Will this prebuilt desktop run modern games?

[fancyjack]

"Titan 8000a Krypt" AMD Bulldozer FX-4 4100 3.60GHz DDR3 Quad Core System []
^Right there, I was planning on choosing the Sapphire 7850 with 2048mb.
The computer comes with this as well.

System Specification
- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case (default choice, options available)
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750w PSU
- CPU: AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 3.60GHz Processor
- Motherboard: AMD 760G Chipset (AM3+) Motherboard
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drives: 1TB HDD
- Graphics Card: AMD 760G Onboard (Changing it to the Sapphire)
- Sound: 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
- CPU Cooler: Stock AMD Cooler
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While I've heard the processor isn't the best for other things, all I will be using this desktop for is for gaming, nothing else. My laptop will be taking up the other things I will be doing.

Games I want to play at ultra/high
ArmA 2
BF3
Any CoD
Saints Row 3
Crysis
Any source game at high everything
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
Mount & Blade
And many other modern games.

Would this be a okay choice for an only-gaming desktop?

EDIT: Would this come with a wifi chip or will I need to buy that?

[ShyguyXPC]

ArmA 2 will not run at Ultra or high, trust me, I'm running a more powerful Quad core, with Dual GTX 560 Ti's overclocked in SLI mode and it still can't run maxed out, with out having a huge lag fest on multiplayer. The game needs a really fast Dual core to do its best, due to so much Physics and AI interactions, and then there are detail levels to cope with, since you can increase your view distance in game to up to 10,000 Meters.


BF3 is much the same, but should run at fairly high settings on that hardware.

BF3 technology wise is superior to ArmA 2, but in over all features, modifications, and realistic gameplay, it pales in comparison (DX9 for ArmA 2, vs DX11 for BF3).

ArmA 2's framerates depending on whats going on, can fluctuate between night and day, you can be doing 100fps one moment, and then the next your hitting 15-20fps.

Crysis is old, but still a good tech demo game, most mid to top end cards now days can run it on pretty high if not max settings with playable frame rates.

rest of the games listed would be no problem for the systems hardware list.



thing that strikes me as odd on that system, is it has a 750W OCZ PSU, for a single Radeon 7850, that is WAY overkill and not needed. Dual 7850's in CrossfireX mode can easily run on a 550W range PSU.

the other issue here is the antiquated AMD 760G Chipset motherboard?

Why?

That board is outdated by at least 2 generations of chipsets now.

Some of them do support the Socket AM3+ CPU's, but they used to only support DDR2 RAM. Some newer revised versions supported DDR3, but still, why cut yourself short in features and support.

Should be looking at nothing less or short of an AMD 900 series Chipset.



Since I see the OcUK DVD Drive, I'm assuming your in the UK, and buying from Overclockers UK

Overclockers UK - Computer components, hardware & gaming PC


(never mind, I didn't bother clicking the system link above, now I see you are).


Whats your total budget for this system?

Honestly, I'd consider going the Intel Route, even for gaming Intel is still better, just as an example, for gaming, most of Intels Core i3 Dual cores are of the same performance range as AMD's FX Quad core, 2 less cores and lower clock rates, plus lower power consumption.

AMD Screwed the Pooch with the 1st Gen FX series.

The 2nd Revision of the FX series should be coming out next month though, so if you were able to wait until then, it would be a better time to compare how the new AMD CPU's will be doing.

They will be using the same Motherboards and chipsets, just a new better revised CPU with much better performance over the old FX models.

AMD kind of screwed up on the 1st and 2nd Revision Phenom series as well, wasn't until the Phenom II's that they were able to compete with Intel's Core 2 series, but by that time, Intel was done with Core 2, had moved on to 1st Generation Socket 1366 Core i7, and the short lived Socket 1156 Core i3, i5 and i7 platform.

[fancyjack]

My budget will be around $600-$1200 and I do not live in the UK. I actually live in Minnesota too. and that just seemed like the best option I know of at the moment.

Another EDIT: I'm very pleased with your answer, thanks a lot! But I still wonder about the wifi chip and any other good gaming pcs in my budget range.

[ShyguyXPC]

well, the shipping from UK will kill your budget.

If you have a grand or so, I would recommend doing a self built system. Ordering all of or most of the parts from sites like newegg or Tigerdirect.



As to the Wifi Chip, most systems will have that via a PCI or PCI Express Add in card.


I wouldn't recommend a USB based Wifi adapter for gaming, as it can be somewhat flaky.


Where are you at in MN? If your in the Cities or around there, I would also check out the local MicroCenter store, they often have discount deals on parts and stuff.


sadly I live a good 2-3 hours out west so its impractical for me to drive into the cities for those deals.

[ShyguyXPC]

full $1200 budget, not factoring in mouse, Keyboard, monitor or speakers (would have to change some options to accommodate those).


CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53470

SSD: Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

CPU Cooler: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

Mobo: Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

PSU: Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

GPU: Newegg.com - MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

WiFi: Newegg.com - Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 for Desktop IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI Express x1 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates WPA, WPA2, 802.1X

HDD: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Case: Newegg.com - Fractal Design Core 3000 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 3 Fans

DVD: Newegg.com - SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224BB - CD / DVD Burners


Subtotal: $1,197.88 Before shipping.

[ShyguyXPC]

Otherwise for a Prebuilt system...

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1352 Desktop PC Intel Core i5 3570k(3.40GHz) 8GB DDR3 2TB HDD Capacity NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit



it costs less, has a slightly faster CPU, similar GPU (probably stock clocked and not factory Overclocked).

has twice the HDD size, but it also lacks an SSD drive.

Decent case, and rest of the specs, but it has a crap power supply installed, and I wouldn't even consider running that Unit in a rig that much, even with the warranty on the system.

System isn't even SLI Capable, so 700W is way overkill, and it probably doesn't have that great of internal parts for the PSU.


Crap PSU, in a top end system is suicide, PSU goes out, can take rest of system with it.


but considering the price range of that rig, the SSD is an acceptable Sacrifice, and with the savings, you can always pop in your own PSU, like that Seasonic I listed above... But even a GOOD brand 500W Unit, like Corsair or Antec would be more than enough for the system.

though Modular units are really nice since you can choose to stow away the extra un-needed cables if you want.

but the systems savings should also allow you to buy that Intel Wifi Adapter as well, and install that in the system.

[fancyjack]

Where are you at in MN? If your in the Cities or around there, I would also check out the local MicroCenter store, they often have discount deals on parts and stuff.


sadly I live a good 2-3 hours out west so its impractical for me to drive into the cities for those deals.

I live in Maple Grove, so a bit close to the cities. Thanks for the info on the wifi chip and everything else, including the part list you rock!

Along with that part list, I saw Intel 2500.. I know their cards are the worst so would that just be a backup? And would that list play the games I listed a lot better then the titan?

[ShyguyXPC]

the Intel 2500 Graphics is on the CPU itself, both AMD and Intel no longer have Onboard Video on the motherboard, its all integrated on the CPU's now, but the Mobo's still need Video output connectivity.

AMD's on CPU graphics is vastly better than Intel's, comparable to $50-75 Range dedicated Cards, when paired with really fast DDR3 RAM typically meant for Overclocking, but the AMD CPU cores are still behind Intels.


But yes, either Intel Build would be MUCH better than the AMD Titan build.

GTX 660 Ti is a bit better card than the Radeon HD 7850, and even beats the 7870 in many games, but sometimes trades punches with it.

the more standard GTX 660 (non Ti) is still slightly ahead of the 7850, but not by much, and the radeon costs less. 660 runs about $230 retail right now, and 7850 at or below $200.

when you move up to the 660 Ti, the only card that really competes with it, is the Radeon 7950 models, though in some cases the 7870 can beat it.

so its teetering between both cards, and in some cases beats the 7950.


GTX 660 Ti is roughly prior gen GTX 580 range, and the GTX 670 is at or above the 580.

My Dual Geforce GTX 560 Ti's in SLI are roughly GTX 580 or slightly above it in performance, when SLI is running optimal.

but I spent over $300 total on both cards over the last year or so, and power consumption is in the 300+W range. Now for about $300 or a bit more, one can have similar performance from a single card that runs at a good 10W less than a single 560 Ti does.

might not be able to run BF3 at max settings in Multiplayer, but the game will be able to be run at some pretty high settings with playable frame rates.


ArmA 2 will still have problems though. I have noticed that many DirectX 10 and 11 based Video cards tend to run DX9 based games much hotter than running native support games.

Especially Geforce GTX 400 and newer generation cards.


For example, earlier I was running ArmA 2 for an hour or so, in our server we have, and I loaded a new Mission for one of the maps that we run. Its a smaller map, with less objects and such, and thus easier on system performance than many of the maps for ArmA 2. I was getting between 100-150fps with the stock settings for the game at 1080p.

but this was with the in game visibility set to 1500M, and no Multiplayer Grass on.

I enabled Full Grass, and I saw frame rates drop to 60-70fps range.

Boosted my View distance to 7500M and fps dropped to around 40-50fps.


some action areas saw it dip to 25-30fps.

And even lower with large amounts of explosions and stuff.


If I was running the game at higher settings, frame rates would of been slide shows at those lower points.

I've also noticed fps drop like a rock when your in a server by yourself and a few players join.


but my cards were running at 65-75C at times in game.

Meanwhile I can run games like Elder Scrolls Skyrim with the Hi Res Packs, and everything on Ultra settings (DX11 game), and get 60fps or more (with Vsync off, the fps are in the 100-150fps range), but my GPY temps never break 60C.



As to the intel graphics, when your running a dedicated card, their automatically disabled, and yes it can be used as a backup if the GPU dies or needs replacing, but they suck for real intense 3D gaming still.

But better than it used to be, though they are supposed to be pretty good with HD video streaming and the like.

[ShyguyXPC]

if you live in the Suburbs of the cities, I'd check out the local MC, located in St. Louis Park, they might have the same or similar parts, with better in store deals than you get on Newegg.

Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more!

or if you went the custom build route, some parts with MC and some with Newegg.


But the custom build list above I made, was made with expansion and upgrade routes for a couple/few years to come.

With an SLI or CrossfireX capable motherboard, as well as some decent Overclocking features.

GPU is a good one right now, and factory Overclocked.

PSU is capable of running the whole system, as well as Dual GTX 660 Ti's in SLI if you ever got a 2nd one.

Good case with room, good cooling, and build quality, as well as room to route cables for good cable management, etc.