Computer Build Resource Thread

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Wabbit United States. July 26 2012 00:34. Posts 1007

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Motherboard doesn't affect gaming or any performance in general (I'm excluding ability to overclock and other irrelevant things like that). If you run the same CPU and video card on a $50 board they will run exactly the same as they do on a $200 board.

Whether or not USB 2.0 is ok is up to you. Do you really need the speed of USB 3.0? I doubt it, since it sounds like you're on a budget.

Anyway, most likely there isn't a good reason to get a "better" (more features that you might not use) motherboard. And if you don't give us your entire budget and planned build, you might end up with a poorly optimized configuration.

Last edit: 2012-07-26 00:35:14

[QUOTE][B]On July 29 2011 13:35 R1CH wrote:[/B] 575W PSU for $25? ಠ_ಠ[/QUOTE]

Toothless`xelrae July 26 2012 01:10. Posts 94

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On July 26 2012 00:34 Wabbit wrote:
Motherboard doesn't affect gaming or any performance in general (I'm excluding ability to overclock and other irrelevant things like that). If you run the same CPU and video card on a $50 board they will run exactly the same as they do on a $200 board.

Whether or not USB 2.0 is ok is up to you. Do you really need the speed of USB 3.0? I doubt it, since it sounds like you're on a budget.

Anyway, most likely there isn't a good reason to get a "better" (more features that you might not use) motherboard. And if you don't give us your entire budget and planned build, you might end up with a poorly optimized configuration.

Thanks for the advice. I already posted my budget and planned build a few posts back. I was just not confident on getting the asus mobo since I have a small knowledge on building PCs. Thanks a ton!

Edit:
My screen resolution is 1920x1080
are these GPUs good for it?
Powercolor hd 6850
Sapphire HD 5770
ASUS HD7770 Direct CU
Gigabytle Radeon HD 6850 GB 256-bit
SAPPHIRE HD 7770 GHz

Last edit: 2012-07-26 02:04:31

Wabbit United States. July 26 2012 02:09. Posts 1007

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HD 5770 < HD 7770 < HD 6850

Get the HD 6850 for 1920x1080. I looked back a couple of pages and you still haven't answered what games you're primarily looking to play. Because if this isn't primarily a SC2 build and you can't afford the HD 6850, you're better off going down to an i3 2100/2120 in order to upgrade the video card to a HD 6850/GTX460 or HD 6870/GTX560

[QUOTE][B]On July 29 2011 13:35 R1CH wrote:[/B] 575W PSU for $25? ಠ_ಠ[/QUOTE]

MonkTheBong Czech Republic. July 26 2012 02:24. Posts 72

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On July 25 2012 03:06 MonkTheBong wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

Anyone?

Toothless`xelrae July 26 2012 02:25. Posts 94

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Im mostly going to play SC2 and some LoL. I play skyrim and nba 2k12/2k13 (when it comes out) too.

Rachnar France. July 26 2012 02:46. Posts 1423

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On July 26 2012 02:24 MonkTheBong wrote:

Show nested quote +

Anyone?

can you buy from http://www2.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp ?

"What if it's a triple DK ?" "Then we cry" "Prepare your handkerchief then ..."

MonkTheBong Czech Republic. July 26 2012 02:58. Posts 72

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On July 26 2012 02:46 Rachnar wrote:

Show nested quote +

can you buy from http://www2.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp ?

Nope,only Czech e-shops,mainly I'd like to know if my build will work fine though.

Snackysnacks United States. July 26 2012 04:51. Posts 389

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On July 26 2012 02:58 MonkTheBong wrote:

Show nested quote +

Nope,only Czech e-shops,mainly I'd like to know if my build will work fine though.

If I get the time I could post some benchmarks on a similar build except with a slightly worse gpu (460).
Also don't pay the extra for the team speed.

（╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

MonkTheBong Czech Republic. July 26 2012 05:05. Posts 72

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On July 26 2012 04:51 Snackysnacks wrote:

Show nested quote +

If I get the time I could post some benchmarks on a similar build except with a slightly worse gpu (460).
Also don't pay the extra for the team speed.

That would be pretty awesome

Thanks

MaieVShadowsonG Greece. July 26 2012 06:03. Posts 32

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What is your budget?

my budget is about 900 euro

What is your resolution?

its for gaming machine and i would like 1080 :D

What are you using it for?

mostly gaming and some powerpoints etc

What is your upgrade cycle?

my upgrade cycle is about 5 to 6 years. i can change only gpu each or every 2nd year

When do you plan on building it?

in about 2 3 days i want to order it

Do you plan on overclocking?

nono thanks. i aint any imba cpu user. just gaming nothing more

Do you need an Operating System?

yes please

Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?

no thanks

Where are you buying your parts from?

hardwareversand

i would like to add something. in 900 euros i need a monitor too

Last edit: 2012-07-26 06:04:26

ThatGuy Canada. July 26 2012 06:52. Posts 630

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Hello TL.net gurus! I will be investing in a computer relatively soon and would like some opinions and critique on the current configuration I've come up with so far!

+ Show Spoiler [Important questions I have asked myself!] +

CPU: Intel Core i5 3450
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro 4-M mATX
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 (Was thinking about GeForce GTX 570, but it seems that the 7850 has very comparable performance and uses way less electricity)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (Will be getting 2 of these for 8GB. Does brand matter or can I get the cheapest 4GB sticks I can find?)
Power Supply: Corsair TX750 V2 750W
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black (Super sleek look! Also has noise cancelling which is a plus)
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 (Too much space? Also what's the different between SATA/SATA2/SATA3? Is it safe to get any version assuming they are all compatible with each other?)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA

Tallies up to around $1076.95.

Is there anywhere I can cut corners? I don't know much about brands, hardware, or terminologies so I could maybe save a bit. Also, any red flags in terms of durability/longetivity, electricity usage, or air flow/heat prevention?

Cheers!

Shauni July 26 2012 07:24. Posts 3832

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On July 26 2012 06:52 ThatGuy wrote:
Hello TL.net gurus! I will be investing in a computer relatively soon and would like some opinions and critique on the current configuration I've come up with so far!

+ Show Spoiler [Important questions I have asked myself!] +

CPU: Intel Core i5 3450
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro 4-M mATX
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 (Was thinking about GeForce GTX 570, but it seems that the 7850 has very comparable performance and uses way less electricity)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (Will be getting 2 of these for 8GB. Does brand matter or can I get the cheapest 4GB sticks I can find?)
Power Supply: Corsair TX750 V2 750W
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black (Super sleek look! Also has noise cancelling which is a plus)
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 (Too much space? Also what's the different between SATA/SATA2/SATA3? Is it safe to get any version assuming they are all compatible with each other?)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA

Tallies up to around $1076.95.

Is there anywhere I can cut corners? I don't know much about brands, hardware, or terminologies so I could maybe save a bit. Also, any red flags in terms of durability/longetivity, electricity usage, or air flow/heat prevention?

Cheers!

Cut corners... Hmm. I'd cut down the PSU to something like Earthwatts 380w. That one you picked is seriously overkill.
Also Vertex 4 / Agility 4 instead of Vertex 3 please. Newer, more reliable controller and faster. Not any real difference in price either.
Maybe you could skip HDD, reuse an old one or get 256gb SSD? The prices on them are not realistic, please don't but HDD unless you really need the capacity.
Could cut the case to something cheaper as well. But if you want it relatively silent and sturdy there aren't many decent cheaper options. Also consider the R4 revision is out.
I'm also against vengeance and similar type of meaningless RAM. But as long as you don't plan on a CPU cooler in the future it probably won't bother you.

Last edit: 2012-07-26 07:33:13

I'm taking whatever coverage I can get, because frankly, I'm busy working on this million dollar deal at my job. Early retirement is a good thing brotha man. - MessengerASL

Wabbit United States. July 26 2012 07:28. Posts 1007

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RAM is also way overpriced. Get the cheapest DDR3-1333 that runs at 1.5V. And get a 2x4GB kit, not two separate sticks.

Like this: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55544&vpn=996770&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced

[QUOTE][B]On July 29 2011 13:35 R1CH wrote:[/B] 575W PSU for $25? ಠ_ಠ[/QUOTE]

ThatGuy Canada. July 26 2012 08:07. Posts 630

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On July 26 2012 07:24 Shauni wrote:
Cut corners... Hmm. I'd cut down the PSU to something like Earthwatts 380w. That one you picked is seriously overkill.
Also Vertex 4 / Agility 4 instead of Vertex 3 please. Newer, more reliable controller and faster. Not any real difference in price either.
Maybe you could skip HDD, reuse an old one or get 256gb SSD? The prices on them are not realistic, please don't but HDD unless you really need the capacity.
Could cut the case to something cheaper as well. But if you want it relatively silent and sturdy there aren't many decent cheaper options. Also consider the R4 revision is out.
I'm also against vengeance and similar type of meaningless RAM. But as long as you don't plan on a CPU cooler in the future it probably won't bother you.

I was told that the PSU is one of the main things I should not hold back on. I basically want one that won't kill my electricity bills but will have the juice to keep everything steady and undestroyed lol. If the Earthwatts 380w will get the job done then I'll have a good look at it

.

Will do for the Vertex 4!

I definitely need some capacity. As I said I'll be doing some game development which will require a lot of space, and I like keeping a record of all my source assets (including art and audio). That being said, maybe I can go for a single 256 GB SSD and get a TB external hard drive or something. I heard that SSD have had problems in terms of reliability and lifespan, which is why I'm a bit hesitant on getting a large one; is it something I should be concerned with?

R4 looks nice too so I'll probably go with that one, since the price seems to be the same anyway. The other cases I looked at just didn't look very nice IMO, they either had too many grills and windows everywhere or had a bunch of LED lights lighting the place up.

EDIT: I can't find the R4 on any of the online retailers I know though (newegg, ncix, http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/ ... probably because it's so new!).

On July 26 2012 07:28 Wabbit wrote:
RAM is also way overpriced. Get the cheapest DDR3-1333 that runs at 1.5V. And get a 2x4GB kit, not two separate sticks.

Thanks, will do ^_^.

Last edit: 2012-07-26 08:13:38

skyR Canada. July 26 2012 08:20. Posts 11187

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R4 will probably be available by the time you purchase but why get the R4.. when the Corsair 550D is like $110?

Earthwatts 380D will get the job done. There's no point in wasting $50+ more for a 750w unit when you aren't overclocking or doing SLI so the entire configuration will have an extreme hard time going past 200w.

Earthwatts hardly goes on sale. You're probably looking at an Antec Neo Eco or w/e that goes on sale whenever you purchase.

Shauni July 26 2012 08:44. Posts 3832

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On July 26 2012 08:07 ThatGuy wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks, will do ^_^.

EA380W will get the job done, it's a decent PSU. Maybe not so good priced there at ncix, like skyr said neo eco 450w might be a better option. Or something more middleground like Golden Green 450w/Capstone 450w (if you want gold efficiency).

SSDs have a certain amount of write cycles, so larger drives last longer than smaller ones (so your concern is wrong, better buy a really big SSD if you are worried about lifespan). If you use it as some kind of server that does A LOT OF 4k writes without any sort of caching then yes, it can wear out faster than a HDD. Normally however, it will last much longer than an average HDD (about 10 years to an HDDs 5 in average).

Ah, you are right about the R4. It'll come into stores within about 2 weeks from what I'm seeing.

Last edit: 2012-07-26 08:47:11

I'm taking whatever coverage I can get, because frankly, I'm busy working on this million dollar deal at my job. Early retirement is a good thing brotha man. - MessengerASL

eskashaborn United States. July 26 2012 09:21. Posts 83

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Hello. I wanted to build a computer this summer, but unfortunately I'm not very knowledgeable about the parts.
I don't need Starcraft 2 to run on the highest settings, I just want it to run comfortably on decent settings and really well on low settings

.

Budget
$1000
Resolution
I'm not precisely sure...but I was thinking this might be nice...It depends on the monitors I guess.
This post suggests that 16 : 9 is the best aspect ratio though I don't know how HOTS will affect this.
So for now I'm thinking:
1920 X 1080
Uses
I plan to use it for gaming (SC2) and some random other stuff (most importantly gaming

)
Upgrade Cycle
I don't plan to upgrade for several years to come. So a minimum cycle of two years.
When
I plan on building it within the next couple weeks -> so very soon
Overclocking
I don't plan on overclocking at present.
Operating System
yeah...I do. I was thinking windows 7.
Second GPU
Hmm...I don't know much about this, but I'd say no.
Location
I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah USA.

Thanks in advance. And if you might have a monitor suggestion that's below $200 that would be helpful too!
Thanks again.

Sorry about all the edits -_-

Last edit: 2012-07-26 09:49:48

NoSlack United States. July 26 2012 14:48. Posts 112

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Hey you guys were great helping me get my rig together, and now I'm trying to get some advice for a friend who is currently gaming on a laptop and has some money coming to get himself a desktop. Can you guys help?

What is your budget?

$1200 US

What is your resolution?

720p on a 19" monitor that he needs to purchase.

What are you using it for?

Gaming (BF3 on max settings 60 fps), Streaming

What is your upgrade cycle?

2 years

When do you plan on building it?

ASAP

Do you plan on overclocking?

No

Do you need an Operating System?

Can get it from his school for $15

Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?

No

Where are you buying your parts from?

Online US websites

Thanks for the info!

Quaterno United Kingdom. July 26 2012 21:15. Posts 69

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I'm planning to build a new PC soon and wondered if anyone had any opinions on this build that I came up with. My budget is around £1500 and so far this looks pretty okay to me, although I'm not too up to speed with current trends and stuff. My main query was with the sli, I wasn't sure whether to add it but had some space in the budget and saw some benchmarks showing significant improvement over a single card. I'll be working at a 1920x1200 resolution and primarily using this for gaming and maybe streaming so I figured that it would be worth it. I don't need a monitor/OS.

Anyway here's the build, if anyone has some time to look over it I'd appreciate any opinions on value/additions/unnecessary components

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£256.46 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£26.65 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£108.98 @ Dabs)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£73.99 @ Dabs)
Hard Drive: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£110.00 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (£350.99 @ Dabs)
Case: NZXT Tempest 410 ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 600W ATX12V Power Supply (£53.52 @ Ebuyer)
Optical Drive: Sony BC5640H-03 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£60.33 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1100.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-26 14:02 BST+0100)

EDIT: Friend convinced me that SLI was a waste of money and to change the build

Last edit: 2012-07-26 22:03:03

VoriuM Belgium. July 26 2012 22:10. Posts 82

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My gpu and psu died very recently, the gpu is still in warranty but they said it will take 6-8 weeks before it's determined whether I will get a new one. Because it has burn marks and I think it's caused by the broken psu so I'm not too hopefull of getting a new one. I'm strongly considering to buy a new video card. This would be a card that's good enough to use for about a good year in case I don't benefit from my warranty and not too expensive so I haven't wasted too much money in case it does go through.

I'd love to hear your opinions on whether I should buy a new gpu and if yes, which would you recommend?

I mainly play at 1920 x 1080.

Thnx

edit: a third option is to buy a really cheap gfx card (less than 50 euro) and go with that for a few weeks. Thought about using my i5 2500k gpu chip but my mobo doesnt have anything to connect my monitor to.

Last edit: 2012-07-26 22:35:28