First time building a computer - Advice with picking the parts.

Eckoshy · Oct 26, 2013

Okay, so I'm gonna be building a new computer soon. My budget is roughly $700-$800, but I'm more concerned with making sure the computer meets my needs rather than stay under budget. It will be used only for gaming, and I'll be saving my laptop for web browsing and such. I'm looking to build a sort of mid/high range machine, powerful enough that I can play new games on at least medium settings.

As long as it's not too bad an idea I plan to base everything around the graphics card, which I've actually already picked out. The one I've got my eye on is the GTX 660 here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443

It's just barely within the price I'm comfortable paying for a graphics card at $200, and after reading a few different benchmark tests and seeing some demonstrations on Youtube it should be capable of playing games like Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 on even max settings with an average 30 FPS.

So, the next step I suppose is picking a good CPU. Main thing I'm looking for is a cheap price and stats that are comparable with the GTX 660 which I plan on buying. After just a little looking around this one, the AMD FX-6200, seems to be a good choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010

Will their be any major bottle necking problems between those two, or not to worry? Also I do -not- plan to overclock my CPU, because I want every part I buy to be able to last as long as I can make it.

And as a side note, for this and all the future questions I'll have in this thread, I really don't want simple answers like "No that's not good, here choose this one." I would like to know the how's and why's and hopefully you more knowledgeable folks will be able to sufficiently explain to me how to pick good parts and make sure they're compatible so that (hopefully) a few years down the road if I end up replacing parts then I'll be able to figure it out on my own instead of having to ask for help.

Thank you in advance all, and have a nice day.

ACTechy · Oct 26, 2013

For your needs, the GPU is a good choice. Like you noted, the 660 can push high/ultra settings on a lot of games, and that current price is a good one.

As far as the CPU, I'd suggest something a bit more powerful, especially since you're build is gaming focused. The FX-6200, like the i3-3xxx series are going to be falling behind for a lot of the modern games that are pretty CPU intensive. I'd look at something like the i5 series; those are currently the most ideal CPUs/money, in my opinion; others will disagree.

Obviously you could still game with a FX-6200 and all, it's just a matter of how long it will be relevant.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

Hope that's not too general.

Ahmadjon · Oct 26, 2013

Look at this parts: they're must be under of your budget and must outperform the rest of modern games
CPU: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBR4/?tag=pcpapi-20
Motherboard: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Motherboard-Motherboards-H87-G43/dp/B00D12OANW/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1382815025&sr=1-4&keywords=h87+board
RAM: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-240-Pin-Platforms-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9/dp/B004CRSM4I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1382815089&sr=1-1&keywords=vengeance+8gb
HDD: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD1002FAEX-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1382815166&sr=1-1&keywords=wd+black
PSU: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EB7UIO6/?tag=pcpapi-20

ACTechy · Oct 26, 2013

Ahmadjon :

That's exactly the kind of 'help' OP asked to not receive:

Eckoshy :

Eckoshy · Oct 26, 2013

ACTechy :

Alright, but now I'm a little confused about something. The 6200, according to Newegg, is 3.8 GHz, and the 6300 is only 3.5 GHz. Now to the best of my knowledge, which I admit is limited, isn't higher GHz suppose to be better? So what is it that makes the 6300 better in terms of specifications?

ACTechy · Oct 26, 2013

Eckoshy :

Typically, you would be correct, higher speed = better processor. In this case, it's an issue of the architecture (i.e. FX-6200 bulldozer arch. vs FX-6300 piledriver arch.).

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/processors/amd-fx-6300-1117533/review

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/11/05/amds-bulldozer-core-compared-with-piledriver/

Eckoshy · Oct 26, 2013

ACTechy :

Ah, I see. Well alright then, that makes sense actually.

For the time being I think I'll go with the 6300. Meets my performance needs and it certainly doesn't hurt that it's $10 cheaper. Thank you.

My next questions are about picking a motherboard. I know you have to make sure the motherboard and CPU are compatible, but... how do you tell? Similarly, how can I make sure the motherboard is compatible with my GPU or any other components, or should those be more or less a universal thing?

A side question. I honestly don't know anything about motherboards, how they're rated or what features to look for. I just know they're basically like the base that all other parts connect to. So, for a gaming computer (Or more specifically a mid range one) what kind of things should I look out for when picking a motherboard?

ACTechy · Oct 26, 2013

Yeah good questions.

1) the FX-6300 falls under the AM3+ socket type, so when you do your searching, start there. Any modern motherboard will be compatible with any modern gpu, no problem. Similarly, as long as you get DDR3 RAM at 1333 or higher, you will be fine.

2) most motherboards are going to be super similar at the AM3+ level, some of it comes down to little proprietary stuff (sometimes junk) that they tout. Actual differences include: some offer the ability to overclock CPU (more true on the Intel side, I think), or can run more RAM, while others offer more SATA connections (you can add more hard drives/SSDs, etc) and some have more PCI slots for additional card upgrades in the future. Most of the important features are very similar. That being said, motherboards at $200+ are going to be quite a bit better, higher quality (in most cases) than a $90 board.

With motherboards, brand is key. You want to look at ASUS/ASRock, Gigabyte and MSI, in that order. I'd recommend something from ASRock, like this: http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-970-EXTREME3-SB950-DDR3/dp/B005POPRG8/ref=sr_1_12?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1382843495&sr=1-12

Eckoshy · Oct 26, 2013

ACTechy :

Okay, good to know. I heard somewhere that DDR3 RAM is the standard, so I already planned to get at least that.

ACTechy :

Okay, so just to get this straight using the one you linked as an example. The 6 PCI slots it has means it can have up to 6 graphics cards, sounds cards and such in at one time. The 6 SATA connections means up to 6 HDD's and SSD's. The 4 card slots means up to 4 RAM cards. And anything else isn't really worth bothering with, so long as you can pick a reliable brand that makes sturdy stuff?

Also, side note, what other components get plugged into a SATA connection or PCI slot, or is it only those things I mentioned?

ACTechy · Oct 27, 2013

Eckoshy :

It won't take 6 graphics card, since graphics cards go in PCI-E x16 slots only, but yeah it could take a couple graphics cards, and several other PCI interface cards (wifi card, RAID card, sound card, SATA hub, etc). If you're wanting to run dual graphics cards at some point, you'll wanna check the specs on whatever board you're looking at, some boards only support Crossfire and not SLI.

Yes, it can take up to 5 SATA devices (HDD, SSD, optical drive).

Yes, the 4 memory slots will take up to 4 sticks of RAM.

Yes, brand is key. You hit all the important features. Some people are more picky about the exact LAN/audio chipset, but I'm sure the ones on most boards will be fine for you.

Hope all that makes sense.

Eckoshy · Oct 27, 2013

ACTechy :

It makes perfect sense, thank you very much.

Next I'll do a three part question, as I believe they should be somewhat simple ones. But still things I need to make sure of.

Firstly, do most motherboards these days (And also specifically, the one you linked) have a built in sound card? Or will I likely have to buy one separately? And if so, does it matter much what kind of sound card I get? Because I'm under the impression that anything of decent built will get the job done without any really noticeable effects.

Second, I know I'll have to buy a wi-fi card separately, but again does it matter which one? Or will basically any wi-fi card of sturdy build get the job done?

Third, the case. I know I need to match up the size of the motherboard with the size of the case, but what specification do I need to look at to tell if they'll fit? And how can I make sure to get a case with good ventilation? Just make sure it has a lot of holes and slots to fit fans in?

ACTechy · Oct 27, 2013

Eckoshy :

1) Yes, all modern motherboards have built in audio. I wouldn't bother buying a discrete audio card.

2) This is the wifi card I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166047
Nothing fancy, but it does the job pretty well. There's a good deal on this one, and it's a bit more powerful: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833389005

3) The size of the motherboard only kind of dictates what case you can get, because mid/full size cases can take pretty much any size motherboard. Quality brands include: Corsair, NZXT, Cooler Master, Silverstone, Fractal Design and a couple others. If you're looking for good airflow, take a look at these mid tower cases:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 (no USB 3.0, but a great deal right now)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146078
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235039

There many cases that could make the list. In general, like you mentioned, more case fan options give you more cooling options.

Eckoshy · Oct 27, 2013

ACTechy :

That second wi-fi card you link to doesn't mention having WPA2 support, which my wi-fi uses. Does that mean they'd be incompatible, or is it one of those things that sort of goes without mentioning so they didn't list it? I also found this one though that seems to be very good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166073

And thank you for the case information, some of the ones you suggested look very good. I'll be picking one of them most likely.

Okay, next question. RAM and hard drives. To my understanding getting a good brand and having sufficient size are the only real concerns with those right? And, again as far as I can tell, 8 to 12 GB's of RAM should be fine for a mid range PC yes? And what brands should I look out for?

ACTechy · Oct 27, 2013

Eckoshy :

Good point, hadn't noticed that. I'm sure it would still work, but it may not be as secure as WPA2 allows for. Yeah that one you linked to is the Rosewill equivalent, for a bit less, looks like a good one.

Yeah, brand is important for hard drives too, but most names out there are pretty good at this point (Western Digital and Seagate are probably the main names, in terms of quality). Specs are also key in hard drives: rpm, cache size and SATA interface (and obviously, drive space). So if you're going to only run a hard drive for now (with no SSD) you want to get one at 7,200rpm and a decent cache (i.e. 32/64MB) with SATA 6.0Gb/s interface, like:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YU4026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
Look out for "IntelliPower" or "Green" drives, as they're slower drives because they're built for storage only.

If you're primarily gaming, 8GB is a good sweet spot, yes. If you do video work, like I do, more RAM is better. RAM is another area where most brands still around are decent. The best names are: G.SKILL, Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin and ADATA. Just make sure if you get a motherboard with 4 slots you're running a 4 stick kit of 8GB (i.e. 4x2GB) or you can run a kit of 2x4GB and only use 2 slots for now. Modern boards all have a function called "dual channel" memory lanes, where the motherboard uses the RAM more efficiently and quickly ("[Dual channel] is a technology that increases the transfer speed of data between the DRAM memory and the chipset memory controller by adding more channels of communication between them. Theoretically this multiplies the data rate by exactly the number of channels present. Dual-channel memory employs two channels which theoretically doubles the data transfer rate." - Wikipedia).

Probably more than you cared to know, haha

Eckoshy · Oct 27, 2013

ACTechy :

Oh it's fine, ha, thank you honestly. Now, almost finished up here I believe.

As far as RAM goes, how much of a difference does the speed make? Like, the difference between a card listed as having DDR3 1300 vs. something with DDR3 1600, or DDR3 1866?

And I've narrowed my choice down to one of two cases, this one by Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008

And this one by Cooler Master: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Now one has a back fan and two front fans, while the other has only 1 front fan, but also a top fan and a back fan. They're the same price, and I don't think either one visually is much more appealing, so which one should give me better cooling and ventilation? Also is it advisable to pick up a fourth fan and stick on the side or top perhaps, or should three be enough?

ACTechy · Oct 27, 2013

At this point, DDR3 speeds don't make much of a difference at all (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWgzA2C61z4), if the faster speed ends up being the same price as 1333, why not. But in general, especially in real-world applications, it doesn't make a difference.

At the end of the day, those two cases are going to be extremely similar in the stock cooling configurations (within a couple degrees, I bet). I prefer Corsair craftsmanship over Cooler Master, but that's mostly preference. Three fans is definitely adequate, however you also want to think about those two top slots. If they don't have fans in them, or some kind of grill cover, dust will settle into the case very easily. So you could always pick up a couple 120mm fans for the Corsair case, for instance, and run them at on the top as exhaust. If you don't want to think about adding more fans maybe look at something like the NZXT H230 which doesn't have fan grills on top (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146109), and still has excellent cooling options.

Eckoshy · Oct 27, 2013

ACTechy :

Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

Next up, the keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

For the mouse and keyboard, I shouldn't have to worry about any compatibility issues right? And there aren't many crazy features to worry about either if I'm right.

The keyboard I was thinking of is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

Mechanical buttons for nice feedback on each press, a few extra "Macro" keys that I could bind as extra commands in certain games, and a sorta fancy red back light for the buttons all for only $50. That seem like a good choice?

[strike]And haven't decided on a mouse yet, but I have to ask, what is DPI? I see it listed as a search option on Newegg, but no idea what it does or how important it is.[/strike] EDIT: Actually I went and Google'd it (Silly me for not thinking of it earlier) and apparently higher DPI makes your mouse more accurate on a per-pixel basis. With that in mind I picked out a mouse I really liked with a very cool design and several macro buttons on the side which just so happened to have a very high DPI. So unless there is some other criteria I'm missing I'm good on that part.

As for the monitor, I've heard that getting one with a 5ms refresh rate is optimal, and that a low natural aspect ratio (Such as 1600 by 900) makes the load a bit easier on your CPU.

So with that in mind, I have my eye on this monitor here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236314

Seem good, or am I missing something?

ACTechy · Oct 28, 2013

Eckoshy :

That's an excellent keyboard choice.

Never heard that monitor/cpu issue...doesn't really make sense, since graphics card does most of the work, from my understanding. In that sense, higher resolution does take more processing power, but nothing that would really tax your machine at all. I'd definitely go 1080p. I have an 18.5" 1366x768, and if I could go back, I'd get ~20" 1080p for sure. Here are a few I would recommend:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236100 - $129, huge sale
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009484 - $139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236363 - $159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014329 - $129

Eckoshy · Oct 28, 2013

ACTechy :

I must have remembered wrong about that monitor/cpu thing. The person who mentioned that was probably talking about the GPU. Anyway...

I really like that monitor you linked for $139 with the built in speakers. I'd rather avoid having separate speakers taking up space on my desk. Seems like a really good choice for that price.

So, this should be my last question. Unless I'm forgetting something. The power supply.

In short, what should I look for in a power supply? Is making sure that it provides enough power the only measure, or what? And how can I tell how much is required?

If it helps, these are the parts I've decided on for my final build:

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

Motherboard: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005POPRG8/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2ZMWBP05360R6

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148910

Wi-fi card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166073

Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109191

Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826153125

ACTechy · Oct 28, 2013

I think the ASUS for $159 is the one with the speakers, just so you know. But yeah, that would be a nice option, as long you're not counting on excellent sound from them (obviously, pretty small, low power). If you use headphones a lot anyway, no problems!

So with power supplies, again brand is key. There are a lot of sucky brands. Often you can gauge your power needs by the graphics card you choose. For the 660, Nvidia recommends at least 450W. Unless you're thinking about possible SLI in the future, I'd go with 500-550W to give you some headroom; if you might want to SLI, 600-650W would be safe. Brands to consider: Corsair, XFX, Seasonic, OCZ, Antec and Enermax. Most other brands are crap. (For example, an excellent option: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013)

Here's a way better deal on that motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157394 - $65! (Newegg was down when I was first wanting to post a good link

)

Eckoshy · Oct 28, 2013

ACTechy :

There shouldn't be any problems with having "too much" power should there? I don't plan on doing any kind of SLI, but in the future who knows. And for only $10 more the 650W version of that very item you linked seems like a very good deal to me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

ACTechy :

Haha, thanks. Quite a bit better deal.

ACTechy · Oct 28, 2013

Eckoshy :

Nope, no problem at all. Either way, you only use however much power your system is requiring, so there aren't any efficiency issues or anything. If I were you, I'd definitely get that 650W unit; better safe than buying another PSU in a year or two.

Eckoshy · Oct 28, 2013

Alright, thank you very much for all the help. Including the power supply, all those parts, and the OS, my build is gonna be about $1,146 before shipping. A bit more than I was hoping to spend, but I believe I'm getting a very good quality PC out of it. So it's worth it.

Thank you for your patience ACTechy, and I wholly appreciated all of the advice and knowledge you gave me.

ACTechy · Oct 28, 2013

Eckoshy :

Not a problem, glad to help. Enjoy the build!

First time building a computer - Advice with picking the parts.

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