Budget gaming pc

[optimysterious]

Hello,

I'm looking to build a system that will stand up to Final Fantasy XIV well enough to play on my HDTV. I of course want to do this in a cost effective way.

I'm not particularly computer saavy but I have been researching this problem for a couple of weeks. Here's what I have so far...

Processor: AMD Athlon ii x4 640 3.0ghz
MOBO: ASRock AMD 770 ATX
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 G Skill
DVD Burner
Graphics: Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Hard Drive: 500 GB (does brand matter?)
Power Supply: OCZ Modstream pro 600W

That gets me to around $575 on Newegg without trying to get fancy with combo deals and of course that's before adding in an OS.

I do not have the expertise to build it myself (at least not without a few more months perusing your forums ^_^ ).

I can build similar systems on Ibuypower or cyberpower.com for low 700s with the OS installed.

Am I better off finding a local guy to build it for me? Is there fat to trim on the specs above? Is buying used off ebay an option to get a good deal?

Thanks in advance,

Opti (new tomshardware fan)

 

[dndhatcher]

Used off ebay - what if something doesnt work? If you cant pull it apart and fix it yourself do you really want to take that risk?

HDD brand matters. Newer drives like the samsung F3 and seagate 7200.12 are up to 50% faster than older models.

ASRock 870 Extreme3 is a newer model of that motherboard that has USB3 and should cost about the same.

You are going to pay $100-$200 for someone else to build, test and warranty it regardless of local vs ibuypower vs new on ebay.

 

[imaurer269]

I'm looking for the same results FFXIV on a HDTV and currently have this build sitting in my cart on newegg for $666 before shipping and rebates. I have never built a PC so please don't take this as advice just what I've been able to puzzle together looking at forums the last 48hrs. Sounds like it needs a better GPU to run in 1080p.

HIS 1GB HD 5770 & Athlon II X3 445

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & Windows 7

Cosair 650W & F3 1TB 7200rpm HDD

Case & DVD Burner

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3)

Anyone have suggestions on a GPU upgrade to play in 1080p on a HDTV?

 

[optimysterious]

That's nearly identical to what I have in my cart except I added a wireless keyboard/mouse and got the Athlon II 640 quad core. I'm sitting right at 700 with shipping.

Anyone know if going quad core will show me any improvement over the 3? Is the 5770 insufficient for gaming in 1080p? I don't need 60 fps on an MMO. 700 is really where I'd like to keep it so I'm thinking the 5850 is out of reach.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

teh 5770 is not ther in FFXIV. Try jumping up to the NVidia GTX 460. Its about $90 more

 

[dndhatcher]

teh 5770 is not ther in FFXIV. Try jumping up to the NVidia GTX 460. Its about $90 more

Is that because it prefers nvidia drivers? If so the 450 may be enough.

The 460 comes in 768MB and 1GB versions. Both the price and performance jumps between the two 460 models is noticeable. At $90 more you must be talkign about the 1GB model.

 

[optimysterious]

I've actually heard the opposite... that it discriminates against the nvidia drivers but I don't speak from experience. The 768MB gtx 460 is only about 40-50 more than the 5770.

I could reach for the 460 but i'd have to go with a triple core processor. Worth it?

 

[dndhatcher]

http://www.overclock.net/benchmarking-software-discussion/756684-ffxiv-benchmark.html

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/94743-The-OFFICIAL-FFXIV-Benchmark-amp-Beta-Performance-Thread

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=176493

It seems to be a CPU hog at low resolutions and a GPU hog at high resolutions. My guess is that 3 core and stronger GPU will net a better experience. The problem I see is that if that benchmark is anywhere near accurate, FFXIV will have Crysis like requirements. Did they write it using cryengine?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

http://www.overclock.net/benchmarking-software-discussion/756684-ffxiv-benchmark.html

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/94743-The-OFFICIAL-FFXIV-Benchmark-amp-Beta-Performance-Thread

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=176493

It seems to be a CPU hog at low resolutions and a GPU hog at high resolutions. My guess is that 3 core and stronger GPU will net a better experience. The problem I see is that if that benchmark is anywhere near accurate, FFXIV will have Crysis like requirements. Did they write it using cryengine?

FFXIV's 'minimum' system requirements matches Crysis's 'standard' system requirements.

My own system (A Core 2 Duo E8400, 4 GB (3.25 thanks to my 32-bit OS) and a 4850 512 card barely qualifies as playable at low res. High? forget it.

 

[imaurer269]

Found this on www.ffxivinfo.com

On July 21st 2010, the recommended system requirements were released. These requirements are for you to run the game smoothly with the following settings:

Window Size and Display Mode 1280x720 (720p) (Windowed)
Ambient Occlusion OFF
Depth of Field ON
Shadow Detail Standard
Multisampling 4x MSAA
Buffer Size Window Size
Texture Quality High
Texture Filtering High

The hardware that Square Enix recommends for you to use with these settings and run the game smoothly are as follows:

Operating System: Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit.
Processor: Intel Core i7 2.66GHz or higher. *
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more and DirectX 9. **
Memory: 4GB of RAM.
Disk Space: 15GB.

* We'd like to add that the AMD equivalent is a Phenom II X6 1055T
** We'd like to add that the ATI equivalent is a Radeon HD 5830 card with 1GB VRAM.

 

[dndhatcher]

Found this on www.ffxivinfo.com

system requirements
Window Size and Display Mode 1280x720 (720p) (Windowed)


The hardware that Square Enix recommends for you to use with these settings and run the game smoothly are as follows:

Operating System: Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit.
Processor: Intel Core i7 2.66GHz or higher. *
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more and DirectX 9. **

* We'd like to add that the AMD equivalent is a Phenom II X6 1055T
** We'd like to add that the ATI equivalent is a Radeon HD 5830 card with 1GB VRAM.

So it cant be run on a 1920x1080 monitor with any PC harware purchasable today. Well done Square Enix.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

So it cant be run on a 1920x1080 monitor with any PC harware purchasable today. Well done Square Enix.

It can't be run at that resolution and maximum settings on anything less than a i980-X with quad Crossfire 5870s or triple SLI 480x.

at standard settings, you don't need that much, a 460 and an X3 will handle it

 

[optimysterious]

Best answer selected by optimysterious.