16 replies to this topic

[Krieger22]

I'm planning to upgrade my "custom" gaming PC (it was actually dealer assembled and I had no say in the parts).
What do you recommend for me? My basic goal would be a 64-bit Windows 7 computer that can handle most games today and upcoming ones like Battlefield 3. What would YOU use for it?
Post away, as I reckon it takes a gamer to know what a gaming PC needs.

Edited by Krieger22, 02 July 2011 - 14:04.

[Wanderer]

Intel coreI5 or coreI7
at least 6-8gb ram
SSD for windows and a normal harddrive for storage
Top of the line ATI or Nvidia card

Should keep you gaming for awhile

[ΓΛPTΘΓ]

i5 Sandybridge
Any good P67 mobo
8GB ram DDR3 1333Mhz +
Multi Samsung F3 HDDs
6950 or 560Ti, top of the line is a waste of cash
Maybe a good sound card if you want more than gaming

NEVER CHEAP OUT ON THE PSU
Seasonic X series is a good choice.

[Krieger22]

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyway, there aren't any RAM sticks over 4GB here, so I'll have to use 2 sticks. Any manufacturers you would recommend for the RAM and SSD?

[CJ]

I only buy my RAM from Corsair personally, but some friends say that Kingston is a good brand as well
As for SSD... Well I'm still using a 5400RPM HDD

EDIT : Also, this might sound silly (I haven't seen if other people do the same), but I tend to use the maximal number of RAM sticks instead of just one. I do that because if one of the sticks was to fail, I could still use my PC with the others until I replace it

Edited by CJ, 04 July 2011 - 08:16.

[Krieger22]

I'm going to use two sticks at least (64 bit systems can use much more RAM, maximum IIRC is over 100GB), and does anyone know whether using a AMD Phenom is a good idea as an alternative to a i5-i7?

[Dauth]

I've fallen out with AMD some time ago, and they've not won me back. I know Intel are pricey but they've never let me down.

[Amdrial]

If anything, follow the instructions Raptor has given. A bad powersupply could make your computer shut down on itself at random intervals or, in worse cases, cause some serious damage to your hardware.
Personally, I like to use Zalman products, although I don't know if they sell Zalman power supplies in your region.

RAM wise, don't bother getting more than 12 GBs of RAM unless you want to do some serious photoshopping and video editing. Most applications do not need that much RAM.

A standard ATX-format motherboard should support four RAM slots. Make sure you get DDR3 RAM and not DDR2 RAM for your motherboard (or otherwise, depending on what your motherboard supports of course). The cheapest way to get things done is to get four sticks of two gigs of RAM, or if you want to go over-the-top; get four sticks of four gigs.

[BeefJeRKy]

The biggest speed improvement you can make to your system is to use an SSD as your primary boot drive. And for a desktop, I would recommend one of an Intel SSD 510 or the OCZ Agility 3 series.

[Krieger22]

Alright. I've been looking at some "valuRAM" memory sticks from Kingston. Anybody tried these out? Are they any good? And are Asus and Gigabyte video cards any good? Those are the only ones I've seen that use Nvidia or ATi tech, so it would help a lot.
Computer builders here are almost useless. The PC I use now is a Intel Core Duo with a 32-bit system. The git...

[Amdrial]

I know Raptor will tell you that cheaping out on RAM usually isn't a good way to go if you want to overclock your PC, but if you won't, it should be fine. (I use two sticks of 4GB ValueRAM sticks from Kingston myself, and in the past three months I've had my PC, they haven't fried, so it should be okay.)

Asus is known as a high-quality brand with little not almost no hardware failures; be it individual pieces of hardware or entire computers (I had a graph which compaired RMA's for multiple brands; Acer being the worst brand and Asus being the best brand. I sadly lost the graph though).

If possible, get an Nvidia card. They not only supply (generally) more stable drivers, but they also have better customer support in general when it comes to hardware malfunctions.

[ΓΛPTΘΓ]

If you are not overclocking, cheap ram with good timings is good enough, just that don't cheap out too much and start buying unknown brands. For a Sandybridge build, I can recommend Asus and MSI motherboard, Gigabyte is good, but costing too much for what it is.

[Krieger22]

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate your suggestions (but the kit might not be available here). Anyway, I've been looking up parts here. If you've got time, try checking it out and seeing what the good part combinations are.And send them to me.

[Amdrial]

Might be useful to tell us how much RM you are willing to spend

[Krieger22]

I probably can afford to pay up to RM3000 max (Any effort to undercut this is good).
By the way, my father says that AMD is the best (despite what Dauth says).
Anybody able to do a comparison (reliability, performance, etc.)?

EDIT: Mentioned the wrong person.

Edited by Krieger22, 09 July 2011 - 06:06.

[BeefJeRKy]

at low prices, AMD is better. If you can stretch the budget another $100, the Core i7s pound the AMDs to a pulp.

[Krieger22]

Reviving this as most of the parts I was recommended last time are no longer being carried (didn't amount to much either).

So far I've come up with this:
CPU: Intel i5 3570K http://www.techhyper...-processor.html
GPU: Leadtex GTX 650 1GB DDR5 http://www.techhyper...aphic-card.html
Mobo: Asrock B75 Pro3-M http://www.techhyper...otherboard.html
RAM: 4GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX (my parents insist on using 32-bit OSes and won't change, but I'll get another stick if they do) http://www.techhyper...nel-memory.html
PSU: Corsair GS600W http://www.techhyper...wer-supply.html
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB http://www.techhyper...ard-drives.html
CD/DVD drive: LG Internal Super Multi DVD Rewriter 24x http://www.techhyper...h24-dvd-rw.html
I'm looking at this casing, the Cooler Master Elite 430 (as long as it's not their PSUs it's fine, right?) http://www.techhyper...er-chassis.html

Thoughts? Maximum I can spend is RM3000 like last time.