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[Farasalt]

so I needed an upgrade of my system - primarily because I stream vidya games on it regularly, I needed a beast of a processor:

Intel i7 4790
AsRock Z97 Extreme4
16GB DDR3 1866mhz RAM
256GB Primary SSD (+Other drives for content)

I'm just waiting for the next gen of GPU's to come out before I commit to a new card.

 

[mindfart]

don't build now. New GPU's will be out soon. You're using current gen hardware when it will be last gen hardware in possibly less than a month. Anywhere between 1 and 3 months the R9 300 series will be out. Wait at least until then.

Also, under no circumstances should you buy a seagate hard drive. They're much, MUCH less reliable than WD or WD's subsidiary HGST. HGST makes the most reliable drives, but WD has lower end hard drives that are still literally twice as reliable as seagate.

You also should REALLY have more RAM, and a 750 watt or at LEAST a 650 watt PSU would be a better choice if you're running an 290X.

Actually, you NEED more RAM. Minimum stated requirements for star citizen is 8gb of RAM.

Ok cool, didn't know the 300 series were so close, I will definitely wait for them to come out.
I know seagate has a bad name (we have only seagate HDDs @ my job) but they have become way more reliable in the past 2 years.
I am getting 4x4GB (so 16BG in total ;))
The PSU is enough to run this set-up(these are very, very, stable PSU's), but I will indeed need to look at getting a 650/750W to be future proof.

Thx for your input!

 

[Annitias]

PSUs are a strong suit for me. I have a list of about 200 recommended ones from 200w to 1800w

 

[GrammarGestapo]

Im currently running...

Dell Desktop pc
intel i3 quad core 3.4 ghz
radeon 6850 PCIE
650 Watt Power supply
6 gb ddr3 ram 240 pin

I know the system is low end and I have done my best to upgrade the graphics, and power supply, but due to short term financial issues it is taking longer than i wanted to add RAM. I believe the pc maxes out at 8gb of ram as well but it'll have to do til i get in my new home and fandangle a new budget. Any low cost upgrades I can do to improve this POS to get it SC worthy? Any constructive suggestions or assistance in locating upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

Wait wait wait, did you misstype? I3's don't come in quadcore. If you have a 3.4 ghz I5 then it's possible you get get a higher end GPU and fit it in there along with 2 sticks of 4gb RAM. If that CPU is not an I5 however, you won't be able to do anything. An I3 will not function and prebuilt PC operating systems are tied to the cpu. If you change the cpu, there goes the OS because it will think you're pirating. CHECK. Do not assume you have an I5

 

[Annitias]

There were a few i3 chips that were HT i3s. 2c/4t

 

[Hydro_Axis]

 

[GrammarGestapo]

There were a few i3 chips that were HT i3s. 2c/4t

Wow really? I never knew that. Are they prebuilt exclusive or an I just blind ? I'm not sure where that falls on SC's minimum settings. It says quad core but I assumed that meant I5.

 

[mindfart]

Yeah those are logical cores :) it's still a dual core ;)

 

[mindfart]

PSUs are a strong suit for me. I have a list of about 200 recommended ones from 200w to 1800w

Are the Seasonic S12G PSU's on your approval list? :) (I read in a couple places that they are extremely stable)

 

[Hydro_Axis]

I run AC on high settings w/ AMD overdrive and it seems to work fine. My issue is RAM. Loading times are horrendus. My PC maxes at 8gb of RAM so i'm planning on upgrading to 2x4gb sticks, but i'm thinking readyboost may help if i get a flash drive in addition. What do you think?

 

[Annitias]

2c/4t there. Will be honest, if you want anything other than minimum for SC, and not even sure of that being minimum anymore come fall. It will bottleneck high end GPUs and SC in general as it is not quite a quad and can not be OCd.

Recommend enjoying it and saving for a new board and chip down the line. That i3 would make an awesome home server or media machine. No need to pitch it!

 

[GrammarGestapo]

Yeah those are logical cores :) it's still a dual core ;)

I noticed after looking it up.

 

[Annitias]

Are the Seasonic S12G PSU's on your approval list? :) (I read in a couple places that they are extremely stable)

Awesome psu. Awesome.

If you are memory maxed as you will be with that CPU soon, it is time to upgrade. A insane usb3 flash drive only operates at a fraction of slow ram. Not a valid option.

It's upgrade time.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

While there's a cap ton of knowledgeable people here, I have a sinking suspicion my 3350p is bottlenecking my R9 290x. I've found conflicting information, but max clock rate is 3.3ghz and then it's thou shalt go no further. A 4 core i7 looks attractive, but with new Intel cpus right around the corner, is it worth it? Saving 2-300 now would contribute signicantly to a combined cpu/motherboard upgrade.

 

[Annitias]

While there's a cap ton of knowledgeable people here, I have a sinking suspicion my 3350p is bottlenecking my R9 290x. I've found conflicting information, but max clock rate is 3.3ghz and then it's thou shalt go no further. A 4 core i7 looks attractive, but with new Intel cpus right around the corner, is it worth it? Saving 2-300 now would contribute signicantly to a combined cpu/motherboard upgrade.

Tech is always changing. The next line of CPUs have a small boost over our 4th generation chips. Mostly in thermal and power as well as iGPU (you don't need....)

It's up to you. There is always something else coming down the line. It's up to you when you feel its time. Broad well may be worth holding on if FPS is not a big deal to you, if so grab a 4790k as that lack of CPU power can hamper in competitive fps

 

[Xaing]

Stumped.... I think I have the min requirements to run star citizen but when I get into the hanger I am lagging horribly even after so many upgrades.

Here is what I have:
Dell Inspiron 570
Amd phenom II X4 965 BE @ 3.4ghz
8gb of ddr3 ram
GeForce GT610 1gb ram video card
Corsair cx500 power supply
Motherboard and hard drive are still stock

Any ideas? Or should I just look into getting a whole new pc?

 

[ThomSirveaux]

Stumped.... I think I have the min requirements to run star citizen but when I get into the hanger I am lagging horribly even after so many upgrades.

Here is what I have:
Dell Inspiron 570
Amd phenom II X4 965 BE @ 3.4ghz
8gb of ddr3 ram
GeForce GT610 1gb ram video card
Corsair cx500 power supply
Motherboard and hard drive are still stock

Any ideas? Or should I just look into getting a whole new pc?

You're going to want to get a new PC. While the X4 965 is an AM3 processor, you will eventually want to upgrade to DDR4, if you can, so getting a CPU with that RAM controller is best. Additionally, 8GB of DDR3 and a 1GB graphics card will probably let you play on low to medium settings, but your framerate may vary drastically.

Upgrading to the current Gen Intel chips would be a good start, as the i5-6500 is decently priced but performs quite well. The GPU needs a definite upgrade, as GDDR3 is no where on performance as current GDDR5, and there are plenty of "budget" options in the 2-3GB range. A 500W Power supply should be fine, assuming you keep the CPU and GPU balanced. The i5-6500 uses 65W under load, and a decent GTX 960 will be in the 160W range.

What you can do, right now, is get the new GPU, upgrade to a nice SSD for your boot drive, and keep that rig for a while until you save up enough money to drop the rest on the MoBo, CPU and Memory (I did, however, just pick up 32GB of DDR4 for $160, not a bad deal, if I may say so).

In the end, it's all about what you want. Upgrade the GPU, as a must, and then figure out if your system can handle everything else. You might do just fine on 16GB of DDR3, but only you can tell.

 

[Xaing]

I upgraded to an msi radion 7950 twin frozr III 3GB DDR5 which did the trick, I can now actually coherently walk around the hanger in sober mode lmao. Now all I need is some over clocking and I'll be set, Thanks for the help! :)

 

[Ocxyde]

Operating System: Windows 10 ( shit sys 'cause not from Terra III )
System Manufacturer: ASUS
System Model: All Series *********** Z87-K
BIOS: 1402
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz **** OC to 4200Mhz each core
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8130MB RAM
GForce GTX 4Gb gaming 970 (MSI)

I wanted to change and my MB and my CPU and my RAM, but... it' real have a cost like a new PC i buy, this one i buy w/o OS 900€

With a kit upgrade PC on ldlc.com (EU web site) it cost much than a new one

What can I do ?

 

[Accented]

Test necro, don't ignore.

I need the opinion of TEST here:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Silverstone SG05BB-LITE Mini ITX Desktop Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-19 00:20 EST-0500

The above is the build that I have right now. I'm waiting for Polaris/Pascal to drop, but I'm met with a question: should I upgrade this current build's RAM, GPU, and CPU (PSU too maybe) or go with a completely new build? The twist is that either way, the budget will be the same, around $1000.

If I am to upgrade, I plan on upgrading my current build to an i7-3770 (maybe a more powerful Xeon?) GPU to a 980 tier Pascal/Polaris and stick in an extra 8 gigs of RAM.

If I am to go with a completely new build, I will definitely go with the i5 6600K, but the power/quality of the rest of the build will be at risk.

What do you guys think?