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Author Topic: Gaming PC help  (Read 3823 times)

MasterFancyPants

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2011, 10:28:41 pm »

If you really don't want to build it yourself this is a pretty good site:
http://portatech.com/
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Shadowlord

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2011, 10:31:25 pm »

Not to mention case fans, which will probably come with the case (some do lack them).

The power supply may or may not come with the case, but I would recommend getting a good one, such as ...

Hmm, this appears to be a new version of the 750TX: Corsair TX750 V2. No reviews yet, so I don't know how it actually compares to the original 750TX.
This is the 750TX, which you can still get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

That is what I got for mine.
Corsair makes other wattages as well, but 750 should be more than enough unless you plan to run two video cards or the like.

For the graphics card, I'd go with a good NVidia card. ATI's cards have been rather disappointing with Shores of Hazeron (and OpenGL in general), and some ATI users with good cards can't even play Magicka. An entire class of cards (3800? 3900? I forget). Personally, I got an NVidia GTX 460 1GB, and have been quite pleased with it. NVidia has released some newer things since then (the 500 series), but this has worked marvelously.

If you're planning on using windows XP, it won't be able to see more than 3-3.5 GB of RAM. So 4 GB would be the most you would get any benefit out of having, but having the option to install more later would be nice still. Of course, nowadays, you may be planning on using windows 7 (or not using windows at all) in any case.

Deciding what CPU you want will determine what kind of motherboard and RAM you will need to get. It doesn't affect your graphics card or the like, but note that you will only be able to connect at most two PATA (IDE) devices to the motherboard, using one cable (if it has a place to plug in a PATA cable - they just don't make motherboards with two PATA cable connections on the motherboard anymore). I'd recommend a SATA hard drive (or two) for that reason, and because they are faster. If you still have a PATA DVD or DVD+-RW drive, I don't see a reason to replace it with a SATA one unless there's something wrong with it.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2011, 10:34:45 pm by Shadowlord »
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Sowelu

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #17 on: February 17, 2011, 10:33:54 pm »

Oh, yeah--Windows 7 for sure.  You can't do DirectX 10 with XP.  But then again, good luck trying to find a copy of XP anymore or a retailer willing to sell it.  Sucker's like ten years old now.
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Tellemurius

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2011, 10:34:21 pm »

Oh, yeah--Windows 7 for sure.  You can't do DirectX 10 with XP.  But then again, good luck trying to find a copy of XP anymore or a retailer willing to sell it.  Sucker's like ten years old now.
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ductape

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #20 on: February 17, 2011, 10:55:36 pm »

I just built a computer and I used this guide for parts:
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/budget-gaming-pc-q4-2010/
I tweeked it a bit and ended up spending about $720

For a budget of $800-$1300, check this guide:
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/mainstream-gaming-pc/

I found these guides to be very helpful, and I am very happy with what I got. I built the "Budget Gaming PC" and I can run most anything I have seen on max settings. Not Crysis, but I dont have that anyway.
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breadbocks

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #21 on: February 17, 2011, 11:05:15 pm »

Hopey shit. Those guides are perfect for me. Thanks, mang.
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ductape

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #22 on: February 17, 2011, 11:12:06 pm »

If you want, i can probably send you my NewEgg list of parts.
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Iced

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #23 on: February 18, 2011, 12:56:26 am »

I can't say much about the CPU (I'm not that knowlagable when it comes to AMD CPUs) but that 9800GTX is going to show it's age as soon as you load a modern game, I recommend getting at least a GTX260 or Radeon4870 1GB.
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kg333

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #24 on: February 18, 2011, 02:42:28 am »

Current list of things that look good:
Case: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187
G-card: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3738445&Sku=E145-9802
Motherboard: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4914878&Sku=I69-2204
Processor: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7023169&Sku=A79-1100
Power Supply: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3287208&Sku=C13-2500
Hard Drive: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5758911&Sku=TSD-2000EARS
S-Card (Wasn't on the list, but I saw these and figured I'd need one): http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4130281&Sku=C44-3394
Disk Drive: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6291833&Sku=L49-1055
RAM: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4631346&Sku=C13-6084
Cooling: http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5267687&Sku=C13-2528

Anything I missed? If not, I now need to check for compatibility. Fuuu-

Iced is correct, the 9800GTX is a bit old relative to the other parts you're looking at; you'll end up bottlenecking on graphics.  4GB of RAM is also a bit low, relative to the type of CPU you're looking at; 6GB or more would be nicer.

If it helps, here's a parts list for the machine I built last month: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12195254

I was on a tighter budget at ~$800, so you have wiggle room to add nicer stuff.  Points that could use improvement would be going from a quad-core to six-core (along with corresponding motherboard), changing to a motherboard to support Crossfire, a higher-quality power supply, and/or the next step up on AMD's GPU line.

The sound card and cooling are mostly unnecessary.  Get the sound card if you've got really nice speakers to go with your computer or you're an audiophile, otherwise the onboard sound with most motherboards is fine.  The liquid cooler is way overkill unless you're planning on overclocking, which I would not recommend until you've built at least one PC.

ductape's links there are good stuff too;if you've got the budget, those are really solid builds that you'll be quite happy with.

KG
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de5me7

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #25 on: February 18, 2011, 03:21:26 am »

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-252-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=

not saying you should buy this build, but it might give you an idea of what sort of parts to get

remember to factor in buying an OS, probs win 7 into your budget if you dont already have it. Also i think im right in saying you need win 7 64bit for your computer to make use of more tha 4gb ram
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Frajic

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #26 on: February 18, 2011, 10:39:57 am »

Downgrade the processor, upgrade the GPU. This one has four cores, and I doubt you're going to do some heavy multitasking(other than playing DF*6). As for GPU, you'll want more than 512 MB and GDDR3 by today's standards, especially if you're not going SLI/Crossfire. Look at this list and see if you find something moderately priced and powerful(your currently chosen GPU has about 1100 points). Maybe a GTX 460/Radeon HD 58xx/68xx?(note: if you're mildly interested in Linux, don't go for Radeon. AMD/ATI don't support Linux very well, my current card doesn't have any working drivers for them)

OH, and DEFINATELY get a better power supply. At least 650W.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2011, 11:15:29 am by Dwarf Midget »
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Android

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #27 on: February 18, 2011, 10:53:18 am »

I just built myself a new rig two weeks ago, this is what i got;

Thermaltake V3 case
Biostar T5XE motherboard
Intel i5-760 CPU
4 GB (2x2GB) Corsair RAM
1 TB HD
Two EVGA GTX 460 SE graphic cards
850W Corsair PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

This cost me just over 1 grand, but that is also BEFORE things like the monitor, speakers, keyboard, etc.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2011, 10:55:32 am by Android »
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breadbocks

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #28 on: February 18, 2011, 02:42:31 pm »

Thanks for the input guys. For once, schoo proxies piss me off. Will look into those at home.
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Jay

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Re: Gaming PC help
« Reply #29 on: February 18, 2011, 09:34:46 pm »

Most important compatibility issue:
CPU socket type.

That motherboard is an Intel LGA1156.
That CPU is an AMD AM3.
Incompatible.
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