New PC build for Rome II

[Innos]

I'm just after some advice regarding a new build that I'm planning - mainly whether the components are decent before I buy it/compatible. I'm hoping that it will run Rome II with high/ultra graphics at 1680x1050. My budget is approximately £700, but the lower the cost the better. I wasn't certain whether to get the GTX 660, 670, or the 760, but chose the 670 in the end. Even though it's older it seems to be just as good if not better than the 760.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks


CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£167.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£85.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£54.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£65.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£195.20 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.80 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.39 @ Aria PC)
Case: CiT Vantage (£35.01 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £722.06
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

[Crazyeyesreaper]

GTX 760 if you can find it cheaper than the 670 if the 670 is cheaper stick with that

better quality mobo here http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/giga...board-gaz87hd3

faster cheaper memory: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gski...-f31866c9d8gab

GPU Options http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga...rd-02gp42761kr

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-...0gtxpm2d2gd5oc

that or the Direct Cu II you linked

any of them will work in all honest I have a reference cooled 670 and its not that loud and the cooler is adequate overall but depends on what you want.

[Innos]

Thanks, I've replaced the mobo and memory as you advised. Now I've just got to decided which 670 to get out of the two you linked!

[Crazyeyesreaper]

ones a GTX 760 and the other a GTX 670. like i said the GTX 670 you picked the one I listed or the GTX 760 will all perform pretty much the same what matter smopst is how important a QUIET PC is over Cost reductions.

[Innos]

Hmm, I'm tempted by the cheaper MSI 670 if they both perform about the same. I'm not bothered about noise at all really.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

MSI wil lbe slightly faster due to the higher core clock out of box but the ASUS card is the better option overall I just offered a cheaper alternative and a 760 alternative. performance wise they will all be withing 3 FPS or so of each other.

THe ASUS 670 has the cooler however to support higher clocks you should be able to push it up to 1000 mhz with relative ease where it will compete with a GTX 680 / 770

The MSI wont go as far due to the stock cooler keeping temps below 80 is paramount on the 670 to maintain max boost clock and thus max performance.

Something to keep in mind custom PCB for NVIDIA cards usuall = better performance the ASUS will of course at the same clock speeds as the MSI out perform it.

The below chart is also the same you will see with the GTX 670 altho the data is not easily obtainable a GTX 670 GPU on a custom PCB or on a 680 PCB will out perform the stock config 670.

So honestly the ASUS card while stock has greater potential overall. Again I was just offering alternatives It comes down to what its worth to you is greater potential worth your money or is saving a few $$$ more important ? Its something only you can answer.
EVGA GTX 760 SC..............1220 MHz 1840 MHz 88.8 FPS
NVIDIA GTX 760.................1140 MHz 1760 MHz 79.2 FPS
Gigabyte GTX 760 OC.........1190 MHz 1850 MHz 86.6 FPS
Palit GTX 760 JetStream..... 1140 MHz 1750 MHz 82.9 FPS
ASUS GTX 760 DC II OC..... 1175 MHz 1840 MHz 86.5 FPS
MSI GTX 760 Gaming..........1180 MHz 1960 MHz 87.8 FPS

[SinerAthin]

Isn't Total War generally more CPU intensive than it is GPU intensive?

[Frost, colonel]

Isn't Total War generally more CPU intensive than it is GPU intensive?

I have read this, but when reading GPU tests which use STWII as part of the test, they have stated that all those troops will use up alot of GPU ram. I presume but I am not sure that perhaps a 3 or 4GB DDR5 card will be much better for huge armies? If I am right does that mean that the GTX670 4GB card which is £30 more than the 2GB would be much better when displaying 10,000 odd troops?

That Asus GTX670 GPU is the one I just bought. Over on the RTWII PC advice thread it was suggested that it was overkill for running at 1650x1050 resolution, except that I will now be switching to 1920x1050 when I change Monitor.
The GTX670's are a reasonable price/performance card right now. Even if the OP sticks with that choice and it's more than is needed, it should last him for some time into the future!

[Innos]

That Asus GTX670 GPU is the one I just bought. Over on the RTWII PC advice thread it was suggested that it was overkill for running at 1650x1050 resolution, except that I will now be switching to 1920x1050 when I change Monitor.
The GTX670's are a reasonable price/performance card right now. Even if the OP sticks with that choice and it's more than is needed, it should last him for some time into the future!

That's the plan! I'll be playing other games on it as well, and I need to consider the possibility that I'll upgrade my monitor in the future. The MSI is now almost the same price as the Asus, so I think I'll go with the Asus.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

yup

[Crazyeyesreaper]

yea if the MSI has gone up in price grab the ASUS and use something like MSI afterburner or ASUS GPU Tweak up the core clock to around 1000 MHz and boom done you have GTX 680 performance / GTX 770 performance for less.