Computer noob

you can start by reading this - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/288241-31-buyer-guide...

what's your budget? High-end to us computer geeks is normally around $1700+ not counting monitors

and where are u in the world?

Take a look at these videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

I'm in New York. I'm in the U.S.
Okay, so 1700 is a bit too much. When I said high-end, I meant a computer that can handle pretty much any game nicely.
Anyways, for now, I'm just gonna read up on what you guys linked me with.

what do you mean by run any game nicely. i can run every game on low settings nicely with intergrated graphics or i can run everything nicely at max graphics. be specific


and please give us a budget. high end means 1300+.

I'm willing to spend about 1300-1500.
When I mean running a game nicely, I mean running the game on high settings and running it very smoothly.
Possibly games like Call of Duty, Assassin's creed, Hitman, Battlefield, etc.

something like this would be good
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qIMW

just state if you want to do SLI or not. i can change some components

also are you overclocking?

I'm not entirely sure how to do SLI or overclock.
From what I know SLI is when you have two graphics card sharing their load and overclocking is when you work your components past the intended mark.
Something like that. I'm not entirely sure what does are, more or less how to do it.

Hey Decxver,

I thought since it was fitting to your post title and all that perhaps you can check out this quick guide to the hardware involved in a basic PC build setup - http://newbcomputerbuild.com/how-to-build-a-gaming-pc/the-parts-to-build-a-computer-building-a-gaming-pc-guide-2012/

It may clarify everything for you in terms of basic components and what you may want to generically look for. After you do that figure out a budget that would work for you and then go from there. You can ask here for help as you have already noticed or even check out the monthly builds at the site I linked; such as the ones for this month - http://newbcomputerbuild.com/newb-computer-build-home/december-2012-gaming-pc-builds/

overclocking is basically increasing the factory speed of a CPU or a graphics card to get more performance. safe as long as you dont over do stuff like voltage

SLi is easy. get another video card of the same model, slot it in, connect the cables, go to the nvidia control panel and set up SLI. you then get double the performance of one card. good way to upgrade when you need more fps

When do people generally overclock? I don't think I'll be needing any overclocking or SLI but later on down the road, I can always upgrade.

people overclock because it lets you have more performance for free (minus hardware costs(

I don't think I'll be overclocking.
I was just wondering if I should get an i5 or and i7 processor? My friend told me to get the i7 but a lot of people on this forums are recommending i5.

get a i5 for games. i7s are for work

if you are not to overclock, id assume you are not to do SLI
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rGbD

Wow, the price difference between the first and second builds is pretty big. Is SLI and overclocking really that great?

overclocking is to increase CPU performance for free as long as you have the hardware that is necessary.

SLI is to run 2 video cards at once to double graphical performance. depends if you want to add a video card 2-3 years down the road or get a completely new card

I see. I won't be needing those.
So, the build you linked me is the most optimized build?

Hm, the processor for the third link seems to be less powerful. Could I get the i5-3570k and put in the third build?

i havent moved the processor at all.

i5 3570k is useless unless you overclock. i wouldnt get it

I see. So, the third build is really cheap but really efficient? I'm kinda scared that if it isn't powerful enough some of my games will lag because I tend to run many programs at once.

at stock speeds, there is literally no performance difference between my overclocking ready rig and the non-overclocking rig

Okay, then.
Thanks for all your help. You've been really helpful, although your name doesn't really imply it.

Best answer selected by Decxver.