PC Build Advice

Thanks for that run down Anto! I'm still in the camp of keeping my p.o.s. running as long as possible, but you guys definitely have me itching to build another one. Might be a good project to work on with that guy that hangs around here all the time.

+1 Anto!

Thanks for the advice!

I will have to post a link to what I'm thinking based on this advice later today.

Terra - I know what you mean - my pos is over 7 yrs old and Ive been saving for a while.

If I had $4,500 to burn, I'd burn it here: http://www.ibuypower.com/home.aspx

Okay - I went crazy playing with that website Dee!!!


Gamer Paladin F875
1 x Case ( Thermaltake Armor Revo Full Tower Gaming Case - Snow Edition )
1 x Case Lighting ( Meteor Light w/ 8 Speed settings - Blue )
1 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction ( Advanced - iBUYPOWER Harmony SRS Sound Reduction System )
1 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion ( [6-Port] NZXT Internal USB Expansion System )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7 4960X Processor (6x 3.60GHz/15MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i7 4960X )
0 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( None )
1 x Processor Cooling ( NZXT Kraken X40 Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 140mm Radiator )
1 x Memory ( 64 GB [8 GB x8] DDR3-2133 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 - 3GB - SLI Mode (Dual Cards) )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE Game Download] - Final Fantasy XIV: ARR - Free with purchase of any Intel 4th Generation Processor )
1 x Motherboard ( ASUS Rampage IV Extreme )
1 x Power Supply ( 1000 Watt - AZZA Titan 1000W - 80 PLUS Bronze )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 64 GB ADATA SP900 SSD - Dual 64GB Drives (128GB Capacity) - RAID 0 High Performance )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s - Dual 2TB Drives(2TB Capacity) - RAID 1 Data Security )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24x Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black - FREE Upgrade to BLU-RAY Reader Combo Drive for Primary Optical Drive )
0 x 2nd Optical Drive ( None )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( 12-In-1 External USB Flash Media Card Reader/Writer )
1 x Meter Display ( AeroCool V12XT Touch Screen Fan, Temperature Control & HDD Working Display )
1 x Sound Card ( ASUS Xonar DX -- 7.1 Channels, 192KHz/24-bit )
1 x Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )
1 x Operating System ( Windows 8.1 Pro + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] 64-bit )
1 x Keyboard ( Logitech G510 Gaming Keyboard )
1 x Mouse ( Tt eSPORTS THERON Gaming Mouse )
1 x Monitor ( 23" 1920x1080 Sceptre E243BV-FHD -- Full HD LED TV, 3 HDMI Ports, Built-in Speaker )
1 x 2nd Monitor ( 23" 1920x1080 Sceptre E243BV-FHD -- Full HD LED TV, 3 HDMI Ports, Built-in Speaker )
1 x Speaker System ( Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround 3D Sound Speakers + Subwoofer - Black )
0 x Video Camera ( None )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Basic Pro Wiring )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Advanced - Power Package (Individually Sleeved 24-pin ATX, 8-pin CPU, and SATA Drive Power Cabling) )
1 x Advanced Build Options ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Advanced - Video Package (Individually Sleeved 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-E VGA Power Cabling) )
0 x Case Engraving Service ( None )
1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )

This is $6,330...waaaay past my price range, no printer

Ok, so my vid card came today

Really excited, opened it up, its a giant beast!

But the thing was missing a screw on the fan shroud. Looks like it was stripped. Pissed as I was, I found another screw I had laying around (thing is tiny) and muscled it into there to hold the fan from rattling. Hooked it up and its working so far so good!

Sheesh though, hope it holds for a long while. At least it has a lifetime warranty, but damn, I just want it to work! I'm glad I caught it, if I had hooked it up without checking the fan would be grinding and/or rattling I think. Now to benchmark the thing and make sure it doesn't explode!

So far so good folks.

Only thing, this card runs kind of hot when you run certain games at max. Benchmarking 60 frames+ per second on every game on highest settings at 1080p made me learn how crappy my generic case is. It is not designed to disperse heat very well.
There isn't enough ventilation in the case, after 30 minutes of playing certain games my gpu hit 85c which is nearing the top of the limit I want it to ever go. I think I will maybe install a 15-20 buck fan to add an intake in the front. I really want my gpu to stay cool, because eventually I want to overclock it for no other reason than to learn how to fucking do it.

For the interested, way to test it was to take the case side panel off to see if things ran cooler. Was an 8° difference right off the bat. So definite ventilation problem. If something was wrong with the card, it still would be too hot.
Worried, I ran more and more tests to make sure it wasn't heating up my other components too much- radiant heat can be killer; but all the test show nothing to worry about. CPU, ram, HD, all within good range.

Long story short: when you think about video cards, don't forget case ventilation. You can get around it sure, pull the side panel off and no worries unless your cat sticks her face into the motherboard...

But yea. Charlie (our cat) better watch out.

nice info, Anto!

Just ordered a new laptop from Newegg!

MSI C Series CX61 2OC-206US
Intel Core i5 4200M (2.5GHz)
6GB Memory
750GB HDD
15.6" Notebook
Windows 8
NVIDIA Geforce GT 720M
DVD drive
$699

Ragehammer insisted on the dedicated graphics card, and I hate having to use an external optical drive. Fingers crossed this one is the right mix for gaming on a budget. And that I can get MS Office 2003 to work on it- I've read mixed things with Windows 8

Considering I've been dealing with an overheating 2008 Dell XPS with a 13" monitor and busted DVD drive, this has got to be better. Wish I could hand if off to the stepdaughter, but this sucker is loaded up with a bunch of software I have no way of replacing. At least I have another install on CS4 (I hope!).

Thats a pretty good deal! Found it I think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152464

If you can adjust to windows 8 I think you will be happy with it

Yep, that's the one. Reviews say not a lot of bloatware and no overheating, so yeah, win 8 will be hopefully be the only issue.

Kill me now.  Windows 8 is a pain in the ass.  Finally got through the 62 updates to install 8.1, which promised my start menu back, turns out it was just a stupid icon to go to their apps page.  So I got classic shell, which gave back the windows 7 start menu and bypasses the apps screen.  Got chrome on. Took forever to remove Norton (had to still manually delete out of Program Files (x86) and get Kaspersky on.  Downloaded LOTRO overnight, but it just closes after world selection, and now is looping back to log in screen.  Working on downloading DDO right now, hopefully that won't have the same issue, really don't want to have to reinstall that sucker.  Haven't even started installing Office or CS4 yet.  Shouldn't be this much work, now I remember why I try to future proof and go years between computers.  

/me end ranting

Best option is to go back to win7 until they fix their shit.

do you have a copy of Win 7?

i think there is a way to revert

Yeah, but it's in storage back in Montana, and it was just an upgrade disc.  Besides, then I'd have to worry about all these Windows 8 specific drivers and I am lazy.

Got LOTRO to work after I deleted my user preferences file (scoured forums to find that fix).  Working my way around not using their app store, mostly by making application shortcuts off chrome and enabling offline mode for stuff like kindle cloud and gmail.

DDO is still downloading.  

Overall, happy with the MSi, just not Windows.  Classic shell makes it sooo much more tolerable though.  LOTRO isn't recognizing my Directx 11, so checking for more driver updates today (windows update wasn't set to check them all).  If they move those to the app store in the future, I swear I will fly to Seattle and punch someone.  :p

Ok, well, it's been over a month now and my set up works great. I only have one minor problem now: heat.

I have been looking for cheap cooling solutions for awhile. My case is pretty small, so I don't have a lot of options. With full 16X anti-aliasing and ultra maximum graphic settings, my vid card can heat up to 85 degrees celsius, which is fine, but it heats up my case and worries me.

An easy fix so far has been to simply take the side panel off the pc while I game. It is not horribly inconvenient, but if the cat sticks her face into my processor heatsink while it is running, well, bad things can happen.

I have been exploring the addition of a fan or two in the front for intake. The problem is, that I cannot fit the fan on the inside of the case. I would have to mount it on the outside, which makes hooking it up to my PSU a bit of a problem.

Has anyone here every tried one of those USB powered case fans? I've also been looking into AC powered case fans, I found one at Radio Shack but it doesn't come with a plug and as much as I am willing to mess with electronics and components- I don't fuck with electricity. I been electrocuted twice now...

I was looking into getting one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

I just bought a regular molex case fan, I might wind up just running the wiring around the outside of the case somehow. But I am not going to spend a lot of money for sure. Not when I can simply take the side panel off.

My next PC build will have a better case I am sure. But for now, we do what we can.

What ya know, looks like I am able to fit an 80mm fan on the inside after all. Will probably hook it up in a few days.

yay! No cat funerals this year

Noooo! No funerals for the poor kitty. She's awful dumb but she's so sweet

Nice  Yeah no kitty stir fry's  

Ok so I know pretty much know enough to go and buy all the parts for a PC but due to the budget nature of my build  I find myself debating over just about every €
This is kind of a specific question so not sure if peeps will be able to answer..

This guy uses no graphics card and is able to play BF3 on low. I found this build after picking out This Processor and it told me that this part was used in This Build. If this processor is good enough to run games without the use of a graphics card, does that mean i'd be overspending on the processor if I were to get this and buy a dedicated graphics card ?(which I is the plan)

Not sure, probably a stupid question, I'm great at those

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+8670D&id=2543

Integrated video chips are good for watching video and light gaming on low settings. Don't expect to get a satisfactory gaming experience tho, or be able to game in 1080p. Even for a 'top of the line' integrated chip with oodles of extra RAM.

If you get a dedicated graphics card it won't be overkill, it will simply free up your processor and RAM to do other things and the card will do its own dedicated memory and graphics processing. Also, typically a mid range to high end card will be using DDR5 ram, which is obviously faster than an integrated chip using the DDR3 on your motherboard.

You could always check it out and upgrade with a video card later, just make sure you start out with a decent power supply to begin with, so you don't have to buy another power supply later. For example the power supply in that build you posted is only 430W which is not enough. You will want 600W or so for a good video card.

Yeah Anto is right. Onboard card will lag like sh1t.

I built a brand new pc to play BF3 beginning of the year myself lol. Radeon 8670 is a decent card too.

Speed of the game will depend on alot of things like the HHD rpm speed, if you have one or more drive stripped, is the game on the same drive as your OS, etc. Also your CPU is a high factor but not as much as your graphics card coz that is what will be processing the bulk of the game sprites and store most of the read memory ( so your card must have over 1Mb fun fact).

As Anto says, you need a PSU (power supply unit) that has enough juice to power that monster of a graphics card and your motherboard and HHD, other periferals, etc, so don't go neglecting it now

If you have a ballpark budget we can probably recommend a decent build?


And random + buys, that you dont really need but might want is a mechanical keyboard, not the digital ones. Mecanical (the ones that makes loud clicking noises when you type) have better response times. Like the Razor Blackwidow is pretty nice. Depending on your gameplay style, a mouse is preference. For some old school Counterstrike dudes, ball mice or laser mice with low DPI is better than then new stuff (always get corded mouse, not wireless for best response)

I've been neglecting my whole PC plan for awhile but yesterday I found out I had a 400€ cheque heading my way so been jumping back on it.
Kinda only stuck on the graphics card right now I think. Thinking I wanna spend 150-200$ on a graphics card.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2eOhp <-- that's my work in progress
Here's what im thinking. one stick of 8gb ram will apparently have slightly less performance than 2x4gb but it's more 'upgradable' I believe so therefore saving me some cash dolla in the future which is a good thing.
I've changed my mind on memory, no longer getting a hard drive but instead an SSD. On my current laptop there's like 250gb of harddrive but most of it is taken up by absolute shit so I know 120gb of SSD memory is going to rock and a 1-2tb cavier blue can be added in the future.
As for peripherals, my gf has a computer in the corner of her room all unused that works fine that I might be able to take for the screen+mouse+keyboard+maybe case which would be nice but not counting on it, either way not worried as I'll be going for the cheapest options for them or scavenging stuff from school.
OP? Im not sure, looking into Ubuntu, but will probably end up with Windows... €100? Really?

Edit: thanks for the link Anto!

That build looks good.

Some points, it doesn't have a gigabit Ethernet card (10/100/1000) so you will either need to buy a separate one if you want to play BF3 without micro lag (which is life and death in a FPS  ) or get another motherboard with it onboard.

In regards to ram, you are golden with your logic, however Corsair is the best gaming ram and has sweet heat distribution if you get the right one, might be an idea to compare with kingston pricing?

Friggin good choice on SSD bro! Suggestion, install your OS on a HHD not the SSD and install your game on the SSD, will be much better. If you can get 2 SSD and raid it, that will be optimal for performance but haha, thats wishing, even for me.

NICE choice on Graphics card too!

erm...as to OS, you need a 64 bit platform (x64) or you will not read more than like 3.2GB of your RAM which will be a uber waste. Windows 7 pro is not too bad for decent gaming and is not so old as to be buggy. Linux is like...O.o for me anyway lol.