Looking to pick up a new PC, suggested specs to handle both DayZ SA and other High-End games?

[hannibaldaplaya 1095]

Now, the reason I am asking is that I know DayZ and Arma 2 are games that handle your specifications in quite a weird manner, so I want to know what the best possible specs to get would be for my new PC. I need specs that not only handle DayZ SA and Arma 2 at a good framerate, but specs that also handle most games at a good framerate as well.

 

My budget is around $1000, and I'd just like to know your recommendations. I currently run the game at decent framerate, but it tanks in cities and makes PVP near impossible if I'm attacked. I've also been planning to get a new and better PC, so now is the time to make sure my desired specs can handle what I want to play.

 

Suggestions?

[Wh1spY 110]

Apparently DayZ make better use of an Intel-processor than an AMD one. I can't confirm that since I've only played DayZ on AMD rigs. But go for an Intel if you got the money for it, which it seems like you have.

Go for:
CPU: Intel, high end.
GPU: Nvidida GTX770 or better, or AMD R9 280 or better.
RAM: 8GB.

Also go for one or two SSDs.

I run the game at these frames per second:

35fps minimum and 45fps peak in citys like Cherno, it tend to stay around 40fps.
Just outside Cherno I get 40-50fps.
50-100+fps in wilderness, depending on angle of the camera.

with this rig:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 4.0GHz, 6 Cores.

GPU: Gainward GTX570, 1280MB VRAM. Normal clocks.
RAM: 8GB, Normal clocks.
HDD: Mechanical, 7200RPM

at 1920x1200px resolution.

This is my settings outside the game:

Important: The changes to the Dayz.exe have to be done with every restart of the game...
Task-manager -> Processes -> DayZ.exe, rightclick, "Set Affinity" (sets how many cores the game is allowed to use), Set it to 2 Cores. 
This will improve your fps with 5-10FPS depending on your specific CPU. If you use less then 2 or more than 2 you will get an loss of FPS.
In other words, DayZ won't make use of more than 2 cores.

Task-manager -> Processes -> DayZ.exe, rightclick, "Set priority, High".

Remember to protect your cfg's by putting "Read-Only" in it's properties after you have made these changes. (Rightclick, Properties, General, Attributes, Check "Read-Only". Otherwise the game will overwrite some of the values with every restart of the game!

COMPUTERNAME\Documents\DayZ\DayZ.cfg:

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1;
 

COMPUTERNAME\Documents\DayZ Other Profiles\STEAMNAME.DayZProfile.cfg:

sceneComplexity=100000;

shadowZDistance=90;

viewDistance=1600;

preferredObjectViewDistance=1600;

Steam (DayZ Launch Options):
-maxMem=8192 -maxVRAM=1024 -cpuCount=6 -exThreads=6

These are my ingame settings:

Video:

• Resolution: 1920x1200px
• VSYNC: OFF
  • Quality
    • ​Objects: Very Low
    • Terrain: Low
    • Clouds: Low
    • Shadows: Low
  • Textures
    • ​Video Memory: 1024 MB
    • Texture Detail: Normal
    • Texture Filtering: Very High
  • Rendering
    • ​Antialiasing: Disabled
    • Alpha to Coverage: Disabled
    • Edge Smoothing: Disabled
    • HDR Quality: Low
    • Ambient Occulsion: Disabled
    • Postprocess Quality: Disabled
    • Bloom: 0
    • Radiation Blur: 0
      

Edited January 3, 2014 by Wh1spY

[madmaxm 26]

Quad core or more. 8Gb, but prefered more. Graphic card aroun 7xx and 2x SSD hard drive / 1 system and 1 games.

[Hosty 647]

For DayZ go with intel 4th gen, any card ranging from $100+ is fine whether it's nvidia or AMD

Edited January 3, 2014 by Hosty

[whatup2003 67]

For DayZ you won't see a significant performance boost with a better rig because it's not really optimized for newer hardware I believe, but for other games $1000 is enough to build a PC that will last for a couple of years at least. For the detailed spec, it's better to ask on a hardware forum than a game forum.

[thewobblyorange 7]

Triple SLI titan, because of reasons.

[floj 393]

AFAIK it's not optimised for multithreading yet, so Intels are better than AMD because they have a better performance per core.

 

I'm running a rig with i5-4670k and GTX 760 at base clock speeds and it can get a pretty stable 30+fps with everything turned up to max-shininess. On minimum I'm getting anything from 60-130 :)

 

Depending on what your current setup is, you should be able to get those parts and maybe a new mobo (if needed, else get and SSD) for your budget and fit them into your existing hardware.

Edited January 3, 2014 by phlOgistOn

[kevsta545 451]

As said above any GPU over 100$ should be able to handle it. I Dont really think a 770 or 280 is really necissary, Then just get either an intel or amd unlocked processor and OC it. 8gb RAM should be good, and you dont need an ssd so if you dont get an ssd you could probs get something else thats of more value and get an ssd later in time. Good luck.

[Khad (DayZ) 293]

 

 

Apparently DayZ make better use of an Intel-processor than an AMD one. I can't confirm that since I've only played DayZ on AMD rigs. But go for an Intel if you got the money for it, which it seems like you have.

This.

Intel is just... better... and saves energy! 

I have an AMD, since I had to save some money, but intel I-series is absolutely the best choice. 

[martink8190@gmail.com 149]

If you shop at newegg or similar you should fit even under $1000 easily. This rig would be the best performance for price 

 

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/159342-will-this-work-as-a-general-gaming-pc/page-2#entry1601357

[Gdaddy22 299]

4 cores is a must have (better if you get Intel), 8gb+ ram, HD6950, 7850, 7870, 7950, Gtx 560, 570, 480, 660, 670 etc. 

 

my comp:

 

i5 2500k 3.3ghz

hd 7850 2gb

8gb ram

 

I can run the game smoothly on 1920x1080 and all settings medium/high (no vsync, no blur, no post-processing)

Edited January 3, 2014 by Gdaddy22

[Magnusveritas 0]

No reason to get GTX 770 if you are shooting for rig under 1k. Plus this game stresses CPU more than GPU. I run on high settings with following:

i5 3570K

GTX 660 TI 2gb

8gb DDR3 RAM

If I were you I would go for better CPU (i7) and get a slightly aged GPU which you can upgrade later (690?) if you really want too play this. Plus I run bf4 with my rig on high settings and no problems. No reason to spend 500+ on newer GPU as it will kill your ability too keep price under 1k.

[Wh1spY 110]

This.

Intel is just... better... and saves energy! 

I have an AMD, since I had to save some money, but intel I-series is absolutely the best choice. 

For this particular game yes, in other games, not that much of a difference. =)