Gaming Specs and New Games

[bigmalky]

First post on the forums so hello to everyone...

I bought a desktop from PC Specialist over the weekend and since it's been a long time since I had a gaming desktop (GTX 8800 generation), I was wondering if my specs will cope with some of the newer games like SWTOR, Skyrim and Diablo 3 on full settings.

Have a look:

Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER EIGHT CORE FX-8120 (3.10GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer)

Nice meeting you,

Malky

 

[Wozza63]

it will be fine, although one recommendation would be just to get the FX-8150, the difference is definitely worth it as Bulldozers are pretty bad at singlethreading, so the extra speed certainly makes a difference

Could you post the rest of the spec as well please?

 

[Enazel]

Should be fine, Not a big fan of Bulldozer processors, but they good enough to deal with most games out or coming onto the market, and you combined it with a very nice GPU.

 

[bigmalky]

it will be fine, although one recommendation would be just to get the FX-8150, the difference is definitely worth it as Bulldozers are pretty bad at singlethreading, so the extra speed certainly makes a difference

Could you post the rest of the spec as well please?

It's already been built so no chance of that... Plus it's extra cash, I was on a strict budget lol.

No problem Wozza:



Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER EIGHT CORE FX-8120 (3.10GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP (Special Offer)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK250 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£21)

 

[Wozza63]

ok so thats a decent spec pretty similar to mine on some parts so what i recommend is:

Upgrade to FX-8150

Get a 750GB Caviar Black HDD, these are quite a bit faster to increase boot up times etc

Get the £19 Triple Copper Cooler, its well worth it

Id also recommend a wired keyboard and mouse, although thats up to you, i dont like having to constantly pay for new batteries, but if you need the wireless then get that

 

[bigmalky]

Well, I stayed within my budget and I guess it'll have to do for now. I can upgrade when my missus decides to stop pressuring guilt on me for buying a £1000 machine lol.

I agree with the cooling system but again, no extra cash for adding items. The wireless was a definite as I'm going to be running it on my TV rather than using a monitor and having a keyboard on my lap would be the easier option. I have loads of batteries anyway as my son's obsessed with gadgets, so we're never short.

 

[Wozza63]

ok thats fair enough, although i forgot to say, get the silver warranty for a fiver if you havent already, its well worth it

 

[bigmalky]

I made sure I took out the silver when I ordered. Really good price for a full year service with the 3 years labour.

 

[baron75mk2]

well im not farmiliar with the amd processor or two of the other games , but i can tell you that the GTX 580 will play skyrim at max settings at 60fps at all times ( well it does on a 3gb model & skyrim doesnt go over a gig of card ram as far as i know unless modded up )

Looks like a very nice setup.

welcome to the forums & i hope you enjoy your new rig ! :yes:

 

[bigmalky]

Thanks baron. It's been a long time since I got any good PC gaming done. Well, saying that, I've had The Old Republic on my laptop for two weeks but it runs like a one legged man with a ball and chain round his ankle.

Hence the upgrade lol.

I got Skyrim for the PS3 but since I've now got a machine that will run it, I can pick it up and run it with mods for PC.... How I've missed them.

 

[dangro474]

Hi Bigmalky,

Your spec looks fine. As always alterations depend on your budget.

I would recommend the following:

CPU: i5 3550K or higher
GPU: 580 GTX / 680 GTX depending on budget. I have found that the 680 GTX bridges the gap between 45-50 FPS in Skyrim and constant 60 in 1080p ultra presets.
RAM: 8GB 1600. No less, and only more if you do a fair amount of video editing / 3d design.
PSU: 650W 80% efficiency minimum.
HDD: 32MB cache 7.2k RPM drive with capacity to matchy our needs. I would recommend a minimum of 750GB for a primary, your storage drive (if you opt for one_ depends on how much you download etc. I personally have 2x 3TB storage drives -_-

I upgraded to a 680 GTX from a 580 GTX and am pleased with the performance improvement, which was an average of 20% in GPU intensive games.

Oh, and to quote my cousin:

"I will NEVER play Fallout 3, Battlefield 3 or Skyrim on my PS3 ever again. Why the **** would i want to."

 

[bigmalky]

Once I manage to save some cash I was going to double up the 580's instead of shelling out for the 680. The processor will come later.

It's hard to outfit a gaming PC for £1000 if you want the best and all I needed was something that runs a decent fps on high settings.

I'll still be clan gaming with the PS3, but I miss the quality in graphics and RPG games on PC... Plus it seems to be a comeback year for PC gaming with the likes of Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3 and Tera Online coming out soon. Just hoping console gaming values haven't damaged the potential for them.

 

[bigmalky]

I recieved my desktop today. Great, fast service...

Is it me or have desktops been getting fatter? I was going to place it behind the TV but it's massive. At least double the size of my last DT. Now I'll have to move the TV stand out a bit lol.

 

[baron75mk2]

Thanks baron. It's been a long time since I got any good PC gaming done. Well, saying that, I've had The Old Republic on my laptop for two weeks but it runs like a one legged man with a ball and chain round his ankle.

Hence the upgrade lol.

I got Skyrim for the PS3 but since I've now got a machine that will run it, I can pick it up and run it with mods for PC.... How I've missed them.

Im sure the old republic will run a lot better on the pc i would think , im not farmiliar with it although i did love the KOTOR games , but the old republic is vastly different isnt it ? , its an online game only with subscription now isnt it ?

Never the less im sure it would run better going trough a GTX580 than any console can run it.

Hope you have hours of fun with it :yes:

 

[bigmalky]

Aye, it's an MMO. An old bad habit of mine that I keep coming back to now and again. :whistling:

The KOTOR games were excellent. I might pick them up as well.

 

[baron75mk2]

"I will NEVER play Fallout 3, Battlefield 3 or Skyrim on my PS3 ever again. Why the **** would i want to."

I feel the same , but also for the 360 , consoles just cant deliver 60fps on most games - shame everyone wants them to be so small - if not & they were bigger they could accomadate the cooling needed for real good GPUs , but i cant see this happening , they seem to just keep getting smaller & failing more often.

 

[baron75mk2]

Aye, it's an MMO. An old bad habit of mine that I keep coming back to now and again. :whistling:

The KOTOR games were excellent. I might pick them up as well.

They are a pain in the preverbial to get in to a high widescreen resolution , i have done it for the 1st one with widescreen patcher , but you need to get the correct font files as well & also its best to launch them on one core - but the second one is so badly performing no matter what setup you get , when you walk in to areas where there is fog on the ground the fps jut goes all over the place - its always been like it & also you need to do the same hacks to get high res widescreen & you need to get the font files as well - basically more hassel than they are worth.

Almost forgot , you need the fov hack as well .