Author Topic: 100awd reward! (Read 2870 times)

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre · « **on:** August 19, 2013, 02:59:03 am »

I bet there's a lot of you out there who are computer savy.

Here's a website. www.newegg.com
Please create for me a list of everything i need to buy to gave a complete desktop pc for myself.

I want it to be overkill for most games, but still not be outrageously pricy. Maximum total price $2,000. I would prefer it to be as low as possible though! In other words, the best quality for the lowest price. If at all possible try to keep it under $1,000. anywhere from 500-1500 would be the ideal price range.

I have no preference yet on whether to use AMD or intel for the CPU and motherboard. I think a single graphics card is enough. for harddrive, i think 1T would do. if a 2T or 3T one is not much of a price difference, that'd be great. For mouse and keyboard keep in mind i will probably be playing a variety of games. AWS, starcraft, fps, rpg. For screens, give me some options. i originally wanted 2 or even 3 screens, but if its too expensive, then 1 large one or only two would suffice..
not sure if i left anything out.

Everything needs to be compatible, and please include every little thing. there needs to be enough power supply to cover everything. I'll figure out how to put it together. perhaps give me even two or three different loadouts to look at.

sometime in september/october i'll start ordering parts..

IF i choose your setup, then next time i see you in game i'll give you 100awd for your efforts. all who are interested in helping me out with this, please and thank you

Windslow "Windslow" Warrior · « **Reply #1 on:** August 19, 2013, 06:25:17 am »

Quote from: Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre on August 19, 2013, 02:59:03 am

I bet there's a lot of you out there who are computer savy.

Here's a website. www.newegg.com
Please create for me a list of everything i need to buy to gave a complete desktop pc for myself.

I want it to be overkill for most games, but still not be outrageously pricy. Maximum total price $2,000. I would prefer it to be as low as possible though! In other words, the best quality for the lowest price. If at all possible try to keep it under $1,000. anywhere from 500-1500 would be the ideal price range.

I have no preference yet on whether to use AMD or intel for the CPU and motherboard. I think a single graphics card is enough. for harddrive, i think 1T would do. if a 2T or 3T one is not much of a price difference, that'd be great. For mouse and keyboard keep in mind i will probably be playing a variety of games. AWS, starcraft, fps, rpg. For screens, give me some options. i originally wanted 2 or even 3 screens, but if its too expensive, then 1 large one or only two would suffice..
not sure if i left anything out.

Everything needs to be compatible, and please include every little thing. there needs to be enough power supply to cover everything. I'll figure out how to put it together. perhaps give me even two or three different loadouts to look at.

sometime in september/october i'll start ordering parts..

IF i choose your setup, then next time i see you in game i'll give you 100awd for your efforts. all who are interested in helping me out with this, please and thank you

Stick to Intel CPU 3.2ghz quad core ( personally confused by the new gens but they are all powerful )
Minimum for overkill is 12GB Memory and make sure speed is maximum to motherboard capacity (few other tricks like tri channel based on motherboard to increase load)
ATI or Nvdia Graphics card (is your call as long as its 2gb ddr5 or above)
Spend a majority of your cash on a good motherboard (too many specs to list, needs usb 3, needs a number pci-e slots (for compatibility for old things a pci slot is recommended), the number of sata slots etc)
Power Supply is based on the graphics card so the more powerful the graphics card/s the higher wattage required, 750watt's recommended but could be higher now.
Solid State Drives are a must but price and capacity are very much up in the air. 128mb should be fine for os install and a couple of games. Everything else should be stored on hard disks.
If your building yourself buy an antistatic wrist strap for insurance against damage.
Make sure your monitor is able to run at 1920x1080
PC Cases are universal for most installs so just get one that looks good. Watercooling is honestly not needed due to advancements in cpu and graphics temperature control (but does look really cool)
Anything else just google and read, it is pretty straight forward nowadays.
Your in the right price range though, $1500 byo or $2000 prebuilt will get you a good system (it should only cost ~$50 for a pc shop to build but pre-built systems have had more testing conducted on them and are generally more reliable)
(I'm outdated with my IT knowledge atm so wouldn't mind hearing some other ideas)

Regards,
Windslow

Hugo "Lossehelin" Santos · « **Reply #2 on:** August 19, 2013, 11:03:55 am »

i would go for the 4th generation intel processors, althought the top 3rd ones might have a price decrease that will make it interesting.
Graphics card NVidia recovered the first spot with the latest graphics card, but amd is very close. Still if you wanna go for last year's card, the amd 7970 kicks ass.
16gb ram all the way
Monitor i think i would have to see them working to make a decision.
Motherboards top average one will do
Hard drive 1000gb is enough but if you really want to push it further go for 500gb ssd drive... You will notice a huge difference in speed.

Zen "ZenX" Star · « **Reply #3 on:** August 19, 2013, 02:52:41 pm »

Hi Allfather,
sorry don't have Newegg list, but I will make suggestions.
Although many CPU will be fine, I like to build with longevity in mind, and in this case that means getting the better CPU that is currently available.
Get any of the i7s, and if affordable get the latest generation, they are all good , but for a little extra 4th gen is best.
Standard HS&F are normally fine.
Motherboard, make sure the mobo matches the CPU generation, but a Z87 or Z77 board is good.
I have been using Asrock the last 6 months or so, and I usually build a PC a week on average.
I like to get a Mobo with built in graphics also just in case card dies.
Also you don't need dual PCI-e slots on the board as you only need one card.

8GB Ram will do you, but 16gb is best , 1333mhz upwards, depending on how much you want to pay and what the mobo will take.

I would use Windows 7 Ultimate with a bootlloader, to keep costs down, but Ultimate also allows maximum RAM.
(they can stick Windows 8 where the Sun doesn't shine.)
PSU, there are basically two types, cheap and over-rated, literally, and a bit more costly with a true rating.
Don't get a cheap one, get a true one, and that normally means get the right brand.
Corsair is true rated and anything over 500 would probably do but best to get a 600w-700w approx. to leave a buffer.
Other good brands are Antec and Seasonic. There are others but there is 3 to choose from, I tend to go with Corsair.

Try to get an SSD for OS and programs, 256gb is ok, gets pricey after that, and throw a Black Caviar HDD 1 or 2gb on for storage.(BC is fast and longlife, 5year warranty).
Brand of SSD is up to you but I have had no problems with Intel, Samsung and Sandisk and OCZ, but if it fits in the budget I will normally get the Intel 525 or the Samsung 840 Pro

Graphics card are subjective, and many will run pretty much all games, but a 7970 3g or GTX680 2gb would both be good.
Depends on money.
There are cards cheaper than these 2 that will run any game, it just depends how much it matters to you is it is technically a split second slower or faster

Case, you don't need anything too fancy, USB3 ports at front and at least 2 internal case fans is minimal, 3 is ok but not necessary unless you have small form factor case, which I wouldn't recommend.
Its nice if the case has place designed for SSD but if not just use a tray.

DVDRW, up to you, DVD/Bluray combo, or Bluray burner, your choice.

i7 4770 cpu - $347
Asrock z87 Extreme3 $165
Intel 525 SSD 240gb $319
Bluray Writer $75
16gb Ram 1600 $150
Corsair TX650 $115
Coolermaster Case approx. $120
Black Caviar 2tb HDD $165
GTX 680 2gb $430

Total $1886 AUD from Aussie supplier.
(you could downgrade your SSD, RAM,HDD to 1tb and graphics card to save money.You could also get an older gen i7 but be wary that the mobo needs to match the i7 generation)
CPU, Mobo and Graphics card 3 most important things.

This is just a guide, do your own research and if you buy all parts at one outlet always ask that all parts are compatible.
Touch something Earthed before handling RAM or other circuits, use sponge or cardboard underneath build area, and don't rub your shoes on carpet whilst building

If you have any problems during build am glad to assist.

Zen

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton · « **Reply #4 on:** August 19, 2013, 11:33:25 pm »

Quote from: Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre on August 19, 2013, 02:59:03 am

I bet there's a lot of you out there who are computer savy.

Here's a website. www.newegg.com
Please create for me a list of everything i need to buy to gave a complete desktop pc for myself.

I want it to be overkill for most games, but still not be outrageously pricy. Maximum total price $2,000. I would prefer it to be as low as possible though! In other words, the best quality for the lowest price. If at all possible try to keep it under $1,000. anywhere from 500-1500 would be the ideal price range.

I have no preference yet on whether to use AMD or intel for the CPU and motherboard. I think a single graphics card is enough. for harddrive, i think 1T would do. if a 2T or 3T one is not much of a price difference, that'd be great. For mouse and keyboard keep in mind i will probably be playing a variety of games. AWS, starcraft, fps, rpg. For screens, give me some options. i originally wanted 2 or even 3 screens, but if its too expensive, then 1 large one or only two would suffice..
not sure if i left anything out.

Everything needs to be compatible, and please include every little thing. there needs to be enough power supply to cover everything. I'll figure out how to put it together. perhaps give me even two or three different loadouts to look at.

sometime in september/october i'll start ordering parts..

IF i choose your setup, then next time i see you in game i'll give you 100awd for your efforts. all who are interested in helping me out with this, please and thank you

I've attached two images below. The first has all of the parts that I could find at Newegg.com to build a killer PC. The second has three very good monitor options since you mentioned wanting options there.

For the price of the third screen you get what I consider a huge LCD with the highest resolution of any monitor at that price point, but you'll need a lot of space on your desk because it's quite wide and tall. A single, high-resolution monitor will best be able to take advantage of the hardware in the first image since most games don't support more than one monitor anyway. However, if you're okay with "only" 1080p (a.k.a. full HD) resolution, you can get a pair of 24" LCDs - the middle one in the second image - for $50 less. If you really want three monitors, you can get three of the first LCD for $40 more than the single big one and get an overall resolution larger than either the one or two screens.

I picked all of the parts based on performance, features, cost, and user reviews. I don't have direct experience with any of the parts though I'm quite familiar with most of the manufacturers. But if anyone knows that one or more of the parts might be trouble I can always look for alternatives.

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre · « **Reply #5 on:** August 21, 2013, 03:58:28 pm »

Old "Snowy" Leopard · « **Reply #6 on:** August 21, 2013, 06:55:35 pm »

I was always told - work out exactly what you can afford .... then, spend more.
Depressing, but true.

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton · « **Reply #7 on:** August 21, 2013, 08:32:03 pm »

The mouse, mouse pad, and headset look good but it's hard for me to compare directly since my budget is obviously WAY lower than yours in general. My mouse was a Logitech MX1000 for about six or seven years until recently when it started acting up in different ways. Now my mouse is a $9 special from Amazon that works well enough for my needs, which doesn't include FPS games these days. My headset is a Turtle Beach X12 that I got for $20 because of a couple of GameStop gift cards and it's really nice. I'm not using a mouse pad at all right now so let me know what you think of the Razer!

The reason I didn't include the LCD you chose in my parts list is because of all of the negative reviews. 27% of the total reviews (33) are 1-Star ratings, including two in the last month. That's a red flag that tells me you have a 50/50 chance of having a problem with it and the $25 savings could get eaten up pretty quickly if you have to pay for return shipping for repair or replacement.

The reason I went with an Intel i7 over an AMD is because of Tom's Hardware's Gaming CPU Heirarchy Chart. It puts any modern i7 above every AMD CPU, but the one you chose is only one step down while saving $100, which is nothing to sneer at. Your motherboard choice makes good sense considering that you're right about not really needing more than 8GB of RAM, plus it has rear USB 3.0 and a header for front USB 3.0 and is $96 cheaper as well.

Your GPU choice is actually one step below the 7970 based on Tom's Hardware's Gaming GPU Heirarchy Chart, which is why I didn't choose it. If you want to make your system last as long as possible for gaming, you'll want to get the best GPU you can afford that isn't ridiculously expensive. However, with all of the other components you can always swap out the GPU and maybe add more RAM later for a significant refresh with a Windows re-install.

Your PSU choice only saves you $15 now, but will cost you more in the long run without much benefit. My choice has a higher power rating - 80 PLUS GOLD vs. 80 PLUS BRONZE - and uses less juice on a day-to-day basis. Not only that, but the Rosewill has a significantly higher user rating and is almost completely modular, which makes a difference with airflow inside your case, and has a 7-year warranty compared to the Corsair's 3-year.

A single 8GB RAM stick is good but a dual-channel kit gives better performance with equivalent specs. Go for this Kingston HyperX kit instead - it's a couple bucks cheaper but the sticks have a higher clock rate (DDR3 1600 vs. DDR3 1333) and the same timings.

I went with the Corsair Carbide case over the Cooler Master HAF simply because it has a pair of USB 3.0 ports on the front while the HAF only has USB 2.0 ports. Even if you don't have any USB 2.0 devices right now, you soon will since USB 3.0 is pretty much the standard now for anything beyond mice and keyboards. Otherwise the cases are pretty similar and both are $60.

The power strip, webcam, and fans are fine, but I'd recommend against a refurbished hard drive for your data storage. If you're only going to use it for the OS and you make occasional backup images of the drive it's fine, but you don't want your precious data stored on a drive that only has a 90-day warranty! And I'm really going to push for an SSD for your OS anyway. The difference really is night and day!

I'm not 100% sure, but I really don't think you need a dedicated audio card. Modern on-board audio is just as full-featured and your CPU should be more than capable of handling the audio alongside your gaming. However if you want to get every last frame per second possible out of your first-person shooter and other games, it might make a small difference. Whether the difference is worth and extra $40 is up to you, but since you're trying to save money you may want to skip the audio card for now since you can always add it later if necessary.

Are you a fan of clicky/noisy keyboards? Your choice of a mechanical keyboard is nice but from what I understand they tend to be rather noisy. For fans of mechanical keyboards the feel of typing on them easily outweighs the noise, but in my book a quiet keyboard is better. Of course, I live in a house with a small child and I tend to be on my computer - which is in the same room as the child - at night pretty often, when I don't want to wake him up. ;-)

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre · « **Reply #8 on:** August 21, 2013, 10:17:10 pm »

the mouse, pad, and headset i chose purely just because i liked them, originally i was going to go for the Razer Abyssus which is much less ($40) and highly reviewed, and the razer electra headset ($60 (on sale for $40)), because my friend suggested them and i even tried them (he has them) but went with my own choice because if i like something, i just can't resist

..

For the keyboard, i'm not entirely set on it yet, it's also expensive ($130 i think) but i like it a lot. theres another sick one for 257 but thats simply ridiculous.

the reason i'm getting these expensive asscessories is because im a huge Starcraft fan, and it's really nice to play on good equipment, especially when you're doing ridiculous amounts of multitasking hotkeys and clicking, the top players are anywhere from 150-350 apm (actions per minute) and i want to get up into that category
(the abyssus was3500 dpi and was excellent, the naga hex is5600, so cant wait to try it out)
(another factor was that my fav color is green so i went with a green matching accessories and all razer, because im a sucker for matching in that regard)
(for mousepad, im used to always using one, and i much prefer the harder plastic type ones than the cloth type)(im not sure how i will like the wristpad on there though :/... )

----

for the rest of your suggestions i'll look over them. still have a month or more so plenty of time to figure it out. price is always a problem

but it's probably worth it to build an expensive quality machine and only be able to put it together in february rather than a nice one in october. I'll be using this desktop for a minimum of 3 years..

[I'm moving!

transferring to OSU (oregon state university)] probably one of the youngest players on AWS here

For the gpu i looked at that list, and the performance rating between 7970 and 760 is negligible, but perhaps i will go with an intel one, as everyone says they are better quality.

This is the gpu comparison i looked at - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre · « **Reply #9 on:** August 21, 2013, 11:16:04 pm »

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton · « **Reply #10 on:** August 22, 2013, 12:08:47 am »

Congrats on the move! I was all set to go to OSU myself (back in 2005 though - I'm old!) but ended up moving pretty far south instead.

I'm partial to keeping a similar look and feel to my gear too and I'm slowly moving towards things with blue lights. First my case, now my mouse, soon my keyboard (I hope). My headset won't match completely since there's some green in it, but it's mostly black and I don't intend to replace it any time soon.

Since you're buying for the long haul, you're doing yourself a big favor by getting higher-end parts and taking a little longer to buy everything. As it is you probably don't need an upgrade immediately (though it's always nice to have new gear sooner rather than later!), so you might as well "enjoy the ride," LOL.

Even though you've already decided to go bigger, I want to mention artificial GPU tests like the one at VideoCardBenchmark.net are all well and good as a general rule but they don't tell the whole picture by a long shot. I like Tom's Hardware because they have both individual benchmark test scores across a slew of cards as well as an overall hierarchy of gaming GPUs. By using the individual tests you can pick the kinds of games you actually play to see how different cards do to make a more informed decision about what to buy. But if you play lots of different genres the hierarchy gives you a good idea of which cards are in which tier.

Anyway it looks like you've got a pretty killer rig set up for yourself. And the cool thing about Newegg is if you add them all to a wish list they'll occasionally send you emails when items in the list change price, including when they have temporary drops, though I don't think they alert you when they have new rebates and things.

Zen "ZenX" Star · « **Reply #11 on:** August 22, 2013, 02:07:03 am »

Your second design will be much better than your first one.
Your Mobo is very good, don't forget you don't need dual Video slots, and I can tell you now having the backup of onboard graphics is good, even if you only use them a few times, or even once, they don't cost any extra.
Sometimes you can get a very similar board maybe a bit better or with something extra when you forego something, like dual video.Keep your eyes open.
I haven't put a sound card in any PC I have built in the last 5+ years because the inbuilt sound now is great, no difference to sound card generally. The board you're looking at has integrated sound that will be fine.
RAM, get 2 sticks rather than 4, otherwise you restrict upgrade in the future. And two in dual channel is fine.
There are only so many USB 3.0 ports you will utisise, they are generally only beneficial for high data load transfer, meaning you generally only use for USB memory stick or external harddrive, generally.
You will have at least 2 USB 3.0 ports in the back I/O area and at least 2 at the front (assuming your case and mobo are not freakishly underdesigned, which they wont be).
So I doubt you will need the extra card.
SSD, 120gb is cheaper yes, but I guarantee you that oneday in the not distant future you will think the 256 would be better, especially as far as futureproofing goes.People used to put 60gbs in originally, and they simply weren't practical for most heavy PC users, 120gb is ok, but you will be making space a few times a year, especially if you like trying new games .SSDs I tend to stick with the top 4 manufacturers.
Monitor, where possible I like to get 2ms.
Your power board looks not suitable, I didn't read its specs but you want surge protection for under and over supply.
There is a bit of art in building PCs, and in the end its what makes you happy, and there is great satisfaction in building your own

Anyway, I must go, I have to create 3 new pieces of art before Saturday.

Zen

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre · « **Reply #12 on:** August 22, 2013, 03:03:32 am »

you're right the mobo comes with 4x 3.0 and 2x2.0 usb ports. for the sound card, $50 is nothing when making a desktop worth $2k, so i'll just get the card, it's the cheapest gaming sound card.

for the power surge suppressor, can you link me one? how does it work. so would i use that instead of a power strip?

Zen "ZenX" Star · « **Reply #13 on:** August 22, 2013, 03:07:45 am »

the surge protector is a power strip just with the addition of surge protection and often has ports for cable and adsl also so they are protected as well.
I am just on my way out, late for appointment, will link when I get back.
I will be surprised if the sound quality is any different between built in sound and add on sound card. Built in sound is very sophisticated now.

Zen

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton · « **Reply #14 on:** August 22, 2013, 06:06:30 am »

That's true, with the built-in USB 3.0 ports on the back from the mobo you won't need the extra card. Since the case you chose doesn't have USB 3.0 on the front, you can always pick up a USB 3.0 extension cable in the future if you find yourself using the ports on the back often enough.

Also true about the RAM. My original configuration included a mobo with eight RAM slots and quad-channel DDR3, but your choice only has four so if you want to get 16GB total, find a 2 X 8GB kit.

I haven't maxed out my 64GB SSD yet, but I don't install a lot of games either. For the best possible performance you want your game installed on the SSD too, but for something like AWS it doesn't make a difference - at least not so far. Other games may run better on an SSD, especially large single-player and maybe FPS games. Everything that you don't run very often or don't need great performance from can always be installed on your data HDD instead of the SSD if you find you're running out of space, but if you can afford a bigger SSD and think you'll be running out of room with a 120GB, then by all means go as big as you can stomach.

Better surge suppressors at Newegg. The top three seem like good choices, with nice warranties for the suppressors themselves and also for whatever you plug into them. If you want to plug in a whole bunch of other electronics near your PC, go for the bigger Joule ratings like the $29 Belkin model. If not, the $19 Belkin should suffice.

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Author Topic: 100awd reward! (Read 2870 times)

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre

100awd reward!

Windslow "Windslow" Warrior

Re: 100awd reward!

Hugo "Lossehelin" Santos

Re: 100awd reward!

Zen "ZenX" Star

Re: 100awd reward!

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton

Re: 100awd reward!

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre

Re: 100awd reward!

Old "Snowy" Leopard

Re: 100awd reward!

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton

Re: 100awd reward!

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre

Re: 100awd reward!

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre

Re: 100awd reward!

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton

Re: 100awd reward!

Zen "ZenX" Star

Re: 100awd reward!

Zaelkaer "Allfather" Vampyre

Re: 100awd reward!

Zen "ZenX" Star

Re: 100awd reward!

Jarod "Brickwit" McBrickerton

Re: 100awd reward!