Best time to buy, in the near future?

[RandomGuy123]

Hello, everyone.

I was just wondering if there would be a best time, in the near-ish future, to buy parts for building a PC. For example, Memorial Day and the 4th will be coming up soon... Do places, such as Microcenter/Newegg/Amazon/etc., usually have deals around those time? Also, I've been reading about some new Intel CPUs coming, and I believe a new GPU series for Nvidia, too(correct me if I'm wrong on either of those)... Would those new additions make the current stuff out now cheaper? Thus, maybe making waiting a good choice?

I don't have too much money, so I'm just wondering if I could save and/or get better hardware down the road for cheaper than what it currently costs. I figure you all would know better than I do.

Thanks!

 

[ssddx]

online retailers are constantly running sales yearround. things go on/off sale all the time and you just need to keep looking for when what you want goes on sale (or make some small adjustments here and there to buy stuff which is on sale). the only really big sales are around xmas/blackfriday/cybermonday.

i havent heard about a new cpu from intel yet but i have heard about the nvidia 8xx series coming out. that doesnt necessarily mean many price drops for you though. i'd concentrate on sales more.

what budget are you on? for what purpose is the build? do you have an os?

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: I'm not sure what I want. I'm new to all this. Ah, yeah, I figured that's when the big sales would be. I have been thinking about waiting until around that time. The wait would suck, but if I could get a more powerful PC than I could now for around the same price, I may wait. I'd like to not have to upgrade for at least a few years. You don't have to suggest a build to me, if that's why you asked the last 3 questions, as I may not even buy for some time from now. No need for you to go through that.

 

[ssddx]

yes, that is when the big sales are, HOWEVER, as is typical in retail the parts which go on sale arent always the ones you want. the best sales are for the expensive parts and/or combo deals. this means that it can be rather hit-or-miss for you to get a deal or not. to be honest, you can find great deals year-round if you watch some parts lists on something like pcpartspicker.

if you build a sufficiently powerful pc, you shouldnt have to upgrade for some years. with something decent we are talking perhaps 3-5 years. if you go for the baseline then perhaps 2-3 of course this depends on what you intend to do with the pc. there really is no point in waiting as there will ALWAYS be something better around the corner. in 6 months from now there will be yet another good product on the horizon and 6 months from that yet another good product. its a neverending cycle.

yes, i asked the last 3 questions so i could make a few general recommendations as to what you may want to look into for parts. parts of the community here (myself included) are rather well versed in listing some good hardware for builds. not just for extreme builders but for those on a budget too. if you are building a gaming machine then i would suggest no less than about $600-650 if you want something which can run on medium/high and is semi-future proof for about 3-5 years. if you want just an office machine then somewhere around $400-500 is typically sufficient. of course prices can vary by your needs, the hardware you want as well as your location in the world.

another reason why i asked is because i figured that you were not sure what you wanted and asking those questions could point you in the right direction as to what to look for. that way you arent running around like a chicken with its head cut off

its not worth going into a detailed build list if you arent ready to buy yet however you should at least get a baseline idea bout what to look for.

lets say that its not worth waiting a long time for sales and that right now you could find a deal. when would you be ready to start looking to buy?

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: Hmm... Well, I could buy sometime within the next month or so if I didn't wanna wait for any big sales. I'd like to spend no more than $900, but I may be willing to go up to $1000 if it will mean a good performance increase. I may or may not need the OS included, not 100% sure yet.

All I know in regards to parts is that the i5 seems like a popular choice for gaming, and people seem to prefer Intel over AMD for CPUs, so I've been considering going with one of those. Though, I'm also interested in the AMD FX series because they're cheaper and people seem to also recommend those, as well. And maybe the extra cores would help in the future? As for GPUs, the GTX 760/770 seems like a popular choice for not-too-expensive choice for good performance, so I've been considering those. I've read that some AMD ones are inflated right now so they aren't as good as a buy as they used to be. But, I've ready that the 280x is similar to the 770 and you also get free games? So I've been considering that, too. Other than that, Idk which to choose.

 

[ssddx]

for a budget of $900-1000 you shouldnt have any trouble getting something decent right now. of course you need to advise if this budget includes a monitor, keyboard and mouse or if this is just the tower only.

unless you already have a retail copy of an os already then you need to buy one. you cannot legally transfer an os from an existing system unless you bought a full retail key.

the i5 is very good for gaming. its not worth going with the i7 for only gaming since its not going to do all that much for you. in general the intel chips beat out the amd chips on performance, power, cooling but not price. the only thing the amd chips have going for them is a lower price. generally i suggest amd for builds with a lower budget than you have but intel for builds around your budget. again, which you pick would be determined by if peripherals are included in that budget. if they are... then that $1000 budget could be $700-750 for just the tower in which case i would probably suggest amd.

the gtx770 is a solid mid-high level card which will get you max settings in most cases if running at 60hz and 1080p. it might not get you max settings if running at 120hz or on 2560x1600 panels though. you need to advise on what kind of monitor you want.

please advise on what your budget includes, what resolution monitor you have (or if you need one), what kind of games you play, and any other details you think are relevant. also list if you want to keep things small (small sized case) or if you are okay with a larger tower.

i can then give you an idea on a build.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: That budget is for the tower only. I'll be using no higher than a 1080p resolution. The refresh rate can take quite a bit from the GPU? Ah, I didn't know that. 60hz = 60 FPS, right? I'd probably just do 60hz then. Unless the monitor I choose to buy supports higher and the GPU could handle it at 1080p without issue.

Yeah, I was leaning more towards Intel. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I'll probably wanna go with an i5. Unless, I could get a better GPU with the savings from going AMD. Idk. Would an AMD CPU + better GPU be better than an Intel CPU + weaker GPU if I couldn't afford to just do both Intel CPU + great GPU?

I don't currently play many games because my PC kinda sucks. But, I would like to play the latest games, like BF4 and such. I don't have to play them at max settings, though. I'd be happy with being able to play anything at at least medium, or low if the particular game still looked pretty decent, and get a solid 40-50+ FPS @ 1080p.

I'm okay with a larger tower, just not HUGE. I'm mostly concerned about cooling. Summer is coming up and I can't afford to run the A/C much. And the PC has to be in the warmest room in the house. So, I'd prefer parts which didn't cause too much heat and a case that had good ventilation that came with fans. If they usually don't come with fans, as I'm not sure how common that is, then I guess I'd have to buy some. So the case would have to at least support fans. And I don't wanna overclock.

 

[ssddx]

okay.. i set the budget around $1000 and came up with a few options. keep in mind that these are just a few non-final builds to wrap your head around. i will discuss pro/con afterwards.

i5 + gtx770
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3zFwr

fx8350 + gtx770
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3zFBu

fx8320 + gtx770
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3zFGu

fx8320 + 280x
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3zFN7

benefits of i5 builds: this is a superior processor in every single way except price. performance will be greater.
benefits of amd builds: if you go amd you can get a small ssd drive for booting which will make your pc boot quicker and be more snappy.
benefits of 770: it edges out as a better card. its also a bit higher priced.
benefits of 280x: available cheaper in respectable brands.

a few notes:

-the case that i have picked out on those builds is very cheap although decent for the price. if you wanted anything fancy such as a corsair 250d (good for a small form factor pc without sacrificing too much cooling) or a 750d (great mid sized case with good airflow) or even a few other options you would need to either raise the budget or make certain sacrifices elsewhere in the build.

-i went with a half decent quality power supply instead of something available for cheap. yes, it is $35 more than what would technically work but i do not want you have to potentially have power supplies blowing up on you so i am sticking with tiers 1, 2, 2b or 3 on this list >link< because they are safe. you could always put a cx600 in your system and have it work fine and use the extra money elsewhere in the build but its a major risk and i would rather play it smart and safe instead of take that risk.

-i used high heat spreader ram. this could potentially be an issue with some heatsinks for the cpu but it gives you a good representation on how much ram will be costing you. the low heatspreader models are also available for a similar price (a few bucks more).

-i used a fair but still low end cpu cooler. this will be better than stock (and will keep your cpu cooler than stock out in that hot room).

in general the addition of a gtx770 or 280x in a $100 build where you needed an os is just a little bit tight. i really did not want to drop you down to a 270x or gtx760 since that would drop performance a bit (but likely still within your expected margins). if i had you could likely get an i5, one of those gpus, a ssd and a better case. i'm not sure where your priorities lie.

its your decision but i would highly suggest getting an overclockable cpu (if going with intel... since all the fx are overclockable) and a board which can support overclocking. while you may not use it now... 3-4 years down the road you may wish to do this to gain a little extra oomph out of it. this is what i recently did to my circa 2010 i7-920 which runs at 2.66ghz stock. i bumped it up to a meager 3.21ghz to make it a bit better performing (although i never really had much issues). you would need to decide now if you want that to be an option or not in the future. remember, its just there if you want it and isnt required. your call. if going with an i5 + 770 though its not going to fit in budget too well.


----

just a few preliminary ideas and notes for you to give your opinion on....

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: Cool. Thanks for taking the time to post builds, and all the help in general.

Well, I may not be buying for some time, but I'll keep the parts you've selected in mind for when I'm ready, as they seem to be really popular choices.

I most likely will go with an Intel CPU. The extra cores in the AMD ones are what attracts me to them, because I figure more games will utilize more cores in the future. But, everyone seems to suggest going with the better performance with Intel regardless of that.

I'm still unsure about AMD or Nvidia for the GPU, though, as they both seem to be good choices. It seems like AMD is overall a bit slower, but still good performance, at a cheaper cost? I do like the 3gb memory on the 280x, because it seems that extra gig versus the 770's 2 will come in handy in the near future, as I've read that a few games are already benefiting from it. I believe BF4 was one. And, if I recall correctly, I've read that the 280x is similar in performance to the 770. So, yeah, I'm confused on which brand/GPU to go with, but the 280x seems like a good choice. Edit: Oh, and I have yet to look deep into it and don't really understand it, but I've heard about this "mantle" thing that's apparently gonna be appearing in more future games? It's AMD-based, I believe? I'm gonna have to check more into that, but it's something else small I just remembered that has me leaning a bit more towards the 280x, or just AMD in general for the GPU. Still unsure, though.

That's a helpful link regarding PSUs, thanks for sharing it. But, the CX600 would really be a major risk? Do you mean because of the wattage or the quality? Because that's one PSU I've been considering. It seems like a popular choice, unless I'm mistaking it with another Corsair that I've been seeing people recommend.

I've never heard the term "high heat spreader" for RAM... What does that mean, exactly? Basically, that the RAM spreads alotta heat around the case, and this isn't a good thing? Does that mean I should go for "low heat spreader" RAM? And how can I tell if certain RAM is high or low heat spreading?

 

[ssddx]

the actual parts that you pick for your pc may be a bit different than what i listed above based on price at the time but what i listed is a good enough go-by. i'll list a few preferences here for things that arent obvious:

motherboard: i prefer asus myself but gigabyte, asrock and msi arent bad also.
ram: i prefer mushkin but corsair and gskill are good also.
hard drive: seagate barracuda, samsung spinpoint or western digital caviar black (blue is okay too but less warranty)
ssd: the only ones i trust are samsung and intel. you can use others but not for high-write applications.
psu: anything tier 1,2 or 3. i personally like my corsair HX but seasonic, xfx, some antec and anything in that list are good as well.
cases: i prefer corsair but there are plenty of good brands. cougar impressed me by being sturdy with good features at such a low price.

not the be all end all of lists... but a good starting point.

as for intel vs amd cpus you would think that more cores = better but that just isnt the case in reality. a top of the line fx8350 is somewhat compareable to a i5 but loses on heat (it generates higher heat and has a lower thermal shutdown temp than intel), power (it uses more electricity than intel) and performance (less performance than intel) but it wins out by being slightly cheaper. if you werent adversed to overclocking you could use a fx8320, throw a decent cooler on it and overclock it into or slightly above i5 ranges. my personal choice right now would be intel if its in budget though since they are the leader, however, having an ssd is also a really big thing as well. even with new hardware the pc will still feel like its from 2008 unless you use one.

both amd and nvidia gpus are good. amd is good on performance vs cost typically however prices are a bit out of whack due to bitcoin mining being very good on amd gpus hence the current debacle. the 770 generally beats out the 280x in most tests however is a bit higher priced as well so price/performance is about equal between the two. the 280x however is a bit better in performance for bf4. often its a 50/50 split of games for amd vs nvidia lead performance so there is no one best card.

as for brands... if you go nvidia then asus, gigabyte, evga and msi are decent. if you go amd then sapphire, asus, msi and gigabyte are good.

mantle was developed to share work between the gpu and cpu so if one was stressed and the other was not it would offload some work. i'm not sure how big the gains are at this moment but i heard the same thing that its going to be a big thing in the future. however, dont count nvidia out of the picture yet as its really not a deal killer scenario and wont be unless you have rather mismatched hardware (like a good cpu and bad gpu or vise versa). if you wanted mantle you would need an amd cpu and amd gpu which means no i5.

the issue with the cx600 is not with the wattage. that is fine for an i5 + 770 system (actually its a bit over what is needed which is good). the issue is that there is a single capxon brand capacitor in there which is not a trusted brand and is known to blow. you can read more about it here http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22294 while i'm not sure how it applies across every single CX i do know that they all (all cx models) use non japanese cheap capacitors. now, i have used a cx430 which i bought for $20 in a relatives system but since the actual load was going to be about 150w and their budget was small its really not a huge risk. for a gaming system though its not adviseable and is a ticking timebomb. the corsair HX (i own one) and AX series are very good and i do recommend. basically anything tier 3 and above is considered safe to use.

high heat spreader on ram refers to the metal casing on it. ram without heat spreaders looks just like a green pcb with chips on it. a low heat spreader is just a metal casing on this which doesnt extend much above the pcb. a high heat spreader is one that has a fancy top, fins or some other obstruction which sticks above the ram. while this isnt normally an issue and might actually help with cooling performance on them it can interfere with some cpu heatsinks. while i dont think its a problem with the 212+ i noted it as a just in case thing to check later on.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: Thanks for listing brands like that. That was another thing I was confused by. There are so many of them that I was completely lost as to which to go with. But, your listings help.

Speaking of warranty, as you mentioned it for the WD Blue HHD, I'm sorta confused as to why they seem to be all over the place sometimes. For example, here are two different brands of the 280x at my local Micro Center: http://www.microcenter.com/product/423128/R9280XGAMING3G_AMD_R9_280X_Gaming_3G_Twin_Frozr_3072MB_PCIe_x16_30_Video_Card?ob=1 and http://www.microcenter.com/product/431306/R9280XTDFD_R9_280X_1000MHz_Boost_3GB_DDR5_PCI-e_30x16Vide_Card ... Why does one have a 1-year warranty while the other has a 2-year warranty? Especially since, from what I've read, it seems that MSI is a good choice for GPUs and that's the one with the 1-year. Could this just be a Micro Center thing or is this common? And it looks like almost all 770s, from the Micro Center site at least, have a 3-year warranty. Is there a reason why the warranties are all over the place like this? And would I be right to be concerned about a shorter warranty and wanna go with a longer one, even if the shorter warranty was for a specific part that I wanted? For example, say I was torn between the 280x and 770, but was leaning more towards the 280x... Would it be wise to just go with the 770 for the longer warranty?

I'm against OC'ing mainly because of the extra heat/wear. Idk much about OC'ing, but it does in fact cause those two things, right? Even with an aftermarket heatsink, the fact that the PC will be in the warmest room at my place and that I'm unable to run the A/C a whole lot, wouldn't any extra heat at all be a potential issue? Would it be better to just play it safe? Also, the wear... Again, Idk too much about OC'ing, so Idk exactly how much wear it puts on, but I have read that it will make your parts(or was it just the CPU?) wear down and need replacements faster. So, I guess I just figured that OC'ing isn't worth it for me personally. If I could only play a certain game well if I OC'd, then I just figured I'd not play that game. I'd rather just have a CPU that was powerful enough to get the job done at stock speeds.

Regarding SSDs, they mostly only help with boot times, right? Do they affect actually game performance? If so, how much? Because I wasn't planning on getting one because my budget isn't too big and I figure it'd be better to get a better GPU or something. I don't mind the extra wait with booting. But, if SSDs can give you a big performance boost with FPS or something, then I may consider getting one.

Yeah, I've heard about that bitcoin thing. It's one reason I was thinking about holding off on buying, to see if the AMD prices would go down some. Do you have any idea if they will go back down to "normal" anytime soon? And what was the general price for a 280x?

 

[MsSaver2]

For PC parts - Newegg all the way because it's really easy to filter out the exact parts your looking for....and the price. But for hardware such as LCD monitors, Tigerdirect all the way for their prices.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@MsSaver2: Hey, thanks for replying. Yeah, Newegg does seem to have competitive prices. Though, I'll most likely buy everything from my local Micro Center to avoid having to deal with shipping.

 

[ssddx]

warranties can definitely be like that: all over the place.

as for the blue and black hard drives they are similar enough but the extra $20 or so for a black gets you a 5 year warranty (instead of 2 year) and a little extra performance. if you were buying a normal 1tb drive you could go either route. however, if you bought a high capacity (over 1tb) drive which are known to have higher failure rates i would get a black for the extra warranty. i've already had 5 failures since 2010 on such high capacity drives which are all blacks so in my case the warranty was a good thing. its paid shipping to them for rma and free shipping back though so thats another thing to think about. those 5 rma cost me about $50 which while cheaper than buying new drives, didnt exactly make me a happy camper.

as far as graphics cards are concerned... i've never really had an issue with them failing. most of the issues i've seen are failing hard drives and a single case of failing ram (but most ram now has lifetime warranties). its your call of course but i wouldnt sweat over the differences between 1-2 year warranties as if any issues do develop its likely after that time frame anyways. i did see something of note here http://www.amazon.com/XFX-RADEON-1000MHz-Graphics-R9-280X-TDFD/dp/B00FSC5N66/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398698032&sr=8-1&keywords=xfx+280x it appears to have a lifetime warranty? i'm not sure if that is legit or if its a typo.

as for comparing the 280x and 770. dont compare them just on a per warranty basis. compare them in terms of performance and cost. the 280x has under the performance of a 770 but is also a bit cheaper as well. is the extra small bit of cash worth a boost in perfomance? also of note is that nvidia cards support physx and cuda. another thing to note is that if you were interested in mantle you need both an amd cpu and a gpu to make use of it. while you most certainly can pair an i5 with a 280x (if you so wanted) you dont have mantle. and if you went with an amd cpu chip remember that they run hotter and have a lower thermal threshold which means that its not as ideal in a hot environment. if i remember correctly the intel chips have a thermal shutdown of about 100c while the amd chips are often around 70c. in some games without any sort of decent aftermarket cooler it might be possible to have cpu temps of 45-60c. the amd chips dont have as much overhead so might not be the best choice in a hot environment without a decent airflow case and decent cpu cooler installed. its your choice what you go with... we can make either work but intel is probably your best bet.

i was not suggesting that you overclock from the get go. what i was suggesting is perhaps in 3 years or more when you start to feel your system is getting a bit slow that you might want to step it up a notch in performance instead of going out and buying a new motherboard and processor. keep in mind that there are different levels that you can overclock to. a minor one such as the one i have going right now (2.66 to 3.21) doesnt generate much extra heat and doesnt require much extra voltage. my own system is 4 years old now and 2.66 is a bit slow for the times so a slight step up makes it a bit more mainstream for performance. as far as extra wear is concerned there have been people who have run 5years+ on a stable high overclock without issues. as long as your cpu temps arent high and as long as you arent running unstable voltage through it then you are fine. again, i'm just posing overclocking as a potential thing to do in the future once your system starts to feel its age not as a constant thing off the bat. your choice entirely. as for being in a hot room.. we do not have AC at all (casement windows) and the summers typically arent an issue for the computer with decent cooling but agreeably i wouldnt advise any "extreme" overclocking but a mild one is fine.

ssd do not affect fps numbers. they decrease boot up speed from like 35-60 seconds down to about 7-8, programs will load and launch faster, file transfers take shorter periods of time, file searches and virus scans are faster and windows performance in general is faster. they are completely optional and if you want the most gaming performance you could probably do without one. i do have to say that once you've owned one its doubtful you will go back to not having one.

i do not see bitcoin mining or similar activities dying off anytime soon. as long as someone foots the bill everyone will want their hand in the moneypot. you would be wasting your time waiting for current hardware to drop in price however if the next few generations were bad at bitcoin mining then perhaps prices would even out. sometime tells me though that this will not be the case. amd isnt dumb, they know there are huge sales figures to be had from keeping it the best bitcoin mining platform other than a specially purchased rig and will likely continue down the same path. again, its not worth waiting for amd prices to go down. the lowest acceptable brands i'd go with were about $310 for a 280x and $350 for a 770. of course most of the 280x crept up to a similar price point as the 770 it just so happened one currently looks like a decent price point.

 

[ssddx]

in reply to the above microcenter, tigerdirect and newegg statements:

use pcpartspicker to help determine the best prices and order that way. typically newegg and tigerdirect will be the cheapest places to buy unless microcenter is running a special.

i highly doubt you will be able to get the system as i laid out above if buying only from microcenter. the prices are typically higher (unless they have a special going) and you pay tax. shipping on newegg and other places typically isnt bad at all (sometimes free). i do like going down to microcenter and picking up some goodies here and there but you can do better online for buying most parts. i did however find a good deal on my current case (corsair 750d for $130) and a few other odds and ends like a ssd which was on sale (256gb samsung 830)

your call of course but i would keep an open mind about where you purchase from if you want the best deals and the most pc for the money.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: Ah, I didn't know that higher than 1tb drives are known to have higher fail rates. I'm learning things left and right from you. Well, I guess it's a good thing that I wasn't planning on getting more than a 1tb one anyway, then.

Hmm... So, I guess with all things considered, it'd probably be best to go with Intel CPU + Nvidia GPU? Of course, prices at the time of buying would have to be considered. But, yeah, I'm definitely leaning more towards Intel + Nvidia.

I suppose I could always get an overclockable version of a CPU/motherboard and just not use it unless I need it, maybe down the road, like you said. But, I'd probably only wanna do it if it wouldn't be too much extra money. Because, if I could get a non-OC CPU/motherboard for like, $40+ cheaper or something, then I'd probably wanna save the money. Idk. I'll have to think about it more.


... Wow. I was only expecting to get a few answers regarding my original question, but instead I got so much more. All I can to you, ssddx, is: thank you! I definitely feel that I have more of an idea of what I want now and when it comes time for me to actually pull the trigger and buy, I'll be using this thread as a reference.

 

[ssddx]

well... i've been building my own systems for about 10 years now and act as mr fix-it for the whole family when it comes to computers so i was bound to pick up some sort of information which might be useful :lol:

if you want the most performance then yes intel+nvidia is probably the best route to take. now i'm not saying you can't go with amd+amd as we can definitely make that work out only that in this case i'd probably go otherwise.

counting motherboard and cpu prices... we are probably talking perhaps $20-40 more for the option to overclock. the way i think of it is that its there if you need it but if you dont plan on it then its not an option later on. you may use it or you may not its hard to say. if you intend to upgrade your system sooner than later then perhaps you dont want it but if you want to get as many years as you can out of the same hardware with minimal cash invested then its likely a good option to have. again, completely your choice.

i typically keep up on the threads i post in so often reply when new posts come in. i also tend to have rather lengthy replies which is why a few posts sometimes sneak in under the radar before i push "submit". i'm not one to push out a half-assed answer so i normally cover not just the suggestion but also why i would go a certain route as well as other options. i've had people ask if i copy and paste answers before and also a few people who get a bit overwhelmed by info. in general: the more the poster seems to care about the thread and the better their responses the more effort i give in my responses.

when it comes time to actually build the system i would poke your head back in, reference this thread, and ask for an updated build. if you want specific help from me it would probably help to send a pm my way regarding it as i dont answer many new build threads unless they have no answers (i dont like to compete with 10 people for attention and prefer to 1 on 1 explain everything from the top down instead of just posting a generic build)

good luck.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: I'm nervous to actually pull the trigger and buy because I've never spent this much money at once before, and the fact that what the money is going towards is sorta foreign to me. But, I'm gonna wait at least until around Memorial Day to see if any sales come. If they don't, then I may just take the plunge and buy. I don't think I have the patience to wait until November/December time. Regardless, when I am ready, I'll probably post a thread asking for build suggestions, to get some different opinions and all about what's best at that time. I'd like to PM you then and link you to the thread, if you don't mind? We could always talk in PM instead of you posting there, if you'd like.

 

[ssddx]

you are correct. it is alot of money to spend at one time and as such you want to doublecheck everything before you push the order through. after 5 or so builds ordered though i'm kind of used to it by now and it doesnt faze me at all.

yes, starting a thread then would be a good idea to get some additional input. you can pm me about it if you want my input or if you are confused about some suggestions.

oh and just for future reference... build threads go in /systems/new builds/

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: Okie dokie, I shall PM you at that time then. Hopefully you remember me. Lol.

And thanks again!

 

[ssddx]

well... you wouldnt be the first person to pm me quite a bit after the fact. i've had people pm me 6-8months later.

needless to say i require a bit of a memory helper to remember everything which is why i suggest that you keep this thread url and post it to me at that time. this way i know what options i discussed with you and your initial thoughts and my initial suggestions. otherwise, i'd have to start at square 1.

 

[RandomGuy123]

@ssddx: I'll make sure to reference back to this thread.

 

[MsSaver2]

@MsSaver2: Hey, thanks for replying. Yeah, Newegg does seem to have competitive prices. Though, I'll most likely buy everything from my local Micro Center to avoid having to deal with shipping.

I pre-ordered GeForce GTX Titan in Micro Center for $350, I think it's worth it though, never thought gift cards (from Giift) are a necessity when do shopping.