Hardware Looking for some Computer Builds/Suggestions

[gokujr1000]

Alright so basically I'm in the process of slowly upgrading/building my own computer so I'm able to play games like APB or Battlefield 3 with little to no lag. My current computer is extremely out-dated, can barely run BF3 on low and has a hard time even playing APB properly.

Current Specs:
Processor AMD Athlon™ II X2 215 Processor, 2700 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series

-Not sure what else I should list, not even sure how to find out what motherboard I have.

If you couldn't tell I'm quite new to the whole building/upgrading side to PC's which is why I'm posting this on every game forum or PC community forum I know. If people could please post what I should upgrade or replace, or even suggest a few builds for me it'd be much appreciated.

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

Get a minimum of DDR3 8GB RAM, from a brand of your choice. (I recommend Kingston though)
I'm not familiar with the hierarchy of AMD processors, but an equivalent of an i5 Ivy Bridge would be good.
I use the above with a HD6970 and I've never encountered lag on BF3.

I upgraded my computer in September 2011, so use my rig as a benchmark and try to exceed it

 

[Rydian]

Well you'd need a new motherboard to support a modern processor, and new RAM to fit the motherboard, so you'd pretty much have to upgrade chunks at a time (the video card, drive, and PSU are the things that don't depend on things your current motherboard doesn't have), and you'd pretty much be replacing all the internals of your current machine.

What model is it? If it was custom originally, what case is it? Or at least which size?

 

[gokujr1000]

Well you'd need a new motherboard to support a modern processor, and new RAM to fit the motherboard, so you'd pretty much have to upgrade chunks at a time (the video card, drive, and PSU are the things that don't depend on things your current motherboard doesn't have), and you'd pretty much be replacing all the internals of your current machine.

What model is it? If it was custom originally, what case is it? Or at least which size?

I'd have to look into finding out the measurements for the current case I use. How much does case size usually matter?

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

The case size will determine the motherboard's size, and thus components you are using. A micro ATX for instance, might not be able to support a HD6970 due to size constraints

 

[Mantis41]

Get a 3570k CPU and a 7850 or 7870 2GB video card. Throw those at a no frills good quality system board, ASUS would be my preference. Get a 8GB DDR3 kit. Buy a cheap case and a really good quality PSU. Even cheap cases have a really nice layout now days. Do not over amp the PSU, even 450watt is sufficient for this setup but 500 would be the recommended. Check the fan positions. normally a 120mm blowing air into the case straight at the video card and a 100-120mm exhaust fan mounted a little higher is plenty of cooling for this setup.

OC the CPU to around 4GB and OC the video card while testing stability. You may need a 3rd party CPU cooler for a stable CPU OC.

If your HDD and optical drives are ok just re-use this in the new rig.

Lastly a 64bit OS is a must for modern rigs.

 

[Rydian]

I'd have to look into finding out the measurements for the current case I use. How much does case size usually matter?

The case size determines the size of the motherboard you can fit, and also the size of the parts you can fit. Some video cards can be twice as long as others and might not fit into smaller cases, smaller cases can't fit huge motherboards that have additional expansion slots, etc.

You don't actually need 8GB (4-6GB is what the average person, even gamers, physically use at max), but people are going to tell you to grab an 8GB kit because RAM is damn cheap nowadays and it adds some headroom (so it's a good idea all-around). Just telling this so you don't think you need more than that.

EDIT: Also, I don't recommend OCing simply because it lessens the life of a part, even when done stably. Heat is a killer over time (as well as immediately if done wrong, but that's harder to do nowadays). This is partially why the explosive GHz increase of years past hit a sudden wall and the focus became efficiency (more instructions per clock instead of more clocks per second).

 

[FireGrey]

Get a 3570k CPU and a 7850 or 7870 2GB video card. Throw those at a no frills good quality system board, ASUS would be my preference. Get a 8GB DDR3 kit. Buy a cheap case and a really good quality PSU. Even cheap cases have a really nice layout now days. Do not over amp the PSU, even 450watt is sufficient for this setup but 500 would be the recommended. Check the fan positions. normally a 120mm blowing air into the case straight at the video card and a 100-120mm exhaust fan mounted a little higher is plenty of cooling for this setup.

OC the CPU to around 4GB and OC the video card while testing stability. You may need a 3rd party CPU cooler for a stable CPU OC.

If your HDD and optical drives are ok just re-use this in the new rig.

Lastly a 64bit OS is a must for modern rigs.

I have a 3570k and 7870 and can easily say that it makes a fantastic build.
One question though, what do you mean by

OC the CPU to around 4GB

 

[Mantis41]

I have a 3570k and 7870 and can easily say that it makes a fantastic build.
One question though, what do you mean by

LOL.. woops. I meant 4GHZ

 

[DCG]

:/
Case size could also be determined by the gpu size (some cards don't fit in every case...)

I myself am going to upgrade the cpu and MoBo in the short future (already have a 7970 DCII).
But I am considering waiting for Hasweld, gen 4.

 

[MegaBassBX]

Alright so basically I'm in the process of slowly upgrading/building my own computer so I'm able to play games like APB or Battlefield 3 with little to no lag. My current computer is extremely out-dated, can barely run BF3 on low and has a hard time even playing APB properly.

Current Specs:
Processor AMD Athlon™ II X2 215 Processor, 2700 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series

-Not sure what else I should list, not even sure how to find out what motherboard I have.

If you couldn't tell I'm quite new to the whole building/upgrading side to PC's which is why I'm posting this on every game forum or PC community forum I know. If people could please post what I should upgrade or replace, or even suggest a few builds for me it'd be much appreciated.

Okay could you tell me your budget?

 

[gokujr1000]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I'm really glad to have everyone helping me out like this

Okay could you tell me your budget?

Under 1,000 dollars AU.

 

[Originality]

Aim for Core i5 and GTX 560 Ti minimum. Any ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard, 8GB of the cheapest DDR3 RAM you can find, 550W PSU minimum (my preference), and a half decent case like the Antec 100 or 901. Since your only focus is BF3, you want to get as far up the graphics card scale as possible.

In terms of AMD vs nVidia, AMD gets higher framerates at games, but nVidia gets smoother performance.

 

[MegaBassBX]

Alright so basically I'm in the process of slowly upgrading/building my own computer so I'm able to play games like APB or Battlefield 3 with little to no lag. My current computer is extremely out-dated, can barely run BF3 on low and has a hard time even playing APB properly.

Current Specs:
Processor AMD Athlon™ II X2 215 Processor, 2700 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series

-Not sure what else I should list, not even sure how to find out what motherboard I have.

If you couldn't tell I'm quite new to the whole building/upgrading side to PC's which is why I'm posting this on every game forum or PC community forum I know. If people could please post what I should upgrade or replace, or even suggest a few builds for me it'd be much appreciated.

Asus P8Z77-V PREMIUM-$435

Intel® Core™ i7-3770T Processor- $283.24

WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA III, 64 MB Cache (WD10EZEX) - $72.98

GeForce GTX 650 Ti- $147

Total= approximately $938

for the power supply just go with any 600 watt to 750 it’s okay , for the case choose what you like just make sure that the motherboard fits in since it’s a really big motherboard.

 

[MegaBassBX]

Some tips to keep on mind :

1. Don't use more than 3 Fans ,thats a fan for the CPU the original one don’t use any other brand , a system fan usually in the back of the system that suck all the hot air out, and the final one is in the power supply so using more fans is just a waste pluse all hardware are not power hoggs so there will be not heat issues.
2. If you live in a humid area then you better be careful not to choose a metalic case since it will conduct electricity.
3. Clean the CPU and the GPU at regular pace every week or month this will keep the machine life longer.
4. For the RAM use at minimum 8GB Do NOT GO LOWER than that MAX out is 32GB,for 64bit its better to use 8GB or 6GB at least but if use 32bit 6GB will be just fine but I don’t recommended though.
5. Have Fun playing.