P.C. Build Help

[Paul_the_Hutt]

This is my current setup and I was just wondering if I could make any reasonable improvements without going nuts and if they'd make a difference or if I should just sell it now and start over. What spurred this is I just got watch dogs and its not running well even on "low" settings and I think its just that my PC isn't capable of handling it, though I have heard of it not being optimized properly. Thanks everyone.

 

Case (NZXT Phantom 410 Gaming Case - White))

 

Processor (AMD FX-8120 CPU (8x 3.10GHz/8MB L2 Cache)))

 

Motherboard (Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970))

 

Memory (8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - G.Skill Ripjaws X))

 

Video Card (AMD Radeon HD 7850 - 2GB - Single Card))

 

Case Lighting (Cold Cathode Neon Light - Blue))

Power Supply (500 Watt - Corsair CX500 V2))

 

Processor Cooling (Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink))

 

Primary Hard Drive (1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive))

 

Optical Drive (24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black))

 

Operating System (Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[Deletive]

upgrade to 8320, and get a 280? whats your budget?

[Clyne]

I think it's software problem because i have a similar build and can run high settings around 30 fps in Watch Dogs, also what @Deletive said about upgrading.

FYI, resolution i'm playing at is 1680 by 1050

[Aniallation]

 What spurred this is I just got watch dogs and its not running well even on "low" settings and I think its just that my PC isn't capable of handling it, though I have heard of it not being optimized properly. Thanks everyone.

When I had 8GB of RAM, Watch Dogs would still run terrible at 800x600 with the lowest settings. I upgraded to 12GB, and all of a sudden I could run it perfectly smoothly at 720p high settings.

 

No idea how that works so don't ask me

[Kimmaz]

Id get the amd fx-8350 while your at it =P Can recomend the Nepton 140xl for future upgrades. (for cooling)

 

I would also wait for a new generation of graphics cards to come out, for the 7xxx to drop in price? idk,, there are reviews of these cards from 2013, should come some new once soon? lets hope!

[Paul_the_Hutt]

upgrade to 8320, and get a 280? whats your budget?

Id get the amd fx-8350 while your at it =P Can recomend the Nepton 140xl for future upgrades. (for cooling)

I would also wait for a new generation of graphics cards to come out, for the 7xxx to drop in price? idk,, there are reviews of these cards from 2013, should come some new once soon? lets hope!

I was thinking the same exact thing about the processor now that you mention it but I'm not sure about budget. That goes back into the whole sell it while I can or keep it problem. At some point it's time to sell I'd imagine.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

I think it's software problem because i have a similar build and can run high settings around 30 fps in Watch Dogs, also what @Deletive said about upgrading.

FYI, resolution i'm playing at is 1680 by 1050

I'm leaning towards a software problem as well, I've heard a few people mention that it's not optimized well and so on. I did however install the worse mod for the game and since then it's running like I'd expect it too. On ultra the fps dips below what I'd say is playable on ocastion but probably because of the lack of raw power on my rig and on high it's very much enjoyable.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

On a similar topic, all of this has made me wonder, on what settings do you guys like to play your games at? Ultra, high, etc.

I got this game very soon after it came out and only had it for about two days before returning it for a refund because of the awful graphics on the xbox 360 version. While I'm not one of those people that cares all about the way a game looks, I have my limits and while I usually buy my games on PC anyway for that reason I didn't think my PC would come close to even running it.

[Kimmaz]

On a similar topic, all of this has made me wonder, on what settings do you guys like to play your games at? Ultra, high, etc.

 

I usually play singleplayer stuff on ultra. And Multiplayer games like counterstrike or Dayz i might turn it down to get more fps. not that counterstrike is demanding, I got a worse pc than you posted and i get 200-240fps on max settings. I did play the new wolfenstein on ultra and it worked fine. I havent tried watch dogs yet tho.

(my pc specs are listed on my profile)

[Kimmaz]

 

 if I could make any reasonable improvements without going nuts and if they'd make a difference

 

Id get a kick ass graphics card and thats that. I did this 3 years ago,, had a old 2.3ghz amd phenom cpu and 4gb ddr2 ram,, got the gpu I have now, and it was a giant boost going from a 8800gt to a hd6970. was great. then in a years time you could get a new cpu/mobo/ram ^^

[Paul_the_Hutt]

upgrade to 8320, and get a 280? whats your budget?

 

 

Id get the amd fx-8350 while your at it =P Can recomend the Nepton 140xl for future upgrades. (for cooling)

 

I would also wait for a new generation of graphics cards to come out, for the 7xxx to drop in price? idk,, there are reviews of these cards from 2013, should come some new once soon? lets hope!

 

 

I was thinking the same thing on both those upgrades, though I'll admit I saw the fx-8350 first. But I was just looking at the 280 and it looks like my PSU won't even handle that upgrade, let alone both. This is based on a PSU calculator by the way. I was looking at a GTX760 awhile ago, since linus talks about nvida so much I wanted to switch over. I've read that my amd cpu won't hurt compatibility. That card would fit into what the PSU could handle but now I don't know what to do. I know I don't want to change the PSU out, which leaves me back at square one, sell or upgrade?

[Deletive]

I was thinking the same thing on both those upgrades, though I'll admit I saw the fx-8350 first. But I was just looking at the 280 and it looks like my PSU won't even handle that upgrade, let alone both. This is based on a PSU calculator by the way. I was looking at a GTX760 awhile ago, since linus talks about nvida so much I wanted to switch over. I've read that my amd cpu won't hurt compatibility. That card would fit into what the PSU could handle but now I don't know what to do. I know I don't want to change the PSU out, which leaves me back at square one, sell or upgrade?

It's probably just easier to change the psu. but depending how much you can get from selling. it might be worth it if you pitch in a few hundred on top of that.

[Kimmaz]

I was thinking the same thing on both those upgrades, though I'll admit I saw the fx-8350 first. But I was just looking at the 280 and it looks like my PSU won't even handle that upgrade, let alone both. This is based on a PSU calculator by the way. I was looking at a GTX760 awhile ago, since linus talks about nvida so much I wanted to switch over. I've read that my amd cpu won't hurt compatibility. That card would fit into what the PSU could handle but now I don't know what to do. I know I don't want to change the PSU out, which leaves me back at square one, sell or upgrade?

 Remember when they recomend a psu size (600w for instance) they think including the whole pc, its not that the gpu requires that on its own. but if your gonna get most parts new,, yea maybe you could sell your current system for a few extra bucks to get a whole new system,, idk =P

[Paul_the_Hutt]

How much do you guys think I should ask for this system? 

[Kimmaz]

How much do you guys think I should ask for this system? 

well i find most non tec ppl look at ram and harddrive space,, so maybe getting cheap and/or used low speed 32gb ram kit and a 4tb disk will increase its value to anyone who dont know the difference between mhz and mbit/s ^^  just a thaught. maybe someone who is intrested in pc's and also is broke/poor would want one,, idk

[Paul_the_Hutt]

I think what I'm going to do is put in an fx8350, h100i, and a gtx 760. I'm checking around now for prices.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

Id get the amd fx-8350 while your at it =P Can recomend the Nepton 140xl for future upgrades. (for cooling)

 

I would also wait for a new generation of graphics cards to come out, for the 7xxx to drop in price? idk,, there are reviews of these cards from 2013, should come some new once soon? lets hope!

 

I'm looking for 8350s now, and I've got an h100i, and a gtx 760 on the way. I was checking on some compatibilty issues just to cover my bases and I read on PC Part Picker that Some AMD 970 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vishera CPUs. Does anyone know anything about this problem? I don't think I can handle a bios flash without messing something up if indeed I do have to have one and how am I supposed to know weather or not that "some" means me? 

[LemonSpice]

I'm looking for 8350s now, and I've got an h100i, and a gtx 760 on the way. I was checking on some compatibilty issues just to cover my bases and I read on PC Part Picker that Some AMD 970 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vishera CPUs. Does anyone know anything about this problem? I don't think I can handle a bios flash without messing something up if indeed I do have to have one and how am I supposed to know weather or not that "some" means me? 

if you have an older bios than you will have to flash it, what mobo you have if its asus than it might have ez flash were you put the bios on a thumbdrive and go into the bios

[Camcognito]

Maybe get a better cpu cooler so you can overclock later.

[Paul_the_Hutt]

Maybe get a better cpu cooler so you can overclock later.

 

Recommendations?

[Paul_the_Hutt]

if you have an older bios than you will have to flash it, what mobo you have if its asus than it might have ez flash were you put the bios on a thumbdrive and go into the bios

 

I have a GA-970A-UD3

[rovor]

I am on a Rampage IV Black Edition, i7-4930K@4.5GHz, 32GB of RAM, 2x250GB 840 Evo's in RAID0, 2xGTX 670 FTW's in SLI and Watch Dogs is randomly choppy for me. To the point that I do not even want to play it. I can play BF4, Crysis3, Far Cry3, Wolfenstein TNO, and pretty much any other games I want on at least high settings, most with just a setting or two turned down, and I never have problems, Watchdogs is really the only game that is like this for me... So it is probably the game engine, this is not the first time I have heard of this...

Good luck though, do hope you get it resolved. :-)

[Paul_the_Hutt]

I am on a Rampage IV Black Edition, i7-4930K@4.5GHz, 32GB of RAM, 2x250GB 840 Evo's in RAID0, 2xGTX 670 FTW's in SLI and Watch Dogs is randomly choppy for me. To the point that I do not even want to play it. I can play BF4, Crysis3, Far Cry3, Wolfenstein TNO, and pretty much any other games I want on at least high settings, most with just a setting or two turned down, and I never have problems, Watchdogs is really the only game that is like this for me... So it is probably the game engine, this is not the first time I have heard of this...

Good luck though, do hope you get it resolved. :-)

 

Its running much better after the worse mod I installed. I still have to have it on med in order to drive with any play-ability but it'll run on ultra any other time so I just keep it on med.

[Camcognito]

Recommendations?

for water cooling maybe something like a h100i, for air cooling a Noctua, phanteks, or the cooler master hyper 212 evo is cheap and performs well

[Paul_the_Hutt]

for water cooling maybe something like a h100i, for air cooling a Noctua, phanteks, or the cooler master hyper 212 evo is cheap and performs well

 

Thanks, I have an h100i on the way as previously mentioned in my other post.