To all Tech Experts - How good is this PC?
Cheesebelly
Member Posts: 1,727
in Off-Topic
Good evening all of you!
I've been planning on buying myself a new PC for my upcoming birthday, and I wanted some reliable expert suggestions. Now, I tried building myself a PC, but for some reason I always hit around 2000-2500 euros price tag. FAR above my budget :P
So, I've been checking a local tech store which has a PC available for ordering, with the following specifications :
Processor : Intel Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz (8 MB, 4 cores, 3,9 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard : MSI B75A-G43
GPU : Nvidia GeForce GTX660-TI 2 GB
RAM : 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
HDD : 2 TB SATA3, 7200 RPM + 120 GB SSD
OS : none included (no problem here)
Price : 800 €
Now, I know a few basics, very basics, so I was able to compare it with my current PC (better known as "Piece-o Crap") and could easily understand that the above mentioned PC is... much much much much much much *MUCH*, and I swear I cannot emphasize the much, much much better!
(Current PC has a weak Dual Core 3.0GHz, 8 GB DDR2 Ram, Nvidia GT9800 1GB and only 600 GB HDD)
So, what do you techies tell me - is this PC worth buying? (the price fits my budget perfectly too... kinda silly, considering I bought my current PC back in 2009 for 1400 euros
)
I've been planning on buying myself a new PC for my upcoming birthday, and I wanted some reliable expert suggestions. Now, I tried building myself a PC, but for some reason I always hit around 2000-2500 euros price tag. FAR above my budget :P
So, I've been checking a local tech store which has a PC available for ordering, with the following specifications :
Processor : Intel Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz (8 MB, 4 cores, 3,9 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard : MSI B75A-G43
GPU : Nvidia GeForce GTX660-TI 2 GB
RAM : 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
HDD : 2 TB SATA3, 7200 RPM + 120 GB SSD
OS : none included (no problem here)
Price : 800 €
Now, I know a few basics, very basics, so I was able to compare it with my current PC (better known as "Piece-o Crap") and could easily understand that the above mentioned PC is... much much much much much much *MUCH*, and I swear I cannot emphasize the much, much much better!
(Current PC has a weak Dual Core 3.0GHz, 8 GB DDR2 Ram, Nvidia GT9800 1GB and only 600 GB HDD)
So, what do you techies tell me - is this PC worth buying? (the price fits my budget perfectly too... kinda silly, considering I bought my current PC back in 2009 for 1400 euros
) 1
Comments
1. There's no point in getting an i7 unless you'll be doing overclocking. Get the i5 instead, it's just as good and a bit cheaper.
2. Unless you'll be doing a lot of graphics work, don't get 16GB of RAM, you'll never use all that. 8 is more than enough.
3. Please, please get a decent PSU. Or tell us how much money you have for it and we'll suggest some models.
edit.
btw, for the SSD, try to look for something with 5 years warranty.
Oh, sorry and to answer your question: the biggest performance boost you'll get between your old box and the new one is, by far and away, the SSD. You'll be amazed.
Forgot to mention thought that I'll do some serious video game recording sessions with it and I'd like to utilize Dxtory to its full potential (something I could not do on my PC now). So I won't just run the game, but also simultaneously record its video with Dxtory (or FRAPS/Camtasia when applicable) and audio with Audacity.
Finally, I'll have to stick all of these together into one video rendering program - Sony Vegas. And I'd like to render videos as fast as possible (so that I can bake up to 5 or more videos per day, as opposed to the 1 I'm able to do right now, and it does it painfully slowly, 10 minutes video takes up to 1 hour)
Taking this into account, should I still opt for less RAM and an i5 instead? (I do realize that 8 GB RAM should be far more than enough to make things work, but since the price is currently 33% off...)
Edit : as for the PSU... need to check it out, maybe it's specified in the catalogue, one moment...
Ok, found it - it doesn't say anything but "565 W" for PSU. Is this good or bad? :O
As for the processor, basically the advantages of the i7 over the i5 are multi-threading and the OC capabilities. Since you'll not be bothering with OC, that only leaves multi-threading which very, very few applications can take advantage of.
Now, I'm not all too versed in Sony Vegas to say for sure but if I were you I would search if it supports multi-threading. If it does not, there is absolutely no point in getting the i7. If it does support it, look at the money you'll be paying solely for this improvement and decide for yourself.
edit.
@Cheesebelly uhm, doesn't it have a brand, is it no-name?
I've checked, there is no brand name, no. Will look more into detail now, the other offers and more specifically which kind of PSUs does the site offer in the first place (so I'll get a general idea of what's available.
As for Multi-threading and Sony Vegas, I checked - it appears there is an optional update that adds Multi-threading support for it, so the answer would be yes. What's the difference between multi-threading or not though?
@Rheios : that's true, although I don't want the new PC to roll forever. I mean, PCs get old and eventually need to be replaced. I just want to run nowadays' games with decent graphics on (or as I should phrase it, already released games. In the near future the only (AAA) title that really interests me is SimCity, which I should be having no problem running. I mostly play indies anyway >.< )
I hear SSDs got quite cheaper now too, so I might invest into one in the near future (keeping in mind that I get actually *PAID* for making gaming videos on youtube, maybe I can use that candy-bar money in order to get a good one, or a HD PVR/capturecard, dunno yet XD )
As for that PC's PSU - it should be an ATX 565W HKC... I have no idea whether or not this is good or bad. Reviews are nonexistent, just one person rated it 3 stars out of 5 on the site I'm planning to buy my new PC.
It's quite technical: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multithreading_(software)#Multithreading
Basically, some stuff can be processed by the application in parallel, thus making the output available to the user sooner.
As for the PSU, no-names are fine for low-end to medium..ish PCs. For high end rigs you really want a solid PSU. The reason for this is that the components will be putting a high load on the no-name PSU which in turn will blow up or cause system instability (BSoDs, random resets etc.).
So, if I were you I would get, as soon as possible, a good PSU. ~500W should really suffice, if the model is 80+ certified. To know for sure how big(in W) it should be, use a calculator: http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/
Good PSUs are sometimes hard to tell since it really depends on who does the electronics for each particular model. So, for example, some Antec PSUs are solid because Seasonic does their electronics. Other Antec models, not so much.
Examples of great PSU brands are: Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, Fortron. There are many others, I just don't know them by name.
edit.
http://www.hkc-europe.com/product_detail.asp?id=703
That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence but I have also never heard of this brand before so I can't really say yay or nay, sorry.
Alternatively, the PC has an automatic 2 years of warranty + more if I want to pay more, included in the price. If the PC breaks in those 2 years, they'll fix it for me. After the 2 years, I'll be able to open up the case and swap the PSU myself if needed. I'll need to make a research on this already inserted PSU. But in general, I noticed that they don't cost a lot, so I can certainly pay a bit more for safety.
But for the most part, an i5 and 8GB should meet all your needs. I built a new PC in the summer with an i5 2500K and 8GB of ram, and a Radeon HD 7700. I didn't even bother with an expensive video card and so far even the newest games on highest settings give me no trouble on this computer.
Sounds good. Also, you can think of the cost difference against your comfort. If you know you'll get mad if your PC breaks, the extra PSU cost might be worth it. If it won't be too bad to give it away for a week or how much it'll take them to fix it, pay less and take the risk.
@Rheios
I've never owned a Cooler Master PSU. From the reviews I've read, they make good models. Not great, but good. Besides, they are a well known brand (their cases and mechanical keyboards are kickass!) so I doubt they'd risk their reputation with a bad PSU model.
@sebas : luckily enough, behind me there's a PS3 sitting there, gathering dust. So if else fails, I definitely won't be bored from lack of games :P
1. What do you plan on doing with the PC?
2. What resolution monitor do you plan on having?
Looking at the PC specs I have a few comments:
1. What brand/model is the SSD? SSD's can vary significantly in performance.
2. 16GB of ram is a lot. Ram is cheap, but only rare instances would that much ram ever be needed.
3. The GPU is a mid-range model, which is OK if you have a lower resolution display (1080p or less).
4. If you plan on gaming then the system will pass the test. If you just plan on playing older games like BG, then it would be overkill.
2. Agreed, Ram is kind of high. There are other offers for 8 gigabytes but the price range doesn't vary that dramatically, since this one is 33% off while the others are 10% at best.
3. I have a 23 inch 16:9 LG monitor and 1080p is the highest resolution I can have. Besides, things are super tiny as they are already, would never dream to have more.
4. I won't be playing just older games, no. I just needed a much more powerful processor for some programs I have to run (weirdly enough I cannot make a macromolecules with my current PC, although I can render HD videos. Ooookaaay :P ), then decided to have a better gaming PC would be better in general. For games that are ported to the consoles (or are ported to the PC) it's not a problem, as my current PC tends to be more or less on par with the current gen consoles. But for PC exclusives... Well, that gets tricky!
For instance, Anno 2070, my favorite game, I need to turn off shadows, water reflection, texture quality to medium and anti aliasing off... For a game which a lot that makes it is how spectacular it can look... that's not a good thing!
I also had the Witcher 2 on my shelves for what, almost 2 years now... Been lagging like crazy. Same with Deus Ex Human Revolution, and in some instances Dead Island. All games that my current PC can't run properly. All games that I'd like to play a LOT.
The rest of the PC is fine in general, just pay very good attention to PSU brand and the motherboard. Seems like they put a monster like the i7 in a B75 chipset, which will hamper it quite a lot if I recall correctly.
In short:
- If you want to max your games out right now, the 660 Ti won't do quite well in some cases.
- PSU brand, PSU brand, PSU brand, can't say it enough. 500-600 Watt on a quality manufacturer should be just fine.
- I think that motherboard is going to limit the i7, so either stick with the i5 or replace motherboard.
See if you can get a discount for an i5 3XXX and 8gb RAM.
DMZ is right: power supply brand and quality really do matter, don't risk it.
good budget SSDs are samsung 830/840s.
not sure about european pricing, so i cannot tell you whether it is a great deal or not.
Only get a 16GB kit if the price difference is negligible.
PSU: Remember that the 500W means that it "consumes" 500W. With an 80% rating it converts 500W x 0.8. How much Watts you need depends on your hardware, of course. But for a high-end-ish system with only one VGA ~600W at 80+ is enough to prevent under-volting when everything's running hot.
Definitely pay attention to reviews, though. Even some of the "deluxe" PSUs from well-known manufacturers can turn out to be crap (they generally aren't). Learn from other people's (mis)fortune, in other words. Also of note: Every point of efficiency makes the PSU effectively cheaper because it will waste less energy. So paying 20 bucks more for the 85+ instead of the 80+ PSU will become the better price the more power your system uses.
Also make sure it has all the connectors needed to power all your hard-ware (VGA, MB, coolers, etcs) and that the voltage is compatible.
It's generally the last part to add to a config.
SSD: Whatever you buy, make sure to upgrade the firmware ASAP. Mine sporadically shut itself off in certain intervals after a few hundred hours online. It was a simple bug in the firmware.
VGA: I'm out of the loop, but I still have a GTX570 and it is more than enough for almost all modern games. I would definitly not recommend ever buying the absolute high-end cards. They are proportionally over-prized in all cases. Get a card that has a comparable architecture to the top-of-the-line cards but only costs half.
Personally, I've had better experience with Nvidia. AMD's openGL drivers suck, which might be important for BGEE in particular.
Also, 2TB of VRam are great, but will barely ever be claimed. Unless you have a huge monitor (which you don't), it will be difficult to impossible for the human eye to distinguish between HD textures and Ultra-HD textures, especially when they're rapidly moving.
CPU: Basically the same advice as for the VGA. I have an i5 quad core model and it is way more than enough. And I do occasionally transcode videos etc... But the difference between i7 and i5 is not really noticable on a day-to-day basis. Most modern games are console-ports anyway and are as such not optimized for multi-core environments in any case. Save yourself a 100 bucks and get an older model.
Re: Multi-Threading. As already mentioned, almost no applications will benefit from it.
HDD: HDDs are in general not reliable as a long-term storage devices. They fail at a disprortionally higher rate than other hardware due to their mechanical nature. I would instead buy a 1TB main drive and one or two (can be slow) 500-1000GB external HDDs for raw data storage and backups. The larger your main drive, the more stuff you will put on it. And when that main drive fails, it's less bad to lose 1TB than to lose 2TB.
MB: No idea on recent models. I can recommend ASUS boards, though. The BIOS is extemely easy to configure and update if you ever have to.
Just make sure it has all the neccessary slots for the rest of you hardware (S-ATA for HDD, PCIe 2.0/3.0 for VGA, correct socket for CPU, enough space for coolers and RAM sticks).
The MB is pretty much the most important part though. All other components communicate to each other through it. Make sure that it is specifically compatible with your other hard-ware.
Conclusion: With 800 bucks to spare you CAN build yourself an awesome system. The important thing is make sure that each piece of hard-ware works well with each other. Bottlenecks should be your main concern right now. A great CPU will not do you any good on a crappy MB, and a great VGA will be shit with a shit PSU.
I recommend you make an account here and ask the residents for opinions on your config.
Thanks to all in general for all the great hints, I'll go into this field *informed* for once which is a miracle in my case! :P
@ARKdeEREH : Yeah, I wonder what was going on with the Role-playing game makers... RPG can be interpreted as a bazooka, PC can be as a Personal Computer. THAC0 as "Try harder, alien catastrophe zero" etc... Then again if physicists make up words like "Superconducting Quantum Interference Device" better known as SQUID, then we know this world is going mighty bollocks XD
Very good PC , if you roll lucky in the serial manufacturing band , because you know , the faulty chips might fall to you... How ever , by throwing in some more coin , you can get it a little better , but , I don't see no reason for that , if you don't plan to do vast MATLABbing , or working in large arrays/matrices all around... ( sound/image processing , or alike ). Nvidia , they say , have CUDAs you can use to DSP easily , but never tried.
Do not overclock , just rent a Ferrari Modena for a day at your local rent-a-car...