Building vs Ibuypower.com

[RobWiggin]

I've searched around a bit, my desktop's dying of either a PSU problem, or a video card problem.

Either way, everything runs slower the longer I have my system running. Games that were easy a year ago are trudging along slowly now, like Empire Total War.

I mostly use my PC for Excel or Word, or RTS games (like total war, sometimes the old fallout games).

I don't know how to check my system specs, but I've been wanting to either get a new computer, or learn how to build one for a while.

I ran a cost benefit analysis on building one from scratch, or building one via ibuypower.com, and came up with ibuypower beating building one by about a hundred bucks (since I already have a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and can get Windows 7 and Office at an educator's discount).

So I have three questions:

1. Is there a database that allows one to check part compatibility somewhere on the internet (x motherboard fits y case, which fits z video card)?

2. What's the most cost effective rig you've ever built?

3. I have a gateway gm5626, what parts are salvageable, or should I just start from scratch?

I'm very new, and have no idea where to post this question. I'm overwhelmed.

 

[drums101]

I would start from scratch and build you own pc....especially if you can get a discount on software...that is usually what hurts the most when building your own rig vs. buying one....as far as a place that tells you if things are compatible...you are looking at it lol....tell us a budget and we can help you build a new rig and you could pick parts out and check them with us too to make sure they are compatible and what you want.

 

[mocchan]

I would agree with drums with building your own rig.

1) I'm not too sure where you can find information about what Motherboard is compatible with what case, etc. HOWEVER, here are some key essentials for you to remember!

Motherboard sizes/form factors. The most common for desktop users nowadays are ATX, mATX, and ITX.

-ITX being the SMALLEST type of motherboard, if not smallest, you would generally want to avoid looking for these types of boards unless you're doing VERY SMALL form factor PC's. **Generally want a specialized ITX case for this type of board**

-mATX is a smaller 'cut down' version of an ATX motherboard. Generally OEM's (HP, Gateway, Dell) uses this type of motherboard for their small cases. **mATX has the same screw holes as an ATX board**

-ATX is a full sized motherboard. It's generally the same width as an mATX motherboard, but it has more length. **Standard ATX hole layout for ATX cases**

2) Processor Compatibility - AMD CPU's will NOT work with Intel motherboards, vice versa. One easy way would be to look at the socket. Intel uses "LGAXXX" sockets while AMD uses "Socket AM3/AM3+, FM1".

CPU's will generally have a labeling of their socket type as well, so keep an eye out for that
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116409
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996&Tpk=fx-4100

There are some examples

Also on a side note, with AMD, some CPU sockets are backwards/forwards compatible (if that's how it's said :lol: ) For example, an AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU (Socket AM3) WILL work in an AM3+ motherboard. HOWEVER, an AMD FX-4100 (Socket AM3+) will NOT work in a Socket AM3 motherboard.

3) Case Compatibility - Generally speaking, you will see labels on the case for example - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

This case is labeled as "Rosewill Challenger ATX mid-tower Case". So taking into consideration #1, mATX and ATX boards will work with this case 100%.

4) Power supplies - Most PSU's nowadays are in ATX form factor, so you can feel confident all PSU's will work with your hardware. They will usually have a special labeling if they aren't in ATX form factors (correct me of I'm wrong, but I can't think of any off the top of my head).


The most Cost-Effective rig I've personally built was an AMD APU rig for my step-sister.

Total cost was around $400 (for Hardware only, already had OS).

She needed a general usage PC for school - MS Office, internet, Skype, CASUAL gaming, etc.

If any of this confused you, feel free to ask

 

[RobWiggin]

I would start from scratch and build you own pc....especially if you can get a discount on software...that is usually what hurts the most when building your own rig vs. buying one....as far as a place that tells you if things are compatible...you are looking at it lol....tell us a budget and we can help you build a new rig and you could pick parts out and check them with us too to make sure they are compatible and what you want.

Well, I'm mostly looking for something that will be able to play Rome 2 total war quickly on medium settings, while being able to screw around with Word and Excel when I need to.

Here's the "Build Your Own" components I googled tonight:

I. Case. Master Elite 430 Mid Tower (RC- 430 WKN1)
II. Cooling. 120 MM Front fan, comes with
III. Memory. SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3 0 12800CL9D - 8Gb rl
IV. Video Card. NVIDIA GeForce GT630GC 16BDDR3 PCI-E
V. Motherboard. [crossfire] Asus F1A75 vPro
VI. Power Supply. 430 Watt Corsair Cx 430 v2
VII. Storage 500 GB HDD 16M Cache, 7200 rpm 6.0 Gb/s
VIII. Optical Drive. ASUS Black 12x BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS OEM (No idea what oem means.)

 

[mocchan]

Well, I'm mostly looking for something that will be able to play Rome 2 total war quickly on medium settings, while being able to screw around with Word and Excel when I need to.

Here's the "Build Your Own" components I googled tonight:

I. Case. Master Elite 430 Mid Tower (RC- 430 WKN1)
II. Cooling. 120 MM Front fan, comes with
III. Memory. SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3 0 12800CL9D - 8Gb rl
IV. Video Card. NVIDIA GeForce GT630GC 16BDDR3 PCI-E
V. Motherboard. [crossfire] Asus F1A75 vPro
VI. Power Supply. 430 Watt Corsair Cx 430 v2
VII. Storage 500 GB HDD 16M Cache, 7200 rpm 6.0 Gb/s
VIII. Optical Drive. ASUS Black 12x BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS OEM (No idea what oem means.)

What is your budget for your rig?

 

[RobWiggin]

I would start from scratch and build you own pc....especially if you can get a discount on software...that is usually what hurts the most when building your own rig vs. buying one....as far as a place that tells you if things are compatible...you are looking at it lol....tell us a budget and we can help you build a new rig and you could pick parts out and check them with us too to make sure they are compatible and what you want.

Budget around $600.

 

[mocchan]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $593.89
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-22 21:55 EDT-0400)

I'm pretty confident this game will be able to kick any game's butt without a problem Considering you said you're playing a few old titles!

This has an SSD so it's a WICKED solution IMO

 

[RobWiggin]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($27.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $593.89
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-22 21:55 EDT-0400)

I'm pretty confident this game will be able to kick any game's butt without a problem Considering you said you're playing a few old titles!

This has an SSD so it's a WICKED solution IMO

Wow, much more than I expected. Thank you so much!

 

[mocchan]

You're very welcome

 

[RobWiggin]

You're very welcome

I played around with it on ibuypower, and I'm convinced I should build my own. It said I needed a 600w PSU with the video card you pointed out though, and I want a blu-ray drive instead of a dvd. Does wattage of the psu make any difference when it comes to dvd versus blu ray drive? ibuypower has intel i5 as opposed to i3 when i start the build, is that why it wants me to have a higher wattage? Why do I need an SSD when I buy an HDD?

In what order should I buy things before I sit down to begin building?

Before this, I thought I'd just stop playing pc games and hold off on buying a console until I saw whether or not the next xbox would be backwards compatible.

Here's a complete list of PC games I plan to play through:
Rome 2 Total War (planned on playing Rome 1 all the way to Rome 2)
Any space RTS (Like Homeworld 2)
The early fallout games
Skyrim

List of Xbox games I plan to play through:
Assassin's Creed series,
Mass Effect,
Skyrim,
Minecraft,
NBA 2k13
Fifa 13
the Fight Night series.

I'm whiskey'd up a bit on a work night, so sorry about going on a tangent.

 

[mocchan]

I played around with it on ibuypower, and I'm convinced I should build my own. It said I needed a 600w PSU with the video card you pointed out though, and I want a blu-ray drive instead of a dvd. Does wattage of the psu make any difference when it comes to dvd versus blu ray drive? ibuypower has intel i5 as opposed to i3 when i start the build, is that why it wants me to have a higher wattage? Why do I need an SSD when I buy an HDD?

In what order should I buy things before I sit down to begin building?

Before this, I thought I'd just stop playing pc games and hold off on buying a console until I saw whether or not the next xbox would be backwards compatible.

Here's a complete list of PC games I plan to play through:
Rome 2 Total War (planned on playing Rome 1 all the way to Rome 2)
Any space RTS (Like Homeworld 2)
The early fallout games
Skyrim

List of Xbox games I plan to play through:
Assassin's Creed series,
Mass Effect,
Skyrim,
Minecraft,
NBA 2k13
Fifa 13
the Fight Night series.

I'm whiskey'd up a bit on a work night, so sorry about going on a tangent.

For the Radeon HD6850 alone, it is required you have at least 12 amps on the +12v rail. The PSU I have listed has 28Amps on the +12 rail. (Keep in mind amperage is MUCH more important than wattage). So all you need is a CX430 to power a 6850+few other components.

The power difference between an i5 2500k/3570k vs i3 2100/2120 is insignificant IMO. It's a matter of 30 watts.

The HD6850 will use around 100w of power under full load, the i3 2120 will use around 65w. That's a combined total of 165w. Now take into consideration your other components - case fans, dvd drive, HDD, SSD, etc. That will most likely bump up your power usage to around ~250w. That leaves you with ~180w of headroom on your 430w PSU (if you opt for the CX430v2).

Long story short, a CX430v2 is MORE than enough to power your rig, even with an i5. There's no need to go with a 600w PSU unless you plan to run a GTX680 with an i7 3930k.

Also, I would consider the power consumption of a Blu-Ray drive vs DVD-burner to be insignificant. I wouldn't worry about that too much

**Why do I need an HDD if I already have an SSD?**

The SSD I chose is 128GB. That will be more than enough for Windows 7, key applications, few games, some media. But for mass storage (i.e your family albums, movies, thousands of mp3's, and your entire game library) you will want an HDD for space. Also limiting your writes on your SSD will prolong its (already long enough) life span.

Long story short, SSD is fast but small, keep things to a minimum on it. Put everything else on your HDD

**In what order should I buy PC components?**
This usually depends on person to person, most will say choose a motherboard first and work around it. However, I prefer to choose the CPU first, then work around that to see what the most balanced Price/Performance build I can get

Sorry my posts are starting to become a bit jumbled, I've had a very long day :lol:

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey