Computer building guru for SH5 questions????

[gap]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

It also helps that I don't have those pesky annoyances of wife and children to deal with (proud bachelor here!)

[lilpooper]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

It also helps that I don't have those pesky annoyances of wife and children to deal with (proud bachelor here!)

Summer vacation @ #collegerules

[saipan]

sh5 isnt a very demanding game. i have a gts250 , 4gb ddr2 ram, and a 1st gen quad core. i run the game maxed out and have no problems. the rigs u guys seem to talk about seem more applicable to cliffs over dover.

but building bigger and better is always fun.

Originally Posted by saipan

sh5 isnt a very demanding game. i have a gts250 , 4gb ddr2 ram, and a 1st gen quad core. i run the game maxed out and have no problems. the rigs u guys seem to talk about seem more applicable to cliffs over dover.

but building bigger and better is always fun.

when deciding on a systems specs its not as bad as it used to be (outdated before its built) but there is a level where your not going to be spending much more to get the better components so you really do NEED to build the best you can within your budget and build for more then your needs today so newer games dont leave you behind.

heck with the release of sh3 a system with any single core and 2 gigs ram with a 512mb video card was an advanced computer and dual cores were considered over kill where today it is a very limited system as far as gaming goes

money is tight so the rule of thumb i use is whatever was the ultimate best there was 2 years ago i start with those specs and after 2 years the prices usually come back down to earth for those components so it can usually be done for equal to or less then you spend on the average dell or hp pre-built setups ($1,000) yet get something you would have to pay double what you spent on it to buy it pre-built that way

[drakkhen20]

well this is why im stressing the point of im really only going to be playing the SHunter series. im not considering my build based on the future of upgrading it later. im trying to narrow my decision based on what i need just to run those games because that really is the only thing i can play over and over. i do play some games again but not like SH3,4,5. i really do not see a SH6 coming out at all being that the SH Online is being released. I apsolutly love the graphics in SH5 and the pics you all have posted that ive seen are amazingly beautiful for what it was a couple of years ago. SH5 has become the next SH3 for the generations wether we want it to or not. i know the sh4 community has desputed this as i dont like to see one of our SH series just be left alone like SH4 was because of SH5, but it happens. not a big deal. but my main focus is to spend my money wisely for exactly what i need it to do for the next 20 years or how ever long it takes me to get completely tired of playing SHunters under the sharp eyes of my wife, lol.

[THE_MASK]

Get the best mobo you can afford .
Get the best psu you can afford .
windows 7 64 bit .
8 gigs of ram.
Gaming mouse .
Get a large case , the larger it is the cooler it will be inside .
Get a fast single gpu .
Get 2 ssd , 1 for the operating system and 1 for sh games .
Get a hdd for everything else .
Get yourself a good set of headphones , i use bose .

Originally Posted by drakkhen20

well this is why im stressing the point of im really only going to be playing the SHunter series. im not considering my build based on the future of upgrading it later.

just to clarify my comments,

i wasnt refering to upgrading options for later since as we all know its rare anyone really does that other then maybe a video card or if you do find you want to upgrade later its often not very practicle to do it.

my comments were based on getting the most out of the system "as built" for the long term (hopefully 6-10 years)

sobers recommendations are good but i think you "could" make do with only 4 gigs of ram but 8 would be best if the cost isnt that bad and just getting one regular sata III hdd with high cache speed will serve you nicely and save you some money there if you arent planning to do newer games or extra fast loading isnt necessary

a little heads up - i havent been following computer tech very closely lately so maybe someone else can inform which board setup is better but there are some boards that MUST use a set of 3 ram chips and some MUST use 2 in pairs so i dont know what the advantage is or even if there is one depending on the design you choose but be aware the board you choose tells you if you need to buy ram in sets of 3 or in pairs

[drakkhen20]

i do thank you all for your responses and i do have til the end of the year to decide all this. chances are i probably will do an ASUS mother board as TDW is defintly correct as i have also heard from my oldtimers that built computers back in the day that ASUS is very reliable. ill find an intel cpu that fits my speed and 8 gigs of ram is not pricey and most likely ill do a 500 series nvidia as i know their performance. if the prices are right i might do the 600 series. again thank you for you responses.

regards,
drakkhen20

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Webster

a little heads up - i havent been following computer tech very closely lately so maybe someone else can inform which board setup is better but there are some boards that MUST use a set of 3 ram chips and some MUST use 2 in pairs so i dont know what the advantage is or even if there is one depending on the design you choose but be aware the board you choose tells you if you need to buy ram in sets of 3 or in pairs

Intel setups use triple channel which is the 3 ram sticks (I'm not sure if this is a must or a can use as I've never built an Intel setup)
AMD setups can use dual channel which is the 2 ram sticks

[CaptainTorpedo]

Since we are on this topic what do you guys think of this build? I was really looking at it for SH4 but how do you guys think it will run 5? I'm talking the 500$ build. I'm thinking it will smoke SH4, since it's a 2007 game and at least play SH5 ok.

http://newbcomputerbuild.com/newb-co...e-2012/#build1

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

Intel setups use triple channel which is the 3 ram sticks (I'm not sure if this is a must or a can use as I've never built an Intel setup)
AMD setups can use dual channel which is the 2 ram sticks

well the majority of intel boards made today are still only for dual channel with only a few "premium" boards that use 3 channel as seen here so they still have both versions of intel boards which is a little confusing as to if 3 channel is that much better then dual channel or if its just an option used to get more ram capacity

[scissors]

Looks like a really,.. really nice build .

If i were dropping nearly two grand I might consider also ..
SSD, If nothing but a 60 gb to fast boot the os ,You would have room for sh5 also .. The intel drives seem to have less problems than the others . Less than 100 bucks , Other brands for around 50 but some have high failure rates according to forums .Would have thought ssd would be no failure rate , you know, because its solid state and no moving parts .. anyways ...

Maybe 32 gigs of ram ,
might be overkill but im ram scared anymore since my last debacle .

[scissors]

Dont build a system hoping you will upgrade it later , This was stated earlier in this same thread but i will offer my experience as to why .
I built a nice amd system ,Asus crossfire ready MB , 4 gigs ram( 2 ,2 gig sticks in a set )MB has 4 ram slots( with intentions of getting 4 more gigs later)2 more 2 gig sticks...
,I only bought one video card , Was going to get the other later .

The videocard , which has to be a very specific model to work in crossfire, is no longer available .


ALL Ram(Motherboard mounted memory) must be bought in a complete matched set!!

,Even the Same ram from same maker will not work if bought in two or more separate pieces!!,
Must be a matched set .
I must throw away my old 4 gigs of ram to upgrade to 8 gigs( ended up getting two 4 gig sticks )For dual channel .

Otherwise ...crash or no boot at all . Had i known all this from the beginning i would have built differently and had a better system or saved some money .

Even buying two video-cards at this point is not looking good because for the cost of an actual upgrade in cards( my card is a 256 bit and they are expensive) i could start on a whole new system and be much better off with new OS .
Besides the fact that the Graphics card plugs have changed twice i think since i built this system . There just arent that many cards on the market that will still fit my system .

Your Bit width is biggest factor, all other things equal, in video card performance, ( and price),
256 Bit is the running standard but 512 bit cards are becoming more popular , 64 and 128 bit cards are common and cheap but i dont use them ,

This is not the same as on-board Video-card memory !!!,A 64 bit card with 512 megs of memory will not perform as well as same 256 bit card with 512 megs of memory and probably not as well as one with half as much memory.

None the less , My system works mostly flawlessly with SH5 since i got the 8 gigs of ram , I have a triple core proc ( phenom II)at 2.8 ghrts , 512 megs ram on Videocard (Radeon 4830 256 bit ). The Asus board has been really easy to work with and i think ive done some things to it that would have ruined a lesser board ( i have seen smoke when playing with fan wires OOpsy) . Its nearly 4 years old and cost around 700 dollars to build then.Could build better for less now ,As DX is better . But my system has held up pretty well .
Im only running Vista , You operating system is what decides what Direct X you can run so always build to the latest operating system if you looking to the latest and greatest graphics . SH5 is DX9 so if its all you wanting to run vista will suffice but its just as cheap to go W7 or later at this point , Most os ranges 100 bucks it doesnt matter what version .

Finally be careful when choosing your power supply , Get one too big and you(hopefully) wont ever notice it or have issues, Too small and you will have intermittent and hard to diagnose problems , Besides it will run longer and cooler ( and thus quieter)if its not constantly pushed to its limit .

This is all accurate as far as i know , There may indeed be some instances where memory can be added from a different batch , In the old days it was no problem to add another stick so long as it was the same type/speed memory .
However in our new dual and triple channel world apparently this has changed .. Just something to keep in mind if you are building .

[drakkhen20]

will one gtx 550/560 ti run fine with SH5?

[scissors]

Originally Posted by drakkhen20

will one gtx 550/560 ti run fine with SH5?

I dont own that card but...
SH5 on the box Requirements state that the GTX 200 series is supported , The GTX 550 is a 192 bit card which the way Nvidea is doing things now is pretty much similar to a 256 bit card but ,,the gtx560 is a 256 bit card . so...
I would think that its high clock rate and 1 gb onboard memory should be quite enough .
It should rock .My guess is its overkill.
sh5 loves to use memory i know this for a fact . It requires 2 gb ram , I had 4 and had slight frame rate issues that disappeared with 8 ..
My card is only 256 bit, 512 meg card , I dont think its ever been a bottleneck .