Building a Gaming Pc(#'th Thread)

[ERzine]

Never built a Pc before and Ive read a little bit of the other threads but im a bit overwhelmed. I wanted to get into custom pc building to save money(upgrading components in the future) and this forum seemed like a good place to get help.

I am in Canada and the main place I would get parts for the computer is in this retail store. http://www.canadacomputers.com/

My priority is getting parts which work well together and the most out of them within my price range, then worry about putting them in a case.

My price range is $500-900, unless really necessary up to $1,###.

The case, OS, and monitor not included in the estimate but would prefer it lower than maybe $700 so i can get a "good" monitor.

I want to be able to play current gen games at max settings and maybe up to 1 year later.

Also with USB 3.0, additionaly im a bit scared of Overclocking.

 

 

I have a few questions.

It seems for desktops that i5 beats i7, is it a overclocking thing or is it more efficient?

16gb ram worth it? or just a price gimmick?

Mid tower or Full Tower Chassis? is the space for better cooling the only difference?

 

For case im looking at Cooler Master HAF X Full Tower Gaming Case or something from NZXT.

[Illiad86]

You can also order from newegg :) They ship to Canada now. Check the prices with your store there, I bet newegg is a little cheaper ;)

 

Monitors are pretty cheap, depending on what you get. A 21" 1080 are about $150USD from a decent brand (Samsung, ASUS).

 

16GB isn't worth it really. Anything above 8GB isn't worth it these days. I'd just get 4GB or 8 if you have the spare cash.

 

I'd go for a mid tower. Full towers are nice but they are so huge lol. Unless you plan on building the uber epic computer with 3 graphics cards and a giant CPU cooler, a full tower wouldn't be my choice, IMO. Find a nice quality mid tower with good air flow.

[uberness23]

Don't skimp on a case. Good airflow is imperative. I'm a big fan of Antec's 900 and 1200 v3. Both have good airflow for a decent price. Fans are a little noisy under load, but are easily replaced. I prefer a Full tower so I provide myself with as much future expandability as possible. My Antec 1200 has survived several rebuilds and has grown into something of a monstrosity

 

If your looking for something a little more adventurous, check this case out. It has a lot of innovative features you don't see too often in a non-custom case. It's probably overkill for your needs though,

 

I would get at least 6 gb of RAM. Make sure the frequency of RAM you get is supported by your motherboard. Definitely more than 4, but 16 is overkill for today's tech. I say more than 4 because many games (Skyrim being one of the biggies) are already hitting past past the 2gb default ceiling. With only 4 gb, running a big game with mods could degrade performance, especially if you have other programs open at the time.

 

I'm a convert to Intel (long time AMD fan but Bulldozer was a disappointment) so I can't offer many good comparisons. All I can say is that my I7 3960x will beat the pants off of any i5. Period. L3 cache is monstrous, overclocks easily.

 

Get a good quality Power Supply. This cannot be stressed enough. I know, they're not exciting (at least, not to most people) but the power supply is never something you should skimp on. Figure out your power requirements or post your selected parts here and pick a PSU that has a minimum of 100W headroom. PSU's lose efficiency as they age, and you need to take that into account. Corsair is my personal preference, but Silverstone and PC Power & Cooling are also popular brands. I will say that my ax 1200 has never caused me any problems.

 

I can go on for ages; ask away.

[ERzine]

Convinced me, going full tower. I guess 8gb is a good number for ram, i cal always buy more ram later, right?

 

Im looking at this chart which I hope is accurate. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I checked the i7 3960x, its up there but the cost is a bit high.

What im eyeing is the Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4Ghz ($239) since the general consensus in the internet is that it beats any i7 in its price range.

Currently trying to figure out all the parts that go in a Pc at the moment but what is the difference in a Case fan, a CPU cooling, a video card cooling?

 

 

Since its an Intel Core, ive read that you need an intel motherboard. Does this one work? http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_722&item_id=049002

Edited July 28, 2012 by ERzine

[hoofhearted4]

yes that mobo works.

 

difference in those cooling systems: a case fan is a fan attached to your case that either pulls air in or blows are out. it provides airflow through your case keeping a cool temperature in your case. CPU cooling is usually done with a heatsink. a heatsink it attached directly to your CPU. it pulls heat of the chip and into the fins of the heatsink, where fans attached to the heatsink blow the heat from the fins of the heatsink into your case (where your case fans take that heat and blow it outta the case) there is also liquid cooling, same idea, but with water loops and radiators. lastly GPU cooling is the same idea as CPU cooling. the Card itself has a heatsink with fans pulling heat off it. the difference between GPU and CPU cooling is that CPU heatsinks you have to buy separately and attach yourself. GPU heatsinks come with the card. installed buy the manufacturer. and while you can take them off, they really arent meant to be taken off. and they definitely arent meant to be replaced, where a CPU heatsink can be taken off and replaced.

[uberness23]

Plenty of GPU's are designed to have their heat sinks replaced, although this voids the warranty. My 6990's heat sink HAD to be replaced due to excessive heat and absurdly high noise level. Most stock heat sinks that I've worked with typically aren't nearly as effective as 3rd party solutions.

 

Also, water cooling kits are becoming quite popular, especially Corsair's "Hydro" series. Most of the setup is already complete, all you have to do is attach the cooler to your CPU. It's a great intro to water cooling. Arctic cooling also makes some great after-market coolers (the 6990 fan setup they have worked wonders). It comes down to how confident you are in building the system. Take your time and read manuals. Double check your work, etc.

[ERzine]

My current list

 

Chassis:

Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_111&item_id=042885

CPU:

Intel Core i5-3570K ($239)

Motherboard:

ASRock Z77 Extreme6($189) or AsRock Z77 Extreme4($149)

Video Card:

I cant tell whats better. (One) EVGA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti FPB($219) / (One) EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB($119) / (Two) EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB

Or something else? What would it take to run something like BF3 on max settings.

Memory:

Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHz ($104)

Hard Drive:

Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1001FALS) 1000GB (1TB) SATAII 7200RPM ($89)

32mb Cache if there is not much noticable difference between that and 64mb.

 

I think the only thing im missing is POWER SUPPLY and CPU COOLER but otherwise does this BUILD work?

[FMod]

ASRock Z77 Extreme6($189) or AsRock Z77 Extreme4($149)

Extreme4 is fine, can go even cheaper.

 

[i cant tell whats better. (One) EVGA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti FPB($219) / (One) EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB($119) / (Two) EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB

Or something else? What would it take to run something like BF3 on max settings.

Lol. It would take A LOT more.

Try HD7970 or GTX680 with hard overclock minimum. Or two 7950, more like it.

 

Reduce settings a bit and one HD7950 or GTX670 will do.

The cheapest you can go is HD7850, that's not maxed out but should look the same.

 

Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHz ($104)

Take Samsung 2x4GB, 8GB total. No difference, but money saved.

[Phalanx108]

+1 on staying at 8gb. You dont need 16gb worth of RAM unless you do some hardcore rendering, and even then you are still leaving yourself a large overhang.

 

RE graphics cards: If you take the SLI option, then the two 560's would just fit in at max settings. You would get fairly frequent frame drops when playing though.

If going SLI in general, doesnt matter what cards you use, I recommend the use of this tool. If the game you want to play doesnt have an official SLI profile (and in many cases already does) then the tool will give you noticeably better performance.

 

EDIT: Just noticed you didnt have a PSU and CPU cooler.

 

My recommendations are:

PSU (Can go cheaper and lower output if desired, this allows for overhang)

CPU Cooler (I dont recommend water cooling, fans are easier to setup and maintain)

Thermal paste (100% recommend this paste. The one packaged paste I've tried that hasnt turned to concrete after getting hot)

Edited July 29, 2012 by Phalanx108

[FMod]

OK cooler, but I don't think you should buy $10 thermal grease for it. Just not worth it.

The money would be better spent getting a Zalman 10X instead, and it comes with decent grease.

 

In fact, 212 Evo (despite my previous incessant pimping it for budget builds) is for now officially off the recommended list for US/CAN, because of:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118059

Zalman CNPS10X Performa for $38 w/free shipping or $28 post-rebate, it just doesn't get better.

 

PSU, just no. It's a good PSU, but it's no Seasonic. And it's priced almost like one (Corsair AX850). And there's no need for a 850W PSU in the first place, 650W is more than called for. OP doesn't seem to be swimming in cash, so TX650V2 is just fine.