Newcomer / Intro PC Build Suggestions

Hey there,

New to the forum so I apologize if this isn't the appropriate location for this post.
I'm looking into a buying a PC on NewEgg which is in my price range and I wanted anyone's input on how Elite would run on it, specifications below.
The forum wouldn't allow me to post a link to the build so I had to paste it in here.
Any input would be appreciated, I'm beyond excited to play this game!

General Spec


ProcessorAMD FX-6300 3.5GHz Processor Main Features64 bit 6-Core Processor Cache Per Processor6MB L2 Cache Memory8GB DDR3 1333 Hard Drive1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM Optical Drive24x DVD+-R/+-RW DUAL LAYER DRIVE GraphicsAMD Radeon R7 250 2GB EthernetGigabit EthernetPower Supply350W Operating SystemWindows 8.1 64-BitSpecial FeaturesAZZA EOS 204 Gaming CaseMotherboard

ChipsetAMD 760GCPU

CPU TypeAMD FX-Series CPU SpeedFX-6300 (3.50GHz)L2 Cache Per CPU6MB L3 Cache Per CPU8MB CPU Socket TypeAM3+CPU Main Features64 bit 6-Core ProcessorGraphics

GPU/VGA TypeAMD Radeon R7 250 2GBMemory

Memory Capacity8GB DDR3 Memory SpeedDDR3 1333Memory Spec4GB x 2 Memory Slot (Total)2Memory Slot (Available)0 Maximum Memory Supported16GB
 
I felt dirty just reading that spec-sheet. This seems like a very-cheap-n-very-cheerful build.

The graphics card alone makes this computer not worth buying, it's worth about £50 and hardly better than the integrated graphics chips on CPUs. Don't buy an AMD CPU either, that very specific FX-6300 will simply bottleneck any decent GPU you put in there; Intel are top-trumps in the CPU market. There's no PSU manufacturer listed [and it's only 350W], don't buy one which isn't a reputable brand, guaranteed it won't meet any international standards.

My prognosis is: No, just no.

Buy PC Gamer and read their Gamers Build for < £1000. It will give you an idea of what to buy and what not to buy. Or just do some research on the good old internets. Have a look at Overclockers.co.uk to see some of their pre-built computers. Also, register at their forum - There's an entire section dedicated to speccing up builds, you'll get a fair idea of what's good and what's bad.

EDIT:
Something like this would run the game with flying colours:

ASUS/Gigabyte Z97 - Pro or Deluxe.
Intel Core i5 4690K 4 cores @ 3.5GHz->3.9GHz boost + An aftermarket CPU cooler. The Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212 is always a good bet.
NVIDIA GTX 970.
A 750W~ branded PSU [Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, NZXT, EVGA, etc] and at least Bronze certified. Preferably modular, to make your life easier.
A case of your choosing; I'd recommend looking at Corsair, Fractal, Antec, BitFenix.
At least 8GB of branded [Kingston, Corsair, etc] DDR3 @ 1600MHz.
+ Any HDDs + SSDs & keyboard, mouse, 360 pad/joystick.

Think that's about it. It will probably cost (at least) double of that rig you posted above, but it means:
1) You'll be able to play the game at a resolution higher than 800x600.
2) You won't need to upgrade it for a long-while.
3) The PSU won't catch fire or burn out.
 
Last edited:
If you're in the market for a PC consider putting it together yourself. You'll likely end up with a better result for the same money. If you've ever snapped together a model kit you've done a more difficult task. Plenty of info and advice out there and available with a quick search.
 
Well, on the one hand, My 6 year old PC plays Elite just fine. So if this is within your budget it should work for the game.

On the other hand, if this is meant to be your best possible build for the game, well, I haven't kept up with recent PC specs so I can't say for sure how cutting edge it is or isn't. When I do build PCs, I tend to start with the Ars Technica system guides.
 
from someone who builds custom LQ rigs for a living for gamers, I will tell you the number one thing you want to do is increase the ram if you can afford it. Windows 8.1 64bit runs native at around 2.5-3GB use standard. Meaning a high profile game is going to get close to maxing ram out. RAM in general should never get above 75% for best performance. Else you start running into issues with the system trying to use virtual memory (slower clock speed for HD use) more and it bogs the system down. I might also recommend that most motherboards are supporting SATA 6.0 at this point so to future proof yourself and your VM clocks for gaming, I would look into getting a board and hard drive that support it (10+k clock @6.0 makes the old 7200's look like stone age crap).

Make sure you keep all that cool with good air or LC and you're good.
 
Thanks for all this amazing advice, I'm being pointed in a good direction.
How would an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 and an Intel Core i7 4770 (3.40GHz) perform?
 
350w power supply is not really up to much and will struggle if you try a decent graphics card

best option for hardware comparisons is to look at tomshardware where they usually do a regular comparison chart for graphics cards in the various price ranges, you're also better asking in specialist forums like overclockers where they'll spend all day on it, whereas most folks here will want to talk about the game itself I'd expect

if you're on a budget then the PC gamer rig usually lists the components they recommend and reasons why

rock paper shotgun also did some recent articles on self build vs off the shelf
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/category/hardware/

And the components are discussed there without getting too detailed
 
Back
Top Bottom