I’m looking into buying a computer for gaming. I have always liked playing PC games but never had my own gaming cpu. SO I’m am thinking of building my own gaming cpu, but I am unsure what is the best way to go about it. I want one to where I wont have to update it for at least 2 years(i.e. graphics card, audio card, etc.) I know some of you guys on here play Diablo 3, so I’m assuming you know could help me out. Thanks in advance. FYI, I really don’t want to spend more than like $800.
get a decent tower, a solid state hard drive, an I7 processor, 8-16 giggs ddr3 ram and the best video card you can… profit…
now the reasoning:
decent tower - looks nice and easy of use… I like full towers, they are bigger, but easier to work in…
Solid state hard drive - fast… and reasonable prices… if you want a media 1terrabit drive, get serial ata… and a good power supply that is modular, modular ones are always made better and you dont have to deal with a tangeled mess of cables not being used…
I7 - best and worth the money IMHO… at a minimum, I5…
8-16 gigs ram, cause after windows 8, this may mean you wont need a video card (the day draws near)…
video card, get something 1 step or even 2 below best… its the first thing you will replace so its not worth buying top teir…
Motherboard - intel platform… i like gigabyte as they have never failed me in 3 gaming rigs…
Hope that helps… id buy it all from Newegg…
I linked the basics of what my next build will be… i did this in 5 minutes so i cant gaurntee its all perfect, someone else im sure will tell me i fed up something, but in general this will give you the idea…
The other options is buy a “Barebones kit” and go from there…
[quote]Ratchet wrote:
get a decent tower, a solid state hard drive, an I7 processor, 8-16 giggs ddr3 ram and the best video card you can… profit…
now the reasoning:
decent tower - looks nice and easy of use… I like full towers, they are bigger, but easier to work in…
Solid state hard drive - fast… and reasonable prices… if you want a media 1terrabit drive, get serial ata… and a good power supply that is modular, modular ones are always made better and you dont have to deal with a tangeled mess of cables not being used…
I7 - best and worth the money IMHO… at a minimum, I5…
8-16 gigs ram, cause after windows 8, this may mean you wont need a video card (the day draws near)…
video card, get something 1 step or even 2 below best… its the first thing you will replace so its not worth buying top teir…
Motherboard - intel platform… i like gigabyte as they have never failed me in 3 gaming rigs…
Hope that helps… id buy it all from Newegg…
I linked the basics of what my next build will be… i did this in 5 minutes so i cant gaurntee its all perfect, someone else im sure will tell me i fed up something, but in general this will give you the idea…
The other options is buy a “Barebones kit” and go from there…
[/quote]
Thanks for all your help man! Means a lot. I really didn’t understand one computer term you used but that’s alright. So with the CPU, how often do you think I’ll need to update it?
Also, that total comes out to over a 1000, which ins’t a big deal, but I have heard you can get a good gaming PC for like 700. Not going against anything you said, I appreciate it, but that price might be too much.
Check out these computers http://www.cyberpowerpc.com they have some badass setups cheap
you can save a lot of money with a different case… i linked the most expensive there is… also, buying a barebones kit then finishing it off would help also…
An I5 processor will save atleast 100 bucks over an I7… the ram would be cheaper if you get 2 - 4 gig sticks…
The video card is pretty much a wash …
if you own a computer, you can also reuse the case and power supply… that right there saves easily 200-400 dollars… My case has been used for all 3 of my gaming builds, but im finally letting her go… lost the key to the front and i just want something new to look at…
[quote]crazyj23 wrote:
Check out these computers http://www.cyberpowerpc.com they have some badass setups cheap[/quote]
fair price and basically what I was saying you want in a build…
You want atleast an I5 as they have capabilities the i3 does not… and you want the ivy bridge if you can get it…
I personally had an AMD a while back, but, at the end of the day, i think the pentiums are worth the extra money… not so for my first 2 builds, but its a much larger difference now, IMHO…
I’m going to be pedantic; a CPU is a component of a computer. It is incorrect to refer to your whole system as the CPU.
Stick with an i5 Intel CPU; i7’s are for the most part overkill for gaming and they cost more. AMD is not, at this time, competitive in the CPU front (which makes me sad, my current rig uses an Phenom X II 4 from before they got axed for the new Bulldozer CPUs).
6-8 gigs of ram is good.
For a gaming rig, 16 gigs is massive overkill and a huge money sink given your budget. I swear tech-heads tend to overlook cost/benefit when it comes to other people’s money. I’m just assuming gaming is most of what you do; you don’t do video rendering or 3D CAD work or any such beast?
Do you currently have a decent monitor? If you’re stuck gaming at 1680x1050 or less, there’s no reason to go hog wild on the GPU; a 6850 would work fine. If you’re looking to upgrade your monitor, prepare to spend decent cash (300+) on a good one. A good monitor should last a decade, so it’s one component I’d spend money on, but it makes a difference as far as budget advice (if you have to tie up 200 out of 800 on the monitor that gives people less to play with).
I would look at systems guides on Ars Techinca and the Tech Report to get kind of an idea of what you can do.
Thank you. Now I know what to build my brother for Christmas
Thanks everyone for your help!! It is much appreciated! I was thinking of hooking the computer up to my TV maybe, it is a sony 32in (is this possible?). If that isn’t possible, I’ll probably just buy a monitor. I think I am going to go into Best Buy tomorrow and see what they say to me. I have a friend who works there and he said some of the workers may help me. Is this a good idea, or should I buy everything online? Thanks again everyone.
Dont build your own. Buy a decent one with a warranty from a reputable company
[quote]paulwhite959 wrote:
I’m going to be pedantic; a CPU is a component of a computer. It is incorrect to refer to your whole system as the CPU.
Stick with an i5 Intel CPU; i7’s are for the most part overkill for gaming and they cost more. AMD is not, at this time, competitive in the CPU front (which makes me sad, my current rig uses an Phenom X II 4 from before they got axed for the new Bulldozer CPUs).
6-8 gigs of ram is good.
For a gaming rig, 16 gigs is massive overkill and a huge money sink given your budget. I swear tech-heads tend to overlook cost/benefit when it comes to other people’s money. I’m just assuming gaming is most of what you do; you don’t do video rendering or 3D CAD work or any such beast?
Do you currently have a decent monitor? If you’re stuck gaming at 1680x1050 or less, there’s no reason to go hog wild on the GPU; a 6850 would work fine. If you’re looking to upgrade your monitor, prepare to spend decent cash (300+) on a good one. A good monitor should last a decade, so it’s one component I’d spend money on, but it makes a difference as far as budget advice (if you have to tie up 200 out of 800 on the monitor that gives people less to play with).
I would look at systems guides on Ars Techinca and the Tech Report to get kind of an idea of what you can do. [/quote]
This. I7 doesn’t perform much better than an I5 for gaming if it does at all but it costs $100 more. You really don’t need more than 6-8 gigs for gaming for the next 2 years. Also, you really don’t need a SSD unless you’re some kind of hardcore gamer that’s playing multiplayer all the time. A regular hard drive will do and have more space on it. I kind of doubt we’re anywhere close to developing a way to get rid of purchasing a separate GPU. They keep saying they are but they are going to get rid of it with integrated graphics through CPUs but never do. I doubt a Windows 8 software program is going to do it.
[quote]crazyj23 wrote:
Dont build your own. Buy a decent one with a warranty from a reputable company[/quote]
I’ve heard that is the best way to do it. Obviously I won’t do it myself, I would go into a store and do it. Are you saying to just buy one that is pre-made just for gaming?
[quote]stefan128 wrote:
Thanks everyone for your help!! It is much appreciated! I was thinking of hooking the computer up to my TV maybe, it is a sony 32in (is this possible?). If that isn’t possible, I’ll probably just buy a monitor. I think I am going to go into Best Buy tomorrow and see what they say to me. I have a friend who works there and he said some of the workers may help me. Is this a good idea, or should I buy everything online? Thanks again everyone. [/quote]
If your TV has a HDMI port you can. Depending on the graphics card you get, you may need a DVI to HDMI converter for the GPU. Plug that into your GPU and use a HDMI cable to plug into your TV and you’re good to go. Just make sure your GPU can also do audio. It may be standard now. I know the Nvidia 460 gtx does it because I’ve tried it. And that’s a couple years old now.
Building one is fine if you have a really good idea of how things work but you are going to spend just as much money to build one as you would having something built by someone that REALLY knows what they are doing with a warranty. Just my 2cents.
[quote]stefan128 wrote:
[quote]crazyj23 wrote:
Dont build your own. Buy a decent one with a warranty from a reputable company[/quote]
I’ve heard that is the best way to do it. Obviously I won’t do it myself, I would go into a store and do it. Are you saying to just buy one that is pre-made just for gaming?[/quote]
Building computers is easy. You just make sure everything is compatible. Everything basically fits together easily. The only other thing you have to do is put coolant on the CPU and attach the heat sink. Usually heat sinks that come with the CPU are difficult to install and pretty crappy, so people buy better ones for $15-20 and they’re easier to install and keep your cpu cooler.
It will suck big time when your screen turns blue one day and no matter what you do you cant fix it. So then you start replacing things $$$$ Or you try to have someone else take a look at it $$$$
[quote]crazyj23 wrote:
Building one is fine if you have a really good idea of how things work but you are going to spend just as much money to build one as you would having something built by someone that REALLY knows what they are doing with a warranty. Just my 2cents. [/quote]
It’s not brain surgery. You just fit pieces into their slots and you will be spending a few hundred more at most retailers unless you have a nice coupon. Also most computer hardware comes with a warranty and you can make sure to purchase those that have them if it’s important to you. I haven’t had anything breakdown in the 2 PCs I’ve built.
[quote]crazyj23 wrote:
Building one is fine if you have a really good idea of how things work but you are going to spend just as much money to build one as you would having something built by someone that REALLY knows what they are doing with a warranty. Just my 2cents. [/quote]
Okay, thanks man. Appreciate it! So I guess my best bet would be to go to Best Buy and talk to someone there.
I would steer clear of bestbuy. What are your goals for this computer? Just gaming? School use? Both?