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Media Centre/Gaming Rig to play Shogun 2 highest settings smoothly

S

Sheepdisease

Junior Member
Hello there, I have a couple of computers which I need to condense into one (and sell the remaining components if I can). We don't have space for two computers any more, so the PC in the study needs to go and the PC in the lounge will become a dedicated machine (using the smaller of the two pc cases - The Cooler Master). The plan is to have a machine which will be be able to function as both a media centre and gaming rig (running smoothly at highest settings) in the lounge. Shogun 2 is the benchmark I want to set.

I need to be able to bitstream audio from the PC to the AV.

Current hardware:

TV: Samsung LE32C530 32-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 50Hz LCD TV with Freeview (Native Resolution 1920 x 1080 for PC).
AV: Yamaha Natural Sound AV Amplifier DSP-AX863SE (SPECS HERE: DISCONTINUED YAMAHA DSPAX863SE HOME CINEMA AMPLIFIER - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/4574 for details)
Speakers: Tannoy SFX 5.1 Speaker System (SPECS HERE: TANNOY SFX 5.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/3804 for details) & Misson Floor Standing Speakers.

Current media centre rig (operating Windows 7 Professional 32bit):

  • Asus My Cinema-P7131 Hybrid DVB-T PCI TV Tuner card £25.06

  • Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5C 4GB 800MHz C5 DDR2 Memory Kit £47.45

  • Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR2 6400 C4 £24.89

  • Akasa AK-195BL 13.9CM FAN+ADAP £31.57

  • AMD AM2 DCORE 5050E Energy Eff £51.16

  • CAIR 400W CMPSU-400CXUK £44.16

  • Asus M3A78-CM £59.00

  • LG GH22NS40 22X SATA BLK OEM £16.49

  • Cooler Master Dominator 690 PC Case With Window / Black (PC Shop) £67.99
Current (dormant) PC in spare room (was operating Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit):



  • £5.10 All in 1 Internal Card Reader Plus One USB2.0 Port Black - 3.5" Bay 108453

  • £40.32 2 x LiteOn 20X SATA DVD±RW/RAM With Beige, Black & Silver Bezel + Nero - Retail 127442

  • £80.90 Corsair 620W HX Modular PSU - ATX12V v2.2 APFC 114941

  • £75.67 Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Soundcard - Fatal1ty Professional Series 126185

  • £83.27 ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP AiLifestyle Series P35 Socket 775 Socket eSATA 8 channel Audio ATX Motherboard 129126 (ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THE MOTHERBOARD INSTALLED IS £103.13 Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard 145748)


  • £301.91 BFG 8800GTX OC2 768MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out HDCP enabled PCI-E Graphics Card 131671 (with £23.37 THERMALRIGHT HR-03 PLUS 90MM and £2.93 Xigmatek XSF-F9251 92mm Fan attached) - is very big and needs to be housed in a case like the £128.80 Thermaltake Kandalf VD4000BWS LCS No PSU - which I have since removed the front panel (doors) and liquid cooling system and replaced it with fans, as the idea was a liquid cooling system would be quieter, but uses fans too and there is the expense of the liquid)

  • £59.28 Corsair Memory XMS2 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 (800) Dual Channel Desktop

  • £74.99 Acer V173Ab 17 inch LCD Monitor / Black (PC Shop)

  • £319.99 Samsung S86 Series 22 inch LE22S86BD HD Ready Freeview Widescreen LCD TV (Electronics)
I appreciate this is going to involve some swapping, but more likely involve buying new hardware, which I am happy to do (so please do make suggestions).

Thank you very much for your help in anticipation.
 
Yes, you will definitely need to buy some new kit. To be honest, I would recommend getting a whole new core platform (CPU mobo RAM) plus GPU. What's your budget?
 
Budget is going to make the choice for you. You will certainly need a new GPU. Price per $ (or pound in this case) I'd suggest either a GTX460 1GB for $120-150 after rebate, GTX560Ti for $200-250, or a 6950/6970 for $220-360. I've listed the prices to give you an idea of the suggested spectrum, granted it will vary in the UK.

If money matters, I have one of those P55k's in my 2nd rig and a Q66 in my main; that P55k and Q67 should make for a great overclock. 3.2Ghz at least, up to 3.8 depending on cooling. That will ensure you are not held back by the CPU but not cost anything. Are any of those RAM kits compatable to run 2GBx4DIMM config?
Also, I too use the Corsair 620HX in my 2nd PC and it should run fine with even a new i5-2500K rig + 560 / 6950. Save some green! (or green/tan/purple/brown/red in this case? {Damn britts using a different colour for each bill!})

If money is relative, I'd suggest picking up a new core composed of an i5-2500K, Z68, and 4x2GB DDR3 kit.
 
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Blitz KriegeR said:
Budget is going to make the choice for you. You will certainly need a new GPU. Price per $ (or pound in this case) I'd suggest either a GTX460 1GB for $120-150 after rebate, GTX560Ti for $200-250, or a 6950/6970 for $220-360. I've listed the prices to give you an idea of the suggested spectrum, granted it will vary in the UK.
Click to expand...

I agree that the OP definitely needs a new GPU. From personal experience, I can say that Shogun 2 at all max on a GTX 260 (roughly equal to a GTX 460 768MB) isn't really what I would call smooth. It does play very smoothly on a 6970 though. So, I'd say that you'd at least want something on the level of a GTX 560 Ti or 6950.
 
Hello there, thank you both for your replies.

I am trying to spend as little as possible, but want to ensure I can do everything I set out to do.

I have compiled a basic list of components I am considering. Just what is the situation at the moment with regards to Intel versus AMD?

What do you think of this list?

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £219.98
AMD AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £88.99
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98

(Overclockers UK)
 
AMDs offerings have been pretty weak recently compared to Intels. The reason they resoted to "Black edition" and such at all is unlocked multis to make them sort-of compete via overclocking. Failed imo. Also, AMDs current chips (the family u suggested) is a much older design. The Phenom II design is from the same time frame as the Q6700, except that the TLP bug was fixed and it was ported to DDR3 via AM3. It would be a poor choice to spend cash on a side-grade rather than an upgrade. AMDs newest thing is expected to be around the corner (August'ish is estimated); that would at least be modern!

If money matters, then I highly recommend you don't spend 220+ pounds on that AM3 core. I stand by my original suggestion; stick with what you have and overclock it. Hell, even at 2.66GHz it is not a bad CPU.

Also, 220 pounds for a 6950 sounds outrageous! You can get one for 235 *dollars* here in the states, with most around 250-260. Is that the best thing on offer across the pond?
 
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Did some shopping for you and these are much better deals:

-->Steal! MSI 6970 245pounds
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1752

--> XFX 6950 for 199.99 is a much better deal than that MSI for 219.98, if it ever comes back into stock

--> Normally I would spend the extra cash for the 2GB version, but there are plenty of 1GB 6950s on that site all for 179.99. Unless you are running a multi-monitor setup or on resolutions above 1080p, the 1GB will perform exactly the same as the 2GB.

My first choice would be the 6970 if u can get it for that price. My second would be the 1G 6950 for 180, and my last would be that 220 pound 6950 as it is overpriced. I looked at the Nvidia offerings in ther 460/470/480/560/560ti/570 range; all seem over priced. My recommendation would be the AMD cards stated above.
 
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Again, if you are going for budge I encourage you to stay with your current CPU/Mobo for a while longer.

If you are going to buy something I'd suggest buying something that will make a difference to your setup which would be i5-2500K (~170pounds) and based on prices/availability at the site u linked me, the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 (~105 pounds).
That means new RAM also, so I'd suggest the G.Skill DDR3-1600 2x4GB Ripjaws for 80pounds, or the same DDR-1600 Ripjaws 2x2GB kit for 40pounds.
 
Blitz KriegeR said:
Again, if you are going for budge I encourage you to stay with your current CPU/Mobo for a while longer.

If you are going to buy something I'd suggest buying something that will make a difference to your setup which would be i5-2500K (~170pounds) and based on prices/availability at the site u linked me, the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 (~105 pounds).
That means new RAM also, so I'd suggest the G.Skill DDR3-1600 2x4GB Ripjaws for 80pounds, or the same DDR-1600 Ripjaws 2x2GB kit for 40pounds.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Agree 100%. An upgrade from a C2Q to a Phenom II X4 simple does not make sense because they're the same speed clock-for-clock. If you don't want to spend any money other than a GPU, I would just overclock your current CPU as high as you can.
 
i5-2500K (~170pounds) and based on prices/availability at the site u linked me, the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 (~105 pounds).
That means new RAM also, so I'd suggest the G.Skill DDR3-1600 2x4GB Ripjaws for 80pounds, or the same DDR-1600 Ripjaws 2x2GB kit for 40pounds.

Thank you for your suggestions! Can you please tell me what the major differece is (other than price) between these two boards? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-051-AK

I can't see what justifies the additional cost.
 
The Extreme4 has more PCIe x16 slots, enabling SLI and or CFX, more SATA 6Gb/s ports via a Marvell controller, eSATA and Firewire ports, and a breakout box for front panel USB 3.0.

All in all, it's still a good board, but not worth 65 pounds extra. If it were like 20-30 pounds more, then it would be a good deal.
 
Thank you for clariying that! I've been reading reviews and people are saying Asrock is a sub-standard board.

What is your view on this?
 
ASRock is a subsidiary of ASUS, so expect ASUS build quality just without some of trimmings. Their warranty is only 1year instead of two, but personaly I feel an Extreme 4 or a Pro 3 is a solid enough buy.
 
1.
51wTD9ekE6L._SL110_SX44_.jpg

Sapphire 21188-00-40R HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card Offered by boomdeal by SAPPHIRE £235.00


2.
61Oq226crML._SL110_SX44_.jpg

Asus P8P67 New B3 Rev Motherboard (P67 chipset ATX, Intel?s 1155 Socket, USB 3.0/Sata 6Gb/s, Dual Lan, Bluetooth & Digi+VRM ) by Asus £134.00


3.
51IpG4tcUpL._SL110_SX44_.jpg

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit Offered by KOMPBAY by Corsair
£68.50


4.
511EMznII9L._SL110_SX44_.jpg

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Offered by KOMPBAY by Intel
£219.89

Total: £657.39

This is what I am now considering. What are you thoughts?
 
I still say 235 pounds for a 6950 is outrageous; you can find a 6970 for that price. Also, for a media center I personally would go with the Z68 / i5 2500K for the onboard GPU / quicksync.

However I disagree with the RAM heat spreader thing. I think that is a solid choice of ram at a good price, but I do encourage you to measure before you buy because as mfenn said you *can* run into issues. My current system the 120x25mm fan on my TRUE clears my RAM heat spreader by less than 1mm.
 
After looking through these options, I am considering the following:

 HIS HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card 264775 15 in stock £214.98 £214.98

 Xenta Gold Plated V1.4 HDMI to HDMI Cable Black - 2 Metre 193821 15313 in stock £5.99 £5.99 CABLE TIE PK 100 2.5MM X 100MM 235786 21 in stock £2.23 £2.23

Cart total inc vat: £223.20

Intel Core i7 2600k 3.4GHz Socket 1155 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor £235.01 (Ebuyer)

Asus P6Z68-V PRO LGA1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ATX (USB 3.0) £149.98 (Get Medal Of Honor: Buy & Mail duncsdeals@dabs.com Free) (Dabs)

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit £68.50 (Amazon)

Total: £676.69

Can you please tell me what you think and whether this is a fair price?
 
3 comments:
- GPU: The rule of thumb is to buy the cheapest one with the same specs. That's be this Gigabyte.
- CPU: The i7 2600(K) still makes no sense for a gaming and media playback machine. Get the i5 2500K instead.
- Mobo: You're going to be bitstreaming audio from the 6950, so you don't need to buy such a fancy motherboard. I'd get the ASRock Pro3 instead.
 
mfenn said:
3 comments:
- GPU: The rule of thumb is to buy the cheapest one with the same specs. That's be this Gigabyte.
- CPU: The i7 2600(K) still makes no sense for a gaming and media playback machine. Get the i5 2500K instead.
- Mobo: You're going to be bitstreaming audio from the 6950, so you don't need to buy such a fancy motherboard. I'd get the ASRock Pro3 instead.
Click to expand...

+1 to the GPU comment, though I do look at more than just specs (brand, cooler). The gigabyte is worth the savings imo.
+1 to the CPU comment, I can't agree more

The mobos, either is a solid board and I couldn't fault either choice.
 
Hello there, thank you for your replies. Does anyone have any suggestions how much I should sell my old Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz Socket 775 1066MHz 8MB CPU for and where?
 
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