CPU build noob

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
I

Immanuel Uy

Reputable
Sep 10, 2014
3
0
4,510
Hello to the Tom's Hardware community!

I just need some help. I've been wanting to build my own rig for quite sometime but I've been scared too. I finally came up with a set of balls recently and I want to build my very first one.

(I apologize if I placed this thread under the wrong category, Im new :c )

Since it's nearing the Holiday season, should it be best to wait for deals/newcpus to come out or should I start right away?

Here are some of the thing I plan to do with this rig, hopefully:

Casual gaming (moba/steam/sims) (at least play CS on max settings)
Online streaming
Watching a thousand of movies(netflix/hulu)
The normal browsing/office tasks ( I thought I shouldn't mention it, but meh)

Budget 400-500 (I want to keep it below 500 - since this is my first)

I plan to have this with me for a 1 - 2 years before upgrading


I've read a lot recently but I want to hear what you guys would do?

I have no preference between Intel/AMD. Either one is good.


Thank you! : D


 
Solution
J
Yeah the G3258 is a decent one, though i guess i should ask what you are looking for the computer to do. You said moderate gaming, and video watching, but will need more specifics. For example do you want to watch them in HD? Or do u not care? And will u be doing anything else with the computer while u watch? also what kind of settings are you looking to play games on
Sort by date Sort by votes
J

JaysonMesecar

Reputable
Jul 19, 2014
45
0
4,540
Just want to say welcome to the Gaming Desktop world! Some first timer advice, seeing as how I just recently started doing the same couple months ago.
1. Do not be an impulsive buyer, make sure before you buy EACH component that you look up reviews, and educate yourself on what each little computer jargain term means. An example of this is I saw a Coolmax 700W Bronze Certified power supply for 40 dollars on newegg! I was like HELL YES, and bought it immediatly, The next morning I went in and looked up some reveiws on it and I became horrified to find that the power supply was complete garbage.
2. Keep an eye out for great deals. Newegg has their daily shell shockers that offer abosultely amazing deals, and at least once a week the things they offer can be used in gaming Pc's

In regards to your question about start now or wait. Personally, being so close to the holiday season, I would just wait the few months so that you can get some awesome deals. You will end up with a better computer because of it.
Also I know a lot of people will disagree with this, but I personally think you should shoot for AMD for your proccesor, since it will save you a lot of money and AMD has some awesome technology. You will save ALOT OF money if you go with AMD.

Lastly, make sure you get a powerful enough power supply. If you add up everything and you think your computer will only need 500W, go with 650 or 700W. If you make the investment now to get a higher quality power supply that is "overkill for your current system" you wont have to worry about replacing it later on when you want to upgrade to crossfire or SLI.

GOODLUCK! Welcome to the world of computer building! Hope my advice comes in handy and saves you some of the growing pains i went through.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
I

Immanuel Uy

Reputable
Sep 10, 2014
3
0
4,510



Thank you for the pretty quick response!

I will def keep those things in mind. And I will also def wait for the holiday season. I thought about it but I wasn't sure if it would make much of a difference.

Also, i was thinking of AMD primarily. The athlon x4 750/760K to be exact. But then I started reading further and started considering Intel's Pentium G3258. It's 3-5 bucks cheaper and apparently OC's better. I wouldn't OC it right after building but I would like to down the road ( 2-4 months after ). What do you think?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

JaysonMesecar

Reputable
Jul 19, 2014
45
0
4,540
Yeah the G3258 is a decent one, though i guess i should ask what you are looking for the computer to do. You said moderate gaming, and video watching, but will need more specifics. For example do you want to watch them in HD? Or do u not care? And will u be doing anything else with the computer while u watch? also what kind of settings are you looking to play games on
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
J

JaysonMesecar

Reputable
Jul 19, 2014
45
0
4,540
You should be fine with 4g of RAM with what ur looking to do, and u can always upgrade if u get more into gaming or video watching at high qualities (Just make sure the Motherboard you purchase supports at least 8gigabytes of RAM. Since you are looking to upgrade in 1 or 2 years my advice would be to set urself up for success by doing the following
1. Getting a GOOD power supply, like.. 750W Bronze if u can theres some good refurb ones on newegg for like 70 dollars. Getting a good power supply now will allow you to smoothly upgrade into a bigger and better computer wihout the worry of , CAN I HANDLE IT? Try to stick with corsair and other name brands though, lots of shit brands out there.
2. Getting a mobo that supports DDR3 RAM, and make sure the mobo supports 8 or maybe even 16g of RAM.
3. With getting those you can afford to skimp out a bit for NOW and get a proccesor like Intel's Pentium G3258, 4g of DDr3 Ram, and a weaker video card.
Doing the proper steps will save you money in your future when you want to upgrade ^^. Theres alot to learn but if you do your homework you can definitly come out on top
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I

Immanuel Uy

Reputable
Sep 10, 2014
3
0
4,510


Usually when I'm watching movies online I am surfing as well. But I never pair that with a cpu heavy task like video/photo editing. It's usually just browsing + watching movies/shows. And yes, watching them in HD would be ideal. The games I usually run on my laptop (running amd a10-4600) are just plain old MOBA/MMO and sometimes simcity/civilization/etc until it would overheat and die :(. And as far as settings, I woudl want to play these games close to max settings. I used to get close to max when this laptop was just new but it degraded over time.

I also do light adobe photoshop work, it's nothing major.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

JaysonMesecar

Reputable
Jul 19, 2014
45
0
4,540
Its definitely gonna be tight to try to get the performance you want for 500 dollars. Luckily your willing to wait till holidays for the price slashing.
Things you can afford to skimp out on without losing much performance
1. Computer case
2. Hard Disk Drive
3. Peripherals (Mouse, Speakers, Monitor)
Things you CANNOT skimp out on under any circumstances
1. Power supply
2. Motherboard (By this i mean do NOT buy a used one. With motherboards its usually best to just get a brand new one and spend the extra 15 dollars because they have so many tiny things that can break during shipping that its not worth the risk.)

From the sounds of things you are going to need a semi decent video card, so id allot about 100$ for one.
Proccesors you can sort of go back and forth on, though if u go to weak on a proccesor it will bottleneck the capabilites of your graphics card
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom