Building your own pc
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Alright, Im trying to decide what I should do. I have a old desktop that is so old it cannot play barley any modern games even on lowest setting. I have heard that building your own desktop cost lest money but cost more time, especially if youbhave never done it before. So is it really worth it to build your own or buy a assembled one? Id personally like to know how to do it though.
What Im thinking of doing is striping all the hardware out of my desktop tower and replacing it all. Motherboard, graphics card, more ram, new hard drive, liquid cooling system, processor everything in it. Ive just never rebuilt a computer before. Are most hardware roughly the same size or would I have to make sure everything would fit in it? Im a big fan of the Intel processors instead of AMD and I like the NVIDIA graphics card. I understand they are a big more pricey but Ive never had any problems with them and they are reliable. I perfer to play games on high or ultra so Im looking for a very good graphics card.
I just dont know how I would decide what motherboard or cooling system to get. Id like the comouter to have perferrably 4 usb 3.0 ports and support hdmi to hook up to my television.
basically all Im looking for is some advice on what would be the best bang for my buck. I just dont want to end up buying a peice of hardware for 3x more than I should have if there is another one that works just as good and is half the price.
What Im thinking of doing is striping all the hardware out of my desktop tower and replacing it all. Motherboard, graphics card, more ram, new hard drive, liquid cooling system, processor everything in it. Ive just never rebuilt a computer before. Are most hardware roughly the same size or would I have to make sure everything would fit in it? Im a big fan of the Intel processors instead of AMD and I like the NVIDIA graphics card. I understand they are a big more pricey but Ive never had any problems with them and they are reliable. I perfer to play games on high or ultra so Im looking for a very good graphics card.
I just dont know how I would decide what motherboard or cooling system to get. Id like the comouter to have perferrably 4 usb 3.0 ports and support hdmi to hook up to my television.
basically all Im looking for is some advice on what would be the best bang for my buck. I just dont want to end up buying a peice of hardware for 3x more than I should have if there is another one that works just as good and is half the price.
Forgot to mention Ill be using it to play modern games on high and eventually write games as I progress as a programmer
| So is it really worth it to build your own or buy a assembled one? |
| Are most hardware roughly the same size or would I have to make sure everything would fit in it? |
| Im a big fan of the Intel processors instead of AMD |
| I just dont know how I would decide what motherboard |
This could give you an insight on what the community has:
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
Personally, I suggest:
OS: Windows 7 x64
RAM: 4-6GB (I've got 4GB and i never had big troubles before)
CPU: ~3.3GHz Quad-core
GFX: AMD HD 7850 (If you have a low budget, you could even get the 6700-6800 ones, I use a 5450 and I'm able to run most games on low-mid details)
No experience with NVidia's, but the community loves the GTX660.
VRAM: 1GB is well enough. If you really want to push, 2GB.
Screen Resolution: 16:9 no matter what. Full HD is best, I personally use a 1600x900.
HDD: 750+ GB (I'm really short of HDD space with 500GB)
If you plan on playing GOOD, buy a mic. Don't expect to win as much without communication, unless it's a FFA/Arena game.
Network should give you less than 100ping most times (Max 120).
Answering the questions one by one:
I'd rather make my own, but I own an assembled one (which I personally modified, kind of a hybrid).
It doesn't take THAT much time if you're already into it, it's like a puzzle with very few pieces.
If you plan on getting a new pc, you should also get a new case ("tower") to make sure you have room for everything.
For the cooling system, the high-end pc's heat quite a lot, so you should get a liquid cooling system, or a decent amount of fans.
I really suggest Intel CPU's, but some people say AMD CPU's + AMD GPU's work well together, can't tell.
For the motherboard, just get one with all you need (Enough RAM slots, enough space for your Gfx Card, enough USB slots...)
Most new Gfx Cards come with a HDMI output (Sometimes they ONLY come with HDMI outputs, so check it out and see if you'll need a new screen).
Make sure your power source can handle all of it (700-800W should do it)
To make it cleaner:
Most (All?) the pieces have their own connectors.
You need to make sure you have the space itself to place the pieces, as some are high/long as twice as others and may not fit in a regular PC.
As an example, a GTX660 probably wouldn't fit in my pc, because it's too long.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
Personally, I suggest:
OS: Windows 7 x64
RAM: 4-6GB (I've got 4GB and i never had big troubles before)
CPU: ~3.3GHz Quad-core
GFX: AMD HD 7850 (If you have a low budget, you could even get the 6700-6800 ones, I use a 5450 and I'm able to run most games on low-mid details)
No experience with NVidia's, but the community loves the GTX660.
VRAM: 1GB is well enough. If you really want to push, 2GB.
Screen Resolution: 16:9 no matter what. Full HD is best, I personally use a 1600x900.
HDD: 750+ GB (I'm really short of HDD space with 500GB)
If you plan on playing GOOD, buy a mic. Don't expect to win as much without communication, unless it's a FFA/Arena game.
Network should give you less than 100ping most times (Max 120).
Answering the questions one by one:
I'd rather make my own, but I own an assembled one (which I personally modified, kind of a hybrid).
It doesn't take THAT much time if you're already into it, it's like a puzzle with very few pieces.
If you plan on getting a new pc, you should also get a new case ("tower") to make sure you have room for everything.
For the cooling system, the high-end pc's heat quite a lot, so you should get a liquid cooling system, or a decent amount of fans.
I really suggest Intel CPU's, but some people say AMD CPU's + AMD GPU's work well together, can't tell.
For the motherboard, just get one with all you need (Enough RAM slots, enough space for your Gfx Card, enough USB slots...)
Most new Gfx Cards come with a HDMI output (Sometimes they ONLY come with HDMI outputs, so check it out and see if you'll need a new screen).
Make sure your power source can handle all of it (700-800W should do it)
To make it cleaner:
Most (All?) the pieces have their own connectors.
You need to make sure you have the space itself to place the pieces, as some are high/long as twice as others and may not fit in a regular PC.
As an example, a GTX660 probably wouldn't fit in my pc, because it's too long.
I got a a budget of about $1000-1200. Ive been researching alot and this is what ive come across with. As far as I know everything is compatable. I want a high performance computer without breaking the bank. This is $1060, should I add a liquid cooling system? Is there anything else Im missing? Are these good internal hardware components for gaming/compiling code?
ASUS Graphics Cards R9290-DC2OC-4GD5
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HWQUI02/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_6?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IKRTYTOMK3HTW
Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007SZ0EHE/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_5?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I1L1OXUIKMMFT4
MSI Micro ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97M GAMING
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00K23BY6Y/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_4?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I1F0E8MLSIAOD
KENTEK 850 Watt 850W 120mm Fan ATX Power Supply 12V 2.3 EPS12V 2.92 SLI-ready PCI-Express SATA 20/24 PIN Intel AMD by KENTEK
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00596CP9E/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_3?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IEEDK2BFCWRAE
Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Core i3, i5, i7 and Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004CRSM4I/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_2?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I3BGRPS0S4KM9X
WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache - WD10EZEX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088PUEPK/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_1?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IJT9H2WJSJQKA
ASUS Graphics Cards R9290-DC2OC-4GD5
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HWQUI02/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_6?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IKRTYTOMK3HTW
Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007SZ0EHE/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_5?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I1L1OXUIKMMFT4
MSI Micro ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97M GAMING
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00K23BY6Y/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_4?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I1F0E8MLSIAOD
KENTEK 850 Watt 850W 120mm Fan ATX Power Supply 12V 2.3 EPS12V 2.92 SLI-ready PCI-Express SATA 20/24 PIN Intel AMD by KENTEK
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00596CP9E/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_3?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IEEDK2BFCWRAE
Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Core i3, i5, i7 and Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004CRSM4I/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_2?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=I3BGRPS0S4KM9X
WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache - WD10EZEX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088PUEPK/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_1?colid=2YX52DTNX1A9K&coliid=IJT9H2WJSJQKA
Just a few things about building a PC in no particular order.
- POST the board before trying to install it into the case. This will save you some potential trouble shooting time if something goes wrong.
- Make sure you properly install the standoffs for the motherboard into the case. These stop the board from grounding itself against the case.
- Air flow should all go in the same direction. Front to back or back to front doesn't really matter but don't be that moron who has all of his fans set to intake or the guy who has one fan on the front of the case pulling in while the other one pushes air out.
- The conductivity of thermal grease is inversely proportional to the amount that you use. They don't give you a lot of thermal grease with your processor for any particular reason and if done right, you should have the majority of it left over. Disregard this if your setup came with a thermal pad.
- If a component doesn't fit, turn it around, if it still doesn't fit then it probably doesn't go there. This holds true for everything EXCEPT THE PROCESSOR.
- Power from the PSU is not distributed evenly across the separate rails. You will be robbing yourself of performance if you try to put too many high power devices on a line that can't support them.
- POST the board before trying to install it into the case. This will save you some potential trouble shooting time if something goes wrong.
- Make sure you properly install the standoffs for the motherboard into the case. These stop the board from grounding itself against the case.
- Air flow should all go in the same direction. Front to back or back to front doesn't really matter but don't be that moron who has all of his fans set to intake or the guy who has one fan on the front of the case pulling in while the other one pushes air out.
- The conductivity of thermal grease is inversely proportional to the amount that you use. They don't give you a lot of thermal grease with your processor for any particular reason and if done right, you should have the majority of it left over. Disregard this if your setup came with a thermal pad.
- If a component doesn't fit, turn it around, if it still doesn't fit then it probably doesn't go there. This holds true for everything EXCEPT THE PROCESSOR.
- Power from the PSU is not distributed evenly across the separate rails. You will be robbing yourself of performance if you try to put too many high power devices on a line that can't support them.
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Thanks for the input, that will help alot when putting it together as it will be my first time doing this
Is this almost the same as the intel i7 3770 4 core processor? I googled it and it benchmarked alittle bit lower than the intel but I want to hear what other people say about it. Its half the price
AMD FD8350FRHKBOX FX-8350 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009O7YUF6?cache=9968fffed68a58ab9fbd76aeceac37f2&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1401995731&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
Is this almost the same as the intel i7 3770 4 core processor? I googled it and it benchmarked alittle bit lower than the intel but I want to hear what other people say about it. Its half the price
AMD FD8350FRHKBOX FX-8350 FX-Series 8-Core Black Edition
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009O7YUF6?cache=9968fffed68a58ab9fbd76aeceac37f2&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1401995731&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
| should I add a liquid cooling system? |
Generally unless you are going to be cooling both the CPU and GPU with the cooling system then it generally isn't worth the extra cost to use liquid cooling since it doesn't decrease the heat load that much over standard fans (If you are doing them right).
There is also the minor risk of a tube breaking and leaking liquor over the electronic parts. Though generally this isn't common with the commercial kits that are available since they generally have pretty durable tubes.
So in my opinion it really isn't worth putting the extra money into getting liquid cooling unless you are like me and just like building computers as a hobby and don't mind paying a little extra and lets face who doesn't think cooling your CPU with liquor is cool ;p.
| Are these good internal hardware components for gaming/compiling code? |
Everything that you have listed looks fine to me though do wanna point out a few things.
1) Have never really heard of KENTEK (Though I don't pay to much attention to PSU manufacturers) and generally one thing with building custom computers is you always wanna get reliable manufacturers for each component.
Another thing about the PSU make sure you look at the connectors it provides make sure it has enough connectors for all your components and has enough connects for your GPU (Happened to me didn't have enough connectors for my GPU so had to send it back and get a new one).
2) If you are looking to build a gaming rig you will definitely want to add in a SSD into your build. They are quite cheap now days (Maybe $80-$120 for a 120GB from a reliable manufacturer) and they give the most noticeable increase in performance for quite a cheap price.
So you really should look to add in at least a little SSD to your build so you can keep a few games and your OS on it and then keep everything else on the HDD.
3) You are missing a case for your build. Cases are actually very important to the build and picking a good with good cable management and airflow can decrease the heat load quite a bit. Just remember to use the cable management system it provides.
4) This is really just a suggestion but you might wanna put in the extra 30 bucks to get the 3770k over the 3770. This really isn't needed but for the extra 30 dollars you get a unlocked CPU which allows you to dig into overclocking if you feel like it.
A lot of people are quite afraid of overclocking because they think they will fry their CPU's but generally as long as you don't push it to the extremes and follow guides and use the right tools if you are new you will have no problems with it.
Just a suggestion if you are interested in overclocking.
Also while I am on the CPU subject when you connecting the CPU to the motherboard it will feel like you are going to break the motherboard or CPU when you are pushing it in, this is normal. Just make sure that everything is lined up correctly and expect a little bit of resistance while putting it in.
Other then those things everything looks great to me.
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I have never overclocked before and honestly I didnt know what it was til I looked it up about a week ago. I probably would not go that route. As for the case. I have a case from my old desktop. I dont know if it will work or not yet thats I I dont have one listed.
Thanks for the input on everything lese though, i was debating on getting a ssd but i didnt know it helped that much in performance
Thanks for the input on everything lese though, i was debating on getting a ssd but i didnt know it helped that much in performance
the 8350 is probably closer to the i5 and is a good processor I haven't had any problems with mine. It's not that much slower than my i7 3770k.
Ive been reading about powerful amd processors and it seems like they might be cheaper but they put out alot more heat that the intel processors
AMD also use quite a bit more power then Intel does which is another thing to think about.
Right now Im taking apart my old desktop. How do you tell what size your tower is? I need to know so I know if I need to buy a nee one or not. I dont see anywhere on it where it tells me the size
I'd just like to chime in:
I would not put an SSD on any desktop machine that I expect to get any kind of reliability out of. Certainly not one I'd use for development. The only brand I'd consider would be Intel, but that completely changes the cost-benefit ratio.
Remember when geeks used to buy cheaper AMD CPUs and overclock them to match the performance of Intel CPUs? Now people are paying more to shorten the lifespan of their processors, just for marginal performance gains.
It's also worth noting that the 3770k doesn't include the virtualization instruction sets. That was actually the deal breaker for me, which made me decide for the 3770.
| 2) If you are looking to build a gaming rig you will definitely want to add in a SSD into your build. They are quite cheap now days (Maybe $80-$120 for a 120GB from a reliable manufacturer) and they give the most noticeable increase in performance for quite a cheap price. |
| 4) This is really just a suggestion but you might wanna put in the extra 30 bucks to get the 3770k over the 3770. This really isn't needed but for the extra 30 dollars you get a unlocked CPU which allows you to dig into overclocking if you feel like it. |
It's also worth noting that the 3770k doesn't include the virtualization instruction sets. That was actually the deal breaker for me, which made me decide for the 3770.
I knew the "k" stook for unlocked which means you can overclock them but I have no idea how to overclock and did not seem important to me thats why i went with the 3770. Then I started looking at AMD processors and figured out like Code Gazer said they require more power which produces more heat. I dont want a processor that can heat up like that no problem.
Ive pretty much decided Ill go with the hardware that I mentioned before. The only 2 things Im still looking at arr the motherboard and the graphics card.
I want a motherboard with hdmi, at least 4 usb 3.0 ports, and compatable with the graphics card i picked. How do you tell if they are compatable though?
Ive pretty much decided Ill go with the hardware that I mentioned before. The only 2 things Im still looking at arr the motherboard and the graphics card.
I want a motherboard with hdmi, at least 4 usb 3.0 ports, and compatable with the graphics card i picked. How do you tell if they are compatable though?
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| and compatable with the graphics card i picked. How do you tell if they are compatable though? |
When you look at the motherboards and GPU's you will see that the GPU's generally have a interface of PCI Express 3.0 so for example this card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768 has a interface of PCI Express 3.0 so you are going to want to make sure your motherboard has a PCI 3.0 slot (More then likely does) like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
Generally basically any modern motherboard you pick will be compatible with your modern GPU so that isn't so much of a worry.
Though you do need to make sure you have enough power on your PSU and enough of the correct connectors for your GPU.
Also on the note of compatibility you should make sure that the motherboard supports your CPU's socket type also. Since you are going with the 3770 you are going to want to make sure your motherboard supports the LGA 1155 socket type.
Really the only compatibility concerns you should run into is the motherboard and CPU other then that most stuff will be widely compatibility.
| I would not put an SSD on any desktop machine that I expect to get any kind of reliability out of. Certainly not one I'd use for development. The only brand I'd consider would be Intel, but that completely changes the cost-benefit ratio. |
Without a doubt I would definitely agree that Intel SSD's are by far the most reliable and powerful ones on the market now, but I still think other brands can be quite reliable (I've had my OCZ SSD for a few years now and haven't had a problem). I guess it really comes down to personal opinions but personally I think that the extreme increase in performance outweighs the increased possibility that it might not be as reliable as a standard HDD is. But I guess that really comes down to how you use it.
| Remember when geeks used to buy cheaper AMD CPUs and overclock them to match the performance of Intel CPUs? Now people are paying more to shorten the lifespan of their processors, just for marginal performance gains. It's also worth noting that the 3770k doesn't include the virtualization instruction sets. That was actually the deal breaker for me, which made me decide for the 3770. |
I do remember those days and was actually one of those that did so ;). But yeah you are right overclocking (Specially to the extremes) can shorten the CPU's lifespan, but I still like to do so mainly because I never push it so hard to extremely limit it's life so I know that I will be upgrading the CPU (Or the whole rig) before it dies.
Generally overclocking isn't for everyone but can be fun for those that want to push their builds to the limits or are just hobbyists who like to build powerful computers. You generally don't see the benefits in your day to day work/play on the system but it can be fun to do still.
As for the visualization never actually knew it didn't support that which is kinda weird that they wouldn't. Though I never had a use for it I guess.
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closed account (j3Rz8vqX)
Also, some towers, provided by manufactures, cannot install motherboard standoffs or do not supply the correct form factor.
Ensure that yours does.
Edit:
Form Factor: http://www.utilizewindows.com/pc-fundamentals/basics/113-types-of-computer-cases-and-motherboard-factors
Ensure that yours does.
Edit:
Form Factor: http://www.utilizewindows.com/pc-fundamentals/basics/113-types-of-computer-cases-and-motherboard-factors
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Thank you i was just about to ask about cases too, my case right now has horrible air flow with only 1 way for air to exit or enter and I believe its too small.
http://www.logicalincrements.com/ is your friend for starting out. Find a price range you like, and you can either buy the parts straight across, or use it as a template and switch out parts as you wish.
Makes building sooo much simpler.
Makes building sooo much simpler.
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