Building a computer

[Bock]

I generally like TheYonderGod's build. Like he said, if you don't live near a Microcenter, the 3570k will be more expensive. Go for the i5-3470 if you're buying online, you lose .2 GHz of stock speeds and overclockability but save ~$30. An aftermarket cooler like the 212 will keep your processor cooler and your build quieter, but the stock cooler is adequate if you aren't overclocking. With the SSD, I'd go with the Samsung 830 series if you can find it for a similar price. It's 128 GB vs 120 and a bit faster. I'd also suggest a modular power supply, something like a SeaSonic 620W would be great. Having modular cables helps keep your build tidy. As for the case, look around. It's a lot about personal preference. On the budget end, the NZXT Source 210 Elite and HAF 912 offer good airflow and cable management for the money. If I were doing a new build today, I'd probably pick the Fractal Design Define R4, a nice sleek, quiet case. I'd also probably go with the Gigabyte 7970. The Windforce cooler is fantastic, whereas, the XFX card has a bunch of negative reviews on Newegg. A lot of people are complaining about the fan. If you are looking for new peripherals, I'll also echo the DeathAdder recommendation, but it's all I've used so I can't recommend any others. Can't really recommend a keyboard. I'm using a cheapo standard keyboard. From what I've seen and heard, though, mechanical keyboards are great if you can part with the cash.

[Cheesy]

From what I've seen and heard, though, mechanical keyboards are great if you can part with the cash.

Is that what dan1mall has? I too want to sound like I'm banging on a typewriter

[TheYonderGod]

With the SSD, I'd go with the Samsung 830 series if you can find it for a similar price. It's 128 GB vs 120 and a bit faster.

The 840 is the newer and faster one. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6338/sams ... benchmarks

[Fields]

From what I've seen and heard, though, mechanical keyboards are great if you can part with the cash.

Is that what dan1mall has? I too want to sound like I'm banging on a typewriter

I can say that the Steel series 6gv2 is a decent & loud mechanical keyboard and costs ~100$.

Also, don't get a solid state drive. -_-

[haruky]

From what I've seen and heard, though, mechanical keyboards are great if you can part with the cash.

Is that what dan1mall has? I too want to sound like I'm banging on a typewriter

I can say that the Steel series 6gv2 is a decent & loud mechanical keyboard and costs ~100$.

Also, don't get a solid state drive. -_-

Why no SSD? My OS and other programs load at incredible speeds b/c of it! I think it's a good investment.

[Bock]

Cheesy needs an SSD so he can actually load up the game and start FCing before the rounds starts with the new 12 second round timer.

[Ghoul]

I usually take a look at this site when I am deciding what to spend on new computer hardware.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

I like to look at the benchmarks vs price value as to get the most bang for my buck. I am a strong believer in purchasing the best hardware I can afford because then I get a lot more years out of it than if I skimp and buy low quality hardware that fails prematurly.

I wouldn't skimp on the Motherboard since it is the heart of your rig. Get one that has enough sata ports for all the possible hard drives you may want to run. I currently have 7 internal and one external hard drives (11 TB of storrage, I run a Media server from my rig, and have something like 3000 movies and I couldn't even tell you how many TV shows)

Getting a Motherboard with the latest chipset will in most cases allow for a future CPU upgrade before the end of your systems lifecycle. I'm a big fan of Gigabyte Mother boards. Ive been thankfull for their 3 year unconditional warranty, on more than one occasion with no problems. Seagate and Western Digital are very good about replacing dead drives (OEM drives that just come in a plastic bag only have a 1 year warranty, the boxed versions are 3 years) A reputable power supply company will usually warranty its product for 3 years as well. Ram usually has a lifetime guarantee (at least with Corsair, and Mushkin for sure)


If you have a lot of USB devices, make sure to get a good brand name power supply, I'd reccomend at least 700 watts, funny things start happening when your rig is under powered, crashes, freezes, reboots, etc. And USB 3.0 is Amazingly fast. It took 24 hours to transfer 2TB of data to an external drive via USB 2.0, then I did the same thing to a USB 3.0 drive and it only took 7 hours.

If your not planning on overclocking anything I wouldn't bother investing in a aftermarket CPU fan, the stock one should be fine unless you live somewhere like Arizona

Ram is not that big of a deal when paying high dollars for latency, it doesent yeild much in gaming performance. 8GB will be plenty for a gaming rig. Just make sure that the motherboard default ram voltage matches the ram you buy.

I built this gaming rig in December 2010

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Raidmax 700w PSU
Geforce GTX 460

I was getting about 45fps in BF3 with that setup
But because I bought a decent CPU, RAM, Motherboard and PSU Upgrading the video card to a Geforce GTX670 raised my FPS in Battlefield to 160 (with V-sync turned off and everything on medium to high settings)

So getting quality stuff from the get go, will save you money later and give you a nice rig for 3 to 5 years leaving you room for future upgrades without having to start from scratch.

Get a computer case you adore and you could still be using it in 10 years. I used one case for almost 12 years before I abandoned it for a aluminum case with more space.


Here is a list of gear I'd be considering from Newegg.com if I were in the market today.

ZOTAC AMP! GeForce GTX 660 Ti ZT-60804-10P Video Card
Item #:N82E16814500269
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$299.99

Corsair Force Series GS CSSD-F128GBGS-BK 2.5" Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #:N82E16820233395
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
$134.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820231314
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$44.99

CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139010
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$129.99

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813128498
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
$149.99

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Item #:N82E16819116501
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
$329.99

Western Digital WD Black 1TB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822136533
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$104.99


Grand Total: $1,194.93

[StarfisherEcho]

I use this keyboard: http://www.pckeyboard.com/

(not joking)

It's awesome. It sounds like a machine gun if you start typing rapidly. Absolutely love it.

[dan1mall]

I use this keyboard: http://www.pckeyboard.com/

(not joking)

It's awesome. It sounds like a machine gun if you start typing rapidly. Absolutely love it.

Yeah I use a mechanical keyboard aswell, it feels so awesomely visceral whenever youre furiously typing.
Im currently using the razer blackwiddow, because im a fanboy and they sponsor one of my favorite e-sport teams: TeamLiquid

[knorren]

Also, don't get a solid state drive. -_-

I guess that was a joke, right?

[Shrapnel]

When you say you have peripherals what do you mean?

Do you need a new HDD?

What is the power rating of your current PSU?

Do you need a new OS?

If you only need a new mobo, cpu, gpu and ram that is very different than needing everything for your budget.

Also http://www.anandtech.com/ is a great place to get info on everything.

Edit: budget for cooling solutions too as the factory stuff is usually not good enough to handle the constant load of gaming.

[Fields]

Also, don't get a solid state drive. -_-

I guess that was a joke, right?

Lol, no. I still load games faster then most of you SSD people and they're still horrendously expensive compared to their magnetic platter counterparts. If his budget is $1200, he could spend that 100$ for a SSD on a better graphic card or something else. Heck, he could spray paint his case and I would consider that a better investment

[Gwynzer]

Yer, I believe the main advantage of SSDs at this stage is mainly in OS boot times. I can't think of any of my games where my load times are ridiculously long.

[Bock]

Load times might not be ridiculously long with a mechanical hard drive. But they're ridiculously fast with an SSD.

[Cheesy]

Right now my game loads after the 30 second countdown and then I have to run after Killer's LAV every time So anything will be an improvement.