Custom PC performance Questions

[The_Yob]

I have been looking to buy a pc with:

CPU: Intel Core i7 3.40 GHz
Ram: 8gb
Video card:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Video card 2: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 2GB (not sure if i need 2)
Power Supply: 800 watts
Hard Drive: 2TB

I would like to play really heavy games like watch dogs, or battlefield 4. It is customization so please let me know if there is anything i should add, remove or improve. Thanks (also tell me if i do need 2 video cards or just the one)

 

[toyftw]

I have been looking to buy a pc with:

CPU: Intel Core i7 3.40 GHz
Ram: 8gb
Video card:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Video card 2: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 2GB (not sure if i need 2)
Power Supply: 800 watts
Hard Drive: 2TB

I would like to play really heavy games like watch dogs, or battlefield 4. It is customization so please let me know if there is anything i should add, remove or improve. Thanks (also tell me if i do need 2 video cards or just the one)

Hi - 1st if you are going to use 2 vid cards they must be the same, i.e. 2 660's vs a 660 & a 620, also
if you are going to go that route, you must insure your mobo(you didn't list it) supports SLI for Nvidia vid
cards or CF if you change your mind & go AMD.

Personally, I think the best route is to go with the best single vid card you can afford.

You don't need anywhere near 800w PSU unless you go with two vid cards.
Assuming you go with one strong vid card, look for a PSU in the 550w range, and concentrate
more on quality than total watts. The PSU is the one component that can take other components with
it when it fails.

Please post your motherboard brand/model here as well as the PSU brand/model.

 

[The_Yob]

OK so I switched the power supply to a 600 watt by corsair, I also checked the motherboard, and it's a crossfire gigabyte. I took out my second video card and i'm either thinking of keeping the GTX 660, or switching to a GTX 760. I would like to play 2014 AAA titles, so if there is anything that i can improve to do so, please let me know. Thanks for the help.

 

[toyftw]

OK so I switched the power supply to a 600 watt by corsair, I also checked the motherboard, and it's a crossfire gigabyte. I took out my second video card and i'm either thinking of keeping the GTX 660, or switching to a GTX 760. I would like to play 2014 AAA titles, so if there is anything that i can improve to do so, please let me know. Thanks for the help.

Hi - The gtx cards are SLI (not CF) so you need to confirm that the mobo also supports SLI which is
two gtx cards running together. If so, your cheapest upgrade to better performance would be
to buy a 2nd gtx660.

Personally, I would opt for the best single GPU I could afford, but a lot of gamers SLI and are
satisfied.

You might want to consider selling your 660 & 620, and going with a gtx 770 if it fits budget-wise.

A gtx760 is anywhere from 10% - 20%(closer to 20% on average) increase in perf over a 660 depending on the game, the 760 is prob the best 'bang for the buck' gtx card right now.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/783?vs=854, so you'd need to figure if it's worth it.

 

[hang-the-9]

You can downgrade to an i5 CPU without any harm really to the speeds, a good i5 system should play any games as good as an i7 one with a good video card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

Either of the two i5 CPUs is just fine for games at high settings with the right video card.

I'd put the extra money towards a good IPS monitor.

 

[The_Yob]

I haven't bought the parts yet, I am just listing them down before I buy them all, so nothing is locked down yet.
So far I have:

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.40 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150
Motherboard: [CrossFireX] GIGABYTE Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard
Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card
Power Supply Upgrade: 600 Watts - Corsair CX600 600W 80
Hard Drive: 2TB

Those are the main parts

(btw thanks for the link for the 660 vs 760 in fps)

 

[toyftw]

I haven't bought the parts yet, I am just listing them down before I buy them all, so nothing is locked down yet.
So far I have:

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.40 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150
Motherboard: [CrossFireX] GIGABYTE Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard
Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card
Power Supply Upgrade: 600 Watts - Corsair CX600 600W 80
Hard Drive: 2TB

Those are the main parts

(btw thanks for the link for the 660 vs 760 in fps)

Hi - looks good, hang 9 is correct tho, for gaming, an i5 (with k suffix) will perform as
well as an i7, so unless you are also doing photo editing, rendering, etc, save the price difference
and put the money saved towards a better monitor or gpu, etc.

 

[The_Yob]

Ok i'll switch to a i5 and use the money to get a larger monitor. Thank you all sooooo much for the help, and i'll be sure to use this forum again if i need any more help. Thanks again!

 

[hang-the-9]

Ok i'll switch to a i5 and use the money to get a larger monitor. Thank you all sooooo much for the help, and i'll be sure to use this forum again if i need any more help. Thanks again!

"better" monitor not just larger. Or maybe an SSD for the main boot and application drive. That will make the system pretty speedy.