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I'd like to build a PC... but I have no idea how to start!
ImmortalRage
Member Posts: 12
Unfortunately, as much as I consider myself a PC gamer, I am clueless as to how to build my own rig. In the past I have relied on places like ibuypower.com, or even Alienware to upgrade my PC. I know what I'm looking for in terms of CPU, GPU, and RAM... and then I am gone. Lol. I know I need a good power supply unit, too, but everything else, I don't even know where to begin.
I've come here to ask for some pointers. I've heard that building your own PC is way cheaper than just relying on those aforementioned sites to do it for you, so... the computer I want to build I want to be able to play WildStar on max settings. I understand that this is impossible to be completely accurate on, but these are the recommended specs for the game:
Windows Vista or better, Intel i5 Quad-core 2.66GHZ or faster/AMD Phenom II X4 3GHZ or better, Radeon 5830 or better, 8GB RAM.
Again, I know the basics of what I would need- A case, motherboard, PSU, GPU, CPU, RAM... but what brands, compatibility, etc., is what eludes me. Any pointers and advice you can offer is greatly appreciated!
Comments
You're right, I forgot the most important part... the budget.
If I can, I'd like to stay around $1000-$1100 for just the rig. I can get peripherals later.
I have watched a couple of videos, and even read some good how-to's, but nothing specific for building a gaming machine.
I built my first computer at the beginning of this year, it's as easy as people say it is.
Main question to ask yourself is budget, then I recommend pc partpicker site, just google pcpartpicker. There is a US and UK site depending where you live. You can virtually build the machine giving you a breakdown of cost from various suppliers and it will check compatability and estimate of power supply needed. Plus you can share builds for advice and check up other people builds.
Most parts lists have a star rating as well so if good rating you feel ok to go with it.
I like Gigabyte and Corsair as brands. I've built 3 PC's and they have not steered me wrong. Usually go with 750W power supply or more if it is a gaming rig.
I am not sure why but the RAM you may want to decide after you decide on the MB. I bought 4 sticks of 4GB for my newest PC and then read that the MB works better in 3GB increments so I ended up using 12GB instead of 16.
Some things people will need to know will be things like:
Will the pc be used just for gaming?
Do you need any peripherals, like keyboard, mouse monitor etc?
Do you have parts in your existing pc that can be reused?
What country do you live in? Will be hard for people to provide links or follow a budget as that can vary quite a bit from one country to another or even what is available.
Your min/max budget?
Do you want to overclock?
Lastly do lots and lots of research on the net, look for various video guides on things like how to proper seat a cpu cooler for "w/e cooler you end up going with" and thing of that nature.
You might also wan to look at programs like:
CoreTemp
Gpu-Z
HWiNFO
Maybe read up on this too:http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028882/keep-it-stable-stupid-how-to-stress-test-your-pc-hardware.html
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Well; guessing by your budget you’re in the US
So that would mean looking at sites like Newegg and others
however, one link in will provide is what in used when asking about my new build (finished building last weekend)
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=74128e519ab2de0546f33da65cca43e4&f=1
Overclockers has everything you need to know, and much on top
Start o there, maybe look at some of the suggested builds other people have asked, that will give you the start.
The one piece of advice I would offer is, to begin with buy a good sized case, this will make it easier in your early PC building days for wiring etc.
In order of importance
PSU - A good quality is key to ANY build - I myself am using a RM brand corsair, I would have bought the 750, but none in stock so got the 650w (above 750w is overkill unless you going to 3/4 graphic cards) - get a good rating one, Mine is gold rated, learn about power rating it will help you decide, but spend a good budget on this
Motherboard - Again depending on what you want from motherboard, for eg, good sound on-board, goo SLI capability, WIFI enabled and much more. I bought the Asus Maximus hero - because of its awesome 7.1 sound on board I love this card, so much space, so easy to fit, just love it
) but also the overclocking on it is great with their built in software, don’t need much knowledge the software does the hard work for you
Cooler - If you unsure in would consider a 'closed' loop cooling system - again if you bought a decent sized case then water cooling is the option, I bought the standard Sneidon 120v and my CPU sits between 25-30 with 10% overclock.
CPU - I would say EVERY DAY of week go with the 4770k - The K series is the over clocable one, but this is personal preference, however if you’re going AMD then this will affect your motherboard choices. I’m an Intel man, always have and always will be
Hopefully I’ve given you some pointers, but of course use the forums around ask questions and good luck, and enjoy it, Don’t take any notice on what people say about how long, how hard, Its fairly easy - just have a pc that’s internetable so you can at least use YouTube / google if you get stuck.
My PC from unpacking took about 18 man hours to complete - That included all windows updates, all software, all hardware and the overclocking stability.
This post is all my opinion, but I welcome debate on anything i have put, however, personal slander / name calling belongs in game
where of course you're welcome to call me names im often found lounging about in EvE online.
Use this code for 21days trial in eve online https://secure.eveonline.com/trial/?invc=d385aff2-794a-44a4-96f1-3967ccf6d720&action=buddy
Here you go:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1461030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129281
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776
That comes to $1108 including shipping before a $10 rebate. Depending on your storage capacity needs, you may be able to skip the hard drive and save $60 that way.
Lol Combo deal expired.
That SSD only has 240Mb/s write. Might be a better choice out there.
Everything else aside from my personal choice of W7 pretty good.
Here is what I would suggest:
Asus P8Z77-V LK board (pro version is awesome as well but too many options you most likely wouldn't use)
Gigabyte GTX 760 OC 4 GB (wicked card) videocard
Asus VG248QE 24 " 144Hz 1ms monitor ( this is hands down the best monitor I have seen in a long time)
That totaled 945 bucks.
I already had the i5 3470 8GB ram and two 10,000 rpm HDD's. I could add some SSD's but trying to keep budgest at 1000
I would recommend A gigabyte board, Corsair Ram at least 16 mb, Corsair power supply at least 750 watts (You will never want to own another PSU after owning a corsair). On your budget I suggest going with an AMD cpu (you will get more bang for your buck by avoiding Intel on your budget). A great video card for your budget would be any AMD 7900 series card, I have a rig with two 7970's, and it does more than any gamer would need. Case I recommend a full tower, this may seem unnecessary, but you stated you upgrade your pc from time to time. A full tower will make it convenient to add hard drives, liquid cooling, another video card or w/e else you want to stick in this thing in the future Cooler Master has some great affordable full towers.
Cooling is huge, spring for a good Cooling unit for your CPU and some nice quiet and efficient fans for your case. In this day and age I recommend liquid cooling to everyone. If liquid cooling is not in your budget that is ok but I would say still spring some extra cash for proper fans. Cooling is the most important part of having a long lasting PC.
As for storage you can get a cheap WD 1-2TB HD these days, always go big on space. I also recommend a SSD that is big enough to store at least windows and your most played game on. OCZ offers some great and affordable SSD's.
These are the brands/parts I would recommend considering for a good 1000 dollarish gaming pc.
First do not build your first computer.
Worst mistake ever.
Go to CyberPower and buy a gaming rig like I did. Fully loaded.
Then build upon it as you see fit for the future.
No it is not cheaper to build your own. My roommate built his and it cost as much as I built mine at CyberPower. He got a 660 and I got a 770. He got 8 gigs of ram at 1333 and I got 8 gigs at 1866. See what im saying? Plus I got a sweet case (full tower) with 8 fans and liquid cooling DVD drive and media card reader. My roommate has none of that. I have a full 3 year coverage warranty on EVERYTHING in and out of the tower. My roommate had to sign up at each individuale website for his warranties and some only gave him a year.
I blow his computer out of the water by light years. He paid 650$ for his and had the hassel of putting it togather (he also had to buy a new cpu cuz he broke the pins) while I bought mine for 700$ and got WAY more then he did.
Spring sale is going on right now. They do free upgrades yo'.
I got the free upgrade from a 680 GTX 2gb to a 770 GTX 3gb. All OC Venom Certified too.
Buy pre built, then build upon the base you have. Starting from scratch is useless. Just ask my roommate. User Purewitz here on this site. Now he regrets buying parts to build your own lol.
BTW I have a gold pin 800 watt 80+ PSU (free upgrade from a 600 watt) and he only got a 585 watt PSU lol.
Also I run EVERY game at ultimate settings(even wildstar) at 60+ fps. Crysis 3, tomb Raider, etc. All at max settings and getting 60 fps.
Asus P8Z77-V LK board (pro version is awesome as well but too many options you most likely wouldn't use)
Gigabyte GTX 760 OC 4 GB (wicked card) videocard
Asus VG248QE 24 " 144Hz 1ms monitor ( this is hands down the best monitor I have seen in a long time)
That totaled 945 bucks.
I already had the i5 3470 8GB ram and two 10,000 rpm HDD's. I could add some SSD's but trying to keep budgest at 1000
760 http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-760/specifications
770 http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-770/specifications
For just a few bucks more you get a WAY better card dude.
A 760 sucks. even with 4 gb of v ram.
Start your own thread and post the rest of the hardware you've got. Bumping an old thread like this mostly gets people replying to the original poster without reading the entire thread and not realizing that the thread is old so the original poster is probably long gone.
That and the horrible advice that was posted in response to the necro bump that should just be purged.
I love the advice one poster gave the OP: buy shit and then build off of it...
Simply put: Your first PC should be built with help from online (picking the best parts for your budget) and real life ( a friend or someone who can show you how to put together a PC or at least explain it well enough). It isn't that hard just gotta make sure to get everything right and always remember the one part you cannot under any circumstance skimp on in terms of cash is your power supply, get the best you can for your needs.
It's what? 50$ more to have pre built and get way better stuff for your wallet. Again my roommate built his for 650$ mine at CyberPower was 700$. He has a 660 GTX and I have a 770 GTX. I have an 800 watt and has a 585. I have a gaming case with 9 fans and corsair liquid cooling. My roommate has 2 80mm fans and no liquid cooling. I have a dvd drive and media card reader. My roommate has none. Oh I also have a touch screen fan control system above my dvd drive. Aero Cool is what it's called. My roommate has none. I got windows 7 and or 8.1 for free. He got nothing so now he is stealing a copy of windows.
Do you see the difference? I don't have to upgrade for years. And when I do, I know what I can put in it because I have an actual GAMING TOWER (FULL). I can put a titan in this beast with no problem. My roommate bought his mid tower cheap. Now it barely fits his 660 in it.
Oh did I also mention I got a FREE upgrade to 2 terabyte HDD and my roommate had to pay more than I did for 1 terabyte.
I also got a free Headset(ZALMAN) and M+K gaming edition (AZZA).
All for 700$. My roommate is kicking himself for not doing what I did.
The funny part is. His first PC was from CyberPower. The first time he builds his own, he was dissapointed. I never bought from CyberPower or even knew what the hell a CyberPower was. I'm now glad I bought pre built.
BTW did I mention full coverage warranty for 3 years.
I can piss on my PC and they HAVE TO FIX IT.
Let us know how that goes.
You didn't get better hardware from Cyberpower, you got no-name hardware with questionable quality control, it just has bigger numbers printed on the sticker so that people will think they are getting a better deal. Sorry. You never get something for nothing.
I really hope you never have to use that warranty service, or you will find out why so many people say Don't do exactly what you are trying to convince them to do.
Also, citing your friends build versus your Cyberpower - that doesn't really help build your case. Maybe your friend sucked at picking out good deals. Maybe that was the first time they built a computer and they didn't know what parts to buy. Maybe you didn't buy them at the exact same time.
At least your friend knows exactly what is in their computer, and can look up the reliability and reputation for each and every one of those parts - and odds are most of them are probably covered for 3 years under warranty as well.
That entire Pro-Cyberpower post is probably (Hopefully) just an April Fools joke and I totally fell for it.
Good one. I'll chuckle about that one once I get over being embarrassed about falling for the joke.
Let us know how that goes.
You didn't get better hardware from Cyberpower, you got no-name hardware with questionable quality control, it just has bigger numbers printed on the sticker so that people will think they are getting a better deal. Sorry. You never get something for nothing.
I really hope you never have to use that warranty service, or you will find out why so many people say Don't do exactly what you are trying to convince them to do.
I have a Gigabyte Motherboard. My 770 is by EVGA and the ram sticks are Corsair.
WTF are you talking about?
Customer service has been FANTASTIC.
Oh and your link is from PC world.
Same people who said if my CPU goes over 45 Degrees Celcuis at full load, I should immediatly turn off my PC and get a refund.
Same idiots that said I need a 1000 Watt PSU for my 770.
Oh yeah, great community there.
Tom's Hardware - "Since purchasing my PC with CyberPower in August 28th 2009, I have experienced numerous problems."
Guess you had to pull dirt old news LMAO.
WOW after reading these, they are WAY old dude. Did you pull them from the archives?
PC World - One guy said it was bad and the rest of the forum goes off track to some other discussion. Again a forum post from 1000 years ago.
The CyberPower one is from 2 years ago regarding a rig they got 6 years ago. And only 3 people? Really? Thats means we should have a mass exodus because 3 people cant take care of their stuff?
MMO Champion - Second guy said and I quote, "I bought a CyberPower PC off of NewEgg and I LOVE mine." Also an artical from 1000 years ago.
And last but not least a youtube video from 1000 years ago about some whiney chick who knows nothing about PC's. Also if you follower her videos, she apologizes for trashing CyberPower.
Nice try though.
Just because, well say, 10 out of 1,000,000 people who buy from CyberPower complain, that means they are bad?
Honestly, I like these odds better than most companies.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
Come look for you self people and you'll see NAME BRAND stuff.
My terabyte is Seagate btw. But thats a knock off brand huh?
He has the same brands I do. EVGA 660(I have 770). Team Vulcan 1333mhz(I have Corsair 1866mhz) and Seagate terabyte and we both have Gigabyte MOBO's. AMD 4.0 CPU's both exactly the same.
He went to newegg and got deals. Thats why I stated mine cost 50$ more and I got better stuff. Also I know whats in mine LMAO. How would I not know? CyberPower let me build my own. LMAO
You guy's are too much LMAO.
So yeah......your point is moot.
This is the deals going right now. NewEgg
Mind you, thats not including a monitor, speakers, M+K combo or head ste or DVD/BR drive or media card reader or wi/fi bluetooth card.
Mine came with a 32" Asus monitor and Logitech speakers and a gaming mouse and keyboard and a gaming case with 9 120mm fans and cooler master liquid cooling and a free headset to boot and windows 7 or 8.1 my choice (i chose 7) and a dvd drive R/W, etc. and a media card reader and a fan control Panel above the dvd drive(touch screen)and a wi/fi bluetooth combo from NetGear.
Man when I look back, thats a lot that I got compared to building your own on the cheap.
His PC cant run 60+ fps on Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Black Flag, or Splinter Cell.
Oh wait, I CAN LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
No joke. Completely real.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
Real great gaming PC's. I run EVERY game on MAX setting at 60+ fps.
Thats all that matters.
THANK YOU!
Oh, did I mention everything I have is Super Over Clocked Venom Certified? That's right, the ram, VGA, CPU, everything. Super Over Clocked.