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Posted by: orisci.6527

orisci.6527

Hey my fellow nerds!
I’m hoping to buy a gaming desktop or parts to build one for about $1,000 USD. I’m not too knowledgeable with GPU and Processor as it relates to GW2. Any of you guys have suggestions?

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Posted by: loseridoit.2756

loseridoit.2756

there is an entire subreddit practically design for suggestions. They might mention to wait for zen cpu at the end of the month because Intel will counter with better prices.

www.reddit.com/r/buildapcforme/

nerds

not everyone is a nerd. I am a complete moron majority of the time.

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Posted by: Spacial.1683

Spacial.1683

If you want a ready built system then it’s really a matter of going to reliable store. Having some knowledge of what to look for and what to avoid will mean you get better value for your cash.

If you can build yourself or know someone who can then even better.

Case. Get a full sized case that looks good.If you like flashing lights or something more toned down, it’s entirely up you you.

Fit fans where-ever possible, but have most extracting. On mine, I have a 200mm fan with filter, at the front pushing air in and several 100mm fans around the case pulling it out. The most important function of any case is to keep the dust out, so it makes sense to minimise the sources.

In particular, never allow a fan on the bottom or top of the case to be sucking air in. If it does, turn it around. The most important thing is, the main intake must have some sort of filter and this will need to be cleaned regularly.

Avoid bundles. Many will come with a built in PSU. This may be OK, especially if it is at least 850 Watts. At the worst, you can replace it with something better.

Motherboard. Not all MBs are equal. The cheaper ones generally have cheaper components, cheaper manufacturing and are often noticeably more flimsily. ASUS is the best followed, at a distance, by Gigabyte and MSI. Since the motherboard is the backbone of any PC, try to go for the best you can afford.

Stick to a standard size MB. There are smaller versions available, which may look cool, but in reality finding cards to fit these is a pain.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-Republic-of-Gamers-Products/

http://www.gigabyte.com/mb/100-gaming/Model

https://www.msi.com/Motherboards/

CPU. You really need to be looking at Intel i5 as a minimum. i7 is better. If you budget is tight, you can upgrade to an i7 later if you need to.

Personally I will strongly recommend Intel. AMD are basically catch up and cheap for a reason.

Notice the socket may be different for different CPUs. Buy a motherboard that has an appropriate socket for your CPU. Or the other way around. If you stick to Intel CPUs Skylake Architecture, then you will be fine.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-pc-gaming-cpus-processors/

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-cpus,review-33354.html

https://elitegamingcomputers.com/the-best-gaming-cpus/

http://blazinglist.com/best-cpus-for-gaming/

Memory. 8Gb RAM is the minimum you need these days. 16Gb is better. You may be persuaded to pay extra for terms such as latency, or RAM speed. In reality, the difference in performance between the cheaper and more expensive RAM is very small.

Get fast RAM by all means, but slower, (though not the slowest), will generally give identical performance to faster.

Also, avoid RAM that comes with metal cooling fins, especially if they come with flashy names such as Vengeance or Fury. These invariably cost a lot more and do very little. Especially for the home builder. Good case cooling will do more for RAM performance than all the fins in the world.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/memory-performance-speed-latency

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Posted by: Spacial.1683

Spacial.1683

Graphics card. There is a lot of nonsense talked about with graphics cards. In reality, problems with slow graphics in games mostly come from bad programming, overloaded servers and slow connections. I personally use a GTX 760+. It’s at the very low end. Anything better is what to look for.

You can end up spending more on a graphics card than the rest of the PC, for little or no benefit. If you intend to use fancy viewers, such as Occulous Rift or an enormous screen, then you probably will need a high end graphics card. Otherwise, save your money now. If you do get a Rift later, the buy the appropriate card then. With the cost of RIFT, the card will be small beans in comparison.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU15/1248

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

Sound. Mega sound systems are fine, but quickly get old. Motherboards invariably have onboard sound so use that and get something else later if you have to allow the neighbours. Remember to buy a pair of powered speakers though. Or at least a set of headphones.

Power supply. 850 Watt is usually what you need for a standard gaming rig.

The PSU should deliver enough power for your rig with a little to spare. If it is too big, you are wasting money, too small, the system will eventually crash.

The better stores will advise you, if you show them a list of what you are going to use.

Corsair is generally said to be the better make at this time, but others, especially EVGA are equally good. If your store is very reputable and they offer their own brand, these may be fine.

A modular PSU is tidier, since you only plug in the leads you are going to use. But be careful not to loose the spares.

Storage. Forget internal DVD drives. you rarely use them and they need to be started each time you restart your PC, slowing down start up, using power and wearing down the DVD so it is quickly useless anyway. Get a good quality external DVD which plugs into the USB port. It can be take out when its needed.

Hard Drives. These are old tech. Avoid. If they are offered as part of a bundle, it is because the company is trying to offload old stock.

SSDs, get the biggest you can afford. An onboard SSD is essential for your OS, at least 250Gb but 500Gb is better. https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-Internal-MZ-N5E250BW/dp/B00TGIW1XG?th=1

But remember to get more SSDs for your storage. I suggest a couple of 250Gb or more. Or you could go for a 250Gb now and a 500Gb later. Games such as GW2 take up loads of space. Photos, music and others.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E250B-AM/dp/B00OAJ412U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1486732339&sr=1-2&keywords=ssd

Some SSDs are btter than others. Frankly Crutial have a reputation to maintain so sticking with them is not a bad idea.

Also, remember, with SSDs, the bigger the better, with the offset of the initial cost. So, having a 250Gb M2 SSD for your OS might seem overkill when the OS only takes up about 70 Gb of space. But the realities are rather different.

http://superuser.com/questions/492807/do-higher-capacity-ssds-last-longer

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/294762-32-longer-life-span

http://www.howtogeek.com/248827/why-are-smaller-ssds-slower/

http://lifehacker.com/opt-for-the-larger-ssd-capacity-to-also-get-a-speed-boo-1770691500

http://superuser.com/questions/977080/does-a-large-ssd-perform-better-than-a-smaller-one

Good luck. It’s all in the research.

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Posted by: Agrios.1957

Agrios.1957

I’ve got a i5-6600, GTX 1060 3GB with 16GB ram and an SSD.

It runs great (60fps most of the time and 40 fps in world bosses like The Shatterer) on the highest settings @1080p.

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Posted by: loseridoit.2756

loseridoit.2756

OP, I forgot to mention.

http://pcpartpicker.com/

Use this website to build your pc

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Posted by: danielrjones.8759

danielrjones.8759

An SSD was mentioned. To me comparing ssd to a hdd is like comparing redbull to water.

(edited by danielrjones.8759)

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

Do you plan on playing just Gw2 or running new titles at good settings? Because you probably don’t need 1k for Gw2.

A few notes:

CPU: The most popular is a modern Intel I5 (Although AMD will come out with Ryzen next month; it could be similar.) Right now, it’s really just intel. The most recent ones you will see are Skylake or Kaby Lake. Skylake processors start with 6xxx (6th gen), while Kaby lake starts with 7xxx (7th gen).

There’s not much of a difference between either, though Kaby Lake is a little newer and better. But…
[spoiler=technobabble]
Older CPUs aren’t necessarily worse by that much but they don’t drop in price. Currently Kaby Lake motherboards are a bit more expensive and untested (err…. unreviewed) so Skylake remains an option. (Well, technically a Skylake-compatible motherboard can be updated but that requires you to have a CPU before hand or you know the manufacturer has done that, and that opens a new can of worms that isn’t worth fretting over the $20 and is too much for me to type) [/spoiler]

Which I5 you get isn’t too big of a deal, though there is a caveat. The “K” version of a CPU can be overclocked. These are labeled like i5-7600k. However, to overclock, you must buy a more expensive motherboard— z170 (Skylake)or z270 (Kabylake). Those also do not come with a cooler, and you need to get your own.

I7s are of course better, but they are a lot more expensive and many people don’t think they’re better for gaming, especially not Gw2 which cares a lot more for single threaded performance. I7s are better for multitasking.

tl;dr I5-6500, i5-6600k, i5-7500, i5-7600k are generally the ones to look for.
Edit: Add Ryzen 5 1400 and 1600 to the list.

GPU That really depends on what you want. There’s many options at the $100 range or better. Basic cards include the Rx 460 and GTX 1050. If you want more power, consider the RX 470 or RX 480 which can cost 150-250 depending on which version you want. Top end cards like the GTX 1070 and 1080 are quite costly but very powerful. It’s pretty straightforward

Ram 8GB is recommended, if you run a ton of applications in the background you may opt for more. But that’s a fairly low priority compared to other things because ram is a yes or no thing. You either have enough or don’t. Getting 32 gb of ram when you could improve your GPU would be absurd, for example.

Case Honestly, doesn’t matter though check if it has USB 3.0. I recommend a mid-tower case; they’re pretty spacious already unless you’re going to put a ton of stuff. Big cases are also more expensive and it’s not 1992 anymore. Pick one that looks nice though!

Storage As said many times, SSDs help with load times and boot times. They’re pretty good, but expensive. I would suggest a modest size (240 GB), and maybe an additional 7200 RPM 1 TB regular hard drive to store your regular files. Use the SSD to store all your games, programs, and Windows. Your common files don’t really need that blazing speed; if you want more storage, consider getting an external HD which is good for backup.

Power Supply The most important thing you want to look at. More wattage isn’t always better! A bad no-name brand at 800w will still blow up your whole computer. Good brands include EVGA and Corsair, but don’t buy the bottom level models for them either. Quality over quantity. You can use sites like pcpartpicker to estimate power usage, and add a bit of a buffer to be safe.

I recommend pcpartpicker.com People post and discuss builds, and there’s lots of reviews for individual parts.

Regardless of what parts you pick, you should do some research— comb reviews, watch videos and look for good deals!
Below is outdated Since Ryzen Release: Please check dates and read posts below.
Anyhow, I tried whipping this up: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jcv9Fd This is probably utterly wrong and scrub because I only spent 10 minutes on this and did not look for the best deals (which you should), so people can feel free to correct it so I may learn. I think it’s a good outline

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: Fermi.2409

Fermi.2409

i5-6600k or i5-7600k with z series motherboard, 8/16GB RAM (doesn’t matter, 8 is fine for a gaming PC these days), Hyper 212 Evo, whatever case you like, a quality 500W PSU, 250GB SSD+1TB HDD,

Then spend the rest on a GPU. Probably a 480

I’d get this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/grBM6X

Or if your can reuse windows get a 1070 instead. There’s no reason to get an i7 over an i5 for gaming these days, you won’t get anything out of it

@Archon swap the HDD to a WD. Blue 1TB and grab the 620W Seasonic for $10 less and you’re good to go

HAF 912 | i7-3770k @ 4.5 GHz | MSI GTX 1070 GAMING 8GB | Gigabyte Z77X-D3H
EGVA SuperNOVA B2 750W | 16 GB DDR3 1600 | Acer XG270HU | Win 10×64
MX Brown Quickfire XT | Commander Shaussman [AGNY]- Fort Aspenwood

(edited by Fermi.2409)

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

/claps

Good finds with the PSU and that WD!

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

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Posted by: Phizeke.9536

Phizeke.9536

I just bought a i5 6600 and a 1060 3gb with a 120gb ssd. I wonder how it will be in WvW during zergs? Can anyone tell me what they getting for FPS?

[hS] Sir Phizeke
Started on Jade Quarry since Launch now on Maguuma.

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

I have a 6500 and the 1060 6gb but this is irrelevant for Gw2. Your gpu will work as good as mine. Your computer will do a little better because of cpu— maybe a few more fps.

Here is an Eotm sample because no one was in wvw at the time but wvw is around the same.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6WaoUJlhFcs&feature=youtu.be

It can drop to 30 fps but it never gets any lag besides server lag. Keeps 60 fps in anything that is not zerg, including cities.

Edit: misread cpu

Edit 2: Since things have changed so much with Ryzen being the big thing, here’s what I would aim for now:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/f3yNFd $800 I5-7500
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/73yNFd $1000 Ryzen 5 1600

I really wish my old computer lasted a few more months before it croaked, but oh well.

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: Phizeke.9536

Phizeke.9536

I have a 6500 and the 1060 6gb but this is irrelevant for Gw2. Your gpu will work as good as mine. Your computer will do a little better because of cpu— maybe a few more fps.

Here is an Eotm sample because no one was in wvw at the time but wvw is around the same.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6WaoUJlhFcs&feature=youtu.be

It can drop to 30 fps but it never gets any lag besides server lag. Keeps 60 fps in anything that is not zerg, including cities.

Edit: misread cpu

Edit 2: Since things have changed so much with Ryzen being the big thing, here’s what I would aim for now:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3Rqp4C $750 I5-7500
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sNBcvV $1000 Ryzen 5 1600

I really wish my old computer lasted a few more months before it croaked, but oh well.

Hows the setup like in WvW Zerg vs Zerg?

[hS] Sir Phizeke
Started on Jade Quarry since Launch now on Maguuma.

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

Haven’t really bothered to record the fps with afterburner in those but usually 30-40 fps when I check. But I’ll try to find a random sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii4NSW0CtUo

It doesn’t bother me, but of course this varies from person to person.

Honestly, it’s really not a big difference in performance between zergs and that EOTM video I posted above. Typically 75% CPU usage, inconsequential video card usage, and about 6 gb of ram used.

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: lilypop.7819

lilypop.7819

Best value for performance for GW2 atm:-

Fm2+ mobo
Athlon X4 860
Rx-460

You’ll get 40 to 60 fps on near max settings for probably the next 3 years.

There is ofc a reason for the extremely low cost to performance ratios but if you’re only interested in GW2 you can save a lot of pennies/cents and buy lots of goodies in game.

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Posted by: Dawdler.8521

Dawdler.8521

Best value for performance for GW2 atm:-

Fm2+ mobo
Athlon X4 860
Rx-460

You’ll get 40 to 60 fps on near max settings for probably the next 3 years.

There is ofc a reason for the extremely low cost to performance ratios but if you’re only interested in GW2 you can save a lot of pennies/cents and buy lots of goodies in game.

If anyone buys that well then they deserve the potato they get. Add like $150 to the cost and you can probably make that a Ryzen 1400/RX570 instead and at least reach budget gaming.

The idea that you get 40-60 fps on near max settings with that is laughable. I didnt even get that with a 980Ti in many zones. Not to mention other games.

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Posted by: Fermi.2409

Fermi.2409

Best value for performance for GW2 atm:-

Fm2+ mobo
Athlon X4 860
Rx-460

You’ll get 40 to 60 fps on near max settings for probably the next 3 years.

There is ofc a reason for the extremely low cost to performance ratios but if you’re only interested in GW2 you can save a lot of pennies/cents and buy lots of goodies in game.

This is terrible advice on numerous levels

HAF 912 | i7-3770k @ 4.5 GHz | MSI GTX 1070 GAMING 8GB | Gigabyte Z77X-D3H
EGVA SuperNOVA B2 750W | 16 GB DDR3 1600 | Acer XG270HU | Win 10×64
MX Brown Quickfire XT | Commander Shaussman [AGNY]- Fort Aspenwood

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

That would depend on how cheap that is. I can’t really call that value. How does it compare to this for budget?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.48 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 8GB (2 × 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($59.92 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.85 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.25 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($32.57 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.58 @ OutletPC)
Total: $556.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-28 02:55 EDT-0400
Did this on phone so apologies in advance. (Edited a few things)

One caveat is kaby lake requires windows 10. Ssd is sorta whatever but always nice. This will run gw2 easy as long as you turn down the typical fps killers- reflections, character model limit, shadows. Stuff that I would turn down on a better system anyways.

Funny enough Intel has made I3s completely redundant with this new pentium. Most of an i3’s performance and hyperthreading for half the price! Pentiums never had hyperthreading before. It does have much worse integrated graphucs but this is irrelevant since you can use the saved money towards a real card.

Basically there is nothing in between until you see ryzen or I5. Nobody should buy a Pre ryzen AMD chip in 2017

Finally, I have noticed 1050ti getting cheaper. Saw one briefly for 109, but hanging around 119

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: lilypop.7819

lilypop.7819

Best value for performance for GW2 atm:-

Fm2+ mobo
Athlon X4 860
Rx-460

You’ll get 40 to 60 fps on near max settings for probably the next 3 years.

There is ofc a reason for the extremely low cost to performance ratios but if you’re only interested in GW2 you can save a lot of pennies/cents and buy lots of goodies in game.

If anyone buys that well then they deserve the potato they get. Add like $150 to the cost and you can probably make that a Ryzen 1400/RX570 instead and at least reach budget gaming.

The idea that you get 40-60 fps on near max settings with that is laughable. I didnt even get that with a 980Ti in many zones. Not to mention other games.

I am speaking from experience. I have one gaming PC based on the above spec and another based on a i5/RX-470/16GB spec. The differences are minor as far as GW2 gameplay is concerned – the main noticeable differences are in small graphical artefacts which without being able to instantly compare would be unnoticeable and in terms of dynamic gameplay I have the feeling that in PvP there is slightly more graphical lag with the lower spec PC – but that is of on consequence as I am not a high rolling PvPer. All minor and certainly not worth troubling about. ANY big zerg will drop the fps on BOTH PCs by undeterminable amounts, but the lower PC still gives decent gameplay under these circumstances – for me anyway giving the frequency of the such events.

Really GW2 does not require an expensive PC. My comments refers to GW2 only and I would fully accept that more recent games and new titles would most definitely argue for a higher spec PC. But is GW2 is your game of choice hen the spec I have giving is extremely good value and will allow pretty much most of what people do non-gaming wise as well.

FYI: The X4-860 is currently selling at double the price-to-performance of the best Ryzen CPUs – quite unbelievably cheap imo (the low-spec 1400 is approx. three times the price) – and the RX-460 can easily deliver quality that few would criticise as far as GW2 graphics go. Both these components are cheap as vendors clear stocks – may not last long ofc.

GW2 is heading for GW1 status, playable on almost any 4 core and most 2-core machine (excluding sub 20w TDP CPUs designed for HD steaming) with recent sub-100 GBP GPU. Those with high spec machines may resent this but I suspect this trend is what is keeping GW2 popular. This should be welcomed by all fans of the game.

If you love GW2 spend your pennies/cents in-game!

In general if I was buying a completely new PC with an eye for the next 6 or so years I would absolutely ensure it had 6+ cores, as this would be the only way such a cost could be justified – especially if you add in the huge cost of a 4K monitor. If you’re looking at 4-core then go for the cheapest-that-will-do-now as the lifespan is likely to be far shorter when considering the unreleased games to come. ATM the newer hardware is too pricy for 1080p gaming – different story if you have an existing 4K monitor (but I am not sure of the worth of 4K gaming in general – and clearly a bit pointless where GW2 is concerned). Just my 2-cents ofc!

BTW: Cheapest I have seen this week for the x4 is 53 and for the rx-460 75, both from amazon uk. Shockingly good value if you can source a 50 FM2+ mobo and recover bits and bobs from your existing machine! For say a 180 spend, a bit of knowledge and roughly 2-days fiddling about – thank you Microsoft! – you could give a 4+ year old 2-core/1080p PC a heck of a bump whilst the dust to settles on the 6-core/4K builds over the next few years. Worth considering …

(edited by lilypop.7819)

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Posted by: Fermi.2409

Fermi.2409

Especially if you’re just playing GW2, you’re going to be immensely better off with a Pentium G4560 instead of an Athlon CPU.

That being said, you can muddle by in GW2 with incredibly low specs but you will see massive performance increases by not buying absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Even with It’s especially obnoxious when you’re always recommending this stuff in threads where the OP is looking to spend a much larger amount of money.

It doesn’t matter if a build has the absolute most frames per dollar if it isn’t close to the tier of PC/level of performance that someone wants. And the double whammy is when the recommendation isn’t even the best in the price range.

but I am not sure of the worth of 4K gaming in general – and clearly a bit pointless where GW2 is concerned

Every game out there will benefit from a higher resolution if you have the hardware to drive it. GW2 is no different, although there are (apparently) issues with UI scaling above 1440P

HAF 912 | i7-3770k @ 4.5 GHz | MSI GTX 1070 GAMING 8GB | Gigabyte Z77X-D3H
EGVA SuperNOVA B2 750W | 16 GB DDR3 1600 | Acer XG270HU | Win 10×64
MX Brown Quickfire XT | Commander Shaussman [AGNY]- Fort Aspenwood

(edited by Fermi.2409)

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

It is indeed true that Gw2 doesn’t require the best technology and I have nothing against people buying cheap; I think people tend to advise stuff that is too expensive, but you will reach a certain point where you only save literally 20 bucks for something much worse. And I’ve done that a lot in the past. I paid the price in other ways.

There is no reason why people should be getting a desktop that has Gw2 looking like crap or glitchy. 60 fps? K, but the thing looks like minecraft!

A Pentium g4560 is on par with an i3-6100. I have no problems playing Gw2 on my friends computer with the later and a HD 7850 (analogous to the rx 460). Sure I can’t crank everything up high, but it still looks fine, and most importantly while there are frame rate drops in world boss events (who doesn’t) I can still move my character around fine. So I bring this up because I know that the person that doesn’t want to spend tons of money will get a good experience in Gw2. Not the best, and maybe not AAAAAA 200 fps gaming, but it’ll be nice.

And not to mention the system itself will be snappy.

Finally, also consider that people may not pursue options because they aren’t available. Maybe if they buy a better computer, then newer games might actually be considered.

And yes, we’re talking about bigger budget gaming anyways…

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

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Posted by: lilypop.7819

lilypop.7819

Especially if you’re just playing GW2, you’re going to be immensely better off with a Pentium G4560 instead of an Athlon CPU.

That being said, you can muddle by in GW2 with incredibly low specs but you will see massive performance increases by not buying absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Even with It’s especially obnoxious when you’re always recommending this stuff in threads where the OP is looking to spend a much larger amount of money.

It doesn’t matter if a build has the absolute most frames per dollar if it isn’t close to the tier of PC/level of performance that someone wants. And the double whammy is when the recommendation isn’t even the best in the price range.

but I am not sure of the worth of 4K gaming in general – and clearly a bit pointless where GW2 is concerned

Every game out there will benefit from a higher resolution if you have the hardware to drive it. GW2 is no different, although there are (apparently) issues with UI scaling above 1440P

How could I be immensely better off with a G4560 when I don’t see a significant benefit with an i5 when actually playing GW2? Seriously I gave an honest opinion above, I switch between the two PCs every week there are minor differences of little worth – to me anyway.

Regards the Intel G-series CPU I have always found them attractive for games till I looked at the full specification and realised how Intel are protecting there i3-series. These CPUs are clearly cheap because they are likely to have a lower practical lifecycle before you have to upgrade to another Intel CPU a couple of years down the line if you are gaming – Intel are not stupid and there is a bait-and-switch feeling about the G-series. Frankly I prefer the X4 860 because in a couple of years time I’ll be using it for non-gaming tasks whereas the G4560 would have significantly less utility in this respective. It’s a judgement call, do you upgrade the CPU or relegate a older PC and buy a new one. Personally I have on the whole been disappointed with the long term benefits of PC upgrades, you usually find the upgrade was a pointless waste a year or so later.

That aside I would rather have an old 4-core (X4 860) than an old 2-core (G/i3) if the starting point was roughly the same. Quite frankly where new gaming titles are concerned 2-core CPUs will have as much utility as 2-wheeled cars in the future. For $570 I would still aim for a 6-core CPU/Mobo/Ram combo even if this means very basic components elsewhere – something retailers will never offer in off-the-shelf PCs – they’re not stupid either! In doing so I would be looking 6 years ahead and expect very good value for my money across the whole period.

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

Well duh, a company isn’t going to cannibalize a higher priced tier with their “budget” model. But I hate it when a company muddy what use to be a clear distinction between model lines because the modern Pentium has all about NOT having HT.

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

Especially if you’re just playing GW2, you’re going to be immensely better off with a Pentium G4560 instead of an Athlon CPU.

That being said, you can muddle by in GW2 with incredibly low specs but you will see massive performance increases by not buying absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Even with It’s especially obnoxious when you’re always recommending this stuff in threads where the OP is looking to spend a much larger amount of money.

It doesn’t matter if a build has the absolute most frames per dollar if it isn’t close to the tier of PC/level of performance that someone wants. And the double whammy is when the recommendation isn’t even the best in the price range.

but I am not sure of the worth of 4K gaming in general – and clearly a bit pointless where GW2 is concerned

Every game out there will benefit from a higher resolution if you have the hardware to drive it. GW2 is no different, although there are (apparently) issues with UI scaling above 1440P

How could I be immensely better off with a G4560 when I don’t see a significant benefit with an i5 when actually playing GW2? Seriously I gave an honest opinion above, I switch between the two PCs every week there are minor differences of little worth – to me anyway.

The g4560 is less than $60 so just as cheap, and has a modern upgrade path.

Go to Teq (or a world boss of your choosing), HoT maps, and report your fps/resolution.

From experience, it is true that for regular play it’s not really that big of a difference, but weaker processors tend to suffer from worse lows.

And even excluding this, I am not really sure if it’s wise to build a PC around a single game. That’s why I recommend SSDs because the OS performs better, even if actual game performance does not increase. But you can’t really avoid using an OS so….

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Posted by: lilypop.7819

lilypop.7819

Especially if you’re just playing GW2, you’re going to be immensely better off with a Pentium G4560 instead of an Athlon CPU.

That being said, you can muddle by in GW2 with incredibly low specs but you will see massive performance increases by not buying absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Even with It’s especially obnoxious when you’re always recommending this stuff in threads where the OP is looking to spend a much larger amount of money.

It doesn’t matter if a build has the absolute most frames per dollar if it isn’t close to the tier of PC/level of performance that someone wants. And the double whammy is when the recommendation isn’t even the best in the price range.

but I am not sure of the worth of 4K gaming in general – and clearly a bit pointless where GW2 is concerned

Every game out there will benefit from a higher resolution if you have the hardware to drive it. GW2 is no different, although there are (apparently) issues with UI scaling above 1440P

How could I be immensely better off with a G4560 when I don’t see a significant benefit with an i5 when actually playing GW2? Seriously I gave an honest opinion above, I switch between the two PCs every week there are minor differences of little worth – to me anyway.

The g4560 is less than $60 so just as cheap, and has a modern upgrade path.

Go to Teq (or a world boss of your choosing), HoT maps, and report your fps/resolution.

From experience, it is true that for regular play it’s not really that big of a difference, but weaker processors tend to suffer from worse lows.

And even excluding this, I am not really sure if it’s wise to build a PC around a single game. That’s why I recommend SSDs because the OS performs better, even if actual game performance does not increase. But you can’t really avoid using an OS so….

As far as I can see the G4560 makes the i3 series very close to redundant as far as games are concerned. And yes its a cheap CPU but the mobo/DDR4 Ram are not so cheap. Therefore the upgrade path is an i5. The price of the G4560 feels like bait-and-switch marketing to me. Frankly I would target a 6-core Ryzen 5 at present if your buying a complete system in the $500 to $1000 price range.

Alternatively, I recently purchased a second-hand FM2+ crossfire mobo with USB 3.1 + 3.1c + M2 SDD PCI slot plus a A10 7870 plus 16Gb of 2400MHz DDR3 Ram for less than the cost of the Ryzen 5 1400 CPU. The stuff is less than 6 months old and I already have an never-used 240GB SDD plus used 2TB HDD and available Win 10 Pro licence. I know what this PC could do for GW2 gaming – if I come across a cheap RX-460 over the next year I might just give it a go but I expect my existing FM2+ gaming PC to outlast GW2.

I can’t see GW3 being on the horizon within the next 3 years – next expansion would be Nov and probably 2 years of gameplay afterwards.

Truth is I have tried quite a few games and have found GW2 to be the most enjoyable by far.

(edited by lilypop.7819)

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

DDR4 ram and DDR3 ram cost about the same lol. That actually goes against the older platform!

And sure, the motherboards are more expensive, but b250 mobos are going as low as $65. You’re saving at best $30. It’s also a matter of time before these things become as cheap as skylake ones.

I’m not saying you should throw it away. Obviously, if you already have an fm2 system, I’m not telling you to upgrade to a g4560. That would make no sense, but if you’re talking about buying new parts, then there’s reasons why I would recommend the g4560 and not the old stuff.

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: lilypop.7819

lilypop.7819

Agree regards DRR3/DDR4 prices. I tend to look only at one vendors prices as I have never had any problems with their sticks. Motherboards are another matter I kinda like a bit of history with them.

The pull for the new stuff just isn’t there for me so anything bought needs to be ultra cheap to justify the spend. The new stuff seems to be targeted at games that don’t yet exist.

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

Well that always happens as manufacturing shifts from one generation to the next. Same thing happen with DDR2 to DDR3 transition. Older gen price goes up while the newer gen price starts high and drops.

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

Agree regards DRR3/DDR4 prices. I tend to look only at one vendors prices as I have never had any problems with their sticks. Motherboards are another matter I kinda like a bit of history with them.

The pull for the new stuff just isn’t there for me so anything bought needs to be ultra cheap to justify the spend. The new stuff seems to be targeted at games that don’t yet exist.

I definitely don’t advocate buying hardware for games that don’t exist yet. If you want to play recent game at medium settings, and occasional check out a new game, then it really makes no sense to spend a ton of money on nothing. It’s perfectly fine to say, buy a new $100 video card every 3 years and this will help you play your old games better and maybe take a shot at new games. But at the same time, one wants to make sure the base is solid enough to not bottleneck the video card.

Fortunately, most games worry more about the video card…. except MMOs like this one.

That being said, I have to say “future proofing” does feel overrated. For example, you buy a great new motherboard…. only to have intel change sockets every 2-3 generations. You buy new ram only to find out they come out out with something new. Granted, AMD says this new format is going to last, but I don’t really trust anyone anymore. And people have been saying that dual cores have been obsolete since 2010 but they still can play modern games. And they’ve been hyping more than 4+ cores since bulldozer. That sure went well! And how long has 8gb been a standard? Then there’s this dx12 hot air as well. There’s just such a big chance that yes, these things will happen, but whatever hardware one has on right now may not even live to see that day!

There are of course, other things, such as getting more Vram and Ram which will help in the future, of course. But how much can you futureproof stuff that was meant to be budget anyways? Then you get people buying 4gb rx 460s when they could be saving a bit more for 470s. And so on with 8gb 470s to 480s.

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.

(edited by ArchonWing.9480)

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Posted by: Dawdler.8521

Dawdler.8521

And they’ve been hyping more than 4+ cores since bulldozer. That sure went well! And how long has 8gb been a standard? Then there’s this dx12 hot air as well.

Well for being the master race, PCs sure take it’s sweet time adopting technology

Theres basicly not been any x86 PC CPU produced since 2005 or something… Yet we’re still seeing 32bit Windows and applications. Like… why?!? Even potato level CPUs today – actual potatoes with wires in them – are x64.

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Posted by: ArchonWing.9480

ArchonWing.9480

And they’ve been hyping more than 4+ cores since bulldozer. That sure went well! And how long has 8gb been a standard? Then there’s this dx12 hot air as well.

Well for being the master race, PCs sure take it’s sweet time adopting technology

Theres basicly not been any x86 PC CPU produced since 2005 or something… Yet we’re still seeing 32bit Windows and applications. Like… why?!? Even potato level CPUs today – actual potatoes with wires in them – are x64.

Legacy potatoes. Though honestly, I’m a bit curious on who would use 32-bit Windows 10. I guess it’s because M$ wants to make everyone use it.

I gather that it’s very hard to write multithreaded programs. Since I’m not a programmer, I’m just going to assume as such.

But I guess not. Recently Starcraft 1 was updated and the system requirements increased dramatically to require open gl 2.1 which is like a 10 year old technology. Cue the people demanding a refund (for a game that just became free to play and was selling for $10 the last 15 years) because their rotting potato couldn’t run it.

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Posted by: SlippyCheeze.5483

SlippyCheeze.5483

I gather that it’s very hard to write multithreaded programs. Since I’m not a programmer, I’m just going to assume as such.

Yeah, it’s one of the hardest possible things, and it’s also one of the things that the software used for writing software has the least help and support for at this point. Like, the tooling that saves you from a lot of mistakes in single threaded software is great … but doesn’t exist for multi-threading yet.

Worse, going back and turning single threaded stuff into multi-threaded stuff is even harder, because there are all these hidden assumptions about the order things happen in which just don’t hold true as soon as that second thread is there…

(Plus, the bugs are super-subtle, as in, they only occur by chance, and the side-effects usually show up somewhere different. It’s the worst, honestly.)