I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
Since this computer is too old and cant be upgraded i think i'm gonna cave in and get a new pc. I was hoping to upgrade this since i really dont have the money but that option wont work. So i need some advice on a decent pc or laptop that can run D3. I'm looking on Newegg right now but im so far out of the loop that its all a bit overwhelming. i guess the big question i have is where is the cut off point for a good graphics card and where should i draw the line? if i knew where to go from there i should be ok.
Any favorite pc/laptops for under $1000. looking for the most bang for my buck. If i can get something decent for $500 even better, but i dont want anything that will be obsolete by next year. but then again this machine was probably obsolete in 07....
thanks for any help, i just cant sit here and stare at my unopened D3 game any longer!!!
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
The machines on Newegg aren't put very well together as far as I can see. They either have a huge processor and a weak graphics card or they are installed with a horrible PSU which results in alot of negative feedback.
I took a look on Avadirect, and even though you aren't getting a machine for 500$, you do get wellknown brands and hardware that can actually be trusted. If you start at their custom build:
CPU to an AMD FX-4100
GPU to an ASUS 6870 (you can go 6850 here if you want, lowest I would advice would be a 7770. This is the part that is going to play Diablo. They can all do that, from decent to fluently. The big card will of course keep up longer with new games. There's a 40$ difference so it's up to you.)
PSU change to a Corsair 650TX (you can save 10$ and choose a cheaper Corsair GS600)
You can add more RAM if you wish but 4 gb will do.
That will land you at 959$ or around 900$ in the small configuration. Abit pricey but you get up to date hardware from reliable manufactors.
Edit: I hadn't noticed but the HDD is an expensive top performer, a Western Digital Caviar black. This can also be downgraded to decrease price further, there's absolutely no reason for that HDD in a budget machine. If nothing else then to the 500 gb version, or to one of the Seagate Barracudas. There's actually a good deal of money to be saved here, the 500 gb Seagate with 16 MB cache is fine.
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
alright thanks for the tips. $900 might be a bit steep, but i now have some idea on what graphic cards i should be looking at. i must say im a bit confused with the number thing. i would assume the 7770 would be better then the 6870. i guess graphic cards is like like golf? lowest score wins...
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
The AMD Radeon model numbers nomenclature is very simple. The first digit is the "serie" / GPU architecture. For example the 6xxx is codenamed Northern Islands 40nm while the 7xxx is based on the Southern Islands 28nm process. The 3 other numbers are usually the best representation of the performance of the video card. So, to answer your question, 7770 is using a newer architecture than the 6870 (7 > 6), but the 7770 is slower (770 < 870). The 7770 has some additional features (nice characteristics), but in term of sheer game performance it won't beat a 6870.
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
The AMD nomenclature is not very simple at all. And has been made even more confusing by AMD when they decided to change it here last year. Incomprehensible to say the least.
Basically, you have a four digit code. And the first digit states the generation. So a 6000 number is the former generation, and a 7000 is from the most recent generation.
The next digit determines the internal hierarchy of the generation. So a 900 number is top of the line, an 800 number is the little brother, and a 700 number is the budget line, albeit still a gaming graphicscard. If this number goes lower, it's a weak card, maybe even an OEM they make only to be put in HP or Dell computers or the like, not something they expect to sell from the shelf.
The third digit is either 7 or 5 or 3. Basically cards with the same engineering architecture, the 7 being the stronger card.
So, a 5770, and a 6770 and now a 7770, are all the same line of cards. They are "budget gamer cards" where there's still some oomph to it. If you compare a 6850 to a 7770. Then it's a pretty strong card from the former lineup, compared to the budget series card from the newest lineup.
How do these compare? Well you can't say for certain in advance, as the improvements made from one generation to the next, are what determines if the reviewers think a particular generation of cards are good or bad.
In our case, comparing 7770 and 6850 and 6870, we see an incremental increase more or less (the 6870 isn't there, but it will be close to a GTX560 ti). Comparing this to the price you have to pay, you step up 10$ to get a 6850, and then have to pay a further 30$ to get a 6870. So there's diminishing returns, so to speak.
If you look at NVidia cards, the competing company, there's 3 digits. The first again being the generation (we are up to the 600 series now, both the 500 series and the 400 series are still strong-to-decent cards), the next being the size of the card 50-60-70-80-90. The 50 card is the direct competitor to the 700 series AMD card, and the 700 has been winning the last few rounds in this matchup. Performance, price and powerusage-wise. NVidia is much closer to the competition with their 60 series, going toe to toe with the AMD 800 series. And with the top of the line 80 series, they actually have the best card, at the moment.
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
Good explanation Felix, however I must mention that one of the the problem with the green team naming scheme is that they have a lot of renamed model numbers, which are only there to trick people, so you need to be careful. For example, the GT 610 is a GT 520, the GT 630 is a GT 440 which has both DDR3 models as well as DDR5, the GT 620 is a castrated GT 430 (128 bits memory bus to 64 bits memory bus). The GeForce 605 is a GT 610 with a lower frequency, while the GeForce GT 620 OEM has increased frequency ! Confused yet ? All these 6xx are using the old Fermi architecture, not the new Kepler, except "some" version of the GT 630 OEM... that's right. Now add to that the GT, GS, GTX, OEM suffix and you have a consumer nightmare.
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
That really clears things up. Now i think i know what i should be looking for. Still having a tough time picking out just one PC, but im pretty much done looking for a laptop at this point.
Re: I think it is time to dust off the credit card (new pc)
I think it's a good idea to skip the laptops, since the Diablo III techforums are flooded with laptop users whose cards should be good enough and can play games like Skyrim, but for whatever reason Diablo III is giving them troubles.
Well I wish you good luck. As said there's alot of machines with decent "specs" on Newegg. And if you want to save money, you could probably make due with a 6670 AMD graphicscard. Now then there's a machine like this.
Seems good enough for the job. But reading feedback, the first 8 posts are people who have gotten nothing but grief from their purchase. It looks as if it comes with a real ****ty powersupply installed, which basically can't run the computer. You could go ahead, and buy a decent PSU alongside and install that, but what this will do to warranty or RMAs I don't know. Other stuff like RAM or whatever might also turn out to be faulty, and then you're in trouble.
Of course we have to factor in, that people write feedback posts mainly when there's something wrong, and many might have bought this and have no issues, but I'd still feel pretty cautious about buying one of these.
Even their more expensive lineups with bigger hardware in, have the exact same problem.
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