buying new computer or building one

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sanchez
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El Salvador

buying new computer or building one

Post by sanchez »

hi guys, my son just offered me to buy a new computer for fathers day, I just want something that can handle Battlefield 1,I don't want to go ballistic so I am looking at one at Costco https://www.costco.ca/CyberpowerPC-GMA9 ... 94125.html
do you think this PC is ok to play BF1 or should I buy parts and build it myself? tried searching on line and read it is not convenient building computers right now because of prices due to people buying video cards for something called bit mining . Thanks for your help guys.
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Trench
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by Trench »

I wish I had some input for you there, sanchez. Unfortunately video cards or "what it takes to play Battlefield 1 well" aren't my area of knowledge. Hopefully someone who knows what did (or did not) work for them on Battlefield 1, and/or someone more attuned to the experiences others have been having with Battlefield 1, will see your post and give some practical input.

Yes, because of the floating-point math involved in blockchain work -- which graphics card GPUs are built to do all the time, but is more rare/slow on normal computer CPUs -- people build multi-GPU machines just so they can speed up the intensive math needed to "mine" crypto currencies like bitcoin. ("Mining" meaning reaping a small monetary reward given for tasking your computer(s) to perform pieces of the long and intensive math needed to securely validate and maintain the blockchain transactions.)

That said, when the major volatility hit the bitcoin market, it was fun to see the number of mining rigs that hit Craigslist of people trying to recover the many thousands of dollars they had spent on machines that no longer made financial sense...

-Trench
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jolly_giada
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by jolly_giada »

I endorse Trench’s explanation and merely add, “if your current computer plays BF1942, the marginal cost of playing desert combat is $0.00”
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ryeontherocks
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by ryeontherocks »

Yes Bitcoin has increased the price of graphic cards but i would always choose the ability to upgrade over the actual computer itself...the costco doesnt say its integrated or has the ability to add more graphics to it...,maybe you can get a sweet deal on craigeslist to make it a monster if its not integrated down the road..

a great website is for latest trends is https://www.tomshardware.com/
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fromage
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by fromage »

Sanqueso, here's some builds based on your son's budget (i.e. get the most expensive one, he owes you that and much more). ;)

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/
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Trench
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by Trench »

sanchez wrote:I don't want to go ballistic so I am looking at one at Costco https://www.costco.ca/CyberpowerPC-GMA9 ... 94125.html
do you think this PC is ok to play BF1 or should I buy parts and build it myself?
I'm also not one who stays on top of AMD processor developments, but I did notice that performance of this "AMD Ryzen 3 1200" is compared against and on par with the Intel i3 processors. That would give me a little pause as to whether its the best longer-term choice for "I want the option to run higher-end games." I just certainly "notice the difference" when using i3 versus using i7 or Xeon for non-gaming-related processing.

Experience would still be the better indicator; if someone comes in here advising "I'm playing Battlefield 1 or Battlefield 4 on an i3 / Ryzen 3 and don't find the experience lacking", I'm not contradicting that. I'm just saying I was surprised to find that the AMD Ryzen 3 1200 performance level was in the Intel i3 range rather than something higher, and that I probably wouldn't have chosen the i3 to solve a performance-sensitive application, either.

-Trench
sanchez
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Re: buying new computer or building one

Post by sanchez »

thank you guys for the replies, checked those links and they seem to be good deals, and yes I will check that what ever I get can be upgraded, went to a store here in Vancouver area and the guy at NCIX gave me an estimate of about $1300 Canadians and he told me that with that set up I was good for about 3 years LOL no way. I thought what Mario said "keep playing BF dc and I don't have to spend any money", my son then say what ever I wanted, a new phone or I trip to El Salvador or the computer if I still want it.
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