Building a Computer for SimCity

[C4tson 0]

Hello,

 

First post and I need a little bit of help.  I am building my first computer and I want to run simcity 5 on med to high settings.  I found this buying guide and I wondered if it was a good fit. Input is definitely welcomed, i'm looking looking to save money (under 600 budget) where I can.

 

 Processor Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz $129.99

 

 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H $99.99

 

Memory Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $47.99

 

Graphics MSI Radeon HD 7770 $119.99

 

Storage Seagate Barracuda 7,200 RPM 1TB $79.99 Asus DRW-24B1ST $17.99

 

Audio Integrated $0

 

Enclosure Corsair Carbide 200R $69.99

 

Power supply Corsair CX430M $49.99

 

Total   $615.92
 

 

And of course thank you in advance,

 

Craig

[DmainEvent 195]

 

 

That should be all you need.

[Catchin22 299]

^ haha. It would be better if you gave us your total budget to work with.

[nicholas.post86 8]

Are you going to use fans for cooling or an alternative method?

[C4tson 0]

Thank you for replying,

 

Hopefully try to keep the total cost below 600 dollars. I will be using fans not water cooling.

 

Craig

[Catchin22 299]

I would go with this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/wishlist/2SX5CUUURLC5N/?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=simcity5-20

 

Total $780 but that includes a DVD Writer and OS which you did not include. So really it's about $80 higher than what you configured. That video card will be much, much better (about TWICE as fast) and well worth the $80 increase.

[pickled_pig 7]

Looks like a good start.

 

My understanding is the main simulation is single-threaded, though the game does take advantage of multiple cores.  The i3 should be a sufficient processor.

 

8GB of RAM is good, and 1600 MHZ is the standard nowadays.

 

I'd upgrade the graphics though.  The two betas have indicated the game is really GPU-intensive and can use quite a bit of graphics power.  I'd up to a 7850/7870, but that might also mean you have to up your PSU wattage.  A 7950 would be ideal but if you're not gaming regularly it might be overkill.  I have a 6870 and it ran the beta on high, though with some hiccups.

 

Edit:  I realize you're trying to stay under $600.  Your main goal, then, should be to look for savings on the other parts to spend more on the GPU.  7850s go on sale for $150, so if you're able to cut $40 off your build you can throw one of those in easily.  To hunt the sales, have you ever used www.pcpartpicker.com?  I used this when building and it was super useful.  The only challenge is the sales on the main sites, like newegg, can change on a day-by-day basis.

[ZrC 3]

Hello,

 

First post and I need a little bit of help.  I am building my first computer and I want to run simcity 5 on med to high settings.  I found this buying guide and I wondered if it was a good fit. Input is definitely welcomed, i'm looking looking to save money (under 600 budget) where I can.

 

 Processor Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz $129.99

 

 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H $99.99

 

Memory Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $47.99

 

Graphics MSI Radeon HD 7770 $119.99

 

Storage Seagate Barracuda 7,200 RPM 1TB $79.99 Asus DRW-24B1ST $17.99

 

Audio Integrated $0

 

Enclosure Corsair Carbide 200R $69.99

 

Power supply Corsair CX430M $49.99

 

Total   $615.92

 

 

And of course thank you in advance,

 

Craig

That PC will run the game with everything maxed just fine. Many underestimate the i3 but it's a very capable cpu (as in it smashed my old QX6850 which was a $1000 cpu at the time)

[Volver 1]

A few thoughts

 

Hello,

 

First post and I need a little bit of help.  I am building my first computer and I want to run simcity 5 on med to high settings.  I found this buying guide and I wondered if it was a good fit. Input is definitely welcomed, i'm looking looking to save money (under 600 budget) where I can.

 

 Processor Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz $129.99

 

 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H $99.99

 

Memory Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $47.99

 

Graphics MSI Radeon HD 7770 $119.99

 

Storage Seagate Barracuda 7,200 RPM 1TB $79.99 Asus DRW-24B1ST $17.99

 

Audio Integrated $0

 

Enclosure Corsair Carbide 200R $69.99

 

Power supply Corsair CX430M $49.99

 

Total   $615.92
 

 

And of course thank you in advance,

 

Craig

 

A few things to consider:

1. If you don't see yourself upgrading the system significantly, i.e. with more memory sticks or another video card, you could probably save a bit on your motherboard. You might be buying several expansion & memory slots you don't need and won't use. A micro ATX like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157335 offers the same performance for half the price, only real difference being expansion capacity & physical size.

 

2. If you CAN see yourself upgrading the system down the road, you'll want a beefier power supply. 430W is sufficient for this build but doesn't leave much overhead to upgrade. I think the extra $50 for the 650W in Catchin22's list is smart even if you don't plan on upgrading. A stressed PSU might not let you know there's a problem until it fries a component or two.

 

3. Your display will have a significant impact on the 7770's performance too. It's far more likely to meet your expectations on, say, a single monitor at 1080p or less than it is on 2560 resolution and/or more than one screen.

 

4. Not as important as the above three, but I saw you intend to use the on-board audio. I always recommend people get a discreet sound card, if & when they can. Doesn't need to be an HT Omega or anything. Simply getting the audio chip away from all the interference on the motherboard makes a night and day difference. Not important to a lot of people but if you use your computer for gaming, listening to music, etc.it's money well spent, IMHO.

 

I guess that doesn't really answer the question but I hope it helps anyway.

 

Cheers

[Randall_Lind 19]

I rather have an ASUS board. No matter what never go cheap on motherboard. 

[jcole4lsu 32]

Gigabyte is not "going cheap" on a board.  They make good products.

 

The system in the OP will run the game fine.  Glassbox only makes use of a single core for the simulation, so there is no reason to go heavy on the CPU.  All of the graphics run on the GPU however, so keep that in mind.  The better the GPU, the better the graphics will look.  However I think the 7770 will run the game easily on High in 1080p.

[Randall_Lind 19]

Gigabyte is not "going cheap" on a board.  They make good products.

 

The system in the OP will run the game fine.  Glassbox only makes use of a single core for the simulation, so there is no reason to go heavy on the CPU.  All of the graphics run on the GPU however, so keep that in mind.  The better the GPU, the better the graphics will look.  However I think the 7770 will run the game easily on High in 1080p.

 

Sorry I was talking to Volver who listed an AsRock board.

[jcole4lsu 32]

ASRock makes good boards as well.  Toms Hardware (a very respected tech site) has given ASRock many recommendations and used their boards in several of their quarterly builds. 

[Randall_Lind 19]

I would not use them