Initiating Information Overload ... This is really a wide open question. For $600 you can get a quality machine, but you are going to have to DIY. You are also going to need to seriously shop around. It took me a month to find everything I wanted for my latest build. It was a lot of time invested and was a PITA, but I ended up with an Intel i7 2600k, 8 gigs G.Skill 1866 RAM, 1.5 TB Hitachi drive, Enermax Hoplite case and Gigabyte Z68X-UD4-B3 motherboard all for ~ $800.
The Intel chip was one of the latest at the time and was $319 by itself. For SWTOR, an i5 2500k will do ya and knocks ~$100 off the price immediately (The "k" is important. These are unlocked chips. They are roughly $10 more, but you can overclock them. My 2600k is 3.4GHz stock, but I have it running at 4.1). AMD solutions tend to be cheaper, but the Intel chips really do stomp on the AMDs in many areas. AMD processors will be perfectly fine for a MMORPG and are still very popular with gamers. The 1100T Black Edition, or whatever is supposedly good. I lost track when AMD started releasing 6 and 8 cores. Your graphics card is really where it is going to matter and it is going to cost you, depending on what you want out of it. I shopped around and waited for 3 months before I found a deal on two EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti SC cards. I run them in SLI and they are easily faster than a single 580. A single 560 Ti is still in the $200-$250 range depending on any overclock, extra RAM or other manufacturer specific features, (I think Galaxy has/had one for $179, or maybe it is/was Zotac). The 560 Ti is the top of the mid range NVidia cards. The next one up is the 570, which is about $100 more and not worth the price jump. Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of VRAM the card has. It's at the point now where 1 Gig is starting to not be enough and 3 gig cards are popping up. As far as brand, MSI makes decent cards, especially the Twin Frozor series. Zotac and Galaxy are the cheapest out there. Zotac is still recognized for quality. I am not sure how they do it. I stick with EVGA because they offer a lifetime warranty (on cards with model numbers ending in AR) that isn't voided if you overclock your card and blow it up. You CAN overclock the bejeezus out of the EVGAs too, usually, (stock is 810 MHz. Mine can run at 950, but they generate a _LOT_ of heat). If you go ATI/AMD, you could get by with a 5770. That is the absolute minimum I would consider. The 6870 (I think) is the competitor to the NVidia 560's. The 6950+ are the mainstream, higher end cards, comparable to the NVidia 570 and 580, but these will completely blow your budget. Stick with G.Skill RAM if you can. Supremely overclockable and top quality. Corsair or Patriot are good alternatives. You can get by with 4 Gigs. You won't need more than 8. As far as Intel motherboards go, look at the Z68 chipset. The X79 are the new ones but are very pricey. The P67s are in wide use, but are on the decline. P67 or Z68 choice depends on how soon you will want/have to upgrade in the future. ASUS and Gigabyte are the best in my opinion, but cheaper options like Biostar or Asrock are Ok if you choose carefully. The popular hard drives for gamers seems to be the Western Digital Black series. *shrug*. Unfortunately, mechanical hard drives are going way up in price, partly because of the disasters in the East and partly because SSDs are coming down, s l o w l y. The big thing is, shop around. Newegg offers promos, discounts, rebates, free shipping and combo deals, as does Tiger Direct. By picking and choosing from the various options, I was able to get every single thing for a decent amount below sticker price. Oh, there is an add-on for Firefox called helping hand. If you are looking at an item on, say, newegg, it will drop down a little bar at the top of the browser telling you where you may find it cheaper. I have saved about $30 because of that thing so far, heh. On 2/10/2012 9:22 AM, LRS Scout wrote: > > hey guys I have like $600 and I'm looking for a new system so I can play > Star Wars. > > Suggestions? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:346669 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
