ADVICE NEEDED: Ordering Custom PC for Total War Gaming

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 11, 2011, 07:50 PM

I love my Total War games and on my ACER laptop they run okay but just don't seem to cut the proverbial mustard.

I've saved a healthy sum of money over the past few months (which is some tall order with a 5 month old daughter and wife...

) and now I'm looking to secure myself a desktop that will be able to run everything up to and including Napoleon - and possibly Shogun at a push - with HIGH graphical quality with a smooth FPS and responsive gameplay (I mean who isn't looking for that?

).

My budget...

I'm looking to spend £400 - £500 on a stand alone tower unit (the monitor is sorted) and I already have some build specs in mind.

By the way, before we even begin I DO NOT profess to know ANYTHING remotely technical about desktop PC's as I have never owned one but I do know basic stuff...I know, I know, I'm little better than a leper right?

Will these sorts of specs cut that mustard and if not, what will...?

- AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition 3.3GHz (would struggle to afford the AMD Phenom II X4 965)

- 2GB Corsair DDR3 XMS 1333Mhz/10666Mhz (or could stretch to a 4GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3 1600Mhz/PC12800)

- ASUS M4A87TD

- Nvidia GTS 430 1GB (or could stretch to ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB)

- Seagate Barracuda 500GB Hard Drive 7200rpm, 16MB Cache

Any help and advice whatsoever would be immensely gratefully received as I really have no idea if that is way off the mark or too much or about right...I know the AMD Phenom comes highly recommended by a friend and I understand the better graphics card I have does exactly what it says on the tin, but aside from that my knowledge is very narrow.

Thanks in advance.

esaciar

**Crazyeyesreaper** · June 12, 2011, 12:19 AM

okay first things first dual core wont cut it

2gb of ram wont cut it.

gt 430 wont cut it,

your in the UK right ill do a build tomorrow and try and make it fit your budget.

but for a rough idea

Phenom II x4 840 cpu its around the same price as the Phenom II BE dual cores and its a 3.2ghz quad
4gb DDR3 1333mhz or 1600mhz look for the cheapest 4gb kit aka 2x2gb 1333cl 7 or 1600 cl9 that you can find maximum voltage to look at is 1.65v but 1.5v should be The AMD 5750 / 6750 (both are the same gpu so whatever is cheaper) are far far faster then the GT 430 miles faster.

but yea ill do a build on Ebuyer / Scan.co.uk etc for you by tomorrow night. its late here *1:23am as i type this.

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 02:12 AM

Excellent, this is greatly appreciated!

I understand that for my budget I'm not going to get top-end spec by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm happy with good graphics and good response with smooth frame rate (I know that's still probably too much to ask).

Anything would be better than my current laptopt...

But if you can suggest something that comes close as possible to fitting that bill and is anywhere from £450 - £550 at a push, I would be greatly indebted.

Thanks for the help, once again!

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 10:55 AM

I've had a reshuffle and I'm thinking a budget more in the region of £500 - £600.

I've decided that if I want to do this, I may as well bite the bullet and dig a little deeper...I know I'm nowhere near competing with the big boys, but Total War is largely the ONLY PC gaming I do.

**atraps** · June 12, 2011, 10:56 AM

Here's a solid build from Overclock.co.uk for £486.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 10:59 AM

Sorry to be a pain in the arse, but can I get that linked??

If not, no worries...

**atraps** · June 12, 2011, 11:15 AM

I can't link the basket.

CPU
Case
Motherboard
RAM
Graphics Card
Hard Drive
Power Supply
DVD Burner

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 12:02 PM

Excellent...thank you!!

So do sites like these just ship the parts or is there option for them to build and send on??

**Crazyeyesreaper** · June 12, 2011, 02:45 PM

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I would honestly try and swing for the more expensive Intel build its $50 quid difference but Suggestion 2 is the better selection for gaming.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=289

read the above comparison closely the AMD phenom II x4 955 is slower on average then the Intel i3 2100, phenom II is a true quadcore Intel i3 is a dual core with hyperthreading aka 2 cores / 4 threads where as amd is 4 cores/ 4threads overall the Intel i3 will do better in most Total War games, including Shogun II.

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 03:03 PM

This is immense!

Thank you so much for the help, I really didn't have a bloody clue otherwise...

Can I get these guys to do a build and ship out the rig rather than ship parts for me to fart on with??

I know it sounds lazy, but as I say - I really wouldn't have a clue!!

**Crazyeyesreaper** · June 12, 2011, 03:08 PM

no you have to do it yourself just google how to guides and serf around on youtube its not as hard as it seems.

also take note of the above intel rig the RAM will be changed momentarily it seems the i3 chips greatly dislike 1600mhz ram so im going to replace it with 1333mhz ram in build Suggestion 2,

**Stívarðr Reynitré** · June 12, 2011, 03:17 PM

Champion...

Kind regards for the help, I am highly grateful!

**Crazyeyesreaper** · June 12, 2011, 03:21 PM

but anyway its no big deal really, read the manuals watch some videos and just be calm and careful and you wont have any issues, besides once you learn how to do it, and get used to trouble shooting, you will never go back to prebuilt PCs

but yea if you can swing the $645 price tag id suggest Build #2 with the Intel i3

**Karklos** · June 12, 2011, 03:49 PM

Personally if I was you I would hold off a little longer. If you could up the budget by £2-300 you would get a dramatically better computer and one that would last much better. If you are unwilling to go above £500 I would suggest considering going second hand. I think I have seen i7 930's with 6th ram + nice graphics card for ~£5-600.

I would reccomend joining the ocuk forum. It has a members Market. You need to have been a member for a certain lenghth of time to access it. Bit tech forums also have a members Market.

**Karklos** · June 12, 2011, 03:52 PM

Also have a look at the bit-tech.net website, they do recommended builds at different price points, it is updated monthly and price is in pounds.

**Crazyeyesreaper** · June 12, 2011, 06:26 PM

im pretty sure they wont be able to beat a 955 BE quadcore 4gigs 1600mhz ram and a 6950 2gb Power Edition aka much same as the Lightning edition MSI gpus the 6950 power ed has potential to unlock to a 6970 and it overclocks extremely well putting it in GTX 580 territory,

basically put the build i outlined above with as simple bios edit to the gpu and a quick multiplier change in the motherboard bios will give the OP

a 3.4ghz quadcore with 2.4ghz NB without touching voltages, add in a 6950 with a shader unlocked bios and software overclocking hes got an overclocked 6970 for far less not to mention tops out at 70c instead of the typical 85-95c of reference cards and its silent. Again highly doubt hes going to find better, and used hardware usually means unless you know that person your

out of luck if the hardware dies. Granted I buy used parts all the time but i have the cash to cover it if it fails, the fact the OP cant even push his budget up $50 to afford the superior I3 2100 sandybridge cpu, means hes not gonna be able to afford an i7 920/930 + x58 mobo + triple channel ram kit. If the OP really needed to save a bit more money then a drop to the Phenom II x4 840 will save a few $$ and the different aka micro atx asus board could save another $10 but not really worth it to cut prices any further. as it stands he has a 2gb top tier gpu with a decent quadcore CPU not really top of the line but eventually he can brab an AM3b socket 900 series motherboard and reuse his 955be untill he can afford a Bulldozer cpu later on, which would allow him room to upgrade as time goes on, as while the CPU means alot when gaming, the GPU is usually the biggest factor in performance.

good example of what to expect here
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-r6...n-oc-review/22

seems the power edition is capable of 1000mhz core which puts it in DX11 titles on par with the GTX 580 for alot less. Most actual multithreaded games will still perform great on a Phenom II quad. altho again id prefer to see the OP get the i3 2100 but its just not in his budget.