FFXI And FFXIV Computer Build Help.

I would have bought the i7 980x, but an extra $700 really wasn't worth it to me since I don't currently require that much power nor the added burden on my wallet since I already dug a huge hole in it lol.

Well, I'm off to bed. I'll check back tomorrow to see what the derail is like on this.

Thanks for all your help guys/gals.

Np dude. Enjoy the new rig when you finish it!

Yea i was thinking about buying the 980 myself but i figured if i can overclock the 920 D0 step to 4.0 at least then i didnt need to spend the extra cash on the 980... however... on my new build next year i might go ahead with the more expensive CPU and overclock it big time.

I will start buying the parts in in mid-late august. Right now I'm still pricing and piecing it together. Maybe some act of god will give me a nice GPU by then.

In general for the OP, in the future if you are thinking of updating something, do the graphics card first, but make sure the power supply can support the added burden. The last major hardware to think about is the CPU and Ram.

Also, as an added FYI...to date I do not believe there is any game that supports 6-core technology to its fullest extent and if there is, it is probably the only one...most games utilize 4 cores max.

My build was for the future, but in the future...who knows...I may jump on the Intel/Nvidia bandwagon if AMD doesn't shape up soon.

lol Nixak, I wish you all the best of luck.

Hehe well shop around some places will give cheaper prices. Check out Newegg and Ncix they might have some cheap deals. I know NCIX runs deals of the week so you might be able to pick up some stuff EXTREMELY cheap. Not sure about newegg since i live in Canada i dont feel like picking my stuff up stateside >.> too lazy and the border peeps arent very friendly.

I'm not sure about the 920, but to my knowledge the 930 was capable of a 2.8GHz to 4.3GHz jump on fan cooling due to the new 32nm Nehalem architecture it utilizes for more stable overclocking.

AMD likes to use updated ancient 45nm architecture, but it does the job and I wanted an ATI GPU so I chose the AMD/ATI road instead of Intel/Nvidia.

Yea i purchased this CPU for the purpose of overclocking it one day although i might not and just buy the 980 or the next gen equivalent and do it that way. When i purchased this CPU apparently this specific stepping was having excellent and stable overclocking in the 4.0-4.2 GHZ range 24/7. If i were to watercool i could probly do it or upgrade my CPU fan from the scythe piece of crap i have on it now... I run like 7ish Scythe Kaze 2k's to cool the entire PC

Yea AMD needs to wake the hell up imo. They can compete with Nvidia quite well but Intel is pulling away in the CPU division so far.

I attempted 4.3GHz with mine along with increased VCore voltages, but it became unstable so I knocked it back to 4GHz and it stabilized but crashed with Prime95, so I decided on staying with 3.7GHz and lower voltages to use up less power and create less heat since I wasn't doing anything important anyway. All-in-all I'm just happy it works since this is the first time I built a rig.

About 10 hours of searching for parts, 8 hours of building, and 15 hours of tweaking >.> I'm done...

I'm going to bed and will see how this all turns out :)

You all have a great night...and don't work too hard ~.^

Morning. After a talk with the wife I am now allowed to get a $200-$250 GPU. I was looking at the 5830. Any thoughts on this?

lol if you want to push the limits of your wife's patience, spring for the ATI Radeon 5850 from here

With the instant rebate and the mail-in rebate it comes to $255 lol. Basically for an extra $50 from the 5830, you get almost double the pixel fill rate and an increased texture fill rate...just my 2 cents.

I used this chart to compare: chart

Of course if you wait till mid to late August like you said, the price may come down slightly into the 200-250 range your wife is allowing.

Good site for benchmark tests on CPU, GPU, harddrive etc...
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
Just change the tabs to see CPU, hardrive etc...
Cheers!~

Both FFXI and FFXIV are also going to be on game consoles, and both popular game consoles are several years old and have slow CPUs in them compared to current stuff from either AMD or Intel. This is true of gaming in general at the moment as most games are console ports/also on consoles. So while overclocking to 4Ghz may be both awesome and awesome fun you'll be fine picking up a quadcore in the 3Ghzish range (i5/i7s have Turbo Boost and are very efficient, so ~2.5Ghz for them).

For CPU/Mobo at the moment I wouldn't recommend a Phenom II. They're significantly more expensive than the Athlon IIs and don't provide much gaming performance for the price increase.

If you have $200-250 to spend on a CPU, I'd go with a Core i5 750 (or 760 if it's only $10 more). Intel has the performance crown at the moment and the i5 750 is a beast of a CPU for $200.

If your budget is slightly higher and/or you run a lot of well-threaded applications (i.e. things that aren't games) then a jump to a i7 860 may be worthwhile. It's got Hyperthreading, so it looks to Windows like an 8 core CPU.

Pair the i5/i7 with a P55 motherboard of your choosing. I'd go for a full ATX board personally, but that's just me.
I've got a 1TB WD Green drive as my main storage drive. It's speedy enough, but you may want to go with a WD Black for higher performance for your OS/application drive.

My ideal setup at the moment would be a 60+ GB Solid State Disk for my OS and apps/games and a 1TB+ RAID1 WD Green array for storage. You can get a good SSD for about $140 and it's probably the single biggest improvement to overall system performance you can make. If you can squeeze it into your budget I'd highly recommend it.
Make sure whichever RAM you select is on your motherboard manufacturer's tested/approved list. DDR3 can be quite finicky and finding out your new system won't POST because the RAM is incompatible is a kick in the balls nobody needs.

I'd go with DDR3-1600 personally. A lot of motherboards will let you run the RAM at higher clockspeeds without overclocking much/anything else.
Other people have mentioned it already, but the 9800 is pretty old and runs hot. If you want to get a much cooler running card with basically the same performance, get a GT240 with ***GDDR5*** memory. The GDDR3 GT240 is significantly slower.

It's kind of important and I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it while rattling off GPU suggestions: What's the native resolution of your monitor? I assume you've got a flatpanel of some kind and for best results you'll want to run games at its actual resolution.

If you're using an old 5:4 1280x1024 LCD like I am its insane to blow $250 on a Radeon 5830 when a $100 Radeon 5670 will perform the same.

The Radeon 5830 you linked to is a plenty fast card that will last a long while. However, if you're not running games at 1920x1080 you could probably save a few bucks on a 5770 and not notice any difference.
I'd go with the integrated sound on most motherboards and spend this cash elsewhere, personally.

Might as well put this here....
Building a PC for FFXIV, this is what i'm ordering could this run XIV on high?

Intel Core i7-860 Processor
- 2.8 GHz
- 8 MB L3 cache

RAM
- 6GB

Graphics Card
- ATI Radeon HD5570

HDD
-1TB

Expansion slots
- 2x PCI-Ex1, 1x PCI-E x16

OS
-Windows 7

No way you'll be able to play at 1080p w/ a 5570.

Damn, i don't really want to go into the really pricy Cards. The 5870 is £330($500?) here. Guess i'll have to settle for low to medium fps :(

Did you mean the 5670? Or 5770? Those are both a lot faster. The latter can probably run FFXIV on High fine.

The monitor I will be using is an ASUS



EDIT: Updated computer parts so others can see.

Western Digital WD5001AALS Caviar Black Hard Drive - 500GB, 7200 rpm, 32MB, SATA-3G(1.8 lbs)

Asus M4A88TD-V EVO USB3 Motherboard - AMD 880GX, Socket AM3, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, RAID, SATA 6.0GB/s(3.3 lbs)

Patriot PGV38G1333ELK Gaming i5 8GB PC10666 RAM - DDR3, 1333MHz, 2x4096MB, 9-9-9-24(0.1 lbs)

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ965FBGMBOX - 3.40GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan(1.15 lbs)

Coolmax CUG-950B 950-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, PCI-E Ready, Modular(6.6 lbs)

Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 24X, DVD-R 24X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD+R DL 8X, SATA (OEM)(1.85 lbs)

Ultra ChillTec Silver CPU Cooler - LGA 775/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3(3.46 lbs)

NZXT Zero 2 Craft Series Full Tower Case - Steel Chassis, Quad 120mm Fans, Dual 120mm Exhaust, Top Mounted USB, Audio, eSATA(30 lbs)



Parts not in that list are Thermal Past, 4 120mm fans and 2 80mm fans.

I still don't know if I should go with the 5850, 5830 or the 5770. I was thinking that I would try to keep the GPU a ASUS so it matches the MoBo. Also. I'm having a hard time trying to find 8gb of DDR3 for under $240 that is over 1333mhz

Either of the three GPUs will be fine. The 5850 is a beast, so I'd go with that. You'll be able to play pretty much anything at 1680x1080 with AA on and all the details and shaders turned up.

I'd go with a lower wattage PSU. It's true that power requirements climbed steeply in the not too distant past, but CPUs (and recently the absolute top-end GPUs) are hitting the thermal limitations of air cooling, so they won't be going up much more in the forseeable future. PSUs are most energy efficient running around 50% load if my Bronze/Silver/Gold 80 rating recollections are accurate. To get anywhere in the neighborhood of needing 950W you're looking at two way SLI/Crossfire with $500 GPUs. 600-750W will be fine and save you some cash up front (and probably on your electric bill down the line).

Unless you're expecting to need >8GB on this system at some point in the future getting 4x2GB sticks might save you some cash.

My only other suggested addition would be a Blu-Ray reader drive. The burners are still pricy, but being able to watch movies would be nice.

No mention of SLI GTX 460 or GTX 470 wow..

Enterius stop posting shitty ricer alienware PCs.


corsair obsidian 800d is one of the best cases you can get on the consumer market.

Buying a 950w power supply is *** overkill for what you want..


You're better off getting a i5 760 cpu and p55 board than a amd setup

http://www.overclock.net
go here if you want better help.

I must be missing something. Can someone please explain to me how the best computer ever spawned is either A)Shitty, or B)an Asian automobile?

This is just a example build.

@ent
because mechanical top fins on the top of the case is pointless, and jesus chirst the leds on that thing is *** HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE and unnecessary. tl;dr ricer


What is this guy's budget anyways?


The most concerning thing I saw with the build you want is that power supply. It's not 80+ certified which is a very very big mistake for a PSU over 500w. The amps provided on the rails on that PSU is weaksauce (only 25amps). single rail > multi rail.


The hard drive is fine but for like $20 more you can get a TB drive.

The system memory is decent, but if you want 1333MHz system memory at least buy some with CAS7 memory timing. You most likely don't even NEED 8GB of system memory unless you do alot of video/graphic editiing and encoding.

The AMD CPU is fine but, right now you really better off with an i5 cpu with a Intel chipset motherboard. Reason being that the Intel's current infrastructure is better than AMD's. (a intel i5 @ 2.88GHz beats a AMD 965 @ 3.4GHz in several cpu benchmarks)

You're also not locked down to a to either nVidia's or ATI's southbridge chipset so you can Crossfire or SLI your cards at your choosing. Something you can't do on a ATI or nVidia south bridge vga chipset without using patches which aren't guaranteed to work and if they do work you'll most likely wont be getting 100% performance out of them.

If you're still gonna get a AMD board don't bother with the 890GX, the 890FX is the better board.

That's a good CPU cooler. Though the Corsair one listed on the picture above is smaller quieter and performs the same if not better than the ultra chilltech silver.


That's a pretty crumy case to be full tower,look for one where the PSU mounts at the bottom. The intake fan from the PSU will actually suck in more hot air at the top than at the bottom. The HDD cage will most likely obstruct your video card. You should only buy full tower if you plan to be using water cooling or something that is actually using the extra drive bays.

As for the video card. Don't bother with the 5770 or and definitely the 5830. The GTX 460 can be had to $200 and run circles around both cards. If you have the cash go ahead with the 5850, but hell if you have the cash for a 5850 might as well get the GTX 470 for about the same price which is faster than a 5850.

ATI's current 58XX series is overpriced for right now.


TL;DR

go to overclock.net or tom's hardware forums people there will give you a much better build suggestions than what people will suggest here.



buying highend cpu with triple channel setup... with a lowend video card...

does not compute.

and I hope you ment 2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 and 1 PCI Express x1 slots....

This is what I used for SDRAM. I ordered 4 of those to equal 8 GB.
Intended suggestion for Nixak.

@Eagleeyes: Thanks for that great post. You ask what kind of budget I am working with. Its $900-1100ish. I will admit right now that the list you posted is a nice computer. Intel does kick AMD's *** up and down the street in everything but the price. That i5 760 is $209 and the AMD Phenom II 965 is $179. All the nice GPU's are dam expensive too, not just ATI. I do really like that full tower that you listed.

If I was to take out the tower and PUS that I listed and replace them with the ones you did it would put me at a total of about $1128 before any kind of GPU. So I'm over budget if I do that.

I'm looking at those forums you linked now.

Maybe I should just buy a PS3. >_>

P.S. Also, thanks everyone else that has been helping me or not helping me. =)

EDIT: What about this tower/PSU combo from Newegg? Would this be worth looking at?

Those are better overall but Antec tends to be overpriced for what you get.

I dislike that psu just because it has a multi 12volt rails. Which can lead to energy regulation problems.



I recommend this Corsair 850w just because of the better warranty and power specs. They're also known to cover the costs of damaged computer components made from the PSU.

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W
$129.99 + free shipping comes with $20 mail in rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

This video covers the 850w version but both are pretty much the same.



That case is actually just a redesign of the Antec 1200,
if you need a full tower case I guess it would do..

YOU DO NOT NEED A FULL TOWER CASE IF YOU'RE NOT DOING/PLANNING WATER COOLING.

But for mid tower I recommend the

Cooler Master Storm Sniper.
$129.99 with free S+H

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

This case has ALOT of space inside, 3 140mm Fans with 1 120mm fan which comes with a fan controller. You also have the option of adding another 120/140mm fan at the bottom vent With a wide build so you can fit large cpu heat-sinks if you want.

It even has the space to fit 3 full length video cards. There's even enough space to build a water cooling setup. You have to but the water radiator in the top slot over the top fan and sacrifice your top 140mm fan


The case comes with dust filters at all of the intake vents and removable bottom feet. But the best feature for someone who doesn't like alot of LEDs, all of the LEDs can be turned on and off at your will.

It's just a damn good case.
Also don't be confused with the 3dgameman video for this case. That's a review for the older version of the case which is now been replaced for the black edition



also man you can just save a little more.

I really highly recommend the GTX 460 for the ~200 range graphics card market. The 5830 is just a failure card as is the GTX 465.

Maybe you should learn more about computers before you blabber some ***like that, and then just buy a PS3 for being HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE.