For Gaming and Fraps

[radhitya]

Hey guys im new here, and I really wanna ask you about the PC specs im gonna get, just wanted to upgrade my old one to a better one so here is the turf :

- AMD Phenom II X4 840 95W
- Gainward GTS 450 1GB DDR5
- MSI 760GM-E51
- Cooler Master Elite Series 460W V2.3
- DVD ROM and Other normal PC Peripherals

So what do you think of it ? is it good enough for recording while playing ? I don't play on highest settings.
And my other question is, is the PSU enough for everything. I know the PSU has 26A on the +12V rail which is enough for the Graphic card, but im doubting it's capability to run everything especially the processor. So what do you guys think ?

Please help me out....

 

[striker410]

Is this what you currently have, or what you plan on upgrading to?

 

[radhitya]

What im planning to upgrade to, sorry for the grammar.....wow missed that one, anyway my current specs are :

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz
Nvidia 9400GT
"some cheap" 300W PSU
Asus P5KPL-SE MOBO

 

[addison]

What im planning to upgrade to, sorry for the grammar.....wow missed that one, anyway my current specs are :

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz
Nvidia 9400GT
"some cheap" 300W PSU
Asus P5KPL-SE MOBO

Get a nivdia 460 ti it will perform MUCH better, or a ati 5850/ 6850 the CPU is fine but yes the upgrading specs are good.

 

[striker410]

That CPU is a renamed Athlon II x4. The Phenom II x4 955 BE is a much higher performer for the same price after the $10 off gift card.

What's your budget? I can help you better with a GPU if I know what your budget is.

 

[Outlander_04]

Id overclock the Intel

so spend your money on
a 460 , or a g870 radeon
a better psu
and a cpu cooler

If you buy wisely you can use them on your next build
but for now buying AMD isnt a good plan

 

[radhitya]

That CPU is a renamed Athlon II x4. The Phenom II x4 955 BE is a much higher performer for the same price after the $10 off gift card.

What's your budget? I can help you better with a GPU if I know what your budget is.

I'm just a regular student soo my budget is around $600, Im in Europe but it's around $600 if converted. I was also thinking about the Phenom BE but i was questioning the PSU with the 125W CPU and a 450W GPU.
It's alson not the budget, i don't want to blow up my electricity bills in 3Months. So i'm going to maximum of a 500W PSU. Thanks again for the feedbacks....

 

[striker410]

Hey Rad thanks for getting back to us.
Here's a quick tip. A PSU will only pull the power the computer needs, not the wattage on the box. So, lets say you get a 1200w PSU (way overkill lol) but the computer only uses 300w. That means the PSU will not be supplying 1200 watts, but 300. Still, anything over 500w is probably overkill at your budget anyway.

Please fill this form out, it will give us the info required to make you a build. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

 

[radhitya]

Hey Rad thanks for getting back to us.
Here's a quick tip. A PSU will only pull the power the computer needs, not the wattage on the box. So, lets say you get a 1200w PSU (way overkill lol) but the computer only uses 300w. That means the PSU will not be supplying 1200 watts, but 300. Still, anything over 500w is probably overkill at your budget anyway.

Please fill this form out, it will give us the info required to make you a build. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

I can't edit the thread. Btw for the PSU information, I do understand but some sources say it can blow up a minute or two(randomly) up to the maximum Wattage of the PSU.

 

[striker410]

Well I would also advise holding out on a total upgrade. Get a new PSU, a new GPU, and a CPU cooler as mentioned above. Overclock the CPU it should hold you over until Ivy Bridge or Bulldozer. What case do you currently have?

 

[radhitya]

Well I would also advise holding out on a total upgrade. Get a new PSU, a new GPU, and a CPU cooler as mentioned above. Overclock the CPU it should hold you over until Ivy Bridge or Bulldozer. What case do you currently have?

I'm not interested in Overclocking my "ownings"(aside that i'm a noob nerd and afraid to overclock his own PC). The thing that is still "holding me back" is the PSU and total power consumption. I don't want my electric bills to blow up, I'm not a green guy, I'm just steadying at a max. of 460W Power Consumption....

For the chassis i just have a Simbadda ATX 2.0 including the 300WPSU

 

[striker410]

If you really want to upgrade now, here's my suggestion build.
Currently, AMD is outperformed by Intel. Here's a SB build that will smoke a phenom build.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074&cm_re=i5_2400-_-19-115-074-_-Product $190

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157233 $95

About PSU's. You should always get one with an 80+ rating, because those that don't are usually junky. I suggest this one since it offers good price/performance ratio: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016&cm_re=ocz_500w-_-17-341-016-_-Product $65

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815006 $40 (not required, but recommended)

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908&cm_re=6850-_-14-102-908-_-Product $170

That comes to 520 before rebates
This will be a BF3 ready system, and will play most games on high. You should be able to record fine.

 

[addison]

If you really want to upgrade now, here's my suggestion build.
Currently, AMD is outperformed by Intel. Here's a SB build that will smoke a phenom build.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074&cm_re=i5_2400-_-19-115-074-_-Product $190

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157233 $95

About PSU's. You should always get one with an 80+ rating, because those that don't are usually junky. I suggest this one since it offers good price/performance ratio: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016&cm_re=ocz_500w-_-17-341-016-_-Product $65

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815006 $40 (not required, but recommended)

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908&cm_re=6850-_-14-102-908-_-Product $170

That comes to 520 before rebates
This will be a BF3 ready system, and will play most games on high. You should be able to record fine.

That case sucks a : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KPZ05U/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000KMT3CO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=04P90GTQMEZHYJ29YAB5 Take out HDD cage put the HDD on the 3.5 slot and you have good air flow (there is a gpu vent a cpu and 2 120mm fan exhaust and intake) A http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506&cm_re=ati_6870-_-14-150-506-_-Product would perform slightly better.

 

[striker410]

^That case is also $30 more. The Xigmatek Asgard was good enough to get the Tom's system builder nod, So I think it's ok... Good recommendation on the GPU however.

If you are on a budget, grab this 5850 as it performs almost as good as the 6870 for $30 less.
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100282XTREME/dp/B004W75ATI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305673011&sr=8-1

 

[radhitya]

^That case is also $30 more. The Xigmatek Asgard was good enough to get the Tom's system builder nod, So I think it's ok... Good recommendation on the GPU however.

If you are on a budget, grab this 5850 as it performs almost as good as the 6870 for $30 less.
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100282XTREME/dp/B004W75ATI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305673011&sr=8-1

Wow thanks for the feedback and suggestions, they're all good, with the budget slightly a bit more on the top(which is OK). I will think about it again but About the GPU which one has the most overall performance ? HD 5850, 6870 or 6850 ?

 

[addison]

The 6870 is a little bit more powerful than the both, but consumes more power. And that's a good price because they are usually 200$-220$ so for that card you may want to but it now. Other than that your pc looks pretty darn good, infact I may copy it.

 

[striker410]

The 6870 has the best performance, but you can come darned close with a 5850 for $60 less. I personally would not shell out the cash for a 6870 at this point, since the 6950 and 560 ti are right beyond. A 5850 is my suggestion, it has AMAZING price/performance.

 

[addison]

Please show me some benchmarks.

 

[striker410]

Please show me some benchmarks.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/295?vs=290
Have a nice day....

 

[aznshinobi]

I lawl at your GPU knowledge.

As for the build, solid build Striker.
But question, sorry if I didn't read it clear enough. But where is the RAM?
Also, isn't OP in Europe. Plus, I suggest getting a 1TB drive if you're going to use FRAPs, the 5850 is defiantly not enough for FRAPS w/ BF3 @ 1080P or 1680x1050.
Source: Me.
I'm currently using fraps to montage some clips from BC2, and my 5850 struggles to consistently keep 60 FPS while running FRAPS @ low settings on 1680x1050. It may be just me, but the destruction level is just crazy, everytime you get to some scene with crazy buildings collapse and people dying everywhere, you'll lag while fraps-ing.
However for normal gameplay, the 5850 is sufficient, even at High. Just be-aware FRAPs is really a GPU strainer.

 

[striker410]

I lawl at your GPU knowledge.

As for the build, solid build Striker.
But question, sorry if I didn't read it clear enough. But where is the RAM?
Also, isn't OP in Europe. Plus, I suggest getting a 1TB drive if you're going to use FRAPs, the 5850 is defiantly not enough for FRAPS w/ BF3 @ 1080P or 1680x1050.
Source: Me.
I'm currently using fraps to montage some clips from BC2, and my 5850 struggles to consistently keep 60 FPS while running FRAPS @ low settings on 1680x1050. It may be just me, but the destruction level is just crazy, everytime you get to some scene with crazy buildings collapse and people dying everywhere, you'll lag while fraps-ing.
However for normal gameplay, the 5850 is sufficient, even at High. Just be-aware FRAPs is really a GPU strainer.

Lol my bad, I totally missed the ram... Guess that's kinda important =p And I figured that a 5850 might not be the fastest option, but there's only so much you can do with the money. What would your suggestions be? I am still a noob lol.

 

[aznshinobi]

For a GPU, I honestly have no suggestions of a low price other than the 5850 (depending on place of course). But the 5850 is the best buy at the price of 150$ US! I'm unsure of Europe. It all depends on resolution which I don't think OP has mentioned yet.

Looking over your parts, that isn't the 5850, but the 6850. Also, after TOTAL build (HDD+RAM) it costs practically 700$. It's really hard to squeeze in all of that stuff with a tight budget.

RAM, whatever fits the budget. HDD at least 1TB for a FRAPs build.

 

[radhitya]

Thanks for all the recomendations, now I'm on the edge of a cliff (for GPU).
I already own a HDD and 3GB DDR3 ram so it's not a biggie, my HDD is 500Gigs (enough + my External HDD)....So GPU for Czech Republic what's your suggestions?.

And max resolution I can play with my monitor right now is 1360x768

 

[radhitya]

I beg you guys to Answer this last question(probably ), I just check the Local Electronic shop in Czech Republic and here are my GPU and PSU decisions ;

- ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU/2DI2S/1GD5 (GPU)
- SeaSonic S12II-520 Bronze (PSU)

So what do you think ? the PSU has 40 AMPs on it's +12V rail and the 6870 only needs 28-30AMPs.....

I'm not Czech, I just happen to be here now......

If any of those above look awkward please tell me the faults.

 

[striker410]

That seasonic is a very good PSU, a bit expensive though. The 6870 is good, but it doesn't have the best price/performance ratio. Can you tell us the price of the 6870 vs 6950?