Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Decent gaming system?
Just a simple question if you guys think this is a decent gaming system.
If not, is there one that you would recommend?
Some of my requirements are Windows 7 Pro, that it can handle dual DVI monitors, and is a decent video card machine to play the latest MMOs (like GW2).
I noticed a lot of people playing with a NVIDIA 560 Ti. Would this be recommended over the AMD HD 6850?
Comments
Thanks for the reply Cabaloc.
Yes, I can build my own system, but don't have the time, nor the desire to do so right now. I just would like to get a semi decent system, with room to expand in the future if needed, and be up and running without creating a project.
Just curious why you would pick an i5 over an i7. If the only reason is price, even it's just a small boost in speed, it would be OK with me. Although I would like to keep the price reasonable, an extra $100 or $200 isn't a big deal.
The price to performance ratio is why I chose a I5 , Core i7 products have an advantage over Core i5 processors in some heavily multi-threaded applications but nothing really for gaming unless your trying to tweak out every little ounce you can . When Quizz or Ridelynn get on they will give you the proper breakdown .
Oh and those Ibuypower, never had 1 myself but I have read often they are terrible at customer service .I don't know what to tell ya when it comes to prebuilt, haven't had 1 in about 10 years now and I still have it and use it sometimes lol .
If you're unwilling to build your own (which it sounds like in your case, is because you value your time over your money), then the next best thing is getting one built to order. Prebuilt computers are really only for clueless customers, and have the hardware configuration chosen to be what clueless people can be convinced to overpay for.
Here:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_Z77_Configurator/
Options to change from the default:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
Memory: Corsair Vengeance (since it's the same price as the default)
Video card: Radeon HD 7770
Power supply: Corsair TX650 V2
Storage: 256GB ADATA SP900
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
That comes to $976. If you're willing to spend more for a better video card, then you can get a Radeon HD 7870 instead.
I'm assuming that 240 GB of storage capacity is enough for you. If not, then you'll need to add a hard drive. A ~240 GB SSD for $104 is too good to pass up.
-----
The reason to get a Core i5 processor rather than a Core i7 is that games can't tell the difference, and the Core i5 is a lot cheaper. If you had a $2000 budget, then maybe you think about spending the extra money for the Core i7. But surely getting a higher end video card, a quality power supply, and an SSD are much higher priorities than a Core i7 processor.
-----
The reason you see a GeForce GTX 560 Ti getting recommended a lot is that Nvidia fanboys don't have much else that they can recommend. A GeForce GTX 670 is nice if you want a $400 video card. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti was a decent value for a long time, though not anymore with the superior Radeon HD 7850 having its price cut to put it into GTX 560 Ti territory. A GeForce GTX 560 now fills the hole vacated by the disappearing Radeon HD 6870 around $170. But at any other price point, you're better off going with AMD rather than Nvidia.
Also you are getting an old CPU and an old GFX card for $1000 that seems a little steep to me
And in all fairness it takes 3-4 hours to build a PC max, and this includes installing the o/s and updating, and this is really what you should be doing.
As with most pre built systems they havent told you what memory, motherboard or PSU you are getting which will generally mean cheap crap, cheap crap and cheap crap.
Thanks to everyone with their advice, especially you Quizz.
The system looks good to me. I've never heard of the company, but I'll go with your word that it's a reputable one.
I made a couple of minor adjustments to your recommended system, and the price came out to $1571, which is OK.
I bumped the OS up to Win Pro, and added MS Office Pro. I could get it slightly cheaper somewhere else, but no matter. I also bumped the video card up to the 7870 as suggested, and added the second SSD for $104. That is a good deal.
The video card upgrade looked like a good thing to do based on this link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
I currently have the 6870, and going to the 7770 actually seemed like a step backward, which is why I upgraded to the 7870 upon your recommendation.
Just a few questions...
1) I assume the case has room for another hard drive? I have a 2TB (non-SSD) that I would like to throw in there as well for things that don't require alot of speed. 500GB total just doesn't cut it for a few things that I store. (For that matter, can I pop another DVD drive in there as well? Does the picture of the tower match what I'd be getting?)
2) Do you happen to know anything about the noise level? I would prefer the system not to sound like a hair dryer blowing constantly where I can't even hear myself think (like if I'm on the phone, etc.) Should I invest in the sound reduction options they have, or is that all fluff that doesn't do anything.
Thanks again for all your thoughts. It really did help.
Cyber Power PC is very similar to iBuyPower, which is the company that made the one you were looking at buying. I linked to the former rather than the latter because I can't get iBuyPower's configurator to load today. Both have a business model of assembling gaming computers relatively cheaply, and with a decent selection of parts.
Why do you need Windows 7 Professional? There are some people who genuinely do need it, but the Home Premium edition has everything useful to the overwhelming majority of home users.
For a video card comparison, the Cape Verde chip of a Radeon HD 7770 is roughly the Pitcairn chip of a Radeon HD 7870 cut in half. That's not entirely true, but it's reasonably close, and if you think of it as being true, you won't be far off in performance approximations.
If you currently have a 6870, then why were you looking into buying a 6850? Speaking of which, why are you looking to replace the old computer at all? A 7870 is faster than a 6870, but not $1500 worth of faster. Or $250 worth of faster, which is about what a 7870 costs new. It would only be maybe 50% faster than your old card.
The usual setup is that if you need a ton of storage on a big budget, you get one SSD and one hard drive. You put the OS and your main programs on the SSD (and if you have more than 240 GB in real programs that you use a lot, you're very unusual), and bulk data on the hard drive. There isn't much reason to get two SSDs instead of one.
The case probably has four drive bays for hard drives or SSDs, so there's plenty of room to add more if you need to.
I always have gotten Pro versions with all my OSs. There always seems to be some quirk with Home editions that I always seem to run into where if I'm looking to do something, the option is never there because it's not available on the Home edition, especially when it comes to networking. Been getting Pro ever since XP. Besides, there is a possibility that this will be connected to a domain.
The 6870 is currently in a system that I don't want to touch, and will still be used. Maybe I wasn't so clear on that, but I'm not putting the 6870 in the new system. I was figuring if I were going to purchase a new system, I wanted a card better than the 6870. I'm a bit confused on what you were saying. Do you mean the upgrade to the 7870 would not be worth it over the 7770?
No, I certainly don't have more than 240GB in program size. No where near it. I just have a bunch of data (videos, pictures, etc) that I will have on the 2TB. I was thinking of the secondary 250GB SSD to put the swap file on, as well as games. The primary SSD would be OS only, and maybe a program here and there, like MS Office, etc. However, maybe that's a bit of overkill, and I wouldn't need the secondary SSD. I was just trying to get as much speed as possible out of it.
Thanks for all the info.