GamerSushi Asks: PC Specs?

Unreal 3 Samaritan

I’ve done this a couple of times before, but since I just upgraded my PC last week, I figured it was time to do so again. You know, just because.

The PC upgrade comes courtesy of Nick, who priced out a few of these parts for me. I gave him a $500 limit (before the OS and HDD) and he came through pretty well, I think. The result is a new PC that isn’t the fastest thing out there by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a far sight better than the 6 year old machine I’ve been using, without breaking the bank. I doubt I’d be able to run the Unreal 3 Samaritan demo on it in a couple of years, but still.

Here’s what’s under the hood, minus the power supply:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
GPU: Radeon HD6850 1GB
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad-Core with 3.2GHz 4000MHz
MEM: 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz

It scored a 3300 on the 3D Mark 11 demo, which is about standard. Like I said, nothing special, but not bad for coming in under $500 bucks. So far, I’m really happy with everything, and I really can’t wait to start digging into some more PC games in the months to come. I’ve already got Shogun 2 on the docket as well as Magicka, and as soon as PSN gets back online I’m going to link my Steam account and play through Portal 2 on it as well. Also on the menu: Starcraft 2 and Civilization V. And Battlefield 3, whenever it drops.

Any other recommendations for me that are strictly PC fares? What are your PC specs? Go!

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I write about samurai girls and space marines. Writer for Smooth Few Films. Rooster Teeth Freelancer. Author of Red vs. Blue, The Ultimate Fan Guide, out NOW!

18 thoughts on “GamerSushi Asks: PC Specs?”

  1. I’ve always loved roaming around forums and looking at people’s siggies that were filled with comp stats.

    You know, some people would say that its like showboating your computer or the whole “my [censored] is bigger than yours” type of thing. I think its more of a “show people what type of computer best fits you” thing.
    For example, when I built my first computer, I had to do so much tedious research. Now, you can just look up someone’s specs and decide how you could change that to meet your needs and expectations.

    Heh. Just my two cents.

  2. Good work man. It always feels great to build something new and see how fast everyone else has been living their lives, lol.

    When I built mine, it was some of the best parts you could get, I need to up a few things soon, but I’m still running everything I want to flawlessly.

    MoBo: EVGA X58-SLI-LE
    CPU: QuadCore Intel Core i7 920, 2785 MHz (21 x 133)
    RAM: 6GB DDR3 1333 Corsair XMS3
    GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 275GTX 1GB

    Eddy if you’re looking for a great Indie Game, grab Gemini Rue, it’s a point and click with a twist, but the story is really awesome, espeically considering it was mostly built/written by just one man. It’s only 14.99 and there’s actually a Demo!

    http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/geminirue.htm

  3. Video card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.5 ghz
    RAM: 8gb

  4. Why would you buy a phenom II x4 right now ? A dual core sandy bridge intel cpu beats it, but if you REALLY need 4 cores, then buy a phenom II x2 and unlock that, has worked every time for everyone, including myself, I know. A 6850 would be beaten by a good gtx 460 1 gb.

    But I am a hypocrite, as I am now gaming with a 3 year old 8800gt and an unlocked phenom II x4 (it started out as a x2). I also have 8 gigs of ram, just because I could pick up another 4 gb really cheaply. I actually spent really little on the pc itself, I traded a silent, but slow video card for my “new” faster one, I bought the case, psu, one hdd and the dvd reader used. Then bought the Phenom II x2 550, ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro and some ram. Then I stuck an aftermarket cooler on both the gpu and the cpu to make them faster and a heck of a lot cooler and silent.
    But hey, it ran crysis 2 well.
    Enough.

    FYI, you should put an aftermarket cooler on the cpu as well, as the stock AMD coolers make a lot of noise.

  5. [quote comment=”16277″]Why would you buy a phenom II x4 right now ? A dual core sandy bridge intel cpu beats it, but if you REALLY need 4 cores, then buy a phenom II x2 and unlock that, has worked every time for everyone, including myself, I know. A 6850 would be beaten by a good gtx 460 1 gb.[/quote]

    Because it’s a good deal. Yes, he could buy a badass quad-core i5 sandy bridge, but he wouldn’t be getting the whole machine under $500. He wanted a quad-core proc, and there is nothing wrong with that. Also, not everyone wants to unlock or overclock procs, they just want to set it up and be done. The gtx 460 isn’t that much faster, and the 1GB flavor is more expensive than a 6850. He’s happy that he got a new machine and wanted to share, don’t shit in his cereal.

  6. [quote comment=”16277″]Why would you buy a phenom II x4 right now ? A dual core sandy bridge intel cpu beats it, but if you REALLY need 4 cores, then buy a phenom II x2 and unlock that, has worked every time for everyone, including myself, I know. A 6850 would be beaten by a good gtx 460 1 gb.

    But I am a hypocrite, as I am now gaming with a 3 year old 8800gt and an unlocked phenom II x4 (it started out as a x2). I also have 8 gigs of ram, just because I could pick up another 4 gb really cheaply. I actually spent really little on the pc itself, I traded a silent, but slow video card for my “new” faster one, I bought the case, psu, one hdd and the dvd reader used. Then bought the Phenom II x2 550, ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro and some ram. Then I stuck an aftermarket cooler on both the gpu and the cpu to make them faster and a heck of a lot cooler and silent.
    But hey, it ran crysis 2 well.
    Enough.

    FYI, you should put an aftermarket cooler on the cpu as well, as the stock AMD coolers make a lot of noise.[/quote]

    What language is this??? lol, this is why I am a console gamer.

  7. Here is what I am currently running.

    Mobo: ASUS P5NE-SLI
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4GHz)
    GPU: GeForce 9800 GTX
    RAM: 2GB DDR2 (I think, no clue on clock speed)
    OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

    I am going to build a new one closer to September for all the new games coming out. its specs are going to be more around this (will most likely be more up to date)

    Mobo: GigaByte GA-X58A-UD3R
    CPU: Intel Core i7-970 3.20 GHz
    GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB
    RAM: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz
    OS: Windows 7 Ultimate(or Home)

    Hopefully that bad boy or something similar would let me play Skyrim and Battlefield 3 on full go.

  8. Nice to see you back for one more round in pc gaming Eddy. I think you and Nick did a good job. That machine should be more than enough for you to enjoy up to date games. I’m currently only using my laptop since my desktop pc needs to be fixed. Who knows if this isn’t the reason I needed to upgrade mine too. Whenever I get a new pc I suddenly start to test all those games I couldn’t play before on full throttle. Fun times.

  9. I had my computer for a few years. Back then it was top notch, but since I built it to last I should only need to upgrade a part or so every couple of years until my motherboard becomes a choke point/unsupported slots.

    Mobo: MSI 790FX GD-70
    CPU: AMD phenom II x4 955
    GPU: 2 Radeon HD 4870’s 1gb each
    RAM: 8gb 1333mhz DDR3

    Any advice on what part I should upgrade first?

  10. Currently using my 4 year old HP with:

    Upgraded to 3GB of RAM (from 1GB)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GT
    AMD Athalon 64 Dual Processor

    And a CD/DVD drive that no longer works. Yay for Steam!

    Good news: I can still play computer games (sometimes).
    Also, gonna try to convince my parents for a nice Asus when I go off to college next year. This Asus: http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Gamers-G73JH-A1-17-Inch-Gaming/dp/B0039825JE/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303864947&sr=1-9 if possible.

    Sorry for the long link, and no mention of Sound cards? I am dissapoint.

  12. I’m terrible at checking my system specs so I just copied this off of the site where I bought all of the parts-

    Mobo: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula Motherboard – AMD 890FX, Socket AM3, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, RAID, SATA 6.0GB/s

    GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5970 Black Editio Video Card – 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI & Display Port

    CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ965FBGMBOX – 3.40GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan

    MEM: 8 GB Corsair CMT8GX3M4A1866C9 Dominator GT Dual Channel 8192MB PC15000 DDR3 Memory – 1866MHz, 4x2048MB, 9-9-9-24

    OS: Windows 7 Professional

    Overall I haven’t found a game capable of lagging it, so I’m happy with it.

  13. MoBo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (REV 1.0)
    CPU: Intel Core i7-930
    RAM: 6GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800
    GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X HD5870 1GB

  14. Don’t know about the states, but a core i3 two thousand something cpu is both faster and cheaper in my country 😛

    And unlocking cores nowadays is as easy as flipping a switch.
    Just sayin’

  15. Yay for building affordable gaming PC’s! but Eddy spending hundreds of hours researching motherboards just to go back to the first one you looked at is half the fun of building one 🙂

    MoBo: ASRock P45XE
    CPU: ntel Core 2-Duo E5200 (2.5GHz)
    RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX
    GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX295 1.75GB
    Sound card: x-fi titanium fatal1ty
    OS: Windows 7 Home Premum 64 Bit

    I second Julez on Gemini Rue, its an awesome indie game. If you are looking for an old school ScummVM nostalgia type of fix there is nothing better.

  17. This is the computer I have now; it’s a $400-500, low-end gaming laptop that gets the job done, without all the purtyness or smoothness: http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?id=149

    RAM: 4GB DDR2 (or 3)

    HDD: was 320 GB, got a 720GB at 7200 RPM for 100 bucks.

    OS: Windows 7 Premium

    GFX: nVidia GeForce 8200M G (I think it’s 256 MB, even though other places say it’s about 1.6 GB )

    SND: Some generic HD audio thing. Not too great. Also, speaker placement on this computer is terrible.

    CPU: Intel core 2 Duo at 2.2 GHz

    Battery: was a crappy 6-cell, but upgraded to a 9-cell and I’ve been quite happy with it.

    …and THIS bad boy is what I’ve got my sights set on. It’s amazingly cheap for a desktop replacement: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152239

    RAM: 8GB DDR3 (which I plan to upgrade to the max, 12)

    HDD: 1 TB, 7200 RPM (this is great, because I have a LOT of music, videos, and games. No, I did not steal them ;P

    OS: Windows 7 Premium

    GFX: nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1.5GB GDDR5, DirectX 11 ready

    SND: Some great sound card I can’t find. Speaker placement on this rig is fantastic, from what I’ve read.

    CPU: Intel Core i7 at 2.0 GHz, which can be boosted to 2.9 GHz

    Battery: 9-cell (you pretty much need a 9-cell for something like this)

    Only problem is there’s no Blu-ray drive. That’s like a Hummer with small tires.

    Also, Eddy’s rig looks excellent, especially given the price. It really does pay to do your homework, eh?

  18. Processor: Intel E8400 Duo 3.00 Ghz
    Video Card: Radeon 4850 w/ 1 GB of dedicated RAM
    RAM: 4GB

    Since it’s below Brink’s recommended specs I’m thinking about upgrading for under a thousand dollars. Any suggestions?

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