dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
3540
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

2 edits

Benenstein

Member

Building a computer...in need of help!

Well, im an amateur. I have a few people helping me out that have built their own computers, but i want to branch out as much as possible. I have a budget of around $1,400 (Maximum!). I want to build a gaming computer that can handle almost anything that i throw at it.

My ideas so far:

At least 1 TB on a HHD + 60 GB on SSD (The SSD to put my OS on)
16 GB of RAM (unsure of DDR3 vs DDR5 means and if it makes a difference)
A high end graphics card or 2 cheaper graphic cards
I have no clue what kind of motherboard to get, but i was told to get a motherboard plus a few processors.
Im going to be hooking my computer up to my flatscreen, so i wouldnt mind an HDMI out.
Also, a wireless card would be nice. My room is far away from the router, but close enough to the wireless router to get a good signal.

So far, ive only found the case and Windows 7. Any other help would certainly be appreciated!

Case:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 11129097

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

$1700.00 budget? Shit, you can build a rockin' gaming PC for that.

I built a PC a few months back with an Ivy Bridge i5 3570K, Gigabyte Z77 Motherboard, 16gb Corsair Vengence Blue RAM, Western Digital Black Caviar 1TB HDD, OCZ Vertex 4 128gb SSD Boot Drive, and a Rosewill Backhawk Mid Tower.

Everything ran roughly 900 dollars. I reused my GPU and PSU.

I'd go with roughly the same setup, but opt for a 256gb SSD instead. You'll want the larger space trust me. 60gb is the bare minimum for an OS.

Just get a good name brand 80 plus Silver/Gold rated PSU. I tend to like Corsair, but there are others that are quality also.

And then look at getting either a single GTX680 or 7970 GHZ edition.

You'll have a beast of a PC for games.

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

1 edit

ironweasel to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
I always like playing with money when it's not mine.

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 850
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17151108
$129.99

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13157295
$144.99

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20233280
$76.99

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19116504
$219.99

Video: MSI N680GTX-PM2D2GD5 GeForce GTX 680
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14127671
$469.99

SSD: Corsair Neutron Series GTX 240GB
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20233343
$229.99

HDD: Western Digital WD Black WD2002FAEX 2TB
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 22136792
$179.99

Optical: LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 27106369
$69.99

Wi-Fi: Rosewill RNX-N300X IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft 2.0 PCI Wireless Adapter
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 33166051
$24.99

Grand total:
$1656.90
Price includes the case you already posted.
With shipping you would be right around $1700.

This gives you a Quad-SLI board and 850w PSU, so you could slap another GTX 680 in there if you so desired and could max every game out there. The i5-3570 is probably the best gaming CPU out there right now and the K version means that the multiplier is unlocked so you could overclock it if you wanted to do that. Granted, this setup is really close to your max budget but it's guaranteed to be able to run everything out there right now and probably for the next couple years at 60FPS+ with all the eye candy turned on.

Also, I know that not a lot of people have heard of Seasonic and only having a Bronze certification might make you think I picked some random PSU - but you would be wrong. Do some research about Seasonic units and you'll see why I picked that one.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
Pretty much what Ironweasel linked is the setup you want. You can do your own research and mix and match other/different brands if you want.

The only thing we left out was a heat sink fan, which you could probably go with a Hyper 212 for 30 dollars.
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein

Member

Thanks guys! Ive been working with my own build for a little bit. Heres what ive got so far:

Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Item #: N82E16819116504
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy $219.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128544
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$25.00 Instant
$169.99
$144.99

1 Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT060A3K5 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820167120
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy $79.99

2 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL
Item #: N82E16820231426
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy $77.98

1 Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148840
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$30.00 Instant
$109.99
$79.99

1 LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature SATA IHBS112-04
Item #: N82E16827106369
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $69.99

1 Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Item #: N82E16811129097
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$10.00 Instant
$119.99
$109.99

1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Item #: N82E16832116986
Return Policy: Software Standard Return Policy $99.99

Im actually trying to keep it around 1200-1350 now,lol.

All im missing is a graphics card, a power supply (i have no idea how much power i would be using) and a wireless card. These are all from newegg

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

ironweasel

Premium Member

I would stay in the 128GB - 256GB range for the OS SSD and maybe bump the HDD to 1.5TB or 2TB.

As for a PSU....I'd say at least 650w from a good manufacturer as a bare minimum and 750w - 850w would probably be better. Seasonic makes some of the best units out there but you're going to pay for the quality. Antec used to make some good units but they're hit or miss lately. Enermax might be one to check out as well. Power supplies aren't an area you want to skimp out on, so do some research on any potential candidates before you purchase on.

Everything else looks fine and if you're wanting to be a little more budget-minded rather than "premium enthusiast", try this video card out.....

PNY VCGGTX670XPB GeForce GTX 670
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14133452
$319.99

Yeah, it's still a little expensive, but it's $150 less than the GTX 680 but it will still do quite well. I'm using the previous generation, a GTX 570, and alongside my 8GB RAM and i5-2550k, I can run either High or Ultra settings on all my games. Battlefield 3 on Ultra runs fairly well but I'd rather have slightly higher FPS and a little less eeye-candy so I run that on High.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
Click for full size
Here you go. Definitely use this build.

Parts list:
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19116504
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13157293
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 35103065
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231489
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14130802
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20239375
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 22136792
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17182083
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 27135204
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 11119196
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 32116986
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 23129008
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 26104318
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 26816004
Krisnatharok

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

I included peripherals in this build since I figured you didn't have any, and thought it would be worthwhile getting good gaming keyboard/mouse/headphones.

I forgot the wireless adapter, but you can get any Buffalo Wireless adapter with the spare $52 (my prices are with shipping).

Red_Weasel
join:2008-05-04
Belen, NM

Red_Weasel to ironweasel

Member

to ironweasel
Don't let him build you a computer and set a budget....he can't stick to a budget and normally will go $1000 OVER budget.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

Ooooh.

/popcorn

Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein

Member

I do believe ive finished my build. Ive added a graphics card:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14150609

and a power supply:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17152035

I just need to know if everything i have is compatible (such as fitting into my motherboard and case). Heres everything else that i have:

Wireless Adaptor:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 33166051

Case:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 11129097

MOBO:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13128544

Processor:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19116504

SSD:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20167120

RAM (16 GB total):

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231426

Harddrive:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 22148840

Optical Drive:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 27106369

OS:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 32116986

Total of $1,192.88

Also, am i missing anything?

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
I'm telling you dude. Dump that 60gb SSD you have in your list and get at least a 128gb. You'll fill that 60gb drive completely before you even know it. I've filled half my SSD with only an OS and a couple small programs. No games or anything.

And change that power supply for a better one. Do not skimp on a PSU.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
Just... no. Go with the build I gave you. You tell use $1700 and you are putting a build together a full half-grand less? What gives?

/thread: »Re: Building a computer...in need of help!

And where's the CPU cooler?

----

I don't like your build, and here's feedback on each component choice:

Card: XFX is notorious for bad customer service. I hope to God you never have to deal with them to replace the card. For your budget I would bump up to a GTX 670 or Radeon 7950. Go EVGA, MSI, Asus, or Sapphire.

PSU: Stick to Corsair, Seasonic, or Rosewill and get a minimum 650w PSU. Make sure it is at least 80 PLUS certified (preferably GOLD or PLATINUM), with active PFC and perhaps modular.

Wireless card: Whatever I guess, I've owned 5 or 6 of the tiny Buffalo Wireless-N adapters and they perform flawlessly.

Case: $120 for a case? Why? You can find a better case (check my build) for half that price.

Mobo: No comment, I like Asrock, ASUS, and EVGA, but MSI and Gigabyte are solid choices as well.

Processor: Good pick.

SSD: 60 GB is NOT large enough for OS and programs nowadays. You should shoot for only 40-60% utilization so you maintain your speeds. With your budget, you should shoot for a quality 256 GB SSD.

HDD: Only go for Western Digital Caviar Black. Nothing else matches up in my book, and WD is king of customer service should anything go wrong. They have replaced good drives so I keep matching drives for RAID. It's hard to beat that.

ODD: Do you need Blu-ray? You should add a DVD burner on top of that if so, and throw in the cost of decoding software since the hardware comes with none.

-------

Where are your peripherals? You need keyboard/mouse/headphones.

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

ironweasel to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
Raidmax PSU....bad choice.

As I've said before.....the PSU is one area you don't want to skimp. It affects every other part of your system and an inadequate PSU can cause other problems and potentially destroy other components.

Take a look at this Seasonic unit:
»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17151088

Excellent quality - Seasonic, Enermax, Corsair, XFX.
Moderate quality - Antec, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Lepa, Kingwin.

Anything other than these brands I personally wouldn't trust in my rig. When you have another $800+ at the mercy of one component (the PSU), you don't really want to take chances.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to Krisnatharok

Premium Member

to Krisnatharok
My Rosewill case was $89.99 on sale, and that was pushing it price wise for me. I can't see spending $120.00 on a case. That shit better be the baddest ass case on the planet for that amount of money.

HDD, I agree. The customer service I received on my WD Caviar Black was second to none. Even though I had to RMA it, Western Digital came through with top notch customer service for me.

Regarding the SSD, I don't know why he keeps linking a 60gb drive. He'll fill that thing completely in no time. I was surprised mine filled up as quick as it did.


Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

I'm busting against the limit for my 120 GB, my next build will have a 256 or 512 GB.

I can see splurging on a case, but it better be a Rosewill Thor / HAF X / Corsair 800 or something along those lines.
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein to Ghastlyone

Member

to Ghastlyone
I only intend on putting my OS on an SSD, nothing else. I will switch my HD to a WD Cavier Black though. Maybe even look into getting a cheaper case

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

said by Benenstein:

I only intend on putting my OS on an SSD, nothing else.

No, you won't. Take the word of someone who uses SSDs in his laptops and desktops.

You want to put the games (and all non-game programs) you most commonly play on the SSD as well. For me that's LoL, WoW, GW2, BF3, and Firefall.

It adds up quickly.

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

ironweasel to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
Rather than the Antec 900 maybe go for the Antec 300. Not nearly as "flashy" but still has plenty of substance, can fit a full ATX board, and can fit the majority of the huge graphics cards out there.

Big selling point....it's only $60.
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein to Krisnatharok

Member

to Krisnatharok
Hmm, let me see how much more it is to up it

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

said by Benenstein:

Hmm, let me see how much more it is to up it

I already did it for you. Why ask for help if you just disregard everything and do what you think is best? I'm genuinely puzzled.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
said by Benenstein:

I only intend on putting my OS on an SSD, nothing else.

That's why I'm telling you to at least go 128gb. I'm sitting at only 45gb of unused space on my 128gb SSD right now, and that's only an OS, AVG anti virus, EVGA Precision, and some game save files.

SSD performance degrades with the higher amount of data you store. That's why people recommend going with larger SSD's.
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein to Krisnatharok

Member

to Krisnatharok
Im not disregarding everything. Im trying to juggle everything that i want. I dont need 240 GB on an SSD, i appreciate the help.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to Krisnatharok

Premium Member

to Krisnatharok
said by Krisnatharok:

I'm busting against the limit for my 120 GB, my next build will have a 256 or 512 GB.

Yep...my next build down the road is getting a 512gb. I aint going anything less
Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein

Member

This is also my first build, i can start small and upgrade it later if need be. I dont want to go all out on my first build honestly. I appreciate everything you guys recommend though. Im getting told many things by people on here, a few of my friends who have built their own computers, and my brother that has his masters in computer science and has built several computers. Im juggling all of my options and trying to build the best, but not too expensive, computer.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
said by Benenstein:

Im not disregarding everything. Im trying to juggle everything that i want. I dont need 240 GB on an SSD, i appreciate the help.

So what's your real budget? Obviously not $1700, because that budget accommodates everything I picked out quite well, including the peripherals.

How about you tell me what you don't like about my build, and I can swap out components or tell you the reasoning behind the choice.

Keeping in mind:
said by Benenstein:

Well, im an amateur. I have a few people helping me out that have built their own computers, but i want to branch out as much as possible. I have a budget of around $1,700 (Maximum!). I want to build a gaming computer that can handle almost anything that i throw at it.

Benenstein
join:2007-04-29
Bloomington, IL

Benenstein

Member

Which is why i chose a maximum of 1,700...not to go as close to it as possible. While i did say im an amateur, i know quite a few people who are not amateurs. Everybody has had their own experiences with different companies and products.

I like your build, but its too pricey honestly. Like ive stated several times, i appreciate everything you guys are doing for me.

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

ironweasel to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
said by Benenstein:

This is also my first build, i can start small and upgrade it later if need be. I dont want to go all out on my first build honestly. I appreciate everything you guys recommend though. Im getting told many things by people on here, a few of my friends who have built their own computers, and my brother that has his masters in computer science and has built several computers. Im juggling all of my options and trying to build the best, but not too expensive, computer.

I'm going to leave some general recommendations here. I've been building computers for over 15 years and I'm A+ certified if that counts for anything. :lol:

Case: Unless you're going to drag it to LAN parties every weekend, you don't need acrylic side windows, LED fans, or any other "look at me" BS. Find a decent quality basic case that's big enough for what you intend to put in it. You can save money on the case and use it to upgrade other components.

Motherboard: Only one or two definite points. 1) Make sure it's compatible with your intended CPU & RAM. 2) Think about what you want to do in the future (SLI / Crossfire, more RAM, etc.) and buy accordingly. Everything else is personal preference.

CPU: Get the best you can afford within your intended usage. The i7, for example, spanks the i5 in multi-threaded applications where a lot of calculations are performed. Scientific simulations are a good example. The i7 doesn't much better than an i5 relative to the cost increase.

RAM: Think about what you want to do with it. High speed and low timing is always good regardless of what you do. For gaming, 8GB is about the norm. 16GB if you want to push it. 32GB+ if your board supports it and you have a legitimate need for it....like editing Titanic or something.

PSU: One of the most important components. Don't cheap out on this.....get the best one you can find in the appropriate wattage. 650w+ from a quality manufacturer.

SSD: 128GB at a minimum or 256GB+ if you want to be able to load and access more of your favorite apps with the speed a SSD provides.

HDD: 1TB minimum since everything you don't access on a frequent basis is going to go here.

Video card: Personal preference and predicted usage. Max eye candy at any cost - GTX 680 SLI. Most people usually settle for a mid-range product and the Radeon 7850 2GB or 7870 would be decent choices.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
said by Benenstein:

This is also my first build, i can start small and upgrade it later if need be. I dont want to go all out on my first build honestly. I appreciate everything you guys recommend though. Im getting told many things by people on here, a few of my friends who have built their own computers, and my brother that has his masters in computer science and has built several computers. Im juggling all of my options and trying to build the best, but not too expensive, computer.

A Masters in Computer Science does not make you a pro at building gaming PCs, sorry.

You've given us a lot of conflicting information, which is why we're a little frustrated at this point.

What's your *real* budget, and what are your *real* desired performance? A 7800 will not max everything.
Krisnatharok

Krisnatharok to Benenstein

Premium Member

to Benenstein
said by Benenstein:

Which is why i chose a maximum of 1,700...not to go as close to it as possible.

That's what a maximum is. If you wanted a maximum of $1200, the build would look entirely different.

You choose how much you want to spend. You said $1700, I thought it was a pretty damn fine build for $1650, but you say that is too pricey. But you said $1700 to begin with.

Let's start over. Tell me what your budget is, and what games you want to max. I assume your TV (which is a bad idea for gaming) is 1920x1080?