If you need help building a computer or advice on parts.

[Ark22]

if I bought a brand tower, what would be the cheapest amount for the most Minimum experience in graphics? Just wondering

[Nuclearranger]

Should I upgrade?

My GPU is a ATI Radeon 3000

As long as you have a PCI-E X16 slot I would pick up a

ATI 6850

Or if you have the budget

a 6870 or even a 6890

Make sure you have a decent power supply. I would say 500W or more.

[Nuclearranger]

if I bought a brand tower, what would be the cheapest amount for the most Minimum experience in graphics? Just wondering

If you bought a Desktop from a OEM like Dell. I would shoot for 4 GB of ram, an I5 Processer, and at least a 6(5)850 from ATI.

However building one yourself could probably get you into an I7 and a bit more GPU for the same price.

[Dabian]

Is there any difference (if at all) between 1 x 4gb (1 dimm) and 2 x 2gb (2 dimm) in terms of performance? Or is it just a matter of future discarding?

[Nuclearranger]

What's your take on liquid-cooled systems? I'm probably nitpicking here, but I get so paranoid when the CPU fan makes just that little bit more noise.

Assuming budget isn't a worry, would or would you not make the change to liquid-cooled? Any potential hazards I should be aware of?

Liquid cooling TBH is not that pricy depending on your budget. It is around 200ish dollars for a nice setup.

There are a lot of considerations to take into account.

con
1. Your PC will be heavy. I mean REALLY heavy.
2. Your PC will be more fragile. Don't move it that often.
3. Build it with care, this will take time, probably more than the rest of your PC took.
4. INSPECT FOR LEAKS, good cooling is useless on a fried PC!

pro
1. Liquid cooling is GREAT, for overclocking (a different subject)


Personal

I run a pretty top shelf setup myself, adding parts and building new pcs periodically. Not once have I gone liquid cooling.

A better option is to buy a good aftermarket heatsink, these will run quieter, cooler, and overall better than the cheap plastic ones that come with CPUs
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...Fans-Heatsinks

[Nuclearranger]

My thread actually does both.

I am sorry, I did not mean to step on toes either. I felt my knowledge would be a better overall help in it's own thread.

I feel there is much confusion on BUILDING a pc in the hardware department. Something your thread specifically says it will NOT cover.

[Ark22]

I hate to ask...But could you gather info on the cheapest build? So I can save up on. I honestly want a PC JUST for this game. No future games.

[Dabian]

Thx for the reply. It's quite a daunting thing to switch to liquid is why I asked.

As for the heatsink, that's definitely something I can act upon now.

[Nuclearranger]

Is there any difference (if at all) between 1 x 4gb (1 dimm) and 2 x 2gb (2 dimm) in terms of performance? Or is it just a matter of future discarding?

There is actually!

A motherboard typically has 4 Ram slots. However on new I7 systems a board will typically have either 3 or 6

This works this way because all older processor's run dual channel memory vs the I7 running tripple.

Why does this matter? I mean 4GB is 4GB right?

Well yea, it is. However you are limiting yourself in speed by not using the extra electrical runways on the board. (in simple terms)

If you have 4 ram slots, buy 4 1GB sticks as opposed to 1 4GB stick. (you could also do 2 X 2GB)
If you have 6 ram slots AT LEAST BUY 3, you should by 6.

NEVER mess with the channels unevenly.
If you have 4 slots, don't by 3 sticks... this will substantially slow down ram read and write speeds.
Either match ram sticks up or only use 1
If you have 6 slots don't use 5 or some odd number. Use 1, 3 or 6.
The slots will be color coded on the motherboard for matching pairs. If you bought 2 sticks and have 4 slots. Fill one color first IE the white slots. Don't mix them with one white and one orange unless you are going to fill them all up.


REMEMBER TO USE MORE THAN 3.4ish GB OF RAM IN A SYSTEM YOU NEEEEEEED a X64BIT OS

Windows Vista or Windows 7 in 64 bit edition.

[Nuclearranger]

Thx for the reply. It's quite a daunting thing to switch to liquid is why I asked.

As for the heatsink, that's definitely something I can act upon now.

No problem. This one is actually the one I use in my system. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

It is cheap but works better than the more pricy ones. They are easy to install as well.

I want to note that you need to make sure you can fit it in your case though. Dimensions should be on new-egg. Measure it.