SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic

Joined: Jun 10 2008 Posts: 172

This is mostly directed towards those with PC building experience.
I built my first custom rig in 2008, i enjoyed the whole experience, researching, shopping, customizing etc etc. I've started to notice a little stuttering in games since I purchased my 1920x1080 24 inch monitor which has pissed me off a little. Even SC2 causes a little stuttering, in particular the freaking cloak field the mothership puts out. I want to build a new unit fairly soon but I want to know whether people feel its worth it. I plan on reusing my CoolerMaster cosmos case as well as the PSU and obviously the dvd rom drives to save some money.

Here is what I currently have

e8400 wolfdale
p45 asus motherboard
4870 ati 512mb graphics card
24 inch monitor.

I know that part of the stuttering problem I'm experiencing is becasue I don't have enough memory in the GPU for a monitor that size but I'm nontheless interested in what you guys think.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

I have a few questions and then I'll try to offer some recommendations.

1. What is the make and model of the monitor
2. Are you overclocking the system
3. Do you own FarCry 2 (I promise there is a reason I ask)
4. How much money do you want to spend
5. Do you have a particular preference about Intel Vs. AMD or do you just want the best bang for the buck for your budget?
6. What graphics driver version are you using?
7. Is your case inside clean?

Joined: Jun 10 2008 Posts: 172

1. Its a dell, not sure which one but its not SVGA, and it has HD hook ups.

2. I had the graphics card lightly overclocked and the CPU has an unlocked multiplyer but I was scared to fry it so its not overclocked.

3. Nope

4. My fiance and I (she rocks) are thinking around 1200.

5. I prefer Intel, though I also once prefferred nvidia and was shown how great ati's stuff is so I guess if I can get equal performance or better I'd be open to trying AMD.

6. I think the graphics driver version is last months update, its the one right after SC2 came out.

7 the case is quite clean, the nice thing about the case actually is that all the fans that blow in have dust filters on them so nothing gets inside.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Great detail there APLETHORAOFPINATAS, I have a few suspicions before you spend any cash on something new.

In the games that are choppy do you have the vertical sync turned on or off?

I have 2x Dell Ultrasharp 24" 1900x1200 monitors.

They have terrible screen tearing, but it is much better with vertical sync turned on. Yes, it usually lowers my framerate to 30 or 60, but the advantage is a smooth image that isn't sloppy looking or stuttering.

It would be terrible to go out and buy a new computer only to find out that it was your monitor that was causing you grief.

This would be the first thing I would check. If you find it makes little to no difference, then we can move on to other options.

Joined: Jun 10 2008 Posts: 172

I had really bad screen tearing while playing WoW with all the settings bumped way way up and VS fixed it but its still running at 24-30 fps outdoors. mass effect was a clittle choppy around 24. Overall I'd say VS was off on games I play but I also think i know (I think lol) that tearing isnt really the issue. Its definitly a fps thing.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Cool. That does actually make a big difference going forwards.

If it were me, I would go the upgrade route. Your system isn't old enough that I would abandon it... unless you have a bad power supply.

A Radeon HD 5850 would be a $300 investment if you power supply can handle it. It would allow you to easily play the games you mentioned.

So why would I wait? Because I think you can accomplish your goal without sacrificing an extra $900 right now. Save it up and put it towards a machine in another year when your system feels more outdated.

Joined: Jun 10 2008 Posts: 172

yea, i was thinking of that actually after I responded the 2nd time. I have a good PSU at 650 watts. Plus lets say I get a new card now I can always just get another of the same card when I build the new system and crossfire them in a year or so.

Joined: Mar 13 2009 Location: Arlington Posts: 467

Just curious. What did FarCry 2 have to do with this? I had that POS on my computer and immediately deleted it, but did it mess with anything to cause perfomance reductions?

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

FarCry 2 has an excellent built in benchmark. It is an industry standard tool used to compare FPS capabilities between machines.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_properly_benchmark_your_pc?page=0,4

Joined: Mar 13 2009 Location: Arlington Posts: 467

Thanks. That actually looks useful, unlike the game....

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

FarCry 2 was amazingly good. You have to like the type of game that it is, but it was fantastic for an Open World mercenary shooter.

Joined: Jun 10 2008 Posts: 172

I loved crysis, isnt it made by the same company?

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

APLETHORAOFPINATAS wrote:

I loved crysis, isnt it made by the same company?

No,
Crysis was made by Crytek
Far Cry was made by Crytek

Far Cry 2 was made by UbiSoft

Joined: Mar 13 2009 Location: Arlington Posts: 467

In all fairness to the game, I only played it for 2 days before I uninstalled it.

I was really looking forward to play FarCry 2 from all I read that went into making the game. It looked phenomenal. It just seemed liked every time I would silently kill someone where no one could possibly see, I would still have an entire village attacking me when I walked out in the open. That, and the driving sucked.

I'll admit that I didn't give it much of a chance and maybe I wasn't doing something right, but I do have a pretty high tolerance for crappy games

I thought Crysis was much better.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Thorton02 wrote:

In all fairness to the game, I only played it for 2 days before I uninstalled it.

I was really looking forward to play FarCry 2 from all I read that went into making the game. It looked phenomenal. It just seemed liked every time I would silently kill someone where no one could possibly see, I would still have an entire village attacking me when I walked out in the open. That, and the driving sucked.

I'll admit that I didn't give it much of a chance and maybe I wasn't doing something right, but I do have a pretty high tolerance for crappy games

I thought Crysis was much better.

I don't recall exactly how much I paid, but I think it was somewhere around $5-$10 for it.

I originally was not into it. It took me a solid 4-5 hours to start to get the feel for it.

Once you get past the play control, the game itself is fast, intense, and you get to be creative.

Drive a truck into a guard post while jumping out before it gets there, throw a grenade at it while running back. Aim that AK47 at the closest few enemies and charge for the nearest cover. Use a molotov cocktail to prevent yourself from being flanked in the grass. Snipe that asswad with the rocket launcher. Shoot the ammo depot to get a large number of bullets flying everywhere...

Or... use the dart gun rifle to silently kill someone WITHOUT being seen.

If you plan to be stealth, you better try it at night.

Posted: Aug 25 2010 02:16 pm

I think the question is this: what do you plan to use your PC for?

If it's going to be a media hub for you, then yes, upgrading might be necessary.

If you want to play the biggest, baddest, most resource-hogging new games that come out, then upgrading is definitely necessary. However, this also means that you want to stall as long as you can. If you wait longer to build a new machine, then you will be able to obtain better parts and stay within your price range.

If the computer is mostly used for web-surfing, then no, don't bother.

It sounds as if you use it for gaming a lot, so yeah, upgrading sounds like a good idea.

Posted: Aug 25 2010 02:35 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

If you want to play the biggest, baddest, most resource-hogging new games that come out, then upgrading is definitely necessary. However, this also means that you want to stall as long as you can. If you wait longer to build a new machine, then you will be able to obtain better parts and stay within your price range.

While this is technically true, it really doesn't work that way. Yes, if you wait 6 months you could get a Radeon 5870 for probably around $250 - $300, instead of $400 - $500. You know why? Because by then the 6870 will be out. And, sure that 5870 will stomp on Crysis, but it will struggle on Crisis 2.

The point is. Look for sales more than anything else. It is a neverending cycle. Parts only get cheaper when better one come out. And, every month or two, the system requirements for the latest game just raised the bar a bit more.

Posted: Aug 25 2010 02:39 pm

My point is that instead of getting the 5870 for 400-500, you'll be getting the 6870 for 400-500, not that you'll be getting the 5870 for less.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

My point is that instead of getting the 5870 for 400-500, you'll be getting the 6870 for 400-500, not that you'll be getting the 5870 for less.

Syd, with that mentality no one would ever buy a new computer unless the old one physically died.

The idea is that the machine needs to meet the needs of an individual. If those needs aren't being met, then a new part or entire machine might be a good idea.

In this case, upgrading would be a $300 stepping stone since spending $1200 might not generate a big enough bang for the buck.

Posted: Aug 25 2010 03:45 pm

Well, honestly, that's more or less what I'm doing. I'll run this comp until IE becomes too resource-intensive for it. Then I'll get a new one.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

Well, honestly, that's more or less what I'm doing. I'll run this comp until IE becomes too resource-intensive for it. Then I'll get a new one.

What are the specs on your current machine?

If you don't know: http://www.piriform.com/speccy

Posted: Aug 25 2010 04:04 pm

Operating System
MS Windows XP Home 32-bit SP3

CPU
Intel Pentium 4
Northwood 0.13um Technology

RAM
512MB Dual-Channel RDRAM @ 530MHz

Motherboard
Dell Computer Corp. (Microprocessor)

Graphics
DELL E173FP @ 1024x768
64MB NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 (nVidia)

Hard Drives
117GB Seagate ST3120023A (ATA) 47 °C

Optical Drives
LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
NEC CD-RW NR-9100A

Audio
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

So... your computer is 7-8 years old...

Posted: Aug 25 2010 04:15 pm

More like 6-7, but yeah.

#EDIT: Looking at the old school papers on it, 7 sounds about right.