It's been very interesting to read about Greyfuss' new computer build. I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want in a new computer without going overboard. He was recommended the i5 for a processor based on cost/performance ratio for an adventure player. I was wondering what would be best for me. I would like to keep my cost down, but I need a processor that can handle any RPG on the market at full graphics. That includes Witcher 3 when it comes out. Would I be better off with an i7? What do you think?

Games are more to do with the graphics card and relatively little to do with the CPU.

Good to know. Is the Geforce 660ti 2gb enough of a card for all RPG's? Or should I get something more powerful?

Don't really know much about GFX cards but from a quick read it seems pretty good, not very old either. I'm sure someone with more experience with gfx cards and RPG games will give you a more definitive answer

I'm checking out eCollege selections and I came up with this build. How do you think it will work with the newest RPG's?

: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Fan/Heatsink (2x120mm fans)

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H (Intel Z77, 3xPCI-E, 8xSATA, 4xDDR3)

8GB (4GBx2) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1866Mhz Lifetime Warranty

1TB Western Digital Black 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps

64GB Sandisk SDSSDP-064G-G25 SATA3 SSD

24X LiteON Label Tag Dual Layer DVD+/-RW DVD-RAM w/Nero

2GB GeForce GTX 660Ti GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Antec Black Three Hundred Two (3 5.25, 6 3.5) 2 Fans, Audio/USB 3.0

750watt Antec High Current Gamer Series 80 PLUS CERTIFIED

Onboard LAN included

Wireless B/G/N Dual Band PCI-Ex Adapter 600Mbps

Onboard Sound included

Internal All in 1 Card Reader

2x 120mm Case Fan

Wires and Cables ran behind case and tied up for maximum airflow

3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty

I always get power hungry when I look at computers. I'm hoping this compromise will work well and let me play any RPG or Adventure Game for a good while.

What do you think. Do you see area for improvement?

Sharon

It looks good to me, but I'm not an expert on computers meant to run action-oriented games -- especially if you want to run at the highest specs.

What is the most resource-intensive current release RPG you want to play? Look at the recommended specs for that in regards to RAM and video card and give yourself a bit of head room for the next few years.

Thanks, Jenny100. I'm just afraid that when I do get it I'll find it's not powerful enough to do all I want it to. So it's hard to compromise into a reasonable machine.

One thing I know, I want it to be able to play Morrowind with all the mod alterations at full blast. I have no idea what it takes for that, I just know that I can't play it at the settings I want for middle range power on my current system.

Skyrim and Witcher 3 are the games I'm interested in playing and I want my new system to be able to play them without breaking stride.

Thanks for your response.

Sharon

Well here's the framerate you can expect for Skyrim.
Put your card name along with the game you want to check in the search.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Benchmarks.66057.0.html

Sharon, I'm out of town right now so I am away from my computer. I have a 3 GB 660Ti and I'm playing the newest Metro Last Light at maximum settings with no problems. That game along with Crysis 3 are supposed to be two of the most "video card hungry" games out there right now. I think everything looks good on that build for what you want to do, but I'll take a closer look later today. I did notice you have a small SSD included. Were you planning on having eCollegePC set it up for Intel Smart Response Technology or use it for a boot drive?

What's the difference between SRT and a boot drive? I am getting it because I remember you recommending it for a faster boot time. You said it made a big difference. I was wondering is that 64mb ssd enough for what I want or do I need something bigger?

Using an SSD as a boot drive means putting your operating system on the SSD, but keeping all you data on a much larger HDD. It takes a bit of management to make sure everything you download or install goes to the HDD. For instance, if you install a game, you will need to change the destination of the installation from the default C:\ to what ever the designation of your data drive is.

Intel Smart Response Technology uses the SSD as a cache drive. You install the operating system and all your downloads and programs on the larger HDD. The software stores data blocks for the programs and files you use the most on the faster SSD so you can access them quicker. I don't really know how it works, but on the computer my grandson and I built, it really does speed things up. But he still installs all his games and programs to the default C:\ drive. I found this that might help explain it better.

Intel Smat Response Technology

Thanks for the information, Draclvr. I guess I was originally planning to use it as a boot drive. However, I like the idea of a cache to speed things up. I'm concerned with downloads.
My Big Fish games tend to end up wherever Big Fish puts them. I don't know that I can change that so I think it will be better and easier on me to use it for SRT. Which do you think is the more efficient usage?

You can tell Big Fish where to put your downloads. It's an option in the Game Manager. I have all mine put in my Downloads folder, but you can tell it to put them wherever you want.

SRT has nothing to do with downloads or your internet speed. All it does is store information about your most used programs and opens them up more quickly. I notice on my grandson's computer that when I click on IE or a game icon, the program is opened instantly. They claim quicker boot times, but I haven't noticed much difference there.

Thanks Draclvr. Which do you prefer to use - SRT or boot drive? Because they both sound good.

I would say the SRT because I don't have to do anything. With my 60 GB boot drive, I have to pay attention to the remaining space on the drive. I have to constantly empty out the temp files in the hidden files. I have everything pointed to my large data drive, but stuff still creeps on to the boot drive. It would help if the SSD was larger. If I did it again, I'd get a minimum of a 120 or 256 GB SSD.

You would get the best performance with the boot drive, but you just have to pay a little more attention to what's going on.

While you're looking and trying to decide what to get, you might try using a video card comparison at GPU Boss. You can plug in different cards and compare them side-by-side. I don't know what your budget is, but if you can edge up to the GTX 670, that would give you even more performance. I had to balance my budget with getting the most bang for my buck, so went with the 3 GB 660Ti. I was leaning towards the GTX 670, but then Newegg put that 660Ti on sale for $30 off.

Thanks Draclvr. I'll get the larger SSD and use it as a boot drive and I'll see if I can get the 670 video card.

You might have to email them to ask them to put your operating system on the SSD then. I'm not sure how they handle that. Jenny posted a link on how to point your data to the HDD, but I don't remember what it was. I'm away from home now in NW Iowa, so am not at my computer.

If you get the bigger SSD, you can always put a few of your most used programs there too.