Build a PC for Rome 2 / Hardware Recommendations and Advice Thread

[Biggus Splenus]

That'll work great mate, enjoy maxing it out

[Lopeydeath]

Evening all,
I'm actually rather unexpectedly, deploying to the Middle East next month and really want to play this game while I'm out there. I am hoping to find a laptop which will play this game on some of the higher settings.
That said, I'm more of a desktop guy than laptops, so I could use a little assistance.
Could someone recommend 2 or 3 laptops which would allow me to play this under fairly high settings? I don't mind spending $1500, but I think $2K is a little unjustifiable for now. I would probably just wait and play it on my desk top when I returned.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you.

Pat

[Lopeydeath]

Evening all,
I'm actually rather unexpectedly, deploying to the Middle East next month and really want to play this game while I'm out there. I am hoping to find a laptop which will play this game on some of the higher settings.
That said, I'm more of a desktop guy than laptops, so I could use a little assistance.
Could someone recommend 2 or 3 laptops which would allow me to play this under fairly high settings? I don't mind spending $1500, but I think $2K is a little unjustifiable for now. I would probably just wait and play it on my desk top when I returned.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you.

Pat

I should add, I have been looking at the following site for a couple days, but unless I am missing something, the CPU's are just no where near as fast as I might like. I saw somewhere recommendations of a Quad core with 3.4gHz, where as the laptops I can find tend to be quite a bit less than that.
Thanks again,

[Biggus Splenus]

Just have a look at some MSI laptops in that price range, post the links to them here, and we'll help you decide which one is best

EDIT: Had a quick browse and found this, probably the best in your price range

http://www.msimobile.com/level3_prod...x?cid=9&id=402

Consider buying an SSD separately and putting it in, like a Samsung 840 or the Pro if you want to pay for it. Samsung has great data migration software, so you could easily put your OS and anything else you want onto the SSD.

[Lopeydeath]

Oh, I like it. Thank you!
I initially started looking at this the "sager-np8235".

[Lopeydeath]

Had to cut the last message short because it was telling me there were blocked words? Anyway, I was looking at the Sager with the understanding it would need some upgrades. I don't really have time for custom builds, so would much rather find something ready to go.

[SamueleD]

Had to cut the last message short because it was telling me there were blocked words? Anyway, I was looking at the Sager with the understanding it would need some upgrades. I don't really have time for custom builds, so would much rather find something ready to go.

No, you just pick the model, then pick the parts you want in it and they ship it to you, easy, I don't think they will take long to build it.

But, anyway, if you want something pre-built, just go with the one Splenyi suggested http://www.msimobile.com/level3_prod...x?cid=9&id=402

[alQamar]

Ave!

I think I may speak on behalf of the whole team in the following lines.

I just want to give a thank you to all users of this thread and your kindness to share reputation when we do our job right .

Thank you for your inspiration and trust into our services!

Also I need to thank you ALL contributors within this thread and most of all splenyi how had probably the best idea of year creating this thread!

I am not Mr. Jackson *RIP*, so I won't close with "I love you all!" but it is a real pleasure to have this skilled team around here and to work with them, and I think we already helped out a lot of people not to burn their money for useless hardware (upgrades) and getting the best bang for their bucks.


sidenote:
Myself started with one reputation point before some weeks. I have got alone 11 reps in the past 7 days.
Thank you for that aswell.

[Biggus Splenus]

I think I may speak on behalf of the whole team in the following lines.

I've been generously showered with rep too it's good to know our work is appreciated.

[SamueleD]

I've been generously showered with rep too it's good to know our work is appreciated.

Same here and congratulations again for finishing all the builds!

[alQamar]

Hi there, I have saved some money last months and I have already "big" plans for a new rig for next year

If not anyone is interested in my P8P67 with a Arctic Freezer Extreme and a 4.5GHz Sandy Bridge I will choose the smaller version:

- Bitfenix Prodigy Black, meshed front with orange appliances. An orange side door and window
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...rz::19166.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ge::21117.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...er::21116.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ge::22582.html
(orange is my favorite color even I am not Dutch!)

- Arctic Cooler i30 CO(already bought)
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...11::22452.html

- next gen Intel i7 on a next gen Mini ITX Board and DDR4 RAM

the rest of my rig will remain untouched. Perhaps replace the Vertex 3 with the existing Vertex 4 and the Vertex 4 with a newer model. who knows.

[babydoc]

Hi there, I have saved some money last months and I have already "big" plans for a new rig for next year

If not anyone is interested in my P8P67 with a Arctic Freezer Extreme and a 4.5GHz Sandy Bridge I will choose the smaller version:

- Bitfenix Prodigy Black, meshed front with orange appliances. An orange side door and window
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...rz::19166.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ge::21117.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...er::21116.html
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ge::22582.html
(orange is my favorite color even I am not Dutch!)

- Arctic Cooler i30 CO(already bought)
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...11::22452.html

- next gen Intel i7 on a next gen Mini ITX Board and DDR4 RAM

the rest of my rig will remain untouched. Perhaps replace the Vertex 3 with the existing Vertex 4 and the Vertex 4 with a newer model. who knows.

Why not watercooled?

[rohan97]

hey you guys i have a gaming pc from the store (not home made) should i be able to run rome 2 on ultra graphics and at a fast speed?. besides that you guys have done an awsome job on what a good pc needs

[Biggus Splenus]

alQ - I like the sound of your build! I was going to do a m-ITX build because I didn't really need all those PCI lanes, but the parts I wanted weren't in Australia at the time I'd recommend to check out Cubitek's Minicube, full aluminum, nice and quiet, plenty of storage space. I don't like the Prodigy much...

@ Rohan - your rig has a 3770k (best CPU last year, still one of the best this year too), a GTX 680 (best GPU offering from Nvidia last year), and 16GB of RAM. So yes, you'll be eating up Rome 2's ultra settings easily

[alQamar]

hi there here everyone interested can compare the GPU performance from Laptop GPUs to Desktop GPUs.
Again german but my most reliable and updated source. Hoover over the figures to see differences between the cards
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/g...g-notebooks/5/

[GoodKingAlf]

I recently bought this laptop:
Dell Inspirion 17R SE 7720

• 3.40ghz CPU i7 3rd Gen - i7-3630QM
• 16 GIG DDR3 1600Mhz
• 128GB SSD
• 1000 GB Hard Drive
• Windows 8
• Built in Wireless "N"
• DVDRW
• 2 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 650M
• Full HD Screen

But after seeing this thread was interested in sending it back and building my own PC.

Comparing prices from the first page on this thread to UK prices is crazy. The ASUS GeForce GTX 760is $260, same card here is around £230, which is about 348 dollars. Crazy crazy price difference.

I can afford the US prices, not the UK ones...

[Micon]

GoodKingAlf, the usd price is half the price as the parts is in Norway, so you are not alone!
The Noctua u12s is out of stock, will the u12p do the trick? Also, Alqamar suggested a 530w psu for me, will it do the trick if I plan to get a gtx770 instead? Thirdly, I can get a Seasonic s12 II 620w psu for almost the same price, will the seasonic one do, or will it be complete overkill?

[Biggus Splenus]

GoodKingAlf, the usd price is half the price as the parts is in Norway, so you are not alone!
The Noctua u12s is out of stock, will the u12p do the trick? Also, Alqamar suggested a 530w psu for me, will it do the trick if I plan to get a gtx770 instead? Thirdly, I can get a Seasonic s12 II 620w psu for almost the same price, will the seasonic one do, or will it be complete overkill?

The Noctua U12P isn't as good as the U12S, but is still top stuff both are great.

530W is enough for a GTX 770.

620W is overkill, a little bit, but it's not a bad kind of overkill. Getting 750W would be overkill.

You don't have to get Seasonic, they're a great option when available, but you don't need to pay for them if they cost a lot more.

But the corsair ones feel so cheap. Wasnt it possible to turn of the sleep mode on the haswell?

I'm sure their cheap ones would My AX760i is the best on the market, actually better than any Seasonic, believe it or not.

Yes the low power states can be disabled in the BIOS, so you don't need to stress over getting a certified PSU.

Post some links of the PSU's you're thinking about getting.

[alQamar]

Hi Micon haven't got any reply from Seasonic yet so WE HAVE NO CONFIRM ABOUT HASWELL. Choose the be quiet instead. The psu can also handle a 770 instead of a 760 easy

[Micon]

But the corsair ones feel so cheap. Wasnt it possible to turn of the sleep mode on the haswell?