Who wants to help me to build a new PC?

[brokenergy]

Okay people today is a very special day, I'm planning for a new PC and I need your help! I am asking as many people as I can to collect enough input to buy the parts that I need to build a new gaming PC. Before you all go nuts, know that I live in Aus, a $1500 US PC rig is going to be $2300 Aus by conversion, so my build cost is $2500 Aus at most and that includes the speakers and new monitor. So what brands do you recommend, especially GPU because I know that is a mine field.

[obobski]

What do you have available to you? Like where can you shop and what do they have? Do you have any hardware you're able to re-use? What operating system do you want? What are you hoping to do with the machine? (obvious guess: gaming, but if so, what games, what kind of settings are you hoping for, what size/resolution monitor do you want, you mentioned speakers - what's your goal there, etc)

[brokenergy]

I'm getting it all online, so don't worry about where i'm getting my stuff. Do not worry about the OS, speakers or monitor I already have that sorted. So the fun part is making a gaming PC that is $2500 Aus or less, which is $1884 US, so it's fairly decent when you look at if from the US angle. I'm not looking for 4K or overclock the hell or stuffing the PC full of mods. I want it to last for the next 4-5 years playing recent games, so I need a PC that can be suitable for my gaming needs. Does that help? And no I can't reuse any of the hardware because the current PC is moving towards as the family PC, so this new build must be made from scratch.

[obobski]

I'm getting it all online, so don't worry about where i'm getting my stuff. Do not worry about the OS, speakers or monitor I already have that sorted. So the fun part is making a gaming PC that is $2500 Aus or less, which is $1884 US, so it's fairly decent when you look at if from the US angle. I'm not looking for 4K or overclock the hell or stuffing the PC full of mods. I want it to last for the next 4-5 years playing recent games, so I need a PC that can be suitable for my gaming needs. Does that help? And no I can't reuse any of the hardware because the current PC is moving towards as the family PC, so this new build must be made from scratch.

 

 

No, it really doesn't help - just because you have a rough idea of the exchange rate between AUD and USD doesn't mean retail pricing will correlate, or availability with correlate. If you have a specific online vendor you're working with its easier if "we" know that, because then we can just go on there and play around with it, versus throwing out generic suggestions and going back and forth for 30 posts "well that brand isn't available is this brand good?" "well that part isn't available how about this one?" etc (this becomes especially true of power supplies as not all OEMs/marques will sell to all markets due to regulatory hurdles and distribution agreements).

 

The OS does matter too - if you're wanting to stick with Windows 7 or 8.1 you have to make different choices with hardware because Microsoft is forcing upgrades to Windows 10 for newer Intel and AMD systems in 2017 (as in, you don't get a choice in the matter, you will have Windows 10 and you will like it); if you're looking to go with Windows 10 it also matters because of its various...features...like forced driver updates, that can wreak havoc with hardware/IHVs that are known for floating turkeys when it comes to drivers (e.g. nvidia).

 

As far as the 4-5 years, let me just cut that off at the head: there is no future proof, there is no guaranteed performance, the future is not set, there is no fate but what we make, yadda yadda yadda. You get to build something that works well today and if XYZ whizbang new game comes out tomorrow and requires an all new PC just to run, that's just part of it - if you absolutely cannot live with that reality, get a console. They're designed to work on 7-year lifecycles (so if you bought an Xbox One in 2013, it will still be playing new games in 2020, for example). Recent history has shown a relative stagnation in both performance and performance requirements, to the point that "brand new" really isn't anything to be up in arms about these days, but that's reading things backwards - just because Core 2s and GeForce 8800s have aged fantastically over the last ten years doesn't mean they'll be around for the next ten.

[brokenergy]

 

No, it really doesn't help - just because you have a rough idea of the exchange rate between AUD and USD doesn't mean retail pricing will correlate, or availability with correlate. If you have a specific online vendor you're working with its easier if "we" know that, because then we can just go on there and play around with it, versus throwing out generic suggestions and going back and forth for 30 posts "well that brand isn't available is this brand good?" "well that part isn't available how about this one?" etc (this becomes especially true of power supplies as not all OEMs/marques will sell to all markets due to regulatory hurdles and distribution agreements).

 

The OS does matter too - if you're wanting to stick with Windows 7 or 8.1 you have to make different choices with hardware because Microsoft is forcing upgrades to Windows 10 for newer Intel and AMD systems in 2017 (as in, you don't get a choice in the matter, you will have Windows 10 and you will like it); if you're looking to go with Windows 10 it also matters because of its various...features...like forced driver updates, that can wreak havoc with hardware/IHVs that are known for floating turkeys when it comes to drivers (e.g. nvidia).

 

As far as the 4-5 years, let me just cut that off at the head: there is no future proof, there is no guaranteed performance, the future is not set, there is no fate but what we make, yadda yadda yadda. You get to build something that works well today and if XYZ whizbang new game comes out tomorrow and requires an all new PC just to run, that's just part of it - if you absolutely cannot live with that reality, get a console. They're designed to work on 7-year lifecycles (so if you bought an Xbox One in 2013, it will still be playing new games in 2020, for example). Recent history has shown a relative stagnation in both performance and performance requirements, to the point that "brand new" really isn't anything to be up in arms about these days, but that's reading things backwards - just because Core 2s and GeForce 8800s have aged fantastically over the last ten years doesn't mean they'll be around for the next ten.

 

 

Look all I wanted if just someone to make a build that was $2,500 or less to see if it's compatable with my build that I'm making. Everything I'm getting is about 30% cheaper online than instore because I shop around, use a price comparison site and buy recent second hand if I can, so the big issue here is that is there anyone in this site that can meet the challange or not. I can't get reused parts from my old PC because it's not even mine to begin with, I already got a new monitor and sound system thanks to a friend, who also has a key for win 7, which I'll upgrade to win 10. I am not gonna upgrade the PC for the next 4-5 years, so I need this to last me for 4-5 years. I'm not living in the now and I certainly can't buy a console. If no one in this website can't help then I'll look around and ask other people, it's that simple. And I am giving you the rates for a reason because a decent PC that lasts for 4-5 years costs $1500.

[obobski]

I don't feel like requesting more information and trying to provide a dose of reality warrants such an abrasive response, and I'm not sure that such an abrasive response will endear people to assist you in this endeavor (nobody is obligated to help you, and nobody "owes" you anything; playing twenty questions and making things into a "challenge" isn't a great way to go about asking for help - sharing what you've come up with on your own and asking for notes/input is a lot more straight forward and, in my experience, yields a lot better responses).

 

The problem with "just tell me what to buy" is that "we" have really no idea what's available to you - availability of hardware is not consistent the world-over, and many times in these kinds of threads I've seen quite a lot of confusion and back-and-forth over a regionally specific brand or component being suggested that's entirely unavailable for people elsewhere in the world. Generically its not a problem to give you some ideas on a new PC, but that doesn't give you exact pricing - do you see the logic here? Nowhere is it my intention to beat you over the head about your purchasing choices, but its hard to give a specific response to an inspecific question.

 

As far as the rest:

 

- "And I am giving you the rates for a reason because a decent PC that lasts for 4-5 years costs $1500." is quite untrue. There is no guarantee that a PC at any price-point will last for any length of time, this doesn't just mean hardware failure or user error or things like that, but also in terms of "how long will it be relevant." This is not some sort of grand conspiracy to keep you away from a new computer or anything like that, its just reality. You cannot (no matter how much money you spend, how indignant you get online, who you know, what kind of extreme coupon game you have, etc) build a future proof machine. Now, if you go with decent quality parts it is not unreasonable to expect the physical hardware to run for many years (I have systems from the 1990s that still work - they're completely worthless for gaming, but they still work), but even that isn't a guarantee (because I also have purchased relatively nice hardware in the last few years that doesn't hit that 4-5 year mark but still manages to outlive its 1-2 year warranty; no this is not "a short warranty means it dies the day the warranty expires"). The truth is that "we" do not know what the future holds in terms of system requirements for games, mods, etc - machines that ran Skyrim absolutely flawlessly in 2011 (which didn't need to be that brand-new) can be absolutely crushed by mods that are available today, or Fallout 4. The same is true of Oblivion looking forwards to Fallout 3. Just to give you some "for instances."

 

- I would vote "pass" on Windows 10. The forced drivers, spyware, and relatively higher level of "things not working" would incline me towards a more mature and vetted platform, like Windows 7. If you have it already, stick with it; don't open yourself up to extra headaches needlessly.

 

- To keep with Windows 7 (and/or more broadly to keep with you having a choice about what software runs on your PC, as opposed to a corporation deciding for you), I'd vote "pass" on Skylake (Microsoft has already said they're forcing all Skylake-based machines to Windows 10 at the end of 2016; this is not an opt-in upgrade, this is a up-your-nose-with-a-rubber-hose "feature add-on" - which seems to be the watchwords for Windows 10) and suggest either AMD FX (sure they're dated, but they usually cost less, and still offer good performance - if you need any sort of legacy hardware support (e.g. FDC controller, PCI slots, etc) its also generally easier found on AM3 boards than newer Intel systems), or Intel Haswell, Devil's Canyon (the "Haswell Refresh") or Broadwell (and to kick a man while he's down: Broadwell and Haswell will score similar, if not slightly better, than Skylake in many gaming benchmarks, and cost a lot less to get there because they're not chained to overpriced DDR4 (this will come down in price as time goes on but currently its just not worth the price) and the new Z170 platform).

 

- For graphics its a tougher discussion, and reality is that you should probably at least consider that you'll be replacing the graphics card in ~2 years, even if the rest of the machine isn't being upgraded (this doesn't have to cost a fortune though; generally its ideal to buy an upper mid-range graphics card every 1-3 years as opposed to a TOTL card less periodically, and I'll agree with LinusTechTips: don't buy cheap graphics cards). While CPU performance is largely stagnant, graphics cards are still a "growth sector" - especially with the move to DirectX 11 (that is, as more games start to use DX11, the better performance of newer architectures is much more apparent - something like GTX 480 is still great for Skyrim or Fallout 3, but will fall on its face with Fallout 4 or Star Citizen, whereas something like GTX 980 will do very well all around). If we can at least know the resolution of your new monitor that will be helpful (the performance requirements for 4K are quite different than those for HD or FullHD).

 

- I wouldn't go nuts with memory - 8GB is really all you need unless you're doing DCC, but if you can get 12-16GB cheap, why not? There's no point in 32-128GB of memory unless you have some non-gaming task that uses it (e.g. you're an architect in your day job and regularly work with CAD). Heaps of benchmarks show that speed really doesn't matter, especially because higher speed usually comes with higher latency (so, in effect, it cancels itself out) - DDR3-1333 is (honest to goodness) perfectly fine, but the better takeway is "it doesn't really matter just get sufficient capacity and ensure its dual-channel."

 

- Storage is really whatever you want/need - there's no computational performance benefit to flash-based storage, but a lot of people really like "fast boot up time" as a feature. If you're on a budget, this is where I'd cut first to save money (after picking a cheap case and such).

 

- Power supply - you want something decent quality but with no indication of whats available in your part of the world, its really quite impossible to suggest something. Units that come out of Seasonic, Super Flower, Enermax, or Wintact factories are usually quite nice, but many "brands" don't like to disclose their OEMs.

 

- Given that you aren't on an entirely shoestrung budget, investing in some higher quality cooling would be worthwhile as well. This doesn't mean just grab an AIO liquid cooler and declare victory - high quality air cooling can provide comparable (and in some cases better) performance (at a similar or lesser price) and is significantly lower maintenance (and since you're after keeping this machine for a long time as a more or less set-and-forget device, that seems pertinent). Decent fans will also last longer - ball-bearing, FDB, etc are a good choice; there's numerous brands that you can choose from, in a rainbow of colors and styles, and ultimately that's a personal aesthetic choice (and if you really don't care, there's still standard black).

 

Now, it is certainly possible to put something like this together for around $1000-1500 USD, in the USA, from US-based retailers; whether or not that works the same way in Australia, I honestly don't know.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Why does there need to be conflict when discussing computer hardware >_< seriously...

 

Anyways, great places online to shop are Tigerdirect and NewEgg. On my last build I found varying prices at both and ordered about half my rig from one and the rest from the other. They ship worldwide. It's not like Australia is a third world country, pretty much anything is available.

 

For hardware I personally recommend Nvidia graphics and Intel chipsets. They have the least amount of hardware issues and most game developers test predominantly with Nvidia GPUs. My personal favorite supplier are EVGA and Corsair. They make enthusiast level hardware and offer good product support. Between the two companies you can get your RAM, Mobo, GPU and PSU which almost completes your build.

 

I disagree with most of the points of the the previous poster. Currently memory is fairly cheap and there is no reason to build a system with less than 12gb RAM to offer overhead for future use. What if you end up wanting to write music or edit videos in the future? Do yourself a favor and get at least 12gb DDR3 ram or better.

 

Also, I currently have a GTX480 which runs FO4 at 60fps on high settings, 30fps on Ultra and is near performance of a 570. That said, it's an old card so the point is mute. Assuming your monitor is running at 1920x1080. I would recommend a GTX950, 960, 970 or 980. Nvidia model numbers are misleading for performance, for example a 770 is better than a 950. You may find good deals on lesser cards in the 700 and 600 model range. As you approach top of the line hardware you will see a steep increase in price without a huge increase in performance. It's better to buy a few stops down from the top where you'll get near the quality but for a fraction of the cost. Don't be drawn in by the allure of SLI. You're only going to get an increase of about 25% performance at best but double the cost of your card. It's better to spend more on a great card than two inferior ones.

 

http://international.download.nvidia.com/webassets/en_US/shared/images/products/shared/lineup.png

[phoneyLogic]

At the moment I would go for a Core i7-6700k CPU.

 

They are powerful and energy efficient.

 

Then you need a motherboard with the socket FCLGA1151.

 

Choose your board based on form factor (ATX, micro ATX etc.) and on features it brings along (connectors, HDMI, LAN, SATA etc.).

 

There are sites where you can filter motherboards by features.

[obobski]

At the moment I would go for a Core i7-6700k CPU.

 

They are powerful and energy efficient.

 

Then you need a motherboard with the socket FCLGA1151.

 

Choose your board based on form factor (ATX, micro ATX etc.) and on features it brings along (connectors, HDMI, LAN, SATA etc.).

 

There are sites where you can filter motherboards by features.

 

The problem with the i7 6700k is that they generally require DDR4 (which is overpriced) and will be forced into Windows 10 come 2017. Power consumption is similar to 4790; if you're after efficiency and performance the Broadwell 5775C is the "winner" but honestly we're picking at a few watts and when talking "high performance gaming computer" it seems kind of silly to fight about "power efficiency."

 

Fatalmasterpiece:

 

I would stay VERY far away from Tiger Direct these days (http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Tiger_Direct) - they've gone downhill and show no signs of improving.

 

I also wouldn't be so "bought in" to nVidia - there's nothing at all wrong with AMD, and the "developers predominately go nVidia and AMD is a second thought" is just marketing mythology run amok. Both nVidia and AMD (and to an ever-increasing extent, Intel) have significant dev-rel with any major developer, although nVidia has increasingly used anti-competitive/bully tactics (e.g. Gameworks) to try and force developers, and users, onto their platform (which ultimately hurts everyone). Intel chipsets have been more or less a paragon of stability forever (even back to the pre-Pentium days), but AMD-branded chipsets since the ATi merger (e.g. the 700-series and 900-series) are of comparable quality. That said, AMDs CPUs are behind the curve, performance wise, with everything else (although there's supposed to be a new generation coming this year that promises to change that - I'll honestly believe it when I see it).

 

On the RAM - you're restating what I already said, and like you said: "why do people always have to fight?" We generally agree on every other point, and you've largely restated what I said while "disagreeing with most points" - I have no interest to "fight" but also felt it was worth pointing out that we are largely in agreement; there is no conflict or fight to be had there.

[JonathanOstrus]

Just to throw a wrench into the mix relating to Z170 (or any x170 boards for that matter) be aware that some have the USB 2.0 ports on an internal hub connected to the 3.0 controller.

 

Q: What does this mean?

A: If you are installing an OS that doesn't have integrated drivers for the USB 3.0 controller (think Windows 10 and to some degree Windows 8.1), then none of the USB ports will work with a mouse or keyboard.

 

There's a reason every one of those boards has a PS/2 port on them. That said I had a customer who insisted on Windows 7 with a Z170 board and a i7-6700k. We had to procure a PS/2 keyboard and a sata DVD drive so we could install the system and the USB 3.0 drivers. Once that was done we could continue and use a USB keyboard and mouse as normal.

 

Not all x170 boards are like this, and frankly in my experience it was just that one brand which I can't be sure which one it was since most of my customers go for Windows 10 these days.

 

As previously mentioned Microsoft is pushing, along with Intel, to require all the newer processors be run on the newer operating systems. From what I read it was unclear if they would somehow force people to move to Windows 10 or if they just wouldn't be back porting support for newer upcoming cpu's back to Windows 7 and 8/8.1.