[NYCMedic]

Greetings Everyone.

I have lurked on this forum for the past 2 weeks ever since I stumbled across a YouTube Video with a link here. I have since read lots of your posts and seen videos etc. All I can say is WOW!!! And thank you to those of you in the community that create Mods etc for people to use.

I played GTA4 on Xbox for a couple of months last year when I was laid up with a broken knee I got in an accident responding to a MVA. I thought the XBox version was cool, but to see what can be done with Mods, modeled cars, scenario mods etc... I want to play it on PC.

I recently won a contest that gave me a $1500 Amazon Gift Card... Woo Hoo. So my question to all you hard core PC Guys... What computer on Amazon can I get for the 1500 that will have awesome graphics and the capability to play the Police patrol mods, install some of your cool police models and possibly the Icenhancer?

I read several times on here that its best to build your own, but I know nothing about how to put together or rebuild a computer. Ask me how to save a life... that I can do.. but computers... I just wanna press a button. LOL

Can you guys give me some help?

Thank you in advance. I hope to be playing and making videos with GTA4 very soon!!

Tim

[PrometheusX]

$1500 BUILD

Component	Item	Price
Motherboard	ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68 - SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 - ATX Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 LGA 1155 Motherboard	$133
Processor	Intel Core i7 Processor i7-2600K 3.4GHz 8MB LGA1155 CPU	$305
Graphics Card	Sapphire Radeon HD7950 3GB DDR5 Video Card	$450
Memory	Patriot Sector 5 G Series DDR3 16GB 1333MHz Quad Memory	$85
Hard Drive	Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive	$100
Solid State Drive	SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s2.5-Inch Solid State Drive	$140
Case	Thermaltake V9 BlacX Mid Tower Case	$94
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W Power Supply	$189
Total	[Grand Theft Auto IV 1080p @ Highest w/ENB Settings - 60 FPS]	$1495

This post has been edited by PrometheusX on Friday, Apr 13 2012, 08:02

[yojo2]

I'd change the video card, this Sapphire has pathetic cooling system. This one could do: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displa...34308100&sr=1-6
Also, a 1000W PSU is an extreme overkill for this rig I'd get a Corsair AX650 instead, it's somewhat better made and much cheaper.

[PrometheusX]

QUOTE (yojo2 @ Friday, Apr 13 2012, 09:10)

I'd change the video card, this Sapphire has pathetic cooling system. This one could do: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displa...34308100&sr=1-6 Also, a 1000W PSU is an extreme overkill for this rig I'd get a Corsair AX650 instead, it's somewhat better made and much cheaper.

You sure about that? What if he decides to "CrossFire"?

[NYCMedic]

QUOTE (PrometheusX @ Friday, Apr 13 2012, 08:00)

$1500 BUILD Component Item Price Motherboard ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68 - SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 - ATX Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 LGA 1155 Motherboard $133 Processor Intel Core i7 Processor i7-2600K 3.4GHz 8MB LGA1155 CPU $305 Graphics Card Sapphire Radeon HD7950 3GB DDR5 Video Card $450 Memory Patriot Sector 5 G Series DDR3 16GB 1333MHz Quad Memory $85 Hard Drive Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive $100 Solid State Drive SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s2.5-Inch Solid State Drive $140 Case Thermaltake V9 BlacX Mid Tower Case $94 Power Supply Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W Power Supply $189 Total [Grand Theft Auto IV 1080p @ Highest w/ENB Settings - 60 FPS] $1495

Thank you for the reply...

My only issue is that I have no clue as to how to put a machine together. Does all the stuff come with the cabling etc? Is there not a complete system that anyone could recommend that will do GTA4 , and its mod justice? I dont want a system to play it where it will look like on Xbox. I like the shiny textures of the cars or the streets on a rainy day. And I gotta have one of those police patrolling mods. And Snow looks awesome too.

I just dont know how to put together a system... would like an out of box solution if possible... or at the very least... out of box plus plug-in type of upgrades. putting a hole system together I can not do.

Also if the system could be good for the new GTA5 without having to start from scratch that would be cool too.

Thank you guys for your replies!!

[YankeesPwnMets]

Just put some time to learning and you'll get the hang out of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=relmfu

[marmoo]

Yankee is right

It really isn't that hard. I taught myself about a year ago with a mixture of youtube video's and reading up online as Yankee suggests
Always best to have someone with you on the 1st time who knows how to put them together. They can advise you on exactly how to approach your build - you will be surprised. I am sure one of your friends or someone in the family knows how to bang a machine together.

Don't forget to buy them a big drink after because at the end of that 1st build and the bastard works..you are so happy

Once you do it once..it's like riding a bike .You will never forget

I've even been able to make a few quid from building them for people at work

I love building PC's but always come here to find out what best parts to put in are and why

[yojo2]

QUOTE (PrometheusX @ Friday, Apr 13 2012, 19:59)

You sure about that? What if he decides to "CrossFire"?

1000W would be suitable for 4x HD7950, so it's still an overkill :E According to techpowerup.com, HD7950 consumes only 120-150W in games.

[NYCMedic]

Thanks guys. What do you think of either of these?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...8787&CatId=4928

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...3893&CatId=4928


Im thinking of selling the gift card so Im not limited to Amazon... and throw in a couple of dollars if need be.

Anyone from the NYC . Brooklyn area... if I buy the parts can throw a system together for me for a fee?

Thanks again!!

Tim

[NYCMedic]

QUOTE (YankeesPwnMets @ Friday, Apr 13 2012, 19:24)

Just put some time to learning and you'll get the hang out of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=relmfu

Awesome Videos!!!!!

Thank you for showing me them.

Tim

[unc13bud]

nonononono don't sell it. you can get several decent pre-built machines on there. when i read the original post, i thought immediately

QUOTE

My only issue is that I have no clue as to how to put a machine together.

, so it was a bit funny when folks started configuring diy setups.
here are some right off the dome:
oops, amazon delisted the $1499 alienware they had (or maybe they raised the price, either/or)
but maingear makes pretty nice pc,
http://www.amazon.com/A8-3850-Radeon-Hybri...4445337&sr=8-16
ask them if they can switch that hybrid crossfire out for you, tell them you want to play GTA IV. the important thing to remember is that to play (you never said what resolution you are going to play at?! most important consideration these days, imo) GTA IV @ resolutions above 1280x1024, its good to have a quad-core CPU and either a nvidia card with more than 150 shader processing cores, or an ati/amd with 800. you could also buy a prebuilt machine with a quad core and just add a video card and perhaps a power supply (if necessary)

[squared]

Wow, I haven't logged in to these forums for a long while, but now that I saw your thread, I just had to voice my opinoin

First off - do NOT buy a 1000W PSU, because you DO NOT need it. 650-700W is enough, even for modern graphics cards in SLI/Crossfire.
Don't get the 2600k, get the i5 2500k instead - buying the 2600k is a waste of money for you, since the only real advantage the i7 got over the i5, is Hyper threading, and that will ONLY help you when encoding/rendering movies, rendering 3D images etc (so only applications that can take advantage of HT, and no games do), and has zero impact in games. The i5 is a fantastic CPU, and the perfect choice for gaming.

Also, you really don't need 16Gb of RAM - 8 is the sweet spot, and noticeably cheaper. You will most likely never run out of ram with 8Gb, unless again, you're doing some heavy video editing and 3D modelling etc.

I'd rather recommend a better graphics card, where the money will be best spent - the nVidia GTX680 2GB is the best card you can buy at the moment, and soon there will even be 4GB versions, but you only need that if you're planning on playing on multiple monitors, and using resolution of 2560 and up. Either that, or the Radeon 7970, which is AMD/ATIs best offering, I even heard that it has recieved a price drop recently, so it's not a bad choice either.

So my recomendation would be:
i5 2500k
Z68 motherboard
8Gb RAM
GTX680
SSD for your OS - 90-120Gb, but remember you don't need to install games on your SSD, as in 9/10 cases, it won't help loading times anyway. Only games that uses streamed, compressed data benefits from it.
650-700W quality PSU

But, at the end of this month/beginning of May, there will be new Intel CPUs coming out, namely Ivy Bridge. Now, the performance difference isn't big, or even worth mentioning (in games anyway), the new CPUs are mostly more efficient (due to their new 22nm manufacturing process) and runs cooler, which is good for overclocking - but if you're not into that, there's not really a need for one.

The i5 is still a fantastic CPU, and the best choice for gamers, and the graphics card is the single most important piece of hardware when it comes to games, so spend your money there.

This post has been edited by squared on Tuesday, Apr 17 2012, 07:12