Building a PC

G

Genoq

First time out of the vault
I have been playing video games all my life, but until recently I haven't had the money to build a real "gaming" PC.

So in the interest of not being stuck with increasingly worthless consoles forever, I have decided to put that money to good use and build a PC.

And there is where the problem lies, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I don't want to waste $1200 on a stupid mistake, especially after wasting $400 on another stupid mistake. (xbox)

I found a seemingly reasonable guide online at http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2100159,00.asp but I can't shake the feeling that they are full of shit.

So if you can offer any advice, (or tell me if said guide is full of said shit) I would greatly appreciate it.
 
After seeing the "$1200" and the "$400" I can guarantee you that you're not ready for a gaming rig.
And, as a matter of fact, computers tend to be outdated sooner than the consoles of the same "generation".
I don't wanna sound like some console-sympathizing cockhead, fuck consoles, I just think that spending money on a computer with gamitng as primary function is already an utter waste of money.
 
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4
Memory XMS2 PC2-6400 2x2048 MB
GFX Geforce 8800 GTS 512 MB
HDD Seagate 7200.11 750 GB
DVD Pioneer DVR-215
Case Antec P182
PSU Corsair HX520

This is not the best comp out there, but its mutch bang for the buck. In sweden this would cost like 1500$, dont know where you are from but if you are from the states it would be something like 1200$ i think.

You might need to add a monitor + keyboard + mouse also tho.
 
Thanks for the replies. It seems that in order to break into PC gaming you have to have at least $2000 (American) and even then, you will be far behind the current tech.

I'm still going to buy a PC, but it looks like I will have to wait until I have more money. Being poor sucks.
 
I have owned four computers through life. The costs for them have ranged from $500 to $1,000.

I have played some games at their lowest graphical quality if they're new or at their highest graphical quality if they're old. I don't mind at all.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
Genoq said:
Thanks for the replies. It seems that in order to break into PC gaming you have to have at least $2000 (American) and even then, you will be far behind the current tech.

I'm still going to buy a PC, but it looks like I will have to wait until I have more money. Being poor sucks.
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It's true but you can try by building a new Pc with good base...
A good board like a P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP
A good power supply like Enermax Liberty 620Watt--> depend of the video card you want
If you think use Windowx XP, use max 2 Gib of memory; Kingston ddr2, ddr3 don't worst the $$$
Processor INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.40G/1066/8M/S775
SATA 74.0 W.D 10K 16M RAPTOR WD740ADFD
SATA2 250.0 SEAGATE 7200 16M ST3250410AS
PCIE GF8 EN8800GT G 512M 8800GT PCIE2.0
DVD Pioneer DVR-215
Case Antec P182
But you can buy cheaper video and hd and upgrade later...
The best is to have a good board so you can upgrade it with time.

You can buy normal HD, Video and power then upgrade and sell the others parts to get back some money.
 
I have played some games at their lowest graphical quality if they're new or at their highest graphical quality if they're old. I don't mind at all.
Click to expand...
That seems like the way to go, I don't mind shitty graphics, and most games I want (The Witcher, Morrowind, Planescape) don't require HAL 9000 to run anyway.
 
Genoq said:
I have played some games at their lowest graphical quality if they're new or at their highest graphical quality if they're old. I don't mind at all.
Click to expand...
That seems like the way to go, I don't mind shitty graphics, and most games I want (The Witcher, Morrowind, Planescape) don't require HAL 9000 to run anyway.
Click to expand...

Hehe

So go for a good board, processor and power supply then.
For the rest is more like your choice depending of your need.
:D
 
As for mobo => Abit IP35 is a way to go
GFX => Palit 8800 Gt(s) 1Gb
Ram=>4 GB DDR2 Corsair/A-data extreme/ OCZ Reaper 1066 (Micron DH9 chips)
CPU=>E8200/E8400/Q6600
PSU=> Corsair/OCZ ~550 W
 
A good gaming PC can last you about 4-5 years at varying quality levels in the games you're playing (steadily degrading)

You're looking at paying easily around... hmm let's see...

(I will note, my figures are in Canadian, don't burn me at the stake please)

Monitor $150-$250
Keyboard $20-$30
Mouse $20-$30
Case $80-$170
Motherboard $80-$250
Processor $250-$450
Ram $150-$350
HDD $120-$350
DVD/CD combo-burner $30-$50
Graphics Card $250-$450

The only thing you may have to update is the GFX card every so often (maybe every 2 years or so)

For motherboards, keep your eyes peeled for ones that support up to 16GB of ram, even if XP Pro can't handle it, it's the direction that computing is heading so you best be prepared for it, also make sure it has more than 2 SATA ports on it, it's a bitch and a half to buy a SATA card after you pick up your board and find it only has 2 and an IDE (from personal experience).

For Processors, don't skimp on this part, otherwise you're gonna regret it, I've always found that once the CPU, Motherboard, and Ram have been run for a period of time, they grow an affinity for eachother, if you swap it out later the machine won't forgive you, I've had comps die because I changed the ram on them for no apparent reason.

Ram, Go for the best, but barring that 4GB should keep you in top shape until you upgrade your system -OR- plan to go for the x64 architecture, then you want to probably shoot for an 8GB pair because the x64 can handle that much ram.

Motherboard, this part doesn't -NEED- to be top quality or name brand, as long as it works at the start you should be good (unless you decide to start part swapping, see affinity)

Graphics Card, this is the second heart of your machine, don't skimp on it, go for the best you can afford, your machine can wait a few paychecks if that's what it takes but don't hold back on this part if you can help it.

Monitor, this is a part that tends to out-last the computer, I had a CRT until recently that outlasted 4 PCs so you should be good with one monitor if you don't already have one.

Keyboard & Mouse, Basic is all you need, those fancy gaming keyboards are for eccentrics, you only need a basic qwerty or dvorak keyboard, as for mouse, USB has become the way to go, although try to snap up a PS2 version (NOT the console, it's a plug type) as motherboards still support them, they'll be those circular ones, the ends tend to be green these days since they color-coordinated them.

HDD, my prices are based on picking up a 250GB to 1TB drive, pick one to your sizing preference, I'd go for a 750GB as it's not too pricy for the size (A gig is worth about 20 cents on a regular HDD these days, so try to figure out what's cost-effective for the price of the drive)

DVD burner, generally they're combo drives, I personally like the Pioneer drives as they have high compatibility with nearly everything out there, don't look at blu-ray yet as the format hasn't been standardized properly yet (it can go up to 250GB but it can only write up to 50GB, kinda odd eh?)

For both Drives, shoot for SATA, that way they don't have to down-clock the speed of SATA to communicate properly.

Case, there are pretty cases, and there are functional cases, the design is completely up to your requirements and tastes, however keep in mind that they ship shoddy power supplies with the cases, if you plan to do a lot of USB stuff, or plan to run a lot of equipment off of one power supply, I suggest you upgrade that part as well to around 550W or greater (Generally they sell for around $75 - $250).

That about covers it, go for brands and beware of sharks, if they steer you towards something that doesn't meet your specifications, ask to see something to your specs, if they persist, leave, because they've already marked you.

Go to warehouse-type stores rather than 'shop' type stores as the warehouse types tend to have people who actually aren't trying to short-line you into the next sale but actually getting you the parts you want.

For pure gold it's roughly $2250, but you can probably make your system good enough to last with around $800, I did with my video box, it's got a 2.2GHZ, 2GB ram, and a 256MB card, however it's purely for video, and it looks like a VCR, but all that aside it's not a bleeding edge gaming machine, if it were supposed to be, it'd last about 2 years before needing to be replaced.
 
Thanks Mord_Sith, I think that all I need to know (at least, I hope so).

I'm probably going to wait a month or so to get more money, so I don't gimp myself on the CPU or GPU, and subsequently run into the affinity problem.

I don't think I could take it if I spent $1200 of hard earned money on something that melts into a pile of aluminum-silicon slag just because I replaced it's beloved CPU.
 
That's just my experience through, initial build is ok to slap and swap, but if you leave it for say a year or two and try to put stuff in, I've always found that there are 'issues' that the computer has that make it less than optimum at the very least.

There's really only been one meltdown because of the aforementioned swap out of the ram, and one case where the CPU itself was blown away by a swap, even when I put the old one back it never booted again... *sniff*

Anyways, one thing I forgot to mention, Power Bars, they are bloody handy, and if you don't have some kind of surge protection on your machine you're gonna regret it one day.

There's one other saying that goes with that, when your power supply goes, it usually takes one or two things with it, so you want a surge suppressor on it or you might be looking at a pile of slag.

Also power bars are handy for managing your power outlet in the room, effectively you pile your Monitor, Computer, Printer(if applicable), and any USB equipment requiring it's own power source on the power bar.

Just remember, one piece at a time, usually it's a good idea to pick up the CPU, Ram and Motherboard at the same time, some places are even kind enough to put them together for you (although I only know one myself in my locale).

After that it's your choice, HDD, GPU, Case & Keyboard & Mouse, Monitor, or DVD rom in any order really (Although it's a good idea to get the case first, otherwise you're storing your parts in the manufacturer's box).

Then you look at additionals like a Gigabit ethernet card, or additional HDD space, Firewire, SATA cards, whatever other bells and whistles you want to put into the blighter.

To use the computer simply for gaming can be a shame to some extent, but remember, even the old computers can be of some use, this guy I'm currently working on is soon to be relegated to a server status, he's gonna be using RSS feeds and a soon-to-be-built USB HDD tower, I got an old AT server case that I plan to load up with SATA HDDS (About 10 HDDS) so that one's gonna take time, inside there's gonna be an 11 port USB hub/switch, and converters hooking all the HDDs up to USB, I'm gonna use 2 AT power supplies because ATX requires a motherboard to turn them on, whereas ATs have an independant switch, and I don't feel like hot-wiring my power supplies.

But that's what I'm planning to do once my X64 machine is up and running, anyways that's just one potential use for even older machines...

Watch my current machine decides to die on me now that it's getting relegated :P :D
 
Mord_Sith said:
Anyways, one thing I forgot to mention, Power Bars, they are bloody handy, and if you don't have some kind of surge protection on your machine you're gonna regret it one day.
Click to expand...

I'm agreed!! It's very important!! You can go with a small TrippLite too so when you have a power shut down you still have time to save and shutdown your pc properly.

I've got this one for my 3 PC's, router and high speed modem.

For HD I prefer to have some than only one because when it crash losing everything is not good. And for that I have two WD Raptor 80 gig for windows and games( performance ), with two Seagate 160 for data, film, music etc, one 250 gig usb for backup.

And for memory That depend of your OS Windows XP or Vista and 32 bit or 64 bot too.

Good shopping!
 
I personally disagree that you need to spend US$ 2000 + in order to have a gaming rig.

I just had a new system built by a small store here in Taiwan and while most parts where more expensive than say if I still lived in the US and ordered through a site like Newegg, everything came out to be about 1400 US$, here's what I got:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
VGA: Asus 9600GT 512mb
MB: Asus P5k Pro
RAM: 2GB 800mhz Corsair
HD: Seagate 500GB 32mb cache 7200.11
DVD: Sony DVD burner w/ lightscribe
OS: Windows XP Pro 64bit multi language
PSU: Zippy (Don't remember the exact wattage off the top of my head, at least 450 I think)
Case: Coolermaster T05
Screen: Asus VW222U 22" widescreen LCD
Keyboard: Cheap ass Logitech
Mouse: Logitech G7 which I already had

Every game I've thrown at it (Oblivion, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half Life 2, F.E.A.R., etc) all look great and run without a hitch.

Got XP because not interested in Vista, plus while my wife's English is fluent she still prefers to use Chinese when using the computer, so got XP pro with multi language feature so when she logs on everything is in Chinese and when I log on it's all in English. Such a feature in Vista is only available AFAIK in Enterprise and Ultimate, way more than I wanted to spend.

I'm damn happy to have gotten IMO such a nice rig for less than 1500 US$, especially as I said parts here in Taiwan are a bit more expensive than in the US, which I don't understand why since a lot of the stuff is made here in Taiwan... oh well.

Will it still be running games at full graphics with everything turned up 1-2 years from now? No, I know not. But then again I've only ever owned 3 computers (now 4) in my short life span (26 years), my last computer was a 6 year old laptop which to play a lot of games I had to turn everything down low.
 
Firstly, I asked that I not be crucified because my prices are Canadian, not USD.

I said that over $2000 dollars for pure gold, I can get a half-decent machine for $800, but if you want it to stand the test of time, spend the money, I can't say I've ever regretted my purchases when I sat down and actually picked up what I consider to be optimum for the time of purchase.

My machine cost me $1600 thereabouts but that's 'cause I busted out the cash for a good pair of ram rather than skimped a bit on it like I've done in the past.
 
Is the Geforce 7950gt 512mb ..and.. AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
still any good?, and are any of them dragging on each other?
 
The average round budget to keep a relatively up-to-date computer (given this is you spend this amount, every year during one particular quarter to upgrade components as much as possible) is: $1,000.

You must spent $1,000/yr, in order to keep a computer capable of blowing away the latest games at the highest graphical settings.

If you take into account there's 12 months in the year, that's about $83/month, you have to earn. Since tax is 33% in the United States, you can safely say it's $1300 for a new computer every year, and therefore $108/month.

If you have a very low paying job, let's say even minimum wage, you would have to work 15 hours per month to make your minimum required in order to upgrade for that year.

Given say, that you were even working part time, that would be three days (6h each) in order to earn $135.

So, in order to upgrade your computer to the fastest possible every year, you would have to work about 36 days - and this is with minimum wage. If you are earning anything over that, the time is dramatically reduced.

So in conclusion, PCs are relatively cheap to maintain. $1000 is nothing to some people. You spend more than that monthly on your rent for your apartment, or mortgage payments.
 
However you have guys like me that spend the money in the beginning and let it spin for 4 years, then spend it again, so I dunno, I find it more cost effective to let the graphics go a bit for 3 years and stretch the 4th year until I work up the gusto to replace my box.
 
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