I have a few questions

Hey all I am an avid enthusiast of the total war series albit a little dissapointed with Shogun 2 demo = / but that is life. Anyways I am thinking about building a computer on my own its cheaper and hey I learn more about computers whats not to lose? But my main question is I am wanting to run napoleon at the max bloom going everything going on high to ultra BUT here is the catch I also am wanting to play BC2 and possibly BF3 on at the very very least medium but preferebly high to max with effects going. Please and thank you

Current build
AMD athalon xII 2.7 GHz
AMD M780G (its the mobo)
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Shared video memory (UMA) and yes I can run nappy but only on low lol but hey its without lag

Basically the build I was thinking of is from newegg its a combo DIY pack just without the moniter and keyboard and speakers which is all ok for what the combo is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.563968 < link to combo

Could that run napoleon total war on ultra with the effects going or high with the effects going, also could it run battlefield at high or ultra with effects going. I know I am being naggy with the questions but I am tired of living under the opression of low games lol.

p.s. will I need a sound card with that combo if it passes my requirements?

Build something based on the new i5 or i7 socket 1155 (sandy bridge) cpus. Less expensive and even faster. With the money you save get a slightly better graphic card like the Geforce GTX 560 or Radeon 9650.
A seperate sound card isn't necessary, but getting one will give you better sound quality than most onboard solutions.

Originally Posted by TheFuzzy

Current build
AMD athalon xII 2.7 GHz
AMD M780G (its the mobo)
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Shared video memory (UMA) and yes I can run nappy but only on low lol but hey its without lag
Basically the build I was thinking of is from newegg its a combo DIY pack just without the moniter and keyboard and speakers which is all ok for what the combo is.
Could that run napoleon total war on ultra with the effects going or high with the effects going, also could it run battlefield at high or ultra with effects going. I know I am being naggy with the questions but I am tired of living under the opression of low games lol.
p.s. will I need a sound card with that combo if it passes my requirements?

Basically, in terms of CPU and Mobo, if you want to overclock or do heavy stuff, go for 1366 socket Intel.
If you just want to game, and do other stuff, and overclock amazingly easily, go for 1155 socket.
Forget AMD.

Then the other important thing is Graphics. Get a GTX 560 Ti for an insane budget card, and it runs Crysis at Enthusiast, 8xAA at min. 24fps. Or opt for a GTX 570, but its up to you.
For a good budget rig, just get an:
Asus P8P67 Pro/Deluxe
Intel i5-2500K (then OC or whatever, its fast enough at default for anything anyway)
Gigabyte GTX-560 SO (Super Overclocked)
For RAM, just go for Mushkin, they are great.
For the CPU cooler its up to you, but the Noctua NH-D14 is a beast, though very big.
For the case get an NZXT Phantom or something, but make it full tower for space
For the PSU, just get a major brand, don't skimp on the PSU, if that failed your whole system could get ruined
Thats the basics I suppose

Oh, and make sure when you buy the motherboard it has the "B3" sticker or label, because Intel had to recall the 1155 boards (or tried to), because they had a chipset flaw which caused hardware connected by a SATA port to degrade over time.
And I have the same GPU as you in my netbook

AMD rocks my world. Yes, I'm a fan boy.

Originally Posted by Tyler_the_Great

AMD rocks my world. Yes, I'm a fan boy.

I'd get a 1090T if I could.

-Oops sorry double post please delete-

AMD is great, and has lovely prices.
Also you wouldn't need to change socket as often as you would with Intel, though Bulldozer is on a new socket.
Though 1155 is compatible with the next socket (22nm Ivy Bridge), so thats OK i guess.
But the performance of the i5-2500K for the price is actually insane.

you can get a 6 core AMD 3 ghz cpu for the same price as a 4 core i5 running around 3 ghz. While intels do tend to run faster they cost way more then AMD. AMD is best for the money, so unless you have buckets to spend AMD is the was to go. Also Intel motherboards tend to cost slightly more.

Originally Posted by Tyler_the_Great

you can get a 6 core AMD 3 ghz cpu for the same price as a 4 core i5 running around 3 ghz. While intels do tend to run faster they cost way more then AMD. AMD is best for the money, so unless you have buckets to spend AMD is the was to go. Also Intel motherboards tend to cost slightly more.

Intel is way faster in terms of performance per gigahertz for the time being. And 6 cores is hardly used by any games yet, let alone games made by The Creative Assembly.
Have to agree they offer great price/performance, but not as great as Sandy Bridge at the moment.

While the game may only be running on 2-4 cores, extra cores are great for all the extra programs being run while you play like steam, skype, anti virus ect. In terms of raw power Intel will win, but for the price AMD allways wins out.

Prices
i5-2500K == $210
1090T == $175

Passmark Scores
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz6,771
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T6,046

Value per Passmark Point
i5-2500K-32.24 points/$
1090T-34.55 points/$

Extremely close, as you can see.
But then bear in mind the 2500K is near brand new (32nm), based on new technology, while the 1090T is based on older architecture (45nm).
The 2500k is 4core/4thread, though the 1090t is 6 core/6thread.
Also, the 2500K is mainstream Intel, while the AMD is high end AMD.
There are many reasons to go either AMD or Intel, but with Sandy Bridge having good value for money (new mainstream chip is as powerful (after OC) as AMD's fastest chip in most scenarios), I would go Intel.
But lets wait for Bulldozer

Will post new build later today

Hey all thanks for the tips and fanboyness . Anyways I have heard that the sandy bridges are a abesolute miracal in CPU's but I have known about the call backs on them which have made me become wary of sandy bridge and sorry but yes intel is over priced for what you get sorry to the fanboys on here lol. So I have decided to go with the following if I make a custom build it includes all the things a after market cooler, moniter keyboard and mouse (moniter has speakers with it so dont have to buy those) all for a measely 1,338.88 without shipping and tax.

Case - Cooler Master HAF 932

Optical Drive - LG DVD burner (noob question can I put CD's into that and it will read them? )

Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA 3.0 1TB

Moniter - Asus 21.5 Full HD HDMI LED backlight moniter with speakers

MOBO - ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

GPU - XFX Radeon 6950 2GB ( )

PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

RAM - G. Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) 240 pin DDR3 1333

CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor

Cooler - ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED

The only thing else is a 20 dollar Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard. I originally was going to go with either the stock CPU cooler or the Cooler master V8 but I have heard that AMD's coolers are noisy and I saw that the V8 was intel compatibale so I decided to go with the zalman. So yea what do you guys think about this one lol. Do they seem compatible, enough PSU power? etc.

Oh yea almost forgot I know double post but would I need a sound card or does the computer itself provide sound? Or will the sound card just improve the sound that I am hearing if there is any sound lol?

Originally Posted by TheFuzzy

Oh yea almost forgot I know double post but would I need a sound card or does the computer itself provide sound? Or will the sound card just improve the sound that I am hearing if there is any sound lol?

Read my post #2

For you build, it's looking great. Apart from missing out a lot of performance for choosing an AMD cpu
The intel replacement program can be a problem, but only the older SATA ports are affected by it's problem. So if you're gonna use just 2 SATA ports there isn't a problem.
If you have some additional money to invest in it I highly recommend getting an SSD as the windows drive.

Thats actually a triple post. The mother board has onboard sound so you should be fine there.

You will have a lot of fun with that system, most games will max out at decent fps.
CPU cooling is not such a priority for AMD chips, they run extremely cool.
The CPU itself-fine if you went AMD, but you got the wrong chipset, seeing as 790 was for the quad-cores, but the 890 chipset was designed specifically with the 6-core processors in mind.
Ah well it will still be fun, and the HAF 932 is one beastly case.

No 890FX? Aww... Nevermind it works just as fine.

yep - agree - get your self a 120gb min SSD for windows not sure where you are but SSD prices have dropped alot in last few months in australia - and dont get wireless mouse - they are crap for gaming - get youself a decent hardwired gaming mouse like a razor.

and yes dvd burner will read cds.


monitor seems a bit small for todays standards - i have the 26 Asus HD and its is very nice - so maybe look at the price difference

RAZER
Full HD monitors are easy to come by, but avoid TN panels, try to get IPS o.O
Current-gen SSDs are going to get very cheap soon, as the new gen comes out with the new SandForce controller.

And the fixed Intel B3 boards are already out, I don't see the worry :S
Oh and post pics