Draigun, on September 11 2014 - 01:11 PM, said:
Silverfire, on September 11 2014 - 03:15 AM, said:
Draigun, on September 10 2014 - 11:23 PM, said:
Silverfire, on September 10 2014 - 07:11 PM, said:
You can probably do ultra Hawken at around $700-800 with a new computer from the ground up. $600 if you really squeeze and grind and cut a few corners.
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Sorry, but this is simply not true. I have rather high-end components with a GTX 780, and that alone cost me 3/4 of what your price target is. I'm even running PhysX on high. Even with that all, I still encounter severe bottlenecks in very specific places. I could push Ultra roughly 85% of the time, however. Part of the problem is the developer's poor optimization on both client and server side settings.
The way to get the best price-to-performance ratio for a gaming PC, is to just focus on the GPU.
Honestly, I would have spent the extra $125 for 2 way sli GTX 770, which is roughly a 170% boost over the GTX 780 as a single card.
Now, to the OP, I suggest getting an NVIDIA GPU, as HAWKEN is developed with that brand of video card in mind.
It's very possible. Maybe not for $600, but for $700-800 I can definitely build something that can do ultra.
Again it all depends on parts I would use and the various deals and sales that go on. I've seen deals where I can pick up a Haswell i7 for under $275. Or a 770 for under $300. Under $800_ No problem. Even at normal prices too.
And note that you still ought to have a decent CPU because otherwise, if you build an unbalanced rig, the CPU could very well be the bottleneck once more.
So, by Ultra settings, I'm assuming you're going to be running everything, including PhysX, at the maximum settings_ My definition of pushing ultra is keeping a minimum constant FPS equal to the monitor's refresh rate, which is 60Hz, or 60 FPS. If you're sensitive to input lag and FPS below 50 like me, it is a pain for it to fluctuate and bottleneck, and severely ruins the fluidity of the game.
I could see how the deals could lower the price of the entire rig altogether dramatically, however. You would seriously have to cut a lot of corners although, and even then, it could be considered risky for the quality of the components. You must ask yourself, is longevity and reliability more important than budget_ Other than that, yes, I agree, balancing the rig is rather something to note. I actually had a GTX 460 with a lowly i3, and the performance was more or less balanced for the games. However, new games are now optimized to utilize 4 cores instead of 2, so that could partially explain that.
Pardon me, I did exclude PhysX effects from the Ultra settings in my mind. If I may, Ultra settings without PhysX is well within the realm of possibilities sub $800. With PhysX, things get more expensive.
Other than that, what you're describing is accurate, stable 60 FPS, there will always be fluctuations with FPS due to various scenarios in the game, but in general, around 60 FPS and up.
And the deals I find are usually with recognizable, respectable name brands (NZXT, Cooler Master, Corsair, GSkill, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, EVGA, Kingston, etc.), not any of the offbrand names that nobody really recognizes.
Edited by Silverfire, September 11 2014 - 04:24 PM.