Go for an i5-2400 + GTX 550 Ti. You should be able to get a 2 x 2GB ram kit for the same price or less than a single 4GB DIMM.
Regardless of which build you choose all of them are capable of running any modern PC game, you just might have to turn down the settings in some of them (like crysis for example). Keep in mind some game engines scale much better with graphics settings than resolution. Crysis for example shows very little different in performance between 720p and 1080p but huge different between very high/high/medium/low settings.
(10-05-2011, 08:52 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]Go for an i5-2400 + GTX 550 Ti. You should be able to get a 2 x 2GB ram kit for the same price or less than a single 4GB DIMM.
Regardless of which build you choose all of them are capable of running any modern PC game, you just might have to turn down the settings in some of them (like crysis for example). Keep in mind some game engines scale much better with graphics settings than resolution. Crysis for example shows very little different in performance between 720p and 1080p but huge different between very high/high/medium/low settings.
Actually, I looked about an hour ago, and a single stick of 4gb is generally less expensive.
(Of course, I could get 2 x 1 gb, but wouldn't that be just as "slow"?)
As for Crysis, my target is everything except shadows and AA at High. (Textures at Very High.)
@ 1440 x 900.
And according to Nvidia's "Optimize" Section of their site, a gts 450 can do that at 30 fps.
(10-05-2011, 09:00 AM)werewolfyman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-05-2011, 08:52 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]Go for an i5-2400 + GTX 550 Ti. You should be able to get a 2 x 2GB ram kit for the same price or less than a single 4GB DIMM.
Regardless of which build you choose all of them are capable of running any modern PC game, you just might have to turn down the settings in some of them (like crysis for example). Keep in mind some game engines scale much better with graphics settings than resolution. Crysis for example shows very little different in performance between 720p and 1080p but huge different between very high/high/medium/low settings.
Actually, I looked about an hour ago, and a single stick of 4gb is generally less expensive.
(Of course, I could get 2 x 1 gb, but wouldn't that be just as "slow"?)
As for Crysis, my target is everything except shadows and AA at High. (Textures at Very High.)
@ 1440 x 900.
And according to Nvidia's "Optimize" Section of their site, a gts 450 can do that at 30 fps.
Get 2x2GB.EVERYONE will tell you to do it over getting a single 4GB stick.
(10-05-2011, 09:51 AM)YouHaveRROD Wrote: [ -> ] (10-05-2011, 09:00 AM)werewolfyman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-05-2011, 08:52 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]Go for an i5-2400 + GTX 550 Ti. You should be able to get a 2 x 2GB ram kit for the same price or less than a single 4GB DIMM.
Regardless of which build you choose all of them are capable of running any modern PC game, you just might have to turn down the settings in some of them (like crysis for example). Keep in mind some game engines scale much better with graphics settings than resolution. Crysis for example shows very little different in performance between 720p and 1080p but huge different between very high/high/medium/low settings.
Actually, I looked about an hour ago, and a single stick of 4gb is generally less expensive.
(Of course, I could get 2 x 1 gb, but wouldn't that be just as "slow"?)
As for Crysis, my target is everything except shadows and AA at High. (Textures at Very High.)
@ 1440 x 900.
And according to Nvidia's "Optimize" Section of their site, a gts 450 can do that at 30 fps.
Get 2x2GB.EVERYONE will tell you to do it over getting a single 4GB stick.
Well, that kicks the 550 ti outta the door.
(Still, GTS 450 is pretty good!)
Quote:but a good mobo and quad are more future proof than a 550 ti and h61
This is only true if you will have the money to buy a much better graphics card in a year or two. And you have stated repeatedly that you won't.
Quote:and more stable
I don't even know where you got that idea from.
Quote:Can any of these do 3x scaling or 1x + 9x SSAA?
No. You already stated the reason why:
Quote:these are all low-end
Go with your previous plan instead, I 550 TI + H61 motherboard will give you a much more satisfying experience.
Also just because I ranked XFX higher on my list as far as reputation is concerned does not mean you should buy exclusively from them. Brand loyalty is bad, it leads to inferior product choices. Go with the best deal from a semi-reputable manufacturer and compare all of the offerings available to you.
Use this build:
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98B
$20.99
SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$179.99 (20$ Mail-in Rebate)
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80
$69.99 (15$ Mail-in Rebate)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL
$29.99
MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$89.99
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100
$124.99
Subtotal: $515.94
Mail-in Rebates: $35.00
Grand total: $480.94
I'm just seriously worried a bout system stability and future upgrades (4 DIMMS > 2)
(2 PCI-E slots for SLI.)
(Potential Overwhateverability.)
Pretty sure H61 does not do that.
(And I actually MAY be able to get a better GPU at some point down the road!)