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Community => The Lounge => Hardware/Software => Topic started by: eKC0mm on Monday, June 25, 2012, 01:50:42 AM

Title: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Monday, June 25, 2012, 01:50:42 AM
In the past i have just bought bundles and replaced the pieces in them that were weak. BUT i have been told you can get alot better for cheaper by building your own tower.

I'm not a BIG hardware guy, So help me out as best you guys can. I'm trying to build a gaming capable PC with a budget limit of around 800 dollars.

Where in gods name do i start?
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 03:31:28 AM
Don't get a kit, those have shitty motherboards and power supplies in them.

I would also ignore reddit, useless faggotry going on there.

In a nutshell; Gigabyte AM3+ 8+2 power phase (look it up in the specs, very important) motherboard, Quad or 6-core AM3 or AM3+ chip, 8GB (2 sticks of 4GB, I like G.Skill but Corsair is good too) 1866MHz or higher memory, Corsair PSU (5 or 7 year warranty ones like the TX650, TX750, AX850), Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 SSD, Whatever GPU and case suits your fancy (I'm currently eyeballing the NZXT Source 210).
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BiG_SerGiO on Monday, June 25, 2012, 05:22:00 AM
8GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz Ripjaw Series (9-9-9-24) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00339X1EM?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00339X1EM) $49.99
MSI Radeon HD7850, 2GB GDDR5 Twin Frozr (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MLSGHE?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007MLSGHE)    $269.99
Corsair-650TXV2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LB5AZY?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004LB5AZY) $89.99
Intel Core i5 3570K (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0E1K?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007SZ0E1K) $219.99
ASRock Z77 EXTREME 4 (http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-DDR3-2400-Intel-Motherboards/dp/B007P710G4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340615341&sr=1-1&keywords=asrock+z77+extreme+4) $147.44

SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 128GB SSD (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077CR60Q?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0077CR60Q) $127.60
Zalman Z11 PLUS (http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Z11PLUS-Performance-Power-Supply/dp/B007M4VALU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340615421&sr=8-1&keywords=Zalman+Z11) or Cooler Master HAF 912 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZM7YTA?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003ZM7YTA) $57.80

Try your usual site for ordering. With that components you will have a computer for life ;)
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: nokturnal on Monday, June 25, 2012, 10:00:23 AM
Matt, why the hell would you not just ask me?

Come on bro. I will get you a build when I get off work, that does not have a shitty radeon card.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Monday, June 25, 2012, 11:29:16 AM
LOL my bad Nok.

Thank you for the quick responses, i learn so much from these forms. You guys are very helpful :)

also, i under the impression solid state is the way to go, but the dollar to gig ratio right now is tuff.

Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Jason on Monday, June 25, 2012, 12:41:51 PM
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/22/falling-ssd-prices-swift-boot-up/
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Monday, June 25, 2012, 13:36:45 PM
hopefully they keep dropping. I wouldn't think of ever getting a hard drive with less then 400 gigs.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Monday, June 25, 2012, 13:50:37 PM
In the past i have just bought bundles and replaced the pieces in them that were weak. BUT i have been told you can get alot better for cheaper by building your own tower.

I'm not a BIG hardware guy, So help me out as best you guys can. I'm trying to build a gaming capable PC with a budget limit of around 800 dollars.

Where in gods name do i start?

800 $ will get you a very decent pc if you get yourself the parts and do (or let a friend do) the assembling. Don't go cheap on the power supply, a good power supply will last for ages and will hardly ever fail or die on you! (good power supplies also feature overload protection and will generally be more power efficient).

I recently assembled myself this system:

Asus Crossfire extreme IV
Corsair HX 620
AMD Thuban 1055t x6
8 gb Corsair ram
Sapphire 5850
+ the cooler master 690 case.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 13:53:16 PM
that does not have a shitty radeon card.

This guy obviously knows a lot about computers. Probably makes uber 1337 builds with the cheapest case he can find, blue/red LED's everywhere and an OMG PWNZOR Fatal1ty X-Fi sound card.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Jason on Monday, June 25, 2012, 14:15:50 PM
This guy obviously knows a lot about computers. Probably makes uber 1337 builds with the cheapest case he can find, blue/red LED's everywhere and an OMG PWNZOR Fatal1ty X-Fi sound card.
HEY....i have lights everywhere...hahaha
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Monday, June 25, 2012, 14:27:24 PM
Matt, why the hell would you not just ask me?

Come on bro. I will get you a build when I get off work, that does not have a shitty radeon card.
Just to let you know AMD has the most powerful GPU on the market currently. There is nothing shitty about AMD Radeon cards. If you don't even know about GPUs, you shouldn't be building a computer.

8GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz Ripjaw Series (9-9-9-24) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00339X1EM?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00339X1EM) $49.99
MSI Radeon HD7850, 2GB GDDR5 Twin Frozr (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MLSGHE?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007MLSGHE)    $269.99
Corsair-650TXV2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LB5AZY?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004LB5AZY) $89.99
Intel Core i5 3570K (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0E1K?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007SZ0E1K) $219.99
ASRock Z77 EXTREME 4 (http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-DDR3-2400-Intel-Motherboards/dp/B007P710G4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340615341&sr=1-1&keywords=asrock+z77+extreme+4) $147.44

SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 128GB SSD (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077CR60Q?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0077CR60Q) $127.60
Zalman Z11 PLUS (http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Z11PLUS-Performance-Power-Supply/dp/B007M4VALU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340615421&sr=8-1&keywords=Zalman+Z11) or Cooler Master HAF 912 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZM7YTA?ie=UTF8&tag=cursegaming0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003ZM7YTA) $57.80

Try your usual site for ordering. With that components you will have a computer for life ;)
This is a good build.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 14:31:00 PM
^^ Killa knows. Plus, if AMD's Radeon was so shitty, they wouldn't sell any and thus wouldn't keep the product on the market. Fact is, it competes with Nvidia just fine. Both manufacturers have budget cards and both sell chips to various manufacturers. If you've had problems with crappy quality cards, I suggest you spend a little more and go for a quality brand like Sapphire or Gigabyte for AMD.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: nokturnal on Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:36:00 PM
Just to let you know AMD has the most powerful GPU on the market currently. There is nothing shitty about AMD Radeon cards. If you don't even know about GPUs, you shouldn't be building a computer.

To bad the control panels and tweaking are limited. Else I would say yes they are better. I also don't want to see my games 'graphically tear' which I notice with AMD cards.

This guy obviously knows a lot about computers. Probably makes uber 1337 builds with the cheapest case he can find, blue/red LED's everywhere and an OMG PWNZOR Fatal1ty X-Fi sound card.

My case lights up. Sup? My build has also lasted me 5 years with no problems. And I do know something about computers, but if you know more please educate me. You can help me with my PHD.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:42:02 PM
To bad the control panels and tweaking are limited. Else I would say yes they are better. I also don't want to see my games 'graphically tear' which I notice with AMD cards.
That's never happened to me. Ever.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: nokturnal on Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:46:15 PM
I had a 4800 series (i think?) a few years ago. It would tear across the screen on some (not all) games. It got super annoying. Maybe I had a bad card but it pissed me off.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:47:03 PM
I had a 4800 series (i think?) a few years ago. It would tear across the screen on some (not all) games. It got super annoying. Maybe I had a bad card but it pissed me off.
AMDs drivers used to be subpar. They have come a long way though. Nivdia isn't problem free either.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:53:29 PM
Every manufacturer happens to have some sort of issue with consumer products. I happened to have 2 laptops over about 6 years, the first one was fitted with a mobile x1800, nice card but working on Maya with it was painful at times. The second one instead was fitted with an Nvidia Optimus 540m gt, with the Optimus system being quite an hassle for a while (until barely decent drivers where released). Some versions of Autocad showed horrible performance issues with it, part of the GUI disappearing or warping, sudden crash and such.

AMDs drivers used to be subpar. They have come a long way though. Nivdia isn't problem free either.

If i recall correctly, Nvidia once released a driver that was actually capable of letting the gpu "burning" under heavy load without lowering the frequency, it happened with a game but i don't recall which was its name.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 16:01:49 PM
I had a 4800 series (i think?) a few years ago. It would tear across the screen on some (not all) games. It got super annoying. Maybe I had a bad card but it pissed me off.

4800's were made 4 years ago. It would be silly to base your hate for AMD on something so old in computer terms.

I agree with Koden. All manufacturers have bad products sometimes. Should we hate on Nvidia for the 4xx series being power hungry or for failing so hard with PhysX? AMD and Nvidia compete with each other, they have different release cycles and varying performance in cards. They both screw up and they've both been in first place in terms of raw power.

My case lights up. Sup?
Must make it go faster eh? lol at the "sup".
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Monday, June 25, 2012, 16:45:03 PM

I agree with Koden. All manufacturers have bad products sometimes. Should we hate on Nvidia for the 4xx series being power hungry or for failing so hard with PhysX?

The 4xx series was somehow supposed (or maybe i should say advertised) to be the next step in general computing power from a graphic chip. I guess most of the people here are too young to know what Voodoo stands for, but heck in a decade quite a lot has changed.

For me one of the best chips among Nvidia production was the 9xxx gt series, in particular the 9600gt. Powerful yet not hungry at all.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 17:03:45 PM
That was a bit before my time :) I didn't get into computers until my later teens. A lot of nerds my age got into computers before they hit 10. I missed out on some golden years.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Monday, June 25, 2012, 18:04:45 PM
if your having issues with gpu's u just dont have enough of them, same as ram and cores and stuff
Aw, poor skrewy pretending he knows about computers.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Jason on Monday, June 25, 2012, 19:36:29 PM
Just before I upgraded to my current 6870, I had a 3870. The 3870 was solid and handled crysis nicely.  It was a very nice card and the 6870 has proven to be very nice as well so far, Both without hiccups.

AMD fo life
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Monday, June 25, 2012, 19:42:22 PM
Just before I upgraded to my current 6870, I had a 3870. The 3870 was solid and handled crysis nicely.  It was a very nice card and the 6870 has proven to be very nice as well so far, Both without hiccups.

AMD fo life
I've got a 6870 as well. Great card.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Monday, June 25, 2012, 20:05:24 PM
I've been aspiring to get the 6870 for about a year :)
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BiG_SerGiO on Monday, June 25, 2012, 20:13:39 PM
I guess most of the people here are too young to know what Voodoo stands for, but heck in a decade quite a lot has changed.

OMG, i remember now, i had two Voodoo 2 connected on my pc with an S3 Trio 4mb i think ^^, replaced them few months later with the Banshee. Now, those were real graphic cards.

3dfx <3
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 15:37:57 PM
I want to thank everyone for the input. After alot of work nok and I came up with this setup.
I was diggin your build sergio, It was just a bit over what i am looking to spend.

Antec NEO ECO 520W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817371030)
GIGABYTE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128502)
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231426)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769)
RAIDMAX SMILODON 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063)
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115073)
LG DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247)

what do you guys think?
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 15:57:16 PM
DO NOT BUY THE 550Ti. It is a huge waste of money. Spend the extra money to get the GTX560 or get the AMD 6870. The 550Ti is a waste of money for the performance it gives.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Possessed on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:01:28 PM
maybe a 700W power supply?
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:07:28 PM
I want to thank everyone for the input. After alot of work nok and I came up with this setup.
I was diggin your build sergio, It was just a bit over what i am looking to spend.

Antec NEO ECO 520W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817371030)
GIGABYTE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128502)
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231426)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769)
RAIDMAX SMILODON 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063)
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115073)
LG DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247)

what do you guys think?

i second KIlla so if you get a 6870 or either a 560 that psu is gonna be tight into limits. There are some good 600 watts corsairs and Antec's, maybe even some Seasonic ones. I don't really know anything about Raidmax, i've took a look and i've found just a bunch of budget cases.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:11:43 PM
maybe a 700W power supply?
Not needed unless he wants to future proof his computer. You can actually run a 6870 on a 400w PSU if you wanted to. 
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:18:18 PM
going from 550 to 560 is like 60 bux. Why is the 550 so bad?
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:21:32 PM
going from 550 to 560 is like 60 bux. Why is the 550 so bad?
Its performance is bad when compared to how much it costs.


Also, the GPU is the most important part when building a gaming PC. The 550Ti will hold you back in a lot of games. It's not right to pair that beast of a CPU with a 550Ti.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 16:23:27 PM
going from 550 to 560 is like 60 bux. Why is the 550 so bad?

Cause it's not worthy buying for its price to performance. It also depends on you screen, but if your screen offers a native resolution close or higher than 1680x1050, a 550 wouldn't be enough for some demanding games (if you want to turn the detail and graphic quality up while using antialiasing)
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 17:11:33 PM
I want to thank everyone for the input. After alot of work nok and I came up with this setup.
I was diggin your build sergio, It was just a bit over what i am looking to spend.

Antec NEO ECO 520W Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817371030)
GIGABYTE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128502)
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231426)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769)
RAIDMAX SMILODON 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063)
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115073)
LG DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247)

what do you guys think?

Upgrade the PSU. That is the most important item you don't want to skimp on. Like I said, Get the Corsair TX650V2, it has a 5 year warranty and is made by Seasonic, the leading QUALITY manufacturer of power supplies. 650-watt means you could go SLI or Crossfire down the road without a problem.
The memory is pretty weak too, especially for an Intel platform. 1600MHz would be my personal minimum recommendation. If I were to buy RAM for my computer again, I would go 1866MHz or higher.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 17:59:02 PM
Im trying really hard to keep it around 800.

Whats most important?

Going from the GeForce gtx 550 to 560 (or maybe there's some middle ground here?)

Or going from the Antec NEO ECO 520W to the CORSAIR TX650?

Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 18:03:14 PM
Power supply. Without a reliable quality power supply, the rest of your computer is useless. It's not uncommon for cheap power supplies to destroy other parts of a computer when they malfunction. The Antec NEO isn't bottom of the barrel but I would still call it low end. You don't need a $300 1200-Watt PSU, just a Corsair TX650V2, I think they're around $80-$90. Try and get it on a mail in rebate, I've had 100% success with Corsair's mail in rebates. They come back fast and are in the form of a Visa card that you can use anywhere, even Paypal.

Trust me, when you open the box for that PSU and feel the weight and solid build quality, you will know it was money well spent. You can rest easy knowing that if you have ANY problem with it in the next 5 years (long time for a computer) that you can return it under warranty from a company that's well-known for great customer service and fast RMA processes.

*EDIT*
Right now it's got a $20 mail in rebate. $65 when it's all done. Damn good deal, wish I had a customer lined up that wanted a build now.

Check out this review on JonnyGURU (pretty much THE go-to guy for solid and extensive reviews) for the TX750V2:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=230
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BiG_SerGiO on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 20:14:16 PM
Then i would recommend:
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769) $74.99
RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black/Silver 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063) $79.99
LG DVD Burner 24X (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247) $16.99
Intel Core i5-3570K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504) $229.99
ASRock Z77 Pro3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297) $99.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428) $46.99
XFX Core Edition PRO550W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013) $74.99
EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660) $189.99

Awesome combo. Price $813,92. I would personally just change the case to something like this -> COOLER MASTER HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233) and $20 cheaper... so under your price ;)

Motherboards, Asus are great but as top boards, for lower prices you have MSI or Azrock, the truth is that Asrock are very good atm. But you can pick also something like this:
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646) $99.99
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 20:43:29 PM
I wouldn't touch an MSI motherboard. Also, I wonder why you wouldn't go AMD for cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
Less than half the price of the Intel, yet it's still a quad that's actually clocked faster than the Intel. It might perform slightly less but you could still get a 6-core for less than that quad Intel:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 21:57:44 PM
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020)
GIGABYTE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128502)
EVGA 01G-P3-1361-KR GeForce GTX 460 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231426)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769)
RAIDMAX SMILODON 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063)
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115073)
LG DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247)

Replaced the power supply and the gpu.
I feel like im getting closer!

Is it wrong that i want this case just because it looks cool?
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 22:06:39 PM
Is it wrong that i want this case just because it looks cool?

Not at all. As long as it fits your stuff, looks are the only thing that matters.

I still suggest you upgrade your RAM to a faster speed but it's fine as-is. You could always get faster stuff down the road.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BiG_SerGiO on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 22:11:57 PM
Honestly, awesome power supply but that board ain't that great, at least for that price... CPU could be better, RAM still isn't 1600mhz for what? So you won't spent 3 more dollars? And that graphic card is the weakest link...
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 22:16:58 PM
IMO, if you went with an AMD quad or 6-core, you would have maybe $50-$100 left over to put into memory and GPU.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BiG_SerGiO on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 22:20:55 PM
AMD is cheaper but isn't the same thing.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 22:39:13 PM
Comparable. Everybody knows that Intel will usually always beat AMD clock per clock. But how about a 6-core AMD vs a quad Intel? Would he even notice the difference? Having 2 additional physical cores would help out a fair bit.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 23:13:57 PM
ahhh sergio, i didn't realize the small difference. Changed the Ram.

Spanky check out this power supply. More wattage, and its modular for the same price. I know its not your fav brand BUT it has its benefits.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153136

As for the i5 or the AMD. Its interesting how the 6 core AMD is prices less than that 4 core i5. Why is that?

By personal preference i want to stick with nVidia for the gpu.


Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 23:22:51 PM
I wouldn't go for that Thermaltake. It's about who manufactured the internal guts. HEC made that Thermaltake, while they're not always bad, they're not as good as Seasonic. I would still go for the Corsair one.

AMD vs Intel is always an ongoing debate. In a nuthsell; AMD is for budget and Intel is for high performance. I wouldn't trade my 6-core AMD for a quad Intel. You can't go wrong with either really. You can just look at the facts. Any quad core will be good for most all games these days.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 23:45:03 PM
Skrewy always buys his computer stuff by sorting parts on that website by most expensive first.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 00:13:21 AM
You know so much about me Skrewy.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 05:10:03 AM
Also, I wonder why you wouldn't go AMD for cheaper:
Because the i5 2500K wipes the floor with any CPU AMD has made when it comes to gaming.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Calevey on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 06:49:58 AM
Major, there's no question about it. AMD is far from Intel at the moment - well, been quite some time now.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Koden on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 13:03:14 PM
It's not wrong as long as it's built in a decent way (durable and nicely assembled) and it's practical enough so that you don't get mad for cleaning and/or replacing parts.

I wouldn't touch an MSI motherboard. Also, I wonder why you wouldn't go AMD for cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
Less than half the price of the Intel, yet it's still a quad that's actually clocked faster than the Intel. It might perform slightly less but you could still get a 6-core for less than that quad Intel:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010

I prefer the last Thuban's and Phenom's to the Fx series. Affordable yet offering good performance. The last steps were also optimized in terms of voltage so while they weren't as good as Intel Sandy Bridge they still were better than the first steps of Phenom 2.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 13:31:29 PM
I don't know about Intel's middle end chips wiping out all AMD chips, if that were true, AMD wouldn't have much of a market. There really is nothing wrong with AMD. I've got a 6-core Thuban (1090T) clocked at just over 3.8GHz and it's going to be quite a while before I need to upgrade. I've tried a bunch of modern games and the CPU just laughs at them, maybe around 50-60% load at most. My GPU has always been my bottleneck and I think it would be for you as well.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: BlueBlaster on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 13:40:25 PM
So why not look at benchmark stats for cpu's? It's not the most reliable way of measuring things, but there is some validity in some sense. 2nd gen Intel i chips are actually pretty damn good. Some 3rd gen chips are out already and are slightly better than the 2nd gen.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Alex on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 15:13:32 PM
I don't know about Intel's middle end chips wiping out all AMD chips, if that were true, AMD wouldn't have much of a market. There really is nothing wrong with AMD. I've got a 6-core Thuban (1090T) clocked at just over 3.8GHz and it's going to be quite a while before I need to upgrade. I've tried a bunch of modern games and the CPU just laughs at them, maybe around 50-60% load at most. My GPU has always been my bottleneck and I think it would be for you as well.
For gaming it's true. For multitasking of course a six core CPU is going to win when using programs that take advantage of it. And yes, Intel is far ahead of AMD when it comes to performance CPUs. AMD has a market because they are affordable and good for a ton of things, including gaming. They're just not as good as Intel for gaming and raw power.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 16:18:36 PM
That may be but a lot of people still game with Phenom quads. AMD chips certainly don't bottleneck gaming unless you're using a dual-core. AMD is certainly the most performance per dollar. Sure, if I had an unlimited budget, I would go Intel and not look back but a lot of us have to live in the real world and afford things on a budget.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 17:30:40 PM
My final question for you guys (or what i hope will be my final question) is, what is my best GPU option for under $160 dollars.

this is my current build, All things considered.

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020)
GIGABYTE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard  (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128502)
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749)
Western Digital Caviar 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136769)
RAIDMAX SMILODON 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063)
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314)
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 17:41:22 PM
Not sure on GPU, I'm not too up to date on them but check out this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Also, on the memory, go for this kit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
It's newer. If you can, push for this kit instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231548
Tighter timings at the same voltage means more performance.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 18:08:39 PM
Well if someone buys my wireless headset i'll probably just buy the GeForce GTX 560 after all.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Calevey on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 19:33:16 PM
Well if someone buys my wireless headset i'll probably just buy the GeForce GTX 560 after all.
I hope you mean GTX 560 Ti (or 560 Ti 448, which costs a bit more than the old model). With same small-mid budget you could also think AMD's 6950 or 6970.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: eKC0mm on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 20:02:00 PM
lol i don't mean the TI, its significantly more then what i was originally planning to buy (the gtx 460 or 550TI).

Unless someone wants to give me some Computer science job in the New York area. That's as good as i think it'll get for now :(

EDIT: i know there is tons on CS jobs currently. I just haven't gotten around to actually looking yet.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Calevey on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 21:48:42 PM
With a small budget it's usually best to check used components because you get more value to your money.
Title: Re: Thinking of building a new pc
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 21:56:48 PM
With a small budget it's usually best to check used components because you get more value to your money.

So true. I got my server's motherboard, dual-core CPU and 2GB of faster than 1600Mhz RAM for like $80 a year ago.