Ideal PC Builds for The New SWBF?

[{PLA} Van STING]

Isn't it like impossible to upgrade a laptop?




I love my Strix GTX 970 and I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend a FX 8350, I use it for gaming and have zero complants.     If you go with a FX 8350 you can use the extra money that would have gone to the i5 4690k to get a better CPU cooler so you can overclock to make it as good as some i7's. Or just overclock a FX 8320; an 8320 is just a slowed down 8350.

[Gold Man]

I've been trying to avoid this thread because it reminds me that I won't be able to play the new Battlefront without upgrading.  I've looked at the predicted specs for it, and there's no way my $200 laptop will be able to handle it.

Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as 33 here; I can't afford a $1,000 PC. 

What are my options?  Would it be possible to upgrade my current laptop enough to run Battlefront on low(ish) settings?

Options:

• Buy an overpriced gaming laptop, and suffer the eventuality of not being able to upgrade parts over time
• Buy a desktop gaming rig for $500-$700, and upgrade the parts as you need them in the future
• (If you are a maniacal computer builder) Rip open the laptop and upgrade the components, at the sacrifice of the laptop in it's entirety, and transforming it into a hackjob desktop/immobilized laptop

A $500 rig should get you low settings at the minimum (would be best to hunt for some sources on this, such as PC PartPicker, several subreddits, etc.) $600-$700 might get you to medium or high settings, pending on the parts.

On the other hand, if you still want the portability of a laptop, and are handy with tools, you can build yourself a briefcase computer with desktop parts in the case. [/list]

[aeria.]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor  ($87.84 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI 760GMA-P34(FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $472.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-30 00:17 EDT-0400


Here's a budget oriented part list. Dropped the processor and video card to AMD. It's hard to recommend something any lower than this for the new SWBF. I've tried my best to drop it to sub 500. Do consider AMD's 8 core processor if you're willing to go above 500. It's a better choice over the 6

I'm rather surprised how affordable this R8 280 is. It's a better choice over getting an nvidia 750 Ti for that price.

[aeria.]

I've been trying to avoid this thread because it reminds me that I won't be able to play the new Battlefront without upgrading.  I've looked at the predicted specs for it, and there's no way my $200 laptop will be able to handle it.

Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as 33 here; I can't afford a $1,000 PC. 

What are my options?  Would it be possible to upgrade my current laptop enough to run Battlefront on low(ish) settings?

There are no options for a 200 dollar laptop. If you need a 400 dollar console to play the game, a 200 dollar laptop won't help you.

[aeria.]

I do already have a high end i7 Mac Book Pro, so I might experiment around with bootcamp or parallels.

Do go through the bootcamp route. Parallels isn't going to help you with a current-gen title.

[aeria.]

Hmm, I have a Radeon 7950 with 3 GB...seems fine, but it a tier below the 7970...maybe it's time for an upgrade 


edit:  ouch, those top tier cards are expensive 

anyway, I am a big fan of manufacturer refurbished computers, such as this one for $835
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-PHOENIX-810-810qe-i7-4790-3-6Ghz-16GB-2TB-4GB-GTX745-Blu-ray-Desktop-W7-Pro-/221809387464?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a4dea7c8

• 4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 quad-core processor [3.6GHz, 8MB Shared Cache] w/turbo boost up to 4.0Ghz
  16 GB DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs] - 32GB Max
  2TB 7200 rpm SATA (6.0 Gb/sec) - hard drive
  4GB dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 745 [DVI, DP, HDMI, DVI to VGA dongle; DX11]
  Blu-ray player w/16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
  Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 and Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n featuring
  4 SS USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed)
  SuperSpeed — New higher signaling rate of 5Gbps (625MB/sec), 10 times faster than regular USB 2.0
  Beats Audio (tm) -- Built-in High Definition 8 channel audio
  Liquid Cooling Solution
  500W Power Supply
  Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)

For the price... this is actually not bad. The video card is modest but there's a 2TB drive and an i7. Replace the video card and add a solid state drive it would make a great production + gaming machine.

[Gold Man]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor  ($87.84 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI 760GMA-P34(FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $472.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-30 00:17 EDT-0400


Here's a budget oriented part list. Dropped the processor and video card to AMD. It's hard to recommend something any lower than this for the new SWBF. I've tried my best to drop it to sub 500. Do consider AMD's 8 core processor if you're willing to go above 500. It's a better choice over the 6

I'm rather surprised how affordable this R8 280 is. It's a better choice over getting an nvidia 750 Ti for that price.

Wondering if that list is set for CDN or USD. Either way, I myself decided to pop the question to some guys on PCPartPicker, and I was content with the responses I got.

One guy did pop the idea though of taking the Windows 10 ISO file right now, and then when the rig is built just pop a flash drive in, go through the BIOS, and activate the ISO, which would potentially give me Windows 10 free for the system. Still a bit curious on that option. There was also a guy recommending a different build that featured the OS (finally, a build that includes the OS!)

I'll post their lists later on here if anyone is curious.

[aeria.]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($122.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($50.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($174.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.10 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $550.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-01 01:58 EDT-0400

Here's a build for you, Gold Man. I'm curious of their builds, too.

If you compromise any more on the CPU or video card it'll only be a disservice for modest savings.

I do recommend getting windows through other means if you're on a budget.

[Unit 33]

Do go through the bootcamp route. Parallels isn't going to help you with a current-gen title.

Okay, I'll try it out with some other modern titles before I commit to buying a second computer.

[Gold Man]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($122.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($67.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Memory Express)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($50.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($174.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: BitFenix Neos Black ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.10 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $550.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-01 01:58 EDT-0400

Here's a build for you, Gold Man. I'm curious of their builds, too.

If you compromise any more on the CPU or video card it'll only be a disservice for modest savings.

I do recommend getting windows through other means if you're on a budget.

Here's the three builds that were offered to me:

RubyJunk's PCPartPicker List:
[spoiler]
CPU: AMD FX-4350 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor   $115.98 @ Newegg Canada

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard   $77.00 @ Vuugo

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory   $54.88 @ Canada Computers

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive   $56.95 @ Vuugo

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card   $238.75 @ Vuugo

Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case   $42.59 @ DirectCanada

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply   $39.98 @ Newegg Canada

Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts   

Total (before mail-in rebates): $656.13

Mail-in rebates: -$30.00

Total: $626.13
[/spoiler]

TheGhostMan's PCPartPicker List:
[spoiler]
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor   $85.07 @ Newegg Canada

Motherboard: MSI A68HM-E33 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard   $67.52 @ DirectCanada

Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory   $28.23 @ Memory Express

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive   $64.35 @ Vuugo

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card   $162.72 @ Newegg Canada

Power Supply:Antec 450W ATX Power Supply   $49.64 @ shopRBC

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)   $118.63 @ Canada Computers

Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts   

Total: $576.16
[/spoiler]

TheGhostMan's Budget Gaming PC for Canadians for less than $600:
[spoiler]
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor   $96.03 @ Newegg Canada

Motherboard: MSI A68HM-E33 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard   $67.50 @ DirectCanada

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory   $70.81 @ DirectCanada

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive   $65.12 @ Newegg Canada

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card   $162.72 @ Newegg Canada

Case: Antec VSK-3000 MicroATX Mid Tower Case   $54.52 @ Newegg Canada

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply   $51.77 @ DirectCanada

Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts   

Total:$568.47
[/spoiler]

Seems the budget one is the cheapest, but I would like your opinion on these builds. For two of them I might have to install Windows 10 via a flash drive.

[aeria.]

The CPUs in these builds are really poor. The 260X is also a really weak GPU. I'd rather go for the 750 Ti.

Maybe in 2012 the Athlon was a decent budget CPU but right now the CPU requirements are really high. This especially counts for the Battlefield games which the new SWBF is based off of.

But those builds are indeed in your price range.

[Gold Man]

The CPUs in these builds are really poor. The 260X is also a really weak GPU. I'd rather go for the 750 Ti.

Maybe in 2012 the Athlon was a decent budget CPU but right now the CPU requirements are really high. This especially counts for the Battlefield games which the new SWBF is based off of.

But those builds are indeed in your price range.

Now I'm kind of debating between RubyJunk's build and your build, since they both have good bits to them.

[{PLA} Van STING]

I'd go for aerias setup, but maybe go with a gtx 960  http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-960-vs-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti and maybe get a 1 tb hdd if you think you'll need the extra space.

[{TCE}Call-of-Duty]

I would personally recommend the latest Alienware computer and the newest addition to my collection of otherwise broken computers, the Alpha Console. They come in four different models ranging from $500-$850, the best comes with a 2TB drive and a i7 (The model I have). Each model has a custom-built Maxwell GTX GPU (I read it's equal to the power of a 860M.) The bottom model isn't worth the $500 (It's a lower-end i3, 500Gb Hard Drive, and 4Gb of Ram.) Although the better models are more worth the price. It comes with the Alienware Hivemind OS (RaspMC with Alienware addons) on top of 8.1. It also ships with a 360 controller, which I find very handy with playing a slightly-illegal F2P game meant only to be played in Russia that rhymes with Dalo: Gnline. Overall it's a great little computer that can load 250 gigs of games two days out of box.

Link: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?ref=PD_OC

P.S. They are cheaper on Amazon and still come with everything you can get directly from Alienware.

[Gold Man]

I would personally recommend the latest Alienware computer and the newest addition to my collection of otherwise broken computers, the Alpha Console. They come in four different models ranging from $500-$850, the best comes with a 2TB drive and a i7 (The model I have). Each model has a custom-built Maxwell GTX GPU (I read it's equal to the power of a 860M.) The bottom model isn't worth the $500 (It's a lower-end i3, 500Gb Hard Drive, and 4Gb of Ram.) Although the better models are more worth the price. It comes with the Alienware Hivemind OS (RaspMC with Alienware addons) on top of 8.1. It also ships with a 360 controller, which I find very handy with playing a slightly-illegal F2P game meant only to be played in Russia that rhymes with Dalo: Gnline. Overall it's a great little computer that can load 250 gigs of games two days out of box.

Link: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?ref=PD_OC

P.S. They are cheaper on Amazon and still come with everything you can get directly from Alienware.

Much as I'd love to go that route, the currency exchange would kill me. $850USD is equivalent to $1068CAN, so I'd heavily be better off with going with Aeria's build.

On the upside, I've got over $200 on me at the momen, so I may as well wind up buying some of the parts right now, and then get more as I have the money.

Also found out the USB install to Windows 10 would bite me in the butt. It'd be a free OS, but to upgrade to the public Home version it would charge me $150 (since the PC wouldn't have an underlying OS which is a requirement to get the free upgrade). In any case, it almost seems better than paying $110 in advance, and then a free upgrade. I guess paying as it comes would be better for me, considering my cash flow is more sporadic than constant.