Page 1 of 2
1
2
LastLast
  1. #1

    Building a SWTOR computer, what setting do you think this build will be able to play

    Motherboard: ASUS M5A88-M

    Graphics Card: Radeon HD7770 1GB

    CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

    RAM: 8 GB

    HDD: 1 TB 7200 rpm

    PSU: 600 W

    Building a computer is fun but it would be my first gaming build, please help me with this. I'm aiming for max or ultra settings with still great FPS.

  2. #2
    It needs an SSD for shur. They use disk memory paging. In 2012. In a AAA game. Yes. They did. ROFLMFAO. The last game that used memory paging was like 15 years ago. In the mid-90's. Since Windows 95 you musn't page your memory. It was in DOS times. And even then it was frowned upon.

    Ok it needs an SSD or a RAM drive. OMFG... RAM drive in 2012..... I can't stress enough how badly engineered SWTOR is. Laughable. They should learn from STO.

  3. #3
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bear Taco, Left Hand of Death
    Posts
    21,280
    Quote Originally Posted by rigo93 View Post
    Motherboard: ASUS M5A88-M

    Graphics Card: Radeon HD7770 1GB

    CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

    RAM: 8 GB

    HDD: 1 TB 7200 rpm

    PSU: 600 W

    Building a computer is fun but it would be my first gaming build, please help me with this. I'm aiming for max or ultra settings with still great FPS.
    Yeah I hate to tell you but what I underlined should not be something you attempt for SWTOR. The game is setup pretty terribly to where it is unreliable with any machine what you will get. I have fine performance on a mid grade machine, but see plenty of people with 2k rigs having issues. It's really hit or miss.

    As someone who went with the same processor you have, I will say to forget it and go with an intel i5 or i7 if you have the money. This processor is the best for a low budget though, which is why I got it. I don't know your budget, but you are aiming pretty average. Higher grade intel cpu, 700+ PSU, and 100% agree on a SSD.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    Yeah I hate to tell you but what I underlined should not be something you attempt for SWTOR. The game is setup pretty terribly to where it is unreliable with any machine what you will get. I have fine performance on a mid grade machine, but see plenty of people with 2k rigs having issues. It's really hit or miss.

    As someone who went with the same processor you have, I will say to forget it and go with an intel i5 or i7 if you have the money. This processor is the best for a low budget though, which is why I got it. I don't know your budget, but you are aiming pretty average. Higher grade intel cpu, 700+ PSU, and 100% agree on a SSD.
    No reason to go with i7 over an i5 unless you want to wast $100. Only difference is Hyperthreading, which most games including SWTOR do not support. An i5-3750k is the best gaming CPU on the market currently.

    An SSD, while great, will NOT improve game performance. It will NOT give you more FPS. If you have a computer, that plays the game on low and put in an SSD it will not allow you to push the settings any higher. All and SSD will do is make Windows load faster and in some game, not usually MMOS, reduce loading times. The reason for loading screens on MMOs though is you are usually waiting on data from the server, not your HD.

    If you want more advice on a build, I suggest heading to the Computer sub forum here, lots more people there that can help you.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    An SSD, while great, will NOT improve game performance.
    False.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    It will NOT give you more FPS.
    True.

    In the case, this game's (Star Wars: The Legendary Loading Screens) performance will be hugely improved by an SSD or excessive amount of RAM for RAM disk, or an USB stick + some hacking.

  6. #6
    Pit Lord
    15+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    2,444
    SSD will improve load times, which should already be decent if you have a 7200RPM platter drive with a reasonable amount of cache on it.

    The game is still perfectly playable without one. I often load into Flashpoints faster than the rest of my group, and advance through cutscenes faster too.

    Edit: I would follow Kitty's advice and go with an Intel Core i5 over the AMD. RAM is also dirt cheap right now, so you could consider upgrading to 12 or 16GB if your budget can handle it.

    Please remember that you will have to install a 64-bit OS.
    Last edited by Profyrion; 2012-12-05 at 08:11 PM.
    ^ The above should be taken with two grains of salt and a fistful of "chill the F* out".

  7. #7
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bear Taco, Left Hand of Death
    Posts
    21,280
    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    No reason to go with i7 over an i5 unless you want to wast $100. Only difference is Hyperthreading, which most games including SWTOR do not support. An i5-3750k is the best gaming CPU on the market currently.
    Maybe, but without knowing how much money he wants to spend we can't accurately say one over the other. If money isn't an issue it's not exactly the 'best gaming cpu on the market' if there is something better, regardless of how little it is better.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    An SSD, while great, will NOT improve game performance.
    I'm sorry, but loading screens are one of the biggest drawbacks in this game and it has been proven that a SSD does dramatically decrease this. He didn't ask how to build a system for any other games thank you.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    If you want more advice on a build, I suggest heading to the Computer sub forum here, lots more people there that can help you.
    Even though the rest of your post seemed pretty condescending I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you were just trying to help him out. Obviously the computer forums have great advice, but the people who actually play SWTOR and know how it runs answered the question just fine. Thanks.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    . Higher grade intel cpu, 700+ PSU, and 100% agree on a SSD.
    This may not be to correct forum but

    Having a 700 watt PSU is overkill for majority of the systems, 500 watt is more then enough especially if your a beginner with computers.

  9. #9
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bear Taco, Left Hand of Death
    Posts
    21,280
    Quote Originally Posted by ati87 View Post
    This may not be to correct forum but

    Having a 700 watt PSU is overkill for majority of the systems, 500 watt is more then enough especially if your a beginner with computers.
    No it's perfectly understandable, like I said...with no budget I'm aiming to provide solutions for the long term. I don't ever short term buy computers. It was a pretty vague request that can be clarified with questions. I guess I should have erred on the safe side and provided more reasoning.

    You are correct that lower PSU's are more than adequate. Typically getting the most bang for your buck is advisable though, as we all know from life in general.

    Not to mention that it depends on what he actually winds up getting. Some systems will require specific watts or they won't work. I guess if he could provide more clarity on whether it's a budget system or what he's aiming for beyond this one game and then ask those questions in the computer forum it would be a lot more beneficial.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    Maybe, but without knowing how much money he wants to spend we can't accurately say one over the other. If money isn't an issue it's not exactly the 'best gaming cpu on the market' if there is something better, regardless of how little it is better.
    Actually, no, the i5-3570k IS, without any other considerations currently, the best CPU for gaming on the market. Most games do not even support Hyperthreading and those that do, do so poorly. I many games, you actually have to turn hyperthreading OFF to prevent crashes, rendering your i7 the exact same thing as an i5. SWTOR also does not support Hyperthreading, so an i7 is $100 wasted dollars. This is also the primary reason why intel is so much better than AMD for gaming. Intel generally focuses on making each core stronger, while AMD is focusing on splitting the work among more cores. The i5-3570k is also one of the easiest and best chips to OC currently.

    In summary, what an i7 gives you over an i5 does absolutely nothing for gaming, other than cause some games to crash. Now, if you are going to be streaming while playing, or doing video rendering on the side or something, than an i7 is better. However, nothing like that was mentioned.

    On the issue of SSD, increasing a build from 8GB to 16GB of RAM is a lot cheaper than adding an SSD. Setting up SWTOR to then run on a RAM disk would provide the same result for a lot less money.

    Was not intended to be condescending, just stating facts.

  11. #11
    Stood in the Fire
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    DFW
    Posts
    491
    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    Actually, no, the i5-3570k IS, without any other considerations currently, the best CPU for gaming on the market. Most games do not even support Hyperthreading and those that do, do so poorly. I many games, you actually have to turn hyperthreading OFF to prevent crashes, rendering your i7 the exact same thing as an i5. SWTOR also does not support Hyperthreading, so an i7 is $100 wasted dollars. This is also the primary reason why intel is so much better than AMD for gaming. Intel generally focuses on making each core stronger, while AMD is focusing on splitting the work among more cores. The i5-3570k is also one of the easiest and best chips to OC currently.

    In summary, what an i7 gives you over an i5 does absolutely nothing for gaming, other than cause some games to crash.

    On the issue of SSD, increasing a build from 8GB to 16GB of RAM is a lot cheaper than adding an SSD. Setting up SWTOR to then run on a RAM disk would provide the same result for a lot less money.

    Was not intended to be condescending, just stating facts.
    I've been curious about this. Do you have a link that would help set it up? And how much space would you need to dedicate to the RAM disk to run SWTOR?

  12. #12
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bear Taco, Left Hand of Death
    Posts
    21,280
    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    On the issue of SSD, increasing a build from 8GB to 16GB of RAM is a lot cheaper than adding an SSD. Setting up SWTOR to then run on a RAM disk would provide the same result for a lot less money.

    Was not intended to be condescending, just stating facts.
    I hear you on the i5-i7 issue. It's just very hard for me to consider one piece of technology better just because you don't have to turn off a modern technological application. And I don't use them personally, though would have no problems with disabling the features that render games defunct if needed. Your advice is sound though for the reasons you stated and I would not personally buy an i7.

    Also, they stated they have some experience building computers (but not for gaming) but I didn't want to even mention RAM disks when SSDs (which are pretty cheap now) can just be plugged in and are more beneficial overall for the whole system imo. Paying $50 more to increase just about everything you do on the computer is a good upgrade to me. Let's not even talk about when the power goes out and you are using a RAM drive...unless you have an emergency power supply.

    Newegg had a lot of great deals on mid range SSDs for less than standard HDs on Black Friday. I'm sure they will have good deals coming up soon for Christmas and next year when the tech goes up. It's just a great investment for a system.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    I hear you on the i5-i7 issue. It's just very hard for me to consider one piece of technology better just because you don't have to turn off a modern technological application. And I don't use them personally, though would have no problems with disabling the features that render games defunct if needed. Your advice is sound though for the reasons you stated and I would not personally buy an i7.

    Also, they stated they have some experience building computers (but not for gaming) but I didn't want to even mention RAM disks when SSDs (which are pretty cheap now) can just be plugged in and are more beneficial overall for the whole system imo. Paying $50 more to increase just about everything you do on the computer is a good upgrade to me. Let's not even talk about when the power goes out and you are using a RAM drive...unless you have an emergency power supply.

    Newegg had a lot of great deals on mid range SSDs for less than standard HDs on Black Friday. I'm sure they will have good deals coming up soon for Christmas and next year when the tech goes up. It's just a great investment for a system.
    I hear you on the ease of use issue on the SSD for sure. I should have stated, if he has the money to spend, go for it. However, while they have dropped in price, you still pretty much need another HD for storage and non-gaming applications if you buy an SSD. They are very small, unless you spend a whole lot. So the price of the SSD is a bit more than just $50, since you still need some sort of standard HD alongside it for storage, it is actually the complete cost of the SSD, which is more like $80 for a cheap 128MB. I would not recommend any smaller than a 128 either. The $80 128's that I saw were also not a brand I am comfortable recommending, so you're really looking at adding $100 to the cost of the system.

    All this is just my opinion, not meant to be condescending in the least. Just offering some insight from 10+ years of building gaming computers.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-05 at 04:13 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Parrin View Post
    I've been curious about this. Do you have a link that would help set it up? And how much space would you need to dedicate to the RAM disk to run SWTOR?
    http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=154568

  14. #14
    Get a WD Raptor drive instead.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Lwa View Post
    Get a WD Raptor drive instead.
    and people giving advice like this is why I recommended the computer sub forum. You won't see this nonsense there.

    yes, a 10000 RPM HD will be a little faster than a 7200, but nowhere near the level of an SSD or using a RAM Drive. It is also loud.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Lwa View Post
    Get a WD Raptor drive instead.
    2006 called, they told me they wanted their raptor disks back

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    Maybe, but without knowing how much money he wants to spend we can't accurately say one over the other. If money isn't an issue it's not exactly the 'best gaming cpu on the market' if there is something better, regardless of how little it is better.


    I'm sorry, but loading screens are one of the biggest drawbacks in this game and it has been proven that a SSD does dramatically decrease this. He didn't ask how to build a system for any other games thank you.



    Even though the rest of your post seemed pretty condescending I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you were just trying to help him out. Obviously the computer forums have great advice, but the people who actually play SWTOR and know how it runs answered the question just fine. Thanks.
    1. Unless hes doing uber video rendering yadda yadda all that junk there is absolutlely no reason for an i7. There is no future proofing of going i7 right now because in all honesty there isnt any forseeable near future of hyperthreading in games. By the time it does go really mainstream anything from this generation would have to be replaced anyways. There arent enough games out to warrant paying $100 more for an i7. Also in the games listed in benchmarks I'd rather save my 100 bucks and place it else where for the 1-2% gain of having and i7.
    3570k vs 3770k

    2. I've played Star Wars and have a Samsung 830 SSD and have played it on both an SSD and a WD Cav Black. The game is just all aorund shitty optimized and load screens suck with an SSD or without. I think SSDs are great but buying one for the sole purpose of a 3 second quicker loading screen lawlz. Id save that 100 and put it towards a better video card as well or a nice cooler to OC a 3570k.

    3. There are quite a few people in the computer sub forum that play SWTOR and give pretty good advice on systems. Lathais was pretty spot on whether condescending or not.

    Also theres a RAMdisk sticky in the official forums general section for whoever was asking about it to lazy to scroll back up .
    CPU:i5 4670k@4.3Ghz GPU:Gigabyte GTX760 WF3 Mobo:Asrock Z87E-ITX RAM:8Gb GSkill Ares@1600MhzCase:Atomic Orange Bit Fenix Prodigy Cooling: Corsair H100i HDD:1Tb WD Cav Black SSD: Samsung 830 128Gb PSU:Seasonic M2II620 KB:Razer Black Widow Mouse:Razer Naga 2014

  18. #18
    Herald of the Titans Skarsguard's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Ravenloft usually
    Posts
    2,569
    Quote Originally Posted by Lathais View Post
    Actually, no, the i5-3570k IS, without any other considerations currently, the best CPU for gaming on the market. Most games do not even support Hyperthreading and those that do, do so poorly. I many games, you actually have to turn hyperthreading OFF to prevent crashes, rendering your i7 the exact same thing as an i5. SWTOR also does not support Hyperthreading, so an i7 is $100 wasted dollars. This is also the primary reason why intel is so much better than AMD for gaming. Intel generally focuses on making each core stronger, while AMD is focusing on splitting the work among more cores. The i5-3570k is also one of the easiest and best chips to OC currently.

    In summary, what an i7 gives you over an i5 does absolutely nothing for gaming, other than cause some games to crash. Now, if you are going to be streaming while playing, or doing video rendering on the side or something, than an i7 is better. However, nothing like that was mentioned.

    On the issue of SSD, increasing a build from 8GB to 16GB of RAM is a lot cheaper than adding an SSD. Setting up SWTOR to then run on a RAM disk would provide the same result for a lot less money.

    Was not intended to be condescending, just stating facts.
    The I5 is not the best cpu for gaming that would belong to the I7 because it is still going to give you 3-10 more fps then a I5. The I5 is the best mid budget cpu for sure and its the best cpu for 200 bucks.

    Source: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=551
    Last edited by Skarsguard; 2012-12-06 at 12:28 AM.

  19. #19
    My system has no problems with SWTOR whatsoever, high FPS and fast loadtimes and never any stuttering. It's running from the SSD

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by skarsguard View Post
    The I5 is not the best cpu for gaming that would belong to the I7 because it is still going to give you 3-10 more fps then a I5. The I5 is the best mid budget cpu for sure and its the best cpu for 200 bucks.

    Source: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=551
    The vast majority listed on that site are not games and just benchmarking software. The game that are listed there is a 3.6 difference at most. Is 3.6 FPS worth $100? When you are already above 60/120 and with VSync on there will be ZERO difference? Also, those are about the only games that actually support Hyperthreading. SWTOR does not, nor do most games. Any game that does not utilze Hyperthreadign will see ZERO difference between an i5 and an i7.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-05 at 07:32 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Lemmiwink View Post
    My system has no problems with SWTOR whatsoever, high FPS and fast loadtimes and never any stuttering. It's running from the SSD
    Yes, but the reason for that is not the SSD, all the SSD does is save you a littl on the load times. It does not make the game run smoother. It does not increase your FPS. It's the rest of your system doing that.

    All I was saying is that an SSD, while nice, is a luxury that offers very very little to MMO games, even SWTOR.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •