[UPDATED] The DOOM System Upgrade Thread

[Plasma Gun]

Face23785 said:

So I found my mobo info, it's a Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3. Will that support the newer GTX cards so I can just upgrade from my 750 and play?

Yep. Can you tell us how many watts your power supply is, so we can tell you what GPUs the system can handle?

[AirRaid]

DMGUYDZ64 said:

Nope, official system requirements are here :
http://doom.com/en-gb/alpha/faq

And those do list equivalent AMD/Intel/Nvidia specs. Also those specs are purely for the alpha and while the final requirements will probably be close, you can assume they won't be identical.

[snapshot]

AirRaid said:

And those do list equivalent AMD/Intel/Nvidia specs. Also those specs are purely for the alpha and while the final requirements will probably be close, you can assume they won't be identical.

Means it would require lower CPU/GPU power or better ? :v .

[AirRaid]

The prevailing opinion on this is the requirements might go down since the alpha is unfinished code and might get optimised. But like I said, we don't really know yet.

[magma86]

Links now removed :)

[snapshot]

Already posted but removed for being "Copyright/NDA breaking media".

[romulus_ut3]

magma86 said:

Im not sure if this has been posted before or if it is forbidden 2 post. Admin can just remove it if that is the case. I just thought it could be interesting to see some benchmarkresults on the doom alpha

<SNIP>

I own the HD 7950 and I can safely discard this benchmark as my framerate stays locked at 60 FPS all the time, measured by Steam's overlay, and it's at stock 850 MHz core.

[magma86]

DMGUYDZ64 said:

Already posted but removed for being "Copyright/NDA breaking media".

Then admin can just remove the post or i will change it and remove the links.

[Ironhound]

So I need a new CPU, GPU, and MOBO.

After seeing some responses, I'm beginning to wonder if the system plasma gun posted would be best? I need to keep it under $600, but the comment about the CPU's dual core i3, worries me. On the other hand, I know jack about MOBO's. Or if a GTX 970 is compatible with say another board etc.

Basically, is it feasible to upgrade those 3 things to the recommended requirements for under 600?

[Plasma Gun]

Ironhound said:

So I need a new CPU, GPU, and MOBO.

After seeing some responses, I'm beginning to wonder if the system plasma gun posted would be best? I need to keep it under $600, but the comment about the CPU's dual core i3, worries me. On the other hand, I know jack about MOBO's. Or if a GTX 970 is compatible with say another board etc.

Basically, is it feasible to upgrade those 3 things to the recommended requirements for under 600?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($55.38 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($300.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $591.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-18 19:43 EST-0500

[Ironhound]

Thanks man!

[Plasma Gun]

Ironhound said:

Thanks man!

Getting it under $600 was a challenge, but I eked it out!

EDIT: BTW saw earlier in the thread that you already have a 700W power supply so that should be more than enough :)

[ReFracture]

Reminded of one of the greatest PC builder myths:
"YOU MUST GET A $200 ASUS DELUXUE BOARD WITH ALL THE OVERCLOCKING BELLS AND WHISTLES!"

I remember spending something like $30 for a Biostar board on an AMD AthlonXP build sometime last decade. It was cheap, the bios sucked, the audio had some noise on it.. but damnit it played Counter-Strike and UT2003 like a champ so I didn't give a shit!

Good luck on your upgrade Ironhound!

[Plasma Gun]

ReFracture said:

Reminded of one of the greatest PC builder myths:
"YOU MUST GET A $200 ASUS DELUXUE BOARD WITH ALL THE OVERCLOCKING BELLS AND WHISTLES!"

I remember spending something like $30 for a Biostar board on an AMD AthlonXP build sometime last decade. It was cheap, the bios sucked, the audio had some noise on it.. but damnit it played Counter-Strike and UT2003 like a champ so I didn't give a shit!

Good luck on your upgrade Ironhound!

I build a lot of systems for folks, and I routinely use $50-$60 boards so I can put as much CPU/GPU grunt into them as possible given a tight budget. It's actually quite amazing what you can get with a fairly minimalist/no-frills board these days.

In fact, expensive boards have usually been problematic for me. Not only do they hurt the pocketbook, but they're so full of extra shit that the boards just seem to be more prone to being "finicky."

Plain & stable is what I value most these days.

[ReFracture]

I can relate to higher end boards being a pain in the ass sometimes. I did a lot of research on all my components before I bought them so I've been spared that this go around.

[Face23785]

Plasma Gun said:

Yep. Can you tell us how many watts your power supply is, so we can tell you what GPUs the system can handle?

My PSU is an Xtrem Gear 800W unit. My first impression is that should be fine, but of course that's why I'm asking you guys cause I don't know. I really do appreciate all the advice though. I used to build my PCs back in the late 90s and early 00s but I got away from it and things seem a little more complicated these days.

[Deatheye]

800W are too much, wasting money there

[ReFracture]

I don't consider it really wasteful since PSUs tend to be more efficient with less load on them, though the savings is probably negligible. That said my 850W PSU at most feels slightly warm to the touch, never hot, so it will probably last for a very long time.

But yes, that 800W PSU is enough for any GPU on the market.

[Plasma Gun]

Face23785 said:

My PSU is an Xtrem Gear 800W unit. My first impression is that should be fine, but of course that's why I'm asking you guys cause I don't know. I really do appreciate all the advice though. I used to build my PCs back in the late 90s and early 00s but I got away from it and things seem a little more complicated these days.

I looked into the PSU; it should handle the components I picked out for you without issue.

[Ironhound]

So I was ordering things, and I was looking at that 970 and I am baffled.

The heck is the difference between 4GB/R2 and 4GB? It offers both options when purchasing. I googled it, and my google fu is weak.

[Plasma Gun]

Deatheye said:

800W are too much, wasting money there

He already has it :)

If I were to recommend a new PSU to somebody today for the system I mentioned, I'd actually go with a very high efficiency/high quality 550-600W unit (i.e. 80+ Gold or better).

But since he already has it, and since the components I picked out simply won't draw that much power (I'd say around 450-500W max, with an unrealistic stress test/power virus running on both the CPU and GPU), it'll be fine.

[Plasma Gun]

Ironhound said:

So I was ordering things, and I was looking at that 970 and I am baffled.

The heck is the difference between 4GB/R2 and 4GB? It offers both options when purchasing. I googled it, and my google fu is weak.

What online retailer are you looking at to purchase it? I can look at the pages for both the 4GB and the 4GB Rev 2 verison. My *guess* is that the "Rev 1" is just the one with the standard NVIDIA cooler while "Rev 2" has the more customized-looking cooler with the triangles on it :)

My advice? Pick whichever one is cheaper. If they're the same? Buy the Rev 2, just 'cause it's newer :)

(This is a fancy way of me saying that it really doesn't matter)

[Plasma Gun]

ReFracture said:

I don't consider it really wasteful since PSUs tend to be more efficient with less load on them, though the savings is probably negligible. That said my 850W PSU at most feels slightly warm to the touch, never hot, so it will probably last for a very long time.

But yes, that 800W PSU is enough for any GPU on the market.

For me, quality of the PSU is far more important than raw wattage (though you need enough watts to power your gear).

I am not an electrical engineer, so the best I can do is read sites like jonnyGURU (my go to for PSU), HardOCP, etc.

[Use]

Plasma Gun said:

For me, quality of the PSU is far more important than raw wattage (though you need enough watts to power your gear).

Yes! Never underestimate your PSU in a build, I tell my customers this often and they're always baffled. Also, make sure you're pulling the correct amperage on the 12v rail for these high end video cards!

[Face23785]

Yeah the PSU came with the PC pre-built a few years ago, I guess they wanted to make extra sure it would handle next-gen cards with no issues. Thanks again for all the advice, glad I'm not looking at $1000 worth of upgrades to play the new Doom!

Use3D said:

Also, make sure you're pulling the correct amperage on the 12v rail for these high end video cards!

Can someone explain this a little? I have no idea what he's talking about and I'd hate to short out a GPU worth several hundred dollars not knowing what I'm hooking up.

[HavoX]

Deatheye said:

800W are too much, wasting money there

You can never have too much power...

[Plasma Gun]

Face23785 said:

Can someone explain this a little? I have no idea what he's talking about and I'd hate to short out a GPU worth several hundred dollars not knowing what I'm hooking up.

Sure.

A power supply has multiple voltage rails (e.g. 3.3V, 5V, and 12V).

One equation for power is P = IV, where I = current (in amperes) and V is voltage.

The high performance components in the system like a GPU will use the 12 volt power rail. The amount of power that can be delivered on that rail is 12*I where I as I said above is current.

Cheap piece of shit power supplies will typically have a lot of current on the 3.3V/5V rails (where they'd never actually be used anyway) and not enough on the 12V rail.

Good power supplies will be able to deliver most/all of their rated power on the 12V rail.

[MiNaM]

I just watched a gameplay on an i7 2600k & a GTX 780 and the game stutters and no it's not running smooth @60fps, it was more like 30 something. "for god's sake it's a 780!"

I know it's not fully optimized yet but it's pretty bad if you know that it's not even MAXED OUT 0.0

After looking closely at the (official E3 presentation gameplays, Conan's gameplay, Doom Alpha) vs (the 1st official gameplay trailer) you can clearly see that all of them are running at a lower details compared to the 1st official trailer.

We are watching (and testing) Doom on "low/medium" the whole time and we haven't seen it maxed out yet "except in that trailer"

Look closely at the Cyberdemon/BFG part of the E3 Hell Gameplay vs the same identical scene in the 1st trailer, there's a big difference..

- Lower details
- Missing Fx
- Missing Shadows
- Poor lighting

Here's two screenshots of that taken at the same frame from the two videos:

E3 Hell Gameplay scene


1st Official Trailer scene

[Deatheye]

you can't compare graphics in videos, you need to make ingame screenshots and compare those

and there are like 100 reasons why that gameplay video with the i7 2600k + 780 stutters - for example, the recording framerate is important or maybe his rig wasn't well optimized

[MiNaM]

Deatheye said:

you can't compare graphics in videos, you need to make ingame screenshots and compare those

and there are like 100 reasons why that gameplay video with the i7 2600k + 780 stutters - for example, the recording framerate is important or maybe his rig wasn't well optimized

do you think that the compression of the video changes the lighting method and add some sweet effects to the game ?