Building computers

[Javster]

I'm vaguely considering building my own gaming computer, so I can finally play games at a bit more than 15 FPS...

Does anyone have any advice, links to good sites, recommendations etc for me?

[TechnicalK3rbal]

How do I subscribe to this thread?

[Javster]

How do I subscribe to this thread?

Edit post, go advanced, check box

[Redjoker]

The first thing you need to do is figure out how much you want/can spend on this computer. An easy way to get a good build for you price range is to go to http://www.logicalincrements.com/. You find a build in your price range and that will give you a start with a processor and gpu that shouldn't bottleneck each other by a wide margin. After that go to http://pcpartpicker.com/ and go to system build and select the cpu and gpu that you chose and it will make sure that all the other parts you choose will be compatible with your build. If you have any question on what a component means or what is importance for them, logical increments has a guide explaining them all. Also, if you live in the US, you may want to create a pcpartpicker account and add microcenter to your store list since they have most cpus $60-100 cheaper

[ZedNova]

Make sure you review each part carefully, watching YouTube video reviews and looking at benchmarks is pretty important.

You'll probably want something abit more powerful than what Linus is building in this video, but it will cover the basics of putting it together.

[MC.STEEL]

I would strongly recommend PC part picker.

http://pcpartpicker.com/

There you can build the computer of your dreams while the site automatically detects incompatibilities between the parts you picked,makes everything easy as pie.

And you dont really need to worry about assembly it all pops in like lego (sort of).

PS- here is my computer i made with a "no weaknesses " philosophy.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/D6VqhM

[lajoswinkler]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25004-KSP-Unofficial-Official-Computer-Building-Megathread-%28All-Questions-Acceptable-%29

[Javster]

How is this as a gaming computer? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/P4C2bv

[Roastduck]

that power supply unit is a bit overpowered for what you need, I think

[Kryten]

Better to be over- than underpowered. This way it's expandable.

[Nuke]

tdp is on the decline if you go the intel route. thats an 84w cpu and a 170w gpu. i usually figure out what the core components will use, and double it (there are also power supply requirements calculators all over the internet if you want to figure it out in more detail). a high quality 550w supply would work great here. you could probibly make do with less, but ensure that your supply is of high quality. its still correct that more is better than less, but 900 is overkill.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Nuke

[MrHappyFace]

I made a small cheap build

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/kerbalguy123/saved/Y7848d

[Javster]

How's this? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/RXsH8d

Lowered the price quite a bit

[K^2]

How's this? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/RXsH8d

Lowered the price quite a bit

Your tower is ATX, but your mobo is micro ATX. I'm not sure if these are compatible (Ah, yeah, it does take micro ATX as well), and in either case, if you are going with an ATX tower, I'd get an ATX mobo. Make sure the socket on CPU matches mobo (it does for this board) and pay attention to the chipset, and slots for memory and PCIe.

Edit: For a micro ATX, that's not a bad board. If you aren't planning to run more than 1 graphics card, or building a RAID array, it will do.

Your PSU is way under powered, though. You need at least 500W for that build. 400W will power it, but PSU is really a place where you need a safety margin. Pushing PSU's to 100%, especially ones you aren't too sure about, is not a good idea. Trust me on that.

Edit 2: These guys agree.

Edited July 7, 2014 by K^2

[Nuke]

micro atx is compatible with full atx. you might run into trouble trying to get a full atx mobo in a micro atx case, but the opposite works fine.

i usually do micro atx but my next build is going to be mini-itx. i dont like monster cases full of stuff i will never use. it just seems wasteful. i found this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163231

it can accommodate a full size double wide video card (and not much else). im not sure what kind of guts will go into it, i will look into that when i get some money this fall.

[Javster]

How's this? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/6hTwyc

[Elthy]

Why do you ask the same thing 2 times (here and in the PC thread)? And why do you still choose this awfull GTX 760 with 4GB, its just a big waste of money. The R9 280 you had in the other thread offers more power for less money and is also more quiet. And even with this more power consuming card you wont need a PSU with over 450W, even with overclocking...

[Javster]

Why do you ask the same thing 2 times (here and in the PC thread)? And why do you still choose this awfull GTX 760 with 4GB, its just a big waste of money. The R9 280 you had in the other thread offers more power for less money and is also more quiet. And even with this more power consuming card you wont need a PSU with over 450W, even with overclocking...

Calm down! I'm asking twice because I keep changing this and forgetting which thread I posted in. And remember I know literally nothing about choosing computer parts, so don't be so hostile towards me, please.

I've changed it a bit now, following your criticism: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/hTZLFT

[Camacha]

Are you sure you do not want to overclock? Because with this CPU and motherboard that is out of the question. I would also seriously consider investing in an SDD. Yes, they cost a lot more than a normal hard drive, but they have dropped significantly in price lately and really do transform the whole experience. A new computer really feels like a new computer.

Your tower is ATX, but your mobo is micro ATX. I'm not sure if these are compatible (Ah, yeah, it does take micro ATX as well), and in either case, if you are going with an ATX tower, I'd get an ATX mobo. Make sure the socket on CPU matches mobo (it does for this board) and pay attention to the chipset, and slots for memory and PCIe.

If you have the room in the case I would opt for the bigger board. Things can get a bit fiddly on the smaller boards.

[Dedjal]

Quad core with over 3.5 GHz for each core would be a good start.

Then liquid cooling and clock it past 4GHz.

And take smaller and faster RAMs.

Ksp can only use 2.5 GB of ram, which would limit it to only one brick.

Unless you use Linux, then go nuts with the RAM.

Then play with the voltage until you get it as high as possible without the machine going BSoD.

Remember to hook that liquid cooling onto the rams as well, or get them a separate one.

Graphic card is not that all important for Ksp. But make sure it got as much bandwidth as possible, and that the MB can handle it.

Then you hook it up to the cooler and start pressing the volt up while avoiding that BSoD.

And remember to also increase the MHz of the graphic card while increasing the volt.

Oh, and if you want, you could use some really fine sandpaper and use it on the top of the processor until you reach the copper layer.

But be careful, if you scrub past it, you will need a new cpu.

That is what I can think off atm for a pc specified to run KSP.

[Roastduck]

I think liquid cooling is a bit much for a first time build, and definitely unnecessary for a KSP build. Also, official 64bit KSP is coming, so he can put in as much RAM as he wants (I recommend 16GB to start)

[Camacha]

Sorry man, but if your are giving advice you should give good advice and do it in a complete manner. Most of your post is incomplete, harmful or outright wrong. This will break people's hardware.

Quad core with over 3.5 GHz for each core would be a good start.

GHz alone says nothing.

Then liquid cooling and clock it past 4GHz.

Air cooling is cheaper, often more quiet (no water pump) and a lot less fiddly and error prone. The gains are quite minor. I would not advise people to bother with it, unless you want to go for absolute maximum performance (like overclocking in a competition) or just do it for the fun of it.

And take smaller and faster RAMs.

Ksp can only use 2.5 GB of ram, which would limit it to only one brick.

Not advisable for two reasons: smaller RAM sticks limit your upgrade path and KSP will be 64-bit very soon. What do yo mean by limited to one brick? It is not as if an application that can only use 3,2 GB of RAM is physically bound to only one stick when it is run on a 64-bit OS, especially not when in dual channel mode.

Then play with the voltage until you get it as high as possible without the machine going BSoD.

You should actually be very careful with voltage - it is one of the few things that can seriously shorten your hardware's lifespan, or kill it outright.

Remember to hook that liquid cooling onto the rams as well, or get them a separate one.

RAM cooling is almost never useful. Do not even bother with fancy high profile heatsinks, they only get in the way.

Then you hook it up to the cooler and start pressing the volt up while avoiding that BSoD.

Again, do not mess with voltage if you do not know what you are doing. Also, only increasing the voltage will add zero performance. Increasing voltage is a way of enabling higher overclocks, but on its own it does nothing but heat up your card. A higher clockspeed increases speed and calculative power. When your options run out on the clockspeed front, you might consider changing voltage if you are willing to take the risks and have the knowlegde to limit the dangers.

Oh, and if you want, you could use some really fine sandpaper and use it on the top of the processor until you reach the copper layer.

But be careful, if you scrub past it, you will need a new cpu.

You are talking about lapping, but you forget to mention the important bit: that the idea is to flatten your IHS as much as possible. Just sanding a CPU will ruin it really quickly.

[Camacha]

(I recommend 16GB to start)

8 GB should be plenty, as even enthousiast computer users rarely use up more. Only when running specific applications, like video rendering or running virtual machines, 16 GB starts making sense. Having RAM sitting idle does nothing but cost you money

I agree on the other points.

[K^2]

How's this? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/6hTwyc

Looks good to me. Corsair tends to have pretty good power supplies. So you should be good with that. And like I said before, if you aren't planning to do RAID or SLI, the motherboard is fine. You will be able to get more hard drives into that tower when you run out of storage, and you'll be able to upgrade memory if it will become a factor. CPU is good enough for gaming, for sure.

And don't listen to the guys badmouthing GTX 760. It's a good card for the money. ATI might have more powerful cards for the same amount, but nVidia has much better software support for games. Like, seriously. With ATI cards, you'll have to constantly worry about patches and updates with half of the games. It's a hassle.

Though, I don't know much about Zotac as the board manufacturer for it. Make sure you read the reviews. Sometimes, it's worth it to pay a little extra to get a graphics card from somebody like Asus or another well-established brand. But if the reviews are good, go for it.

i usually do micro atx but my next build is going to be mini-itx. i dont like monster cases full of stuff i will never use. it just seems wasteful. i found this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163231

I do like mini-box towers, but they have some restrictions. They are great for generic mid-high ranges. Especially if you want to have something you can bring to LAN parties. But if you plan to run a RAID5 or a SLI, there is no substitute for full ATX. Good air circulation in large tower helps too.

Edited July 8, 2014 by K^2

[softweir]

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