In need of a new computer

[bechyni]

Looking for a new computer doesn't matter if it's a laptop or a desktop. I need something that will be able to with stand massive HNM camps without to much lag(atleast see the mob pop yellow). I watch Bleach everynow and then but would like to be able to download all the torrents for it. Basically just want a good computer for FFXI and FFXIV when it comes out. Any suggestions?(I'm not to tech smart so I don't really know what to look for lol) Thanks!

[Isiolia]

FFXIV is hard to say, since it's still a bit of a ways off.

Logically, I would assume that it won't require anything beyond what we have now, and likely will run just fine on even slightly older systems. It's not in SE's best interest to release it requiring a cutting edge computer - most likely it'll have similar requirements to existing 360/PS3 ports, which a decent gaming PC today easily meets.

FFXI, well, is not worth really planning a system around. It's an old game, it doesn't use newer hardware features n' all. To a point, it'll always run less than optimally because it's truly a PS2 port, not a game designed around the PC. Just buy a decent machine, and FFXI should run like a champ.

Watching videos is something darn near everything can handle nicely. About the only caveat you get is with HD resolution stuff, and even then, it's pretty rare to find something current that'd have much of an issue with it.
That being said, better video hardware does tend to include more hardware acceleration features, which at the very least will reduce CPU usage. Conveniently though, better gaming cards also tend to be those that are more feature-filled in this regard.
You'll also want space to store the video files, but that's easy and cheap to add later.


My personal preference for a gaming/main machine is a desktop. You tend to get more machine for the money, better performance due to better cooling n' all, and have a much broader upgrade path (barring some small form factor machines).

If you do have times where you'd want a portable, then get a laptop as a secondary machine and don't worry so much about the gaming ability. Something suitable in that role will be far less expensive than a "gaming" laptop. It'll also, subjectively, be "good" longer due to lower performance demands.

Obviously, if you're always on the road or having very limited space, then priorities may differ. Again, too, that's my opinion, and other may hold a different view. The majority of laptops never really leave the house though, and at that point, why deal with all the drawbacks?


The big thing for a gaming machine is really the video card. Other hardware components do still matter, but the biggest thing separating a "gaming" machine from the pack is that. They're highly-specialized CPUs that are tasked with a massive amount of processing. If you want to run games well, you need a good one, even if everything else in your system is top of the line.


If you're looking for specific recommendations, it'd probably help to have a general budget and timeframe. The computer hardware market tends to change quickly - new products, price drops, etc.

Would you, or do you know anyone, that would be comfortable with building a computer? It's not as hard as it sounds, and allows you to put exactly what you want into a machine.

Also, would you be upgrading from a machine of some kind? IE, do you have a usable monitor, speakers/headphones, and so on...or would you need to budget for those sorts of things too?

[_chuchu]

^ That being said, it is not a wise idea to get a high end computer because you want to play a game or two, but that's your choice to make.

[Isiolia]

^ That being said, it is not a wise idea to get a high end computer because you want to play a game or two, but that's your choice to make.

Well, you don't need a high end computer to play games though. Primarily, you just need a good video card, which may only be a slight price bump, depending.

Even for avid game players though, it rarely makes sense to buy the top end components, so in that sense I agree.

[bechyni]

is there a big difference between AMD and Intell processors?

[Stromgarde]

The intel core i7 line (920 in particular) beats the shit out of anything AMD is offering at the moment. The i5's might be better depending on your situation however.

[Jefe]

It's kinda sad, back in the days AMD used to outperform Intels by a small margin. It was also more stable. Right now it's the other way around. However, AMD tend to be cheaper.

[bechyni]

This is what I came up with when custamizing my own:

Case-PSI ArmorX Gaming Tower Case Yellow

Internal Expansion-Internal USB Expansion System

Processor-Intel® Core™ i5 750 Processor (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

PowerDrive Level 1 - Up to 10% Overclocking

Processor Cooling-Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink

Memory-2 GB [1 GB X2] DDR3-1333 Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card-NVIDIA GeForce 9400GT – 1GB Single Card

Video Card Brand-Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA

Motherboard-Asus P7P55D LE -- Intel P55 Chipset CrossFire Supported w/7.1 Sound, Dual-Channel DDR3, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-Ex16 MB

Power Supply-450 Watt -- Standard Power Supply

Primary Hard Drive-500 GB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s

Data Hard Drive-None

Optical Drive-22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black

2nd Optical Drive-None

Flash Media Reader/Writer-12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige

Meter Display-None

Sound Card-3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card-Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Operating System-Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 64-Bit

Price is $709 does that sound like a decent price and decent systems for FFXI some other random online games + extensive porn "research"?

[Avanarius]

The price sounds right, but I can already tell you that the 9400gt is going to choke on any remotely new games.

(at the same time, the 450w PSU might not be enough to run anything faster, except maybe up to 9800gt)

also 2gb of ram is low for an i5 system, shoot for 4gb at least since it shouldn't cost much more anyways.

[bechyni]

what type video card do you think i should go with then?

[Avanarius]

what type video card do you think i should go with then?

GTX 275 if you get a good deal, it'll run anything on max, but you need a bigger PSU 600w (preferably)

**forgot to mention that new cards are just around the corner for ATI and NVIDIA just a ways down....so you might want to wait. They will make the older cards price sink like a rock.

[bechyni]

yeah I figure ill wait til November since I heard there is some pretty good sells going on then. Any ideas on the release date of the new cards?

edit: is the GTX260 or GTS240 decent?

[seph32]

Like they said 2GB is LOW.
And yeah get a 200-serie Nvidia cards, the 9-series are going out & die and you'll be future proof with getting 260/275GTX atleast. Also ATI is coming up with 58xx cards, but I prefer Nvidia anyway since more games have better support for Nvidia than ATI.

I personally prefer Win7 64-bit over Vista 64-bit I seem to gain 15-20 more FPS in WoW and FFXI in Win7.

I'd go with 750 or 850w Corsair is pretty good and cheap PSUs. 450w is really low not to mention newer video cards require 2x 6 pin powersupply. Also depending how many fans your case has and you are getting and if you are getting a strong CPU fan 450w is going to be on the low side. Even if you're not gonna make fully use of 750/850w you'll be assured for future upgrades atleast.

If you're using Nvidia cards I'd suggest getting an SLI mobo instead of Crossfire if you plan on getting dual video cards in the future. Since you plan going with Nvidia cards makes getting a Crossfire mobo kinda pointless. If you don't plan going dual video cards don't worry about it.

[bechyni]

Yeah I'm trying to find something around the lines of ~700-750$ but i cant seem to find the specified video cards/proccesory/memory for under 850 :< any suggestions or any help with going through custamizing one?(i will be the young grasshopper) lol

[seph32]

Most stuff looks ok you just need to change PSU and 2 extra GB ram at the very least. You could always buy other parts later.

[bechyni]

what is the PSU lol sorry noob question

[Stromgarde]

Power Supply Unit

[bechyni]

lol thanks. how much should i up it to?

[seph32]

i advice 750w or 850w

[Stromgarde]

He shouldn't need anything near that powerful for the specs he cited... 650W maybe, and that's being generous.