Building a PC from scratch - Need Help!

• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-21 19:06
  So yeah. I got a thousand dollar laptop for Christmas a couple years back, but I gave it to my mom so she could use it at work. And since my birthday passed and we didn't do much (Wake up, go to ortho, go to pick up school stuff, go eat out at Five Guys, Sleep) my parents want to replace my laptop. I figured that this might be a good time to upgrade to a desktop. Problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to do, let alone get. I have a budget of around a thousand dollars. I was hoping I could possibly max out BF3, but I would be fine with something around BC2.
  
  •Case: NZXT Phantom
  •Motherboard:
  •Processor:
  •Memory:
  •Hard Drive:
  •Video Card:
  
  •DVD/CD drive:
  •LCD Monitor: (Know any good 17 inch ones?)
  •Speakers:
  •Etc:
• Shirayuki wrote on 2011-08-21 21:45
  I'd suggest a 1080p(21+ inches usually) monitor since a 17 inch won't do you any good.
  
  For the processor, I'd go with an i3-2100 or and i5-2500(k), depending on if you want just the bare necessities, or if you want decent power(and the ability to overclock).
  
  For your motherboard, go for an H61 if you get the i3 or the locked i5. If you want to overclock, which I'm guessing you won't since you're newer to computers, you can get a P67 or Z68 mobo.
  
  For memory, you could just get this or w/e you want as long as it's DDR3-1333.
  
  For hard drive(s), you can get 1 or 2 of these since iirc, Yoorah said they worked well.
  
  For the PSU, I'd go with this. Offers more than enough power and has the connectors you need.
  
  For the graphics, I'm not quite sure how graphics intensive BF3 is, but you can get a 6850/6870 since they're overall good cards.
  
  Monitor(s), speakers, and drives, keyboards, etc. are up to your personal preference, but you have around $300 left to spend on them with the build I gave you.
  
  PS I'm not an expert or anything, just posting what I'd get before Yoorah shows up and gives you the most badass build possible.
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-22 05:43
  Thanks for the advice. I was wondering how good the enthusiast build is.
  [SPOILER="Spoiler"]

  [Image: http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af150/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png]

  [/SPOILER]
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-08-22 07:03
  Sorry for the late response. I don't have time to look up stuff atm. x.x But a few things to note here: The NZXT Phantom is an expensive case, and isn't really worth it unless you are in love with the design and won't accept anything else. I'd go with an Antec Three Hundred case instead, and upgrade the video card (to 6950?) with the $80 you save there. I'm not sure if you can build a system that will be able to max out BF3 at that price range, as I don't believe its requirements are posted? Not sure about benchmarks of it either. But you should be able to build a system that will run it well under reasonable settings.
  
  And that enthusiast build is powerful indeed, although I'm no fan of multi-GPU setups. While they often give good bang for the buck, this is only true when they work as intended, and different games give different results. Such setups tend to be buggy sometimes, produce more heat, use up more power, etc. I'd go for a single, more powerful card, even though it can be more expensive.
• Mystickskye wrote on 2011-08-22 09:20
  Multi-GPU setups are pretty good from what I've seen, even in the power and heat department (especially when compared to the GTX590 and the HD6990). Whilst they weren't that good to start off with both nVidia and ATI have been making pretty good progress in the multi-GPU department and improved driver support seems to show great gains of late. It's to the point that it's entirely possible to spend less than a single more expensive card and get better performance. Certainly, the current top card from both nVidia and ATI can be surpassed by buying two lesser cards in the same family and you can even spend less.
  
  The enthusiast build is pretty good though some bits of it are probably unnecessary. Eg, the i7-2600k sees very little benefit over the i5-2500k (especially for gaming) and given the price difference, most people will go for the i5-2500k. Expensive cases aren't necessary at all either. Unless you have two high end graphics cards which exhaust the heat inside the case (some do, some don't) then a case with one each of intake and exhaust should be fine. Such money would be better off going towards graphics card and such. With money saved by going the i5-2500k rather than the i7-2600k you can buy an aftermarket CPU cooler as well. Though, if you don't plan on overclocking then the i5-2400 is a fine substitute for the i5-2500k as well. That PSU is overspecced too. Even for a dual GPU solution a good quality 750w PSU should be fine, just make sure it has all the connectors you need!
  
  For mobo you can stick to p67 chipsets (I don't really see a need for going for the super high end UD7 spec either) unless you really want the SSD caching abilities of the z68 boards. You will want to check for features such as USB3 and SATA-III and considering getting an SSD further down the line if not immediately. If you get the non-k versions then it's safe to go with h61. Just check that it matches your other hardware!
  
  HD... if you're not getting an SSD off the bat then something like a Samsung Spinpoint F3 or the Caviar Blue will do. I do have a Caviar Black myself but it's not really necessary with your budget concerns and the Caviar Blue is decently cheaper than the Caviar Black without having the performance reflect the price difference. You will want to consider what size you want though and if possible, check for biggest platter sizes. Don't get anything less than 7,200rpm speed drives for your boot drive though. It's fine to get things like the slower eco drives for pure storage.
  
  For RAM, get whatever's cheap enough for your liking. 4GB will suffice though RAM is cheap enough that getting 8GB won't hurt. 1600 over 1333 probably offers the biggest benefits compared to things like dual/triple channel and channel latency but it's not as necessary as speccing out other parts instead. Still, even 1600 should be cheap enough to squeeze however much you want into your build. Make sure it matches your mobo specs! (likely, DDR3).
  
  For DVD/optical drives... get whatever's cheap and suits your needs. Most come as combo drives that can read/write both DVDs and CDs but if you don't care about writing, take a look around. Dirt cheap as they already though.
  
  Speakers..... strictly speaking, get whatever will suit you. However, if you say you're interested in maxing things out like BF3 and the like then I'd say you'd want to live it up and get at the least a cheap 5.1 system.
  
  BF3 supposedly can't be maxed out using a GTX580 (going by early runs of the game shown at shows and such) so if you do want to "max it" then you're probably looking at a dual GPU solution (for what it's worth, even Crysis 2 with the recent dx11 patch makes a lot of higher end systems cry) which isn't really feasible at a budget of $1000. You may want to consider building your system toward it (eg, getting the appropriate mobo and a PSU that can handle it) and get the second graphics card later down the line with your own money or something. For such a dual GPU solution, you'd want to be looking at dual GTX570s or dual HD6950/6970s. A dual GTX580 would be the most powerful solution but costs even more than a single GTX590 and seems to be waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of your price range.
  
  For a monitor.... you'll definitely want to get one that can support 1080p (seeing as you're talking about maxing high end games). Response times of any modern monitor shouldn't be an issue, check brightness and sensible reviews. Also may want to check inputs!
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-23 00:35
  Wow thanks guys. I have two more questions though. [S]Will the exceptional build max bc2? [/S]And is there like a program where you can input the hardware into and get a system rating or a "can I run it" thing?
  
  Okay, I got some kind of a build, but this is like literally everything I'll buy so if I'm missing something important, tell me. I am aware that there aren't any speakers or a keyboard.
  
  •Case: NZXT Phantom
  •Power Supply: RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS
  •CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
  •Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65
  •RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
  •Graphics/video card: GTX 570
  •Hard drive: Spinpoint F3
  •Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
  •Network Interface Card/Wi-Fi: ASUS PCE-N13
  •Operating System software: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
  •Screen (LCD): Acer S201HLbd
  
  Am I bottlenecking anything? Anything that's not good/worth it? I still haven't checked the price yet overall, so I'll probably have to cut down too. Is anything too big/small?
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-08-23 03:55
  As far as problems go: You have the wrong motherboard type, can't use LGA 1366 with the new CPUs. You need a LGA 1155 socket board.
  As for what's not worth it.. the case you picked is not worth it, as I've said before. But I guess you really like it, so whatever. xd
  
  I didn't add up the costs, but I think you're over budget there.
  
  As for dual-GPU, while there is no doubt that they can be good value, as I said.. you make a compatibility/reliability tradeoff. Whenever people have driver issues, be it AMD or NVIDIA, those complaining tend to have multi-GPU setups. So it's one of those "do it at your own risk" things. But I suppose it would be a good move to ensure that your system is dual-GPU upgradeable later down the line, as buying a second old graphics card to match your exisiting one is a much better value than throwing away your old one and replacing it with a newer one when it's time for an upgrade.
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-23 07:16

  Quote from Yoorah;562481:

  As far as problems go: You have the wrong motherboard type, can't use LGA 1366 with the new CPUs. You need a LGA 1155 socket board.
  As for what's not worth it.. the case you picked is not worth it, as I've said before. But I guess you really like it, so whatever. xd
  
  I didn't add up the costs, but I think you're over budget there.
  
  As for dual-GPU, while there is no doubt that they can be good value, as I said.. you make a compatibility/reliability tradeoff. Whenever people have driver issues, be it AMD or NVIDIA, those complaining tend to have multi-GPU setups. So it's one of those "do it at your own risk" things. But I suppose it would be a good move to ensure that your system is dual-GPU upgradeable later down the line, as buying a second old graphics card to match your exisiting one is a much better value than throwing away your old one and replacing it with a newer one when it's time for an upgrade.

  
  
  You are a gift from god. Do I need any extra cables or anything like that? [S]I added up everything, still gotta find a new mobo and a power source., but it was roughly 1000 including the mobo.[/S] Arethe rebates offered by newegg reliable?
  
  Edit: Replaced MOBO with MSI P67A-GD65 . Saved 50 dollars. Would a 730w power supply do? RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS
  
  Ends up being $1284.89, $1234.89 with rebates. What should I look at to make sure it'll all fit inside?
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-08-24 04:40
  As far as checking compatibility is concerned, the common things to look for are:
  Does the CPU socket match the motherboard socket? Both are LGA 1155.
  Does the RAM type match the motherboard RAM type? Both use desktop-type DDR3, same pin count etc.
  Will a monster-size graphics card fit in the case? The Phantom is pretty big, has room to spare.
  Enough power? If you wanna do SLI, you want a PSU with 4 PCIe power connectors (each card uses 2). BTW, you might wanna go with a better PSU. Are you gonna be doing SLI?
  Are you trying to cram an ATX-size motherboard into a case that supports only smaller mATX? Nope.
  
  Probably some other random obvious stuff that I didn't remember to type. Anyway, your build would fit together. But I'd get another PSU, and perhaps you should consider getting a Z68 based motherboard.. although your current board is a good choice too.
  
  You don't need to buy any cables. Except if the PSU doesn't come with a power cord for the wall outlet.. some of them don't, should be listed in the product spec.
  
  Oh, and I don't trust rebates. But lots of people seem to get em to work fine. I dunno.
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-24 04:47

  Quote from Yoorah;563597:

  As far as checking compatibility is concerned, the common things to look for are:
  Does the CPU socket match the motherboard socket? Both are LGA 1155.
  Does the RAM type match the motherboard RAM type? Both use desktop-type DDR3, same pin count etc.
  Will a monster-size graphics card fit in the case? The Phantom is pretty big, has room to spare.
  Enough power? If you wanna do SLI, you want a PSU with 4 PCIe power connectors (each card uses 2). BTW, you might wanna go with a better PSU. Are you gonna be doing SLI?
  Are you trying to cram an ATX-size motherboard into a case that supports only smaller mATX? Nope.
  
  Probably some other random obvious stuff that I didn't remember to type. Anyway, your build would fit together. But I'd get another PSU, and perhaps you should consider getting a Z68 based motherboard.. although your current board is a good choice too.
  
  You don't need to buy any cables. Except if the PSU doesn't come with a power cord for the wall outlet.. some of them don't, should be listed in the product spec.
  
  Oh, and I don't trust rebates. But lots of people seem to get em to work fine. I dunno.

  
  
  Can you reccommend a PSU that won't cost me a hundred dollars?
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-08-24 04:56
  Do you want it to support dual video cards? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049
  If not, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031
• Applejack wrote on 2011-08-24 04:58
  Psst you can save a ****load more money if you didn't want such an expensive case.
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
  or
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061
  Cheaper and I think they look better then the one you want. The money saved can be spent on a more better Mobo or Graphics card.
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-24 05:00
  Thank you so much!
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-08-24 05:05
  Just a note, the GTX570 is really power hungry. The 750W PSU will be enough for two cards if you don't overclock, but if you do.. 800W+ is recommended. Dx http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13
  In that case, it would push you past the $100 mark for a good PSU, I think.
• Meikeru wrote on 2011-08-24 05:07
  I don't think I'll overclock just yet.