- Jan 11, 2012
- 9
- 0
- 18,510
Ello! I feel I've used the glorious "Search" button enough times across various forums of the interwebs to be entitled to add another thread to the endless sea of help me pl0x threads in the community. I've done some research across Tom's and Newegg, and though I know a bit, I don't know enough. I feel that in my position, this is a fairly significant investment and I should take the utmost care in my preparation. Thus, I am asking for some help here.
I'm fully capable of actually physically building the computer, but since I have not done so before I don't have anything laying around like a case or OS or random HDD or something. I do attend a university, and can get pretty good student discounts on interface and Windows and what not so that is outside the scope of this request.
The main thing I'm looking for is some FPS in SWTOR. Just about every game I've played I've done so on the lowest settings with all the features off, but that isn't cutting it for SWTOR and my laptop just broke beyond cheap repair a couple nights ago, so I would be getting a new computer anyways. I have a couple needy programs to run for school like MATLAB and SolidWorks w/ Advanced Features and stuff, but I'm not like a researcher or anything so I'm assuming if I can run SWTOR I can run scholarly software just fine. I'm also looking to make this computer an investment I can build on, maybe being able to upgrade just a CPU or GPU sometime in the future instead of having to buy a whole new computer just because I want to play Modern Warfare 5 or something. TL;DR, Gimme Dat FPS.
What I don't need is fancy things. I don't have a music library of any sort as I gave up the P2P Swashbuckling days of old and mostly enjoy music that I can stream somewhere for free, so storage space isn't a huge thing. I just need "enough" I guess. I also don't store a whole lot of video or anything, just a couple pictures. I also don't watch a whole lot of anything or do much with DvDs or anything. TL;DR, the cheapest optical drive available and a humble storage space (HDD or SATA, whichever) are good places to cut down on the cost.
I understand that I can't have everything, e.g. saving some money might sacrifice upgradability and of course saving money is going to sacrifice some performance. This leads me to a question I have considering SandyBridge-esqe combos. From the SBMs here on Tom's, it seems Sandy Bridge sets can hold their own. But of course, they are not so easily upgradable. A question then is this: Does using an APU limit the mobo to only using APUs, or can an APU be switched out at a later date for a CPU+GPU? If so, then AMD or Intel APUs seem to be a viable choice, but if not than it seems the upgradability is too greatly hindered. TL;DR, What about APUs?
TL;DR, The cheaper, faster, and more upgradable, the better.
I've sifted through what seems like 100 $500 builds, but I don't feel like there is any similarity between any of them, so I don't really feel confident in picking out any individual parts, and thus I have nothing picked out already. I fully welcome new builds, links to other solid builds, individual component suggestions, whatever. Help me out
Approximate Purchase Date: the sooner the better, this week
Budget Range: 450-550 USD.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: SWTOR
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, OS, Monitor, etc. Anything that doesn't go in the case basically. Plus OS.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Doesn't really matter, Newegg is nice, have a couple small gift cards to Amazon so that's fine too.
Country: Assembling in Pullman, WA, U.S. 99163
Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Not really a preference, I feel like AMD is the more budget brand so I sort of lean towards that, though I have no qualms with Intel or really any other company in the computer industry. Except HP. HP is bad.
Overclocking: I don't plan on relying on overclocking for the performance.
SLI or Crossfire: Like the overclocking, I'm not planning on it but if for some reason it is most efficient then I'm in no way against it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to anyone that can help me out or attempts to. Appreciated, and +internets and LOLcats to you all.
I'm fully capable of actually physically building the computer, but since I have not done so before I don't have anything laying around like a case or OS or random HDD or something. I do attend a university, and can get pretty good student discounts on interface and Windows and what not so that is outside the scope of this request.
The main thing I'm looking for is some FPS in SWTOR. Just about every game I've played I've done so on the lowest settings with all the features off, but that isn't cutting it for SWTOR and my laptop just broke beyond cheap repair a couple nights ago, so I would be getting a new computer anyways. I have a couple needy programs to run for school like MATLAB and SolidWorks w/ Advanced Features and stuff, but I'm not like a researcher or anything so I'm assuming if I can run SWTOR I can run scholarly software just fine. I'm also looking to make this computer an investment I can build on, maybe being able to upgrade just a CPU or GPU sometime in the future instead of having to buy a whole new computer just because I want to play Modern Warfare 5 or something. TL;DR, Gimme Dat FPS.
What I don't need is fancy things. I don't have a music library of any sort as I gave up the P2P Swashbuckling days of old and mostly enjoy music that I can stream somewhere for free, so storage space isn't a huge thing. I just need "enough" I guess. I also don't store a whole lot of video or anything, just a couple pictures. I also don't watch a whole lot of anything or do much with DvDs or anything. TL;DR, the cheapest optical drive available and a humble storage space (HDD or SATA, whichever) are good places to cut down on the cost.
I understand that I can't have everything, e.g. saving some money might sacrifice upgradability and of course saving money is going to sacrifice some performance. This leads me to a question I have considering SandyBridge-esqe combos. From the SBMs here on Tom's, it seems Sandy Bridge sets can hold their own. But of course, they are not so easily upgradable. A question then is this: Does using an APU limit the mobo to only using APUs, or can an APU be switched out at a later date for a CPU+GPU? If so, then AMD or Intel APUs seem to be a viable choice, but if not than it seems the upgradability is too greatly hindered. TL;DR, What about APUs?
TL;DR, The cheaper, faster, and more upgradable, the better.
I've sifted through what seems like 100 $500 builds, but I don't feel like there is any similarity between any of them, so I don't really feel confident in picking out any individual parts, and thus I have nothing picked out already. I fully welcome new builds, links to other solid builds, individual component suggestions, whatever. Help me out
Approximate Purchase Date: the sooner the better, this week
Budget Range: 450-550 USD.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: SWTOR
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, OS, Monitor, etc. Anything that doesn't go in the case basically. Plus OS.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Doesn't really matter, Newegg is nice, have a couple small gift cards to Amazon so that's fine too.
Country: Assembling in Pullman, WA, U.S. 99163
Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Not really a preference, I feel like AMD is the more budget brand so I sort of lean towards that, though I have no qualms with Intel or really any other company in the computer industry. Except HP. HP is bad.
Overclocking: I don't plan on relying on overclocking for the performance.
SLI or Crossfire: Like the overclocking, I'm not planning on it but if for some reason it is most efficient then I'm in no way against it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to anyone that can help me out or attempts to. Appreciated, and +internets and LOLcats to you all.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram