Detroit454
Elected Club Official
I want to build my own PC. I need it to play games, and I need it to run windows/Linux/Unix for school. Suggestions please?
Building a new PC
- Thread starter Detroit454
- Start date
Stalker
I removed my teeth on purpose....if you catch my d
Budget is the biggest factor to consider. Here's the basics of what I would do.
Hard Drive: Get a smaller SSD to use for the install of any Operating Systems. Get a large capacity 7200 RPM hard drive for data and a place to install games, music, pictures etc....
Processor: Sandy Bridge Intel. Don't worry too much about the CPU. Generally an increase in .1 or .2 ghz will never be noticeable. .5 or larger increase may be worth it, but it depends on the cost.
Ram: DDR3 16 gigs. If you want to go more, more power to you, but for now, 16 gigs will last you quite a while. If you need to go cheaper, then 8 gigs will be fine as well, just have to upgrade at sooner date than a 16 gig setup
Graphics Card: Get something in the $300 - $400 price range and you should be fine. Read reviews and shop around. YOu can get a really good card for that price and use it for probably 3 to 4 years before worrying about having to upgrade because your current card can't play games.
Sound Card: Don't worry about this unless you're an audiophile with a kick ass setup. YOu won't notice the difference.
Hard Drive: Get a smaller SSD to use for the install of any Operating Systems. Get a large capacity 7200 RPM hard drive for data and a place to install games, music, pictures etc....
Processor: Sandy Bridge Intel. Don't worry too much about the CPU. Generally an increase in .1 or .2 ghz will never be noticeable. .5 or larger increase may be worth it, but it depends on the cost.
Ram: DDR3 16 gigs. If you want to go more, more power to you, but for now, 16 gigs will last you quite a while. If you need to go cheaper, then 8 gigs will be fine as well, just have to upgrade at sooner date than a 16 gig setup
Graphics Card: Get something in the $300 - $400 price range and you should be fine. Read reviews and shop around. YOu can get a really good card for that price and use it for probably 3 to 4 years before worrying about having to upgrade because your current card can't play games.
Sound Card: Don't worry about this unless you're an audiophile with a kick ass setup. YOu won't notice the difference.
What is your budget? 500, 1000, 2000?
What games? Sims? Solitaire? Rage?
What resolution do you play the games at?
You don't need anything more than an i5 2500k, the i7 isnt worth it for games and it will also smoke anything AMD makes - but a Phenom X4 will play almost anything you need, with the right video card.
RAM is cheap but there's no reason to get over 8GB since almost all games are still 32-bit and will only take 2-3GB of memory. Don't buy over clocked RAM either because it won't make a difference. It helps the AMD budget chips with the integrated GPU, though.
HD prices are fucked right now so buy whatever is cheap and holds all your shit. SSD's are fast but expensive for a 256GB drive, unless you want to do a dual drive setup where the OS stays on the SSD and everything else goes on your hard drive - except for some games that you want to load fast.
Get a GTX 560 video card, no point in going over $200 there. 500w power supply is all you need as well.
What games? Sims? Solitaire? Rage?
What resolution do you play the games at?
You don't need anything more than an i5 2500k, the i7 isnt worth it for games and it will also smoke anything AMD makes - but a Phenom X4 will play almost anything you need, with the right video card.
RAM is cheap but there's no reason to get over 8GB since almost all games are still 32-bit and will only take 2-3GB of memory. Don't buy over clocked RAM either because it won't make a difference. It helps the AMD budget chips with the integrated GPU, though.
HD prices are fucked right now so buy whatever is cheap and holds all your shit. SSD's are fast but expensive for a 256GB drive, unless you want to do a dual drive setup where the OS stays on the SSD and everything else goes on your hard drive - except for some games that you want to load fast.
Get a GTX 560 video card, no point in going over $200 there. 500w power supply is all you need as well.
89-LX
Forum Member
I just built this rig for $1200 and its a bad ass rocking fast setup:
CPU: Intel i7-2700k
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4
Power supply: Seasonic X750
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB PC3-12800
Monitor: Planar 27" PX2710MW
GPU: ATi 6950 flashed to 6970
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 6 Gbps 60GB for OS, 120GB for games
CPU: Intel i7-2700k
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4
Power supply: Seasonic X750
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB PC3-12800
Monitor: Planar 27" PX2710MW
GPU: ATi 6950 flashed to 6970
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 6 Gbps 60GB for OS, 120GB for games
Detroit454
Elected Club Official
I'm looking to spend about 600-800 maybe a little more. I would like to play knights of the old republic, but I'd be using it more for school. This may sound like a noob question, but when you order everything does it come with everything to hook it up? I've never done a build before and could use some pointers.
89-LX
Forum Member
99slverZ
Club Member
Yes it usually comes with everything. If your working with 600-800 skip the SSD.
i5 2500k
HD6950 (Flash it to a 6970 for free) I like AMD cards, but I've never used them on linux so you may want to listen what was said earlier in the thread. In the same price range, nothing from nvidia will touch this card.
2x4gb RAM
"X" size sata drive
whatever mobo newegg/microcenter has on sale that is decent
Forget the sound card you won't notice a difference unless your an audio freak. The above will play any game you want at ultra settings on 1920x with "OK" FPS. Throw in a aftermarket cooler for the I5 if overclocking is your thing, those chips love it. You can substitute the hd6950 for a 6870 if your budget is short.