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Build my new comp

numaticnumatic Member UncommonPosts: 675
in Hardware

So here's the deal. I've been away for over a year from gaming (mostly MMO's) due to personal life responsabilities. I have gotten completely rusty on my up to date tech knowledge so i'm not sure what is new lately in the world of chipsets and such(I beleive the Phenom was about 1/4 way through production when i dropped off the map). So i'm throwing myself at the mercy of you guys :-P

Since i work 6 days a week nearly 10 hours a day, and then taking care of other things, i don't exactly have alot of time on my hands to browse around and get brushed up right now.

So I would like to see, whoever has the free time of course, what builds you guys can come up with for under $1200 (I was gunna say $1000 but i beleive I can push $1200). I have a friend of mine(he builds/repairs PC's) willing to put the computer together for me but he also doesn't have the free time to browse around and pick out the parts for me.

And i know some of you guys like to do this regardless so maybe it will give you something to do when you are bored and a server is crashed lol.


Some info:

1. This is a FULL computer build. Which includes monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc..
2. Sound/Speaker accessories can be pretty basic as it's not a huge concern to rattle my walls and i don't beleive my neighbors would take kindly to it lol.
3. I never had a problem with AMD or Intel so either suggestions are fine.
4. I have never had an issue with thermaltake for a PSU so i prefer that but if u have a better suggestion i'm all ears.
5. Hard drive space doesn't need to be absurd. 100-200gb is fine.
6. Computer monitor doesn't need to be some high end HD flatscreen. Though I prefer 17" or above.
7. Needs to be fairly high end as I dont plan on upgrading for quite some time after this and wish to run games smoothly in the future.


I can make it a contest to make it more interesting if you like. Free brownie points to the winner! :)

Comments

  • kb2tvlkb2tvl Member Posts: 42

    I am going to respond only because no one else did. I would suggest that you look at cyberpower's web site:

    http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

    There is a 5% refund if you order by today, sorry for the short time frame.  There is a Gamer infinty for $1000.  You can configure the vid card for a bit better one... If your friend builds you the system, you can prolly get it for a bit less though I am unsure.  Newegg has good prices on parts.

  • LordVanidorLordVanidor Member UncommonPosts: 70

    Don't buy a prebuilt from any of the custom built PC companies . There is a large cost markup and the quality of parts are very questionable, unless you are buying from Alienware, and then your just paying a huge markup for parts you won't even use.

     

    My suggestion for building a computer is through this megathread:

    http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3056150&pagenumber=1

     

    Some things to keep in mind:

    Don't try and future proof. Get good performance now, don't buy things with features not currently being used.

     

    I used this thread in December to build my own computer for only $650 (I reused only my old case and case fans.) The computer I built runs anything at max settings, with 40fps+ at 4xAA 8xAF on Farcry 2 and Crysis, and for most things I can turn AA and AF to max settings and it runs well above 60fps.

     

    The suggested component list in the thread may be different now but here are the parts I used (bought from newegg):

    GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

    SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Video Card

    COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3 Power Supply

    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

    OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

    Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

     

    I later bought a really nice 22" Acer monitor for $150 on sale in January, and its running so well with my video card I think I will upgrade to a 24" when I build my wife her computer.

     

    Prepare to pay about $200 - $2000 more for a computer of the same quality or with a ton of useless hardware on it if you buy it prebuilt. People always get suckered into physics cards, dual graphics cards, and quad core processors. I guarantee you that when or if software ever is released that takes advantage of that stuff, you'd be able to buy cheaper and much higher performing hardware at that time.

     

     

     

     

  • kb2tvlkb2tvl Member Posts: 42

    That looks like a good thread.  When sizing a system, imo it is mostly about the vid card then 4gb memeory to max out windows 32 bit...  for video intensive games..   In any case, it is all about the parts and buying only the parts you need.

  • RespitRespit Member Posts: 770

    I'll try to throw a list together later on, but in the man time you can find a lot of good information here.

    Tom's Hardware

    DarkFall FAQ - Read then Question with Boldness

  • navycmnavycm Member Posts: 8

    i had a friend of mine build build me a rig a year ago this month.  it cost me $565 i believe for just the tower.  i picked up a acer 20" for $180 on sale at the time,  keyboard, mouse and speakers can free from newegg since i spent so much w/ them.  if i remember the hardware was:

    -geforce 8500 gt nvidia 512 video card.

    -MSI motherboard, cant remember the specs

    -AMD 2.9 dual core processor, which is overclocked

    cant remeber what the HD, network card, or the CD drive(maddog i think) was.

     

    i know its not a big help but im currently deployed and cant get to it to get specifics.  point is you dont have to spend $1200 to get a good gamer.  mine runs fine for eveything that i have playedmostly MMOGs).  i recently bought a used m7700 aleinware laptop(2yrs old) for deployment and i spent more on that than i did building my home PC. 

  • hermitpaulhermitpaul Member Posts: 12

    I'd choose a good, strong PSU with a very quiet fan, so that it wouldn't interrupt my gaming.

    The mouse would likely be a Microsoft optical mouse; they've never steered me wrong in the past. As for keyboards, I recently bought a Logitech wireless keyboard (and mouse, though I've yet to try the mouse) and it's truly very nice: I can sit in bed a good couple of yards away from my computer and still type.

    Speakers are cheap, but finding good ones is difficult. Many of the cheaper, nameless brands will cause large amounts of noise at low levels - by "noise" I mean crackling, artefacts in the sound, etc - and that's no good. Maybe you don't want to see walls rumbling, but that doesn't mean investing in a good set of speakers is a bad idea. Failing that, consider headphones!

    Were it me, I'd go for something along the lines of an Intel iCore7, a powerful nVIdia graphics card and 6 - 12gb of DDR3 RAM. However, I use many very resource-intensive pieces of software.

    The graphics adapter is perhaps most important for gaming - the CPU no longer does all of the work - and you can guarantee that even a single craphics card with a large amount of high-frequency RAM, will last quite a while: I bought my nVidia card two years ago and it runs games like 'Crysis', 'Fallout 3', 'Red Alert 3' on their highest settings with no trouble whatsoever.

    Game companies do not target the most powerful machines. They haven't developed their game for the past year or so on up-to-date hardware, they know that the average system specification is far lower than what cutting-edge hardware can offer you. Therefore, I imagine that a Quad Core or even a Core2 would be more than enough. Personally, I'm waiting to see how the iCore7 manages.

    As for the RAM, pay that little bit extra for the best - it will pay off. :-)

    http://hermitpaul.wordpress.com

  • CleffyCleffy Member RarePosts: 6,414

    If you are gaming the AMD vs. Intel debate is moot.  Processors have little affect on gaming performance.  The main thing you should worry about is GPU performance that is only minorly affected by processor bottle-necking.

    Which GPU you choose really depends on what you plan to play.  The Crysis Engine and Oblivion Engine work better on nVidia GPUs.  Ubisoft, and Racer GRIDS engine perform better on AMD GPUs.  In shear power, AMD can do more calculations and has greater memory bandwidth than nVidia does not match.

    If I were you, I would buy an AM2+ board with a Phenom II 720, 4~8 gigs of DDR2 ram, an HD4870 1GB, 1 500GB HDD, a DVD-RW or BluRay-R, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, a 600watt OCZ PSU, a sub-$100 Mid or Full Tower, and spend the rest on a monitor.

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