If you're thinking of buying a hard drive, better do it right now

[bolo121]

Core I52500K with G skill 8GB

[gunnut]

Core I52500K with G skill 8GB

Well...hell...that 4850 is killing your performance right now. The i5 2500k (is it overclocked?) should be able to drive just about anythong on the market. Now the question becomes how much are you willing to spend?

[USSWisconsin]

I am inclined to go with the Phenom II X6 processors - lots of threads - only advanced gaming makes the Intel processors any better. With more cores - you can do more at once. 8 GB is a lot of RAM unless you know why you need more (be sure to have a 64 bit OS if you want more than 2 GB of usable RAM). I have had good luck with the 3btech.net vendor (there are 3btech clones with .com and .biz - so be sure you have the .net one if you want to use my recommendations). Remember computers change like the weather, a new "best" one everyday, the latest usually one costs about twice as much as the previous greatest version.. Some neat new things to consider: SSD drives, SATA3, USB3, it keeps getting better.

I like Tomshardware.com for recommendations on specific hardware.

[gunnut]

Phenom II x6 is nice, but unfortunately not many programs support multi threading. I guess it's nice to have if you encode a bluray movie but must play Battlefield 3 at the same time...

Nothing beats Phenom II processors when it comes to value. I run a Phenom II x3 720 @ 3.2 GHz. Thinking about the x4 965 at 3.4 GHz to see how fast I can overclock it.

[astralis]

gunnut,

I normally build my own. It all depends on what you want your computer to do and how much you are willing to spend. Any new computer will do if all you need is browsing the web, do some email, shopping, and play some flash games like farmville.

If you want to play high intensity games like Battlefield 3 then you want a nice video card, preferably Radeon 68xx class or better. CPU should be Intel Core i5 (Sandy Bridge core) or better. I would stay away from AMD's Bulldozer processor for now. The performance is no better than the last Phenom II processor.

What you can do is buy a Dell or HP computer with a decent processor, then add your own video card. You could buy an off the shelf system with a decent video card, but then the price tend to get jacked up.

i prefer "partial builds", ie my computer right now is a dell but i put in my own power supply/video card/extra memory, and added new keyboard/mouse/monitor/speaker combo. i don't like to go through the added bother/expense of getting, say, windows software.

turns out that my card is actually not as old as i remember-- it's similar to bolo's, a HD4870. i figure i can wait until fairly late next year.

one of the reasons why i'd like a new card is because even when i moderately overclocked my card, it still cannot run shogun 2 with all the eye candy i'd like-- ie once i hit "anistropic 16x/shader model 4.1/HDR effect/etc" it starts locking up. shader model 5 is completely beyond it.

it seems a bit weird to me how a fairly good card from late-2008 has a shorter shelf life than my average dell computer circa early 2007.

[astralis]

YF,

Astralis, one word:

GATEWAY!

Best computers you can buy without building it yourself.

how flexible are the computers to add-your-own? i ask becoz i notice dell has been getting less friendly for people who want to include extra stuff, ie it took me some time to find a bloody power source that could fit within the confines of the box, lol.

Even moderate scums such as yourself won't complain about them.

"moderate scum", i like that. "scum, yes, but not as bad as the LIBRUL type..."

[gunnut]

gunnut,



i prefer "partial builds", ie my computer right now is a dell but i put in my own power supply/video card/extra memory, and added new keyboard/mouse/monitor/speaker combo. i don't like to go through the added bother/expense of getting, say, windows software.

turns out that my card is actually not as old as i remember-- it's similar to bolo's, a HD4870. i figure i can wait until fairly late next year.

one of the reasons why i'd like a new card is because even when i moderately overclocked my card, it still cannot run shogun 2 with all the eye candy i'd like-- ie once i hit "anistropic 16x/shader model 4.1/HDR effect/etc" it starts locking up. shader model 5 is completely beyond it.

it seems a bit weird to me how a fairly good card from late-2008 has a shorter shelf life than my average dell computer circa early 2007.

Another thing is whether your current CPU is capable of driving an advanced video card. Bolo has a killer CPU (for today) and his video card is choking the performance.

Your 4870 is pretty much on par with my 5770. The major difference is the 5xxx series has advanced power saving features. My card idles at 18W power draw, according to ATI. I think your 4870 idles at a much higher power draw, maybe 60W?

I was just looking at specs of the new cards. Assuming the 6770 behaves roughly like my 5770, and thus your 4870, you will need to go to 6870 to see major improvement, preferably 6950. Of course this discounts the fact that 4870 was not DX11 compliant while the 5770 and later are.

[YellowFever]

YF,
how flexible are the computers to add-your-own? i ask becoz i notice dell has been getting less friendly for people who want to include extra stuff, ie it took me some time to find a bloody power source that could fit within the confines of the box...

Wow, good question.

Never felt the need to add anything to it besides a new video card. Not to say the one that came with it was bad.

Let's just say that my nephew, who used to be a world class Counter Strike player always started with a Gateway before adding stuff to it.

[bolo121]

Well...hell...that 4850 is killing your performance right now. The i5 2500k (is it overclocked?) should be able to drive just about anythong on the market. Now the question becomes how much are you willing to spend?

Yep thats pretty much why I want to upgrade. I am no FPS player, but i would like to at least run something like cities XL2011 or a RTS like Starcraft 2 or Shogun 2 without things slowing down. I paid about $185 in INR for my HD4850 from Sapphire.
It was reasonable quiet, reliable and pretty much the best bang for buck GPU I ever purchased. So I guess I am willing to get whatever fits into that particular sweet spot nowadays for about the same kind of money.
I have read that with all the software they provide nowadays overclocking a 2500K is a breeze, but i am waiting for some time until it isnt brand new.

[bolo121]

gunnut,



i prefer "partial builds", ie my computer right now is a dell but i put in my own power supply/video card/extra memory, and added new keyboard/mouse/monitor/speaker combo. i don't like to go through the added bother/expense of getting, say, windows software.

turns out that my card is actually not as old as i remember-- it's similar to bolo's, a HD4870. i figure i can wait until fairly late next year.

one of the reasons why i'd like a new card is because even when i moderately overclocked my card, it still cannot run shogun 2 with all the eye candy i'd like-- ie once i hit "anistropic 16x/shader model 4.1/HDR effect/etc" it starts locking up. shader model 5 is completely beyond it.

it seems a bit weird to me how a fairly good card from late-2008 has a shorter shelf life than my average dell computer circa early 2007.

Actually doing this doesn't make a lot of sense. Upgrading that dell would in any case invalidate the warranty, and yep while you may have to take a one time hit buying windows a custom build is still much more flexible and lower price.
I would say get yourself a Nice Lian Li Cabby and fill it up with the exact combo of components your needs and budget prefer.

[Blue]

If you are buying a laptop, all the major brands are equally crap. My buddies in the US say that Toshiba are pretty decent nowadays.

I am posting this from my Toshiba P-205 that I have had for about three years now(i think). The only complaint i have is windows vista, but it now has enough updates that i have no prob with it. I would buy one again, but would like to have something that is military spec'd. EMP proofed, dust and water res and all that.

[astralis]

panasonic toughbook?

[Blue]

I've looked at them a little, but I haven't completely researched Toshibas offerings in that area. As tough as this one is, the Sattelite is damn close to the toughbook as far as durabilty, its those other things I am wondering about and sure i will pay handsomely for when the time comes.

[gunnut]

panasonic toughbook?

Comes in real handy when you rage quit a game and just need something to throw against the wall.

[gunnut]

Yep thats pretty much why I want to upgrade. I am no FPS player, but i would like to at least run something like cities XL2011 or a RTS like Starcraft 2 or Shogun 2 without things slowing down. I paid about $185 in INR for my HD4850 from Sapphire.
It was reasonable quiet, reliable and pretty much the best bang for buck GPU I ever purchased. So I guess I am willing to get whatever fits into that particular sweet spot nowadays for about the same kind of money.
I have read that with all the software they provide nowadays overclocking a 2500K is a breeze, but i am waiting for some time until it isnt brand new.

Radeon 6870 should be around $200 and perfect for you.