briansun1 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I'd go with at-least a gold rated PSU. Also you could probably drop the cooler down to say an Hyper 212 EVO and put that money you save into something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Iron Crown Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I'd go with at-least a gold rated PSU.I think that's only a benefit if you're leaving the machine running 24/7, possibly under load. For a machine that's used intermittently it probably isn't worth it.Also you could probably drop the cooler down to say an Hyper 212 EVO and put that money you save into something else.Agree 100%. If you pay more than $30 or so for an air cooler you're wasting money that could be used elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I'd go with at-least a gold rated PSU. Also you could probably drop the cooler down to say an Hyper 212 EVO and put that money you save into something else.Hyper 212 EVO love, Hyper 212 EVO life.In my experience, anything that's 80 Plus Bronze or above will do you fine. It's a measure of electricity wasted, not actual quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixel of Life Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 So, the final setup (unless you find something that can be improved):http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M7DRycThis is a million times better than that old craptop of mine so I expect it to run my games for at least a few more years Thanks for the help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansun1 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 So, the final setup (unless you find something that can be improved):http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M7DRycThis is a million times better than that old craptop of mine so I expect it to run my games for at least a few more years Thanks for the help guys!Looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 So, the final setup (unless you find something that can be improved):http://pcpartpicker.com/p/M7DRycThis is a million times better than that old craptop of mine so I expect it to run my games for at least a few more years Thanks for the help guys!Looking good, however you need to factor in OS, peripherals (mouse, keyboard, display) and other stuff like that. You seem to have some cash left over, so I'd highly recommend a GPU upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixel of Life Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Looking good, however you need to factor in OS, peripherals (mouse, keyboard, display) and other stuff like that. You seem to have some cash left over, so I'd highly recommend a GPU upgrade.Already got a mouse, keyboard and an external display hooked up to this laptop so that's not a problem. As for the GPU - I'll think about it, but it probably won't happen. With Windows 7 included, I'm already nearly 200€ over my 800€ budget. 1000€ is the absolute maximum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Huh? I see it costing 560€ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira_R Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 When choosing RAM how much of an impact does the speed really have?For instance if I'm getting 2 X 8Gb DDR3 will there be a noticeable difference between 1600 and 2400? Will it be worth the price increase?Out of curiosity off numbered speeds (1333, 1866, 2133) don't seem to be used as much why is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixel of Life Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Huh? I see it costing 560€Finland, mate. This is an expensive country. I know the PCPartPicker link only shows a bit over $600, but it's because stuff is Cheap As Hell™ in the States - it's PC gamer heaven The real price at my local store is 970€, or about $1100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Jeez.OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansun1 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 When choosing RAM how much of an impact does the speed really have?For instance if I'm getting 2 X 8Gb DDR3 will there be a noticeable difference between 1600 and 2400? Will it be worth the price increase?Out of curiosity off numbered speeds (1333, 1866, 2133) don't seem to be used as much why is that?Anything above 1600 is practically unnoticeable. Bare minimum I would say is 1333 though. What you are really looking for is how low the timmings are and how much of it you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira_R Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Anything above 1600 is practically unnoticeable. Bare minimum I would say is 1333 though. What you are really looking for is how low the timmings are and how much of it you have.Timings, what is that? Is that the CAS latency? What are good numbers to look for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansun1 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Timings, what is that? Is that the CAS latency? What are good numbers to look for?Yes, those and a few other's, but if I remember correctly CAS is the most important. I don't know on good numbers. Maybe somewhere around 10? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira_R Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Ok now this is a total noob question, I have only ever done dual monitor set ups on my lap top (HDMI to my tv and then my main screen lol) never had any experience doing this with a desktop, in fact last time I did any playing on a desktop was back in 2007 when I still lived with my parents.I know normally you hook your monitor up to the output on your gfx card, if you only have a single gfx card do you need a card with more than one output? Can you hook one monitor up to the card and one to your mobo? Will that cause performance issues? If you do that and have the one on your card actually displaying your games and the other just doing web browsing etc. (^V maps!! lol) will that be ok?Also what are good specs for a gpu these days? I'm looking for an SLI capable nvidia, something that is going to be able to run say Elite:Dangerous on high settings on a high resolution with a good frame rate that isn't going to immediately double the price of my build lol.I was looking at this ASUS STRIX-GTX960 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 The 960 or 970 (any maker) will work just fine for you.And usually GPUs have three to four outputs, so just make sure your monitors support the output types, and you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantab Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 If you have a discrete graphics card it's best to connect all your monitors to it. As DuoDex mentions, most graphics cards have a range of outputs and can use two or more at once. Just watch the compatibility. In particular it seems like you can only use one analogue monitor nowadays, so if you have old screens you might need to use an active adapter to convert the signals.Any monitors connected to the ports on your motherboard will be using the integrated graphics. As such anything showed on them won't have good 3D acceleration. Using the integrated graphics may cause driver compatibility issues (I don't think either Windows or Linux likes having AMD and nVidia drivers at once) and will also mean you can't disable the integrated graphics to reclaim the memory they use. All round, I don't recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira_R Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Right on thanks for the input, it's been awhile since I've actually had a desktop, and after using my brain and the googles I found what I needed to know lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amihan Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I have a bit of spare cash and way too much spare time, so I thought I'd wean myself off playing games on a laptop and try a PC build. I've never done this before and while I have the wonderful internet to help me I thought it'd be safer to outright ask for assistance.I don't have a deadline or anything, I don't need this thing any time soon (who knows, I might even change my mind and not build it after all), I'm just looking for other opinions and things I need to know. This is what I'm looking at so far:PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchantCPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.75 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz) Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.98 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy) Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($153.98 @ Newegg) Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.99 @ NCIX US) Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Directron) Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC) Total: $530.64Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 17:53 EST-0500And on that note, do I seriously have to shell out a hundred bucks for Windows 8? Aw... Right now I've got a Lenovo Ideapad P400 Touch laptop that I'm doing all my computer things on, and it runs KSP! ...But I have to lower the graphics quality to the minimum to reduce lag. Maybe it's just the struts.I have no reference point for any of this stuff (I'm using this link to help me choose parts but that's it) so if anyone has any suggestions I would be immensely grateful. I was thinking of reusing old mice and screens and possibly changing up parts in the future when I find myself in possession of money, but I don't know which parts I'll be able to switch out in the future. Should I just spend more money on certain things right out the door?Also I assume I can't build this thing on a carpet. Any other things like that I should know? I'm really nervous so help me not spend way more money than I need to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Phil Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I wouldn't recommend starting with certain products in mind. It actually can make or break the build. Doing this may result in unwanted bias.I recommend deciding on the computer type first. Make a general description. Then extrapolate specific requirements. After that you should get a list of components that meet the requirements. Then compare them. And buy them. Finally build the computer. Basically, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZedNova Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Looks like a good budget build, and yes, carpet is a no-no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segaprophet Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) @Amihan - Your list looks solid to me, as for my brand preferences, I would go for Gigabyte for the motherboard, Sapphire for the video card, Fractal for the case and Seasonic for the power supply. Edited February 21, 2015 by segaprophet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amihan Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'll keep my aforementioned build on hand, but given the lack of time constraint I can definitely start from scratch using the systems engineering approach. Better make sure it does what I want it to, after all!Thanks for confirming the carpet thing, basement build it is. So much carpeting everywhere...EDIT: Brand considerations noted! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoDex Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I have a bit of spare cash and way too much spare time, so I thought I'd wean myself off playing games on a laptop and try a PC build. I've never done this before and while I have the wonderful internet to help me I thought it'd be safer to outright ask for assistance.I don't have a deadline or anything, I don't need this thing any time soon (who knows, I might even change my mind and not build it after all), I'm just looking for other opinions and things I need to know. This is what I'm looking at so far:PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchantCPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.75 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz) Memory: Mushkin Stealth 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.98 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.99 @ Best Buy) Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($153.98 @ Newegg) Case: BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.99 @ NCIX US) Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Directron) Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC) Total: $530.64Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 17:53 EST-0500And on that note, do I seriously have to shell out a hundred bucks for Windows 8? Aw... Right now I've got a Lenovo Ideapad P400 Touch laptop that I'm doing all my computer things on, and it runs KSP! ...But I have to lower the graphics quality to the minimum to reduce lag. Maybe it's just the struts.I have no reference point for any of this stuff (I'm using this link to help me choose parts but that's it) so if anyone has any suggestions I would be immensely grateful. I was thinking of reusing old mice and screens and possibly changing up parts in the future when I find myself in possession of money, but I don't know which parts I'll be able to switch out in the future. Should I just spend more money on certain things right out the door?Also I assume I can't build this thing on a carpet. Any other things like that I should know? I'm really nervous so help me not spend way more money than I need to!Merged with Official Unofficial PC Building Thread (or whatever it's called )I like yours, although I highly recommend finding some sort of i5. That will improve your performance on a lot of games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segaprophet Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Merged with Official Unofficial PC Building Thread (or whatever it's called )I like yours, although I highly recommend finding some sort of i5. That will improve your performance on a lot of gamesAnd if you do go the i5 route, it's worth it to throw an aftermarket CPU cooler into the mix, like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - for about $30 you'll be running cooler and quieter, and will have a reasonable amount of OC headroom with K series chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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