when should i buy a comp for PS2?

[mefy]

I don't think i'm the only one in this boat, as in I have an old CPU and am just waiting for beta to come out to buy a new gaming rig. I have been out of the loop for quite some time so don't know where to start really. I was thinking about just getting an alienware, I saw on their site that they just came out with a new 'mini' gaming rig, but the specs don't look too great for the price.

Does anyone else like/hate alienware? I heard mixed reviews, and that you could get a better rig from another site or something. Would appreciate some tips- even though we have no clue what specs would be needed for PS2.

Also, is there some breakthrough right around the corner that I should wait for? Would hate to buy one and then one month later have some new awesome item come out.

[Rbstr]

Don't build it a day sooner than you have to. Don't continue to wait for newer and greater forever, buy it when you want it.

If you build it yourself you can save hundreds of dollars. It's grown-up Lego.

(we've also got a whole sub-forum for this http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19 )

[Sabrak]

If you build it yourself you can save hundreds of dollars. It's grown-up Lego.

This.

Alienware is alright in terms of performances (depends on the model and the games you run on it), but you're paying for the packaging and the trademark.

You'll save money buy buying your pieces and build your computer yourself. That's if you're able to do it, but honestly it's not that difficult.

That being said, I am waiting for the beta and recommended specs to be out so I can start buying the right stuff, so I'd suggest you to do the same.

[SuperMorto]

I don't think i'm the only one in this boat, as in I have an old CPU and am just waiting for beta to come out to buy a new gaming rig. I have been out of the loop for quite some time so don't know where to start really. I was thinking about just getting an alienware, I saw on their site that they just came out with a new 'mini' gaming rig, but the specs don't look too great for the price.

Does anyone else like/hate alienware? I heard mixed reviews, and that you could get a better rig from another site or something. Would appreciate some tips- even though we have no clue what specs would be needed for PS2.

Also, is there some breakthrough right around the corner that I should wait for? Would hate to buy one and then one month later have some new awesome item come out.

as above check the tech forum and ask the guys in there, thay are great help, they helped me build my current rig.

[Scrima]

I am planning on putting a parts list together shortly after the beta comes out and then buying/building it during beta. My current computer isn't that great but if PS2 doesn't work on it then I know a lot of folks won't be able to play anyway.

[Shade Millith]

Don't build it a day sooner than you have to. Don't continue to wait for newer and greater forever, buy it when you want it.

If you build it yourself you can save hundreds of dollars. It's grown-up Lego.

(we've also got a whole sub-forum for this http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19 )

You don't even need to actually build it yourself. If you find a place that orders the parts in, some places will put it together/do full testing for you for a small fee.

Case in point, I'm purchasing a computer, I selected all the parts I wanted (Tower, PSU, HDD's, Monitors, etc), then had the option to have them put it together, then ship to me. For $85 dollars, I'm very happy for them to make sure everything is in and ready.

[Akemo]

Case in point, I'm purchasing a computer, I selected all the parts I wanted (Tower, PSU, HDD's, Monitors, etc), then had the option to have them put it together, then ship to me. For $85 dollars, I'm very happy for them to make sure everything is in and ready.

That's a cool option. Personally, I'd recommend putting a computer together if you know how or feel comfortable learning (like from the PSU forums). That $85 could get you a sweet keyboard/mouse/headphones or extra memory or a better video card or an SSD drive (for the operating system and Planetside 2 - everything else can go on the normal HD).

Hey, like I said - having someone else put it together is a great choice if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, but it's a great feeling to blast TR with your computer that you put together yourself. The computer I've got right now I built about 3 1/2 years ago with good but nowhere near great (expensive) parts, and it still runs just about every game that comes out today without problems. I still want to get a new one put together for PS2 of course!

[mefy]

You don't even need to actually build it yourself. If you find a place that orders the parts in, some places will put it together/do full testing for you for a small fee.

Case in point, I'm purchasing a computer, I selected all the parts I wanted (Tower, PSU, HDD's, Monitors, etc), then had the option to have them put it together, then ship to me. For $85 dollars, I'm very happy for them to make sure everything is in and ready.

what site is that? sounds cool

[FastAndFree]

If you mainly want to upgrade for PS2, then wait until beta. Prices constantly go down as better and faster components come out, the new generation of video cards will likely be released by the time PS2 goes beta so you will get the current cards cheaper, or have the option to buy the new faster ones. Not to mention that you will have concrete specs/reports to base how fast components you need on

[KALU]

I say just go out and get one now.

[Heaven]

This is where I am planning on getting my new machine when planetside specs finally come out.

You can customize your own design here and i personally think there resonalbe prices.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/desktop-pcs/gaming-pcs/?gclid=CLSkuoHtn64CFQYKfAodL0k-7w

[Xaine]

This is where I am planning on getting my new machine when planetside specs finally come out.

You can customize your own design here and i personally think there resonalbe prices.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/desktop-pcs/gaming-pcs/?gclid=CLSkuoHtn64CFQYKfAodL0k-7w

This is where I get my stuff from as well. It's a good site.

However, if you can do it yourself or get a friend to do it for you. You can shave about 20%+ off the price if you build it yourself.

[Redshift]

i grabbed one from overclockers.co.uk

I normally build my own but those ones worked out a few notes more expensive, come pre overclocked and have windows loaded already, tbh the few extra quid was worth it not to have to waste time doing it myself. They'll change anything in their prebuilts for you anyway if you want something a bit different.

[Vancha]

Someone asked basically the same question in the tech forum today and I'll say the same thing here...Wait as long as you can. Both Intel and Nvidia should be coming out with their latest offerings around April/May time, which should push down the prices of the current CPUs and GPUs on the market (probably including AMD's 7950 and 7970s).

Edit: Oh, turns out that someone was you.

[Kaotc]

ive got a pair of 560 TI's in SLI setup currently, which i hope will be more than capable at the 1920x1200 native res, that being said i am kinda looking for things to sell about the house incase i need to get some geforce 6xx cards for release!

if there is proper multimonitor support, i will defo want to buy another couple of monitors and new gfx cards to match....

...whats the going rate for a kidney these days?

[Effective]

My laptop stopped working (froze in a game, restarted with "Operating System not found", awesome), so I'm in the market for a new one. Was going to wait for PS2, not much choice now unless I want to go the library everytime I need to use a computer.

[Alanim]

My laptop stopped working (froze in a game, restarted with "Operating System not found", awesome), so I'm in the market for a new one. Was going to wait for PS2, not much choice now unless I want to go the library everytime I need to use a computer.

Why not fix it might I ask? Shouldn't hard if you can still boot to bios/boot to cd. Also did you mean you're in the market for another laptop or any form of computer?

[EZShot]

My laptop stopped working (froze in a game, restarted with "Operating System not found", awesome), so I'm in the market for a new one. Was going to wait for PS2, not much choice now unless I want to go the library everytime I need to use a computer.

Your hard drive is dead. buy a new one for £/$30

[UnknownDT]

My laptop stopped working (froze in a game, restarted with "Operating System not found", awesome), so I'm in the market for a new one. Was going to wait for PS2, not much choice now unless I want to go the library everytime I need to use a computer.

Only noobs play on laptops :P tee hee

Also I keep seeing you log on our mumble wtfmate! And I pooped on you in the air the other day when I saw you! Much <3. Stop by mumble more.

[Fenrys]

tl;dr - wait until Q2 2012 and get an Ivy Bridge i5 CPU and AMD 78xx or 79xx GPU.


If you can connect an x-box or DVD player to a television, you are technically savvy enough to build your own computer.

Once you have all the parts in front of you, its easy to put it all together because there is only one place where you can plug stuff in. Put the round peg in the round hole and the square peg in the square hole.

Choosing the right parts to buy is the hard part. There are forums dedicated to helping people choose the right parts to buy. I visit overclock.net (http://www.overclock.net/) every day for tech news, and frequently aid people with their computer problems (weird crashes) and help picking the right parts for the job they want the computer to do. It's a very active and knowledgeable forum and I highly recommend asking there for a parts list if you do decide to build your own computer.

What's your budget? I'd be happy to post some suggested builds - what's available now, what will be available in Q3 2012, and what you'll have to wait until 2013 to get your hands on.

If you want something right now and have a medium budget (~$600-$800), build it around the Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge CPU with either an AMD HD6870 GPU or NVIDIA 560Ti GPU. If you can wait a few months (Q2 2012), Intel will release their new Ivy Bridge CPUs that are about 10% faster for the same price compared to the Sandy Bridge models they replace, and next month AMD is expected to release their HD 78xx linup of GPU's which will likely have the best price: performance ratio on the market for at least several months until the NVIDIA 6xx series is released (which will likely be faster but may not have a better price: performance ratio). Chips from Intel have reliably been getting about 10% faster every year for the last ~4 years, and this trend should continue beyond 2015.

When Windows 8 comes out in Q3 or Q4 2012, it might give a large boost to the currently-disappointing AMD Bulldozer CPU lineup. Current software does not make optimal use of the Bulldozer architecture, but Windows 8 supposedly will. Don't buy Bulldozer until this happens and benchmarks are available that prove the performance is where it should be.

AMD is currently developing a hybrid CPU/GPU that has the potential to be competitive with Intel chips if they can live up to the hype in 2013.

My laptop stopped working (froze in a game, restarted with "Operating System not found", awesome), so I'm in the market for a new one. Was going to wait for PS2, not much choice now unless I want to go the library everytime I need to use a computer.

Does BIOS see your hard drive? If it does, you might be able to use a recovery CD to fix it.

If you'd like some troubleshooting assistance, post an exact quote of the error message.

[mefy]

Yeah, thats the only thing I don't like- the fact that beta is so close but Intel and stuff have some new stuff right around the corner.

Building it myself is pretty much out of the question, I dont trust myself nearly enough and don't have the time as of late. Would much rather pay someone to do it right... when exactly does this ivy bridge stuff come out and what does it do? is it a better motherboard or something?

[Fenrys]

"Ivy Bridge" is the name for the 1st generation of Intel processors to get built using their new factory equipment for creating 22nm circuits. It should start hitting shelves sometime in April.

The current process uses 32nm circuits and is named "Sandy Bridge". Shrinking them means they can fit more transistors in the same amount of space, and give more computing power for the same amount of electricity.

Two years ago they used 45nm circuits and it was called "Nehalem".

They currently have 14nm circuits working in their lab, and just recently broke ground on a new factory for mass production using that process ("Broadwell"). It should be ready by 2014.

[NewSith]

"Ivy Bridge" is the name for the 1st generation of Intel processors to get built using their new factory equipment for creating 22nm circuits. It should start hitting shelves sometime in April.

The current process uses 32nm circuits. Shrinking them means they can fit more transistors in the same amount of space, and give more computing power for the same amount of electricity.

Your avatar scares me... Your knowledge doesn't help it also...

[Espion]

A 2500k + 560ti will probably play the game on high settings pretty easy at 1080. Just an assumption, but hardware is well ahead of games atm.

In other words: Buy anytime, just buy smart.

[Saintlycow]

A 2500k + 560ti will probably play the game on high settings pretty easy at 1080. Just an assumption, but hardware is well ahead of games atm.

In other words: Buy anytime, just buy smart.

That plays bf3 on high 1900 by 1080 at 50fps for me

[Fenrys]

The Ivy Bridge release date just got pushed back (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120215PD215.html) to Q3 2012.

You can't go wrong with an i5-2500k. It's a great CPU for a reasonable price, and you don't have to wait 6 months to buy it.

*edit*
Nevermind, that article overstates what's being delayed. Desktop parts are still going to hit shelves in April. It is only dual core laptop parts (http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-is-only-delaying-dual-core-mobile-ivy-bridge-cpus/14933.html) that are being held back.

[Tigersmith]

Im going to be buying a new system also for this game. Hoping for a solid beta date so I can order like 1-2 weeks before.

Goin all outttt

[Mightymouser]

Why would you buy your PC before we've even seen the game? I mean if you're buying it specifically for PS2, wait until we've seen how the game preforms and what resources it'll really need...

Unless you're in a situation where your gaming rig is borked and you need a new one, in which case it doesn't really matter when PS2 comes out :p

[FastAndFree]

The Ivy Bridge release date just got pushed back (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120215PD215.html) to Q3 2012.

You can't go wrong with an i5-2500k. It's a great CPU for a reasonable price, and you don't have to wait 6 months to buy it.

Well, damn.

I guess I'll go with the 2500K then (which is, apparently, exactly why Intel delayed) though I'll still wait for beta to get actual performance data.

[Fenrys]

That article I posted the other day overstated what is being delayed.

Desktop Ivy Bridge parts are still going to hit shelves in April. It is only dual core laptop parts (http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-is-only-delaying-dual-core-mobile-ivy-bridge-cpus/14933.html) that are being held back.

[mefy]

Can anyone verify if this is spot on?

"If you are a gamer, the focus should be on the graphics card, more than the cpu. For that, a strong quad will do the job. Few games use more than two or three cores, making hyperthreading and 6 core cpu's of marginal value for gaming. Today, the sandy bridge 2500K is the gamer's cpu of choice in the $200 price range. It is so good, particularly when overclocked, that a future upgrade to ivy pridge will likely not be needed to run the strongest of graphics cards. The 22nm ivy bridge follow on's to the 2500K will be compatible with the P67 and Z68 chipsets if necessary.

If, you run multi core enabled apps, then the more cores the better. It is looking like the upcoming bulldozer 8 core offerings will be good value. But, we have yet to see any benchmarks. Historically, Intel has had cpu's that are more effective per clock, so a comparison without benchmarks will be difficult.
And, a little later this year, the sandy bridge-E will give bulldozer a run for the money at the highest price range. Particularly if you value 32-64gb of ram. "

[Vancha]

Can anyone verify if this is spot on?

"If you are a gamer, the focus should be on the graphics card, more than the cpu. For that, a strong quad will do the job. Few games use more than two or three cores, making hyperthreading and 6 core cpu's of marginal value for gaming. Today, the sandy bridge 2500K is the gamer's cpu of choice in the $200 price range. It is so good, particularly when overclocked, that a future upgrade to ivy pridge will likely not be needed to run the strongest of graphics cards. The 22nm ivy bridge follow on's to the 2500K will be compatible with the P67 and Z68 chipsets if necessary."
This is spot on.

"If, you run multi core enabled apps, then the more cores the better. It is looking like the upcoming bulldozer 8 core offerings will be good value. But, we have yet to see any benchmarks. Historically, Intel has had cpu's that are more effective per clock, so a comparison without benchmarks will be difficult.
And, a little later this year, the sandy bridge-E will give bulldozer a run for the money at the highest price range. Particularly if you value 32-64gb of ram."
This is not.

Get the 2500k, or an i3 if you're on the lowest of budgets.

[mefy]

Im looking to spend about 2-3k on a new comp... but am clueless as to what to do. Dont think im going for alienware anymore.

[Fenrys]

Most games are happy with a very fast GPU and only need a CPU that's 'good enough' to feed the graphics card. Some games, like Starcraft 2 or Dwarf Fortress, want an uber CPU to calculate the AI's behavior for many units. My guess is that PS2 will fall into the former category - a decent CPU and a great GPU will likely run it at maximum settings.

Generally speaking, games want faster cores not more cores. A modern 2 core Pentium will outperform an "8 core" Bulldozer in most games. (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html)

Bulldozer isn't really 8 cores. It's 4 modules and each module has a single floating point unit and fetch/decode/execute unit. Each module also has 2 integer clusters and 2 integer schedulers, so in some cases it can behave like it has 8 cores but in other cases it handles like a clumsy quad core. Also, in its current incarnation it's pretty terrible - we have seen benchmarks and they are slow (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/434?vs=288). If you'd rather support AMD the David rather than Intel the Goliath, you're better off buying a Phenom II X4.

I don't think I've ever used more than 6GB of RAM when gaming, and that's not for lack of trying. My RAM usage stays under 4GB most of the time.

I'm not going to upgrade anytime soon, and expect to run PS2 at almost-max settings (I know it can run BF3, MW3, and Skyrim at almost-max):
CPU: Phenom II X4 955 BE
GPU: HD 6850
RAM: 8GB
SSD: 60GB Phoenix 2 Pro (Windows 7 install)
HDD: 500GB Spinpoint F3 (games install)

IIRC, it cost about $800 new and runs every game that exists @ 1920x1080 resolution and somewhere between High and Max settings.

[Vancha]

Im looking to spend about 2-3k on a new comp... but am clueless as to what to do. Dont think im going for alienware anymore.

You're probably better off buying a 1.5k rig now and a 1.5k rig later on if you have that much to blow, or even three 1k rigs over time.


SSD: 60GB Phoenix 2 Pro (Windows 7 install)
Would you still choose this over the 60GB Samsung 830?

[mefy]

Why is only windows in the solid state drive and not any games?

[FastAndFree]

Why is only windows in the solid state drive and not any games?

You could fit a select few games on a 60Gb SSD, I have Planetside on mine

[Fenrys]

Why is only windows in the solid state drive and not any games?

After installing all the applications that I use to make a living, there's 14 GB free. I could fit one large game or a few small ones while still maintaining a bit of free space for wear leveling. I actually have used that space in the past - Planetside was on the SSD after I'd uninstalled Fallout 3, which replaced CoD4, etc...



Would you still choose this over the 60GB Samsung 830?

No. The Phoenix was the best of what was available at the time, but that is no longer true.

Recently I've been using the Crucial M4 with new builds, but the Samsung 830 may run games faster. The M4 has better random 4k read/write speed, which is important for running Windows. The 830 is faster in almost every other way.

Flip a coin, the M4 and 830 are both great picks.

[Vancha]

No. The Phoenix was the best of what was available at the time, but that is no longer true.

Recently I've been using the Crucial M4 with new builds, but the Samsung 830 may run games faster. The M4 has better random 4k read/write speed, which is important for running Windows. The 830 is faster in almost every other way.

Flip a coin, the M4 and 830 are both great picks.
Thanks. I was mildly aware of how it stacked up against the M4, but the Phoenix was an unknown to me. :)

Also, before I leave you alone, can you vouch for the quietness of the F3? Supposedly it's the quietest of the 7200s.

[Fenrys]

F3's are the only 7,200 RPM hard drive I've used for the last ~3 years. They've been the fastest mechanical drive on the market. I don't have experience with other 7,200RPM disks to compare them to in terms of how much noise they make. I don't even notice it when it spins up, so I guess the 3TB 5,200 RPM Green disk I use for backups is louder (I do notice when that spins up).

[KrazyJester]

http://cyberpowerpc.com Go here!

[mefy]

will installing PS2 on a SSD over a reg HDD make any big difference?

[Fenrys]

It's too early to say for sure.
If PS2's programming is anything like WoW's, then yes, you'll notice a difference.

WoW SSD v. HDD