So, In about 2 moths time I will be building a new computer. It's time to consult you smarter people once more! My budget is around 1100⬠but a very well justified increase is acceptable. The budget doesn't include a tower or the tower cooling.
The setup I'm thinking about:
Mobo:        ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 Z68 LGA1155                        131,90â¬
Processor:     Intel Core i5 3570K / 3.4 GHz                             235,90â¬
RAM:         G.Skill Ripjaws-X - memory - 8 Gb : 2 x 4 Gb - DDR3     x2      115,80â¬
Video card:     ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 - GF GTX 660 - 2 Gb              239,90â¬
HD:          Western Digital Blue WD10EALX - 1 Tb - SATA-600             78,90â¬
HD2:         Kingston SSDNow V300 - 120 Gb - SATA-600                 99,90â¬
Disk drive:     ASUS BW 12B1ST - BD-RE Drive - Serial ATA                  94,90â¬
Power supply:   Cooler Master GX RS-650-ACAA-D3 - 650 watt                 85,90â¬
                                                      TOTAL:   1083,20â¬
So, a few questions for people who know more about this stuff than me
1. Should I wait for Haswell to come out? Could I get a newer processor for the same price or will the old prices drop significantly? (I would like to start building RIGHT NOW, but if it's worth it, I'll wait.)
2. Should I get RAM that is  a. 2133 MHz and latency CL11 11-11-11-30 or  b. 1600MHz CL9 9-9-9-27.
So meaning, are the few hundred hertz more important than the latency in gaming?
3. Is 130⬠Mobo ok on a PC of this price range?
4.... I'm sure I have more later....
That's similar configuration to mine. It runs Arma 2 excellently but for Arma 3 I'll know soon.
Don't spend too much money on faster memory, it will give you only one or two frames more. Quantity is much more important than speed in that matter.
Misha is right about memory speed, today It's so damn fast, that the bit extra doesnt help you much
I would invest in a larger SSD than that though, You want to install Arma2 AND ArmA 3 on that, plus your programs and windows... I got a 180GB Intel 330 for about â¬120. It might not be the fastest, but I think you'll need the space. The Crucial M4 256GB even goes for â¬170,- It's up to you
Ok. The price difference between the two RAMs are just some euros, so it's not a big deal.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot that The windows should also go on the SSD also!
I'll see into this and probably get a bit larger one. Thank!
EDIT: Oh, you had two of those sets, I thought it was only one and way too expensive I have to say that my system is quite similar with yours, with the same cpu, same gpu chip (different manufacturer) and all, so sounds good
I think its 16GB? (2x4) x2, hence the price. I'd say there is no way you're going to use 16GB of ram, so it's wasted money. I have 16GB at work for finite element calculations, and I rarely run above 10GB usage. Arma would do much less
yeah edited my post
Oh BTW is that Z68 mobo compatible with the Z77 cpu's? I have no idea about Intel stuff, first time I ever bought anything intel since my pentium II
Nouty, they have the same socket and I understood both of them are for the 3gen intel processors.
And about the RAM, I've thought about starting to use a ram disk for Armas. Though it might be a little useless with a SSD drive. But I'll think about it. RAM is also probably the easiest way to upgrade a system, so it wouldn't hurt to buy only 8Gb now.
Here is a list of processors that are compatible with z68.
http://ark.intel.com/products/52816/Inte...patibility
I couldn't find Intel Core i5 3570K / 3.4 GHz on that list.
Plus z68 does not have USB3 support natively. Dunno if that is a problem but I thought it was worth saying.
I would go with Z77 if it was me.
Oh, that's why I came here before ordering!
Then I'll go for a Z77. Thanks Lego, you might have just saved a lot of frusration!
Yeah, always good to ask.
Ok. Don't mind my earlier post then.
I would suggest you to
- Get z77 mobo - Asrock Z77 Extreme4 or Asus P8Z77-V PRO
- Separate 40 Gb SSD for ARMA, you can run Addons from HDD.
- Corsair h100 or similar cooling.
- GTX660ti SLI or GTX680
This setup should easily overclock to 4.8 stable and even up to 5ghz. Will run all your games and A2 and A3 like peace of cake, the usual problem with BIS games is that their engine isn't well optimized so you can't use all your hardware it's full potential.