Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

[DakAttack]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

The requirements you're looking for in a motherboard are that it'll accept your CPU, which is AM3, your RAM, which is 1600, and has at least one PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot running in x16 mode. If you're running a Gigabyte video card it's best if you run a Gigabyte motherboard as well.

[Voicestobeheard]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

yep, I'm pretty sure I can get win 7 pro 64 bit for free being a computer sci student at my college. So do you recommend the 550w or the 650w? Yeah the corsair has some nice deals.
The only thing that worries me about that mobo is there being no reviews...is that alright?

was looking at this one, looks like the same specs...but it has a 15$ rebate and free shipping. Will this one also qualify?
ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

[DakAttack]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

This should suit your needs. Remember that you'll also need an OS.

[Aeni]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I think i'm going to take Aeni's advice and just go with a single gtx 460. Due to money and such. Can you recomment a mobo that only supports one card yet works with nvidea? thatll leave me a bit more $$$. also, if i go with a single graphics card and different mobo, do i need the 750watts? You guys are a great deal of help.
Thanks!

Dak will be able to give you a better advice on motherboards as he just recently built his own system and has researched into this a lot. As for power supply, I believe 450W is bare minimum but also that it depends on how much you would want to spend on a PSU. With PSU, however, it's important not to go too cheap. I own a Corsair VX550 which is a 550W power supply, uses Japanese made capacitors and is SLI/XFire ready. It's more than what you would ever need for a single card, but it also gives you efficiency (80%+, hence the 80 Plus label) as well as it's damn quiet. I thought the Dell PSU 350W was quiet but oh man, it's super quiet with the Corsair. Newegg has it for $85:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Amazon.com has it for same price, $20 rebate and free shipping, so:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WU2FGK/ref=oss_product]Amazon.com: Corsair CMPSU-550VX 550-Watt VX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with Core i7 and Core i5: Electronics[/ame]

Beautiful thing about this PSU, besides this very nice finish and color, is that the cords are sleeved, comes with cable ties and also is long enough for full towers.

Edit: So the $85 PSU is $65 with the rebate. Something to consider.

[Voicestobeheard]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I think i'm going to take Aeni's advice and just go with a single gtx 460. Due to money and such. Can you recomment a mobo that only supports one card yet works with nvidea? thatll leave me a bit more $$$. also, if i go with a single graphics card and different mobo, do i need the 750watts? You guys are a great deal of help.
Thanks!

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX 150$

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN3 CM690 II Basic Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 70$

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... 110$

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 55$

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 239$

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 92$

LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
18$

=725$

This is in the newegg cart atm.
Would like to not spend more than 750 give or take a few. Still need a mobo though...

[DakAttack]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Well, it's just a doubt I have that AMD would allow you to use competitor hardware with their hardware.

[Freelancer]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I believe nVidia is exploring cheaper graphics cards, ranging from 400 to 450, so we'll most likely not see GTX 500 series for some time. Two 460s beat out one 480, but a motherboard that can adequately support SLI is much more expensive than one that can't. Additionally, these motherboard support only 1366 LGA CPUs, which are i7s. Unless you're getting an i7, your best bet is to get a cheaper motherboard and only one graphics card. If you are purchasing an i7, you need to consider a motherboard that supports 1366 LGA.



I should also note that you've selected an AMD CPU and motherboard, and an nVidia graphics card. I don't believe those would be compatible. You can put an AMD graphics card into Intel hardware, but I don't think you can put an nVidia graphics card into AMD hardware.

Choose your case wisely, air flow is important and you'll most likely need to upgrade your fans. You'll also need a decent CPU cooler. Both fans and coolers aren't that expensive.

For RAM, I reccommend A-DATA gaming series. It's decently priced and works well.

I'm no AMD guru but I just finished a PC using an AM3 board and a Phenom II x3 CPU and a GTX470 and they work just fine.

However I can't say I'm sure that will work on all models now that you brought it up...

[DakAttack]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I believe nVidia is exploring cheaper graphics cards, ranging from 400 to 450, so we'll most likely not see GTX 500 series for some time. Two 460s beat out one 480, but a motherboard that can adequately support SLI is much more expensive than one that can't. Additionally, these motherboard support only 1366 LGA CPUs, which are i7s. Unless you're getting an i7, your best bet is to get a cheaper motherboard and only one graphics card. If you are purchasing an i7, you need to consider a motherboard that supports 1366 LGA.

I'm getting a total of 823 with the changes. Seem about right?



AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX



COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN3 CM690 II Basic Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case



ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard



GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card



Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive



G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL



CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ...



Anything not compatable or I should change? Would like to get it in the 700 range if possible, but I want decent parts.

Thanks for all your inputs.

I should also note that you've selected an AMD CPU and motherboard, and an nVidia graphics card. I don't believe those would be compatible. You can put an AMD graphics card into Intel hardware, but I don't think you can put an nVidia graphics card into AMD hardware.

Choose your case wisely, air flow is important and you'll most likely need to upgrade your fans. You'll also need a decent CPU cooler. Both fans and coolers aren't that expensive.

For RAM, I reccommend A-DATA gaming series. It's decently priced and works well.

[Aeni]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

So do you recommend getting that mobo and a GTX 460...maybe upgrade to two 460s in the future. Or a diff mobo without SLI and just one 460 and upgrade the single graphics card when the better ones drop in price in the distant future?

Depends on how much you are willing to spend for. You can go for an SLI board leaving an upgrade path available (a 2nd GTX460) which would be a fine choice. However, you need to make sure that these cards will still be available a year from now and do not cost more than it is now.

(Here's a reason why I say this: my friend bought a GTX260 for $140 exactly 1 year ago this month and it's now at $200 on average)

Or you can go for just a non-SLI board, not have to worry about upgrading your PSU with a 2nd GTX460 and in a year from now, be able to shop for another mid-level entry card that might be 15-30% better in performance than a GTX460.

If money isn't an issue, I'd go with the first option. If money is an issue, go with the second option and also be comfortable in the knowledge that there's a very good chance that you don't need to replace the GTX460 for at least 18 months from today and maybe even 24 months if TSMC is having a very difficult time with their 28nm yields. There's very strong rumors that the 6,000 series and newer Fermi on a newer die process is going to run into massive shortages and thus spiking the costs of those boards through the roof and this will keep older cards at the same price and they'll never get any cheaper.

Plus if all you're planning to play that is not going to be anymore graphically intense than FFXIV, then the GTX460 is more than enough for years to come. I must imagine by the 3rd expansion they'll push the quality upwards a notch or two but by then you should be able to afford any number of options and the yields should be more polished by then which will lead to cheaper graphic cards.

[Voicestobeheard]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

So do you recommend getting that mobo and a GTX 460...maybe upgrade to two 460s in the future. Or a diff mobo without SLI and just one 460 and upgrade the single graphics card when the better ones drop in price in the distant future?

[Aeni]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

If the motherboard has two x16 slots, but one runs in x8, that means only half the normal amount of data will be running through it. Usually it'll be two x16 slots with both running in x8 if they're being use simultaeneously, or two x16 slots with one always running as x4, meaning only one-fourth the amount fo data will be passing through.

If you want two x16 both running in x16 mode you'll need an X58 motherboard.

^ This ... cheaper boards are cheap because they do things like this. Much like cheaper video cards will have either memory bandwidth halved or texture or shader units reduced or an inferior yield which is not able to clock up to a higher speed or any number of these combinations.

Caveat Empor ... always read the fine print. Find out why it's cheap ... I always hear semi-casual PC builders claim that there is no difference between a $50 and a $100 board. Au contraire ... there's ALWAYS a reason why one is significantly cheaper than the other and unfortunately it's up to the consumer to research the reasons.

[DakAttack]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

If the motherboard has two x16 slots, but one runs in x8, that means only half the normal amount of data will be running through it. Usually it'll be two x16 slots with both running in x8 if they're being use simultaeneously, or two x16 slots with one always running as x4, meaning only one-fourth the amount fo data will be passing through.

If you want two x16 both running in x16 mode you'll need an X58 motherboard.

[Freelancer]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Sweet thanks. Is there a big difference between BE and regular? also, I was reading the reviews on the mobo and people are saying it's only x8 for the graphics cards, not x16. can someone explain what that means? Thanks. I plan on getting Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card for the graphics card. Eventually maybe two of them when I save up money. And do I need something called a heatsink and optical drive? First PC build so I need to know anything that people would normally have, switching from gaming on a laptop

Heatsink should come with the CPU, and the difference in black vs regular shows in overclocking probably, but I don't think you're into that. hahaha

And the optical drive is where the DVDs you get go, they cost like 15$ if you don't have 1 in your current PC that you can salvage.

[Voicestobeheard]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

Sweet thanks. Is there a big difference between BE and regular? also, I was reading the reviews on the mobo and people are saying it's only x8 for the graphics cards, not x16. can someone explain what that means? Thanks. I plan on getting Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card for the graphics card. Eventually maybe two of them when I save up money. And do I need something called a heatsink and optical drive? First PC build so I need to know anything that people would normally have, switching from gaming on a laptop

[Freelancer]

Re: Guide: Building a PC to play FFXIV

I'm getting a total of 823 with the changes. Seem about right?

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN3 CM690 II Basic Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ...

Anything not compatable or I should change? Would like to get it in the 700 range if possible, but I want decent parts.
Thanks for all your inputs.

Hmmmmm Get regular P2 x4 instead of black and use price differance to get this.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

And try for this mobo instead (same price)

Newegg.com - ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

Now you're ready for SLI down the road.