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Operating System Specific Discussions => Other Operating Systems => Topic started by: amigadave on September 28, 2012, 10:58:22 AM
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My 19 year-old Son wants to play GuildWars2, but his PC that we built together when he was about 12 is not up to the task, so I am investigating the least expensive way to upgrade his computer so he can play GuildWars2, and still do his college homework, so I am asking for suggestions.
Should we buy a new motherboard, CPU and video card, or can we get by with just a CPU upgrade on his existing motherboard and the purchase of a new video card. The goal is to reach a level of performance that allows him to play the game at an acceptable frame rate, but spend the least amount of money (College isn't cheap).
His existing motherboard is a MSI K8N w/nVidia nForce4 chipset and the original CPU we used is an Athlon 64 ADA3000AA4BP @1,800MHz
I can buy an Athlon 64 FX60 @2.8GHz dual core that I am fairly certain will work in his motherboard for less than $100. I don't know if that meets the minimum requirements for GuildWars2, which state that it needs:
- Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI Radeon™ X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
What do any of you suggest we do? Attempt to upgrade the old motherboard, or is a new motherboard an absolute requirement?
A new motherboard can be had for about $60 that will accept an Intel Core i3-2120 that costs about $120.
I am thinking that the performance difference might be a lot between a 3.1GHz Core i3 for $120, and an old Athlon 64 FX60 @2.8GHz.
Help!
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... Should we buy a new motherboard, CPU and video card, or can we get by with just a CPU upgrade on his existing motherboard and the purchase of a new video card ...
Why not buy a used system for about $400? I don't really know how much used computers go for in the US, but they can't be THAT much more than here in Sweden.
That way you upgrade everything to a decent standard.
I looked at one of the sites selling used computers over here, and this is what you get for $364 (the first hit):
CPU: i5 2500K@3.3GHz Boxed Unlocked
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68AP-UD
RAM: 16GB, 1333MHz
GPU: AMD HD5550, 1GB DDR-II
SSD: 1x80GB, 3GB/s
HDD: 2x1TB WD Green
CHASSI: CoolMaster Tower
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
OTHER: DVD, MS-3000 v.2 wireless mouse/keyboard, MS-5000 wireless mouse
I'm sure you can find something better on your own.
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I don't think the mobo has that much life in it for the more demanding games. IMO, I would try the new AMD A10 series and mobo (due out in a few weeks for us mortals) with Win8 (I know evil, but M$ is about to release a direct download home version for about $60 in the very near future) and see if that runs GW2 at acceptable speed. If not, then you are going to have to get a beefy AMD gfx card (crossfire will work with the APU and the gfx card). A10 is fairly reasonable for bang:buck ratio: http://youtu.be/JcA9W1xb0Cs
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Thanks for the replies, but I am trying to spend the absolute minimum to upgrade his existing system, just to play this game he is addicted to. I will buy him a better system in a year or two, so this is a temporary fix for a specific problem, just to get up to the minimum specs to play GuildWars2 (which is not a very demanding game).
I plan on getting him a RadeonHD 6850, or 6870 video card for $140 to $160 and want to keep the CPU cost as low as possible, so $85 for an Athlon 64 FX57 @2.8GHz, or FX60 @2.6GHz will be less money than a new motherboard @$60 & new CPU @$120. That is an extra $95 that I don't want to spend, unless it really doesn't make any sense at all to try to use the Athlon 64 FX57 @2.8GHz to try to run GuildWars2. If it can't do it, or if the frame rate is going to be too slow, even with the new RadeonHD video card, then I will have to spend the extra money and get the Intel Core i3 CPU and new motherboard. The new motherboard is going to require RAM as well and I don't think the price I quoted for the Intel Core i3 includes the heat sink and cooler fan, so those are other costs that need to be added as well.
Buying a used complete computer might be a cheaper solution, but I don't want to spend $400, or even $364, if possible.
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Hey Dave,
Go to http://WWW.TIGERDIRECT.COM
They have new, refurbished and off-lease systems available for low-low prices. I get most of my PC stuff from them and their service is excellent. Check out their refurbished models and then add a graphics card if necessary.
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I plan on getting him a RadeonHD 6850, or 6870 video card for $140 to $160 and want to keep the CPU cost as low as possible, so $85 for an Athlon 64 FX57 @2.8GHz, or FX60 @2.6GHz will be less money than a new motherboard @$60 & new CPU @$120.
The new AMD A10-5800k is slated to sell for around $130 bucks, is quad core and has integrated radeon 7660.
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I am a big fan of newegg.com, so see if you can find some deals on that site also.
Man, it's been ages since seeing a Nforce 4 motherboard. Socket 939 was just under AM2.
Bus speeds on the ram/cpu are limited so the lag might be quite bad... It is better to piece something better with at least 4gb ram. If you're looking to save, buy AMD. Intel is pricy for their stuff, but if you have the money for it, go intel. Believe I pieced a motherboard,triple core cpu, and 8gb ram for like $150 over at newegg, and that would boost game speed considerably.
Either way, good luck! :)
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Your old motherboard uses a socket 939 for the CPU. None of the new AMD CPU's will work in that board. The board also uses the old DDR1-400 memory modules which also won't work with any of the modern boards. As you guessed, your looking at MB+CPU+RAM.
MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521)
$80 Free Shipping, $70 after MIR
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727)
$100 free shipping. If your a newegg subscriber you can use code EMCNAHB29 and get it for $90. retail box so Fan included.
memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428)
$35 free shipping using promo code EMCNAHE42.
Then of course you have your video card.. The 6850/6870 are good choices.
The CPU above is the older Phenom IIX4 line, and it actually performs better in games than many of the newer FX line CPU's. The Phenom IIX4's have 6MB of L3 cache which makes a huge difference. My second PC uses this CPU (main is an i5 3750K), and it runs Guild Wars 2 really well with an older radeon 4870 video card. Toss that 6850/6870 in the mix and he should be in seventh heaven.
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The new AMD A10-5800k is slated to sell for around $130 bucks, is quad core and has integrated radeon 7660.
Is there a date announced when the cpu/mobo become available to the home builder? I heard it was set for sometime in October but I haven't read anything recent on a concrete date.
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Is there a date announced when the cpu/mobo become available to the home builder? I heard it was set for sometime in October but I haven't read anything recent on a concrete date.
I haven't seen anything regarding a date either, other than some time October. Hope it's soon, I'm seriously considering it for my next build.
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The new AMD A10-5800k is slated to sell for around $130 bucks, is quad core and has integrated radeon 7660.
That sounds like the best suggestion so far. I have spent hours looking at different possibilities all over the Net and have still not come to any concrete decision.
The Llano http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001
ASRock A75 Extreme6 mobo http://compare.ebay.com/like/290773520801?_lwgsi=y<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
Kingston 8GB RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139984
looked like they might meet the minimum specs at a decent price. $110+$95+$35=$240
I have bought many items from Tiger Direct, NewEgg, Amazon, and eBay, so I am checking everywhere I can for deals. If I could find a solution for less than $300, that would be great.
I have given up on doing anything with the old existing motherboard, so I need a new motherboard, RAM, CPU and video card if I can't manage to find a combination with integrated graphics that will provide acceptable performance until a discrete video card can be purchased to provide better performance at a later date.
Do any of you think that the above combination will meet the GuildWars2 minimum specs and run at a decent frame rate @1080p resolution on my Son's 23" LCD monitor, until he can buy his own discrete RadeonHD 6xxx, or 7xxx video card?
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That sounds like the best suggestion so far. I have spent hours looking at different possibilities all over the Net and have still not come to any concrete decision.
The Llano http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001
ASRock A75 Extreme6 mobo http://compare.ebay.com/like/290773520801?_lwgsi=y<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
Kingston 8GB RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139984
looked like they might meet the minimum specs at a decent price. $110+$95+$35=$240
I have bought many items from Tiger Direct, NewEgg, Amazon, and eBay, so I am checking everywhere I can for deals. If I could find a solution for less than $300, that would be great.
I have given up on doing anything with the old existing motherboard, so I need a new motherboard, RAM, CPU and video card if I can't manage to find a combination with integrated graphics that will provide acceptable performance until a discrete video card can be purchased to provide better performance at a later date.
Do any of you think that the above combination will meet the GuildWars2 minimum specs and run at a decent frame rate @1080p resolution on my Son's 23" LCD monitor, until he can buy his own discrete RadeonHD 6xxx, or 7xxx video card?
Here's a youtube video of that game running on that A8. Looks good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBhbf1u0TQ
I'd spend slightly more for ram that matches the memory speed of the proc: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144636.
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Integrated graphics will run GW2 poorly at best.
AMD is better than Intel on chip graphics, but it's still no replacement for a discrete card.
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Bah, Koaftder beat me to it.
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Integrated graphics will run GW2 poorly at best.
AMD is better than Intel on chip graphics, but it's still no replacement for a discrete card.
The YouTube link of GuildWars2 running on the exact hardware I am thinking of getting does not look bad at all, though I could not understand the foreign language it was being played in, so I don't know what the text or numbers meant, as I have never played the game. If anyone knows what the frame rate the game is running at in that video, I would like to know. I would also like to know what detail settings were being used in that video.
I know what the resolution of the screen was, as I saw that much, and it is smaller than what my Son would like to play it at, but he can live with a smaller resolution until a couple of months later, when he can afford to upgrade to a discrete video card that can run the game at 1080p and 30fps or better at a medium or better detail level.
The only other question is about this AMD APU and it's capabilities to run this game when coupled with a video card that is in the $180 to $250 range. I would not want the AMD APU to hold back the game when using a good video card.
@koaftder,
Thanks for the tip on getting faster RAM. I will keep that in mind when I am ready to order the parts.
Anyone want to argue for using an Intel Core i3 instead, even though this will cost more, not counting the required purchase of a video card immediately, as the built-in GPU of the Core i3 could never play GuildWars2 at an acceptable frame rate? I know that any version of the Core i5 would be the best route to take ultimately, but that pushes us too far out of our price range to even consider.
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If you haven't seen my post on AWN, you may want to review my post there: http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36462&forum=17&start=20&viewmode=flat&order=0#682851
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Hi Amigadave,
Have you looked at the new i3-3225?
It has the HD4000 IGP that has, up until now only been available in the K versions of the Ivy Bridge i5's and i7's.
I'm going to use one of these in my mini itx HTPC!
Cheers
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Hi Amigadave,
Have you looked at the new i3-3225?
It has the HD4000 IGP that has, up until now only been available in the K versions of the Ivy Bridge i5's and i7's.
I'm going to use one of these in my mini itx HTPC!
Cheers
Yes, I looked at all the Core i3 products as well as some Core i5 CPU's, but for what we are trying to accomplish, the AMD APU products are a much better fit, plus they provide twice the video performance and a lower cost than the Intel equivalents.
I still like the products I outlined earlier in this thread. The only thing I will change is possibly switching to the A10 model APU's and a FM2 motherboard, if they are priced within my budget.
I also like the Hybrid CrossFireX technology that allows us to add a discrete video card into one of the PCIe x16 slots and Windows7 Pro will see the video card in the PCIe slot, plus the video card portion of the APU, as one combined video card that is more powerful than either of the individual video cards are alone.
Same principle as system builders who buy a CrossFire, or SLI capable motherboard and install only one video card when they first build the system, but later they add an identical 2nd video card and enable the CrossFire, or SLI mode to use both cards together as one more powerful video card, when they have the money to add more performance. That makes more sense than removing the existing video card and selling it at a loss, then buying a more expensive and more powerful video card to replace the one that was removed. In fact, the CrossFireX technology can even support 3 video cards working in tandem, but I don't know if the Hybrid CrossFireX is able to support 3 video cards, with 2 of them being real PCIe cards and the third being the video card portion of the A8, or soon to be released A10 APU's.