The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[Trippy]

It's usually quite easy to add your own SSD to a PC laptop (Mac is more involved ). That's what I did with my latest PC laptop.

[MisterNoisy]

I'm looking at getting a netbook for my mother for Mother's Day; any suggestions? Something running Windows 7, so when I inevitably have to do tech support on it it's got a familiar OS. The lower the price, the better, as she's not going to be doing much on it aside from checking emails and net browsing.

Honestly, for this sort of user, I'd say get an iPad or Nexus 7 (ideally, wait for the refresh) or 10.  

[Chimpy]

That $1600 price tag is pretty good for what you got, spec wise.

[Rendakor]

I'm looking at getting a netbook for my mother for Mother's Day; any suggestions? Something running Windows 7, so when I inevitably have to do tech support on it it's got a familiar OS. The lower the price, the better, as she's not going to be doing much on it aside from checking emails and net browsing.

Honestly, for this sort of user, I'd say get an iPad or Nexus 7 (ideally, wait for the refresh) or 10.  

I was thinking that, but she doesn't even have a touch-screen cell-phone so I wanted to stick with a familiar keyboard interface.

[Salamok]

I strongly recommend buying the SSD drive separately and installing it yourself.  Not all SSD's are created equal.

[Salamok]

Dell Outlet 30% off business systems no minimum purchase price coupon code is available now, for those looking for a lower end laptop this is a pretty good offer.

[MisterNoisy]

Good news, everyone!

That is why it might come as a shock to learn the specifications of the best Volcanic Islands GPU, although that shock may be nothing compared to the rumor that Volcanic Islands will arrive before the year is out.
...
The 20nm chip has 4,096 Stream Processors, four geometry engines, 16 SPUs (serial processor units), 256 TMUs, 64 ROPs and a GDDR5 interface of 512 bits.

Just in time for people building on Haswell to have something to put in their PCI-E x16 slots.   

[Goreschach]

That entire article appears to be based solely off a block diagram. Considering that TSMC just recently got the problems with 28nm throughput sorted out, and are still setting up 20nm production lines, the probability of this being anything more than a soft launch throughout 2013 is extremely low.

[Phred]

That entire article appears to be based solely off a block diagram. Considering that TSMC just recently got the problems with 28nm throughput sorted out, and are still setting up 20nm production lines, the probability of this being anything more than a soft launch throughout 2013 is extremely low.

Big shock as the article states.

It isn't supposed to reach the market before the second half of 2013 though, or even later, in 2014.

[Goreschach]

That entire article appears to be based solely off a block diagram. Considering that TSMC just recently got the problems with 28nm throughput sorted out, and are still setting up 20nm production lines, the probability of this being anything more than a soft launch throughout 2013 is extremely low.

Big shock as the article states.

It isn't supposed to reach the market before the second half of 2013 though, or even later, in 2014.

It doesn't even matter. It turns out it was just a blurry, color flipped version of a leaked block diagram from a while back.

http://abload.de/img/volcanic-islands26iur9.jpg

It's impossible to say if the actual diagram is legit. But just by looking at it, it's obvious it isn't for a discrete GPU. So any specifications posted with it are probably 99% bunk.

[Signe]

I just went to one of those places where you can build your own with any pieces you like and my computer cost $13355. 88     I'll have to save up forever.  AND I'm very nearly almost positive I'd have one piece left over and nothing would work.  I think I'm going to have to go to a shop.  :(

[Trippy]

You do know you don't need to pick the most expensive option for everything, right?

[Signe]

I didn't know.  I didn't see the prices of anything.  You had to pick something and then you click on it and it show the prices from all sorts of shops.  I just clicked on stuff that sounded cool.  DO NOT BUY A COOL COMPUTER THEY ARE OVER PRICED!!!!

[Phred]

I didn't know.  I didn't see the prices of anything.  You had to pick something and then you click on it and it show the prices from all sorts of shops.  I just clicked on stuff that sounded cool.  DO NOT BUY A COOL COMPUTER THEY ARE OVER PRICED!!!!

These guys are local to me which is mainly why I shop there but I absolutely love their system builder page. I think they should license it out to all the places that have crappy builders.

http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc_new/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=1A4F802F-88F3-4C12-9020429842114642-4484034

[Engels]

Yep, I like that site. Did a quick build:

Configuration Detail (4484034) @ May 12, 2013
Category   Description   Quantity   Price
Processors (CPUs)    Intel Core i5 3470 Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.2GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail   1   $188.78
CPU Heatsinks    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120mm   1   $21.23
Motherboards    ASUS B75M-A mATX LGA1155 B75 DDR3 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI SATA3 DVI HDMI USB3.0 Motherboard   1   $79.99
DDR3 Desktop Memory    Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 240PIN C8 DIMM 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit   1   $129.64
Video Cards    ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost OC DirectCU 1085MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DP PCI-E Video Card
  $10.00 mail in rebate, valid from May 01, 2013 to May 31, 2013
  Rebate Form: http://source.ncix.com/pdf/http://www.mirhelp.com/asus/asus-rebates-may-2013   1   $184.99
Computer Cases    Lian Li PC-Z60B Black Aluminum ATX Case 3X5.25IN 6X3.5IN INT 2X2.5IN 2XUSB 3.0 Audio eSATA No PS   1   $178.98
Power Supplies    Seasonic Platinum 760W ATX 12V 24PIN Active PFC 80PLUS Platinum Fully Modular DC to DC Power Supply   1   $179.99
Operating Systems    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM
Please note that Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit only supports up to 16GB of RAM.   1   $109.98
Network Adapters    Please Use The Onboard Network Ethernet Card Integrated On My Motherboard   1   $0.21
Assembly Options    PC Assembly and Testing With 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased
PC Assembly & Testing does not include servers and requires an additional 4-5* business days to ship once all parts are in stock. NCIX will install aftermarket heatsinks or pre-filled CPU liquid coolers. Current lead time 5-10 business days.   1   $26.32
Warranty Options    Standard 1 Year Limited Warranty With NCIX IN-HOUSE Tech Support
Please note that Extended Service plans with On-Site service are available for your system at check-out.   1   $0.21

Your Price:   
$1,100.33
Extra Savings: Your price will be $1,090.33 after $10.00 mail in rebate.

Note I left off hard drive and dvd drive, as I'd reuse the ones I have. I would probably also reuse ram/psu/er, just about everything but motherboard and cpu, but I wanted to do a sample build with what most folks would get during a new build. Also note that I am both a case and power supply nerd, and those can easily have $100 knocked off and still have a pretty cool build.

edit: dang it, the site's canadian. USD equivalent is $1087

[Signe]

That was nice. The cost of my computer came down $12000!  And that's with a monitor!  (which I probably would get at a shop anyway) You don't have to click a new link to see all the prices (which I didn't bother doing which explains a lot).  And it doesn't come all in little bits, right?  They put it together for you like it sort of says in your list.  Right?  Please say yes.

[Engels]

Well, I think the idea is that you build a system with it, and then buy the parts from an american retailer, such as Amazon or New Egg. I think Tiger Direct builds it for you? Someone should speak up about that, no idea.

[Phred]

That was nice. The cost of my computer came down $12000!  And that's with a monitor!  (which I probably would get at a shop anyway) You don't have to click a new link to see all the prices (which I didn't bother doing which explains a lot).  And it doesn't come all in little bits, right?  They put it together for you like it sort of says in your list.  Right?  Please say yes.

From the NCIX web page        
PC Assembly and Testing With 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased)
PC Assembly & Testing does not include servers and requires an additional 4-5* business days to ship once all parts are in stock. NCIX will install aftermarket heatsinks or pre-filled CPU liquid coolers. Current lead time 5-10 business days.                               

29$

[Phred]

Well, I think the idea is that you build a system with it, and then buy the parts from an american retailer, such as Amazon or New Egg. I think Tiger Direct builds it for you? Someone should speak up about that, no idea.

I don't see why I or Signe would do that.  I'm in Canada and she's in Great Britain.
NCIX is just as competitive as Tiger Direct and Newegg so if the shipping doesn't kill it I don't see why you wouldn't take advantage of the favorable US exchange rate and get it here.

[Trippy]

Signe is back in the US. mwave.com will assemble a system for you for $80.00 here in the US.

Edit: spelling

[Phred]

Signe is back in the US. mwave.com will assembly a system for you for $80.00 here in the US.

That 50$ difference would probably more than pay for shipping :)

[Strazos]

How viable/advisable is it to reuse a PSU? I actually bought a decent when I last built a system.

[Stormwaltz]

These guys are local to me which is mainly why I shop there

I got my current PC as a custom build from NCIX when I was in Canada (its since been upgraded a few times). They were great.

[Trippy]

How viable/advisable is it to reuse a PSU? I actually bought a decent when I last built a system.

It's fine to reuse it.

[Goreschach]

How viable/advisable is it to reuse a PSU? I actually bought a decent when I last built a system.

You wouldn't be planning a Haswell build, would you? If that's the case, you'd need to check compatibility for the new sleep states.

[Strazos]

I have no idea what that is, so...Nope?

I'm just hoping the current rig lasts for the rest of my time here, before I get back to the US and build a new one. Video card has been a bit finicky lately - sometimes it doesn't fire up when I boot, but once it does (after a reset or two) it works fine.

Worst-case scenario is that I hook my peripherals up to my laptop and make that last the rest of the time I'm here.

[Goreschach]

Haswell is the next intel processor coming out in around a month. The new low energy sleep states require a psu that can output 1/2 a watt on the 12v rail. Some current PSUs can do this, some can't.

[Signe]

I'm not in Great Britain anymore.  I got antsy.

[Ironwood]

So what's the video card of choice these days ?

[Trippy]

660 Ti, though NVIDIA is starting to release 700 series chips so things are in flux right now.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, that's the one I was looking at.  It'll run in a PCIe 2 ?

[Goreschach]

The 7950 is roughly equivalent to the 660ti, if you don't plan on using crossfire or CUDA. ATI's dual gpu is still crap, and some production software still doesn't support openCL. If you're interested in the games that come with the current ATI package, it's a better value, otherwise they're pretty much neck-and-neck.

But as trippy mentioned, the 700 series is being released currently. 770 came out a few days ago, so at this point it would probably be best to wait for the 760 and see what happens. Based on what we've seen so far, the 760/ti would most likely be a rebranded 670 with a minor clock boost, and perhaps 7ghz ram. It would represent a fair boost over the ATI offering. ATI may respond shortly with price cuts, as their next cards aren't coming until next year, but I honestly wouldn't expect too much, as they're strapped for cash and running small margins as it is.

All the pcie 3.0 cards are backcompatible with 2.0.

[Ironwood]

Trouble with that is my fucking card MELTED and my machines cocked with an old GS that can't run shit.

And papa needs to play games.

So, you know.

[Goreschach]

http://promotions.newegg.com/neemail/latest/index-landing.aspx

ASUS GTX660 TI-DC2O-2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB

$240 after rebate.

[Chimpy]

He lives in Scotland so Newegg rebates won't do him much good.