Help me build a PC please

goldenwings2

Honorable
Aug 29, 2012
6
0
10,510
Hello there. I'm new to this so I'll try my best. Basically I want a gaming pc. I looked over the template and I tried filling it out to the best of my knowledge.

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: The week of September 3rd. Most likely Sep. 3 or Sep. 4.

Budget Range: 500-1000 dollars

System Usage from Most to Least Important: video games(huge use), browsing the web, movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Starting from scratch so need everything.

Do you need to buy OS: No

Location: Currently live in Philadelphia, PA

Parts Preferences: Only thing I can tell you here is that I prefer Nvidia over Radeon

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: I want to get a 1920 x 1200

Additional Comments: I would if possible like to have a solid 30-60 fps when playing games, fan or water cooled, doesn't matter. I'd like to run the games as smoothly as possible, especially in intense graphical and high populated zones of MMOs and other games like Planetside 2, Witcher 2, etc.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I'm in college so I use my lap top for most of my gaming now a days but now that I am getting an apartment I will finally be able to have a solid place to stay for a few years or so. So I thought it'd be a good time to upgrade from a lap top to an actual gaming pc.
 

kanoobie

Distinguished
Oct 21, 2006
290
0
18,790
^+1 to troll's build
The money spent on the motherboard and power supply to make future SLI possible is better spent on a SSD.

But... if you want to be set for SLI I switched to a Z77 board:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fZso

but in all honesty I would prefer troll's build unless you decide to switch the processor in my build to a 3570k and add a Hyper 212 EVO to overclock with.
 
ssd are the next gen of storage drives. there no moving parts so that the only thing that limits the read/write speeds is the controller and firmware. with an ssd windows does fly. apps and games open and run a lot faster. sli or crossfire in simple terms is the two cards splitting the work load of the game at high res.
 
Little bit over-budget, but, this is the optimal configuration I would personally take.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($142.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($307.86 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1021.62
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-29 21:50 EDT-0400)
 

goldenwings2

Honorable
Aug 29, 2012
6
0
10,510
Thank you all so much for the help. I decided on a build based on your suggestions. But I have never built a PC on my own. I was wondering if there was some place someone could direct me for help on how to assemble all these parts into one PC?
 
There a million tutorials online on how to build a machine, here's a couple the good video ones.

NCIX build video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIJx6Y3tofg&feature=plcp

Follow up cable management video (I suggest watching it, its pretty good)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhxmzQR6xA&feature=plcp

And Newegg's build guide (the next in the series has to do with Windows and Driver installation. Again, worth watching).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

Dont forget to test-bench the components before installing them to the case.

Both BigTroll and Mocchan builds are fairly good, you wont be dissatisfied with either.
 

mainakbasu

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2011
22
0
18,510
If you want to go for a SLI or Crossfire, its better to spend behind the PSU right now.

The following was my config when I assembled it a year back, still gives me a beastly performance...

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T (3.2GHz, 6 cores)
8GB Corsair XMS3 RAM at 1600MHz
MSI 990FXA-GD65 motherboard
Sapphire HD6790 graphics with 1GB GDDR5 and 256-bit VRAM interface
500GB Seagate Barracuda HDD
Cooler Master GX500 PSU
Cooler Master Elite 310 case
AOC 16" TFT monitor (1366 x 768)
KBD + Mouse

The entire rig cost me less than $1000 - approximately $971.04
After that I added the following
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD at 5400rpm
Corsair H80 liquid cooling unit

Since u dont need to buy a monitor, and may be SLI/Xfiring in the future, my suggestions would be the following....

Search for a good PSU - preferable 750W and above. U can give the following a try...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171067

Since u prefer nVIDIA over ATI... Take a good graphics card... Check the following.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809
But since u have a financial constraint - u might wanna look at a 560Ti (lesser price)

The graphics card performance depends heavily on your CPU.... A slower CPU will bottleneck your GPU. Intel works better with Nvidia. so take a look at the following
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
If u r looking for something less than this - my suggestion is go for the i5-2500K

Keep 8GB of RAM minimum, u can always add later

HDD depends on your choice...
and if u want liquid cooling go for a Corsair H80 - It is a cheap but highly efficient and a highly reliable cooler...

If u do change your mind abt ATI and AMD... The following combo would do just fine for you....
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T + ne motherboard with AM3+ support (gives you the option of upgrading to the FX series later, the FX series in its current state is not a radical advancement over the previous Thuban proc...)

HD7770 or the like for the GPU sector..... if u want to buy it.....

For motherboards you may want to look at the following:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130649
for a AM3+ motherboard - it has a native support for 1600MHz RAM speeds, 2- USB 3.0 slots and hypertransport support

please note that the i7-2600K supports only upto 1333MHz RAM speeds, for native 1600MHz support you will have to search for a i7-3xxx processors, but the price will go up...

best of luck building you rig.....

 

^ Great links :)