Can you guys help me build a new computer?

I know people say you can get by on basic stuff, but I'd like to know what kind of computer build would be optimal for osu! I'm a player that's starting to get up there in skill and I feel my hardware is starting to get in the way. Plus it's time for me to build a new computer anyways as this one is way out of date (I also think the motherboard is starting to poop out on me). I don't really have a budget as I have plenty of income to do most any build; within reason. About $2k is the most I will drop on this. Yes I play other stuff. So, this isn't all going to be just for osu!

A couple questions I have about hardware and osu! as well:
Would focusing on the CPU and having a simple graphics card be fine, or should a discrete card be left out?
If I am going to use a discrete card should I use ATI or Nvidia?


Also if this is in the wrong sub-forum please move. I was conflicted on where to place this because it's kind of directly related to game play, but it's hardware and blegh you get what I'm saying.

~$2000 is overkill for playing osu!
You can take an idea of what you can buy here http://www.logicalincrements.com/. Then find out about several alternatives similar to the ones recommended to decide what to get.
Note that several recommendations in the price range use 2 Graphics Cards, but you don't want to use 2 GPUs to play osu! (because that generates micro stuttering).

You can also consider getting a discrete sound card to reduce audio delay (integrated audio normally has between 10ms to 60ms delay), but even then the difference wouldn't be big since osu! doesn't support ASIO.
PD: If you get one, only get a PCI or PCI-e card, not USB.

Dexus wrote:

Would focusing on the CPU and having a simple graphics card be fine, or should a discrete card be left out?
If I am going to use a discrete card should I use ATI or Nvidia?

Depending on what games you'll be playing other than osu!, but it's usually recommended to have any discrete graphic card anyway.

I would say that it's best to stick with Intel i5 (or it's AMD equivalent. Right, I'm an Intel fan, so I don't know which one. ) at most. You get only a very little boost if you went to i7 which may not worth your bucks.

ATI graphic cards are cheaper and (in some cases) could outperform nVidia graphic cards with the same price range.

You can actually get a lot of things with $2000 though. You may even wanna consider buying SSD.

osu! isn't really demanding, and really shouldn't be what you're building a $2k computer for (I recently got a $250 computer that can run osu! at 1400fps with all the shader settings and everything turned on).

If you're building this computer for gaming, your build really shouldn't be centered around the CPU. Current games will utilize the graphics card more than the CPU. If you have a powerful CPU and a low-end GPU, the CPU will be heavily bottlenecked and games will not perform very well. Intel CPUs are definitely ahead of AMD right now, so AMD isn't something to look at unless you're looking to drop your budget a ton. With Ivy Bridge, I'd suggest the i5 since the jump between a i5-3570k and i7-3770k isn't really worth the price.

With that budget, you can look at high-end graphics like the GTX 680 or Radeon 7970 (the one you choose depends on preference or price). Getting 2 weaker cards is more cost-effective, and is becoming more viable as driver updates are slowly eliminating the effect of microstutter, but a single more-powerful card will always be better.

I would also look into getting an SSD. Having one to load Windows and some programs from will allow faster loading times and more responsiveness. It should be paired with a regular hard drive if you need the space though.

And don't bother buying more than 8GB of RAM. Unless you plan on running tons of programs at a time, it's unlikely that you're going to need more anytime soon. Current PC games don't use very much, and that'll probably stay that way until the PS4/next-Xbox comes out (and even then, 8GB will still be enough).

TL;DR: osu! doesn't need power...but for gaming: get an i5/i7. focus on getting a good GPU. AMD vs Nvidia depends on price. get an SSD if you want fast load times. you don't need more than 8GB RAM.

What else are you going to use the computer for?

Unless you're mainly using it for word processing and internet surfing, having a separate card always helps when it comes to gaming.

Build your pc based on your need. Osu isn't demanding at all so you need to make the decision based on what else you want to do.

EDIT: Have a look at my PC spec in my user page. I built that system 1.5 years ago with AUD$1.5k (including cost for win7). You should be able to build a much better one with similar cost now.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PgF9

I made an example build of something that could do probably anything you're looking for. Just add a case and adjust things to your preferences. I do highly suggest getting that cpu/mobo combo though.

If you really want a system specifically for osu! and nothing more, you don't need to spend more than than 300~400$ or something. Just get a budget cpu/mobo, a mainstream graphics card and an internal sound card. You can consider spending the rest of your money on quality keyboard and mouse/tablet. And, ofc, the rest you can just save.

I would consider getting a general purpose computer though, consider something like i5 3570, 8gigs of ram and a mainstream gfx card like geforce 660 or something. You really don't need more than this for almost anything, if you want your eyes to bleed from details in other games you can replace geforce 660 with 670 or 680 if you have the cash.
The rest of the parts don't play a major role and you can just get whatever you can get, except for the powersupply which you should always aim for 80+ efficiency and something like 500~600W, even that is kinda overkill for the above system lol.

edit: the above post pretty much sums it up in more details, that's a pretty kick ass general purpose computer for multimedia and games.

edit2: moved to general discussion.

get a computer less than 10 years old. Ideally, less than 5 years old.

Get a top-notch soundcard, gaming mouse, and screen. The rest can be whatever.

Lance wrote:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PgF9

I made an example build of something that could do probably anything you're looking for. Just add a case and adjust things to your preferences. I do highly suggest getting that cpu/mobo combo though.

You don't need that cooler if you're going to get a locked CPU. Stock coolers are generally fine unless you want to overclock.

Actually I think a decent graphics card is pretty important as I have(and had) pretty cheap graphics cards and I notice some cursor delay most of the time due to slow drawing speed of the graphics card, this became noticeable when I had a video running in the background once while playing osu! and the processor usage was around only 15% and the memory usage at like only 50%, so I concluded that the issue for my tablet lag was the poor graphics card.

So just get something superior to the nvidia geforce 8600 gt and you should be fine I guess.

how old does your graphics card have to be to not handle osu!

The oldest GPU I remember running in osu! (without issue) was a Sapphire x1950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102061

that was in 2006

The pc is around 7 years old and I never bought any extra stuff for it, it broke though.
23/12/2005 - 01/04/2013: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600.html (GT version)

It could handle osu!, but I still noticed like 5-20ms delay every now and then, and with a video it would go to an insanely high delay.

Also my laptop(which I'm using as replacement PC right now) can't handle osu! at all. (constant 25+ish ms lag with optimized settings for gaming, every bit of visual effects off and nothing open in the background)
It has an nvidia geforce gt 220m: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop ... ifications

Funny thing is that the laptop is around 2.5 years old and it's way worse than then 7 year old pc.

Kanye West wrote:

Lance wrote:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PgF9

I made an example build of something that could do probably anything you're looking for. Just add a case and adjust things to your preferences. I do highly suggest getting that cpu/mobo combo though.

You don't need that cooler if you're going to get a locked CPU. Stock coolers are generally fine unless you want to overclock.

Still makes things inaudible which is good.

As for the video cards not being able to handle this, you still need a somewhat newer card for good performance because that cursor lag is really nasty. On another pc in the house the cursor handling is really bad and that comes on a radeon 4650 which isn't really that good of a card, but it's still good enough to play some games on lower details.

My current build is:

AsRock Z77 Extreme 3 Gen3
Nvidia GTX 570 (underclocked core 600 MHz Mem clock 1500 MHz)
Intel Core i5 2500k (with a CPU cooler and overclocked at 4.4GHz)
8GB of Ram
750 Watt PSU (gold standard)
2 SSD and 1 HDD (osu! on the SSD)

Reading what you all wrote I think it actually comes down to configuring my computer correctly and it's not hardware related.

Dexus wrote:

My current build is:

AsRock Z77 Extreme 3 Gen3
Nvidia GTX 570 (underclocked core 600 MHz Mem clock 1500 MHz)
Intel Core i5 2500k (with a CPU cooler and overclocked at 4.4GHz)
8GB of Ram
750 Watt PSU (gold standard)
2 SSD and 1 HDD (osu! on the SSD)

Reading what you all wrote I think it actually comes down to configuring my computer correctly and it's not hardware related.

That PSU is a bit overkill for the specs you listed. Are you buying a true power 750W or some no name 750W?
PSU is something worth investing in if you're not planning any major upgrade in the next 12 months or so. For that spec a 450W true power PSU will be plenty.
If you put in an oversized PSU your system will consume more energy than needed (refer to PSU's part load curve).

thinkpad i5 ssd

/thread

Oinari-sama wrote:

That PSU is a bit overkill for the specs you listed. Are you buying a true power 750W or some no name 750W?
PSU is something worth investing in if you're not planning any major upgrade in the next 12 months or so. For that spec a 450W true power PSU will be plenty.
If you put in an oversized PSU your system will consume more energy than needed (refer to PSU's part load curve).

It's what I have, "My current build" is what I wrote. It's a corsair power supply. I got it because it was made to run low power when it's not really being used. It's pretty nifty because it shuts the fan off when it's not under a lot of work load.

Dexus wrote:

My current build is:

AsRock Z77 Extreme 3 Gen3
Nvidia GTX 570 (underclocked core 600 MHz Mem clock 1500 MHz)
Intel Core i5 2500k (with a CPU cooler and overclocked at 4.4GHz)
8GB of Ram
750 Watt PSU (gold standard)
2 SSD and 1 HDD (osu! on the SSD)

Reading what you all wrote I think it actually comes down to configuring my computer correctly and it's not hardware related.

Unless your motherboard is actually dying as you say in the OP, you don't need to build a new computer. Your current build should be more than enough.

What exactly are you having issues with? If it's with input delay, try using the Unlimited setting. If the Unlimited setting is unstable, try changing the 120fps limiter to something higher (perhaps something over 200fps) in the osu!.username.ini and using that.

Here's an optimal computer.

Go out and buy a $200 laptop. Use this for osu!

Use the other $1800 to build yourself a nice computer that you will use for every other game.

Point is there is no such thing as an optimal computer for osu! because pretty much everything will run it well (Unless its a toaster) you are better off building a computer for a more intensive game.

Get a decent video card with plenty of headroom and don't skimp on the monitor. It helps to have a substantial amount of RAM, because osu! likes to churn through it excessively.

So mind blowing, I tried playing osu! on my new laptop which was literally the cheapest laptop in the store (€333,- which is around $420) and it ran osu! smoother than my PC or Laptop ever did, I didn't even optimize the laptop for gaming yet and I can't notice the slightest bit of tablet lag.

I'm convinced that anything new will be able to run osu! properly

if your computer is less than 5 years old and it isn't running osu! smoothly, you need to clean up the environment, because that's what's giving you pain; the hardware is fine (unless it is actually breaking down, which is unlikely but possible)

I have a computer that was high-end eight years ago. In its current state it doesn't handle osu! very well, but if I reformat it (or just do some proper cleaning) it'll be able to run osu! just fine

I think osu! was originally developed/tested on weak hardware for the purpose of supporting anything as old as 2002 (this may still be the case)

D33d wrote:

Get a decent video card with plenty of headroom and don't skimp on the monitor. It helps to have a substantial amount of RAM, because osu! likes to churn through it excessively.

It ran fine on 1GB for me.

Jarby wrote:

D33d wrote:

Get a decent video card with plenty of headroom and don't skimp on the monitor. It helps to have a substantial amount of RAM, because osu! likes to churn through it excessively.

It ran fine on 1GB for me.

My brother's computer runs osu! fine with 1 GB as well, and with a Pentium 4 and integrated graphics.

Dexus wrote:

My current build is:

AsRock Z77 Extreme 3 Gen3
Nvidia GTX 570 (underclocked core 600 MHz Mem clock 1500 MHz)
Intel Core i5 2500k (with a CPU cooler and overclocked at 4.4GHz)
8GB of Ram
750 Watt PSU (gold standard)
2 SSD and 1 HDD (osu! on the SSD)

Reading what you all wrote I think it actually comes down to configuring my computer correctly and it's not hardware related.

good build but i would go with a i7

What, to load maps half a second faster?
I'm still only my Intel Dual Core 6320 1.86Ghz and I'm running osu! fine. I play on a low screen resolution 800x600 because I like it but I can still get 120fps on 1440x900 with my GeForce 7100 GS.
I would be surprised if I saw a computer which could not play osu! to be honest.
I'm a poorfag but cmon >.<

@OP: I just got my desktop PC up and running, and I have an idea. Try setting your game's frame limit to 120fps, and then changing the "maximum pre-rendered frames" setting in your nVidia driver to '1' (you can make this setting program-specific if you want). The former should prevent any framerate drops from happening, and the latter will reduce the input latency to 1 frame (this means no latency at 120fps+60Hz).

Blaziken wrote:

What, to load maps half a second faster?
I'm still only my Intel Dual Core 6320 1.86Ghz and I'm running osu! fine. I play on a low screen resolution 800x600 because I like it but I can still get 120fps on 1440x900 with my GeFirce 7100 GS.
I would be surprised if I saw a computer which could not play osu! to be honest.
I'm a poorfag but cmon >.<

My laptop (dual-core Intel i7-2677M, Intel HD3000 graphics, 128GB SSD) can't handle beatmaps with videos at 120fps at 1366x768, nor can it handle snaking sliders. But that has more to do with the bloat of my OS and my integrated graphics more than anything.
But that's besides the point. Upgrading his CPU to an i7 wouldn't affect loading times at all, and would barely affect how well his computer runs osu!. And loading times shouldn't even be a problem considering that he has osu! on his SSD.