crimsonstag84 said:I think it’s right on the edge 😬... the most demanding titles seem to peak around 4.5GB to 5GB. Using 4GB might cause a slight bottleneck (though probably not in 99% of games), while 8GB feels like total overkill. Personally, I’ve never really liked the 6GB middle ground 🤣
I'll probably just grab another 4GB stick once my next paycheck hits 🙂
Motherboard and case 😬 I suspect that i5 might be a bit of a bottleneck for the R9 280 x
You think? Hard to say, I just checked this build online and it says there's no issue: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Sn8Y ''Parts Are Compatible: No issues/incompatibilities found.'' It's the exact same CPU and GPU.
As for the RAM, if he's planning on playing stuff like BF4, AC4, COD Ghosts, or newer titles, I wouldn't suggest sticking with just 4GB.
graniteharbor85 said:Nobody really said much... just read between the lines here 😉
He’ll only pull off 8GB if he goes super cheap on the motherboard and the case—but cutting corners like that means he's getting lower-tier parts, so he's basically losing out anyway. Honestly, 6GB of RAM is more than enough for everything else on his list, and it actually helps keep the whole build better balanced.
It really just comes down to how much of a hardcore gamer he is. If he’s looking to tackle those newer titles from 2013 onwards and wants to crank the video settings all the way up, then 8GB is pretty much the sweet spot.
I've got one Asrock B75 Pro3 on hand—it's an Intel B75 board, standard ATX layout, and supports dual Channel 4xDDR3 up to 1600. Just a solid little piece of hardware. So, I managed to snag one of those Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz chips—you know, the ones that can bump up to a 3.3 GHz Max Turbo FQ—with 6MB of cache. Just a single unit for now. I've got one stick of 8GB DDR3 here—it's that Kingston HyperX Blue 1600MHz with CL10 timings. Just a single module. I've got one Corsair 500 w CX Series 80 + Bronze sitting here—it's an ATX12V v2.3 unit. Just a solid, reliable power supply. I've got one Thermaltake Versa II sitting here. It's a midi tower, fits both ATX and mATX setups, and actually has a 5.25" external bay if you still need those. I've got one Samsung SH-224DB sat Bulk Black DVD burner on hand—standard SATA connection. Just a quick heads-up if you're looking to grab it! I've got one Sapphire R9 270 2GB up for grabs, along with Battlefield 4. It’s the OC Boost version with 2GB of GDDR5 and a 256bit bus. Honestly, it's a solid little card. Reminds me of when I first started building PCs back in the day—just simple, reliable gear that gets the job done without any fuss. Let me know if you're interested! I've got one Western Digital 1TB Caviar Blue hard drive up for grabs. It’s the 10EZEX model, 1000 GB, runs on SATA3, and has 64 MB cache. Standard 3.5" size, and honestly, it's still got plenty of life left in it—it's been a reliable workhorse for me. So, I picked up a single 60GB Kingston V300 SSD. It’s that standard 2.5" size, about 7mm thick, running on SATA 3 at 6G speeds. I also grabbed the adapter to swap it from 7mm up to 9.5mm. Just a little upgrade for an old machine.
Pevec is cheap for a reason (they don't exactly have a stellar reputation for quality 😁). Honestly, I can't blame myself for missing that Sony deal (and Sony at that—man, you just can't beat their quality 😁) over at that one big-box store I never even bother stepping foot in. I was actually hunting for a 40'' HDTV on Best Buy, but it totally slipped my mind to convert everything to inches since some of these stores still list tech using those weird metric measurements.
Anyway, they should probably check out one of these TVs with a dedicated PC input if they're looking for a combo setup.
Timothy Fisher79 said:Man, don't bother buying it. You're just throwing money down the drain. Just grab a pirated version, set it up, and call it a day. You'll be fine. ☕
Then you go ahead and drop a torrent link right next to it and wonder why you got banned for piracy. Not the brightest move.
I am finally ready to upgrade my living room setup after a decade of sticking with an old CRT television, and I am looking to pull the trigger on something modern... Since this will be my daily driver, but I also plan to hook up my PC occasionally for some gaming sessions and movie nights, I have a few specific requirements in mind. I need a screen with a diagonal of at least 40 inches, featuring 1080p resolution with vibrant color reproduction, plenty of HDMI ports, and broad support for various video formats so I don't run into any playback issues when I connect my computer. Most importantly, I want something reliable and high-quality—ideally avoiding brands like RCA or budget generic labels... My budget is around $3,000, though I could stretch to $1167 if necessary, and I plan to finance the purchase through Chase....
Wait, you're looking for a monitor with a built-in tuner that's at least 40'' and 1080p for under $1167? Man, that's going to be tough to find. The cheapest HDTV monitors I've come across are pushing almost $1500, and even then, they're usually only 27''—which is way smaller than what you're aiming for.
Yeah, honestly, you can't really blame them. They jumped on those optimization fixes pretty fast, but the real issue is just how demanding both games are. We're talking pure high-end hardware territory here.
I just dropped a link to some gear from a local shop, and your next move was to jump in and lecture me about advertising. Seriously? Look, if you aren't actually planning on replying to the last guy on the XY thread, maybe just use the quote button next time. It makes things way less confusing for everyone else.
David Sanders4 said:Wait, don't you have an HD 7870 if I remember correctly? How did Batman or Metro 2033 run on that thing? Just asking since you've got quite the collection. What kind of processor we talking about? Give me some details..... I remember my frame rate absolutely tanking in Batman because of PhysX. It was brutal. But then I jumped into Metro 2033 and didn't see those kinds of massive drops at all, mostly just by turning that setting off. PhysX. It feels like things just lose their soul sometimes. You look at those lifeless textures or how certain surfaces just don't react right—it’s like they aren't even there, totally flat and dead. With Arma 3, though, it’s a whole different story. The physics engine absolutely eats CPU cycles for breakfast, which is exactly why you see such a massive difference when you start looking at CPU scaling. I mean, when I look at games like Far Cry 2 or 3, there’s just nothing quite like it. There isn't that... well, you know what I mean. It's hard to put into words, but those titles had a certain vibe that modern stuff sometimes misses. Destruction.It’s mostly just cosmetic polish at this point. It reminds me a lot of how things went down with Crysis 1 and 2—everything looks gorgeous, sure, but you lose that sense of actual impact. Back then, you felt like you could actually mess with the environment around you. There was way more interactivity with the world, you know? Now it feels a bit more superficial. Trimming trees can be such a massive headache. I was out in the backyard last weekend trying to tackle some overgrown branches, and man, it’s way more work than it looks. You think you’ll just spend an hour with some shears and be done with it, but then you realize you need a ladder, better gloves, and probably a whole new set of tools. It's one of those chores that just keeps growing on you—literally.I mean, looking at stuff like tearing down old shacks or whatever, it kind of feels like... I was just thinking about the old Battlefield: Bad Company days. Man, those games were something else. They had this specific vibe that you just don't see much anymore—kind of gritty, but also hilarious if you caught the right moment. It’s funny how certain titles just stick in your head, even when there's a million newer things out there. Just one of those classic experiences that stays with you. The Battlefield series is built on the Frostbite engine, but they still lean heavily on things like DirectX 11 to get everything running smoothly. Havok physics.I honestly feel like modern games have just hit a wall when it comes to actual innovation. It feels like everything today is just about polishing textures or obsessing over smoothing out jagged edges with all those different types of Antialiasing—you know, the whole TAA and FXAA shuffle. They spend so much time on that instead of actually pushing the boundaries. Volumetric lighting... man, that stuff really changes the vibe of a game. It’s one of those things you don't notice until it's missing, and then everything just feels flat and fake. It adds that sense of weight to the air, like you can actually see the sunlight cutting through the dust in an old warehouse. It makes the whole world feel lived-in. Clouds, fog... honestly, DirectX 11 really changed the game with that stuff. Tessellation. Just one word, but man, it’s such a fundamental part of how everything looks under the hood. It’s funny how we take it for granted now, but back in the day, seeing things actually look smooth instead of like a jagged mess was a huge deal. It's all about that detail, you know? Makes the whole world feel a bit more solid. What was the actual big difference compared to Parallax occlusion mapping? Honestly, that stuff was basically just an illusion. Crysis uses PAM in spots where there isn't even a real advantage to using Tessellation. I can't help but wonder if the new Half-Life might actually shake things up again. Every time a new title from them drops, it feels like a genuine breath of fresh air... they always find a way to innovate. Man, back in 2008, I honestly thought trailers like that would be the standard for every single game by 2013. I really did. Nvidia - Massive Destruction in real-time tech demo
If you're asking me, I don't have one. I'm still rocking my GTX 560 Ti OC. I was just watching this comparison video for Assassin's Creed IV showing gameplay with and without PhysX enabled, and honestly? It doesn't seem worth the hassle to keep it turned on. Not only does it absolutely hammer your CPU, but you aren't even getting any meaningful boost in graphical performance. Just feels like a waste of resources if you ask me. I honestly feel like developers should stop wasting space in the video settings menu. They need to start adding actual useful options instead of cluttering everything up with stuff like Motion Blur. To me, the game just looks way cleaner without those annoying smears all over the screen.
I'm keeping a close eye on Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield 5 once they officially move into active development. They look like they’re going to be absolute hardware killers. Honestly, looking at my current rig, I can only dream about actually turning on Antialiasing or touching any of those high settings without everything crawling to a halt.
Sam Rodriguez55 said:Will my rig handle Arma 3 on max settings? I'm planning on diving into some DayZ.
With this setup, you're definitely going to be crushing every game on max settings for the next few years—maybe even longer, if you're lucky.
So, what’d you end up with this year? Just two big titles that were total messes when they launched? Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts? Look, I know what time it is, but I’m not exactly psychic—I can't predict exactly how developers are going to mess up their future projects. Take Assassin's Creed IV, for instance. That one was actually smooth enough that it didn't even need an optimization patch right after it dropped.
David Sanders4 said:P.S. I just noticed that Assassin's Creed IV also uses PhysX
It actually started happening recently, right after the Freedom Cry DLC. I don't see any lag when I have Antialiasing turned on, but once I enable PhysX, things start getting glitchy.
Robert Adams9 said:@Kimberly Gomez34 put together some great builds 👋 If you can, try to aim for 6-8GB of RAM. We’re seeing more unoptimized titles coming out this year that really chew through virtual memory—just look at how Ghost and Battlefield 4 handled things. Sure, developers usually patch those issues later on, but I'd rather you not have to wait for the fix.🙂
Where are you even getting that from? You got a crystal ball hidden under your desk or something? It makes sense that newer titles will demand more juice—like needing 8GB of RAM just to run smoothly—but claiming they'll all be poorly optimized is a bit of a stretch.
Like I said, I know my thinking was a bit fuzzy there, but I figured someone would call me out on it since I know how much this crew keeps an eye on every single build here. 😁 It wasn't just a slip-up with the PSU and the GPU; even the socket itself was a total oversight on my part.
I completely missed that 4440 because I was too busy sorting through all the cheapest components I could find just to make sure everything fit into four slots.
Sometimes a high price tag doesn't actually guarantee quality, 😁 and you end up landing yourself some overclockable CPU paired with the wrong motherboard socket, no cooler, an overkill power supply, a weak graphics card, and so on. 😁
Robert Rodriguez2 said:You basically just insulted the boss and the whole precinct 3.1 miles at once... if I were you, I’d just go with that first AMD build 🧐 . . You picked everything right... you aren't cheapening any single part, which is the 👍 key . Maybe just swap in an XFX 450W instead of the Corsair or even what 😬 suggested from Silverstone.
I just threw that together quickly because, at first glance, it seemed like a decent deal for the money. To be honest, when I'm building a high-end rig, I tend to go wild since I "know my way around" the expensive stuff better. 😬 So don't be surprised that the budget option felt a bit off to me. 😬
I’ve got one Asrock H81M-DGS on hand—it's an Intel H81, M-ATX board with dual Channel 2xDDR3 support, running at 1600. Just picked up an Intel Core i5-4430, 3.00GHz, Haswell. It's a solid little chip. Just picked up a single 8GB stick of Kingmax DDR3 running at 1333MHz. It’s the non-ECC kind with a CL9.0 latency. Simple enough. I've got one MSI GTX 650 for sale. It’s the 1GB GDDR5 version with a 128-bit bus (model N650-1GD5/OCV1), and the core clock sits at 1071 MHz. Just a solid little card if you need it. I've got one 1TB Western Digital hard drive here—it's a Caviar Blue 10EZEX. It's a standard 3.5" SATA3 drive with 64 MB cache, sitting at a 1TB capacity. Just a solid, reliable little workhorse. I've got one Zalman CNPS8000B CPU cooler on hand. It uses a 92mm PWM fan that runs anywhere from 1,400 to 2,000 RPM. I've got one Corsair VS Series power supply on hand—it's the 550 Watt model, standard ATX, running the ATX12V v2.31 spec.
Timothy Fisher79 said:Wait, what??? 🙂 Look, if someone says they prefer one shop over another, that’s just an opinion. It doesn't mean they work there, and it definitely doesn't mean they're getting a kickback to promote them, haha. Seriously though, people need to chill and look at the big picture for a second. ☕
Seriously, what is this even? Just more blatant advertising. 😕 I posted the cheapest meat I could find on Amazon, so if those two items from the same store aren't what you were looking for, that's really not on me. You’re still a bit green.
If we’re really going there, I’d definitely point you toward ADM. Honestly, I’ve always preferred them over Protis anyway.
David Sanders4 said:I’m starting to think Drew Sanchez82 might actually be working for the opposition. 😁 The G-300 is actually a pretty solid mouse. It’s one of those rare symmetrical designs that works just as well if you're left-handed as it does if you're right-handed. My only real gripes are that it feels a little too light for my taste, and those side buttons? Yeah, they're positioned in a spot where you can't really hit them with your thumb without doing some weird finger gymnastics.
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Look, there are plenty of downsides to consider, but you can't have your cake and eat it too, right? 😁 Honestly, for that kind of money, you really can't beat a mouse. It's a steal.
David Sanders4 said:Even SD cards have a pretty decent lifespan. Take USB sticks—they break all the time because people are careless with them, but you can usually still pull the data off. And with SSDs, it’s very likely the same deal. I mean, look at vinyl records; they’ve lasted owners for generations despite being subject to all sorts of wear and tear.
Vinyl is a whole different beast, though. They aren't nearly as fragile as other types of media. I’ve got a huge collection sitting at home right now, and some of those records are over 30 years old.