Hard drive just died. Any recommendations for a new machine?

I recommend getting one of the new Ryzen processors. Like the 1400 or 1500x. It's got enough CPU power to push 60fps on PoE, no problem. Pair that with an Nvidia GTX 1050ti and you're good to go for 1080p, and probably 1440p/60fps.

$160-$180 USD for a CPU
$140-$150 for a GPU
$80 for a motherboard
$80-$100 for ram
$100 for an SSD
$40-$50 for a PSU
$20-$30 for a case
$80-$120 for Windows OS

Looking at about $700-$800 range for everything.

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MrSmiley21 wrote:

I recommend getting one of the new Ryzen processors. Like the 1400 or 1500x. It's got enough CPU power to push 60fps on PoE, no problem.

(...)

Looking at about $700-$800 range for everything.

If he has a budget of $1500, he can do so much better with an Intel i7-7700K CPU that will crush the AMD Ryzen. Because Ryzen is a great bang-for-your-buck CPU, but it's not the top performer in the AMD vs Intel comparison and for games that are CPU-heavy. Or even the Ryzen 1700/1700X/1800X is a better buy than the 1400/1500X with his budget.

For budget you can't beat a Ryzen 1400/1500X, but for $130 more from the 1500X you get so much better performance. Even with the comparably priced 1700 or 1700X, the 7700K will have better single thread performance, slightly worse multi-thread performance.

As for 60 FPS, that's an outdated target. New systems with new monitors should be targeting a stable 120 Hz and hence 120 FPS.

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torturo wrote:

Replacing the whole rig because of a faulty HDD is certainly over the top even according to the first world standards...

I agree, and my computer is pretty decent (6 core i7, 16 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 750 Ti, etc, etc). But, I've been having things regularly fail on me over the past few years (Previous video card, SSD, CD ROM, Processor Fan, and now the hard drive). Being a cheapskate, I've always just done the repairs myself. I ended up replacing with parts that didn't fit correctly in some instances, most notably my processor fan. Now my tower has to sit on it's side because I'm using a cooling fan that can't be bolted down (If I move the case, the fan and cooling fins can move).

I think that all of these failures occurred because the system was under-powered (At least that's what I've been told). So, now I'm gonna purchase and install a bigger power supply. My operating system was on an SSD, so I've just replaced the hard drive with a second SSD for programs and PoE (OS SSD kept filling up). I don't really need a spinning hard drive anyway, I don't save thousands of gigs worth of shit on my machine.

I'll give this a shot. But just in case it doesn't work, the suggestions provided in this thread will be useful. Thanks!!!

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cipher_nemo wrote:

As for 60 FPS, that's an outdated target. New systems with new monitors should be targeting a stable 120 Hz and hence 120 FPS.

Most newer PC games are not optimized enough to push 120fps. On any PC. 60fps is still the baseline for 90%+ of games. Some games even have physics tied to the frame rate, and they had to lock the FPS to 60. Most of the console ports are not going to get consistent 120fps, just due to poor PC optimization. On 1/2 of them, you're lucky to get consistent 60fps. There would be no point in running a game like GTAV @ 120hz, even if you could. Although, you could mod the game and run it at 4k/60fps, and make it look super sexy. People are buying 4k/60hz monitors over 1080p-1440p 120+hz monitors these days.

Just about any PC built in the last 4 years can push a game like CS:GO to 120+fps. A lot of people who play that are pushing 144hz+ monitors. They even got 200hz monitors on the market now. But you only aim for 120hz, if you're constantly playing games that can actually reach it.

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MrSmiley21 wrote:

Just about any PC built in the last 4 years can push a game like CS:GO to 120+fps. A lot of people who play that are pushing 144hz+ monitors. They even got 200hz monitors on the market now. But you only aim for 120hz, if you're constantly playing games that can actually reach it.

Exactly, plenty of 144Hz monitors too, which is why 120Hz is the new target. It doesn't matter if people are buying 4k @ 60Hz, because targeting HD @ 120Hz is going to give you reasonable performance with 4k @60Hz.

It was so much easier when the choice was between an 80286 with 16 mhz and 1 mb ram or an 80386 with 25 mhz and 4 mb ram, but for a couple of thousand deutsche mark more. :-]

If you wanted a brand new pre built PC, why not get the Alienware Area 51!