make sure everything you buy is compatible with each other, i get 95% of my stuff from newegg, i take my time an hunt or wait for best price or sale,review stuff before you buy, anyhow your call.

[Kloreep]

fenderstrat6 wrote...

you sound like your hooked on intel CPU's an that's fine if you have money coming out of your ears

I can't tell if you're addressing me or not. At any rate, I can only speak for myself, so:

The main reason I am pushing Intel is that the OP has named a high budget, up to $1000 for components and a copy of Windows. And while I don't know that DA2 will require anything more than a Phenom II will provide, the nebulous "other games" makes it sound to me like the OP wants to play some yet-undetermined future games on this machine as well. With that much money to spend, buying a more expensive, better-performing part seems like it might be a good idea.

Certainly, a quad core Phenom II or Athlon II will be quite adequate for most any game these days, and would save the OP some money on both the motherboard and CPU. They're not at all bad choices, and are indeed excellent value as far as price/performance goes. But if the OP intends to get into PC gaming long-term, they may warrant an upgrade a little bit sooner than something like an i5 2000.

[Osena109]

 you can get a EVGA GTX 460 for about  170 to 200 bucks off newegg thats a great card i got one

[YodaySunrider]

Ballsagne wrote...

Since the first thing I would have to decide is a processor I checked out those Tom's Hardware articles and I basically narrowed it down to the i7-2600, i7-2600K, and the i7-960. Honestly besides the price I really dont know the difference between the three in terms of how they might affect playing a game, but these are three of the ones I was looking at anyway and Toms Hardware seems to like them. I know there is cheaper stuff but If getting one of these means it will be a longer time before I need to upgrade Im willing to drop the cash

The i7-2600 and i7-2600k are identical in every way except for the fact that you can not overclock the regular 2600. The difference is only about $30 and that processor is extremely easy to overclock to 4.0+ Ghz. Keep in mind that you also need a motherboard that allows for overclocking. And that is where things get tricky. The i7-2600/k and i5-2500/k are the new Sandy Bridge processors from Intell. They are easily the best processors on the market but you currrently cant get a motherboard for them. Intel discovered a problem with the SATAII controllers on the 1155 mobo's and did a complete recall on them. They are expected to be back into circulation with about a month.

So if you are willing to wait then you are going to get a lot more bang for your buck out of those than the i7-960(still an amazing CPU). Also, if you decide to wait and get a sandy bridge CPU then I would recommend going for the i5-2500/K. It is about $100 cheaper than the i7-2600/K and is just as compotent for gaming if not more so in some situations.

Also, waiting for the Sandy Bridge mobo's to relaunch would give you a few more weeks to reseach this stuff more and get a better grasp on what components you want. I have found that when I am building a new computer I rarely end up buying the exact compontents that I initially put on my wish list. As you do more reseach into what is currently out there you can get a better perspective on what will work best for you.

[Ballsagne]

Kloreep wrote...

fenderstrat6 wrote...

you sound like your hooked on intel CPU's an that's fine if you have money coming out of your ears

I can't tell if you're addressing me or not. At any rate, I can only speak for myself, so:

The main reason I am pushing Intel is that the OP has named a high budget, up to $1000 for components and a copy of Windows. And while I don't know that DA2 will require anything more than a Phenom II will provide, the nebulous "other games" makes it sound to me like the OP wants to play some yet-undetermined future games on this machine as well. With that much money to spend, buying a more expensive, better-performing part seems like it might be a good idea.

Certainly, a quad core Phenom II or Athlon II will be quite adequate for most any game these days, and would save the OP some money on both the motherboard and CPU. They're not at all bad choices, and are indeed excellent value as far as price/performance goes. But if the OP intends to get into PC gaming long-term, they may warrant an upgrade a little bit sooner than something like an i5 2000.

Thats exactly what Im thinking. I want this PC to be a pretty long term solution for gaming, so I want to get components that will play games at max settings (If im not at max settings Id be happy with the PS3) for as long as possible. Anyone know what differences Id actually notice between the i7-960, 2600, and 2600K?

[Kloreep]

I agree with YodaySunrider, for a gaming machine a 2600 seems like an unnecessary expense. Hyperthreading isn't that useful for games, especially when you already have a quad core, and a some extra L3 cache doesn't seem worth the price. (Just look at some benchmarks if you don't believe me, the 2500 and 2600 get the same frame rate in many tests.) If you really are spending only $1000, the extra $100 or so you'd save by going for a 2500/2500k could probably be better spent elsewhere, like better GPU(s).



If you look back at some reviews of the "Sandy Bridge" 2000-series Intel processors on sites like Tom's Hardware or AnandTech, I'm sure you'll find some benchmarks that compare the 2600 and the 960. (Or at least something close to the 960.) Basically, you can expect. And the LGA 1366 motherboards the 960 use are sometimes better for setups with multiple graphics cards; but everything I've read indicates two or less graphics cards should be fine on a LGA 1155 board, as long as the motherboard is able to give both cards x8 bandwidth. (And as long as it is Crossfire-enabled for Radeons, or SLI-enabled for Geforces.)

[YodaySunrider]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2



That is a great place to compare both GPU's and CPU's.

[Ballsagne]

I probably dont plan to have more than 2 graphics cards, at this point I only planned to have one, so I dont think I need that option. Ill probably wait until the sandy bridge models work

[Valaskjalf]

http://tinyurl.com/FalconGuide

[olnorton]

Ballsagne wrote...

I probably dont plan to have more than 2 graphics cards, at this point I only planned to have one, so I dont think I need that option. Ill probably wait until the sandy bridge models work

My Sandybridge 2600K works very well now.
The chipset problem only effects the Sata 2 ports on some boards.
If your only going to run 1 hard drive & 1 Optical drive, you could get a board with 2 Sata 3 ports & avoid the issue altogeather.
If your not going to overclock your CPU, then the 2600 & the 2600K are the same. The K models just unlock higher multipliers when overclocking.

[YodaySunrider]

olnorton wrote...

Ballsagne wrote...

I probably dont plan to have more than 2 graphics cards, at this point I only planned to have one, so I dont think I need that option. Ill probably wait until the sandy bridge models work

My Sandybridge 2600K works very well now.
The chipset problem only effects the Sata 2 ports on some boards.
If your only going to run 1 hard drive & 1 Optical drive, you could get a board with 2 Sata 3 ports & avoid the issue altogeather.
If your not going to overclock your CPU, then the 2600 & the 2600K are the same. The K models just unlock higher multipliers when overclocking.

The problem is that you can't actually get the 1155 mobo's right now, they have been completely removed from everywhere. Even if you could get ahold of one of the defective ones it would just be worth it to wait for the new line of them to launch. While you could make do with just using the SATAIII ports, you never know what you might want to add further down the line.

[basdoorn]

If going the Intel route I'd suggest getting an Intel 2500K, its not a large price premium over the regular 2500 and should you need a bit of speed in the future, they usually overclock very nicely. The 2600 is a waste of money given your budget. Look at a custom CPU cooler like the Scythe Mugen 2 as well, quiet and cool is the way to go here.

For improved overclocking capabilities and system stability, help yourself to a premium mainboard, preferably with USB 3.0 support.

If you want to future-proof yourself you could look at a Radeon 6950 video card with 2GB memory of its own which will make it last a bit longer than a Geforce 460/560 or Radeon 6850 which only have 1 GB. Pick a video card model with a special cooler like the Twin Fr0zr or DirectCU if you value low computer noise.

Memory wise 4GB will be sufficient for 2011 and it is the most easy component to upgrade later, you might want to get 8GB for future-proofing however. You can spend a small price premium on faster RAM, but stick with reasonable prices as the differences are not all that large.

Power supply wise go for an 80 plus silver or gold certified model, they waste less energy, run cooler and almost always have the highest build qualities (Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 600W as an example).

All in all, mind your budget, with a $ 250 processor, $ 150 mainboard, $ 100 power supply, $ 50 memory and a $ 350 video card you are already at $ 900. You still need a computer case, disk storage, optical disk station and software from there. Always pick quality components and spend some money on (quiet) cooling/fans as almost everything can be obtained dirt cheap these days, but stability and reliability will likely suffer.

Consider an SSD if you hate waiting while Windows boots or programs/levels load, it makes quite a difference, but will make a big impact on your budget as well, easily ending up at $ 1,200 total. When going SSD do not forget to throw in a slow, cheap, large harddisk for your audio, video and backup files. As for optical storage you might consider a bluray (combo/writer) drive, depending on what more you want your PC to be able to do.

Get Windows 7 home premium 64-bit OEM with your build, if you need to connect to your office pick professional OEM. Maybe you want to throw Office (home & student) in there too? Good luck and have fun with your system!

Modifié par basdoorn, 26 février 2011 - 09:22 .

[Jiggasaurus]

Build the computer yourself, its straight forward enough these days, avoid components with pointless lights & fluorescents they are meaningless.



Buy a case that has fan covers which can be removed and cleaned, keeping dust to a minimum in your rig & get in the habit of taking them out and cleaning every few months.



Spend the bulk sum of budget available on the MBO-CPU-RAM & the best heat-sink you can get whether that be the old conventional air or water cooling, don’t waste funds on the graphics card upgrade it at a later date.

Get 6GB of fast RAM as opposed to 12 GB of slower RAM, same for gfx cards get a fast single card over two lesser cards in SLI/Xfire.



& as basdoorn mentions SSD’s are among the best upgrades you can make for a modern day PC, the difference between SSD & HDD is night and day.