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Building a computer for gaming/other entertainment.

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3074326

3074326

Adios
I just got a raise and I've always wanted a really nice desktop. Building one is the way to go. Thing is, I know next to nothing about building computers. I'd prefer to stay under $700, which should be more than enough to build a very good PC, I think.

Any hardware recommendations for me? I know there are tons of sites on this topic, and I'm currently looking at them, I'd just prefer to make a thread so I can ask questions if needed. I'm mainly looking for a graphics card, hard drive, memory, motherboard, and sound card.

It would probably be important for me to tell you what I'd be doing on the computer.. I'll be playing games (online shooters, RPGs, etc. Not solitaire and minesweeper). I'll be recording and creating music, with multiple programs running at the same time. Usually a recording program, a loop program, sometimes a third program. I'm a Photoshop user. Then there's the common stuff like movies, music, internet browsing, etc.
 
Start with at least a 500GB hard drive. Maybe two. buy a TB external drive to store music, pictures an videos.

Processor speed should be a dual-core, at least 2.1Ghz, the faster the better.

If you plan on using Vista as a operating system and gaming, start with 3GB of RAM, or you could go with 4GB. I'm running 2GB and I run smooth playing NWN and such.

The kicker is your Video and sound cards.

My recommendation:

Micro Center - GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card

As far as sound goes:

Micro Center - Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
 
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Dropping 100 on a soundcard is excessive, imo... for performance vs value. If you MUST have that one, wait for deals like this for $59. On slickdeals, you can find much beter deals like this: ( DEAD: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX - $29.99 (save $130 ). I grabbed an Audigy 2 for about $20 on one of their deals.
Micro Center - GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card
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Also overpriced, imo... or more accurately, not as great of a sale as this one, which is just as good, if not better. ATI was dominated by nvidia for years, but has taken the market by storm with this card.

HD 4850 (lots of varieties) goes for $140 or $150 after rebate, with new deals weekly. (link)

I waited on a deal for a complete computer, and got the following for $650 from HP:

Quad-core Q6600
3 GB PC2-6400
320 GB HD (would prefer bigger, but great deal overall)
Bluray Burner/Reader & CD/DVD lightscribe
256 mb NVidia 9300 HDMI
Vista 64
TV Tuner/PVR & front side video capture

Had i built it myself, I would have gone for a 750 GB HD (about $90) and 4850 graphic card (140).
The above rig would likely cost about 800 purchased individually.
It would probably be important for me to tell you what I'd be doing on the computer.. I'll be playing games (online shooters, RPGs, etc. Not solitaire and minesweeper). I'll be recording and creating music, with multiple programs running at the same time. Usually a recording program, a loop program, sometimes a third program. I'm a Photoshop user. Then there's the common stuff like movies, music, internet browsing, etc.
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I think you'd benefit from going quad core. There are some pretty affordable options these days, like the Q6600.
 
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I would honestly stay away from getting a pre-built brand name such as HP, of course that's just my opinion.

I would go with a dual core AMD 6000+ (quad cores are great and all, but just not going to be needed for a while.

2 gig of ram minimum, but for the price, I would go 4 gig.

Hard drives, doesnt really matter, just depends on how much space you want. They are cheap now too.

Vid card, I personally have switched back to ATI, and have been very happy. Something like a 3850HD or even the 4000 series if you can find one cheap enough.

Sound cards are prety much not necessary now. If you get a good mobo, the onboard sound will be plenty sufficient.

Just go to newegg and get everything from there.
 
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I would honestly stay away from getting a pre-built brand name such as HP, of course that's just my opinion.
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I needed something with a quick fix/replacement policy for my work computer. I agree in general, mine just turned out to be much cheaper and simpler (quicker turnaround) than building myself (especially since I needed a new case, etc).
quad cores are great and all, but just not going to be needed for a while.
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Even with his described workload?
Just go to newegg and get everything from there.
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This was my policy for everything when I was more of an enthusiast in college. They take back basically everything, if it's within the return policy date (some are 30 days, some a year or two). They even took back a fried processor.
 
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Even with his described workload?
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Yeah hell I have the 6000+ and I cant even begin to push it to its limits, or even half its limits. I can run crysis at full settings with zero slow down, and my vid card isnt even all that high end.

I'll be recording and creating music, with multiple programs running at the same time. Usually a recording program, a loop program, sometimes a third program.
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Ok I missed this the first time. Yeah you would probably want something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102017
 
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Out of curiosity, how much value would he get out of the quad core, if he's running 2-3 intensive tasks at once? Capturing audio, editing in photoshop, and one other app?

I realize it's typically overkill for one app, I went for future proofing since I'd rather not upgrade again for 4 years, so I can get a macbook pro in a few years (photography).
 
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Out of curiosity, how much value would he get out of the quad core, if he's running 2-3 intensive tasks at once? Capturing audio, editing in photoshop, and one other app?

I realize it's typically overkill for one app, I went for future proofing since I'd rather not upgrade again for 4 years, so I can get a macbook pro in a few years (photography).
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Well dont get me wrong, if you can fit a quad core into your budget, definitely go for it. But the price difference between the low end quad cores and the high end dual cores is just too much for my taste. You could do all that on a dual core with no prob though.
 
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BrutusMaximus;1227263; said:
Well dont get me wrong, if you can fit a quad core into your budget, definitely go for it. But the price difference between the low end quad cores and the high end dual cores is just too much for my taste. You could do all that on a dual core with no prob though.
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...and 90%+ of the time the higher clock of the dual core will be important than the extra threads.
 
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jwinslow;1227287; said:
Dual Core, 4 GB, Vista systems can be found in deal packages for about $350-400... not sure what ballpark it would cost to build.
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With all of the stuff you'd want, it would cost more than $850 to build from scratch. The packages include the four USB ports, 1394 Firewire card, Ethernet, and all the stuff you don't think about until late in the build process. But most only come with a 250GB HD.

I just installed a 320GB HD to compliment my 80GB last weekend. I'm taking all of my games off of the C: drive and putting them on the new drive and saving the 80GB for important stuff. I've already filled 40 gigs of space just moving my games over and music library over.

All in all, with the cost of PC's these days, buy one from Dell and then add to it. Its the cheapest route.
 
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I'm not going to be running three programs at a time very often.. so a dual core sounds like it'll be fine.

Are there better video cards for the price than the one scooter posted? How does the Powercolor HD 4850 stack up against it? There are also a few highly rated ones on newegg that are a bit less (Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N829-AR GeForce 8800GTS SSC 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards and Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGE88512GTSE GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards among others). I'm willing to pay for quality, I'd just prefer to pay less, obviously. :tongue2:

I probably won't need a huge hard drive. All I really plan on putting on the computer are games and programs. I have a laptop that I use for music, and I don't put many videos/movies on computers. Sometimes I'll watch movies on the computer, but that's pretty much all I do with movies. I was thinking that I'd put movies on the hard drive when I made the thread.. but I won't.
 
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How does the Powercolor HD 4850 stack up against it?
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Equal or better.

You're not going to get a better performance/price ratio than the $140 4850's right now. There is a 9800 GTX+ coming out, but it is not really much different (and not proven to be as cheap yet either).

If you don't want a Powercolor version of the 4850, wait a few days. They literally have 1-2 deals each week around that pricepoint for the 4850.
I probably won't need a huge hard drive. All I really plan on putting on the computer are games and programs. I have a laptop that I use for music, and I don't put many videos/movies on computers. Sometimes I'll watch movies on the computer, but that's pretty much all I do with movies. I was thinking that I'd put movies on the hard drive when I made the thread.. but I won't.
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If storage isn't a big concern, I'd opt for a higher performance model. You don't need anything crazy (like used for server hard drives).
 
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