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New Arma-3 ready PC - Rund - 09-04-2013

Hey,


So after downloading the dev-branch to check out Altis, I was a bit disappointed. The game runs like crap, and I have to go windowed 1280x786 with 1km VD to make it playable. (stratis was ok-ish)


So this might be the trigger to upgrade my ancient PC (core2Duo E4300 1.80Ghz OC to 2.4 Ghz, GTX 260, 4GB DDR2) and get ready for the winter, when I get some more time to play again.


But, I have no clue what's good these days, as I didn't keep up with the hardware development like I used to do. And I'm a bit lazy, so I want to ask you tech guys for advice on the main components. I dont have a very strict budget, but I have the habit to get the best stuff that just dropped in price because there is something better.


So what I want to upgrade:
  • Motherboard
  • CPU + Cooling
  • RAM (8GB?)
  • GFX card
What I want to keep:
  • Corsair TX 650 PSU (I like it because it's silent with a huge fan)
  • Intel 330 SSD, 180GB, SATA
  • Hitachi 2TB HDD, SATA
  • Hauppauge WinTV card (PCI-e, so I can live without any PCI slots)
  • Optical drive (never use it)
  • Case (old, but still stylish)


Requirements:
  • Runs Arma 3 well @ 2560x 1600 (!)  Wink
  • Silent!  the small fan on my GTX260 is a noisy bitch, and since I use the same PC as media centre (it's in my living room), it's too loud. Anything with a large fan, or better, passive cooling is a pré.
  • Motherboard: Gigabit Ethernet, good on-board sound (?), UEFI bios (is that standard these days?)


Any advice on any component is welcome! That might at least give me a place to start.

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Llauma - 09-04-2013


I recently bought the following parts:


MB: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 1600MHz
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX660 OC 2GB
SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 120G
HDD: Seagate Desktop HDD 2TB 7200RPM
Case: Corsair Carbide 330R
Power: Be-Quiet Pure Power L8 630 W
Optical: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE


I'm using the stock cooler for the CPU and it's by far the most noisy part in the computer though the silenced Corsair Carbide 330R keeps the noise down a bit. Though it's next to silent while running low cpu applications such as watching movies etc. I'm thinking of upgrading the stock cooler so any suggestions would be welcomed.
The Power Supply is extremely silent. The GPU has two large fans which aren't as loud as other brands. I haven't seen a passively cooled GPU in years. Do they even excist anymore?


The price for the whole package was about 8000 SEK (about 900 euro). A bit expensive but I've been working my ass off this summer so I thought I was worth it.


As for how Arma3 runs with this setup is difficult to tell as I haven't played any larger missions but with the suggested settings (Ultra high) and 1920x1080 resolution it runs pretty fluently. I lowered the settings to very high though as I prefer a very fluent game ahead of ultra high visuals.

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Variable - 09-04-2013


(09-04-2013, 05:10 PM)rundll.exe link Wrote: I dont have a very strict budget, but I have the habit to get the best stuff that just dropped in price because there is something better.
Then I suggest you take a look at the GTX 680. I recently bought it, and It probably dropped in price because just lately they release the GTX 690.
It runs Arma 2 fully maxed (except VD) and Arma 3 on Altis very close to maxed. It's very very quiet (I got the three fan version so get only that).


Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Misha - 09-04-2013

Yeah, get nothing less than 680, but 780 would be even nicer if you can afford it. 770 is marginally better than 680 but more new, check prices. I had a good time with 660ti but then Altis got released and now I experience hickups even when there is only me on the map (and I sacrificed a lot last year to have Arma 3 ready PC, damn you BIS - will be getting new GPU I hope soon).


For CPU, try Intel I7-4770K. Cheaper but almost as good is I5-4670K (nice price/performance ratio). If your budget is unlimited try anything from Sandy Bridge-E series, they have most in terms of power.


For mobo, I think it doesn't really matter these days, anything that is not bellow midrange is ok. 

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Phantom - 09-04-2013

My 670 GTX seems to be fine on Altis. Well, I got around 30 FPS on those giant cities though.



Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Rund - 09-06-2013

Thanks for the insight guys, I'll try to continue to find the parts from here on, and list them here when I'm confident.


BTW, is there anything against AMD based systems? You hardly see them these days?

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Variable - 09-22-2013

Misha's post with Arma 3 benchmark:
http://ciahome.net/forum/index.php?topic=2927.0

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Outlawz7 - 10-01-2013

here's what I have:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 3GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT (512Mb)
MB: ASRock 760GM-GS3
RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR3 2x 4 GB 1600 MHz
PSU: LC Power Silent LC5550 V2.2 550 W
Integrated audio card.

Here's what I plan to upgrade with:
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 650, 1 GB GDDR5, PCI-E 3.0
MB: ASRock N68C-GS FX
CPU: AMD FX-Series FX-8350 Box, 4,0 GHz


Should I go for more to run ArmA3? Do I need a new MB or will the old one suffice? Will I need a new power supply?


Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Rund - 10-01-2013

I picked 3 system configurations (I5, I7, and AMD) form a best buy guide on Tweakers.net, see: http://tweakers.net/gallery/231425#tab:wenslijst  (that (dutch) site is great because prices are real-time)

I haven taken the Techspot benchmark into account yet, so I might swap video cards around. 
Accoring to that benchmark, the difference between The AMD FX 8350 and the I7 4770 isn't huge, while the price difference is more than 90€.  That makes me lean to the AMD choice, and invest a bit more in a video card that can handle 2560x1600...

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Misha - 10-01-2013

It's cheaper than in my country... I mean everyting, they are ripping us off.


I would always recommend Intel when it comes to high end. Amd may be cheaper but I think what you pay is what you get.


Nvidia's 760 may be not enought for 2560*1600. Check Arma 3 benchmark I posted in this sub-forum.

[size=78%]http://www.techspot.com/review/712-arma-3-benchmarks/[/size] 

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Outlawz7 - 10-11-2013

Bumpy
(10-01-2013, 10:18 AM)Outlawz7 link Wrote: here's what I have:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 3GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT (512Mb)
MB: ASRock 760GM-GS3
RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR3 2x 4 GB 1600 MHz
PSU: LC Power Silent LC5550 V2.2 550 W
Integrated audio card.

Here's what I plan to upgrade with:
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 650, 1 GB GDDR5, PCI-E 3.0
MB: ASRock N68C-GS FX
CPU: AMD FX-Series FX-8350 Box, 4,0 GHz


Should I go for more to run ArmA3? Do I need a new MB or will the old one suffice? Will I need a new power supply?

I've since switched GTX 650 with 760, but I've come up with a budget variant:

Gigabyte GTX 650, 2 GB GDDR5, PCI-E 3.0 (GV-N650OC-2GI)

Intel Core i3 3240 3,4 GHz, Box, 1155 (BX80637I33240SR0RH)

ASRock H61M-DGS, 1155


This is mainly for ArmA3, so I really need as much advice as possible before I throw out a month's pay or buy the cheapest and get nothing either way.



Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Gwynbleidd - 10-11-2013

If you're playing on 1920x1080, I definitely wouldn't go with GTX 650. 760 is a nice choice imo, however, I would wait a week or two since new radeons are out (R9/R7/R5), and it should lower prices at least a bit on both nvidia and amd older gpu's.

As for the cpu, I've had bad experience with amd's on arma, also saw people complain a lot on the net about FX8350 on arma.
Though I don't know if they play crappy missions / set ridicioulus settings, or it's the cpu's fault.
Also, since you're going to pay a lot of money anyway, I would recommend paying a little more, and getting an I5 instead of that I3. I5 3570k or I5 4670k would be the best choice IMO, you can always bump them up to 4.0-4.2ghz with stock cooler (depending on your piece), just by changing the multyplier, if you ever need a bit more performance.

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Fap - 10-11-2013

If you are on a budget, I have a rule that you should follow..
ALWAYS overclock, unless you can afford to pay for the performance you want!

Being a long time AMD fanboy always getting AMD cpu's, I'll tell you that going Intel is really the only worthwhile thing to do these days, AMD cpu's are simply just subpar sadly for most things. Intel might cost a tiny tiny bit more, but they also are easier to cool, overclock and perform generally better.

However, right now the only choice for GPU's you have are the new R7 or R9 series from AMD as nothing else comes close in performance to price ratio. Not sure if they're released anywhere near you guys, I know there's at least a month or so before they come to Denmark.. (sadface)


So, your choices are:
1) Buy a good medium-high end CPU 2500k/3570k/4670k (if the prices you can find are almost the same, just go for the newest, though the 2500k has the least cooling issues, and personally I use the 3570k at a solid 5GHz) along with a decent motherboard and then buy a really cheap GPU and use that until you can afford something better.

option #2) Buy a meh CPU and then dump all your money on a GPU, giving you better performance "RIGHT NOW" but leaving you with alot more to replace in 2-3 years time.


Where do you order your parts from guys? I'll throw something together so you only need to buy a GPU later on (it will still play ArmA 3 until then though)



:edit: fun fact
You don't need to buy 2400 MHz ram for gaming, nor really anything else
If you can get low voltage (aka 1.3 volts) 1333 CL7/8/9 ram, then that is automatically better than 1.5/1.65volts 2400 CL10/11, ram matters almost nothing in gaming, and for rendering/rar'ing, ram isn't where you would put your money anyways. TL;DR - 1333 MHz is good and cheap



:edit:
This is really only if you have lots of spare time and you're willing to work alot more with your computer, and feel comfortable with water around it.

As a water cooling enthusiast I can only recommend you go custom loop, the money you save by going custom, getting a single or several radiators is worth it in the end, you only need to replace your pump when it dies in 3-10 years time and largely depends on the quality you buy too (water you can replace every year or less if you feel like it).

Every purchase after you have water, nets you free extra % performance through the extra overclocking and if you're not overclocking you at least get a less noisy system with a better longevity and you can base your system around that. A single 240 rad will passively cool most parts if you aren't overclocking, so in effect you have an inaudible system. Water blocks for GPU's are relatively cheap considering what they give you and that you can always pop the stock cooler back on and resell, or sell it with the block on to other people that want something water. (Though I don't remember what brands allow custom coolers anymore on their GPU's, I think EVGA or XFX)

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - MCraze - 10-11-2013

Outlawz you need Quad Core at the least. While RV is not good at multi-threading additional cores do help. If money is a problem get a used i5 2500K. With a typical OC the CPU will still be a beast even by today's standards and it should go for under $200 used.

Better buy it once and don't think about anything than regret wasted money and time, no matter how little.

Re: New Arma-3 ready PC - Outlawz7 - 10-11-2013

Thanks for the replies. So far I'm at this:

ASRock H61M-DGS, 1155
Intel Core i5 3570 3,4 GHz Box, 1155 (BX80637I53570)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760, 2 GB, PCI-E (GV-N760OC-2GD)


Do I need a new PSU? Current is 550W. Last time I upgraded my GPU, my computer wouldn't start until I got a new PSU, so this is kinda critical.