AMD PC Conf - RPG Gamer

[shadez]

hi... putting it out bluntly,
i need suggestions to build a Desktop PC for mid-range gaming (possibly AMD proc).
Budget - ~35-40k (without monitor)

am looking forward to playing:
the witcher - enhanced edition
diablo 3
nfs shift...
just to name a few so you get the basic idea.


'The Witcher' quotes:
======================================================
2. Recommended System Requirements
======================================================
OS (Operating System): Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2, Vista (Operating System must be up to date with the latest fixes)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (dual core) or equivalent AMD X2 processor or better
RAM: 2048 MB RAM
Video: 256 MB Video RAM or greater with DirectX9 Vertex Shader/ Pixel Shader 2.0 support (NVIDIA 7900 or faster with 512 MB of memory)
Free HD Space: 8.5 GB available hard drive space
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compliant soundcard, plus speakers or headphones
DVD: DVD-ROM


but i know this is pretty dumb coz i got the same conf in my laptop but it runs too damn slow.
so could somebody suggest me a better conf.
i got a 'BenQ T2200HD' (22' fullHD) monitor btw and dont wanna change it now.

 

[coderunknown]

hi... putting it out bluntly,
i need suggestions to build a Desktop PC for mid-range gaming (possibly AMD proc).
Budget - ~35-40k (without monitor)

am looking forward to playing:
the witcher - enhanced edition
diablo 3
nfs shift...
just to name a few so you get the basic idea.


'The Witcher' quotes:
======================================================
2. Recommended System Requirements
======================================================
OS (Operating System): Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2, Vista (Operating System must be up to date with the latest fixes)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (dual core) or equivalent AMD X2 processor or better
RAM: 2048 MB RAM
Video: 256 MB Video RAM or greater with DirectX9 Vertex Shader/ Pixel Shader 2.0 support (NVIDIA 7900 or faster with 512 MB of memory)
Free HD Space: 8.5 GB available hard drive space
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compliant soundcard, plus speakers or headphones
DVD: DVD-ROM


but i know this is pretty dumb coz i got the same conf in my laptop but it runs too damn slow.
so could somebody suggest me a better conf.
i got a 'BenQ T2200HD' (22' fullHD) monitor btw and dont wanna change it now.

Processor: Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E. @ 8k
Motherboard: Biostar TA890GXE @ 6.5k
Ram: Corsair 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz @ 5.8k
Graphics Card: MSI HD5770 HAWX 1GB GDDR5 @ 9.5k
PSU: Corsair VX450W @ 3.8k
Cabinet: NZXT Gamma @ 2k
Hard Disk: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB @ 3.2k

Total: 38.8k (will be below 40k anyway).

 

[shadez]

Processor: Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E. @ 8k
Motherboard: Biostar TA890GXE @ 6.5k
Ram: Corsair 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz @ 5.8k
Graphics Card: MSI HD5770 HAWX 1GB GDDR5 @ 9.5k
PSU: Corsair VX450W @ 3.8k
Cabinet: NZXT Gamma @ 2k
Hard Disk: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB @ 3.2k

Total: 38.8k (will be below 40k anyway).

thanks mate... i took this from an another thread:
AMD Phenom II X6 1055t - 9k
MSI 890GXEM-G65 - 7.5k

i dont mind the extra 2k. if i plug this in, will the rest hold good?


Am filling this questionnaire that i got from a diff thread hoping that it makes more sense for you all:
1. What is your MAX budget?
> 30k - Without Monitor and Graphics card.
> am buying graphics card from next month salary. so please let me know a good one for max 15k which can be plugged to the existing conf later.
2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
> Definitely.
3. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
> Gaming.
> Simple web development with max - Flash and Photoshop.
4. Planning to overclock?
> Whats that?
> am a quick learner though. and cautious. so if its good and wouldnt bite then i mite as well learn to use it...
5. Which OS are you planning to use?
> Windows 7
> and some flavor of Linux just to fool around a bit.
6. How much hard drive space is needed?
> 500
> i got external 1TB and believe in using more like them.
7. What resolution will the screen run at?
> ummm... well... thats greek and latin to me.
> but i got a full HD monitor and also am a gamer, so suggest me something good.
8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
> 5
9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
> Assembler - Retailer
10. When are you planning to buy the system?
> Within this month
11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
> 'upgradeable' would be the word. well yes, kinda. except mobo and proccy.
12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
> Monitor
> DVD Drive
> Keyboard + Mouse
> Speakers
> All that extra hanky-panky stuff
13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
> Bangalore; and prefer Bangalore
14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
> Yes; Help Me Please!

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

955 BE is a good choice. i would have suggested u a i5 750 for gaming but since u will be going for a graphics card later, go for 955 BE.

1055t is made for multitasking and no doubts it excels in its field. but for gaming you have to give it a second thought. it is behind 955 and i5 750 in gaming even when overclocked.

off topic- when i was new to TDF i saw people often asking only for intel rigs and giving weird reasons for not going with amd. but now i think everybody is well informed.
like intel amd should also do adds.

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

for 15k go with a sapphire radeon hd5850

 

[coderunknown]

955 BE is a good choice. i would have suggested u a i5 750 for gaming but since u will be going for a graphics card later, go for 955 BE.

1055t is made for multitasking and no doubts it excels in its field. but for gaming you have to give it a second thought. it is behind 955 and i5 750 in gaming even when overclocked.

off topic- when i was new to TDF i saw people often asking only for intel rigs and giving weird reasons for not going with amd. but now i think everybody is well informed.
like intel amd should also do adds.

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

for 15k go with a sapphire radeon hd5850

to tell in short: gaming benchmark:

i5 750 (not dual cores)> X4 955/965> X6 1055T.

now the trick is, 1055T is cool running & highly OC friendly. so if you want to OverClock your processor, get 1055T. but at stock speed, opt for X4 955 or i5 750.

 

[Cool Buddy]

off topic- when i was new to TDF i saw people often asking only for intel rigs and giving weird reasons for not going with amd. but now i think everybody is well informed.
like intel amd should also do adds.

[/COLOR]for 15k go with a sapphire radeon hd5850

It's good that AMD doesn't advertise. The advertising costs will add up to the processors cost and will reduce its vfm factor. Good products don't really need advertising, if people would just be careful to ask someone better informed & trust them, they would get AMD when they needed it.
I have seen 2 people who asked me & trusted me, but their family members didn't trust me & forced them to go for intel. One ended up paying 4000 extra for similar config & the other told me just a few days after buying that games were not running on his PC.
A few days back one friend told me he wanted to upgrade but his budget was low. I started telling him in this way. "there are 2 companies that make processors, intel & AMD......." I didn't even complete my sentence & he jumped "I'll buy intel only". I got so angry that I said I wouldn't say a word about what to buy, but then he was apologetic for interrupting in this way & I then gave him an AMD config.

If people would just understand that when only 2 companies make processors, how could AMD be Bad & still survive!

 

[shadez]

---------- Post added at 03:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

[/COLOR]am really sorry but i just changed my mind:
chuck the i5. am sticking to X4!

i just digged in some more info and i feel that this combo is good:
Processor: Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E. @ ~8k
Motherboard: MSI 890GX @ ~8k

can i ask a couple of questions? somebody please help. am a complete noob here.
1. RAM -
Kingston Value RAM
Corsair 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz
which is better? whats the difference?

2. HDD -
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB
which is better? whats the difference?

3. PSU -
with the above config of mobo and proccy, which is better:
Corsair VX550W or
Corsair VX450W

4. Cabinet -
i saw another thread mention 'NZXT M59'. is this the one i should buy? or can i stick with 'NZXT Gamma'?

5. Graphics -
am sticking with 'Jaskanwar Singh''s comment and going for 'sapphire radeon hd5850' later. good enough? is there any other better ones?

***Budget***:: i can stretch a bit for this rig. its just that i dont want to feel bad loosing a better conf for a couple of thousands... hope you guys understand.

Please Help!!!

thanks a ton in advance. appreciate your patience...

 

[coderunknown]

am really sorry but i just changed my mind:
chuck the i5. am sticking to X4!

good choice

i just digged in some more info and i feel that this combo is good:
Processor: Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E. @ ~8k
Motherboard: MSI 890GX @ ~8k

can i ask a couple of questions? somebody please help. am a complete noob here.

nice combo.

1. RAM -
Kingston Value RAM
Corsair 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz
which is better? whats the difference?

check timings. tight timings, better performance.

2. HDD -
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB
which is better? whats the difference?

Blue ---> regular.
Black ---> extra performance.

3. PSU -
with the above config of mobo and proccy, which is better:
Corsair VX550W or
Corsair VX450W

VX550W. 450W too low to feed the 2 big ones (X4 955 & HD5860)

4. Cabinet -
i saw another thread mention 'NZXT M59'. is this the one i should buy? or can i stick with 'NZXT Gamma'?

if you can go with M59. its a good one.

5. Graphics -
am sticking with 'Jaskanwar Singh''s comment and going for 'sapphire radeon hd5850' later. good enough? is there any other better ones?

next good is HD5870. low way over. also Nvidia based 4XX cards really heat up. not recommended.

***Budget***:: i can stretch a bit for this rig. its just that i dont want to feel bad loosing a better conf for a couple of thousands... hope you guys understand.

Please Help!!!

thanks a ton in advance. appreciate your patience...

your config already good one. wait for other members to put their thoughts. but i feel, your pc ready.

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

what about 965be??

 

[coderunknown]

what about 965be??

its a but too costly. in most parts it cost more than i5 750. not recommended until & unless it cost below 9k.

 

[Cilus]

For gaming Graphics card is the motre important thing than processor. So better opt for a HD 5830 and 5850 based card.

Most of the forum members actually suggested some very good configs.
I am suggesting one:

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 4.7k
ECS A885GM-A2 @ 4.9k
2X2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 Ram @ 5.4k
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2k
Zebronics Reaper Cabby without SMPS@ 1.7k
Seasonic Bronze S12II 520W @ 4.1k
KEyboard & Mouse: @your Choice @ 0.5k
MSI HD5830 Twin Frozr II 1GB @ 13.8k

Total 37.1k. Street Price will be lower for processor, cabbinet and HDD. You can even go for either a HD5850 @ 15.8k or a Phenom II processor. Now for gaming.

Reason:
1. Gaming:Instead of a Phenom II and HD 5770 combo, a Athlon II X4 and HD 5830 combo is far better in gaming. 5830, performance wise is comparable to Nvidia GT465 and can reach the performance of HD 5850, if overclocked properly. It is far better performer than HD 5770.

2. Processor: The performance difference between a Athlon II X4 and Phenom II X4 is not that much. In fact slightly overclocking the Athlon II processor, you can reach a good performance, comparable to Phenom II X4s.
2ndly there is no reason to spend much money on Phenom II and Phenom II X6 processors as they are going to realse their 32 mm Hexacores very soon, at the end of 2010, making the current gen processors outdated.

3. Future Proof but Budget Mobo: The ECS885 board is not a gaming board, but a decent board with all the eye candy like SATA 3 and USB 3. Even Crossfire is possible

 

[coderunknown]

For gaming Graphics card is the motre important thing than processor. So better opt for a HD 5830 and 5850 based card.

Most of the forum members actually suggested some very good configs.
I am suggesting one:

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 4.7k
ECS A885GM-A2 @ 4.9k
2X2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 Ram @ 5.4k
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2k
Zebronics Reaper Cabby without SMPS@ 1.7k
Seasonic Bronze S12II 520W @ 4.1k
KEyboard & Mouse: @your Choice @ 0.5k
MSI HD5830 Twin Frozr II 1GB @ 13.8k

Total 37.1k. Street Price will be lower for processor, cabbinet and HDD. You can even go for either a HD5850 @ 15.8k or a Phenom II processor. Now for gaming.

Reason:
1. Gaming:Instead of a Phenom II and HD 5770 combo, a Athlon II X4 and HD 5830 combo is far better in gaming. 5830, performance wise is comparable to Nvidia GT465 and can reach the performance of HD 5850, if overclocked properly. It is far better performer than HD 5770.

2. Processor: The performance difference between a Athlon II X4 and Phenom II X4 is not that much. In fact slightly overclocking the Athlon II processor, you can reach a good performance, comparable to Phenom II X4s.
2ndly there is no reason to spend much money on Phenom II and Phenom II X6 processors as they are going to realse their 32 mm Hexacores very soon, at the end of 2010, making the current gen processors outdated.

3. Future Proof but Budget Mobo: The ECS885 board is not a gaming board, but a decent board with all the eye candy like SATA 3 and USB 3. Even Crossfire is possible

that motherboard is not good. i doubt it got USB 3.0. it comes with crossfire (X16 + X4) & a lot more goodies but all those can b described as "Fools Gold".

 

[pulsar_swift]

change the mobo to some thing better.

 

[shadez]

Thanks Sam.Shab for all the comments.
OK, so...
RAM - will dig more on timings. whats your call?
HDD - Black
PSU - VX550W
Cabby- M59
GPU? - how much does HD5870 cost?
if HD5850, then is 'sapphire radeon' good? i mean, i hear so many other names... sorry but as i said, am a complete noob.

For gaming Graphics card is the motre important thing than processor. So better opt for a HD 5830 and 5850 based card.

Most of the forum members actually suggested some very good configs.
I am suggesting one:

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 4.7k
ECS A885GM-A2 @ 4.9k
2X2 GB Kingston 1333 MHz DDR3 Ram @ 5.4k
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2k
Zebronics Reaper Cabby without SMPS@ 1.7k
Seasonic Bronze S12II 520W @ 4.1k
KEyboard & Mouse: @your Choice @ 0.5k
MSI HD5830 Twin Frozr II 1GB @ 13.8k

Total 37.1k. Street Price will be lower for processor, cabbinet and HDD. You can even go for either a HD5850 @ 15.8k or a Phenom II processor. Now for gaming.

Reason:
1. Gaming:Instead of a Phenom II and HD 5770 combo, a Athlon II X4 and HD 5830 combo is far better in gaming. 5830, performance wise is comparable to Nvidia GT465 and can reach the performance of HD 5850, if overclocked properly. It is far better performer than HD 5770.

2. Processor: The performance difference between a Athlon II X4 and Phenom II X4 is not that much. In fact slightly overclocking the Athlon II processor, you can reach a good performance, comparable to Phenom II X4s.
2ndly there is no reason to spend much money on Phenom II and Phenom II X6 processors as they are going to realse their 32 mm Hexacores very soon, at the end of 2010, making the current gen processors outdated.

3. Future Proof but Budget Mobo: The ECS885 board is not a gaming board, but a decent board with all the eye candy like SATA 3 and USB 3. Even Crossfire is possible

thanks Cilus. i read your post bout 5 times. but still, the config you gave me is a complete different one from the one i quoted.
no offense but, is there somebody who can challenge this config and tell me whats 'Bad' bout it wrt my config?
and, thanks for the comment but i dont wish to overclock sorry. am a complete novice and am scared if i might scr*w up the system.

change the mobo to some thing better.

like what sir? and why?
could you suggest me something???...

 

[pulsar_swift]

that ECS board is not good, as per our discussion on some other thread. If you are not going to OC your X4 630, better go for 955BE. For the mobo take any 785/790 mobo from gigbabyte or MSI which should cost around 5.5K.
MSI 785G-E53- Rs 5350
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H - Rs 5800

Or BIOSTAR T785 HD - Rs 4.5K

All the boards are gonna be obselete when AMD launches 32nm processors in 2011, then we need to change the mobo any way.

 

[coderunknown]

Thanks Sam.Shab for all the comments.
OK, so...
RAM - will dig more on timings. whats your call?
HDD - Black
PSU - VX550W
Cabby- M59
GPU? - how much does HD5870 cost?
if HD5850, then is 'sapphire radeon' good? i mean, i hear so many other names... sorry but as i said, am a complete noob.

for ram get the Value ram kit. i think all the value rams got same timings. or you can try & set timings yourself, provided ram remains stable.

HD5870 minimum price is 23k + tax. you may do 1 thing. not advisable. get 2 X HD5770. & beat a HD5870 by performance & price

also Sapphire is a graphics card manufacturer (like Powercolor, XFX, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, etc). they buy the graphics cores from AMD. Radeon is the range of cards from AMD for entertainment purpose. for rendering, they got the FirePro series cards. so it differs like that.

thanks Cilus. i read your post bout 5 times. but still, the config you gave me is a complete different one from the one i quoted.
no offense but, is there somebody who can challenge this config and tell me whats 'Bad' bout it wrt my config?
and, thanks for the comment but i dont wish to overclock sorry. am a complete novice and am scared if i might scr*w up the system.

what Cilus suggested is a value + gaming rig. it'll be little slower than the Phenom II based rigs. but also cheaper. but you can get X4 630 & spend the money saved on a better card. this way you'll get better performance. but do remember X4 955 got high clock speed. & it matters. also change that ECS. its too cheap & quality is bad.

just google up, & you'll know ECS motherboards always end up in budget section.

that ECS board is not good, as per our discussion on some other thread. If you are not going to OC your X4 630, better go for 955BE. For the mobo take any 785/790 mobo from gigbabyte or MSI which should cost around 5.5K.
MSI 785G-E53- Rs 5350
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H - Rs 5800

Or BIOSTAR T785 HD - Rs 4.5K

All the boards are gonna be obselete when AMD launches 32nm processors in 2011, then we need to change the mobo any way.

maybe you right. i too a bit confused. cause till now we not even know the name of the chipset that will support AMD Fusion.

 

[Zangetsu]

get 2 X HD5770. & beat a HD5870 by performance & price

whatttt!! will 2*5770 cross-fire beat a HD5870

also Sapphire is a graphics card manufacturer (like Powercolor, XFX, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, etc). they buy the graphics cores from AMD. Radeon is the range of cards from AMD for entertainment purpose. for rendering, they got the FirePro series cards. so it differs like that.

ATI Radeon CHip is manufactured/developed by ATI Technologies Inc.
the company was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and was renamed the AMD Graphics Product Group

 

[coderunknown]

whatttt!! will 2*5770 cross-fire beat a HD5870

yes. it does. not in all games. as not all games crossfire optimized. but in majority, it'll. or atleast it'll offer equal frame rates

ATI Radeon CHip is manufactured/developed by ATI Technologies Inc.
the company was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and was renamed the AMD Graphics Product Group

oh yes. i just told in short

 

[shadez]

thanks all you guys for the reply. i am buying my rig in maybe a weeks time. so settling up for this config:

proccy: Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E. @ ~8k
mobo: MSI 890GX @ ~8k
memory: Corsair 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz @ 5.8k
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB @ 3.2k
cabby: NZXT M59 @ ?????
PSU: Corsair VX550W @ 4.7k

Just a couple of more questions:
1. Cost of that cabby.
2. MSI 890GX has onboard graphics right? just confirming. is there MSI 890GXM? better? cost?
3. GPU: HD5850 or 2xHD5770? damn confused.

Please help...
thanks.

 

[pulsar_swift]

1.NZXT M59 - Rs 3800

2. MSI 890GXM-G65 - Rs 7.4K + taxes, It has Integrated ATI Radeon HD4290 GPU.

3. Two HD 5770's will cost you 17K if you are going for BIOSTAR, and 18.2K if you are going for MSI. Please note BIOSTAR cards have to be sent to DELHI for RMA.

Coming to the PSU, a HD5770 crossfire will be running the VX 550W close to it limit. The setup would require close to 450W on load.A TX650 will be on the safe side