I want to play DayZ - How much will I have to spend on a new PC?

[Optimist (DayZ) 6]

I've spent the last two months watching endless amounts of videos and forum posts about this game, and I finally think it's time to bite the bullet.

My current PC - a 6-year-old machine that used to struggle to run BF2 on the lowest of settings - stands no chance of running ARMA2.

Obviously I need an upgrade.

My question to the people here is: How much would I having to fork out for a computer that is powerful enough to run this game? In fact, one that would be powerful enough to run ARMA3 (in case the mod decides to shift over).

Optimist

[mattyh1995 1]

Well, what's your PC like now? There could be some things that could be saved from it to reduce the cost of a new one, that is if you can build one yourself. If not, you'd be looking at around £600/£700 for a new PC from a retailer.

How "PC smart" are you?

[Optimist (DayZ) 6]

My current one really is a piece of junk. My current graphics card is the ancient GeForce 6200, and the rest I can't recall.

I've been away from PC gaming for a few years now, so my knowledge on what is considered good/bad etc has fallen dramatically.

The building aspect wouldn't be a problem.

[mattyh1995 1]

Right, you seem to know enough. Assuming you can build your own PC, I'd recommend this http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/e06f1777283d433999ffb081100877c4

If that confuses you, I'd recommend this

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ShowSystem.asp?SystemID=1383

These should be able to run ArmA 2 and 3 on decent settings.

[clodan 0]

you want to run ArmA3 too? humm... just to say a number it WILL be between U$D1000 to U$D1500 (maybe more, but i dont think it will be more than U$D1700)... it depends on what you want to buy, what quality of parts and how high you want the graphics and performance.

[mattyh1995 1]

It wouldn't cost that much. People overestimate so much nowadays... They said in a release, if you can run ArmA 2, you can run ArmA 3 with little/no trouble.

[Izziee 128]

Dude never ever skimp on a new computer. Whats the point of buying yesterdays hardware when you'll only need a new one (thus spend more money) in a year or so?

Building your own can get you a 3x faster one than one from say, PC world and 2x faster than a high street dealer pc shop.

Also, don't skimp on a PSU. Power supplies are often over looked but if you get one thats just sufficient to run what you're gettign now, then it won't be sufficient if you want to upgrade your GPU.

[freak367 24]

Good recommendations so far, over the past few months I have been custom building a new PC part by part, on a fairly low budget. Only recently finishing it really, if you can do that, I suggest building your own to keep costs down. This is what I built anyways, which effortlessly handles anything I throw at it.

Motherboard: £59.99

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+)

Processor: £126.19

AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6200 Black Edition 3.80Ghz (Socket AM3+)

Graphics Card: £109.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

RAM: £42.23

8GB Corsair Vengeance Black (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Power Supply: £49.98

OCZ ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze PSU

Case: £56.95

Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower PC Gaming Computer Case

That's the core of mine, of course the case can be much cheaper. I spent more on optional things, like an NZXT Sentry Mesh fan controller, a Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler and some decent fans, speakers and other crap. In hindsight I'd have bought a 650w Power Supply, because I'm cutting it close with a 550w.

Build your own if you can.

[breakingbad 0]

You aren't updating it just for this mod, right?

I wouldn't do that, because no one knows (except maybe rocket) where this mod is headed gameplay wise and the videos might have given you wrong impressions because you see outdated stuff which cannot be done in newer releases.

[Optimist (DayZ) 6]

Good recommendations so far' date=' over the past few months I have been custom building a new PC part by part, on a fairly low budget. Only recently finishing it really, if you can do that, I suggest building your own to keep costs down. This is what I built anyways, which effortlessly handles anything I throw at it.

[b']Motherboard: £59.99

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+)

Processor: £126.19

AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6200 Black Edition 3.80Ghz (Socket AM3+)

Graphics Card: £109.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

RAM: £42.23

8GB Corsair Vengeance Black (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Power Supply: £49.98

OCZ ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze PSU

Case: £56.95

Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower PC Gaming Computer Case

That's the core of mine, of course the case can be much cheaper. I spent more on optional things, like an NZXT Sentry Mesh fan controller, a Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler and some decent fans, speakers and other crap. In hindsight I'd have bought a 650w Power Supply, because I'm cutting it close with a 550w.

Build your own if you can.

Cheers for the advice all. This is really cheap build (compared to what I had in mind), if it's good I might go with something similar.

And no, i'm not updating just for the mod. My current PC can barely handle a word document these days and the screen can send you off on an epileptic fit through the way it flickers and flashes (a graphic card problem I assume). It just so happens to be that DayZ is the kick over the edge I need to get a new comp! :exclamation:

[Izziee 128]

Good recommendations so far' date=' over the past few months I have been custom building a new PC part by part, on a fairly low budget. Only recently finishing it really, if you can do that, I suggest building your own to keep costs down. This is what I built anyways, which effortlessly handles anything I throw at it.

[b']Motherboard: £59.99

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+)

Processor: £126.19

AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6200 Black Edition 3.80Ghz (Socket AM3+)

Graphics Card: £109.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

RAM: £42.23

8GB Corsair Vengeance Black (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Power Supply: £49.98

OCZ ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze PSU

Case: £56.95

Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower PC Gaming Computer Case

That's the core of mine, of course the case can be much cheaper. I spent more on optional things, like an NZXT Sentry Mesh fan controller, a Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler and some decent fans, speakers and other crap. In hindsight I'd have bought a 650w Power Supply, because I'm cutting it close with a 550w.

Build your own if you can.

Cheers for the advice all. This is really cheap build (compared to what I had in mind), if it's good I might go with something similar.

And no, i'm not updating just for the mod. My current PC can barely handle a word document these days and the screen can send you off on an epileptic fit through the way it flickers and flashes (a graphic card problem I assume). It just so happens to be that DayZ is the kick over the edge I need to get a new comp! :exclamation:

TBH, I would go with a 550 PSU. 700 MINIMUM. If you ever want to upgrade your GPU, use USB's and overclock then yeah, 550 is pushing it way to fine.

Here, use this PSU calculator.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

[munsterthunder@gmail.com 17]

I have a 6870 build with an i5 and good parts for around 600 - 700 dollars.

Runs Arma 2 max just fine.

[ALICE666 0]

any opinions on a i5 3570k? im in the same boat and currently trying to figure out what would match it GPU-wise. I like nvidia and a 670GTX looks appealing. Looking to run on highest settings if possible with this combination.. been behind the times with all this new tech.

[wordplayuk@gmail.com 101]

I play days. Bought my computer 3 years ago from a computer fair for £650 (just the tower). So if you avoid the major retailers you should be able to pick something up for a fair price.

[freak367 24]

Cheers for the advice all. This is really cheap build (compared to what I had in mind)' date=' if it's good I might go with something similar.

And no, i'm not updating just for the mod. My current PC can barely handle a word document these days and the screen can send you off on an epileptic fit through the way it flickers and flashes (a graphic card problem I assume). It just so happens to be that DayZ is the kick over the edge I need to get a new comp! :exclamation:

[/quote']

TBH, I would go with a 550 PSU. 700 MINIMUM. If you ever want to upgrade your GPU, use USB's and overclock then yeah, 550 is pushing it way to fine.

Here, use this PSU calculator.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Yeah, I bought the PSU first thinking a good quality 550w PSU would be more than enough, since my old PC barely pushed 250w at full load. I underestimated how much power even budget systems pull, 550w is the minimum my graphics card asks for in the specs, so it's a very fine line. If I could go back, I'd put a bit more money behind a PSU for a 700/750w or so. For now, since I don't overclock or anything, 550w will do.

In my system which I mentioned, I just went into DayZ and I average about 85 frames per second. I can comfortably play on high graphics on the vast majority of new games, Tribes Ascend Very High is smooth, so is Skyrim etc...

It can't compete with high end gaming rigs, but for a budget rig, it's fast, and I can play anything I want.

On AMD FX- processors, they are quite cheap, mine is the FX-6200, which is a 6 core at 3.8GHz, 4.2GHz turbo. And it's quite good, but it still won't compete very well against slightly more expensive Intel processors, like the i5 2500k, the per core performance is poorer than intel. But they can handle multitasking quite well.

In general, Intel processors are better than AMD, but AMD processors are almost always cheaper, making them the budget choice and they still pack a punch. And AMD are known for having everything unlocked for supreme overclocking ability. Any FX processor will hit high 4.x GHz effortlessly and into the 5+ GHz with enough cooling. With mine, some motherboards have a performance mode, which ranks it up to 4.4GHz stable without breaking a sweat with the stock cooler.

Overclocking isn't for everyone, and I don't do it at the moment, but you can really push AMD processors. But the choice is always yours. Base it around Intel or AMD.

To try and get the best deal, shop around, find the cheapest price for each component :D

For the UK, which is my experience, here are some good websites to have a look on.

www.aria.co.uk

www.ebuyer.com

www.box.co.uk

www.scan.co.uk

www.yoyotech.co.uk

www.novatech.co.uk

www.cclonline.com/

Always check deals of the day, bargain basements and special offers.

[Optimist (DayZ) 6]

I'll take a look this weekend and hopefully see you all online sometime soon...

[zorisx 7]

You can get a great computer for under 700$ that will run everything on high.

Radeon 5770

AMD Phenom 3.0 Quad

8GB RAM

500+watt PSU and Case

250GB HDD is all you need :)

[wo0kie (DayZ) 16]

If you're building a PC solely for DayZ, you're in for a real disappointment...

[no idea 0]

Is the ArmaII Engine very CPU hungry?

Im asking because im also thinking about upgrading to the Radeon 6850/70 but I dont want to replace my "old" AMD 4200+. Im not aiming for playing DayZ in very high settings -I just want to play it "decently".

What do you think?

P.s: If someone wonders what my current GPU is: dont even ask -its an veeery old ATI Card wich I have to use because my last GPU broke during a Summer with to much of StarcraftII ;)

[Kra 151]

Before you upgrade to an AMD cpu, have a look at this fps consistency test.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/03/amd_fx8150_multigpu_gameplay_performance_review/2

I was just about to upgrade my AMD Phoenom 965 black to an FX-8150 bulldozer when I found this review. I have felt these jumpy fps even with my 965. After alot more cpu heavy comparisons I've decided to go 3rd gen i7 (I stream and record now). i5 2500k is ideal for Arma.

And yes, Arma is incredibly cpu dependant.

Arma is all about 1st core performance, 6-8 cores will do absolutely nothing for Arma.

[no idea 0]

Before you upgrade to an AMD cpu' date=' have a look at this fps consistency test.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/03/amd_fx8150_multigpu_gameplay_performance_review/2

I was just about to upgrade my AMD Phoenom 965 black to an FX-8150 bulldozer when I found this review. I have felt these jumpy fps even with my 965. After alot more cpu heavy comparisons I've decided to go 3rd gen i7 (I stream and record now). i5 2500k is ideal for Arma.

And yes, Arma is incredibly cpu dependant.

Arma is all about 1st core performance, 6-8 cores will do absolutely nothing for Arma.

[/quote']

damn...

But on the other hand: Just minutes ago I read in another thread that it seems like the CPU is only used in the "low" settings...

But even if it really is CPU demanding... What do you think the upgrade would do? Combined with the 4200+? I mean, when its all about the 1st Core the 4200+ is not that bad (considering that I don't aim for very High-Settings)

[Gmanz (DayZ) 13]

Good recommendations so far' date=' over the past few months I have been custom building a new PC part by part, on a fairly low budget. Only recently finishing it really, if you can do that, I suggest building your own to keep costs down. This is what I built anyways, which effortlessly handles anything I throw at it.

[b']Motherboard: £59.99

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+)

Processor: £126.19

AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6200 Black Edition 3.80Ghz (Socket AM3+)

Graphics Card: £109.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6850 XXX 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

RAM: £42.23

8GB Corsair Vengeance Black (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Power Supply: £49.98

OCZ ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze PSU

Case: £56.95

Zalman Z11 Plus ATX Mid Tower PC Gaming Computer Case

That's the core of mine, of course the case can be much cheaper. I spent more on optional things, like an NZXT Sentry Mesh fan controller, a Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler and some decent fans, speakers and other crap. In hindsight I'd have bought a 650w Power Supply, because I'm cutting it close with a 550w.

Build your own if you can.

Cheers for the advice all. This is really cheap build (compared to what I had in mind), if it's good I might go with something similar.

Yeah, you can build a nice and powerful PC on a fairly low budget. I have something similar to above, but with an intel i5 2500k processor.

One thing I would say: if you are buying an intel processor, go for the "K" series because they can overclock quite nicely with no hassle at all.