Gaming Build/Upgrade

[lehtv]

The R7 265 is generally faster than the GTX 750 Ti, but uses a little more power to do so. I opted for a faster CPU because Skyrim is a bit of a CPU hog. The R9 265 is a 2GB card, which can be potentially limiting in a heavily modded Skyrim, but going any higher would completely blow your budget out of the water.

In my experience, modding Skyrim is very taxing on the framerate, and you really do need a fast card to benefit from more than 2GB VRAM. The OC'd 7950 I have is just enough for maxing Skyrim out with mods, including ENB, 2K textures and environmental / weather mods, and that's only with SMAA instead of MSAA (using RadeonPro). The 7950 is a good bit faster than the R9 265.

 

[awongsurawat]

In my experience, modding Skyrim is very taxing on the framerate, and you really do need a fast card to benefit from more than 2GB VRAM. The OC'd 7950 I have is just enough for maxing Skyrim out with mods, including ENB, 2K textures and environmental / weather mods, and that's only with SMAA instead of MSAA (using RadeonPro). The 7950 is a good bit faster than the R9 265.

I am thinking my build close to finalized will be a Haswell i3-4130, a B85 motherboard, 8GB RAM. I will use my current case with the Antec Basiq power supply, the DVD-R that is in there and either a Crucial M4 256 or Crucal M500 240 SSD. I will start with either the 9800 GT or HD4670, then upgrade to the R7 265 or get the HD 7850.

 

[awongsurawat]

I have also been informed that my power supply are not that great, so would either the Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU or the Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX500) be OK? This would be what I would upgrade right before upgrading the video card. I am trying to this in steps. So I would get the CPU/Mobo/RAM, use current Antec PSU and current video card, then when I upgrade video card down the line I would upgrade the power supply at the same time?

 

[mfenn]

The Basiq is totally fine, pretty much on the same level as a Corsair CX series. I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace it unless you end up going for a much more powerful (and more expensive) card than an R7 265.

 

[lehtv]

I agree, I don't see a reason to upgrade the Basiq, it should work just fine.

 

[awongsurawat]

OK I can stick with the Antec Basiq Power supply for now.

This is my final choices, I am looking to purchase today or tomorrow.

Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 54W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400 BX80646I34130

Memory: HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX

This should be good to start? I will use my current 9800GT Video card, until I can save up and get an R7 260, like this one: SAPPHIRE DUAL-X 100370L Radeon R7 265 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card or, what about a GeForce GTX 750 like this one: GIGABYTE GV-N750OC-1GI GeForce GTX 750 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card, though it does not look as good as the R7.

When I upgrade my power supply I would probably go with something like this: CORSAIR CX series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions!

 

[lehtv]

The cx500 isnt much of an upgrade. I recommend you get a unit with 5 year warranty (or even better, 7) and high quality caps, e.g. rosewill capstone

Swap the ram to this which operates on lower voltage: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313435

 

[mfenn]

The cx500 isnt much of an upgrade. I recommend you get a unit with 5 year warranty (or even better, 7) and high quality caps, e.g. rosewill capstone

Swap the ram to this which operates on lower voltage: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313435

:thumbsup:

As for the GPU, the R7 265 is generally faster than the GTX 750 Ti, and just trounces the plain old GTX 750.

 

[lehtv]

The RAM I linked is now rather expensive. Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313436

 

[mfenn]

The RAM I linked is now rather expensive. Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313436

But, but, but, the Blue! :awe:

 

[MongGrel]

Please for the love of god don't get a CX.

Kidding a little, but I've seen many on different forums with problems with em lately.

 

[lehtv]

Please for the love of god don't get a CX.

Kidding a little, but I've seen many on different forums with problems with em lately.

A significant portion of that has to be attributed to how popular the CX units are compared to similar units from other brands. It's pretty much the budget PSU product line.

 

[awongsurawat]

The RAM I linked is now rather expensive. Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313436

But, but, but, the Blue! :awe:

Yeah, I like the blue. How about this RAM: Team Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (Blue Heat Spreader) Model TDBD38G1600HC9DC01

I also am wondering if this is a decent motherboard as well: ASRock B85 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[lehtv]

I don't see anything wrong with that board and RAM :thumbsup:

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, I like the blue. How about this RAM: Team Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (Blue Heat Spreader) Model TDBD38G1600HC9DC01

I also am wondering if this is a decent motherboard as well: ASRock B85 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

To be clear, I was joking about the color. There's obviously no difference either way. That RAM you linked is totally fine too.

 

[awongsurawat]

I don't see anything wrong with that board and RAM :thumbsup:

To be clear, I was joking about the color. There's obviously no difference either way. That RAM you linked is totally fine too.

I figured you were joking, but I like the blue as well. Obviously the functionality is the same. I just make sure that these are good choices for the build.

 

[awongsurawat]

Done and ordered! Very excited. Thank you everyone for your advice!

I just have to save up for a new Video Card, but I have a good start right now. I think the 9800GT video card will be a nice improvement over what the Haswell i3 has for built-in video, right? Or am I better off using the built in video and not installing the 9800GT card?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Done and ordered! Very excited. Thank you everyone for your advice!

I just have to save up for a new Video Card, but I have a good start right now. I think the 9800GT video card will be a nice improvement over what the Haswell i3 has for built-in video, right? Or am I better off using the built in video and not installing the 9800GT card?

The 9800gt should be faster overall than the igp. I was using one until about a year ago and it was decent at 900p, but will struggle more at 1080p.

 

[awongsurawat]

The 9800gt should be faster overall than the igp. I was using one until about a year ago and it was decent at 900p, but will struggle more at 1080p.

I will probably initially not install the 9800GT, run some tests, then install the 9800GT, I am sure there will be a good difference.

 

[mfenn]

It's hard to compare graphics hardware that's so far apart in terms of release date, but you can use intermediaries to get a general idea.

A 9800 GT is basically the same thing as an 8800 GT. The 8800 GT gets about 23 FPS in high-quality Metro: 2033 at 1680x1050. The HD 4400 gets about 15 FPS in Metro: Last Light at all low settings and 1366x768. Obviously 2033 and Last Light are different games, but they use fundamentally the same engine. I think it's fair to say that the 9800 GT is faster than the HD 4400 IGP in the i3.

 

[lehtv]

It's hard to compare graphics hardware that's so far apart in terms of release date, but you can use intermediaries to get a general idea.

I find GPUBoss to be pretty useful for comparing graphics cards generations apart. You can find pretty much any GPU there, and compare it to any other GPU. It gives a decent idea of what's what, and seems to be accurate when compared to actual gaming performance comparisons on Anandtech bench. For instance, current gen R7 250X vs three gens old GTS 450:

Bench: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1134?vs=1126
GPUBoss: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R7-250X-vs-GeForce-GTS-450

 

[awongsurawat]

Got everything together, and it all seems to run well. I have not installed the 9800GT yet, seeing what the built-in 4400 can do. I installed an old PCI Wireless Network card because I don't have any network connections where the computer is, we run wireless for the most part at home.

The power supply I am using is the Antec Basiq BP500U, it is older, but it looks like they still sell the same model now, though it may be a future revision. Seems to be working well so far.

A video card upgrade is my next upgrade, though not sure when I can get one. I may run some tests with the 9800GT vs the HD4670 card that I have. What are some good tests to run to determine overall speed for everything?

 

[lehtv]

3dmark is the go-to bench for GPU ranking. I don't think you need to bench anything else though.

 

[awongsurawat]

3dmark is the go-to bench for GPU ranking. I don't think you need to bench anything else though.

OK, sounds good. I will run some 3dmark tests, I already ran the Windows Performance Index, though I don't know how accurate that really is. Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

OK, sounds good. I will run some 3dmark tests, I already ran the Windows Performance Index, though I don't know how accurate that really is. Thanks!

In my experience WEI is pretty accurate. It's just not terribly meaningful when it comes to determining gaming performance.