Want to build a fast PC - Need your advice...

[Athens]

Hello all,

I work on a pc about 8-10 hours per day. I currently have a Dell XPS pc (about 4 years old).

A friend of mine showed me his Alienware PC and I was amazed at how fast it was. He is not a gamer and neither am I.

Though I'm not a gamer, I hate waiting for programs to load (excel, outlook, pdf docs, etc).

I have been looking into getting a gaming pc for the speed though I'm not a gamer.

Can you recommend a good PC and even a reliable company to buy from?

I'm totally new to this and have always bought from big companies such as Dell and HP.

I'd appreciate any recommendations you have.

Thanks a bunch!

[Jmarcelo]

Build one! I built first high end computer and with the help from glc and numerous others I got a computer similar to the 2ed tier alienware computer. I saved around $500! If money is not an issue and you don't have a problem being forced Into choosing from a limited parts list then I suggest purchasing the bottom or 2ed tier alienware. It sounds like you need to look for a computer with a high ghz quad core and a large amount of matched ram maybe 8 or 12gb. I prefer the amd phenom II X4 965 and 8 gigs of dual channel ram from corsair, though it's expensive they are always reliable and efficient. Just my two cents! Gaming pcs tend to be more expensive because they have higher end graphics cards and the cutting edge components that are always 20% more expensive for 5% of the effectiveness. That's basically what I have learned here and I hope it helps.

[glc]

Wait till April when the revised Sandy Bridge boards are out, then figure out what you are going to do. Alienwares are a waste of money, you don't need to pay for a high end video card if you won't be gaming!

At the time. we can compare Dell's offerings to what you can build yourself.

[Athens]

Thanks Jmarcelo and GLC!

GLC, I can wait till April as I'm in no rush.

That being said, would you mind doing a build for me on Dell's site and posting a link to show me how you would set this up?

I'd really be interested in knowing how you would do it!

Thanks in advance!

[glc]

Do you need a monitor? How big a hard drive do you think you need?

I would get a XPS 8300. They are taking configurations and orders, but are not estimating shipping till 4/1.

Do you have a rough budget in mind?

[Athens]

I don't need a monitor as I have 2 currently.

I know the hard drive has a lot to do with speed. So I was thinking about getting an SSD drive. I just know they are expensive and are really small drives.

First, should I even consider going the SSD route?

Second, if I do go that route, would I be running mainly the operating system and the programs off of it? Then having a second drive for all the files.

My price range would be between $1,200 - $2,000.

[glc]

Dell doesn't offer a SSD in the 8300 and I don't really recommend them. If you really want one, custom build the computer yourself.

Dell - customize the second 8300 on the page (the one for $849). To get there - use the Home - Desktops - Performance selections.

Processor: i7-2600 (+$220)

I don't see any other upgrades that are necessary, but you might. I don't really like the fact that the 8gb ram uses all 4 slots.

[Athens]

So what's the difference if I just buy this off of Dell's website as opposed to building it myself?

I don't even know where to go to build my own. Where would I go for that?

Also, how does the support work on that as opposed to buying from a company like Dell?

[glc]

Building your own, you would order components and build it! You would choose each and every component. They would not be Dell components! The only support you would have is the manufacturer's warranty on each component.

I'd recommend you browse through other threads in this BYOPC forum to get an idea on how it works.

[Athens]

GLC,

I really appreciate you helping with this. I see that you are the "Top Dog" here. I'm honored!

Since I never thought of building my own PC, you have me thinking now. I did read threads in the BYOPC sections.

I think I understand what's involved.

The only thing how do I know what parts are compatible with what? I don't know where to start.

Just curious, why do you advise to stay away from Tiger Direct? I'll use NewEgg and Amazon but just curious.

I have 2 monitors and may move to 3.

I have Windows 7 Ultimate upgraded software.

Lastly, if you were to build me a PC from scratch and want it to last about 3-5 years, how would you build it based on what I described in this thread?

[Nuclear Krusader]

It's easy: just give us your budget and intended use for the system and we'll put together a computer for you with parts that are guaranteed to work together.

[glc]

Bring this thread back up in April when you are ready to buy, and we will advise you according to what is available at that time.

I'm thinking probably base it around an Asus Sabertooth P67 motherboard and an i7-2600 CPU. If you want to use 3 monitors, you would need an AMD/ATI video card that has "Eyefinity". Easily done for well under $2000. Perhaps the SSD's will be better by then too.

A BIG advantage of a "build your own" is the ease of upgrading and parts replacement. There will be nothing proprietary about it, it will all be industry standard parts, and you will be installing your own operating system without the preloaded bloated crap you get on a name brand preload. You can also choose a case by appearance!

[Athens]

Thanks Nuclear and GLC. I will do that.

With everyones help her on PC Mech, I am sure I can pull this off. I have installed 2-3 internal hard drives and ram several times so I have to imagine I'm not too far from putting together a complete PC.

I was speaking to a friend of mine about doing this. He told me that he built 2 pc's himself and I know he is very tech savvy.

However, my friend was telling me that their are few things to be concerned with building your own pc.

"If you build your own PC, you can't do a "burn in process". Big companies like Dell and HP complete a 24 hour burn in process to confirm everything is working properly".

Secondly, if something does not work, how are you going to be able to diagnose it.

What do you guys say about this?

[glc]

You certainly can "burn in" your own computer, but it's been many years since I've done this. If it works when you fire it up, it will be fine.

Take a look at the sticky thread on problems with a new build - I do this on EVERY build I do to verify the core components before starting further assembly.

[Nuclear Krusader]

With the junk that companies like HP put in their systems, they better do a "burn in".

Don't get overanxious, most computer problems are in essence quite simple. You can always come here for help or to ask questions before you build, whilst you build, and after you build.

[Athens]

Thanks guys! Your giving me belief that I can do this.

I purchased the upgrade version of Windows 7 Ultimate. If I configure this myself, I assume that I will have to purchase the home version of Windows 7 and then just use Windows 7 Ultimate to upgrade it. Is this correct?

[glc]

No, there are instructions on the web for installing the upgrade on a bare drive.

[Athens]

GLC,

I noticed you inform to not buy from Tiger Direct. How come?

[David M]

From what I have seen in this forum, Tiger Direct does not treat their customers well. I have read a number of threads about this over the years of being here. You very rarely hear about Newegg treating their customers bad. In fact, when a problem comes up, frequently a Newegg representative will post in this forum asking what he can do to make things right. I don't ever remember seeing TigerDirect rep do this.

[glc]

Tiger Direct sells a lot of "distressed" merchandise. The brands that they push (Ultra, ECS, XFX, and several others) are basically cheap unreliable crap, and their ad writers can make a turd smell like a rose.

[SARGE]

Originally Posted by glc Tiger Direct sells a lot of "distressed" merchandise. The brands that they push (Ultra, ECS, XFX, and several others) are basically cheap unreliable crap, and their ad writers can make a turd smell like a rose.

Why do you beat around the bush?? Just spit it out.

[David M]

Sometimes George is not a man of few words.

[Athens]

OK guys and girls, I'm nearing getting a new PC and as I stated before this is my first build (nervous yet excited). I would consider myself fairly tech savvy (troubleshot several things, changed and installed memory, installed hard drives, etc) but still really trusting I can rely on you PC Jedi Knights. I am a bit apprehensive in doing this but after reading recently on here how others have witnessed "not-so-bright" individuals building a PC, I'm much more confident.

I am not a gamer though I do like to play (Command and Conquer) every once in a blue moon.

So this is surely not a gaming PC.

My typical day on a computer is running at one time:

MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
MS Outlook, Word, OneNote, Excel (all 2007)
Mindjet Mindmanger (about 3 maps all the time)
Skype
ACT by Sage
MSE
Adobe Acrobat
Roboform
MobileMe
Firefox (sometimes as much as 50 tabs open)
Filezilla
Dreamweaver and Photoshop on occasion
Camtasia Studio
and numerous small utilities (Enounce, Sizer, Snagit, Deskpins, etc)
Acronis for backup (backs up every day)
iTunes

Current computer specs:

Dell XPS 410 (2006 or 2007?)
Intel Core 2 CPU 6600 @ 2.4 GHz 2.39 GHz
4.00 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE
2 monitors (19 inches)
2 internal HDD's both WD Caviar 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/16MB/SATA-3G
1 external 2 TB Seagate FreeAGent GoFlex Desktop (for backups)

As I stated, I work on my PC about 8-10 per day. My buddy had an Alienware he purchased about 1-2 years ago and I was blown away at how fast an excel spreadsheet opened.

Basically, I hate waiting to move between apps and such. My current PC is pretty good I must say however, I'm ready for the upgrade. I want don't want to wait for nothing.
As soon as I hit the mouse, I want that excel file to open asap. When I look at Acrobat files, boom!

I probably will keep my monitors but don't have an issue upgrading to preserve my eyesight (please recommend monitors if there is a such thing). I want to remain using 2 monitors but may upgrade to 3 in about 2 years.

Unless otherwise recommended I will continue to use my 2 TB Seagate drive for backup.

I'd like to stay around a budget of 1K but will go up to 2K USD if I need to for this build.

Unless it's overkill, I read and understand that SSD is great to run the OS and apps on, then use an HDD to save all my files, folders, photos, etc. Is this correct?

Reason I'm going with building my own pc is from what you all have said on this thread which is 1) more bang for the buck, 2) easily upgradeable.

I would like my rig to be quiet as much as possible.

I can also use that 2nd internal 500 GB drive for my files unless otherwise recommended (both the internals are 7200 rpms.......I would assume to be as fast as possible, I would need a 10K drive for this?)

Anyway, I'm all yours.

You all have been a blessing to me and looking forward to this!!

PS. I would like a card reader for SD's and plenty of USB ports. I have a mouse and keyboard. I would like to get a decent sound system but nothing serious.

Anything else I forgot? No, let's do this!

[birddog_61]

Ok let me take a swing at this.

Case.
Pick one you like made by a good company like thermaltake, antec, lian li etc.

Mouse and keyboard
I am assuming you have since you have monitors already.

OS
I think I read you already have this?

Motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

Ram
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

PSU
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

CPU cooler
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

SSD
Newegg.com - Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW120G3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Currently 30$ off

Fire it up and go into the bios turn the Turbo V Evo mode on and let the board overclock everything for you, you should end up with a final overclock in the 4.2ghz range. It will be fast, and should be perfectly stable.
The reason I chose this board is you said you wanted to possibly run 3 monitors in the future, this will allow you to have the choice in the future of running either 2 nvidia cards for your 3 monitors or running 1 ati card. I would stick with the on chip graphics while you are running 2 monitors.

[Athens]

@Birddog - Thanks for kicking this off for me!

That totals just over 1K. Very happy to hear this. I thought I was going to be more around the $1,500 area.

1) curious about a quad vs six core? I see that the six core (intel) is much more expensive. Is it worth the extra money?

2) intel vs amd?

3) to plug in the monitor cables, do I need any pci card for this?

4) sd reader?

5) 120 GB SSD; I was reading the post here on PCMech and the gentleman that did the post said 120 is "doable" but 256 GB is preferred. What are you feelings on this? Can I always upgrade later if I go with the 120 for now?

6) case; There are so many to choose from. Other than aesthetics, I really don't know why I would pick one over the other. Can you all recommend one and why?

7) graphics card?

on chip graphics

I assume this is what is used in place of a graphics card?

8) Will I need any other cables/wires? Trust me, please don't assume I know anything. I am a complete noob at this (lol).

@GLC - I would love your opinion as well on my first build. Thanks!

[glc]

Wrong motherboard, Birddog - that's a socket 1156 you listed, and it is not capable of passing the onboard video. There really aren't any H67 boards that are suitable for running SLI or Crossfire, so let's get a moderately priced video card now.

Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - HIS IceQ X Turbo H679QNT1G2M Radeon HD 6790 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

There are all kinds of card readers that fit in an external 3.5" bay, starting at $10. There really isn't much difference between them.

[birddog_61]

Oops, clicked the wrong socket and didn't catch it, go with the board glc posted or go with an h67 board if later when you decide you want 3 monitors you go with an ati brand card instead of nvidia. This way you can run your on chip graphics for 2 monitors and it keeps you from having to buy a graphics card now, if I were going to do an h67 board it would be this one.
Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M EVO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Since your not going to be hardcore gaming there is no need for sli, it is just the only way to run 3 monitors with a nvidia brand card.

You don't want to mess with the 6 core intel it is socket 1333 and is an enthusiast chip-set.

I run a 40gb ssd with my os and basic programs on it, I have about 14 gigs of space left, so I think 120 would be plenty for a boot drive with your core programs installed on it. However if you think you might need more space than that and have the cash to buy bigger then go for it, I only recommend Intel SSD because their failure rate is much lower than the other companies.

For your case just make sure it has enough drive bays for you, and is from a good company.

[Athens]

@Birddog

Just to be clear......If I wanted to avoid having to buy a graphics card now but wanted to get a MOBO that had the expandability for 3 monitors (in my future), are you saying to buy the H67? If so, you would buy this one?

Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M EVO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by Athens @Birddog Just to be clear......If I wanted to avoid having to buy a graphics card but wanted to get a MOBO that had the expandability for 3 monitors (in my future), are you saying to buy this one now? Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M EVO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

I am saying buy that board If you dont mind running a ATI graphics card in the future, because that board doesn't support sli(2 cards) which NVIDIA requires for 3 monitors. If you think you might want to run 3 monitors and you also want to do it with NVIDIA then you should buy the board glc posted. If you go with the board he posted you will have to buy you graphics card/cards now because that board does not support the on chip graphics.

[David M]

In my opinion Eyefinity is a better three monitor system than Nvidia's Surround system. One of a number of reasons is that it requires only one card, but more can be added.