Need a guide

[wiggy1413]

Hi everybody, i'm not here posting the same old "somebody make a guide for me" i'm just new to building a pc, and i just want to know if people have a preferred guide on this site, or even another, as i'd like to have a good guide to work off of for my first crack at this, money isn't the issue, just the guide itself, i've found 2 or 3 so far and they're not really explanatory.

thanks in advance.

 

[ssddx]

a guide as to what exactly?

how to pick out parts?
to be good at this requires familiarity with both the parts and what they are capable of as well as brand knowledge. this isnt something you can pick up overnight but with a bit of guidance on what to look for even somoene non computer savvy can make a good system. most of us who recommend builds all the time know what performance is like between products and what is best for a certain price. we also know which brands are good and which are bad. i could definitely outline a few if you felt the need to do your own research but its easiest to just post a budget and ask for some build ideas on here.

how to assemble them?
there are various guides on how to do this on youtube which are well done and worth watching. again, i could likely list a few tips or tricks not covered by some of those videos but they are pretty informative.

how to overclock?
there are countless threads about this. just search for the cpu you want to overclock and look at some of the values they list. information about this can vary quite a bit depending on your actual hardware.

how to cable route?
look at some photos of good cable routing then look at your case and see what will work with the cable lengths you have. most of it is trial and error. again, i could probably offer some tips but this varies quite a bit depending on what kind of case you buy.

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could you please be a bit more specific about what kind of guide you are referring to?

keep in mind that there is literally TONS of information that could be covered in a guide. most just go over basics to get you going because having everything would be too much information and make your brain explode :lol:

list what you're not sure about and perhaps i could come up with something for you.

 

[wiggy1413]

a guide to picking out the parts, actually if its not too much trouble, i'd like to know what parts i even need.. i know the big ones, case, motherboard, cpu graphics card/s but that's about it =/, maybe some assembly but i'd assume most of the parts come with instructions, more than happy to do some of my own research, compatibility tips would be good i've heard you cant willy nilly buy crap and hope it fits together

truth is i don't even know what to begin researching however, i've done some research on overclocking ages ago, "might" try it when i finally build it but don't worry for now in my haste to find a decent guide i forgot to be specific, apologies.

as you said post a budget, i'd say anything around $1200, but it can go a few hundred over if need be.

thanks for taking your time to post something btw, much appreciated

 

[wiggy1413]

on a side note, holy <expletive> your gaming room is sick !

 

[ssddx]

would you like to have a short discussion on IRC about it? i'm free for a bit

 

[wiggy1413]

hey mate, can't really sit and chat today sorry, just dropping comments when i have a free minute if i sit at my computer too long we all know the games are gonna start happening if you dont have time to offer any advice thats full understandable ^_^

 

[ssddx]

you're basically asking to know "everything" about building computers. this is no easy task and would take me at least a few hours to go over with you.

i find it easier to discuss such things over irc since it lets me get the point across easier and lets you ask questions right away before i cover a new topic. be aware that when i say "discussion" its the equivalent of me writing a small novel and its likely to flood your brain with info until it pops :lol:

i do have time (or i wouldnt have offered) but realtime chat is how i prefer to discuss such a large amount of content. it uses a free online server with no software too.

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if that isnt your thing then i could always mention a build for you to consider around your budget and make a few notes about it. really not as helpful but i cant condense "everything" into posts (or it would be 20 pages long). so if you want to hear "everything" you would need to sit down for a few hours to go over it.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3IOee

your choice of course.

 

[wiggy1413]

a build around that budget would be great if you don't mind, and at least that way i know what's in the whole package and i can research each of those pieces on their own, then at least i have a good base to start with

 

[ssddx]

i linked one above. there are quite a few different ways it can shift though.
-could get rid of the ssd since it doesnt increase game performance, however it does make your pc boot faster, transfer files faster and act snappier
-could get a larger ssd if you had reason to.
-could go with a non overclocking rig
-could bump up to a slightly better video card

its missing an OS (i would get windows 7... unless you *like* the strange look of 8. personally i hate 8)

its also missing monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers. you did not state if the budget included them or if this was tower only.

 

[wiggy1413]

thanks for your advice, i already have 2 computer mouses, 2 monitors keyboard etc, main reason im building a pc is im so tired of retail crap, frustrating beyond words, i don't really have any other questions at present, i'll look through the guide above thanks again for your patience and time.

 

[wiggy1413]

would there be a massive performance difference between the build you linked me and this build? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3JeLL

 

[ssddx]

you are comparing apples to oranges...

the one you linked is $1458 while the one i linked is $1145. this isnt a fair comparison so... with that much of a budget increase i could throw in a 780ti to the one i linked. its then more of a fair comparison with the prices being about the same.

the 290x and 780ti compete side by side with neither having a big advantage. see here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1056?vs=1072 it seems that the 290x you listed is a decent price though. i prefer nvidia cards since i like the software and they support phyx but amd cards are good IF you can get them at a decent price (the bitcoin mining market drove prices up for awhile)

the i5-4670k however, steps all over the 8320. you can overclock the 8320 into the performance realm of an i5 however its really not the same and you can overclock the i5 to blow it away. for builds less than $800 amd makes alot of sense but for greater intel does. intel wins on performance, power consumption and thermal output but not on price. keep in mind that the amd fx chips run HOT and cant take a whole lot of thermal abuse so you need a good cooler and if you overclock this is doubly true. intel chips are easier to manage so you dont need to worry as much (but a good cooler is still good to have).

keep in mind that the build i listed also included a ssd. while its not large enough for lots of things it could handle the OS and a few programs for snappy windows performance and quick booting (as little as 9 seconds sometimes). of course it doesnt help for games so can be removed if you want pure gaming performance and dont care about startup times.

the build they listed had a bigger power supply. unless you plan on adding a second gpu this is not necessary. if you went with a 780ti on a build like mine i would likely say get a 600 or 650w for a bit more headroom but it might be okay on a 550 (i'd have to run the numbers to check).

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if i bumped the gpu up to match the build you specified... are there massive differences?

yes and no.

graphics wise... they would be fairly even.
the intel chip is more powerful so wouldnt get bogged down like the 8320 might in certain scenarios like multiplayer gaming.
the intel system would likely run cooler and draw less power from the wall.
with a ssd the boot time would be about 9 sec (ssd) to about 30-60sec (hdd) between the systems. this doesnt improve game performance though. windows will also feel faster on the ssd but slow (like computers from 2008 slow) since hdd technology hasnt advanced as far as speed very much. (ssd is what was developed because hdd are at their performance limits)

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i would have went over all these differences if you had wanted to take me up on my offer before