Is this an optimal gaming PC build for playing CS:GO at 1080p and taking Skype calls? I plan on upgrading within the next year so I can play more games on PC.
ALSO: If someone has a copy of Windows XP or newer laying around I would be extremely grateful if I could have it. If you have one available and could please give it to me, DM the CD Key to me.
Very good on CSGO. My 7850k does well on CSGO and that would smoke mine. You could go with slower cheaper mem and an ssd since once you have csgo who needs more games. Great build BTW, just finishing up mine. First boot was successful. Oh the new AMD cpu coolers are much better then the old, I was worried when my 8320e came with the solid aluminum one and I was shocked how quiet it is.
Comp CS:Go on linux is still a little on the sketchy side. Linux CS:GO is still beta, so it will have issues that high level players won't like. If you aren't pro and aren't competitive, then you should be fine.
I would spend a few extra bucks and at least get a current generation card. That way you will have DX12 support and avoid all the AMD driver issues. I personally haven't run AMD in years but all the news about no WHQL drivers and what not blows my mind.
Oh, you weren't joking and actually just don't have a clue? Well then...
Let me break it to you easy: WHQL is just Microsoft stamping software in accordance with WDM, it's nothing else. They don't even have to read the code, test or anything. Just stamp and go. That stamp costs $$$, and isn't even a promise of stability cough WHQL 196.75, 320.18, and 353.54 cough. On top of that, this "AMD has bad drivers" started out as "ATI has bad drivers" in 2006 after Crossfire showed negative gains and crashed hardware. It's not even the same company anymore, time to drop the bullshit.
As for DX12, anything with Asynch shaders and running in Win10 supports it. nVidia gets a pass because they can emulate Asynch. So 600, 700, and 900 all will support DX12, along with the HD 7000, Rx 200, and Rx 300 series.
Don't condemn half the playing field just because you haven't bothered to look at it to see if it's as good as your half.
I am fully aware what WHQL is... so AMD is too cheap/lazy to get Microsofts approval on their drivers, seems like a red flag (pun intended since you are getting all grumpy).
Read around on the forums here and everywhere else. People are having issues with AMD drivers. The recent fan issue for starters. Or how in another thread on this fine forum a guy was having an FPS issue with his AMD card, the issue wasn't the card or the drivers but he was advised from several sources to roll back to a beta driver that has better performance..... The fact a BETA driver has better performance then the most current OFFICIAL driver that was released AFTER the BETA driver doesn't make sense.
AMD also doesn't release drivers in a timely fashion for new games.
All I did was suggest he spend a little more money on Team Green. I didn't feel the need to attack anyone else on here for there input.
I looked both cards up and they are on a relatively equal playing field, but WHQL as he said is just an expensive ass seal of approval that doesn't even guarantee a good product. The only issue here is the reputation of PowerColor. Is it a good enough brand to justify picking it up on sale?
Agreed, but not all users are going to go to AMD's site to regularly download the drivers. A good majority of users will only use Windows Update... aka no WHQL no drivers. I just find it has a bad business practice. But that's just my opinion.
No matter what card you get, I would at least go with a well known brand. I did some searching and looks like the 270 isn't being made by many manufactures any more. Perhaps bump up to a 380? The Gigabyte is the cheapest 380 I could find.
$180 for a graphics card is completely undoable for me (most likely). The reason I picked the 270 was because it was on sale, but the 950 is clearly a better buy. I might actually end up going the AMD APU route and grabbing a GPU later down the line. However, the MSI 950 is $130 and may still be out of the realm of possibility but I think I'll be able to get it.
I heard bad things about all brands. Personaly I only had 1 powercolor card, a hd 3850 which has been retired after 7 years in use this Christmas. I also put a powercolor hd 7790 in a build for my cousin which was used for a year. At my shop of choice gpu RMA rates are slighty lower(~2%) on some brands (asus,msi,evga) but I would say buying a powercolor is not a "risk".
