02-11-2012, 03:39 PM
I have an i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 480 (1.5 GB).
So yeah, I'd say I largely agree with Diggles. If you want to look for areas to save money, save on the processor and RAM. I watch my stats and I never max out my processor. Get the best video card you can afford and make sure you have a good case with plenty of airflow because you can fry an egg on these video cards. I play SWTOR at full blast and I run very high resolution on two monitors (one for the game, one for email/vent/media player/etc). No problems.
I used to do dual SLI video cards but I think you're better off getting 1 top end card than 2 lower end cards.
I'm not overclocking anything, either.
As Diggles mentioned, you'll have some choice in RAM. I can't recall the stats but I got the high end stuff. Like the video card, lesser amounts of high end stuff is better than greater amounts of low end stuff. Really, 4 GB sounds ghetto these days but I've had no issues with it, at least for gaming. Somewhat tempted to go to 8 GB just so it chugs less when swapping between major applications but really, whatever magic Windows 7 does works pretty well because I play games on max graphics settings with gobs of background programs and I've had no stutter issues.
A solid state drive reserved for gaming might be a good thing to try. Just eyeballing Amazon I see a 64 GB solid state drive for $101, or a 128 GB drive for $175. That would be plenty for installing your favorite games and even some modest FRAPS sessions.
So yeah, I'd say I largely agree with Diggles. If you want to look for areas to save money, save on the processor and RAM. I watch my stats and I never max out my processor. Get the best video card you can afford and make sure you have a good case with plenty of airflow because you can fry an egg on these video cards. I play SWTOR at full blast and I run very high resolution on two monitors (one for the game, one for email/vent/media player/etc). No problems.
I used to do dual SLI video cards but I think you're better off getting 1 top end card than 2 lower end cards.
I'm not overclocking anything, either.
As Diggles mentioned, you'll have some choice in RAM. I can't recall the stats but I got the high end stuff. Like the video card, lesser amounts of high end stuff is better than greater amounts of low end stuff. Really, 4 GB sounds ghetto these days but I've had no issues with it, at least for gaming. Somewhat tempted to go to 8 GB just so it chugs less when swapping between major applications but really, whatever magic Windows 7 does works pretty well because I play games on max graphics settings with gobs of background programs and I've had no stutter issues.
A solid state drive reserved for gaming might be a good thing to try. Just eyeballing Amazon I see a 64 GB solid state drive for $101, or a 128 GB drive for $175. That would be plenty for installing your favorite games and even some modest FRAPS sessions.