SRL Archive - Discussions & Debates

Aite. So my previous thread was about a Video Card… This thread is about my first computer build. Im very excited about it and I hope you guys can really help me on choosing the right things.

Goal: To build a computer that is suitable for gaming.

Budget: 600$

Case:
None

Video Card:
None

Motherboard:
None

Ram:
None

Hard Drive:
None

Well as you see im going to need alot of help. So can anyone please post there 2 cents on what to choose and which parts to buy?

Thanks~

for RAM I'd go 4gb to start out with, some people will come and tell you you want over 9000 gigs, but 4 will probably be good on a budget, and it's super easy to upgrade later.

Buy from newegg, look for mail in rebates, ACTUALLY do the rebates, wait 3-4 months, get some money back, it's like christmas when the check comes :p

with the budget forget about SSD HDD, if it's solid gaming you'd probably only need like 250, or 320. Possibly go with a 10000 rpm hdd, I think they're faster, haven't looked at specs though.

Case, do you want flashy with lights and fans out the wazzoo, or classy and functional, with fans. And peace and quite with good cooling costs more money.

Sorry for the no specifics :p just tryin to point out things out loud.

From: Brain
for RAM I'd go 4gb to start out with, some people will come and tell you you want over 9000 gigs, but 4 will probably be good on a budget, and it's super easy to upgrade later.

Buy from newegg, look for mail in rebates, ACTUALLY do the rebates, wait 3-4 months, get some money back, it's like christmas when the check comes :p

with the budget forget about SSD HDD, if it's solid gaming you'd probably only need like 250, or 320. Possibly go with a 10000 rpm hdd, I think they're faster, haven't looked at specs though.

Case, do you want flashy with lights and fans out the wazzoo, or classy and functional, with fans. And peace and quite with good cooling costs more money.

Sorry for the no specifics :p just tryin to point out things out loud.

Kk thank you! Well yes im using new egg. Fuck intel so fricking expensive. How does this bundle pack sound and case?

Quad

Need help with a case. I would prefer if it came with a power supply.

Also need help with the following:

Ram- I prefer 4 gigs.

Hard drive-200-250 gb is good enough.

Video card- I want it a good one. HD radeon?

Get a HD 4890! I got this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121308&cm_re=hd_4890-_-14-121-308-_-Product
That combo looks good. Don't get nVidia btw, ATi is better price-quality wise.

I, myself have 4 gigs of RAM, win xp media center '05, is fine for me. I have an Intel Core Quad (Q9550; 2.83GHz), HD4890 and Intel DQ35JO mobo.
I can run stuff like MW2 on max settings without lag on a 1440x900 widescreen display.

This should come out to around 600$ USD


Case: Antec 300
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-MA770T-UD3P
Processor: AMD Phenom II X3 720
Video Card: Sapphire HD5770 1GB
Memory: OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
Optical Drive: LG DVD Burner

Maybe a 750W PSU is better for that setup. Vid cards drain energy :x

From: Floor66
Maybe a 750W PSU is better for that setup. Vid cards drain energy :x

gotta have some 'breathing space'.

From: Floor66
gotta have some 'breathing space'.

Thats not how electricity works, lol. Its rated for 500w, it will put out 500w. Its not no random brand from china sweatshops.

If he really wants to, sure I guess he could go 750w. It is his money. Is all that needed? No.

I'm sure it outputs 500w, but the different parts in your PC might require more… Or it's just because my PSU is a crappy brand (I didn't pick it myself :S) ^^

if you draw 500W from a 500W PSU it is running at max capacity, making it run hotter and wear out out quicker. If you draw 500W from a 600W PSU, you aren't running at full capacity, you are keeping it cooler, and possibly extending the life, not to mention leaving room for upgrades later.

I agree with the AMD-ATI approach. Whatever you do, do NOT get a powercolor video card!!!! I bought one because it was cheap but good radeon hd 4870 1 gig but the fan made a buzzing noise after like a month so i sent it back like 1 month ago…still dont have it. I would also second the 750W psu, just in case you decide to crossfire sometime.

From: XcanadamanX
I agree with the AMD-ATI approach. Whatever you do, do NOT get a powercolor video card!!!! I bought one because it was cheap but good radeon hd 4870 1 gig but the fan made a buzzing noise after like a month so i sent it back like 1 month ago…still dont have it. I would also second the 750W psu, just in case you decide to crossfire sometime.

Crossfire is never worth it, you barely get any respectable returns on a multi-GPU set up. Lucid's Hydra chip is looking to change that, at the moment no real benchmarker afaik has gotten their hands on it but from what I hear it works as it claims. But ill believe it when I see the benchmarks.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108194
GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130531
MB & CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304701
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161183
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121045
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030


$547.94 before tax and shipping (graphics, ram, dvd drive & case are free shipping.)
Assuming you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse you're going to continue using. That's probably what I'd do with that budget, but no means do you have to.

I've always used NVidia for my graphics, tend to be good bang for your buck. Make sure your case has good fans (listed as stuff like "1x120mm top fan", and make sure it all fits together.

From: scubajesus
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108194
GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130531
MB & CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304701
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161183
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121045
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030


$547.94 before tax and shipping (graphics, ram, dvd drive & case are free shipping.)
Assuming you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse you're going to continue using. That's probably what I'd do with that budget, but no means do you have to.

I've always used NVidia for my graphics, tend to be good bang for your buck. Make sure your case has good fans (listed as stuff like "1x120mm top fan", and make sure it all fits together.

Why would he want to buy a GT 240? You could get a better performing 4770 for like 10$ more. Almost 80% more performance at that. But thats all old hardware, Nvidia won't have any DX11 supporting hardware for a while and isn't even competing with ATI atm. The new DX11 cards mop the floor on all price brackets and will REALLY hurt nvidia come January when the 5670 is released, which will retail around the 70-100$ which will be like 50% faster than the 4670.

The Athlon X4 620 is a nice chip I agree, but the X3 will perform better in games.

Why Intel vs AMD?
What do you like more about AMD?

From: Capricorn
This should come out to around 600$ USD


Case: Antec 300
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-MA770T-UD3P
Processor: AMD Phenom II X3 720
Video Card: Sapphire HD5770 1GB
Memory: OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
Optical Drive: LG DVD Burner

From: scubajesus
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108194
GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130531
MB & CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304701
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161183
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121045
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030


$547.94 before tax and shipping (graphics, ram, dvd drive & case are free shipping.)
Assuming you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse you're going to continue using. That's probably what I'd do with that budget, but no means do you have to.

I've always used NVidia for my graphics, tend to be good bang for your buck. Make sure your case has good fans (listed as stuff like "1x120mm top fan", and make sure it all fits together.

Sorry for posting late, had basketball.
Thanks to both of you guys! Im really considering both of your guys items.

But im still not sure about the graphics card…

Right now the ATI cards are way better than the NVidia cards for price, although I expect that to change when NVidia's 300 series comes out (since the 200s should go down and actually be worth it).

CPUs don't really matter that much with gaming. I'd actually recommend a Core 2 Duo from Intel, but if you really think you need it get a quad-core from AMD. Also get DDR3 just because it costs as much as DDR2 nowadays.

For motherboards, I think this would be better (Gigabytes have nice cooling but not so good BIOSes and RAM compatibility is a gamble).

The Western Digital Caviar Black series is great for hard drives. Buy one locally from a Best Buy or something, should be around $100 for a 1TB one or $70 for a 640GB one. The difference is that Newegg won't send you the original packaging and included cables, and they only wrap it in bubble wrap and put it in a random cardboard box, so there's a chance it could break a month down the road.

If you don't like really bright flashy cases that light up your entire room, the Antec 300 is a nice case, just pick up a couple extra 140mm fans (and make sure they can use 4-pin power things or buy some adapters for like $1.50 each)

From: Widget
Right now the ATI cards are way better than the NVidia cards for price, although I expect that to change when NVidia's 300 series comes out (since the 200s should go down and actually be worth it).

CPUs don't really matter that much with gaming. I'd actually recommend a Core 2 Duo from Intel, but if you really think you need it get a quad-core from AMD. Also get DDR3 just because it costs as much as DDR2 nowadays.

For motherboards, I think this would be better (Gigabytes have nice cooling but not so good BIOSes and RAM compatibility is a gamble).

The Western Digital Caviar Black series is great for hard drives. Buy one locally from a Best Buy or something, should be around $100 for a 1TB one or $70 for a 640GB one. The difference is that Newegg won't send you the original packaging and included cables, and they only wrap it in bubble wrap and put it in a random cardboard box, so there's a chance it could break a month down the road.

If you don't like really bright flashy cases that light up your entire room, the Antec 300 is a nice case, just pick up a couple extra 140mm fans (and make sure they can use 4-pin power things or buy some adapters for like $1.50 each)

Okay thanks :). Actually I prefer a flashy case that has everything in it e.g power supply and fans. Not sure about the right one.

Which ati card should I get? Im thinking about capricorns but im trying to fit in a budget and its out of stock ;/

From: kingarabian
Okay thanks :). Actually I prefer a flashy case that has everything in it e.g power supply and fans. Not sure about the right one.

Which ati card should I get? Im thinking about capricorns but im trying to fit in a budget and its out of stock ;/

Ahhh didn't realize that. Thats one of the 5770s that started the launch, the newer ones have the egg-shaped cooler so I can see why they are sold out.

Sapphire 5770
XFX 5770

You can opt for the cheaper sapphire 5770, or go with the XFX. Theres no difference except that XFX has better warranty (and you pay for it)

From: Capricorn
Ahhh didn't realize that. Thats one of the 5770s that started the launch, the newer ones have the egg-shaped cooler so I can see why they are sold out.

Sapphire 5770
XFX 5770

You can opt for the cheaper sapphire 5770, or go with the XFX. Theres no difference except that XFX has better warranty (and you pay for it)

Kk thank you. Is there a major difference between and a Quad core or a trio when gaming?

I've heard bad things about triple cores…but it all depends on who you talk to. Some things i heard was that thay are defective quads with one core locked so whats to say the whole thing isnt faulty.

From: XcanadamanX
I've heard bad things about triple cores…but it all depends on who you talk to. Some things i heard was that thay are defective quads with one core locked so whats to say the whole thing isnt faulty.

They make quad cores and test them. If three cores work they market them as such, and if only two or less work they bin it. If they don't have enough quads with only one core broken to meet demand they take working quads and disable a core.

From: kingarabian
Kk thank you. Is there a major difference between and a Quad core or a trio when gaming?

Theres not really a major difference right now, most games use only 1-2 cores. Though we are seeing some games starting to pick up on multi-core usage but you only have a 5770 so I wouldn't worry about it.

And yeah, Widget is right. Some people get lucky and get a X3 with a disabled core and can unlock it, but generally thats not a good idea because if you unlock a broken core lolol well. Theres nothing wrong with a X3 except for the fact that one core is disabled because it did not meet specifications. IE, broken.

Also keep in mind one misaligned transistor out of billions can break an entire core, the fact that they get them to work at all is still amazing :D

Kk I ordered most of the items for the Build. But I also have something else:

I have a Dell dimension c521. My brothers use it to play some sub-par games and it runs pretty slow.

It has 1gb ram
Nvidia 6800 Le
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Duo processor.

Im thinking about getting this: GeForce 8600 GT 512MB

What do you guys think I should upgrade out of all. The processor or video card or ram? I only have 70 bucks to spend. Nothing really fancy needed just something for a good price and enjoyment at the same time.

Well … its hard. The processor isn't that great but its fine for a hobo-priced gaming computer. I would buy more ram now (since RAM helps everything, and GPU's only really benefit for games) and buy a 5670 when they come out in January (will be priced around 70$ I believe)

Edit: May be hard buying DDR2 ram for around 70$ though, since DDR3 is now cheaper then DDR2 :\. Old Technology isn't fun in the sun, is it?

From: Capricorn
Well … its hard. The processor isn't that great but its fine for a hobo-priced gaming computer. I would buy more ram now (since RAM helps everything, and GPU's only really benefit for games) and buy a 5670 when they come out in January (will be priced around 70$ I believe)

Edit: May be hard buying DDR2 ram for around 70$ though, since DDR3 is now cheaper then DDR2 :\. Old Technology isn't fun in the sun, is it?

Thanks, but can you look at this? The C521's case is very slim and I think I can only put a low-profile card…

Im thinking of getting this Ram and this GFX card.

Man I would just measure the case and see how much room you have and atleast wait til January to buy a new GPU. Even if a 5670 won't fit (I highly doubt it won't) atleast it will drive all the older GPU prices down. Once you get around the 70$ budget for a GPU, you kinda reach a point where they have troubles making dedicated cards any cheaper.

Guys, whats better for casual gaming? The Radeon HD 3870 or the 4650? I have to choose one of these two since they can both come in low profile and low power, but some people are saying the 3870 is better?

I don't know much about building computers, kingarabian; but when you get done building it pm me the pics of it.
Thxx.

Finished building my pc.

Radeon HD 5750
Amd Athlon x4 635
Asrock mother board
4gb ram

Mean looking case! I will post pics later.

Gratz! Post benchmarks!

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010256.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010258.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010259.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010260.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010262.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010263.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010265.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/arabianballa/P1010266.jpg

@Smartz, as soon as i get my monitor lol.

Route your cables, it will look a lot cleaner inside.

From: Smartzkid
Route your cables, it will look a lot cleaner inside.

How would I do that?

Btw I need some help; the front fan seems to be an exhaust fan, and the rear fan I have it in exhaust. Should I switch the last one to be intake?

From: kingarabian
How would I do that?

Twist ties.

http://www.techwarelabs.com/guides/misc_mod/cablemanagement/