Specs For Your Gaming PC? [Advice]

That thing is old enough that there's no way I would sink any cash into half-measures if you want to play modern games. Why not just buy a new rig? Is spending $800 for something that will last awhile instead of $200 to keep limping along for a year really that big an issue?

 

Get 64 bit and upgrade your RAM to 8GB.
Programs are RAM intensive now-a-days.
Your CPU might be a bottleneck, btw. You should at least upgrade to a quad-core.

 

I agree. You should trade up like these guys.

 

As said, get a new rig. That thing's old. If you got it 2006-7, that's a very respectable service life.

As also said, the CPU will probably be the bottleneck. You're already aware that you can't upgrade it unless you get a new mobo since Intel keeps changing sockets.

If you want a quick fix, lower the resolution. My guess is you're trying to 1080p. I've played Black Ops on AMD APUs with integrated graphics on low decently on low resolutions (1280x800-ish). You'll suffer LCD interpolation but it's a quick fix.

 

the 8800gt is still a formidable video card. Isn't COD:Black Ops just a console port? I agree that I don't think it's the video card. (unless the op is playing in a real high res)

Does other games have issues? Updated vid drivers lately?

 

Get a new rig. Don't waste the money upgrading.

If you're cash strapped, go with an i5. You're much better off sinking the extra $100.00 into a video card than the CPU.

Figure out what you want to spend and what components. You don't have to buy everything at once.

Get your CPU/MB/Memory first. Buy when specials are being offered. I bought my CPU (i5 3750k) when new egg offered $15.00 off. I had to wait a couple weeks. I purchased the memory at the same time since its usually not on sale. I waited a week till I found a good ASUS motherboard open box on newegg. The couple weeks of waiting saved me $100.00. In addition of going with an i5 instead of an i7, I can use that $200.00 to get me a GTX670. Im patiently waiting to find that open box.

Use your old system (power supply, hard drive, GPU, ect..) and start upgrading as you find good deals or can afford it. Waiting out to finish a full system over 3 or 4 months will make you happier than buying everything up front if you can't afford the good stuff.

 

Black Ops was a farce on PC at launch. My rig was fairly new at the time but couldn't run it. I remember everyone complaining about it on the Steam forums. I was pretty upset myself as I had convinced several buddies of mine to purchase it and most of them also couldn't run it.

After about a month they still hadn't fixed the performance issue so I gave up and haven't played it since. A complete waste of $90. I'm not sure if the issue has been fixed or not. It could simply be that the game is programmed poorly and is a resource hog.

By comparison I can run MW2 and MW3 on maximum settings at very high frame rates. I can run Skyrim, Diablo 3 and all the latest games on high to maximum graphics settings too. I just had an issue with Black Ops.

Before you go spending money, make sure your rig struggles with other games too.

 

An i7 is pointless for a gaming rig. Use the money you save on a better GPU. Here are the specs of the gaming rig I just built a few months ago:

i5 3570K @ 4.2 GHz
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Motherboard
16 GB GSkill Ripjaws X Series RAM
128 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Asus GeForce GTX 670 TOP

Re-used the case, 2x 500 GB data drives, and 750W PSU from my previous machine.

This thing absolutely destroys every game I play on ultra settings at 1080p.

 

Seems pretty self-explanatory:

 

If you want to play game and have limited cash. Just upgrade to a decent video card and your PSU. You don't need a quad core or 8GB of ram to play games.

 

Same as my system except I have the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA motherboard and I don't have the SSD. I want the GTX670... is the TOP worth it? Ive read too many bad reviews.

 

You ever try you're rig at 5760x1200? or any triple monitor resolution?

 

Anyone who wants an IPS 2560 x 1440 monitor should be checking these out.

Yamakasi Catleap Q270

http://stores.ebay.com/green-sum/Mo...56752018&_sid=985586498&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/yamakasi-catleap-monitor-club
or
Achieva Shimian QH270

 

8800GT is outdated, but it should run the game at 1080p even with those specs. Because that's what I had when I played it: Dual-core @ 3.3 Ghz, 8800GT.

If IIRC, I had trouble running MW2 even with all the settings to low because I put texture resolutions to extra which killed my PC (I never really had a problem with other games, except maybe Crysis--which my PC was a bottleneck for). Once I dialed down that setting, I maxed out every other setting and it ran like a breeze: 1080p/60fps. I think BLOPS has the same option as well.

For those recommending an i7 for a ****ing console port need to chill out. We don't even know what other games he wants to run.

 

CPU is probably bottlenecking....and the 3gbs of ram.

I'm using an i7 860. Two 570gtx in sli. 8gb gskill ddr3 20000

 

I also read about some issues with the TOP series, but mine has performed flawlessly. The issue was that Asus had set the stock boost too high and it was crashing the cards. This was easily fixed by lowering the clock speed yourself, but it was a pain for some. Luckily mine came with a great clock speed and has been rock solid stable. I would highly recommend that you get yourself an SSD. This is the first rig I've built with one, and it makes a huge difference. I installed Skyrim to my SSD, and the game runs so fast that I don't have time to read the text that comes up when the game cuts between scenes. It's a nice problem to have though .

The main reason I went with the TOP is for the custom PCB and fans. My card stays cool under full load, and it just looks like a badass mofo in my case:

Spoiler

I haven't, but I'm getting a second monitor soon and will definitely be trying out some games in the higher resolutions.

 

I seen lowering the clock speed for some fixed it, but as they pointed out, that really defeats the purpose of having a TOP.

Im torn between the EVGA FTW, ASUS TOP and the MSI Twin Frozr.

ASUS TOP has the best clocks, but very unstable.
EVGA FTW seems to be a good all around stable card.
MSI Twin Frozr also has excellent clocks, but it runs very cool but loud.

I'll be getting an SSD eventually. The 670 is taking a huge chunk out of my budget tho.