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

[Hadro]

Hi alQamar, I have noticed that my PSU is making a weird static/high pitched noise when the computer is under heavy load. This sound usually goes away after half an hour or so and does not return. My PSU is still under warranty. Do you think I should get it replaced? I have made sure it isn't one of the other fans, and it doesn't sound healthy! kind of like a shorting power plug... Help?!? My PSU model is Thermaltake SMART 750W 80Plus

[alQamar]

Hello Hadro, yes I would suggest that, if you are sure enough that this pitching noise really source from the PSU. The original manufacturer of your Thermaltake PSU is listed as HEC, which usually have very good reliability. If you do not run an SLI and do not plan to run such, you'd be safe enough to have 500 Watts 80 plus PSU for better efficiency.

With Rome 2 around the corner I really think I need to upgrade! I have little to no idea what I'm doing so thought it best to post here.

My current set up is;
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
GPU: AMD Radeon HD6670 2gb
PSU: No idea at all, don't want to take my PC apart just yet
RAM: 8gb DDR3 @ 665mhz
CPU: Intel i5 2320 3.0ghz quad core

I was initially thinking of firstly upgrading my GPU and PSU (these first because these are parts my parents will buy for me as a birthday/xmas present) and later upgrading my RAM (I've heard 1600mhz would be much better for RTS) and much later my CPU, these are my current choices;
GPU:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GTX660-TI-DC...ords=gtx+660ti
PSU:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Buil...corsair+cx+450
RAM:
http://www.ebuyer.com/274061-g-skill...000cl11d-8gbxl
CPU:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Graphi...4th+generation

Basically would just like to know if these parts seem good enough to get a decent performance, and also that they will work well together etc. Any help would be very greatly appreciated as I don't want to waste money on the wrong parts.

Hi Uthred, I am quite sure you do not need to upgrade that much. Please know that your choosed Haswell compared to a Sandy Bridge (you have) with same clockings offers just about +10% performance.
This is not covering the investment.

I need to know your mainboard please, can you run cpu-z please?

If your mainboard fits, my suggestion would be a more economic and reasonably one:

replace the current CPU versus a "used" 2500K from ebay or sorts.
get a Artic Freezer 13 (not pro)
often said, but a lot people do not trust, DDR3 RAM that is faster than 1600 MHz do not give a benefit on Intel based rigs. Your RAM has got 1333 MHz. Check in CPU-Z what CAS Latency they have. if it is CL7 do not exchange them as they are comparingly fast as 1600 MHz CL9

Instead of a 660 TI go for a 760 or 770 GTX if your budget allows, and it should as we saved a lot of money on the other parts. Your current GPU has a TDP of 108 Watts so I could imagine that your current PSU does not need to be replaced aswell. Check the sticker for total wattage output if it is at least 30 A on +12 Volts, if so, leave it aswell.

Hope to hear from you again.

[Biggus Splenus]

It may be your graphics card making that noise too mate. A lot of old power supplies contain phantom 12v AC, and this usually makes that electrical noise that you here (sounds like dial-up on helium).

[randomname42]

Salutations,
How does this build look like?

CPU - i3-3240
GPU - GTX 650Ti Boost
Mobo - ASUS P8H77-V LE
RAM - 2x Kingston 2GB
SSD - Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
PSU - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W
Case - CM Storm Scout 2

I aimed for GTX 660 but it is for some reason way too much expensive (newegg.com - prices here relation taken into account) so I had to stick with 650Ti. Is it still more important than SSD? Also, finding RAM proved somewhat troublesome. There are those of 1600, latency 9, but with 1.65v voltage; also 1600, 1.5v but with latency 11. Ultimately there are 1333, lat. 9, 1.5v. Which one is a viable solution?

[BeingOwned:)SPQR]

3.30 gigahertz Intel Core i5-2500K
Board: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
8104 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory GSkill Snipers
750W Corsair PSU
Sapphire 6950

Just wondering if I should get a new CPU and Mobo, and GFX Card, preferably a card under 400 AUD.

[SamueleD]

3.30 gigahertz Intel Core i5-2500K
Board: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
8104 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory GSkill Snipers
750W Corsair PSU
Sapphire 6950

Just wondering if I should get a new CPU and Mobo, and GFX Card, preferably a card under 400 AUD.

I don't think you need to upgrade man, the CPU is good, maybe do some overclock, but you can try and unlock the shaders on your 6950, do some research about that.

PM me if you want, I'll explain what you need to do.

[BeingOwned:)SPQR]

I don't think you need to upgrade man, the CPU is good, maybe do some overclock, but you can try and unlock the shaders on your 6950, do some research about that.

PM me if you want, I'll explain what you need to do.

Already flashed my 6950 with '70 bios to unlock shaders, but I'm desperate for a new card, should I wait for the AMD 9xxx Series and stick with my current card, or upgrade if I want to play Ultra with no or maybe 2x AA.

[GTFO. Jamie]

Hi Folks

I used to be much more active here around the release of ETW and NTW. I picked up STW2 and i think i played less then an hour of it, i just couldn't get myself gripped like i did with the previous games. I can't say ive ever really had an interest in the period but in my mind a TW game is a TW game so i bought it regardless, maybe another attempt is needed.

Anyway, spent countless hours on RTW like everyone else so im prepping myself for the next installment.

My system is a few years old now and ive been toying with buying a new one completely but was going to wait until the release and see how mine copes first. Am tempted to add more RAM, and get the i5 4670k motherboard, and maybe a 2gb 770 GPU... but at that rate i would rather just get a new system all together without taking this one apart, as i can easily find a new home for it.


- Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 700W
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.60GHz Sandybridge
- Motherboard: Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Corsair H50 CPU Cooler
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: OCZ 120GB SSD
- 2nd Hard Drive - WD 1tb
- Graphics Card: XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 1024 MB GDDR5 Memory

[GTFO. Jamie]

- Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 700W
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.60GHz Sandybridge
- Motherboard: Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Corsair H50 CPU Cooler
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: OCZ 120GB SSD
- 2nd Hard Drive - WD 1tb
- Graphics Card: XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 1024 MB GDDR5 Memory

With my system above, im considering adding additional matching RAM to bring it up to 8gb, but im not overly sure what that will mean for my existing overclock and if i need to change any of the settings to account for the increased memory? - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=701&catid=8

If i was to also add a GPU like a Nvidia 760 or 770, would that give my slightly old computer a acceptable new lease of life for RTW2?

[kronpas]

sorry the thread is so massive I couldnt bother reading past the last 5 pages: what about SLI? I'm planning on a 760 SLI setup for Rome 2 and Battlefield, is my 650W PSU sufficient? Anyone with SLI experience in Shogun 2 can tell me how is it with that game?

[Beast Within]

My current setup is:

CPU: FX 6300 3.6GHz
GPU: 2 x 2GB 7850 in Crossfire
SSD: 128gb Only got windows installed so far, saving the rest for rome 2
RAM: 8Gb Patriot 1666MHz
PSU: 750W 80+
MOBO: Gigabyte 970

I get around 80fps on the benchmark test on shogun, just wondering what kind of performance i can expect off this setup. And where i would be best upgrading if i do in the future. To be honest i dont plan on doing before the release.

[Epic28]

sorry the thread is so massive I couldnt bother reading past the last 5 pages: what about SLI? I'm planning on a 760 SLI setup for Rome 2 and Battlefield, is my 650W PSU sufficient? Anyone with SLI experience in Shogun 2 can tell me how is it with that game?

Your PSU will work fine with SLI 760's. Whats your CPU and RAM situation look like?

[GoodKingAlf]

How would this one get on do you reckon?

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor overclocked to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast GeForce GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card
2000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk
LG Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive
Chillblast 700watt EZCool PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 8 64bit OEM

[MrChris]

5 pounds difference for a OC ram ? wonder why? I have run several tests, 3Dmark, Heaven, several games, SuperPI, none of them respond to a RAM with higher clockings than 1600 MHz, which is logical as if you refer on the intel ARK pages the CPU cannot handle it. They say 1600 MHz RAM max. so there is not need to give any pence into that mate. I just raises your heat and lowers your mainboard life. Better invest into 1,35 volts 1600 MHz with CL9 or lower. Then you have measureable performance and run your rig more eco.

1600mhz is the starting area for Haswell ram yes but otherwise a lot of concerns over ram involve the whole jdec standards and 1.5v shenanigans (and people often mix up the vcore and vdimm settings, not to mention XMP profiles), the onboard memory controllers don't have problems with faster ram or 1.6v memory, its not something you really want to be pushing any further sure, but its not going to damage the CPU or decrease the life of the mobo

if you get a chance, have a look at this months Custom PC, they do an interesting test on it, as I said the performance increase is not that massive (could be noticeable in some cases though) but as I said the price difference was minimal anyway

if I was overlocking the memory would be more relevant but I'm not (derp) but I was also considering that I may put a Broadwell CPU in this PC someday so did not have any qualms paying a tiny bit extra to cover some potential bases

we could start going into onboard mem controllers and timings etc, but in reality onboard memory controllers typically aren't as picky these days when it comes to timings anyway just as in a lot of cases they aren't that bothered by faster speeds and I'm not too worried about the ram producing heat

If I was less impulsive I could just settle for 1866, the extra speed can help in stuff like video editing when I have to do it (hmm I could've used a slower ram excuse to get out of that crap actually) but as I said, the price difference is minimal, RAM is typically cheap as chips these days unless you somehow go very very very crazy so paying for something faster didn't add much to the cost

I remember not so long ago when RAM was VERY expensive and CPUs were a bit more finnicky about what you gave them (2gbs over £150 eek) but these days its not as much of a concern imo

otherwise the thermalright truespirit 140 does look appealing for a cpu cooler though...

motherboard wise I was looking at the Asus Z87-K or an MSI G45, probably be the former since Asus have a nicer EFI

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

I really wish Asus would stop with the K,C,A naming ha

How would this one get on do you reckon?

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor overclocked to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast GeForce GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card
2000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk
LG Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive
Chillblast 700watt EZCool PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 8 64bit OEM

I doubt it will have any problems, 660s are decent cards; I'm always a bit suspicious of Win 8 these days (some games have a flappy time with it) but I'm sure it will be a non issue

as for people worrying about SLI, a decent 650w power supply with good efficiency (especially made by one of the better brands like Seasonic etc) will have no trouble at all with SLI, heck you can call 650w overkill these days imo, most PCs simply do not need that much

[AtheistDane]

How would this one get on do you reckon?

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor overclocked to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast GeForce GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card
2000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk
LG Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive
Chillblast 700watt EZCool PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 8 64bit OEM

High with AA and shadows /Ultra without AA and shadows.

[Sir_Red]

How would this one get on do you reckon?

Intel Core i5 3570 "Ivy Bridge" Processor overclocked to 4.5GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast GeForce GTX 660 2GB Graphics Card
2000GB SATA III 7200rpm Hard Disk
LG Blu Ray / DVD-RW Combo Drive
Chillblast 700watt EZCool PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 8 64bit OEM

for me the single 660 card flags as a possible frame-rate killer (if you're after high settings and resolution), perhaps look at SLI? think the 660s go for around £150 now

[Biggus Splenus]

Definitely wait for AMD 9000 cards mate, it'll be worth it

[alQamar]

hi folks if you want to know how good your rig is comparing to older or more modern hardware consider to visit this new thread:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...TW-performance

I hope to hear from you again and wait for your benchmarking results! Everyone is invited, especially users with iGPU and APU graphics and laptops aswell. Thank you for taking the time to help building up the most exclusive and comprehensive benchmark database for Total War.

[Biggus Splenus]

^
Thanks a lot for doing this alQ!

I'll post my results, and I'll give my iGPU a test in that too.

[Draco Redux]

When you buy a PC in a store, you are paying at least 2 levels of markup plus the added cost of whatever the store selling the PC thinks their warranty is worth. In short, you're wasting hundreds of dollars. For less money, you can get better warranties, better customer service, and get exactly what you want. I've been building my own PC's for 8 years and will never buy another one from a store.

This thread, particularly the OP, is a great resource for anyone looking to maximize what they get for their money. Thank you, Splenyi.