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help me out.... lost in this brave new world


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Alright - I haven't looked at a new computer spec since well... A *REALLY* long time ago. We're taking 5+ years. The newest thing I have is an early generation Core Duo laptop.

 

Anyone have a primer/tutorial/write up about new architectures, processor choices, and memory cards? Most everything I'm finding seems to be geared towards someone who has been in the know for the last few years.

 

This is in anticipation of a new build for gaming....

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If you have a budget, games you want to play, and a place you can shop locally (or online) we can try to spec out a rig and describe why we choose what we choose. It's always a learning experience since many of us will fight over what the best choice is. :P

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Welcome! And a fellow New Englander!

 

For a gaming rig, you really don't need to worry too much about the CPU, unless you're playing CPU-intensive games. The first decision is whether to go with an Intel or AMD CPU. The leading consensus is towards Intel, but... AMD is going to release a new CPU soon, and DirectX 12 will most likely improve how the CPU is utilized.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2900814/tested-directx-12s-potential-performance-leap-is-insane.html

 

The easiest route is to just find a good price on an Intel i5 K-version for overclocking, and focus your money on a graphics card and monitor.

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Off the top of my head.

 

CPU's:

Intel is pretty much dominating the mid to high end CPU market especially when single threaded performance is concerned. Almost all of the Intel mid to high end processors have little to no overclocking unless you get a "K" series chip.

Current Socket 1150 and 2011.

 

AMD CPU's are still an ok option, they haven't come out with anything too exciting lately. Their APU's are actually a pretty decent option for entry level gaming without the need for a discreet graphics card.

Current socket is FM2+

 

DX12 is launching with windows 10 and is supposedly supposed to be able to utilize up to 6 threads, but for the time being a high-clocked quad core like the 4770K is the current king of the Performance/Sanity stack.

 

Video cards:

Some of AMD's current lineup R9 270, R9 280 etc consist of re-branded last generation graphics cards. You can often find the previous gen card with the same performance for less money than current gen if you are interested in the used market.

Current Cards of note 280X, 290, and used 7950/7970's. Lower end cards are available as well.

 

Nvidia has some strong offers and is favoring efficient cool running GPU's currently. Pricing is equal (current MSRP) with performance when comparing to AMD though.

Cards of note are the GTX 960, 970, 980. The 700 series is still available for lower end cards, the 950 and lower series cards are not available currently.

 

Both are good options. It all depends on what resolutions you are going to play at and how much you are willing to pay.

 

Hard drives:

SSD's are mainstream but have not completely replaced HDD hard drives. SSD's are still more expensive but are much faster. Big HDD's are still the mass storage kings for now.

 

Memory:

DDR4 is a thing. DDR4 is the newer and faster than DDR3. It is still quantity over quality, as in more RAM is still better than less higher frequency RAM. Faster AND more being the best. 8gb is the current recommendation for most builds. 

DDR4 is required for the top tear Intel chips but the mid tier stuff is DDR3 across the entire playing field.

 

OS:

Windows 10 is happening soon. It's supposed to be good. If you have windows 7 or 8 you can upgrade for free.

 

Cooling:

All in one liquid coolers have gained a lot of popularity. Air cooling is still the most cost effective solution for medium to high overclocks.

Edited by GabrielT

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I haven't totally settled on a budget yet. I'm not looking to build a system that is going to max out on every benchmark known to man, but I want to reasonably play most games on the market at high quality. The second piece of this is that I'm fairly active on Twitch - and stream frequently. For a while I've been using two laptops (My i7 3610m / 8 gig ram / GT650m and an older Core Duo with onboard graphics) and a USB capture card for streaming and I'm finding that I'm overwhelming my laptop i7 laptop. Ideally I'd be able to utilize my i7 laptop as the streaming rig, and a new build as the gaming computer.

 

Is there any big performance gain to be had by going with a Xeon based processor (no on board video - seems like a waste with a video card...) instead of the Haswell or similar with onboard Intel video?

 

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One of the other things I was considering was purchasing a PGA988B motherboard - but it seems like Supermicro is the only one who makes anything for the 2nd gen i7 mobile sockets in a desktop form factor motherboard. My issues don't lie with the performance of the laptop hardware, but the overheating, inability to charge the battery any more, and the fact that it's a laptop.

Is the i7 3610QM a contender in the market, if I could find a decent desktop board for it?

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I haven't totally settled on a budget yet. I'm not looking to build a system that is going to max out on every benchmark known to man, but I want to reasonably play most games on the market at high quality. The second piece of this is that I'm fairly active on Twitch - and stream frequently. For a while I've been using two laptops (My i7 3610m / 8 gig ram / GT650m and an older Core Duo with onboard graphics) and a USB capture card for streaming and I'm finding that I'm overwhelming my laptop i7 laptop. Ideally I'd be able to utilize my i7 laptop as the streaming rig, and a new build as the gaming computer.

 

Is there any big performance gain to be had by going with a Xeon based processor (no on board video - seems like a waste with a video card...) instead of the Haswell or similar with onboard Intel video?

Just get a Haswell (or evern Ivy or Sandy if you don't mind used), the onboard video is a nice safety cushion should your high performance graphics give out or if you're between a new graphics card and an old one. Your desktop won't be down.

 

Let us know when you get a semi or completely firm budget, we can spec you out something quite sweet.

One of the other things I was considering was purchasing a PGA988B motherboard - but it seems like Supermicro is the only one who makes anything for the 2nd gen i7 mobile sockets in a desktop form factor motherboard. My issues don't lie with the performance of the laptop hardware, but the overheating, inability to charge the battery any more, and the fact that it's a laptop.

 

Is the i7 3610QM a contender in the market, if I could find a decent desktop board for it?

I wouldn't bother with getting a desktop board to run the laptop i7...it'd be a waste of precious money that'd be better serving your desktop system.

 

You could make your laptop an HTPC or something or just a light use machine, but I wouldn't invest into it seriously.

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Hi, I like reading this information, but until you can post a reasonably firm budget everything is just speculation. These guys really know what they are talking about.

I take it that you have no desktop/tower hardware. If I'm wrong, post it and the guys will tell you if anything is worth saving.

If you have nothing like that, then just save like crazy.

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One of the other things I was considering was purchasing a PGA988B motherboard - but it seems like Supermicro is the only one who makes anything for the 2nd gen i7 mobile sockets in a desktop form factor motherboard. My issues don't lie with the performance of the laptop hardware, but the overheating, inability to charge the battery any more, and the fact that it's a laptop.

 

Is the i7 3610QM a contender in the market, if I could find a decent desktop board for it?

If you could get a very cheap board I would think it would make a good gaming rig, the CPU wont be too much of a bottleneck in games honestly. With DX12 coming out it might be even less of an issue soon.

If the board and extra parts you need are expensive to make the laptop processor work you might just want to use a desktop processor.

 

Processors are about the only part of a PC I am willing to buys used if you are looking to save money.

 

If you can re-use the mobile ram on the new board you could build a very cheap/low-power gaming rig although upgrades would be limited.

 

Quick and dirty build super cheap build with the laptop parts.

CPU+RAM: $0-$60 if you end up needing desktop ram.

MoBo:         $100?

Case+PSU: $100

GPU 7970 used or a new GTX 960 $100-$200 (high performance vs high efficiency and comparable performance)

OS: $20 if you find a cheap key which isn't very hard.

HDD or SSD $50-$200 depending on what you need or want.

 

Cheapest I could see you building would be $370. However, If the motherboard is more than a $100 and the laptop's RAM wont work with it, I would suggest just building with desktop parts. I doubt that the laptop proc will overclock at all but I could be wrong.

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