So, I've gotten tired of buying multiple consoles this generation, and really don't see next generation being much of an improvement as far as console quality is concerned. I'm on my third broken PS3 and my second XBox 360 right now, so I figure I might as well just pay up and build myself a PC.
Now, I've never done this before. I know near nothing about the process or what's what. I know that I have about $1200 (give or take a couple hundred) in mind for a price tag. I want an i7 Core processor (No AMD) and I want it to be able to blast out games on max settings for a good while to come. I mostly plan on using it for GW2 when it arrives, but still want to have that power to fall back on for a few years worth of quality gaming. I've looked at some "DIY PC Combos" on newegg, but have been told that buying it piece-by-piece is the better route to take. Also looking for 8 or more gigs of RAM. HDD space isn't too huge of a priority, but I was thinking 1TB probably wouldn't break the bank these days, but I'm not entirely certain. Monitor shouldn't be a problem, as long as the rig has HDMI and I can use my TV for it. (I think I can do that, right?)
Anyway, if anyone here is still into the PC scene and has a bit of time to help me out with some know-how, or tell me if I'm overdoing it, asking too much for too little, etc. Anything at all is helpful.
core i7 is awesome, but the limiting factor on games is going to be your graphics card.
Get an Nvidia.
What you need to do:
pick your cpu pick the motherboard that works with that cpu (they need to have the same socket) pick your gpu pick your ram get accessories, like HD, DVDRW, wireless card maybe, operating system, keyboard mouse monitor pick a power supply that has enough juice for your gpu
get a case that fits your motherboard.
browse on newegg.com, let me know what parts you're looking at
--
"What if you just eat vegetarians?"-neonreaper "^ You are what you eat. ^_~"-Koiji
Good decision. PC is BY FAR the best game system, especially if you keep emulation in mind. $1200 (without a monitor in the calculations) should be sufficient for a great machine that can run everything on high settings. RAM and hard drive aren't very expensive, so get as much as you can afford after you subtract the other stuff. Your choices seem to be fine there. Probably even go for 16 GB of RAM. The GPU should be "second best" of what's currently available - their prices aren't unreasonable and they are only marginally weaker than the best stuff that costs much more. I haven't built a PC lately, but those have always been the rules of thumb.
--
Blitzball fan? Try Captain Tsubasa II (in English) for NES! Game reviews/articles by me: http://betweenlifeandgames.com
@Colegreen - I've been checking out that board every now and again, but it seems like it's kind of slow. Board 8 usually has a broad user base for most things and is often times quick to reply/help. Thanks for the heads up still.
@Gwindor - When picking out processors and GPUs, I don't exactly know what all the numbers are telling me. i7 seems to me like it'll be a long lasting, strong CPU for a good while which is why it has my interest now. GPUs are a different story to me because I dont really know what makes one better than another or how to tell if it'll be good. I just want something that'll help games run max settings as smooth as possible without splurging $1,000 on a GPU alone. Do you know what's a solid and affordable GPU? A new one I think just came out that was way overpriced from what I've gathered, but idk what the next best thing is.
would wait a little bit right now (1-2 months) while hard drive prices continue to re-adjust for post-flooding prices and we know which of the new ivy bridge chips are worth it, assuming you're going the Intel-Nvidia route.
if you aren't (aka, budget counts) then wait a bit to see how the Trinity APUs do for themselves and how well they crossfire with dedicated cards. can also see how well performance is compared to their other high end chips, to see if the CPU half of the chips are at all comparable to some of their more recent entries.
both ways you'll be future proof for quite some time. NVIDIA isn't the must-have anymore either for the high end as it wasn't too long ago when AMD took the crown of beastiest GPU, though since then NVIDIA took it back. it's a good idea to start understanding what you're looking for, however. i7s are the high end but just about nobody needs them and i5-2500K was the ideal intel processor for 99% of people. probably isnt' anymore, or won't be for long, due to Ivy Bridge's release.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
Does the processor hold any bearing here, or will one i7 be as good as the next? The two top models seem to have two differences, that being the K that appears after the number processor, and GHz. Do these things really justify the price difference?
also, the first thing you want to decide is budget.
that will determine whether you go Intel or AMD, which is the biggest decision. even if you have a broad range, you can at least set a cap and narrow your parts down that way.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
$1200 is a solid budget for building a great computer. Just keep in mind that it'll start lagging behind in about 2 years, but it's easier to upgrade down the road as well.
For your CPU, get an Ivy Bridge i5 or i7 processor. There's not a huge difference between i5 and i7 when it comes to gaming, and there's a noticeable price difference between the two. That's a key place to save a little bit of money if you want to.
For RAM, get 8 GB. There's no reason to spend huge amounts of money on 12 or 16 right now, and whenever you might need to upgrade that to 16 or so, it'll probably be a lot cheaper as well.
The graphics card is where you'll have the biggest expenditure if you're really wanting to go all out on it. You'll probably want to go at or above 1.5 GB memory size, and I'd highly suggest 384-bit cards. Don't fall for PCI Express 3.0, it's not all that common yet and will make it harder to find a good motherboard at a reasonable price.
For Hard Drives, you only need more than 1 TB if you're really into downloading videos and storing them. I'd suggest getting a 128 GB SSD drive and putting your operating system and games on it. It's amazingly fast compared to your traditional hard drive, and well worth the investment.
One place some people screw up on is the Power Supply. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure it is rated as 80+. If it isn't, you risk blowing the power supply and destroying your investment. There are excellent power supply calculators out there, you can just put in all your parts and it will give you an estimate on them. I'd suggest going at least 50-100 over it, just so you have a bit of give, and you don't want to push the power supply too hard. It would also give you some room to upgrade and not need to worry about whether the power supply can handle the new part.
K = multiplier's unlocked so you can overclock freely and easily. it's meant to be overclocked.
and i'm pretty sure that in most regards the later i5s were putting up numbers better than the earliest i7s, so yes, it makes a big deal. especially when dealing with the upgraded chips intel just had 3 weeks ago.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
I just built a gaming machine some 4 months ago (total cost with OS came out to roughly $1300), so hopefully I can help.
When comparing the i7 to the i5, the only difference is a .1 GHz clock speed increase, more L3 cache, and a larger price tag. So if you're approaching your budget, consider a downgrade.
This is the graphics card I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608 It alone can run pretty much everything on max setting with a smooth frame rate. It's also SLI supported so you can add another one in a 5 years when it starts slowing down. But make sure that when you get your power supply you pick one that can handle the 2 cards. You don't want to have to buy a new one when you just want to add another card.
--
[witty phrase including the guru champ SuperNiceDog] If there is one thing I know, it is that I know nothing.
Wang, I'm actually in a bit of a time budget. I want to have this computer paid for by the end of the month ideally, but more realistically probably mid-June. You see, I work about an hour drive away Monday-Friday and have been hitching rides with my mom because the drive is on her way there and back. However, I need to have a car of my own that can make the trek before long. I want to have this to keep me occupied before I set myself into debt with a new car. Otherwise waiting a while might be a good call, but in this case I cant afford to.
All of this info has been helping me though. I'll see if I can piece it together and maybe post up my general build for someone to look over before long.
...ah. fair enough. i also don't know what you have against AMD exactly so i figured it should be mentioned as well. if you do extensive photoshop work then it's understandable, but for just about everything else you're looking at comparable performance at a fraction of the price. and having 1200 for a budget is more than enough, especially if you're using some older parts (e.g, the hard drive, keyboard, etc). if money's gonna be tight soon then it may be a good idea to also consider lower numbers as 600-700 gets you anything modern today on high settings too.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
if you have a microcenter near you, go there. they have a LOT of great sales going on, including the above mentioned i5 at heavy discounts. there's a bunch of slickdeals topics on 'em because they're just plain the best store to buy stuff.... only problem is they aren't available to everyone or everywhere.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
Im not gonna lie, i prefer ATI right now over NVIDIA. I think the 6850 series is the best overall bang for your buck in the market right now. Hell they are probably even cheaper now then when i bought mine.
I also feel solid state drives are becoming increasingly valuable. They are still kinda expensive, but man do they speed up your PC. You dont need to install everything on it, but I'd consider putting any games you plan on playing regularly and windows (and any software like a photoshop or something).
--
Pride. Passion. Excellence. Metal_DK Currently playing: Sengoku Rance, Starcraft II
I have no specific hatred toward AMD or anything, I just trust Intel I guess. There's actually a Microcenter right down the road from where I work <_<
With that being said, here's what I came up with thus far going bit-by-bit. If anything is non-compatible then please let me know. First bare-bones build, no "Combo package" anything, just one bit at a time. I also realize some of these things are on sale for a little while, but I am running on the assumption that the prices are generally not far from where they can be found.
Roughly a bit over $1200 after taxes+shipping I'd guess.
I have no case in this build yet, I know. With just the chips, what am I missing/whats incompatible/what could be swapped for something cheaper without losing much in performance? Any thoughts would be helpful.
The socket type, listed on the cpu, determines what kind of motherboard you can get. That's why you need to pick the cpu -> motherboard -> everything else.
--
"What if you just eat vegetarians?"-neonreaper "^ You are what you eat. ^_~"-Koiji
all sandy bridge chips have intergrated graphics. HD3000.
it sucks. you need an nvidia card. they did it that way so even laptops can run without a dedicated card. Ivy Bridge upped it to HD4000 which still isn't very good but it's at least somewhat passable.
AMD meanwhile made what they call their APUs, also goes by the name their fusion chips, which specializes in this. they managed to fit a CPU and GPU into a single piece, so you have dedicated level graphics mixed with a good quad core. Llano, their current line, is the king of gaming laptops as a result because you simply cannot beat price-performance at that level. on the desktop side better models exist and they're very, very good for the price - literally $150 for a CPU/GPU hybrid gets you a solid chip on both, enough to run 2011's games even. Trinity comes out in a bit over a week with improvements on both, and when crossfired with a decent dedicated vid card it's got the performance of top of the line ones at a fraction of the price, for basically STILL less than what the card would cost, let alone the CPU.
basically, price-performance is AMD's forte, and they can do it in a number of ways. we're hitting a point where intergrated chips aren't all bad, and in AMD's case, are actually quite good within that line.
as for Ivy Bridge-Sandy Bridge, what's worth noting is that Ivy Bridge didn't improve everyting. the vid card was, but you don't want to do that on a desktop (unless again, you're fielding an AMD APU, in which case it is entirely an option), which leaves you with the processor portion, the biggest asset to Intel. and that... while it's better at stock levels, overclocking is in Sandy Bridge's favor due to temperatures. Ivy Bridge runs very hot when you OC it well.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
That motherboard will work. It only has one PCI express 2.o slot, so you won't be doing any dual gpu setups. It also only has one ps2 port, so either your mouse or keyboard will have to be usb.
HD is fine. RAM is DDR3, and your motherboard support sit, so it's fine. Price is in the right range. disc drive is like whatever. they're all the same, it will work.
I bought a computer a couple years ago from cyberpower for around this much. It is an i7 with a gtx 465, water cooled, and i got just cause 2 free with it.
For what I paid, I got a decent enough deal, though as mentioned, buying the computer yourself is going to be a much better route than buying in a retail store, but I was lazy at the time and did not trust myself not to bork something up. >_>;;
I can't really say I recommend the place, as there are a number of positive and negative reviews. But look at the customization of the systems they offer and do some research on the components.
Don't get a core i7. Get the i5-2500K sandy bridge.
The new ivy bridge CPUs are barely improve anything, and are $100 more. i5-2500K can be overclocked to insane levels with just a decent amount of after market cooling, so it is quite future-proof. Also the i7 isn't any better for games than the i5. It's more for video editing and stuff. 16GB is also only needed for video editing... just stick with 4GB.
-- _foolmo_ 'To be foolmo'd is to be better opinion'd.' - Blairville
and again, to repeat the issue ivy bridge has, at stock levels it has better performance than sandy bridge, yet any decent overclocking job will have it shoot up in temps extremely fast, which is why sandy bridge is gonna stick around for a while. at least, until they do a Gen 2 chip that fixes that problem. if you do intel, i5-2500K is really the best bang for buck, especially if you go look for it at microcenter.
still, 8GB is what i'd say, not 4. it's so damn cheap that it can be bought for almost the same price. >_>;
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
From: Wanglicious | #032 still, 8GB is what i'd say, not 4. it's so damn cheap that it can be bought for almost the same price. >_>;
True
I dunno, I have 4GB with a 2500K and a Geforce 560Ti, and the bottleneck has always been in badly parallelized programs that don't take advantage of the 4 cores. Never had a problem with RAM. But I do only play on 1920x1080... if you are doing some insane 2500x1900 or something resolution, then maybe you might need more RAM... or maybe only GPU memory matters for that anyways.
-- _foolmo_ 'Most people at least try to say something funny. See foolmo's post as an example.' - The Real Truth
Thats overkill by todays standards. though occasionally theres a few 750W on a good sale, you usually end up just paying for power you will never need.
Also I'd be happy to put together a quick build, but to maximize your budget need to know if you need an OS(Also monitor/keyboard/mouse, but most people have these and are happy with them), if your price takes into account taxes, stuff like that.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.
I dunno, I have 4GB with a 2500K and a Geforce 560Ti, and the bottleneck has always been in badly parallelized programs that don't take advantage of the 4 cores. Never had a problem with RAM. But I do only play on 1920x1080... if you are doing some insane 2500x1900 or something resolution, then maybe you might need more RAM... or maybe only GPU memory matters for that anyways.
The RAM is going to be more based on how many programs you want to be able to run at once. 8 will be plenty and you will not need more than that. 4 will not be enough if you are the average PC gamer.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.
I wouldnt suggest buying a hard drive right now if you can avoid it, prices are crashing. Do recommend the SSD though(If you can, salvage a hard drive you've got now for a bit).
For whatever reason that RAM doesnt have a rebate on it. I usually get some variation of the Corsair XMS3(got it on the XMS2 way back when as well) for like $25 after rebate(Actually the current RAM im using I got for $20 after a $25 rebate). Look for that if you can wait. I actually bought it in store(at Fry's).
If you need to cut cost can always get a slightly lower performing video card(I always recommend staying with EVGA for the nvidia cards, btw)
everything else is pretty basic stuff for a budget around $1000.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.
My problem with my computer is that I'm currently being bottlenecked by my processor. I have this:
I've done some upgrades though.
1 - Upgraded Vista to Windows 7 (a bootleg version) 2 - Upgraded the video card to a Geforce GT 545 3 - Upgraded the RAM to DDR2 4gb 4 - 700w power supply (for my old graphics card, a Geforce 9600 GT) According to the experience Index, I'm getting a 4.5, though my memory was like 5.2 and my Video card-related stuff was like 7.0. Totally being choked out by my now dated processor
Is it possible to switch out the motherboard/processor? The Motherboard doesn't support DDR3 memory so I want to change that out. Should I just build a new computer instead, salvaging any sort of components I can to cut costs?
--
"One of these days, I'm gonna find a loophole my friend." - Man in Black
Is it possible to switch out the motherboard/processor? The Motherboard doesn't support DDR3 memory so I want to change that out. Should I just build a new computer instead, salvaging any sort of components I can to cut costs?
Pull the hard drive out(Because, why not, even if its a crummy hard drive, you might as well keep your stuff, no harm having 2 hard drives).
scrap all of the rest and build a new one.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.
Would need to know exactly what PSU you have, but if you didnt already give that information, I'm just assuming its some bargain brand and the last thing you want to do is put a budget power supply in a new system.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.
I haven't read the entire topic (sorry, I just got home from a pretty long day and my eyes are strained) but if you're still looking for help Reva, I built my very first gaming PC like seven weeks ago. It was a blast but I had a Computer Science Major friend helping out in case I pulled somethin', as Barret Wallace would say.
Eight gigabytes of RAM is totally fine man, DDR3 at 8 is enough to max just about everything. RAM isn't really the major issue.Dat graphics card is paramount. I got an Nvidia GeForce 560 Ti and it is beautiful. I think I picked it up for sub-300. I also got an Intel i7 2600k processor for about 300 -- my two biggest purchases here by far -- and together they're pretty magical.
Literally the only thing holding me back at this point is my 60hz 32" Samsung 720p TV I'm currently doubling as both a console and computer display. I'm gonna pick up a 24" 1080p from Acer or something soon because the ghosting gets really ugly trying to run most PC games from the past couple of years. I get some silly lag that's really just display problems, I know it is because I've hooked the PC up elsewhere and it's absolutely beautiful.
Man, I got this TV just two years ago. Couldn't imagine it being a weak link then. It is still gorgeous for PS3 and 360 though.
to piggyback on red's comments on the 9600GT - it's dated, but how big a deal this is to you matters as other parts can pick up the slack it has. even if you get a new one, depending on how up to date your vid card is you may STILL want to keep it to allow the 9600GT to render PhysX. i'd recommend any modern build to field a motherboard with 2 slots for vid cards because it's very, very useful to have that backup option available to you, especially if you're fine with pushing your system for as long as you can get.
--
The King Wang. Listen up Urinal Cake. I already have something that tells me if I'm too drunk when I pee on it: My friends. - Colbert.
@ red That build looks all well and good, but I think my stuff I posted before was generously superior comparatively at only ~$200 more, ya? I mean, the 580 video card, the 16GB RAM, and a power supply of 100W greater. I'm not trying to sound one-uppy or anything, but if I can get all that for just a bit more, isn't it worth coming up with? Of course, if your stuff is actually way better than what I had in mind, don't mind my dumb-assery.
And I could get behind picking up an i7 Sandy Bridge if it's cheaper and pretty comparable. I actually do want to do a bit of video editing on it however, so I think it would ultimately benefit me to have the i7.
And yeah, there's no way I'm going less than 8GB RAM. I feel like 16 is cheap enough to get and not have to worry about upgrading for a while.
@ red That build looks all well and good, but I think my stuff I posted before was generously superior comparatively at only ~$200 more, ya? I mean, the 580 video card, the 16GB RAM, and a power supply of 100W greater. I'm not trying to sound one-uppy or anything, but if I can get all that for just a bit more, isn't it worth coming up with? Of course, if your stuff is actually way better than what I had in mind, don't mind my dumb-assery.
you didnt include a case.
--
"First thing that crosses my mind: I didn't get any GameFAQs Karma yesterday." Math Murderer after getting his appendix removed.