Jump to content

Buying/building a new PC


Knuckles

Recommended Posts

Only took almost 5 years to get my settlement from a car accident but now I'm finally ready to buy a new pc. No 25fps at min settings playing Sacred 2 ever again :4rofl:

Money really isn't an issue. I'm looking to either buy or build an incredible gaming rig. Never built one before as I've always gone to Dell so far. Need help building this one and would like to ask all the tech savvy peeps to help out. More than likely I'll purchase everything from Newegg.com

 

I want a top of the line rig that has plenty of expansion/upgradability. I'll need help on everything from CPU to fans. As I select various components I need someone to make sure it will all be compatible. I will update this post as I decide (with your help) on which items to get

 

Thx in advance to all who help out :pirate:

 

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115211

Heatsink:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835103055

Thermal Compound:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007

Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131390

Harddrive(s):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820167024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136313

CD/DVD w/r:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827136162

Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129043

Power Supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817371012

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145261

Video Card(x2):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130476

Sound Card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829102021

Keyboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16823109148

Mouse:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16826104178

Monitor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824236049

Speaker System:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16836121006

Link to comment
  • Replies 109
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Processor you selected is definitely not worth for the money right now. If I were you I go with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115214

Only difference is operating Frequency (2.8GHz vs 2.93GHz). It is half the price.

Get a better motherboard or graphic card instead.

 

edit: just saw the lga1366 and lga1156 difference. but is it really worth it?

Edited by Yarasa
Link to comment
x in advance to all who help out :pirate:

 

CPU.................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115211

Heatsink:

Thermal Compound:.........http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007

Motherboard:

Harddrive(s):

CD/DVD w/r:

Case................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129021

Power Supply:

RAM:

Video Card(s):

Sound Card:

Keyboard:

Mouse:

Monitor:

Speaker System:

Killer Nic?:

Fans:

PhysX Card?:

 

 

As I just finished building a new rig Friday I have been browsing and priced a lot over the last 2 weeks. Gee price doesn't matter? I was most concerned about getting the most bang for my buck. Alright lets go shopping.

 

A few thoughts to consider

 

SLI or Crossfire support. A heavy duty gamer need dual graphics support I chose the ASRock P55 Extreme for this feature among others. there are higher end boards from Asus and gigabyte as well. But I was very impressed with the quality of this board right out of the box. very nicely finished.

 

Over clocking. Not really my thing, but the ASRock comes with auto clocking built in. watches your temps and voltages automatically. Runs my 2.66 i5 at about 3.2 without any worry of over heat. And all I had to do was select auto in the bios.

 

Hard Drive are getting bigger and faster. the new SSD are lightning quick by a little costly. durability and longevity should be exceptional with no moving parts.

 

Your CPU choice is good. only reason I didn't pick that on was for the price.

 

Cases come with or without power supplies. I chose without so that I could get a larger 700w ps to accommodate future dual vid card upgrade.

 

If you like I could put together what my dream pc would be and let everybody comment.

 

Processor you selected is definitely not worth for the money right now. If I were you I go with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115214

Only difference is operating Frequency (2.8GHz vs 2.93GHz). It is half the price.

Get a better motherboard or graphic card instead.

 

edit: just saw the lga1366 and lga1156 difference. but is it really worth it?

 

 

Good point about the GHz versus price. Especially with the automatic overclock most of the Mobo's come with now

Link to comment

I would love to see what your dream pc would be if cost wasn't a factor. I'm not looking to save a few bucks here so top end is what I'm looking for. I figure I'll allot up to 5k-7k to make it happen.

Link to comment
I would love to see what your dream pc would be if cost wasn't a factor. I'm not looking to save a few bucks here so top end is what I'm looking for. I figure I'll allot up to 5k-7k to make it happen.

 

 

Are you set on building your own from newegg?

 

Dell sells Alianware PC's now. The will even let you customize. Top end is in your price range and will come woth Dell warranty and support.

 

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/con...CWPX1&s=dhs

Link to comment

For CPU and Mobo:

I am with Yarasa on this. Go with Intel i7 8xx series.

They're pretty close to i7 9xx series in terms of performance, only cheaper. Examples of some good combo deals on Newegg from highest price to lowest:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDet...st=Combo.291906 with an Asus Maximus III Forumula

The Maximus / Formula series have been quite well-known for good performance for overclocking, and being very stable motherboards.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDet...st=Combo.290326 with a Gigabyte mobo

Stability and being generally decent, that's what Gigabyte is known for these days.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDet...st=Combo.280657 with an Asrock (Asus budget daughter) mobo

Asrock is a daughter company of Asus, aimed at a lower price range. They are moving up, with more stability and very good performing products.

I've recently seen a review of the mobo: a nice touch is that you are able to use s775 coolers on the motherboard. A weakness is that, once you've installed a graphics card, you cannot change your RAM configuration because it will almost touch the levers on the edges of the dimm slots.

 

For memory:

If you go for the Intel i7 8xx series combo with a P55 motherboard, you will have to get a Dual Channel DDR3 kit. I just picked one from G.E.I.L., a decent manufacturer. Get a random 1600MHz set.

 

For Graphics:

ATi 5000 series ftw. Once they are available again, get either a 5850 or 5870.

The performance difference between these is minimal, while the price difference may even be 100 dollars. I'd opt for a 5850.

Too bad, I couldn't add it yet, because they are unavailable now.

 

Other components:

A little addition to HDD, you might want to give SSD a try? It's expensive, so you'd have to check whether you would like it for the price.

Soundcard-wise, I'd check out Auzentech's Prelude http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829156005. These X-type cards cards carry the X-Fi chip, but drivers seem to better than Creative's. They were, anyway. Otherwise you might as well get an Xfi Xtreme gamer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829102006.

Dvd-drive: wanna go Blu-ray?

Killer Nic: leave it be. Those things are too expensive for the 1-5% increase they give you. I haven't seen a review that proved any major improvement.

 

 

My list of choice (minus the 5850) tuned to your wishes:

1258305500-990.jpg

 

Feel free to ask about stuff ;)

Edited by Timotheus
Link to comment

Right if money isn't an issue, or at least not until 5-7k I'd advise:

(Oh and I warn you in advance, this is going to be an Nvidia based system)

 

CPU: Go with an i7, I'll agree with Yarasa as well, go for the 8xx, although if you have the money left and want to spend it when you've thought of everything else, you could get a 9xx, your choice

 

Heatsink: this perhaps. Look around at reviews and find out what brands perform well.

 

Thermal Compound:.........http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007 < Arctic silver, no argument there

Motherboard: If you truly want all the bells and whistles and don't mind the price get something like this otherwise go with Timo's advice and get ASrock

 

Harddrive(s): I recommend Seagate. And you might wish to invest in 10,000 a 10,000 RPM drive or Solid State Drive (which appear to be the future)

 

CD/DVD w/r: Not much variation with disk drives, Plextor are reported to be very good. You might want to consider a Bluray drive as well.

 

Case................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129021, not sure what this was. I personally like my case (Akasa Mirage) it has plenty of room and space for fans, Antec 900 is a cool looking case too, meant to be good

 

Power Supply: Corsair PSUs are good, (though actually made by a company called seasonic for corsair, so Seasonic's are good too.)

 

RAM: I recommend like timo DDR3, assuming you're going 64bit, so get plenty I like Corsair but there are other good makes

 

Video Card(s): I think for this much money you might as well get Nvidia 295 GTX(s)

 

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty perhaps?

 

Keyboard: Whatever you like the feel of I use a Microsoft basic one from a previous computer

 

Mouse: As above

 

Monitor: Get a nice 22" or above.

 

Speaker System: ...

 

Fans: Akasa make good fans

 

PhysX Card?: Unnecessary if you have Nvidia cards, they've integrated PhysX

 

Hope I've been of some help

 

EDIT: A selection I chose, brands seem to differ over there which surprised me. Anyway, it's just over $5000 - $1500 of which is the 3 GTX 295s, I'm not sure the PSU is the right power as I didn't check and I didn't look into custom graphics card cooling

listz.th.jpg

Oh you got some gifts, I didn't look at those

 

EDIT 2: Compatibility wise I'm fairly certain this lot fits together, I can check to be sure if you prefer though.

Edited by fRACTAL
Link to comment

thank you so much for all the responses so far but it has left me with a few questions:)

 

1) Which is faster HDD or SSD ?

2) How much RAM will a 64 bit system recognize?

3) What is the difference between ATX and mini-ATX?

4) Is Blu-ray the better choice for a dvd player?

5) What is the highest resolution current games are using now?

6) Is it better to go with a wide screen monitor?

7) Should I get a RAID configuration? If yes, what type?

8) Is there a big difference between 7200 and 10000rpm on HDD's ?

9) Should I go with the integrated ethernet port or get a dedicated card for it?

10) I heard something about a card that does computations that frees up the GPU's...what is it and should I get it?

Link to comment
thank you so much for all the responses so far but it has left me with a few questions:)

 

1) Which is faster HDD or SSD ? SSD by far

2) How much RAM will a 64 bit system recognize? the most I've seen is 16 Gb

3) What is the difference between ATX and mini-ATX? the shape of the board and orientation in the case. most Mini-ATX boards are for a SFF (small form factor case) all though the seem to be getting more powerful. for a dual Graphics set-up ATX offers more options

4) Is Blu-ray the better choice for a dvd player? Only if you are interested in HD (blueray discs or movies)

5) What is the highest resolution current games are using now? ooohh you got me on that one

6) Is it better to go with a wide screen monitor? with all the multimedia and HTPC hometheater stuff Widescreen just seems to fit better

7) Should I get a RAID configuration? If yes, what type? The Alien ware has raid available, offers some data proctection(read loss of data)

8) Is there a big difference between 7200 and 10000rpm on HDD's ? if you look at access times and transfer rates the 10,000 seem a little faster. SSD will be the fastest. is basically a huge RAM drive

9) Should I go with the integrated ethernet port or get a dedicated card for it? With all the goodies you may be looking for save the pci slots for stuff like add-on cards my ASRocks came awith a 1 gb net ad I heard something about a card that does computations that frees up the GPU's...what is it and should I get it? if your going for dual Graphics cards it shouldn't be necessary

Edited by locolagarto
Link to comment
thank you so much for all the responses so far but it has left me with a few questions:)

 

1) Which is faster HDD or SSD ? SSD, but also a lot more expensive.

2) How much RAM will a 64 bit system recognize? Depends on hardware, mostly 16GB. W7's max is more than you can afford at this point anyway.

3) What is the difference between ATX and mini-ATX? (m)ATX is a motherboard form factor. It has to do with the amount of slots (PCI/PCIe) there are available. mATX carries 4 expansion slots, ATX carry 7. This also affects the type of case you can choose.

4) Is Blu-ray the better choice for a dvd player? If you plan on using it for HTPC purposes, and if you have (or are ready to buy) BluRay films.

5) What is the highest resolution current games are using now? Depends on the game?

6) Is it better to go with a wide screen monitor? They seem to be the standard these days.

7) Should I get a RAID configuration? If yes, what type? So you know there are more types? Well RAID0 with 2 HDD's speeds up your rig, because the assigned drives will be working at the same time in parallel. But if 1 drive fails, your entire setup is killed because everything is stored in a 50-50 way. Google RAID or ust look it up on Wikipedia for more information about how it can be set-up, and what the benefits are of the various types. Personally, I wouldn't bother. But my weapon of choice would be an SSD with Windows+programs, and 2 data drives in RAID1.

8) Is there a big difference between 7200 and 10000rpm on HDD's ? Yes, but that's also related to cache sizes. IIRC, the new 32MB 7200k RPM drives are about as fast as a 16MB 10k RPM drive. I would invest in the larger cache+lower speed, because those drives are more quiet, and run less hot (the famous 10K RPM Western Digital Raptors need some cooling and are quite loud).

9) Should I go with the integrated ethernet port or get a dedicated card for it? Integrated. I know you like the idea of the Killer Nic, if you are that anxious to get it maybe you should, but if such a card would be more than ~25 bucks they are WAY overpriced for the performance increase they will give you. I wouldn't even consider buying it because those few ms difference is pointless in my opinion.

10) I heard something about a card that does computations that frees up the GPU's...what is it and should I get it? The AGEIA PhysX card perhaps? A no-go, those cards are EOL and poorly supported by Nvidia's current PhysX drivers and a 9500GT would deliver about the same performance in PhysX calculations.

Edited by Timotheus
Link to comment
thank you so much for all the responses so far but it has left me with a few questions:)

These have been pretty well answered already but I'll give my input

1) Which is faster HDD or SSD ? SSD all the way, they are the future

2) How much RAM will a 64 bit system recognize? More than we're likely to have for a long time, limit for motherboards is the question here, usually 16GB

3) What is the difference between ATX and mini-ATX? Both are form factors for motherboards Mini(micro)ATX is smaller for more compact systems, ATX is bigger (standard form factor)

4) Is Blu-ray the better choice for a dvd player? Depends on what you want them for, I would get at least one of each if I could as they are dedicated to different media formats

5) What is the highest resolution current games are using now? Highest I've heard of is 2560x1600

6) Is it better to go with a wide screen monitor? Yes, unless you intend to play old games on this machine (assuming you don't your current one would be much better suited)

7) Should I get a RAID configuration? If yes, what type? Possibly, the build I suggested had two HDDs which would be put in RAID 0 if I had that computer. With an SSD drive for the system. (Just like Timo.)

8) Is there a big difference between 7200 and 10000rpm on HDD's ? Ditto on Timo, 7200RPM with 32MB cache is a better buy now.

9) Should I go with the integrated ethernet port or get a dedicated card for it? Depends on if you want to spend the money, integrated is fine but if you want to splash out for the small improvement go for it

10) I heard something about a card that does computations that frees up the GPU's...what is it and should I get it? Avoid anything like this, especially if you put together an SLi/Crossfire system as you'll have more than enough power to deal with anything

Link to comment

A few things off the top of my head for you Knuckles. ;)

 

Make sure that the motherboard is DDR3 compatible

Buy 6GB of DDR3 Ram. 3 x 2GB Sticks to be specific

 

Also I highly recommend Altec Lansing as a choice for speakers. I've been using Altec for about 7 years now and find it to have the best base out there for pc speakers. Oh and a nice sound card to go along with it. X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series

Link to comment

Got most of the questions out of the way....still researching some stuff, but haven't had much time/energy the last few days. Should have it figured out by this weekend (I think :) )

 

Again, I want to thank everyone for their help...I wouldn't have been able to figure out all this stuff nor build my own pc if it wasn't for you all ;)

 

 

 

 

p.s. I'm sure a have a few more questions before all is said and done

Link to comment

I've got a friend or two that have Solid State Disk Drives for thier boot drive and they say that it makes the OS scream. If you got the money, DEFINITELY get one and use it for your boot drive.

Link to comment

Knuckles, I just hear you say the words I just want to build an incredible gaming rig, and I drooled :drool: Just reading this thread is like a kind of novel... and kudos to everyone who answered with a barrage of responses to your series of questions...outstanding!

 

And like the peeps are saying... pix when you got it... let that baby show!

 

:)

 

gogo

Link to comment
I've got a friend or two that have Solid State Disk Drives for thier boot drive and they say that it makes the OS scream. If you got the money, DEFINITELY get one and use it for your boot drive.

 

Coooool...looks like I'm getting an SSD (s)

 

Hopefully this weekend I'll have it all sorted out and list all the components so the techies can peruse it to make sure I didn't mess something up. Also is there anything I should be aware of and/or tricks/tips when it comes to assembling this thing or for the initial start-up ?

Link to comment
I've got a friend or two that have Solid State Disk Drives for thier boot drive and they say that it makes the OS scream. If you got the money, DEFINITELY get one and use it for your boot drive.

 

Coooool...looks like I'm getting an SSD (s)

 

Hopefully this weekend I'll have it all sorted out and list all the components so the techies can peruse it to make sure I didn't mess something up. Also is there anything I should be aware of and/or tricks/tips when it comes to assembling this thing or for the initial start-up ?

 

Connect all the wires. All of them.

It drove me nuts when I forgot a CPU cable (I needed to plugin two), as my system wouldn't boot. :P

Link to comment

Don't be impatient like me. With every system I've built ( probably 6 since 1995) I never take the time to layout the wiring harness and tuck everything away, plan it then build it. I like to install the CPU, Memory before install the MOBO into the case. I have big hand and those small details are easier out of the case.

 

Read the book on the motherboard before you start. I know, for some that seems simple like "plug in all the wires" but it's a detail that will help in the end.

Link to comment
I got a newegg.com coupon code for SSD drive.

Not sure if it is a good brand or not. Never used SSD yet.

 

http://img38.imageshack.us/I/screenshot003lp.jpg/

 

I think this code is good for next 10 days or so.

 

That is very generous of you :cry: Thank you Yarasa :)

 

Unfortunately I won't be able to purchase the stuff until the 1st week of December at the earliest. Hopefully it will still be good

Link to comment

After your topic's inspiration :) , I started to read more about SSD drives and find out read/write speeds are very various.

On newegg it shows each speeds and make sure you get the faster one. it will make huge difference.

And Dane-Elec brand wasn't the best one out there.

 

Read speed is good enough but write speed is slower than most of them.

Link to comment
After your topic's inspiration :) , I started to read more about SSD drives and find out read/write speeds are very various.

On newegg it shows each speeds and make sure you get the faster one. it will make huge difference.

And Dane-Elec brand wasn't the best one out there.

 

Read speed is good enough but write speed is slower than most of them.

 

 

Which one did you like Yarasa?

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up