Sherdog PC Build/Buy Thread, v5: Stop Thinking of Your Router as a Peripheral

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I've seen many benches where moving from an FX chip to i5 increased FPS by ~10 with the same GPU. 10FPS doesn't sound like a lot, but that can make the difference between a smooth 50-60 FPS and dropping down to 30-40 FPS.

There is tons of data showing Intel chips outperform AMD across the board. I am not saying they are bad. I ran a heavily overclocked FX chip myself.
Difference can be good but it's showing a sign of decline (some games that are still using old engines love the raw single thread horsepower of the i series).

Intel outperforms AMD no question (there's a reason why i've been running the i7 series for almost 7 years).

The point I was trying to make was most people overestimate the hardware you really need to run games well (it's not uncommon to hear "crap" or "junk" thrown around on a processor that's over 3x faster than the consoles CPU).

Excitement of someone else's money, over inflated PC requirements by developers, and lack of experience with different types of hardware attribute to this common misconception
 
Saw a sale on a mobo at Fry's in store only today so I went and picked it up.
Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO Orig price $240, got it for $179. The mobo I had picked out was $165 but not as good so only a little bit more money for a higher quality mobo.

2 pieces down
 
I just want to my PC better and able to play super high graphics
Your biggest problem right now is GPU (it was midrange over 5 years ago).

Just as an example, if you did the bare minimum of a new GPU only (nothing else changed), you would double if not triple your performance just on a single upgrade (I'm not saying that's all you should do, that just tells you how much your GPU is holding you back).
 
Saw a sale on a mobo at Fry's in store only today so I went and picked it up.
Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO Orig price $240, got it for $179. The mobo I had picked out was $165 but not as good so only a little bit more money for a higher quality mobo.

2 pieces down

Nice. I love Asus motherboards. I have a Sabertooth
 
Your biggest problem right now is GPU (it was midrange over 5 years ago).

Just as an example, if you did the bare minimum of a new GPU only (nothing else changed), you would double if not triple your performance just on a single upgrade (I'm not saying that's all you should do, that just tells you how much your GPU is holding you back).

GPU it is
 
I want to beef up my PC to play Fallout 4 but I want to replace only what I need to and keep as much parts as I could to minimize spending. What should I do?


These are my specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @3.20GHz 3.20GHz
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5670
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 (MS-7817)
Strange ass build (fairly modern i5 processor paired with an almost 6 year old GPU).

You didn't list powersupply (i'm assuming it's low wattage) so if you wanted to keep it (cost) as low as possible I would do at least an R9 280 video card with a new powersupply (total would be in the low 200s). R9 380 with powersupply would be around mid 200s and would be good as well
 
Has anyone bought something from Massdrop.com?
 
Please help

My options:

1. $1300 - $1700 Msi gaming laptop. Graphics card would be 960m, 970M or 980m depending on lower or higher price. Obvious advantage of being mobile so I won't need a separate laptop later. My concern Is shelf life due to overheating from casual gaming.

Currently pricing them at xoticpc

Or

2. Build my own via parts picker. I would spend roughly $1000 on the rig, have a gaming mouse, would get the keyboard, screen and OS separate during Black Friday or cyber Monday sales. Advantage of not worrying about a short shelf life due to overheating from gaming and more bang In the graphics cards.

-------------


People say, get a desktop because you get more for your money yet browsing newegg, amazon and xoticpc, I don't see it. Plus I would have to get another laptop later.

What is the shelf life on the quoted Msi?

Can you link a build that is better for price range?

Does a chill pad nix the heating issue?


I would think getting it all in a nice laptop would be best yet every where online computer people scoff at It but don't seem to actually back it up.


As for gaming, I play WoW, diablo, hearthstone and Skyrim. I play maybe 4 or 5 months out of a year. Sometimes I go hard core but only for a couple weeks and get burned out. Average maybe 2 hours a day, 6 plus during hard core time.
 
^ lol@ a gaming laptop


build your computer.

you could do x2 980 or x2 970s for 1700$
 
Please help

My options:

1. $1300 - $1700 Msi gaming laptop. Graphics card would be 960m, 970M or 980m depending on lower or higher price. Obvious advantage of being mobile so I won't need a separate laptop later. My concern Is shelf life due to overheating from casual gaming.

Currently pricing them at xoticpc

Or

2. Build my own via parts picker. I would spend roughly $1000 on the rig, have a gaming mouse, would get the keyboard, screen and OS separate during Black Friday or cyber Monday sales. Advantage of not worrying about a short shelf life due to overheating from gaming and more bang In the graphics cards.

-------------


People say, get a desktop because you get more for your money yet browsing newegg, amazon and xoticpc, I don't see it. Plus I would have to get another laptop later.

What is the shelf life on the quoted Msi?

Can you link a build that is better for price range?

Does a chill pad nix the heating issue?


I would think getting it all in a nice laptop would be best yet every where online computer people scoff at It but don't seem to actually back it up.


As for gaming, I play WoW, diablo, hearthstone and Skyrim. I play maybe 4 or 5 months out of a year. Sometimes I go hard core but only for a couple weeks and get burned out. Average maybe 2 hours a day, 6 plus during hard core time.

I think you gorgot to include a link for the laptop you wanted to buy. Either way, it is a fact that you can get a lot more bang for your buck on desktops. I'm not sure if you are seeing the 970m and thinking it is the equivalent of a 970 desktop card, but it definitely is not. Same with the CPU

Anyways, I'm not saying that to discourage you. If a laptop is what you really need, get a laptop. It doesn't look like you are playing super demanding games anyways. It kind of sounds like games are a secondary priority for you, so if you want something you can take around the house or on trips then laptop probably is your answer. But that is a question that only you can answer. What matters more to you, bang for your buck or mobility?

Shelf life isn't as great on a laptop, but it's actually a lot better than it used to be. If I had to give a rough estimate, I would say you would get 4ish good years of gaming out of an MSI laptop from xotic pc today
 
I think you gorgot to include a link for the laptop you wanted to buy. Either way, it is a fact that you can get a lot more bang for your buck on desktops. I'm not sure if you are seeing the 970m and thinking it is the equivalent of a 970 desktop card, but it definitely is not. Same with the CPU

Anyways, I'm not saying that to discourage you. If a laptop is what you really need, get a laptop. It doesn't look like you are playing super demanding games anyways. It kind of sounds like games are a secondary priority for you, so if you want something you can take around the house or on trips then laptop probably is your answer. But that is a question that only you can answer. What matters more to you, bang for your buck or mobility?

Shelf life isn't as great on a laptop, but it's actually a lot better than it used to be. If I had to give a rough estimate, I would say you would get 4ish good years of gaming out of an MSI laptop from xotic pc today

Thank you very much. Gaming is absolutely secondary to me. I know the parts in a laptop are not equal but I don't know how much of a difference it is.

I will build one if it's superior when also including the mobile issues and that I am usually not actually gaming during the year. That dude above me gave the same regurgitated response I always see yet nothing to actually prove it. I tinker on partspicker and the rig gets pretty expensive quick.

Also 4 years on a gaming laptop would be excellent for me. I would use a chill pad when gaming to help too.

Here are links to the laptops I was looking at. I would be customizing them too

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-221045-980m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8111.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-22429-970m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8113.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-ge72-apache235-p-8458.html?wconfigure=yes
 
Thank you very much. Gaming is absolutely secondary to me. I know the parts in a laptop are not equal but I don't know how much of a difference it is.

I will build one if it's superior when also including the mobile issues and that I am usually not actually gaming during the year. That dude above me gave the same regurgitated response I always see yet nothing to actually prove it. I tinker on partspicker and the rig gets pretty expensive quick.

Also 4 years on a gaming laptop would be excellent for me. I would use a chill pad when gaming to help too.

Here are links to the laptops I was looking at. I would be customizing them too

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-221045-980m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8111.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-22429-970m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8113.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-ge72-apache235-p-8458.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...ng-gaming-spend-1700-dollars-gtx-980-gtx.html
 
Thank you very much. Gaming is absolutely secondary to me. I know the parts in a laptop are not equal but I don't know how much of a difference it is.

I will build one if it's superior when also including the mobile issues and that I am usually not actually gaming during the year. That dude above me gave the same regurgitated response I always see yet nothing to actually prove it. I tinker on partspicker and the rig gets pretty expensive quick.

Also 4 years on a gaming laptop would be excellent for me. I would use a chill pad when gaming to help too.

Here are links to the laptops I was looking at. I would be customizing them too

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-221045-980m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8111.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-msi-1781-22429-970m-msi-gt72-barebones-p-8113.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-ge72-apache235-p-8458.html?wconfigure=yes

Those are all good. I would suggest checking up on some things like backlit keys (a must imo for a laptop) and solid construction. Also I would suggest one of these 2 because I wish I owned them :p

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152681

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152691
 
People say, get a desktop because you get more for your money yet browsing newegg, amazon and xoticpc, I don't see it
Laptops are the absolute worse values for these two reasons

1. The i7 series on laptops come on average clocked in the mid 2ghz range which means your already losing over 20FPS to the desktop equivalent on just the CPU alone

2. GPU series on the laptops don't equal the raw output of a desktop GPU with the same number (for example it would not be unrealistic for a thrid party gtx 960 desktop card to beat a laptop 980M).


Laptops are a joke for gaming (let me put it to you this way, an i7 920 from 2008 and a midrange gtx 760 from 2013 would give you equal if not slightly better performance than a modern 1600 dollar laptop, that should tell you all you need to know).
 
Show me that build that includes a screen, keyboard and OS for that price
Full tower with OS (that includes dual 970s) would be a little under 1400 (that would leave the the rest for keyboard and screen).
 
Laptops are the absolute worse values for these two reasons

1. The i7 series on laptops come on average clocked in the mid 2ghz range which means your already losing over 20FPS to the desktop equivalent on just the CPU alone

2. GPU series on the laptops don't equal the raw output of a desktop GPU with the same number (for example it would not be unrealistic for a thrid party gtx 960 desktop card to beat a laptop 980M).


Laptops are a joke for gaming (let me put it to you this way, an i7 920 from 2008 and a midrange gtx 760 from 2013 would give you equal if not slightly better performance than a modern 1600 dollar laptop, that should tell you all you need to know).

970m is a little better than a 760 with more vram and a 980m is about equal to a 770. That's not a joke there's are very good cards even today. Bad value, but if you need portability then you need portability. Also, I have a gaming laptop with an 860m I use because I travel for work, and it runs games fine. I can't max out Crisis but it is still smooth and can play anything on medium that I have tried to play without struggling.
 
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