Gaming PC Help

[FCB_M3]

Hiya r3v! First off, I'am a NOOB. I know the very very very basic of a PC. I want to build a PC. My first worry is to get the correct parts, (assembling will be a different story) but I saw this website where they sell "Barebone kits" I saw this and really liked this one.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2311914&CatId=333

Correct me if I'am wrong but I think the only thing missing is the power supply and the graphics card?

What do you guys think? My limit is about 2k? I'd like to purchase from their since they offer financing but do you think this set up is good for the amount being spent? What power supply should I get and what would be the best graphic card for this?

I wanna be able to play BF3, half life, counterstrike, Dota, HON Starcraft 2, maybe get into Diablo. Those kinda games BUt i want a fast PC that wont slow down my gaming and will run really smooth.

Feel free to throw in any advice suggestions ! Thanks!

[Kershaw]

do your research here

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

[YosemiteSam]

Power supply is included in that bundle. I would give advice on graphics card, but I haven't been keeping an eye on graphics technology for a couple years now so I'm way out of the loop.

[FCB_M3]

do your research here

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

Yesiir! interesting....

Power supply is included in that bundle. I would give advice on graphics card, but I haven't been keeping an eye on graphics technology for a couple years now so I'm way out of the loop.

It is? Im assuming its this then?
Thermatake Case/700w PSU

[Wschnitz]

Yesiir! interesting....




It is? Im assuming its this then?
Thermatake Case/700w PSU

Yep that means 700w Powersupply

At your Price Range id try a GTX 680 thats overclocked, which should leave you happy for a while, but if you just want something for now do a lower card in the 620-670 range. those will be cheaper and suffice for the games you listed. Unless you want to play arma 2 or Crysis 3 on ULTRA FUCKING BUTTFUCK LEVELS, and fraps it at the same time, you shouldn't need Dual cards or even a 690.

[FCB_M3]

Yep that means 700w Powersupply

At your Price Range id try a GTX 680 thats overclocked, which should leave you happy for a while, but if you just want something for now do a lower card in the 620-670 range. those will be cheaper and suffice for the games you listed. Unless you want to play arma 2 or Crysis 3 on ULTRA FUCKING BUTTFUCK LEVELS, and fraps it at the same time, you shouldn't need Dual cards or even a 690.

Dam almost 5 bills for a graphics card lol but this one should be good/compatible?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=28&sel=Detail%3B229_1236_79031_79031

[randomtask37]

Check this thread out:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=262153&highlight=computer+thread

that should give you some ideas. My setup is listed in there too. I built it this past summer. Its got plenty of power for modern games. I spent less than 2000 for the whole computer, peripherals and windows 7 . Use Amazon, Newegg and tiger direct to find your parts. Spend a lot of time researching what you want/need. google is your friend. If you want to overclock your processor get an aftermarket cooler, make sure the other parts you buy will fit. I ran into this problem. My cooler was big enough to block the RAM from fitting right. So i ended up exchanging out the ram for 'low profile' ram. If you want to overclock your video card(s) you may want to get a larger power supply than i got. I have my processor and 2 video cards overclocked. It runs fine most of the time, but its not 100% stable. I think its the powersupply peaking. Power supplys are really important. Dont skimp. I didnt plan on having 2 video cards when i bought the power supply. If i had, i would have gone bigger from the get go.

[cale]

That package has some bits which are overkill or bad choices for gaming. Here's some criticism, and some suggestions.

First off, noooo to that processor. I'd look at an i5 3570k for gaming. Most games will not even benefit from the advantages of an i7, so unless you're going to be running very cpu intensive programs you can save $300 right off the bat.

Secondly, overkill on the ram. Most games will only benefit from 8gb of ram at the most, and that package has 4x that. Completely unnecessary. 2x4gb sticks of good memory will run you less than $50, and it will not be a bottleneck in a $2k gaming build. Save $200 right there.

Hard drive is fine, but for a build like yours you should really get an SSD for a boot drive. Boots, loads and runs applications much quicker. A smaller 128gb one would be fine.

Do you need a bluray player? I've yet to ever put a bluray in my computer, and the files are so big I don't bother downloading them. Can put that money to better use elsewhere.

Cooler. The h80 is IMO a bad selection. You're paying the premium of a closed loop liquid system without seeing the real benefits, the h100 is significantly better due to the radiator size for only a bit more and is a much better choice. Unless you're going to be running a fairly high overclock though, the Coolermaster Hyper 212 is a top seller at only $29 for a reason. It will keep a stock clock cool no problem.

Lastly, aesthetics. Do you plan to hide this system under a desk or is it going to be displayed. I've never been a fan of flashy cases like this, they scream childish to me. Corsair makes some very well made and sleek cases in the price range of the Termatake. I've got a 650d myself and I love it, the build quality is superior too IMO. To go with looks consider a modular power supply. Unlike a PSU which has all the cables you'd possibly need hard wired on, you only plug in the ones you need. It costs a bit more, but if you have a side display and care about asthetics (which you probably will after the fact) it's worth it IMO.

If you want more suggestions or build criticism ask. I just went through my first major build myself and was intimidated but it's really quite easy. Biggest thing I've learned is be willing to pay more for a good warranty. I had to do battle with a reseller of Cyberpower computers lately and you do NOT want to go down that road. Stick with the bigger brands, they usually have the best support.

Check out hardwarecanucks.com too for reviews as well as LinusTechTips on youtube.

[themoonman]

this site will be loads of help

http://pcpartpicker.com/

[Exodus_2pt0]

I've never been a fan of flashy cases like this

This.

I am using a generic case I used in a build about 8 years ago. It looks like your standard outdated POS computer. That way anyone who wants to break in and raid my house will not know about the hundreds of dollars in hardware I have in there.

Spend the money on hardware, and throw it into the cheapest looking box you can buy.

I commend you though, building your own PC is not hard by any means, and you get much more for your money.

[cale]

Hopefully this link works for you guys, as I built on a Canadian site. $1700 pre tax build, capable of running nearly any game at extremely high settings. You won't see crazy fps at ultra settings, but if you're coming from console gaming this will shatter anything you've seen before.

http://pc.ncix.com/pcbuilder/pcbuilderpreview.cfm?id=3937279&skus=70541-1-0|64385-1-0|69881-1-0|59431-1-0|72029-1-0|58078-1-0|59617-1-0|77180-1-0|50895-1-0|77494-1-0|76514-1-0|33601-1-0|33602-1-0|7842-50

I use NCIX exclusively so I'm not sure what other sites offer, but NCIX will price match any lower price (not including rebates) and you get it all built and warrantied at one location.

Something that should be mentioned too. How big are your expectations? Do you want to play games smoothly at high settings and see 45-70 fps (very playable), or do you want to play games smoothly at max settings and never see fps drop below 60? If the first is sufficient for you, you can come in well under your budget. I have a single 660ti and see 100fps in BF3 regularly during multiplayer. A few games I cannot run ultra at smoothly, but for me that's fine. So if you're still active in this thread, let us know!

Also, dual or single GPU. I went with a lower-end "high" end card for a reason. Firstly, this was my first serious build. I wasn't sure what to expect other than doing research and seeing numbers so I was modest with my choice. Secondly, it allows for more flexibility. I wasn't sure I needed a $4-500 card, so instead I purchased a $300 card with the potential to expand to dual cards in SLI for $600 and see a increase in performance over a single 680 let alone a single 670. If you got with a 670 or 680, adding another card is by no means a cheap endeavour so you may be more stuck with what you have. I'm entirely satisfied with my single 660 so I essentially saved myself a few hundred right off the bat, and now a few months later I'm only $300 from a substantial jump in performance if I choose to go that route.

[E-Thirty]

^Very solid build and good advice. My brother built one virtually identical. Is there any particular reason you went with that motherboard? It definitely looks neat.

[cale]

The biggest benefits of an i7 over an i5 is what's called hyperthreading, something games do not significantly (if at all) benefit from. I do not know too much about CPU selection but what is unanimous is that i5 3570 > entry level i7's all day long for gaming, and the 3930k is serious overkill. So it's $569 for the i7 3930k, or $214 for the i5 3570k. Keeping in mind people are using the i5 in some serious $2k+ builds and it's by no means a bottleneck.

Memory is a similar thing, with most gaming utilizing minimal amounts of RAM. So while many end builds you'll see 16-32gb, they're doing so for show and/or because they have programs which actually benefit from it. Just like the names say, processing programs such as video/image editing or engineering programs are what really utilize these two pieces of hardware. A serious gaming computer is $2-3k and a serious engineering computer is $5k+, it's insane but fortunately you're on the right side of the fence!

Do you plan to run any of those types of programs or is gaming going to be the most strenuous thing the computer is used for?

Stay away from packaged deals. You're not necessarily getting what you need, be it too little/too much performance wise and they're also a technique the sellers use to phase out older parts without heavily discounting them.

As far as max settings go, they vary. BF3 isn't super demanding compared to other games, I see a low/high fps in bf of 50/120 at ultra settings with a few settings tuned back while Witcher 2 I have to play in default high settings to see something like 45/90.

IMO that counts as running stable at max settings to me, as I'm getting playable fps at max settings in most games. A build that you can turn every setting in any game you throw at it to 100% and never have fps dip below 60 is not realistic with your budget. For that you're going to need to add another $1k to it and even then you're not making every game your bitch.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/new-builds/ <- primo build advice and suggestions

[randomtask37]

http://www.tomshardware.com

that site has a ton of good info

[Deathtoll]

Here's a good build. I've been PC gaming forever.
i5 3570k
8 gigs of just bout any decent ram.
GTX670
240GB SSD
550W PSU
Any PCIe 16X 3.0 capable motherboard

Everything else can be el cheapo. For under $800 you can build this rig and It will run everything at maximum for years to come.

I would just purchase a LG FLATRON IP235 for 180 to top it off. It's got great color and is awesome bang for the buck

Long gone are the days of needing $2000 to $1500 to build a top notch gaming machine.

I've been building my own rigs since 1992.

i7 is almost pointless for gaming since hyperthreading isn't very useful and most games can only really use 2 cores anyways.