your thoughts on this hardware

[Mano]

Hi all,

 

I'm thinking about upgrading my machine, and got this offer from a friend.

 

I'm going to play with BS2 and A-10 (plus FSX but I believe this is not a benchmark). What do you think about it? will it go easy with medium-high details?

I'm doing the upgrade to play mostly with these sims so I would like to have a pc that can handle the best details on almost every situation.

 

CPU INTEL I7 920 O.C. to 4 GHZ

12 GB RAM DDR3 1600 KINGSTON

SSD 128 GB SAMSUNG

2 HARD DISK RAPTOR 10000 RPM*

2 video ATI HD 6850 (CROSSFIRE)*

liquid cooling system

motherboard asus p6t

supply 750W

 

He's asking 1200€ but thinking about lowering it a bit. Is the price ok?

 

Thank you in advance for your hints.

Ciao

[tintifaxl]

Depends on how old and big the Raptors are. I wouldn't get it anyway, because the hardware is 2 generations old and DCS doesn't support Crossfire.

 

Look for a PC with 256GB SSD, 1 TB HDD at 7200 rpm, Nvidia 770, Intel I5-3570k, a middle class Z-77 motherboard, a 600W PSU of good quality and 8 gigs of ram for DCS. Should be less expensive new and is faster in DCS than the one offered.

Edited July 22, 2013 by tintifaxl

[Daze]

No way is that worth 1200 euros. I don't even think it's worth 600! Seriously! The i7 920 is 5 years old, 6850s are like 3 years old now as well - and they weren't even great cards to begin with. You could build a FAR, FAR better PC for about 8/900 euros that will run modern games much, much better.

[jctrnacty]

No way is that worth 1200 euros. I don't even think it's worth 600! Seriously! The i7 920 is 5 years old, 6850s are like 3 years old now as well - and they weren't even great cards to begin with. You could build a FAR, FAR better PC for about 8/900 euros that will run modern games much, much better.

 

Agree, its too much for this HW. For 1200 euro you can build much better computer.

[EtherealN]

Here's a good option: http://techreport.com/review/24979/tr-summer-2013-system-guide/4

 

Cheaper, will perform WAY better in DCS, and you'll have new components with intact warranty.

 

Depending on how the prices convert to your location (depends a lot on your local VAT, for example), I would perhaps even suggest something similar to this: http://techreport.com/review/24979/tr-summer-2013-system-guide/6

 

Most sepcifically because it also includes an OCable CPU.

 

And of course, since those are part listings (their prices link newegg in the US, but all of those parts are available in your location as well, but I haven't doublechecked the exact prices in your country), you can mix and match a little bit.

 

Raptors are, IMO, fairly pointless nowadays. SSD prices are low enough that you can put the speed-sensitive stuff on those, and after that there's no reason to go expensive of HDD's that are pure storage. Indeed, depending on the age of those raptors, even something cheap like a high-density WD Green could perform better; HDD speed depends arguably more on platter density than platter RPM, and the higher density of new drives will easily win over an older Raptor's higher RPM. (Though there might still be a bit of shenanigans happening with Random I/O seek times, depending.)

[karambiatos]

etheralNs link just change out the 7870 for a 79xx, also going to say gigabyte motherboard, because im a gigabyte fanboy.

[tintifaxl]

...Raptors are, IMO, fairly pointless nowadays. ...

 

I use my 1 TB Velociraptor for HD video editing. It is very fast for this purpose and offers enough space so I don't need to move the projects around too often.

[Rhinox]

...I'm thinking about upgrading my machine, and got this offer from a friend...

No, you did not. A friend would never try to rob you...

[EtherealN]

I use my 1 TB Velociraptor for HD video editing. It is very fast for this purpose and offers enough space so I don't need to move the projects around too often.

 

Sure, but the purpose on the machine in question wasn't HD video editing, it was DCS gameplay. :)

 

And the point about older Velociraptors still stand; compared to their contemporaries in the HDD market, they're better for that kind of thing. Not necessarily so if you are considering the purchase of an old Velociraptor - in that case you might be better off with a current standard HDD.

 

There is also some additional shenanigans you can do there; you can get a 4TB HDD at usually a lower price than a Velociraptor 1TB. You don't get the seek times, which can be an issue there - but part of the recipy for the VR's good seek times is that it uses a smaller platter, thus shorter "travel distance" for the heads. You can "simulate" this on a bigger drive through simply partitioning only the first TB or so, staying on the outside of the platter (higher sustain) and thus securing lesser travel distances.

 

For real hardcore use, not a good option (especially since VR's usually get enterprise-level warranties and QA), but for gaming? In the case of gaming, just get that SSD, IMO.

 

Write Access times aren't that much better anyhow, actually: http://techreport.com/review/24840/seagate-desktop-hdd-15-4tb-hard-drive-reviewed/5

 

Can also see: http://techreport.com/review/24840/seagate-desktop-hdd-15-4tb-hard-drive-reviewed/7

 

They're better at it, sure, but better enough to merit it on a game rig? Depends on how much money you want to spend, I guess - list pricing per gig is between three and six times higher than a "standard" drive... (Though of course, if you do a partitioning trick, that difference is smaller.)

[tintifaxl]

I just wanted to point out where Veloceraptors can be put to good use, because you said:

 

Raptors are, IMO, fairly pointless nowadays.

 

For DCS any modern SSD will be the storage of choice, of course. That's why I run it from the drive in my sig. :D

[Night]

Honestly, I am about to pay $800 for a new computer and it is gonna have much better specs. You really should not buy this computer. You can get a much faster computer for a cheaper price.

[EtherealN]

I just wanted to point out where Veloceraptors can be put to good use, because you said:

 

 

 

For DCS any modern SSD will be the storage of choice, of course. That's why I run it from the drive in my sig. :D

 

Ah, rgr, yeah - I should have been more precise in my statement. You are entirely correct.

 

I'll also add that if you have a lot of data you for some reason cannot backup externally (bandwidth, confidentiality etc), the VelociRaptors can be a good choice simply due to lower failure rates. (At least they used to have lower failure rates, was a few yars since I checked.)

Edited July 22, 2013 by EtherealN

[Mano]

No, you did not. A friend would never try to rob you...

 

LOL, actually he isn't really a friend of mine... :)

 

anyway, thank you all for your feedback. I've also had this feedback from a colleague of mine so I'm not gonna buy this thing...

 

I will post, on another thread, a new configuration for a pc...for which I'll ask your precious considerations.

 

Thank you.

Ciao

[jazjar]

You don't need to signifigantly upgrade the processor. Something like in Ethereal's sig, the i7-2600k ( I have non-K version ) should kick DCS's rear bad. No Haswell or 3000 needed. For safety with GFX go with Nvidia. GTX 770 is a good option there. Believe me, I made the mistake of going with the HD6770 with this rig I have now, wanting the step below a top of the line rig, and I ended up with a rig that scores 16th percentile in 3D max, runs DCS ok FPS wise when it feels like it, and won't even bother giving good performance with Arma3/Arma2.

[tintifaxl]

... Believe me, I made the mistake of going with the HD6770 with this rig I have now, wanting the step below a top of the line rig ...

 

The AMD 6770 is an entry level card in the same league as the Nvidia GTS 450. No wonder it performs as such. It is far from the "step below top", more like a steep fall :D