Help with building a gaming pc for Battle of Stalingrad?

April 21, 2015

Hi everyone OK so I'm new to the forum and to the idea of PC gaming. It's something I've always wanted to do but never really had the money to put it in to practice!

A couple of years ago I did start to build one, I went & bought some bits from Ebuyer,

Cool Master Silencio 550 Case
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI Display Port 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz CPU

But unfortunately run out of funds for a couple of weeks and then some other things came up and before I new I was selling what I'd already bought and that was the end of it.

Until now. I am tired of the second rate games on the consuls compared to the original PC versions of my favourite games.

And being a huge WWII enthusiast IL-2 sturmovik, and particularly Battle of Stalingrad is a game like no other!

So any help with suggestions on a decent but affordable gaming PC (to build, not buy) would be hugely appreciated.

All I have at the mo is a bog standard Home PC from Dell. I doubt I'd be able to salvage much of it except maybe the HDD's, and possibly the 2gb of Ram but that'll depend I guess on the new MoBo.

April 21, 2015

What is your budget? That is what is the total you will be able to spend?

April 21, 2015

What is your budget? That is what is the total you will be able to spend?

Hi Mike thanks for your reply mate.

To be honest I'm not looking at a fortune and I will be buying it a bit every couple of weeks I'd say in total for a CPU, MoBo, GPU, RAM, PSU & a new Case around £600 Max. but that'd be spread outy over about 3 months. So I'd prefer to get away with it for a lot less. The cheaper it will cost the sooner I can be playing Battle of Stalingrad

I've just been looking at the 'Intel core i5-4690 3.50 Ghz' CPU & it has a pretty decent integrated Graphics chip which according to some of the reviews I've read seems that it would handle most games easily with out a dedicated GPU!? Which if true would save some money until later when I could add a better dedicated graphics card. But I'm no expert by any length so I'm only speculating at all this!

April 21, 2015

Yep give us a budget and also what resolution monitor do you plan to use? The latter is quite important because if your just going to use a 1080p you will get away with a cheaper graphics card.

Do you still have any of the bits from your previous build?

Cheers

Emil

I would forget about an integrated graphics card personally.

But if you want a cheap one look for a 780 GTX. I just picked up a 2nd hand one for 250 quid. That is a brilliant card and will easily handle BOS.

April 21, 2015

Overclockers do pre-built systems for gaming which are supposed to be good, they also sell bundles as well.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43

April 21, 2015

Yep give us a budget and also what resolution monitor do you plan to use? The latter is quite important because if your just going to use a 1080p you will get away with a cheaper graphics card.

Do you still have any of the bits from your previous build?

Cheers

Emil

I would forget about an integrated graphics card personally.

But if you want a cheap one look for a 780 GTX. I just picked up a 2nd hand one for 250 quid. That is a brilliant card and will easily handle BOS.

Hi Emil thanks for the reply mate, yeah as I say about £600 mate all in. I wish I could do £250 on just the GPU but I'll have to be semi realistic about what I can afford and building a Gaming PC (of any spec) is going to be more than I can afford right now (not the best of times) but I really want to get off the xbox and on to the PC for gaming so I'm prepared to tighten up do some saving and buy a bit each week but I really am looking at a mid range at best! I was thinking more £150 for the GPU and £200 for CPU around £100 for the MoBo and then what ever 4-Gb of RAM will set me back (assuming i can't use the 2Gb I already have) then obviously the case and PSU.

As for the monitor it's an LG (DM2352D) 23" 3D Windscreen Full HD LED TV/Monitor (16:9 1920x1080

To answer your other question NO I sold it all when I ran out of money to finish it & other things came up & while it was all just sitting in the corner of the room it seemed like there was more important things at the time (3 kids & 2 ex wife's ) but I regretted it!

I feel as long as I can play these games and the gaming quality is not worse than a consul then it'll be happy days. But if you think that I need to spend a certain amount to be able to play games like Battle of Stalingrad properly then what would you suggest?

Edited April 21, 2015 by esxboi37

April 21, 2015

I've just been looking at the 'Intel core i5-4690 3.50 Ghz' CPU & it has a pretty decent integrated Graphics chip which according to some of the reviews I've read seems that it would handle most games easily with out a dedicated GPU!? Which if true would save some money until later when I could add a better dedicated graphics card. But I'm no expert by any length so I'm only speculating at all this!

Why not to buy a cheap Dual Core Pentium first and a powerful dedicated graphics card? And later if you save some money you can still upgrade the CPU to a Intel core i5 or Intel core i7?

BTW, with patch 1.010 I notice a huge Performance improvement on my AMD APU A8 - 3870k @ Full HD with Balanced Settings. This gave me the Idea for my next HTPC upgrade --> This is how to going further beyond AMD Athlon 5350 paired with a GTX 960 = cost efficient & energy efficient with enough power for silent gaming with high quality. This is how I am going to upgrade my HTPC. Like I said before cost efficient & energy efficient paired with enough power for silent gaming with high quality that are my priorities.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Superghostboy

April 21, 2015

^{Hey esxboi37,}

^{Adding to what Emil said here are some links for the main components for just under the 600 mark you would have to consider some additional peripherals and an OS but you may just squeeze it for £600}

^{http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-4th-gen-gamer-bundle--inc-z87-k-motherboard--intel-core-i5-4670k--8gb-vengeance-pro-black--8Y8X.html?catid=15005&src=3}

^{http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-230t-graphite-series-compact-mid-tower-orange-led-windowed-gaming-case--orange--91W4.html?q=pc%20case&src=16}

^{http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-750w-cx-builder-series-80plus-bronze-psu-8758.html?q=psu&src=16}

^{http://www.dabs.com/products/msi-geforce-gtx-750-ti-1059mhz-2gb-gddr5-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-ocv1-9QG5.html?q=gpu&src=16}

^{This Graphics card is much better but would blow the budget by about 20 quid and leave you with nothing to buy peripherals and an OS}

^{http://www.dabs.com/products/msi-geforce-gtx-960-2gb-pci-express-3-0-gaming-B1VF.html?q=gtx960&src=16}

^{Hope you find it useful?}

Edited April 21, 2015 by OriginalCustard

April 21, 2015

If you're on a tight budget you can't go wrong with AMD.. Get yourself an AMD FX8350,FX6300 or FX8320 and a MOBO and memory to go with it.. and don't look back. The GPU you can make what you want... but those AMD rigs are great bang for the buck.

April 21, 2015

Could you re use the case from your pos Dell?

Could you re use the case from your pos Dell?

and what Bearcat said about AMD chips. But I'd stick with nvidea graphics cards.

April 21, 2015

Further adding to what the other gents are saying here is an AMD bundle on a budget.

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-amd-fm2--performance-bundle--includes-a58m-e--amd-a10-6800k-and-8gb-vengeance-pro-memory--9Z7J.html?catid=15005&src=3

but those AMD rigs are great bang for the buck.

+1

All my self builds are AMD and I think they are just great value for money.

April 21, 2015

While I agree with Bearcat that AMD used to lead the field in bang for buck , I do feel that performance wise the later ranges from AMD are not up to Intel performance especially when related to BoS and the important single thread performance over multi cores. In my country an FX8350 is practically the same price as an i5 4690k and FX8350 will not give as good showing in BoS. For some reason AMD have also not been the choice in flight sims GPU wise, perhaps Nvidia drivers are quicker implemented and more suited, unfortunately Nvidia seems at the moment a better choice, AMD are usually cheaper for the same performance albeit usually noisier and hotter, whatever choice you make regarding GPU, sell a kidney and buy one the next tier up from your choice... you will not regret it later

Cheers Dakpilot

April 21, 2015

I'm one of those who always promoted AMD for it's bang for the buck.. and I still run one (AMD FX 8350) But there are no upcoming CPU's for future upgrades.. you have to get most of the stuff again, and can hardly 'recycle' anything, until AMD picks up the thrown in towel again.
But still I got new MOBO, CPU and Ram for the same price as only a single good Intel CPU.

April 22, 2015

Could you re use the case from your pos Dell?

and what Bearcat said about AMD chips. But I'd stick with nvidea graphics cards.

Most HP/Dell cases are custom and hell to work with if you want to put something new in it. I'd avoid that.

I've read good things about Corsair's cases and I know their Power Supplies are well rated.

Maybe get a Carbide 100R case, a 600W Corsair or Antec power supply (their budget ones I believe are also well rated), do what Bearcat said and go for one of the AMD FX chips (great bang for buck), get some good RAM from Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial, etc. (doesn't have to be super high performance but I'd get 8GB).

But do yourself a favour and don't skimp too much. Sure you can get a cheap cheap cheap Pentium branded version of one of the modern Intel Core processors but they don't have the punch you need for flight simulator gaming like IL-2 BoS. Get the most powerful CPU you can afford, get a decent amount of RAM (like I said... 8GB of decent but not expensive), put that into a good but basic motherboard and you'll have yourself a pretty good system.

The integrated video in some of the Intel and AMD chips is MUCH better than they used to be. But they still aren't great for gaming. So you may need to budget for a good card (do the research and find the right price/performance ratio) but you might be able to get away without having to buy it all up at once and use the integrated chip earlier on.

April 22, 2015

Hi esxboi

This thread from the Star Citizen forums has great general advice for any budget level. Start at the top and work your way down

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/15249/new-guide-to-buying-pc-gaming-hardware/p1

Regards

Albino

Edited April 22, 2015 by Albino

April 22, 2015

Tried to EDIT this into above post but ran out of time!

You've been given some good advice already in the posts above. In full disclosure, I run an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU at present, though idealistically I'm vendor agnostic. I'd be cautious about running IL-2 on a cheaper AMD chip, since calculation of AI flight models demands strong single threaded performance (an area in which AMD currently lags Intel). Could somebody running a recent AMD chip pitch in on how CPU limited they are?

On the other hand, AMD has very good integrated graphics on some of their more expensive chips. Although I agree with Shamrock and others that integrated is not a good long term solution for gaming (the GPU is the most important thing for gaming performance), it could be a good holdover until you can afford a good discrete GPU Even the mid-tier Intel chips have decent integrated graphics now. Probably good enough to run Il2 on low settings at 1080p.

Regarding the RAM. You can use your 2GB stick again if its DDR3 (and a desktop DIMM). If it's DDR2 (last gen), then you need all new RAM. 4GB is the minimum you should consider now. However, so long as you leave slots available, you can always upgrade to 8GB later. DDR4 is out now, however its expensive and best forgotten about for home use.

April 22, 2015

Wow thanks for all the replies guys, Unfortunately I've just had a quick read before going out so I'll have a proper read and reply to you all when i get back l8r. Thanks a lot though for all your interest in helping me. I'm one grateful newbie

April 22, 2015

Refer to this chart to compare single thread performance

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

Whilst in 95% of games AMD are great, and performance/price ratio will more often be higher than Intel, and for those purposes I would always recommend them, however flight sim's, and especially BoS due to complex FM/enviroment and complex FM for AI, need fast single thread performance in a multicore environment, this is an unavoidable fact.

Recently in this aspect Intel is way ahead of AMD in this particular field, and price/performance ratio is now swayed heavily in Intel's favour. If you are building a computer from scratch for flight sims/BoS specifically, Intel is the only performance option unfortunately, I have no bias either way, the figures speak for themselves, however many have acceptable experience using AMD with BoS

Cheers Dakpilot

April 22, 2015

I would get good processor, mobo and raM with a low end graphics card. Most will be able to run BoS on low or ballenced. In my experience of building agood system over time it's a lot easier to get a better gpu a couple of months later than to change a mobo and cpu

April 22, 2015

Good advice above on the importance of getting a good processor, and it is true (as you can see from the chart above) that intel is currently way ahead in single-thread performance. But it's also important to get a 4-core processor - ROF and BOS do not like dual cores.

The graphics card is actually much less important in BOS - believe it or not I'm using the base level recommendation in the specs - an ancient nvidia gtx260, but it's paired with an i5-2500K quad core and 8GB Ram and I can run the game pretty well. (at 1680x1050 anyway...)

Useful info here for gaming processors at Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

But actually the best place to start is the official recommended system specs provided by the devs:

We recommend these system requirements as the minimum specs for IL-2: BOS.

Windows® XP (SP3) / Vista (SP1) / Windows® 7 (SP1) / Windows® 8
CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad 2.6 GHz+ or Intel® Core™ i5/i7 2.6 GHz+
GPU: 1024 Mb+, GeForce GTX 260+/Radeon HD5850+
RAM: 4 Gb+
Sound: DirectX 9.0c/11 compatible
Free Hard Drive space: 10 Gb+
Internet Connection Required for Registration, Campaign Mode, Multiplayer and Statistics Tracking. 256 Kb/s for single-player and 1 Mb/s for multiplayer

Edited April 22, 2015 by kendo

April 22, 2015

OK so here goes I've had a good read threw the posts and there's a lot of useful advice there and some great links I've spent the last 3 hours reading through what every one wrote, checking links and reading more reviews and there seems to be a continuing theme that has actually coincided with some of the bits I was already looking at my self.

So I think I've got a semi idea of what I may go for but I would really appreciate your feedback and criticism!

First off I just want to thank one of the Forum Members/Founders who have kindly donated to me there old GPU which has meant I should be online and flying around Stalingrad with the rest of you that much sooner And the first flight will be dedicated to you mate

It also means that I was able to look at a slightly better MoBo & most likely be able to eat next week .

So here's what I have in mind:

Case - Cool Master Silencio 550 ATX
PSU - Corsair CX600 (600w)
MoBo - Asus Z97-A
CPU - Intel Core i5 (4690) 3.5Ghz quad core
Cooling - Artic Freezer 7 Pro rev 2
RAM - (either) 1x 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport XT DDR3 1866Mhz ??
(or) 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance Pro Black DDR3 1866Mhz ??
GPU - GTX 570 (Donated)

I already have Windows XP O/S on disk I can use on any computer, and 2x HDD totalling 300 GB I can reuse which will do for now until I add a 1TB HDD L8r. Plus a Sony CDRW/DVD Drive from my Dell I can recycle.

So what do you think???

I would like to thank every one for your help

Edited April 22, 2015 by esxboi37

April 22, 2015

All looks good. Only suggestion I would make is to go for the 2 sticks of RAM option as it will then work in dual channel mode which should be faster.

April 22, 2015

All looks good. Only suggestion I would make is to go for the 2 sticks of RAM option as it will then work in dual channel mode which should be faster.

Ok I was wondering if there was a difference between single stick & duel channel? thanks Kendo. also I checked out the chart page and it shows good things for the i5 4690.

April 22, 2015

i5-4690 should FLY!!! Worth noting though that there is an i5-4690K version too. It is a little more expensive (actually only £12 more at Scan) but will allow you to overclock in the future if you want.

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/cpus-intel/core-i5-socket-1150-(haswell)

Either way it will be a great processor.

(And from personal experience I can recommend Scan Uk. Overclockers good too)

April 22, 2015

Save your pennies for a GTX 970 as soon as you can. Amazing card for the money.

April 22, 2015

If you're on a tight budget you can't go wrong with AMD.. Get yourself an AMD FX8350,FX6300 or FX8320 and a MOBO and memory to go with it.. and don't look back. The GPU you can make what you want... but those AMD rigs are great bang for the buck.

Could you re use the case from your pos Dell?

and what Bearcat said about AMD chips. But I'd stick with nvidea graphics cards.

Further adding to what the other gents are saying here is an AMD bundle on a budget.

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-amd-fm2--performance-bundle--includes-a58m-e--amd-a10-6800k-and-8gb-vengeance-pro-memory--9Z7J.html?catid=15005&src=3

+1

All my self builds are AMD and I think they are just great value for money.

While I agree with Bearcat that AMD used to lead the field in bang for buck , I do feel that performance wise the later ranges from AMD are not up to Intel performance especially when related to BoS and the important single thread performance over multi cores. In my country an FX8350 is practically the same price as an i5 4690k and FX8350 will not give as good showing in BoS. For some reason AMD have also not been the choice in flight sims GPU wise, perhaps Nvidia drivers are quicker implemented and more suited, unfortunately Nvidia seems at the moment a better choice, AMD are usually cheaper for the same performance albeit usually noisier and hotter, whatever choice you make regarding GPU, sell a kidney and buy one the next tier up from your choice... you will not regret it later

Cheers Dakpilot

I'm one of those who always promoted AMD for it's bang for the buck.. and I still run one (AMD FX 8350) But there are no upcoming CPU's for future upgrades.. you have to get most of the stuff again, and can hardly 'recycle' anything, until AMD picks up the thrown in towel again.

But still I got new MOBO, CPU and Ram for the same price as only a single good Intel CPU.

I actually used to be a big fan of AMD my self. My first ever PC (which was also a custom build) was an AMD Athlon with Win 98 it cost me over £1100 waaay back in 1999. I had it custom built by a local computer shop on Gorelston-on-sea high street! It was a bit of a beast and way over kill for I used it for back then it even had a big (for the day) GPU in it and a whole lot of RAM, at least 16mb if memory serves and I never used it for anything more than browsing the web lol. Back in the bad old days of dial up and huge phone bills.

Edited April 22, 2015 by esxboi37

April 22, 2015

Hi Mike thanks for your reply mate.

To be honest I'm not looking at a fortune and I will be buying it a bit every couple of weeks I'd say in total for a CPU, MoBo, GPU, RAM, PSU & a new Case around £600 Max. but that'd be spread outy over about 3 months. So I'd prefer to get away with it for a lot less. The cheaper it will cost the sooner I can be playing Battle of Stalingrad

I've just been looking at the 'Intel core i5-4690 3.50 Ghz' CPU & it has a pretty decent integrated Graphics chip which according to some of the reviews I've read seems that it would handle most games easily with out a dedicated GPU!? Which if true would save some money until later when I could add a better dedicated graphics card. But I'm no expert by any length so I'm only speculating at all this!

At the moment the R7 260X GB is probably the best price performance graphics card in it's class. And if you could match it with a AMD that would be even better.

perhaps an AMD FX 6300(AM3+,3,5 GHz,14 Mb) or AMD FX 8320(AM3+,3,5 GHz,16 Mb)

+ Gigabyte 970A-UD3P (sAM3+/970/DDR3) will get you going for some years.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2453327,00.asp

I had it for a couple of months and today I have upgraded to the more powerfull R9 270X 2BG also from Sapphire for higher performance in other more graphically demanding games

It had performed to the game consistently in high settings ( no AAA). The only limitation was my CPU when over 5 planes existed in close distances where I got a stutter here and there.

With that card you won't need to have more than 550W PSU.

After that prefer a 8GB ram and you'll enjoy the game with great graphics in 1920x1080

Edited April 22, 2015 by AvengerSeawolf

April 22, 2015

600 pounds?

this is a good budget chip http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117447 80

dual core with hyper threading will be seen as a qaud core buuy the OS.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_5.html#sect0

PSU are the real heart of the system and one of the most important components, Seasonic is one of the best.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095&cm_re=seasonic_620-_-17-151-095-_-Product 60

a very low key,sturdy and well ventilated case with bottom mount PSU

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352021 60

A solid MB is critical and ASUS make some of the best

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131989 94

right now the best bang for buck in the sub $200 range is the R9 280

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product 125

here is a bench between it and the 580

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1332?vs=1350

8GB 1866 http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4YU2AB9554 44

case,PSU,MB,CPU,RAM and video card come to 475 pounds, this system will allow you to upgrade to an i5/i7 and even a GTX 980 later on

April 22, 2015

^ SeaWolf raises a good point ^

CPU and GPUs are so efficient these days that its possible to use much smaller and cheaper power supplies! I have a 750W supply and could probably get by with 450W or less!

In the Star Citizen forum page there is a good link under the PSU section to a calculator which can tell you how much power you'll need for given hardware.

Regards

Albino

April 23, 2015

Sounds pretty similar to my build from about 6 months ago, minus the new gpu.

Mobo: gigabyte gaming 5 z97x

Cpu: i5-4690k

Cooler: zalman cnps 9900

Ram: 2 x 4GB 1866 MHz cas 9 G.Skill ripjaws

Gpu: gigabyte R9 280x OC

P/S: corsair 750w (overkill but I might add 2nd card down the road)

Corsair 256gb SSD and WD 1 TB HDD

I have been super happy with this build. Runs every game I have tried, including BOS, at 60+ fps on ultra settings at 1920x1080 resolution. I currently have it OC'd to 4.1 ghz but it's not even really necessary for gaming.

I highly recommend getting a SSD for o/s and storing select games you play most. Dramatically cuts down load times.

April 23, 2015

The system proposed by T-Oddball above is very nice

You could possibly save money by getting a small form factor (mATX) motherboard with fewer features. ASUS is very good! Seasonic make lovely power supplies. If you're building yourself make sure you get modular. It saves you having to stow cables you don't need.

You'll still need a hard drive (dirt cheap these days). As Porkman says a small SSD for OS and a few games is very good if you can afford it.

Regards

Albino

April 23, 2015

FX8320 with one Noctua or similar cooler +AMD 970 or 990\fx motherboard + R9 280\x, with a good PSU will be a great PC to play at 1080p, cheeper, and with a good overclock possibility.

I5\3-K with Z97 mobo toó, but require plus $$

April 23, 2015

OK so here goes I've had a good read threw the posts and there's a lot of useful advice there and some great links I've spent the last 3 hours reading through what every one wrote, checking links and reading more reviews and there seems to be a continuing theme that has actually coincided with some of the bits I was already looking at my self.

So I think I've got a semi idea of what I may go for but I would really appreciate your feedback and criticism!

First off I just want to thank one of the Forum Members/Founders who have kindly donated to me there old GPU which has meant I should be online and flying around Stalingrad with the rest of you that much sooner And the first flight will be dedicated to you mate

It also means that I was able to look at a slightly better MoBo & most likely be able to eat next week .

So here's what I have in mind:

Case - Cool Master Silencio 550 ATX

PSU - Corsair CX600 (600w)

MoBo - Asus Z97-A

CPU - Intel Core i5 (4690) 3.5Ghz quad core

Cooling - Artic Freezer 7 Pro rev 2

RAM - (either) 1x 8GB Crucial Ballistix Sport XT DDR3 1866Mhz ??

(or) 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance Pro Black DDR3 1866Mhz ??

GPU - GTX 570 (Donated)

I already have Windows XP O/S on disk I can use on any computer, and 2x HDD totalling 300 GB I can reuse which will do for now until I add a 1TB HDD L8r. Plus a Sony CDRW/DVD Drive from my Dell I can recycle.

So what do you think???

I would like to thank every one for your help

Looks good!

Definitely go for the 2x RAM for dual channel. Also not sure if XP will be sufficient or not. You may run into some driver issues... but I guess you'll find out. You can typically buy a system builders OEM version of Windows 7 or 8 for cheaper than the standard retail price. Both Win7 and 8 are entitled to a free upgrade to Windows 10 when that hits (benchmarking wise Windows 8 is better than 7... folks hate the UI but as far as nuts and bolts are concerned its better than 7).

April 23, 2015

At the moment the R7 260X GB is probably the best price performance graphics card in it's class. And if you could match it with a AMD that would be even better.

perhaps an AMD FX 6300(AM3+,3,5 GHz,14 Mb) or AMD FX 8320(AM3+,3,5 GHz,16 Mb)

+ Gigabyte 970A-UD3P (sAM3+/970/DDR3) will get you going for some years.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2453327,00.asp

I had it for a couple of months and today I have upgraded to the more powerfull R9 270X 2BG also from Sapphire for higher performance in other more graphically demanding games

It had performed to the game consistently in high settings ( no AAA). The only limitation was my CPU when over 5 planes existed in close distances where I got a stutter here and there.

With that card you won't need to have more than 550W PSU.

After that prefer a 8GB ram and you'll enjoy the game with great graphics in 1920x1080

Hi Seawolf, As I said I've been very generously donated a GPU for the build by one the forum members and as I'm on a super tight budget this has helped me out immensely.

I understand that AMD are a lot cheaper than Intel, but from what I've read (although I've read so many reviews and so many conflicting suggestions my heads a little confused right now lol) Intel is ahead at the moment and I'm just of the mind I can only afford to do this once, so if I get the MoBo and CPU right the rest can be added to or upgraded later!

If it wasn't for the fact I desperately want to get on to Battle of Stalingrad & PC gaming in general I wouldn't even be thinking of a gaming pc any time soon!

April 23, 2015

^ SeaWolf raises a good point ^

CPU and GPUs are so efficient these days that its possible to use much smaller and cheaper power supplies! I have a 750W supply and could probably get by with 450W or less!

In the Star Citizen forum page there is a good link under the PSU section to a calculator which can tell you how much power you'll need for given hardware.

Regards

Albino

I couldn't find that page can you add a link pls Albino? thanks

Edited April 23, 2015 by esxboi37

April 23, 2015

Looks good!

Definitely go for the 2x RAM for dual channel. Also not sure if XP will be sufficient or not. You may run into some driver issues... but I guess you'll find out. You can typically buy a system builders OEM version of Windows 7 or 8 for cheaper than the standard retail price. Both Win7 and 8 are entitled to a free upgrade to Windows 10 when that hits (benchmarking wise Windows 8 is better than 7... folks hate the UI but as far as nuts and bolts are concerned its better than 7).

I was wondering if id run in to problems with XP but it will probably do for a while it's what I'm running right now on this system I'm using w service pack 3 and battle of Stalingrad list it under min system settings! I'll get Win 7 when it's absolutely necessary..

I think there's a few tweaks in the set up I've chosen but the main bits will stay the same I think CPU - i5 4690k / MoBo - Z97-A with the donated GPU - GTX 570..

April 23, 2015

I think I've got a clear idea of what I'm going to go for now and that I'm gonna be buying most of it from newegg.com (thanks for the links 'Oddball' ) as there a lot cheaper and over all I'm probably gonna save £50-£60!

So I can't thank you all enough.. and for how welcome you all made me feel to the forum

I guess all that will be missing is a good Flight SIM joystick! something else I have 0 knowledge of..

If any one can recommend a couple? As it's my B'day in 2wk's so I may chance my luck and see who in family wants to buy me one (As my pockets are going to be empty for a long while while buying for this build) & put it away till I finish the build..

Here's what I've decided to go with -

Case - Fractal Design R5 ATX
PSU - Seasonic M12II 620 (620w)
MoBo - Asus Z97-A
CPU - Intel Core i5 (4690K) 3.5Ghz quad core
Cooling - Cool Master Hyper 212 Evo 120mm
RAM - 2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1866Mhz
GPU - GTX 570 (Donated)

A lot of it is on newegg.com around 10% cheaper..

Cheers guys..

April 23, 2015

I think I've got a clear idea of what I'm going to go for now and that I'm gonna be buying most of it from newegg.com (thanks for the links 'Oddball' ) as there a lot cheaper and over all I'm probably gonna save £50-£60!

So I can't thank you all enough.. and for how welcome you all made me feel to the forum

I guess all that will be missing is a good Flight SIM joystick! something else I have 0 knowledge of..

If any one can recommend a couple? As it's my B'day in 2wk's so I may chance my luck and see who in family wants to buy me one (As my pockets are going to be empty for a long while while buying for this build) & put it away till I finish the build..

Here's what I've decided to go with -

Case - Fractal Design R5 ATX

PSU -   Seasonic M12II 620 (620w)

MoBo - Asus Z97-A

CPU -   Intel Core i5 (4690K) 3.5Ghz quad core

Cooling - Cool Master Hyper 212 Evo 120mm

RAM -   2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1866Mhz

GPU - GTX 570 (Donated)

A lot of it is on newegg.com around 10% cheaper..

Cheers guys..

is this the MB you chose? http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118&cm_re=ASUS_Z97-A-_-13-132-118-_-Product

if so you might want to familiarize yourself with the bios before building.

drivers and tools (the CD that comes with the board may have older drivers.)

https://www.asus.com/us/support/Download/1/45/6/1/ic9YbXVua78KEzSH/41/

do not use the thermal paste that comeswith the CPU, use Arctic Silver 5

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007&Tpk=N82E16835100007

if you have any questions or are unsure please ask before proceeding.

April 23, 2015

p.s go to youtube and search homemade rudder pedals and look on ebay (or other sites) and see who is selling used flight sim equipment

April 24, 2015

I couldn't find that page can you add a link pls Albino? thanks

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

That's the one Everything in that build is looking great!

Props to the person who donated the 570! Until recently I was happy running BOS on a GTX 560 Ti with medium settings so that card should keep you happy for a good while! You may have issues moving the XP licence to the new system, since usually it's tied to the motherboard. Once it figures out the MB has changed you may need to call Microsoft to get a new key. Once you can afford it certainly look to getting a newer OEM Windows kit If you want to save some money you don't absolutely need a 3rd party CPU cooler unless you are going to overclock. You can get away with using the one Intel provides. Since you're in Essex hopefully you won't get too many heat issues (not like here in Australia!).

Regards

Albino

Edited April 24, 2015 by Albino

Help with building a gaming pc for Battle of Stalingrad?

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