PC Gaming Build - Need Help!

M

Mercutio

Weaksauce
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
86
It's been a long time since I've updated my computer. I will have to trust your recommendations - particularly regarding GPU, CPU, and MoBo.

This computer will be used for sim racing only, in 1920x1080.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming only.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$1200 before tax and shipping. Including OS.

3) Where do you live?

NV.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Need: CPU, RAM, GPU, Motherboard, PSU, HDD (SSD is possible)
Have: Case, connectors, cables, optical drive.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Case is ATX from Antec. Believe it's an old 180 series.

6) Will you be overclocking?

No.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

1080P plasma TV.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Now.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

None of these are relevant to me; this will be dedicated to gaming and that only. Crossfire & SLi are not my cup of tea.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Not yet. Will buy Win7. Not sure whether to get 64bit or 32bit. Any recommendations?
 
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Good question - it would not be included in the $1,000. I've updated the OP to clarify that; bumped the overall budget to $1,200 and mentioned that the OS is included in the $1,200.
 
$1,200 is alot of budget for just running NASCAR Sim racing game. Is this the only game your playing?
 
iRacing, yes. I'm happy to spend more if $1,200 is overkill.

Since my monitor is 60", anti-aliasing is pretty important.
 
Your monitor or TV is 60" but, the resolution is 1920x1080 only. The system requirement for NASCAR SimRacing doesn't seem that high.

System Requirements

MINIMUM SPECIFICATION
Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP Pro/Home
Processor 1 GHZ Intel Pentium III or 100% Compatible
Memory 256 Megabytes
Hard Drive 3 Gigabytes free space
CD/DVD Drive 8x
3D Accelerator DirectX 9.0c compliant 32 MB NVIDIA GeForce 2 or
better, ATI Radeon 7500 or better AGP video card.
Sound Card DirectX 9.0c compliant PCI
Game Controllers DirectX 9.0c compliant

RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATION
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Pro/Home
Processor 2 GHZ or better Intel Pentium 4 or 100% Compatible
Memory 256 MB or better
Hard Drive 3 Gigabyte free space.
CD/DVD Drive 12x or better
3D Accelerator ATI RADEON 9000 or better
NVIDIA GeForce FX or better
Sound Card Creative Labs SoundBlaster Series
Game Controllers Logitech Momo Force (Wheel/Pedals) & Wingman Series
(Gamepads, Joysticks and Wheels/Pedals)
Microsoft Sidewinder Series (Gamepads, Joysticks and
Wheels/Pedals)
Thrustmaster NASCAR Pro Digital 2 & NASCAR Pro Force
Feedback (Wheel/Pedals)
 
Ah, I see the confusion: I will be playing iRacing, not NASCAR SimRacing. The monitor is only 1920x1080 because it is a bigscreen plasma.

The system reqs for iRacing are:

Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
Hyperthreaded Intel CPU, AMD Athlon 64 CPU, or any dual-core CPU
128MB Pixel Shader 2.0 (ATI 9700Pro or nVidia 6600 or better); 256 MB Pixel Shader 3.0 (ATI X1600 or nVidia 6800 GT/GS or better) graphics adapter recommended
1 GB system RAM
3Gb free hard disk space
 
Mercutio said:
iRacing, yes. I'm happy to spend more if $1,200 is overkill.

Since my monitor is 60", anti-aliasing is pretty important.
Click to expand...

In that case, you can spend a bit less than $1,200 for such a system - in fact, I'd recommend a build in the $800 to $1,000 range. I will leave it up to others as to which specific components to get.
 
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My existing PC is an old gaming notebook; M8800GT and a 2GHz Core2Duo.

For reference, this mobile setup hits 30FPS and worse with low/middle settings at 1920x1080.
 
$227 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 ATX Motherboard
$40 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$150 - Gigabyte GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460 768MB PCI-E Video Card
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$21 - LG GH24LS50 DVD Burner
$80 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
---
Total: $683 plus tax and shipping.
 
There's used Radeon 5850's in the FS forum at the $160 price mark. I don't see the logic in buying a gtx 460 768mb at this late in the game. There were some tremendous sales on them at the $100 price. That's the only reason to buy a gtx 460 now.
 
J Macker said:
There's used Radeon 5850's in the FS forum at the $160 price mark. I don't see the logic in buying a gtx 460 768mb at this late in the game. There were some tremendous sales on them at the $100 price. That's the only reason to buy a gtx 460 now.
Click to expand...

Really up to the OP if he wants to buy used hardware. In addition, more than likely those sales involves a MIR. To me that's not a guarantee discount.
 
Thank you for the advice, guys.

I was thinking of going with a GTX570, new, instead of the 460 or 5850. I've got the money budgeted anyways, and it never hurts to have a bit more muscle.

Would the Phenom then be a huge bottleneck, or do you think I'd be okay?
 
Hmmm... not sure I would spend $350 on a video card paired with an AMD Phenom II X4 955. I'd probabaly go with a Geforce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 6950 video card for $250-$280 This should be an enormous performance boost. Now, the M8800GT is actually a bit slower than a desktop 8800GT video card. So, going from an M8800GT to a Geforce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 6950 is huge. Even a GTX 460 or Radeon 5850 is huge jump already.
 
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Thank you again for the advice everyone.

I've completed my build and am extremely happy with the results - solid 70+ FPS with all settings maxed 98%+ of the time.

I went with the Phenom II X4 955, GTX 560 Ti, and OCZ SSD.
 
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