The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[jakonovski]

The SO's pc fried so I ordered a bunch of components. Being insecure I decided to seek validation after the fact:

GA-Z77M-D3H, LGA1155, Intel Z77, DDR3, CrossFireX, mATX
Intel Pentium G860, LGA1155, 3GHz, 3MB, Boxed
2x Corsair 2GB, DDR3 1333MHz
Seasonic 400W P-400FL, 80PLUS Platinum modular ATX PSU
Fractal Design Core 1000, mATX case

Budget constraints dictated a lot, except for the PSU where I've decided to always buy the best thing I can find.

[Jimbo]

How much of an improvement will I see if I do upgrade from a XFX 260 gtx, to say a newer card like the 600's or 700's? Most of my games say my bottleneck is in the cpu (I'm running a 3.0 dual core intel processor).

I'm wondering, since Battlefield 4 is coming out soon and I'd like to up my performance in Planetside 2 and/or Skyrim/Fallout/Torchlight 2 crap I'm playing, my machine has been great still. It may be dated, but it runs games and does my home work crap amazingly fast and with great graphics (except planetside, had to turn the crap down to get better performance).

Biggest thing looks to be the cpu--Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor. It isn't over clocked. I've got XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler, so I guess if I bump it up to 3.5 Ghz it should handle it.

That would be the cheapest thing for me to do (well wait and see how it plays BF 4, then overclock it).

Next cheapest would be to buy a Intel cpu that is the same but has a quad-core processor ($250) & cpu cooler ($70).

After that would I be okay with just getting a new motherboard and cpu? I could see that, but aren't the new cpu's in the $350's range plus a decent motherboard would be like $200? Amd would be cheaper to get the 8 core and motherboards seem priced about the same for AMD or Intel.

Oh and forgot to mention, there are 2 identical computers, mine and my son's, so would have to buy double.

The wait and see seems tempting.

[MisterNoisy]

How much of an improvement will I see if I do upgrade from a XFX 260 gtx, to say a newer card like the 600's or 700's? Most of my games say my bottleneck is in the cpu (I'm running a 3.0 dual core intel processor).

I'm wondering, since Battlefield 4 is coming out soon and I'd like to up my performance in Planetside 2 and/or Skyrim/Fallout/Torchlight 2 crap I'm playing, my machine has been great still. It may be dated, but it runs games and does my home work crap amazingly fast and with great graphics (except planetside, had to turn the crap down to get better performance).

Biggest thing looks to be the cpu--Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor. It isn't over clocked. I've got XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler, so I guess if I bump it up to 3.5 Ghz it should handle it.

That would be the cheapest thing for me to do (well wait and see how it plays BF 4, then overclock it).

Next cheapest would be to buy a Intel cpu that is the same but has a quad-core processor ($250) & cpu cooler ($70).

After that would I be okay with just getting a new motherboard and cpu? I could see that, but aren't the new cpu's in the $350's range plus a decent motherboard would be like $200? Amd would be cheaper to get the 8 core and motherboards seem priced about the same for AMD or Intel.

Oh and forgot to mention, there are 2 identical computers, mine and my son's, so would have to buy double.

The wait and see seems tempting.

Anand comparison of GTX260 and 660ti.

Those CPU coolers are fine (one of my favorite budget coolers, actually) and will handle a mild overclock like you're suggesting easily (though you may want to pick up a beefier fan - the stock one on those is more about low noise than high airflow/static pressure).  If it were me, I'd get the video card(s), OC the CPU and then look at a mobo + CPU upgrade later on down the road - I wouldn't bother buying another 775 socket CPU.  If you're going to shell out the $200+ for a new CPU, then just get a really new one and a new board with it - most games are way more constrained by video than CPU, anyway.  Also, if you trust random dudes on the internet, you might want to look around at places like OCN for people selling their older Sandy/Ivy procs - you can occasionally find a pretty good deal, and Z77 boards are still readily available.

[Sky]

I'm wondering if I'm going to need a new gpu soon. Truck is paid off in 3 months, so starting to think about replacing my dual 460s. They're still pretty awesome at 1080p, though.

Bit of tearing in SR4, dontchaknow (high setting).

[Sky]

Never understood why people are putting crazy amounts of ram into gaming machines. Unless they're gonna run 5 instances of Eve, its not doing anything.

Also because RAM was super cheap a year ago. I doubled mine last black friday, added 8 more GB for some ridiculously low cost.

[Jimbo]

Thanks, yes after doing more reading, I'm looking at buying in pieces again and then later on building the systems. So far it looks like Intel processors are better right now, but more expensive, but they don't suck the power or heat up as bad as the AMD. With the new nVidia cards coming out hopefully the 780's will drop from 400 (high estimate, I found some cheaper, some more expensive).  I'm not going to buy an older processor and try and make the rig limp along, looks like it is time to get a motherboard, cpu, and video card.

[Trippy]

I am wondering if this monoprice 27" wqhd monitor is non crap

Don't know about that particular model but in general people like the cheap LG 1440p panels.

Review of said monitor:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7240/monoprice-zerog-slim-27-ips-monitor-review

Summary: DVI-only, poorly calibrated out of the box, good performance (except for the broken brightness setting) after calibration, has VESA-mount

[Salamok]

I am wondering if this monoprice 27" wqhd monitor is non crap

Don't know about that particular model but in general people like the cheap LG 1440p panels.

Review of said monitor:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7240/monoprice-zerog-slim-27-ips-monitor-review

Summary: DVI-only, poorly calibrated out of the box, good performance (except for the broken brightness setting) after calibration, has VESA-mount

Thanks for that, still on the fence with this.  I am actually starting to like 1080p on a 27" (aka my eyes are becoming aged) and am I little worried that a 2560x1440 27" would be a bit like my nearly unused 17" 1920x1200 laptop that I have trouble reading.

[Hoax]

Hey so I'm working up a build for a good buddy's mother. $400-700 range, only light graphics (facebook/browser) "gaming" and web stuff.

I don't need a monitor or a video card (putting in an old HD 4350 and I'd imagine she could manage using on-board video as well?) so this is probably the easiest budget goal I've ever had on a system.

That said my early take is an i3/z77 but I'm open to suggestions. I'm not really used to building for this type of user what's the smart pick for longevity and I guess power consumption if you're spending under $350 on mobo + cpu?

I will be putting in an aftermarket cooler as well, anything people like especially for a user who isn't going to ever open the machine up and clean it probably ever? I had pretty much moved on to the Corsair closed system liquid cooling setups but I wonder if that's a mistake for a mom...

[Chimpy]

I have used, with great success, for my parents AMD Llano and Trinity APUs. They are much cheaper than the cheapest intel offering, have more than ample graphics on board for web browsing/word/video watching, and did I mention are dirt cheap?

The on board graphics on any Trinity is going to be better than that 4350 (and not use any extra power) and the amount of money you save on motherboard/CPU over an Intel you can put towards an SSD for a system drive, etc.

I built my Mom's Trinity based machine for less than $450 last fall including Win7 licensing.

[Hoax]

I had completely written AMD off because last time I paid them any attention even when they were competitive performance wise they were power/heat inefficient compared to intel iirc. I also have a strong pro intel bias but you clearly I should take a look.

[Rasix]

So, is now is decent time to build or is there a reason to hold off for a while?

Any sort of sweet spots for price/performance with regards to cpu, gpu, power supply, ram, etc?  Looking to spend around $1200, and the only thing I'm really not looking to get is a monitor.

edit:

Hastily put together with very little research:
Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K    240
GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-D3H LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard    154
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL    67
Asus GTX660 TI-DC2OC-3GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti Graphic Card - 1006 MHz Core - 3 GB GDDR5 SDRAM - PCI Express 3.0   254
Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive   90
Fractal Design Define R4 Cases, Black Pearl (FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL)   110
Rosewill CAPSTONE-750 750W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Power Supply   100
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+   39

[Hawkbit]

I was about to second that post earlier today from work, then got home and my PC won't POST.  So, seconded, officially. 

Current PC is 7yrs old, so this was bound to happen.  I'm going to stick with my case, monitor, kyb, speakers, mouse.  Just need recommendations for a $1000 build on:

MB
RAM
CPU - Haswell yet?  a few articles still recommend the i5 3570k
GPU - prefer nvidia
PSU
HDD

Any advice is appreciated!

[Chimpy]

Buy a SSD for your system disc.

[MisterNoisy]

Buy a SSD for your system disc.

If you can swing it (and they're fairly cheap now), this is the best upgrade you can do in terms of daily usability - a ~120 GB SSD ($100-140) makes bootup and general usage hellaciously fast.

Hastily put together with very little research:
(snip)

Nothing happening until new AMD stuff later this year (Q4?) - I think nVidia is '14.  If you're building right now, that build is just about perfect, and that PSU is shockingly good for a Rosewill-branded unit.

[Hawkbit]

Any last big issues before I hit submit?  I went all Newegg, because Amazon tax is required in WA and pushed the prices mostly up over Newegg.  There's some promo bull in there too, disregard.  I'm pretty happy with the price, just hoping it all works together.

1 x ($255.99) EVGA 02G-P4-2763-KR GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support w/ EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card $255.99
1 x ($239.99) Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K $239.99
1 x ($174.99) SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $174.99
1 x ($139.99) MSI Z87-G45 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Pro Gaming with Killer Networking & Sound Blaster Intel Motherboard $139.99
1 x ($99.99) Rosewill CAPSTONE-750 750W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire Ready, Active PFC Power Supply $99.99
1 x ($68.99) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL $68.99
1 x ($49.99) NVIDIA Gift Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist $49.99
1 x ($39.99) COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+ $39.99
1 x ($9.99) Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Xbox 360 Game Namco $9.99
1 x ($8.99) Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM - OEM $8.99
1 x ($0.00) Newegg Promotional Gift Card(The total amount of Gift Cards: $20.00)
1 x ($-9.99) DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #92849$-9.99
1 x ($-10.35) DISCOUNT FOR PROMOTION CODE$-10.35
1 x ($-28.00) DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #1392846$-28.00
1 x ($-49.99) DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #92956$-49.99
Subtotal:   $990.57
Tax:   $0.00
Shipping and Handling:   $62.84
Rush Order:   $3.99
Total Amount:   $1057.40

[dusematic]

That computer will probably last you the better part of a decade.  I bought a computer like two years ago and spent maybe $1200 and it still makes eveyr game it's bitch on max settings.

[MisterNoisy]

Any last big issues before I hit submit?  I went all Newegg, because Amazon tax is required in WA and pushed the prices mostly up over Newegg.  There's some promo bull in there too, disregard.  I'm pretty happy with the price, just hoping it all works together.
...
1 x ($8.99) Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM - OEM $8.99
...

AS5 is fine, but it won't really perform any better than the TIM that comes with the Hyper 212.  I've been using Noctua NT-H1, but only because it's consistency makes it easier to work with than most IMO (also helps that I got a tube free with one of my orders).  I assume you already have a case?

[Rasix]

Any thoughts on the motherboards or a preferred one? That MSI one seems to have a lot more bells and whistles than what I picked.  Just wasn't totally satisfied with the MSI I got with my last build.

[Hawkbit]

Yeah, it will be put into a p280.  

I didn't realize the paste comes with the Evo, so that's cool.

My previous system was a Q6600, 8800gtx that I build almost 7 years ago.  It has only been within the last two years that games have given me any issues, though it did start experiencing some anomalous behavior.  

Thanks for the tips, time to hit Buy!

[Hawkbit]

Any thoughts on the motherboards or a preferred one? That MSI one seems to have a lot more bells and whistles than what I picked.  Just wasn't totally satisfied with the MSI I got with my last build.

The only thing that changed me from your Gigabyte to the MSI was the $15 savings.  There were some folks at the Neogaf Hazaro thread that liked the MSI+4670k combo (plus Newegg gave another $28 savings for buying them together).

[MisterNoisy]

Any thoughts on the motherboards or a preferred one? That MSI one seems to have a lot more bells and whistles than what I picked.  Just wasn't totally satisfied with the MSI I got with my last build.

I like MSI boards, and that one is great value - there's nothing wrong with the Gigabyte one either, so I figured it was brand loyalty or whatever.  That said, the MSI is cheaper and there's no reason not to go with it.

[Hawkbit]

New rig is up and running!

Still some setup to do, but all looks good. 

SSDs:  I did not know a computer could boot so fast.  I'm sure it will degrade over time, but for now, damn that's fast.

My only hiccup is that I was going to plan on calling MS to claim my motherboard fried and I replaced only that broken part, in order to transfer my Win7 key.  However, it's telling me that key is invalid.  I have a bad feeling that I'll need to buy an OEM version unless I can figure this out.

[Rasix]

Blah, I still have a couple business days for my core parts.  Case already came though.  

If it comes with 2 140mm fans (1 front, 1 rear), should I install anymore fans in it?  Like 1 top and another in front?  Or will I probably be good with the 2.  

Love the case, although it isn't very flashy and the side panels seem to be a little bit of a pain in the ass.  Easy access to the filters and lots of room inside.  Going to barely fit in my desk enclosure if I decide to put it in there.

edit: Ohh dear, I didn't think of the win7 key issue.

[MisterNoisy]

Blah, I still have a couple business days for my core parts.  Case already came though.  

If it comes with 2 140mm fans (1 front, 1 rear), should I install anymore fans in it?  Like 1 top and another in front?  Or will I probably be good with the 2.  

Love the case, although it isn't very flashy and the side panels seem to be a little bit of a pain in the ass.  Easy access to the filters and lots of room inside.  Going to barely fit in my desk enclosure if I decide to put it in there.

edit: Ohh dear, I didn't think of the win7 key issue.

My own dysfunction screams 'all the fans all the power all the time', but you'll probably be fine in a non-overclocked environment with what comes in the box.

[Rasix]

Yah, I'm not OCing at all.

[Hawkbit]

I forgot about this 'trick', then remembered it. 

Because I bought a student upgrade to win7 from my XP disk, I had to install win7 and then run the install again as an upgrade.  It's goofy, but it worked.  And it let me activate windows, so yay!  I've had new builds go together faster before, but this one has been one of the easiest.

[Strazos]

If I'm looking to build a new system in a few months, is it worthwhile to try to wait for Cyber Monday sales, or will that mostly only cover the lower/mid-range parts?

Built my last machine in 2009 for about $1000. The current machine probably could last another year or two, but...well, it's dealt with African power for two years (even while sitting behind a huge UPS), there's sign of rust on the outer ports due to the shit weather here, crazy dust, the video card seems to be flaking out (but only on boot)...


I'm thinking the only thing I will re-use is the case...maybe - depends on how bad the internals look once I get back to the US and open it up again.

So what sorts of things should I be looking for if I do a build later this year, for just the PC itself. Lets say the budget is $2000.

[calapine]

How detailed an answer do you want?

Graphic cards (probably the single most noticeable component) can't be answered right now. AMD HD 9000 generation will be introduced 25th sept, with availability starting somewhere in October. Nvidia is going to answer with Maxwell, however that is going to be called, sometime Q1/2014.

Secondly, $2000 just for the PC is way above the price/performance sweetspot. More like "I want the best and can afford it". In that case CPU wise the new Ivy Bridge-E should interest you. 6 cores.  

[Trippy]

If you need RAM for your computer or a video card with GDDR5 buy it RIGHT NOW -- explosions at Hynix have taken a big chunk of the world's memory production capacity offline.

[Rasix]

Finished my install.  Oh god, SSD.  This is awesome. 

Sucker is whisper silent too.  My wife didn't think the damn thing was even on, and I haven't even closed the case yet.

[Hawkbit]

Congrats, man!  I'm almost a week into my new build and it has leveled off pretty decently.  When I got to work on Tuesday I couldn't believe how slow my work PC booted compared to my 10sec boot time on the new build. 

GW2 looks completely awesome, full settings is smooth as butter.  There's a lot more detail to the armor and stuff, things I never noticed!

[Rasix]

I logged straight into Lion's Arch.  While it looked great, there appeared to be framerate issues with everything maxed out.  But, I didn't get to do a lot more than that before people got home.  

Didn't even have any issue activating Windows.  I was prepared to do some fibbing.

edit:  I'm 100% positive I messed something up and this will spontaneously explode any minute now. 

[MisterNoisy]

I logged straight into Lion's Arch.  While it looked great, there appeared to be framerate issues with everything maxed out.  But, I didn't get to do a lot more than that before people got home.  

Didn't even have any issue activating Windows.  I was prepared to do some fibbing.

edit:  I'm 100% positive I messed something up and this will spontaneously explode any minute now. 

If you're worried something may be overheating due to an oversight (no TIM on the CPU cooler or a fan not connected or the like), run HWMonitor for a bit (particularly while gaming) and see if something is running hot.

[schild]

Is there a good-priced pre-built machine available for gaming? The only requirement is it needs to have a shitload of easily accessible harddrive bays as I have 4 harddrives to move over. Anyway, I don't want to BUILD a new machine. Just, like, naw. Halp.

(also, I don't know whats good anymore)