CPU buying advice

Hi all,

I am looking to build my own gaming PC on which I can run racing sims, primarily rFactor 2. I currently have a 4th gen i5 among my selected components, but as I am somewhat over budget I was wondering if I could save some money by downgrading to a 4th gen i3. Is this advisable and will I have any issues with performance, especially in more resource intensive situations like race starts?

Thanks in advance.

 

Depends on what components you selected.

I am bias but best bang for buck imho is Stock i5 / H97 Board / 8GB 1600 memory and the fastest GPU you can afford.

 

Exactly what Durge said (i5, preferably a non-k 4690, H97 MB, best GPU you can afford), except memory - I would go with 2133 MHz due to it being the "sweet spot" for Haswell based CPUs (1866 MHz is the sweet spot for Ivy, and 1600 MHz is sweet spot for Sandy).

 

My GPU is an MSI Twin Frozr GTX 660 2GB, bought second hand at a substantial discount.

Rest of my build is as follows:

**CPU** | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
**Motherboard** | Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
**Memory** | Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
**Storage** | Plextor M5S Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
**Storage** | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
**Case** | Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case
**Power Supply** | FSP Group 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
**Monitor** | [Samsung S24D300HL 60Hz 23.6" Monitor

Z97 motherboard was originally to support Nvidia SLI for future multi-monitor gaming, but after finding out that VRAM doesn't stack in SLI I scrapped that idea, so I'll be going for a H97 instead.

While on the subject, do you have any good recommendations for motherboard brand as well as a 23"-25" monitor? I have very little knowledge in those areas.

That's interesting, because I saw

that shows there is little difference in performance of RAMs of different speed. Or is it not accurate?

 

You should, at the very, very least, be using dual-channel RAM. Buy pack of matched 2x 4GB sticks

If you do go for 1600 Mhz, then make sure it's CL7, 1866 MHz - CL8, and 2133 MHz - CL9. Don't buy any of the old kits rated @ 1.65 or 1.6 volts; the sticks should be rated @ 1.5v (with some models here and there being even lower).


The only 23-24" monitors I recommend for gaming may be models out of your budget - ASUS VG248QE, and BenQ XL2411Z or it's predecessor the XL2411T.

 

Yeah, I'm resigned to not getting anything with above 60Hz refresh rate and below 5 ms response time.

Anyway thanks to you as well as Durge for your help. Much appreciated.

 

Gigabyte or MSI H97 " Gaming" series Motherboard.

I would get the 4690 for the extra 300MHz

Is there really any advantage to running faster memory at 1600MHz Spin ? ( ie: It wont run any faster in H97 motherboard )

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "it won't run any fastsr in H97 motherboard". Honestly though, it's not a big deal at all - 1600 @ CL7 is just fine. The only difference 2133 @ CL9 may give you (in games) is around 2-3 fps more - probably in minimum fps.

It's the last thing i'd worry about. Like you say, it's minor. I just figure "why not?" for a few dollars more.

 

So 1866 or 2133 would run at 1600 with better latency, but 1600 C7 is as good as you going to get anyway.

1600 C8 would give nothing away in sims but like I said I do enjoy the extra desktop and app snappiness good ram timings can create.

 

??? I don't understand what you mean. >1600 MHz RAM should run at it's rated speeds on an H97 motherboard...

EDIT: Ah, ok. I know that H97 doesn't support RAM overclocking, but I thought that if the RAM came from the factory, stock, with an XMP profile of >1600 MHz that that would then stick even in a non-overclocking MB since it's a stock, default, XMP profile. It seems, however, that that is still considered overclocking and therefore the RAM will only run at 1600 MHz.

In that case, like Durge said, get a nice set of dual-channel 1600 MHz CL7 sticks. Don't forget to enable the XMP memory profile in your BIOS.

 

Yeah 1600 runs at 1600 of course.

The G.Skill I specced a few builds back was 2x 8GB 1600MHz-C7 also for non K build

In H97 2133 or 1866 also runs at 1600

So why get 2133-C9 that will run at 1600MHz@C7 or 1866@C9 runs 1600@C8, in essence it is no different to the 1600MHz-C7 sticks that are officially supported

http://www.memorybenchmark.net/ram.php?ram=G+Skill+Intl+F3-1600C7-8GTX+8GB&id=2111
Tiny gains there is the desktop and app snappiness I talk of.......most people would not even notice it nor care to pay extra for it.

1600MHz 7-8-8-24-2N @ 1.50v
http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-1600c7d-16gtx

 

bump lol p


I think you been 40 lane OC too long.


hehehe

Got to come back to earth

This instance we got to think like "Beggars can't be choosers" mate. >>> me lool

Why I recommend and use 2 x 4GB F3 1600MHz 8.8.8.24 for rfactor2 and H97 non K setup.

16GB of C7 would be nice but money is better spent elsewhere in his initial build .......... like 4690 rather then 4460 he specced ( not to mention the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H being a waste with no performance gain for non K chip )

IE: 4690's 3.9GHz turbo is not too bad a sweet spot.

 

Yeah, I'm getting an H87 instead and hopefully something a little faster than a 4460.

Is it really worth it getting 2x 4GB RAM sticks? Because it would be nice to get a 1x 8GB, with the option of getting another 8GB stick in the future. Or are there really no gains going from 8GB to 16GB of RAM for racing sims?

 

I would personally not get a single stick, that's ancient history. Dual-channel RAM has been the standard for literally 10 years now, maybe more actually.

 

Get the H97 not H87 and the 4690 is not much dearer

Trust me, you will be very happy indeed.

 

? I already have a 4930k, but thanks for the advice, lol.

 

loool

oppsa wrong quote

H97 + 4690 = little faster and more around the good ballpark of 4GHz

 

Most new top of the line cards can run multiple monitors with out sli. I USE GTX 680 4 GIG EVGA NO PROBS WITH RUNNING TRIPPLE SCREENS

 

Will aim for that

Cool, what resolution are you running at and what FPS are you getting?

 

Durge's suggestion of the following:
- H97 chipset motherboard
- non-k i5-4690
- 8GB (4GB x 2) 1600 MHz dual-channel RAM - preferably this exact model http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231536 (it's timings are 7-8-8-24 instead of the standard 8-8-8-24, a whole CL lower, but you're not paying more for it, it's $83 on Newegg, whereas the slower CL8 models (8-8-8-24) are all $85+ )

...is an awesome choice if you're looking for a non-overclocking but powerful gaming PC on a budget.

P.S. Make sure to enable/activate the XMP memory profile in your BIOS or else your RAM will most likely default to 1333 MHz + some stupidly low timings. Everyone should check this, regardless of CPU/motherboard/chipset - even extreme high-end users. Many aren't even aware of this.