So I need to buy 2 computers that will last the next five years. I am wanting to stay under $1,000 for each, and I can go with just the tower. I have 20" flat screen monitors. My problem is, I haven't kept up with PC technology since I had a Pentium 75MGhz super computer. I want to be able to run games like FFXIV without turning all the pretty options off. I think I have found a couple, but I would like some more opinions. Oh yeah, and building my own really isn't an option. No time and I don't care to learn how to do it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227270

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227282

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... etailspecs

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=2628

Any help making my decision would be appreciated. Thanks.

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All those can run just fine. Just that i5 is bit slower than i7 that only diffences.

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PS3 Friend list name: Pantherxx Wii code 1629-0463-4657-0263 (revised 9/28/07) Steam ID - Pantherxx010 62BLU 75PLD Reactived 7/5/10 I dare you Click this!

I'm not sure how I feel about the last two since they are refurbs...the last one (Asus) has a GTX 260 graphics card which is not good.

Have you checked Mrukk's post on cyberpowerpc? There seems to be a big sale tomorrow on select systems. Happy hunting.

Ok, so next question.

ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card

or

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 16X PCIe Video Card

???

I'm currently using a GTX 260 and FFXIV runs great for me at max everything.

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http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/871200/

I run a Sapphire 5770 and I have everything on high, with the exception of buffer at resolution and AO and DoF turned off. Would have to check AA settings when I get back.

Just glancing at those listed, I would go with the 2nd and 3rd ones. You can't really go just by clock speed alone as it's all relative to what everything else is running at.

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[In Yarr we trust.]

If you're going to go with the GTX 460, might as well dish out the extra $30 or so dollars and get the 1GB version. Depending on the prebuilt you choose, you can SLI with another 460 down the road. Good scalability is supposedly the draw of the 460. It really is overkill for your 20" monitor resolution but the definite upside side is you'll get to have more bells and whistle on.

If money is a concern since you're spending about $2k on two computers, go with the HD5770 which is an admirable performer. Low power consumption and heat too.

Lastly that GTX 260** is a a good performer, it performs on par with the HD4870 (which is also a very good performer for it's current price range, challenging and winning against the HD5770 on DX9 and DX10 games).

FFXIV was coded in DX9 btw.


**edit for typo

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Good to hear! I have that exact card on order from newegg...it needs to hurry because my game runs like shit.

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I think as long as you have the buffer set to resolution it shouldn't look like shit.
I had my AA set to 4x but I turned it up to 8 to try out. Will post back when I do.

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[In Yarr we trust.]

I stand corrected. I guess I was just thinking some of the others had better (or at least newer) card choices in the list provided.

Yesterday I installed the Sapphire 5770 and FFXIV is running smoothly at 1920X1080. I can't even describe how much better it looks at that resolution (I have a 25" 1920X1080 monitor).

Also I don't have lag with NPCs not popping in crowded areas. It was a HUGE improvement for $125 (current price on newegg).

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That card, based on all the benchmark scores, is great value Kluya! I seriously want to pick one up too but it's not much of an upgrade from my HD4850 (I currently play on a 22" so only 1680x1050 for me). I'm pretty sure I will get a noticeable improvement, but with the 6700's just around the corner (rumoured around November) and with the Barts chip (6700 series) being the direct replacement for the Juniper chip (5700 series) replacement, I'm playing the waiting game in hopes of a price drop to perhaps pick up the 5770 for a little cheaper (if it's going for $100 Canadian I'm totally buying it, but that's not quite likely, haha). Hell, it might even drive down AMD's flagship Cypress chip down a bit (more specifically the 5850) to $250 Canadian range before any MIR (I can dream, heh). The leaked specs (if they are to be believed) shows that the mainstream 6770 has similar specs to the enthusiast 5850.

Some people suggest the upcoming 6770 will be similar to how the current mainstream 5770 compares to the enthusiast 4850 and 4870 and if they are correct, that'd only be a good thing for us penny pinching consumers. I'd like to see how the GTX460 price will be affected, may pick that one up (currently out of my price range, /sadface) but it was just released so a price drop this soon would be unlikely unless ATI/AMD releases a beast of a performer at a killer price range (again, one can dream right?)


Also Kluya, what's your cpu specs? I'm curious because you could probably squeeze out some good performance boost by overclocking your cpu. I overclocked my aging e7200 core2duo chip from 2.5 GHz to 3.2Ghz the other day and noticed quite a sizable boost to characters loading on screen in FFXIV (tested it at that black...something camp I dunno). If you have a overclocking friend, bribe him some beerz for a little overclocking.


And Supafly, don't worry man, I get crap mixed up all the time too. Doesn't help that the naming scheme used by ATI and nVidia confuses people. People automatically (understandably too) assume that the newer card means newer technology so it must be better, especially if the number is 'higher' - and to an extent they are correct which also makes it all the more confusing because it's like a half-true, half- false kind of thing (ie the 5770 is better than the 4870 in directx11 games but loses to them in the directx9 and directx10 games and with current drivers, they are more or less neck and neck). Ket briefly explained this in another thread and how the numbering system can (and is purposely) misleading, which results in people upgrading horizontally (which would be my case going from a 4850 to a 5770) instead of vertically.

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I keep telling my brother the 4860 I gave him is about as good as my 5770 but he doesn't want to believe me.

If they drop the prices on the 5770s though I might try to xfire them. I was looking at an XFX 5770 to pair with my Sapphire once since the XFX was single slot only (I think I could fit another dual slot but it would be tiiiiiiiight). Let's hope!

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[In Yarr we trust.]

Benchmark scores show that 5770 crossfire scales very well so you'd be in a treat Dmitry. The performance of the 2 x 5770 is comparable to a 5870 and it's only around $300 Canadian for both cards (5870 goes for at least $400 Canadian as a comparison). It's very tempting, but treading in that price territory means I'd be tempted to buy a 5850 and then crossfire that in the future. Decisions, decisions!

I sort of wish I bought a crossfire mobo to crossfire my 4850s since these cards are so damn cheap now (can be found for under $100) and are still beastly in DX9 and DX10 games, which would of allowed me to delay a vertical upgrade for another year or two (again my resolution 1650x1080).

And yeah, the 5770 is comparable to the 4870, just show him benchmarks. He probably thought the 5700 series were suppose to replace the 4800 series, but that's not the case, they are the successor the 4700 series (but you know that already).

Anyway, going by past ATI/AMD history means that the 6770 should be around on par with the current 5870. I then can only imagine how beastly the actually successor to the 5800 series, the 6800 series, will perform if that's the case. I'm also expecting a beastly price.

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Nah I think he's just having some trouble with FFXIV settings and I haven't been over to look at anything.

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[In Yarr we trust.]

First off...are you playing FFXIV Noods? I haven't been on much, so I don't see who all is playing. It will be awesome to have you back.

My processor is a Q8300 core 2duo quad core 2.5 GHZ. I know NOTHING about overclocking haha, but from what I read my processor is borderline too slow for FFXIV. With the new card I scored a 2500 on high on the benchmark...which is a noticeable improvement over my previous score of 300 on high haha.

Doesn't overclocking cause the processor to run very hot? Also, when reading reviews for different cards I notice people mention their cards temperature. How do I check what temp the graphics card is running at?

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No, but he should be!

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Kluya, if you open the Catalyst Control Center for your card and go to the "ATI Overdrive" tab/whatever thing it will show you the temps.

Also, overclocking does cause your CPU to run hotter (it runs faster/does more work), and sometimes if you want to overclock it a lot you need to up the voltage making it a little higher still. I overclocked mine a ton and the temps are still a lot lower than the stock cooler though.

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[In Yarr we trust.]

Cool thanks!

And that's all good info to know about oc'ing. Thanks again.

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No I'm not playing FFXIV atm - not really interested in the game (maybe a few months down the road), aside from some frapsing. I have a decent idea I want to try to do for a video, so whenever I get around to it, I can borrow my sister's account or something for footage. :D

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