Alright PC nerds, let's talk turkey

So I'm gonna have some extra money next month, and I figure instead of being a dumbass and spending it on something like my college loans, I'll spend it on something more essential like a gaming PC.

Problem is even though I am a certified SeC Tech Specialist™, I don't know dick about hardware. I have no idea what is good anymore, last time I was paying attention the GeForce 2 was the shit.

I also don't really want to build me own because I'm too lazy/clumsy.

So does $700-800 sound like a good price range for a PC that can play everything that's out now? Anyone want to point me to a good one in that range or give me some tips on what to look for?

Also a couple general questions:
1. SSD only helps with loading times, right? If so, I'd rather put the money towards something else like a better graphics card/processor.
2. If I'm just going to be using this for gaming and regular tasks, should I get no more than 4 cores?

You could get good hardware for that price, but getting somebody to build it for you would put it over budget. Unless you want to go the pre built route...which personally I would highly advise against.

Also yes you can get hardware for that price that will destroy current games.

I would reccomend the I5 2500k if its just for gaming, and maybe the GTX 560ti for your video card. I think Tom has that one, so Im sure he could give you input on it.

What's so bad about pre-built?

I was thinking about just getting something from newegg, they seem to have a lot of good ones there.

I am tempted to build one, I have before with cheap shit but I'd be afraid I would break something.

Pre builts are a rip off. Generally you get inferior parts for the price.

This is pretty common. Its 100% about the price to performance ratio.

It would be hard to get a nice PRE built gaming PC for 700.

If you built it yourself you could stay in budget as long as you have a monitor/m&kb

Are there places that charge a fee to assemble a custom PC for you?

I feel like if that only costed like an extra $100 it would be worth the guarantee that it wouldn't be broken.

Check out ecollegepc.com

http://www.ecollegepc.com/intel-core-i5-configurator.html

So I tinkered with it and put together a good rig for 800.

Link doesn't work, that's just the default stuff.

Alright, what about this?

Basically just used the suggestions you gave me:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core
Stock Intel LGA1155 Heatsink and Fan
GIGABYTE H61M-S2PV (Intel H61, VGA, DVI, PCI-E, 4xSATA, 2xDDR3)
16GB (4GBx4) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps (Major Brand)
24X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD /-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB GeForce GTX 550Ti GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
Acer 20in S201HLbd 1600x900 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 5ms DVI
Foxconn Black TLM436 (2 5.25, 6 3.5) Fan, Front Audio/USB
ISO400 Foxconn Stock Power Supply
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Stereo Speakers (black)
Black Logitech MK120 Desktop Wired Keyboard and Mouse
Wires and Cables neatly tied up away from fans
3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty

Totals up to $1007(computer itself is $725 I think, includes monitor and keyboard and windows)

I'll probably actually be buying the monitor somewhere else though.

go for 8GB of RAM. you don't need 16GB for gaming.

Alright cool.

Wait shit, should I get something other than an onboard soundcard?


Also it looks like I'm spending less than $100 having those dudes build it for me, good deal.
EDIT: And that's before the 15% discount...

Chewy wrote:Alright, what about this?

Basically just used the suggestions you gave me:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core
Stock Intel LGA1155 Heatsink and Fan
GIGABYTE H61M-S2PV (Intel H61, VGA, DVI, PCI-E, 4xSATA, 2xDDR3)
16GB (4GBx4) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps (Major Brand)
24X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD /-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB GeForce GTX 550Ti GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
Acer 20in S201HLbd 1600x900 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 5ms DVI
Foxconn Black TLM436 (2 5.25, 6 3.5) Fan, Front Audio/USB
ISO400 Foxconn Stock Power Supply
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Stereo Speakers (black)
Black Logitech MK120 Desktop Wired Keyboard and Mouse
Wires and Cables neatly tied up away from fans
3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty

Totals up to $1007(computer itself is $725 I think, includes monitor and keyboard and windows)

I'll probably actually be buying the monitor somewhere else though.

Motherboard and power supply are crap and 2500K is useless since you will not be able to overclock it. 550 ti is also not that great. Everything else looks decent besides the monitor, though it could be better for a 550 ti since it is a lower resolution.

Chewy wrote:Alright cool.

Wait shit, should I get something other than an onboard soundcard?


Also it looks like I'm spending less than $100 having those dudes build it for me, good deal.
EDIT: And that's before the 15% discount...

Onboard audio is usually fine unless you have >$100 headphones.

Tom wrote:

Chewy wrote:Alright, what about this?

Basically just used the suggestions you gave me:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core
Stock Intel LGA1155 Heatsink and Fan
GIGABYTE H61M-S2PV (Intel H61, VGA, DVI, PCI-E, 4xSATA, 2xDDR3)
16GB (4GBx4) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps (Major Brand)
24X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD /-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB GeForce GTX 550Ti GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
Acer 20in S201HLbd 1600x900 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 5ms DVI
Foxconn Black TLM436 (2 5.25, 6 3.5) Fan, Front Audio/USB
ISO400 Foxconn Stock Power Supply
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Stereo Speakers (black)
Black Logitech MK120 Desktop Wired Keyboard and Mouse
Wires and Cables neatly tied up away from fans
3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty

Totals up to $1007(computer itself is $725 I think, includes monitor and keyboard and windows)

I'll probably actually be buying the monitor somewhere else though.

Motherboard and power supply are crap and 2500K is useless since you will not be able to overclock it. 550 ti is also not that great. Everything else looks decent besides the monitor, though it could be better for a 550 ti since it is a lower resolution.

Chewy wrote:Alright cool.

Wait shit, should I get something other than an onboard soundcard?


Also it looks like I'm spending less than $100 having those dudes build it for me, good deal.
EDIT: And that's before the 15% discount...

Onboard audio is usually fine unless you have >$100 headphones.

What are the benefits of having a good motherboard and power supply?

And what do you suggest for a good one? As well as graphics card and processor?

Keep in mind I'm trying to keep it around $800 here.

I would really suggest trying to get the GTX 560 ti for your GPU. Best bang for your buck for the range your looking for.

That CPU is fine. That 2500k is great for gaming. Tom just meant you wont be able to OC with that Mobo.

An upgrade to the 560ti is doable. I'll probably get a higher res monitor as well, I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-S231HL-23-Inch-Widescreen-Ultra-Slim/dp/B003N7P6TC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343776294&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+S231hl


I doubt I'm going to be overclocking, I don't even know how to do that and don't you need a really good cooling system?

Speaking of that, should I be cool with stock fans?

Chewy wrote:An upgrade to the 560ti is doable. I'll probably get a higher res monitor as well, I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-S231HL-23-Inch-Widescreen-Ultra-Slim/dp/B003N7P6TC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343776294&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+S231hl


I doubt I'm going to be overclocking, I don't even know how to do that and don't you need a really good cooling system?

Speaking of that, should I be cool with stock fans?

Stock fans are usually ok. But I would look into an aftermarket CPU fan.

Yea also I would try to get a 1080 monitor. First build is always the most expensive.

Its so cheap to maintain from that point forward.

Hm, only $27 extra for aftermarket fans so might as well...

Is this a worthy upgrade for a motherboard(only $12 extra)? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138357&Tpk=b75mu3%2b

Or should I go with something better? Or does it really only matter if I'm trying to OC?

And what's the point of having a better power supply?

Chewy wrote:Hm, only $27 extra for aftermarket fans so might as well...

Is this a worthy upgrade for a motherboard(only $12 extra)? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138357&Tpk=b75mu3%2b

Or should I go with something better? Or does it really only matter if I'm trying to OC?

And what's the point of having a better power supply?

Thats a better board, but still not really meant for OC.

If you dont want to OC its a really good board, and is the right socket for your CPU.

Fwiw, I dont OC and I do video and audio editing on my PC. Really see no need to OC with my current hardware.

About the PSU, more wattage means you can run more things of your PC. Ill have to look at the original one in the build first, I dont remember what it was.

Also a high quality PSU will last much longer, and are usually very reliable.

Yes Tom is right, that is a shit PSU haha.

I would get at least 500 watts, and look Cooler Master or Corsair(which is what I have)

Ill look into the power consumption of the 560ti real quick

You need at least 500 watts. 600 would be best if you can swing it.

This is mostly for your GPU(if you decide to get the 560ti)

What about this PSU?

http://www.corsair.com/en/power-supply-units/cx-series-psu/builder-series-cx600-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

Cheapest one that's 80 plus certified, costing $67 extra. Is 600W gonna be good?

There's also a 650W AGI power supply for only $49 extra, but it's not 80 plus certified. But I mean fuck my electric bill.

Chewy wrote:Hm, only $27 extra for aftermarket fans so might as well...

Is this a worthy upgrade for a motherboard(only $12 extra)? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138357&Tpk=b75mu3%2b

Or should I go with something better? Or does it really only matter if I'm trying to OC?

And what's the point of having a better power supply?

If you do not plan to at all overclock you do not need an aftermarket cooler. This is also why you do not need a k series processor. A good motherboard matters because of the features they bring, like UEFI bios, more sata ports, sli support, and a slew other features. Plus the simple fact is the your motherboard links everything in your computer and it is generally advised that you get a quality one so you do not need to worry about stability or needing to upgrade it down the line. Like the name suggests, a power supply powers you entire computer. Not getting a quality one means you will not be able to upgrade, might not even to be able to support your entire system. Plus there is the fact that if that thing dies it will fry everything else in the computer.

Thats actually the same PSU I put into my wifes build haha.

I really believe 600 watts should be enough. But I wouldn't go any lower than that for sure.

What do you think Tom? You think 600 watts is enough for that GPU?

Should I swap out my processor with an i5-3570 then?

Chewy wrote:Should I swap out my processor with an i5-3570 then?

I still maintain that the 2500k is the best price to performance gaming CPU out right now.

BUT, Tom does have a point about OCing. But it would be nice to have that option in the future.

Yeah but the 3570 is .1GHz faster, and only $1 more. It seems like it would make sense to get that instead if the only advantage of the 2500k is overclocking.

This look like a good quality board? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138353

Chewy wrote:This look like a good quality board? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138353

Go with the 3570 and get this board. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157296

600 watts should be more than enough and will allow you to upgrade, it will not allow you to sli though.

They only have the Extreme4 on the list, not the Pro4. Will cost me an extra $30 more than the one I just posted.

Worth it or do you see something else that's on the list(here) that would be a better choice?

Chewy wrote:They only have the Extreme4 on the list, not the Pro4. Will cost me an extra $30 more than the one I just posted.

Worth it or do you see something else that's on the list(here) that would be a better choice?

I would say get the extreme4 then. Even though it is a bit more you do get a lot more features.

Alright, cool.

Here is my final build, pending SeC Approval:

Intel Core i5-3570 3.4Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core
Stock Intel LGA1155 Heatsink and Fan
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (Intel Z77 HDMI, 2xPCI-E, 8xSATA, 4xDDR3)
8GB (4GBx2) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps (Major Brand)
24X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD /-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB GeForce GTX 560Ti GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Apevia Black/Blue X-Trooper (4 5.25, 5 3.5) 5 Fans, Audio/USB/eSATA
600watt Corsair CMPSU-600CX V2 80 PLUS CERTIFIED
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Wires and Cables neatly tied up away from fans

There's a couple things I'm thinking about removing though:
Windows 7(can get it for cheaper on Amazon), and the RAM. I figure I can get a better brand of RAM for about the same price, and it's easy as shit to install. At least I hope so, I haven't had a box for a while so I don't know if I can get to the mobo without having to take anything else out.

Total price is $931 if I decide to keep the RAM. A little more than I was hoping to spend but fuck it.

RAM is probably the easiest to replace, as long as you don't have a CPU heatsink that overlaps the RAM area, and your RAM has its own heatsink.

If you know someone that attends higher education, ask that person to et windows for you (or are you attending at the moment?). Its dirt cheap in universities.

Looks really good man. That thing would beast BF3, for comparison.

RAM is easily accessible without removing anything, never seen a heatsink big enough to cover the Ram haha.

How much are they charging you for the gigs of ram?

Good call Storm, I live nowhere near my campus and I'm already graduated so I don't think I can get that deal, but my brother is currently getting his PhD around here so maybe he'll be able to help me out there.

Or I can just get Windows Server for free from dreamspark, close enough right? They got 2012 RC available!


And they're charging $44 for the 8GB of RAM, and it's no doubt a cheap brand seeing as they don't list it. I can get the same amount of Corsair RAM from Amazon for the same price.

Mr. Lundegaard wrote:RAM is easily accessible without removing anything, never seen a heatsink big enough to cover the Ram haha.

My last desktop had a heatsink that overlapped the RAM area, and my Corsair XMS series JUST barely fit without contacting. Probably one of the reason why it had a lot of BBoD. LoL

Chewy wrote:Good call Storm, I live nowhere near my campus and I'm already graduated so I don't think I can get that deal, but my brother is currently getting his PhD around here so maybe he'll be able to help me out there.

Or I can just get Windows Server for free from dreamspark, close enough right? They got 2012 RC available!


And they're charging $44 for the 8GB of RAM, and it's no doubt a cheap brand seeing as they don't list it. I can get the same amount of Corsair RAM from Amazon for the same price.

Since he is a student he can easily get windows 7 for like $20. Also for BF3 performance you can expect around 50-60 fps on max with no AA. On back to karkand maps it dips into the 30's a lot. Honestly if you can wait a month I would suggest getting a 660 ti over a 560 ti if it launches at $250.

I now have a craving for hot turkey in gravy, thanks chewy.

No problem bro, get your turkey on.

And Tom the thing is I don't know if these guys are gonna stock it right away, that does seem like a significant upgrade for a slight increase in price though.

I bet it's going to be closer to $299 though, and I'm really already way over my original budget. I think what I got now should be more than sufficient to last me quite a few years.

I think I may as well wait though, I think I have to live at my brothers house for a week in a week or two here anyways. I'll ask the guys at the site if they're gonna stock it right away.

So apparently they use Super Talent memory... never heard of it.

Anyone know if it's good? It's actually more pricey than Corsair and Kingston on Amazon.

At any rate, this seems like it's my better option: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-Modules-KHX1600C9D3K2-8GX/dp/B0037TO5C0/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1343821633&sr=8-15&keywords=kingston+4gb+ddr3+ram

Pretty much get a free RAM upgrade there.

Yeah I haven't heard of super talent either but I'm still pretty nooby when it comes to PC stuff.

Just googled them real quick I guess they're a new company and some reviews said their stuff is pretty high quality...Being new and all though maybe there's some reliability issues that could develop down the line?...I don't know.

If I were you I'd probably go with a trusted brand that you know is gonna work well and last.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Especially since I can get 8 gigs of 1600MHz RAM from a trusted brand for the same price.

Anyways they just emailed me saying they'll add the 660ti to the list when it comes out, so I think I'll wait for that.

Chewy wrote:Yeah that's what I was thinking. Especially since I can get 8 gigs of 1600MHz RAM from a trusted brand for the same price.

Anyways they just emailed me saying they'll add the 660ti to the list when it comes out, so I think I'll wait for that.

yeah if it's just around the corner that card looks pretty sweet. Saw some benchmarks on it. It comes pretty close to the GTX 670 which is a beast.

So is it true that it's not even possible to run 1600MHz RAM without a processor capable of overclocking?

Chewy wrote:So is it true that it's not even possible to run 1600MHz RAM without a processor capable of overclocking?

I believe it's your Mobo that has to have overclocking capabilities for you to run higher RAM speeds but from what I gather most current boards will support 1600Mhz RAM.

Yeah I know my board will support it, but I thought I read somewhere that the processor had to be able to overclock as well. So it might be possible that I can use it, it will just act as 1333 RAM.

Chewy wrote:Yeah I know my board will support it, but I thought I read somewhere that the processor had to be able to overclock as well. So it might be possible that I can use it, it will just act as 1333 RAM.

hmm don't know but yeah worst case scenario just set the RAM at 1333 in the BIOS and you'll be good.

I actually just found out that the 3570 has a native 1600MHz memory controller

So I should be good to go!

Already ordered my memory, monitor and keyboard. Just waiting until that damn 660ti comes out.

Chewy wrote:I actually just found out that the 3570 has a native 1600MHz memory controller

So I should be good to go!

Already ordered my memory, monitor and keyboard. Just waiting until that damn 660ti comes out.

Right I forgot Ivy bridge got native 1600 support.