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02-04-2012, 07:56 PM
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#1 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 16
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First-time gaming rig builder needs help
I'm completely new to building my own PC, so I've no clue what to do and was hoping I could get some advice. I'll primarily be using it for online gaming, but it'll also be used for Web-surfing, DVD-watching, and schoolwork. I'm building the entire thing from the ground up, and I'm hoping to spend less than $1,000 (not including OS and case). So I guess first thing is first: what information do I need to supply here to help you guys help me?
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02-04-2012, 09:54 PM
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#2 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 92
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Welcome!
I'm sure the experts will be around to help you, but in the mean time this thread will tell you what info to post. |
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02-05-2012, 01:15 AM
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#3 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Thanks, I've been reading around. I figured I'd try taking it one part at a time. I think I have my case picked out:
COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Should I be looking for a motherboard next, or a PSU? |
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02-05-2012, 01:36 AM
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#4 |
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Member (11 bit)
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You should pick parts in this order:
Processor > Motherboard > RAM > Video Card > Hard Drive > Media Drives (ie: CD/DVD, card reader, ect) > PSU Your motherboard is dependent on the CPU chosen, and RAM is dependent on the motherboard. You want to pick your PSU last because you will not know how many watts of power you will need until the rest of the system is picked out.
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Laptop HP DM4t / i5-560M / 14.1 WXGA Widescreen / 1GB Radeon Mobility 6370 / 4GB RAM / 320 GB 7200rpm HD / DVD-RW / 802.11n & BT wireless First Build Abit IC7-G Max II Motherboard / 2.8C 800mhz P4 / 1024 DDR 3200 (2x 512 in Duel Channel) / Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 / Samsung 120 GB SATA HD / Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM / NEC DVD-RW |
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02-05-2012, 05:45 PM
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#6 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Thanks for the tips and recommendations, guys! I was wondering: is overclocking safe? Will it make a drastic difference in my gaming experience? The case I'm getting (mentioned above) has 4 fans, but is that not enough to keep the CPU and everything else cool?
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02-05-2012, 06:22 PM
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#7 |
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Member (11 bit)
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Overclocking can make a bit of a deference, but it takes some practice as well. I wouldn't count on a huge performance jump for your first try at it.
Stock case fans would be fine. It's the CPU and GPU cooling systems that have a real effect on overclocking. Is it safe? That's kind of a subjective answer. If your willing to put in the time to learn and treat it like a hobby, then it can be. If you just have the goal of speeding up a computer and don't enjoy the process, it might not be. You can do damage if you aren't careful, and a lot of people have fried systems by pushing settings too far. |
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02-05-2012, 09:58 PM
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#8 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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I see, I'll do more research and consider overclocking. Faster performance is always tempting
 A had a question about the mobo jdeb referred to and one that my friend is considering getting for his next build. What is the difference between the one above and this one:ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS The latter costs more, but is the V-PRO superior to the V-LE? |
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02-05-2012, 10:16 PM
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#9 |
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Yes, it has PCI-E 3.0 and can run 2 video cards in Crossfire/SLI without one slot being slow. It also has more SATA 6.0 ports. If you will only be using one PCI-E 2.x video card and you don't need more than 2 SATA 6.0 ports, the LE is all you need.
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02-06-2012, 10:24 AM
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#10 |
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Techphile.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay
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Oerclocking is pretty safe with cores that shut down on their own if they start to overheat. With newer cores, overall, don't expect much gain in gaming performance. Although there are some newer games now which are somewhat more CPU dependent like Skyrim. But the bottom line is that gaming performance is primarily dependent on your graphics card.
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02-07-2012, 08:30 PM
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#11 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Thanks guys, I'm REALLY starting to understand more about the intricacies of a PC's hardware
About the SSD; is it necessary to have if I have a spacious HDD, or is it more of a luxury part? I don't think I understand what it can really offer compared to the HDD, and why it costs much more $ per gig. |
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02-07-2012, 08:47 PM
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#12 |
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A SSD is a luxury. It makes the machine boot up much faster, and can make programs open faster.
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02-07-2012, 09:11 PM
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#13 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Also, how do I find out what kind of voltage a mobo like the Asus mentioned above can safely handle from a RAM? I'm looking at G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2 Newegg.com - G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2 currently, and some reviews warn that you should really make sure your mobo can handle the voltage when OC'ing I think.
Additionally, this version Newegg.com - G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR is $10 more, has slightly slower timing and is 1.5V, but runs faster at 1866. I can spend that much more for even better performance, but is it worth it? |
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02-07-2012, 09:27 PM
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#14 |
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Member (11 bit)
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First off, G.Skill has dropped off of the unwritten recommended list for RAM manufacturers. They've had quality issues. There is a small list of solid brands, Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, and ADATA. G.Skill used to be in a small group of second tier brands, but they've dropped the ball for awhile.
Voltage is normally a non-issue. It really only comes into play when overclocking, and sometimes for specialized motherboards. In general you should stick to the standard voltage models. As for the speed question, you can buy one speed step higher then your motherboard is rated for if you;d like to do some overclocking. Any higher however will not improve anything. Motherboards can only transfer data into RAM so fast. Faster RAM beyond maybe one step faster for overclocking, will do thing for performance. |
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02-07-2012, 11:05 PM
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#15 |
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The best ram for a Z68 board is 1.5 volt Corsair Vengeance 1600 low profile.
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02-11-2012, 12:27 PM
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#16 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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I'm considering going with the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOSNewegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS, so that I leave the option of going SLI open in the future. Will the Seasonic PSU listed above be able to handle SLI comfortably, or will I need a more powerful one? Also, with this mobo, should I upgrade the video card to one with PCI-E 3.0, or should I just wait until I'm ready to go SLI?
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02-11-2012, 01:05 PM
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#17 |
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No 620 is certified for SLI for any pair of serious video cards.
PCI-E 2.0 cards will work fine on a 3.0 board. |
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02-11-2012, 04:39 PM
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#18 |
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Member (5 bit)
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Ok, awesome. How about my HDD? With the V-PRO board, will I get better efficiency from a 64 MB cache, or is the improved performance insignificant compared to the 32 MB cache?
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02-11-2012, 04:59 PM
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#19 |
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Right now isn't a good time to be fussy about hard drives, with the prices the way they are. If you use the recommended hard drive along with the recommended SSD using SRT, you will be fine.
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02-11-2012, 06:03 PM
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#20 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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I heard, though, that if using SRT, it's more reliable to use SLC drives rather than MLC? Will SLC drives last longer than MLC ones using SRT?
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02-11-2012, 06:12 PM
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#21 |
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The Intel 320 drives are very reliable.
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02-11-2012, 07:27 PM
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#23 |
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What is your monitor budget, and what size do you want?
I prefer Asus with LED backlights. |
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02-11-2012, 10:32 PM
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#24 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2012
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22"-27", around $150-$200 budget. I love LED backlight, as well.
ASUS VH238H 23" LED LCD Monitor w/$10.00 Mail-in-Rebate | Overstock.com I found this one, it seems like a good value, but not many reviews to give me a good idea on the product. Response time is 2 ms. Contrast ratio is 50 million:1. Max res is 1920x1080. Built-in speakers. Is this pretty good? And this: http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...7/product.html Last edited by riggeDDM2011; 02-11-2012 at 11:00 PM. |
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02-12-2012, 12:01 AM
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#25 |
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Member (11 bit)
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Here are both monitors at Newegg. Even if something is a bit cheaper at Amazon, Overstock, or one of the other online retailers, I always check reviews at Newegg. They have the community pool for quality and usually a quantity of reviews for popular models.
Newegg.com - Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 Newegg.com - ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 I would probobly go for the VS. It's actually a few dollars cheaper at Newegg with a small promo code right now. Last edited by Staren; 02-12-2012 at 12:04 AM. |
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02-12-2012, 10:39 AM
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#26 |
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Member (5 bit)
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Thanks! I just noticed, though, that they're both 2 ms GTG =/ They failed to include that part in the Overstock site. I'll compare with Newegg info from now on. Is it true that because it's gray-to-gray, the 2 ms is actually more like 5 ms? If so, I think it'd just be more economical if I went for a 5 ms monitor. I'd really love a true 2 ms monitor, though. I'd hate to get any ghosting during gameplay after spending so much to build a rig. If I've gotta spend more to get a true 2 ms screen, then I guess so be it.
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05-08-2012, 11:35 AM
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#27 |
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Member (5 bit)
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I waited a few months, but I'm very close to finishing my build before I buy everything. Glad I did, because I'm getting the Ivy Bridge i5-3570k processor today
For the mobo, should I stick with a Z68 board, or upgrade to a Z77 board now that I'm getting the IB? I want to stick to the Asus brand for the board.
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05-08-2012, 12:37 PM
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#28 |
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I would get a Z77.
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05-09-2012, 01:09 PM
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#29 |
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Thanks, I think I'm set on getting the Asus P8Z77-V PRO board. Will the CM Hyper 212 EVO be sufficient enough to keep this CPU cool while OC'ing? I've read that the Ivy Bridge can get extremely hot, and it doesn't handle OC'ing as easily as its Sandy predecessor.
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