Buying a new PC, need some help

[axel15810]

Hey all, I currently run on an 5 year old laptop which just isn't up to par. It's struggling to run DDO, not to mention everything else I do with it. I'm looking to upgrade to a real desktop gaming PC but I'm pretty clueless as to what I need to buy. Here's what I want to do with the PC:

- Play DDO and have it run well

- Record DDO gameplay, probably using FRAPS or similar program.

- Create youtube videos. Currently I use Windows Movie Maker and I want a PC that can efficiently convert the files to proper youtube high resolution format (it takes my current computer several hours if not all night to convert these files).

- Stream on Twitch. I want to stream mainly DDO but also some other PC games and Wii U games.

My budget is flexible, but I'm envisioning spending somewhere in the $600-$900 range. Also I don't need a monitor or any accessories. I was looking at these today: http://www.ibuypower.com/Product/Revolt

I know I need atleast 8 GB of RAM, but as far as everything else I'm clueless. Any help, tips and suggestions are appreciated. I don't know my way around inside a CPU at all, so I'd really like to buy something pre-built.

Thanks!

[LuKaSu]

If possible, I would make sure you have one or both of the following:

1) A Solid State Drive -- Basically, a super-fast hard drive, like a large version of a thumb drive
2) Lots of RAM -- At least 16 GB, if possible.

A number of people have said that you need a Solid State Drive to play well, but my new computer had a regular hard drive, but lots of RAM (I had like 24 GB) and it works just dandy

[Phoenix-daBard]

I would recommend the more memory and a SSD as well. If the SSD bumps the price up too much try for a hybrid drive. They usually have a 32GB SSD acting as a non-voltile cache to the hard drive and is more than adequate for DDO.

As to rendering video, do not go below an i5 as that is an incredibly CPU and memory intensive process. An i7 would be preferred for this.

[TitusOvid]

streaming is in the bucket if you don't have a good internet connection. have that in mind, too.
if you got the money for 16gb go for it but fast 8 should do it. don't save money on a graphic card.

[Connman]

Honestly with the state of computers and the age of the game, you would have to try really hard to buy a new computer that won't run ddo. I can run 2 accounts just fine at the same time with this walmart special I bought.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-Black...r-Not/36998826

So just about anything in your price range will probably be just super.

[Phoenix-daBard]

Honestly with the state of computers and the age of the game, you would have to try really hard to buy a new computer that won't run ddo. I can run 2 accounts just fine at the same time with this walmart special I bought.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-Black...r-Not/36998826

So just about anything in your price range will probably be just super.

If running DDO was the only question then your point would make sense. The OP wants to record videos while playing the game and then process them before uploading to Youtube. This requires much more processing power than DDO ever will.

[unbongwah]

If you're looking for mini-PCs in the sub-$1,000 range, I've read good things about Alienware's Alpha and X51. I'd also consider CyberpowerPC's Zeus Mini. And I'm sure there are other options out there.

Were I shopping for myself in this price range, I'd want a quad-core CPU (Core i5 or i7) with at least 8 GB of RAM and a GTX 750Ti or better. I'd also want an SSD, but that might push it past your price limit.

[Connman]

If running DDO was the only question then your point would make sense. The OP wants to record videos while playing the game and then process them before uploading to Youtube. This requires much more processing power than DDO ever will.

Yeah I missed the part about "streaming," however it is a good point of reference as that computer has no problem running the game, recording videos of my less than uber skills at the same time (which I forgot to add.) I am sorry if you think my point didn't make sense though.

[axel15810]

Thanks for the tips I'm looking into some of these suggestions.

[Kamode_Corebasher]

Building your own will save you ~50% ...so if you were to buy retail for 2000.00, you could yourself build just as powerful a PC for ~1000.00.

I personally would look for barebones systems. Benefits of a barebones system: research and testing in regards to "does this RAM work well with this Motherboard work well with this Processor" is done. If you were to build your own, you'd initially spend a good 10 hours researching <--not needed if you don't mind purchasing wrong and then troubleshooting to determine what the issue(s) are.

tigerdirect.com is a good site relating to these barebones systems. Here's a system listied today that I think would work well for you:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...391&CatId=4910

So this unit would give you: case, power supply unit, motherboard, processor, RAM.
You would need to purchase and insert/install the following: optical drive, video card, operating system.
I recommend also buying a normal spinning hdd for storage of pics and videos.

tomshardware.com is also a good reference for building your own system...here's a link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...sion,4024.html

[Phoenix-daBard]

I am sorry if you think my point didn't make sense though.

Yeah that did come across as too harsh. Sorry about that. I shouldn't post so close to bedtime.

[EllisDee37]

- Create youtube videos. Currently I use Windows Movie Maker and I want a PC that can efficiently convert the files to proper youtube high resolution format (it takes my current computer several hours if not all night to convert these files).

For comparison, I picked up one of those iBuyPower desktops in fall of 2013, spending just over $400. (8 gigs RAM, 500 gig HD, i3 3.30 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT 630) So spending $600 now for an iBuyPower should get you something significantly better than what I have.

Last fall I upgraded my monitor from an antediluvian 17" CRT to 24" full HD LED. A couple bloom effects give me video lag, and very large areas (like menechtauren or 3BC) gives me a bit of client lag, but nothing major. I can run multiple accounts at the same time, and if I run through those large areas on multiple accounts at once I don't notice any more slowdown than when running a single account. (One assumes only visible windows get repainted.) In fairness, I have my graphics settings jacked up pretty high, as well as a pretty large draw distance.

I record video with FRAPS, then process it with VirtualDub, using the Xvid MPEG-4 codec. It's much faster/less restrictive than the x264vfw-H.264/MPEG-4 codec. Recording video is a non-issue, and processing takes time but not so much that it's burdensome.

However, if you're going to capture HiDef video with FRAPS, you will need LOTS and LOTS of hard drive space. If you go for a solid state drive, which are normally an order of magnitude smaller than conventional spinning hard drives, you could very quickly run into space issues. Figure 2 gigs to store one minute, so a 10-minute capture will be ~20 gigs. My 500 gig drive is pretty small for video capturing. I have around 250 gig free, and that gets eaten up super fast when I start capturing videos.

I do have a 5:00 video I've been meaning to convert; maybe I'll do it now to see how long it takes. (It's 11.5 gigs.) EDIT: Conversion took 17:15, and it compressed down to just over 2 gigs. I'll upload it to Youtube so you can get a feel for the quality.

EDIT 2: Video is linked at the bottom of this post. Be sure to kick up the resolution in Youtube if it doesn't default to 1080.

[LuKaSu]

Building your own will save you ~50% ...so if you were to buy retail for 2000.00, you could yourself build just as powerful a PC for ~1000.00.

I personally would look for barebones systems. Benefits of a barebones system: research and testing in regards to "does this RAM work well with this Motherboard work well with this Processor" is done. If you were to build your own, you'd initially spend a good 10 hours researching <--not needed if you don't mind purchasing wrong and then troubleshooting to determine what the issue(s) are.

tigerdirect.com is a good site relating to these barebones systems. Here's a system listied today that I think would work well for you:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...391&CatId=4910

So this unit would give you: case, power supply unit, motherboard, processor, RAM.
You would need to purchase and insert/install the following: optical drive, video card, operating system.
I recommend also buying a normal spinning hdd for storage of pics and videos.

tomshardware.com is also a good reference for building your own system...here's a link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...sion,4024.html

Three different times, I've bought someone else's top-of-the-line-from-two-years-ago home-built systems and end up with fantastic results for cheap. One other time, however, I ended up with such a lemon that I felt like I had thrown away my money. (two of the three good ones, and the lemon were all from ebay) If you have a way to know how good the builder was, like if they are a personal friend, then buying used could be an option. But if you don't know the builder, it can be a not-worth-it risk.

[EllisDee37]

My budget is flexible, but I'm envisioning spending somewhere in the $600-$900 range. Also I don't need a monitor or any accessories. I was looking at these today: http://www.ibuypower.com/Product/Revolt

If you want to buy an iBuyPower -- and I love mine -- I would recommend you buy from NewEgg like I did. Keep checking their iBuyPower machines for deals for like a month. After around three weeks I found a deal on the one I wanted for $50 off with free shipping, which came to $429 all told for me, no tax free shipping.

Looking at deals from your link, NewEgg seems to offer more power in your price range:

iBuyPower (your link)
i3 4160 (3.60 GHz)
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720 2 GB
1 TB 7200rpm Hard Drive
$669

iBuyPower (NewEgg)
i5 4690 (3.50 GHz)
8 GB RAM
AMD RADEON R7 250X 1 GB
1 TB Hard Drive
120 GB SSD
$769

NewEgg's package is giving you a better processor (i5 > i3), a worse video card (1 GB < 2 GB), and a sweet little 120 GB SSD to play with in addition to the standard 1 TB spinning hard drive. I don't love that AMD video card, so if it were me I don't think I'd buy that particular one, just using it as an example. I do love the i5, though, and would try to hold out for an i5 if at all possible. If you have to skimp on something, try to skimp on RAM because it's super cheap to buy extra RAM and super easy to install yourself.

Here's a link for checking NewEgg daily to watch for deals.

EDIT: Scrolling down that page, this is closer to one I might consider. i5 3.2 GHz, NVIDIA 2 GB video, 1 TB hard drive, $699. Still seems a bit pricey to me, but not a bad deal. Their deals change all the time, though, and you never know when something will go on sale.

[axel15810]

Been looking off and on for a while now. Since it's only about $200 difference in most models I think I'm better off going for an i7 and a better graphics card and getting a PC around $1,000. Saw this on NewEgg, been waiting to buy because I want to find some kind of sale like above poster mentioned, or a coupon code:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-593-_-Product

Anyone know of a better deal anywhere around $1,000? I may be going with this one if not. One concern is the lack of an SSD card, wondering if I'm better off going with a different model with one included.

[EllisDee37]

One concern is the lack of an SSD card, wondering if I'm better off going with a different model with one included.

The more I think about it, the more I like the concept of a 1 TB spinning drive plus a 120 GB SSD.

I don't love the idea of only having a SSD; getting an "extra" terabyte on a spinning drive for media files is a pretty sweet deal, especially if you want to capture video. Note that video capture is one of those things that's well suited for spinning drives because it's largely a sequential write, and spinning drives are great at sequential anything.

An i7 would be amazing if you could hold out for one.

[Stoner81]

I think I'm better off going for an i7

An i7 CPU makes little to no difference (for the most part) in terms of gaming performance, most games just aren't made to make use of the extra cores and threads that the i7 chips have. However, you will notice a massive difference in the time it takes to convert videos because that process requires a significant amount of CPU grunt.

The one you linked to has the i7 4790K CPU which is the chip that people who overclock use due to the unlocked multuplier (something that I suspect you do not do?), it's an OK system for what it is but if you could ask a friend to build one for you or something along those lines you will save a packet and get a much better machine in the long run.

Good luck

Stoner81.

[unbongwah]

The more I think about it, the more I like the concept of a 1 TB spinning drive plus a 120 GB SSD.

This how my game PC is setup: SSD boot drive with a few frequently-played games on it (inc. DDO ofc!) for fastest access times; then a separate HDD for data files and my less frequently played games (it's where I keep my Steam folder). If you have an Intel MB which supports RST, you can also setup an SSD as a cache drive for a regular HDD, which speeds up access to frequently-used files; the only downside is you can't use the same SSD for your boot / Windows drive and your cache, AFAICT.