Hello guys =)
I'm gonna buy a new computer, obviously gaming-oriented, and I'm looking for your advice since I believe most of you know a lot about this, and have a good computer which perhaps was even built by yourself.
So, feel free to list here any configuration that you would recommend, and the budget that comes along with. I will not pay too much for I am not an hardcore gamer but it may exceed 1000 euros (yes, no dollars) as long as it's well priced.
By configuration I mean the box with everything inside. I already own the keyboard, mouse, screen etc (but if you want to say something about the rest, every piece of advice is welcome).
Thank you very much. Your help be rewarded by some dow2 videos, hopefully :>
PC configuration
PC configuration
Last edited by Asmon on Sat 28 Dec, 2013 2:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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crazyman64335
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Re: PC configation
oh boy i love this kinda stuff, well first point is you got the budget out of the way but my 2nd thing i always ask people is what are you going to use the pc for? games? video making? office work? these factors usually determine the amount the pc itself costs obviously 
Re: PC configuration
As I said, it will be for gaming mostly. I'm checking websites and articles about hardware since I've been away from this for a while.
Any advise is welcome, even one thing about mothercard or whatever.
Any advise is welcome, even one thing about mothercard or whatever.
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crazyman64335
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Re: PC configuration
CPU- i'd go with the Intel i5 4570, it's a good processor and will handle any and all of your needs.
Motherboard- should look into the MSI Z87-G45 motherboard, good onboard sound, with nice networking built in.
RAM- you're going to want 8gb no matter what anyone says. It handles everything like a charm, look into either corsair or gskill for this. Personally i have some GSkill sniper ram and it's done nice for me thus far
Hard Drive anything from western digital willl do you good, They have a 1tb for like $70 or a 500gb for about $60 at 7200 rpm (standard speeds)
Video Card this is where you can go a couple of routes, either the nvidia side with the gtx 660 or amd (what i have) and i'd recommend going with the 7870. Can't go wrong with either
Case here's a pretty obvious choice, and one i made a huge mistake on, the cooler master HAF 912 is an awesome option here, big enough to let air flow, and allow future expansion should that be something of interest
Power Supply thing that keeps the pc going, look for one in the 650-750 watt area, some might call that overkill but it's better to have more wattage that necessary for the ability of future expansion than not have enough and have your pc explode, corsair has a pretty good reputation here, but i'd check out cooler master or rosewill if corsair is out of your price range
CD Drive - lulz, anything will work
If you need any more specific help i'd be glad to help out more, this is just a general overview
Motherboard- should look into the MSI Z87-G45 motherboard, good onboard sound, with nice networking built in.
RAM- you're going to want 8gb no matter what anyone says. It handles everything like a charm, look into either corsair or gskill for this. Personally i have some GSkill sniper ram and it's done nice for me thus far
Hard Drive anything from western digital willl do you good, They have a 1tb for like $70 or a 500gb for about $60 at 7200 rpm (standard speeds)
Video Card this is where you can go a couple of routes, either the nvidia side with the gtx 660 or amd (what i have) and i'd recommend going with the 7870. Can't go wrong with either
Case here's a pretty obvious choice, and one i made a huge mistake on, the cooler master HAF 912 is an awesome option here, big enough to let air flow, and allow future expansion should that be something of interest
Power Supply thing that keeps the pc going, look for one in the 650-750 watt area, some might call that overkill but it's better to have more wattage that necessary for the ability of future expansion than not have enough and have your pc explode, corsair has a pretty good reputation here, but i'd check out cooler master or rosewill if corsair is out of your price range
CD Drive - lulz, anything will work
If you need any more specific help i'd be glad to help out more, this is just a general overview
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
decide on a cpu as the socket will determine what motherboards you can get. i haven't looked at CPUs since i built mine but when i did ivy bridge was the one you wanted for 1k gaming rigs.
the next thing to look at is the motherboard and graphics cards. you'll need enough slots for the number of expansion cards you plan to use and you need to make sure that the cards will fit in the case. larger motherboards will have better features.
buy the most powerful graphics card you can afford; its the biggest limiter in games. which graphics card is the is a complicated subjen what you can afford. for reference, i have a pair of 670s (400$ new) and one of them will run anything current at or just below highest settings at 60fps@2560x1440.
EDIT: wtf did i write there before?
RAM is reasonably straight forward and rather hard to go wrong with but all are not created equal. my understanding is that you want timings that are as low as possible but the same.
storage is straight forward as well and you can use the drives from your current computer if you want but i recommend reformatting as it makes everything cleaner. ubuntu live is very useful for that if you don't have an install disk. you do want at least 7200rpm though and a primary solid state (at least 60GB because windows and games dump a lot of shit on it) is nice for startup.
as far as the PSU goes, ideally you want something that is 80+ platinum (at 50C, important!) and twice your wat usage for efficiency reasons. it is possible to buy a bad PSU but anything gold or platinum should be decent. make sure it says that it's rated at 50C though because most are rated at 25C and that makes a pretty big difference.
the case needs to fit everything and will be determined, at a minimum, by your motherboard size. if you have a full size graphics card but a smaller motherboard you'll need to be careful. if you're getting a liquid cooler for the CPU you need to make sure there's a spot to mount a radiator and holes to get tubes out if it's being externally mounted.
make sure you have enough sata connectors. decent motherboards should come with quite a few and you can take them off your old computer. i made the mistake of completely forgetting about them when i built mine but my motherboard came with like 4 and so i was ok.
i'm probably forgetting something important but that's most of it.
the next thing to look at is the motherboard and graphics cards. you'll need enough slots for the number of expansion cards you plan to use and you need to make sure that the cards will fit in the case. larger motherboards will have better features.
buy the most powerful graphics card you can afford; its the biggest limiter in games. which graphics card is the is a complicated subjen what you can afford. for reference, i have a pair of 670s (400$ new) and one of them will run anything current at or just below highest settings at 60fps@2560x1440.
EDIT: wtf did i write there before?
RAM is reasonably straight forward and rather hard to go wrong with but all are not created equal. my understanding is that you want timings that are as low as possible but the same.
storage is straight forward as well and you can use the drives from your current computer if you want but i recommend reformatting as it makes everything cleaner. ubuntu live is very useful for that if you don't have an install disk. you do want at least 7200rpm though and a primary solid state (at least 60GB because windows and games dump a lot of shit on it) is nice for startup.
as far as the PSU goes, ideally you want something that is 80+ platinum (at 50C, important!) and twice your wat usage for efficiency reasons. it is possible to buy a bad PSU but anything gold or platinum should be decent. make sure it says that it's rated at 50C though because most are rated at 25C and that makes a pretty big difference.
the case needs to fit everything and will be determined, at a minimum, by your motherboard size. if you have a full size graphics card but a smaller motherboard you'll need to be careful. if you're getting a liquid cooler for the CPU you need to make sure there's a spot to mount a radiator and holes to get tubes out if it's being externally mounted.
make sure you have enough sata connectors. decent motherboards should come with quite a few and you can take them off your old computer. i made the mistake of completely forgetting about them when i built mine but my motherboard came with like 4 and so i was ok.
i'm probably forgetting something important but that's most of it.
Last edited by Nuclear Arbitor on Sat 28 Dec, 2013 9:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: PC configuration
if you are willing to spend a good amount of money on your graphics card, the new high-end cards from AMD (290 and 290x) completely pwn nvidia's in performance per price. that said, the reference designs had heat and noise issues, but aftermarket versions have good coolers, and i'd absolutely recommend them.
anandtech review on the sapphire version:
http://anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire ... cooled-290
anandtech review on the sapphire version:
http://anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire ... cooled-290
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Commissar Vocaloid
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Re: PC configuration
I've personally stuck with Nvidia cards because AMD has typicially had noise and heat issues - my brother went the budget train of thought and went with AMD a year and a half back and the noise/heat are a serious issue when he pumped it out for higher end games (not to mention his videocard pooped, but that can happen with any brand of card to be fair).
Speaking of cards, he doesn't need two cards for a budget of $1000 euros - it would probably be best not to do that anyway, because he'd be limited in his card choices and would then need to consider his PSU which will be more strain on how much he has to spend. Getting a good single card is all he needs.
As for processors, there's no comparison and it should be said that only Intel is the way to go. The socket type will have change from gen to gen, but it'll be some number of LGA so as it's been said before, just ensure that your MOBO supports it. I would also recommend you go for an i5 if you're planning on going just with gaming. If you do other things that make better use of Hyper Threading (3d rendering, encoding etc), then maybe you could consider the i7 - but save where you don't have to spend.
For mobo, just get a standard ATX and ensure you don't get a micro one. Also ensure that whatever RAM is compatible with your mobo and try and stick with the same type of memory - ideally, you want your sticks to be just about similar (clock speeds etc). It isn't usually recommended that you mix memory from different brands and manufacturers if you're using dual-channel memory slots for said reason before.
If you want to upgrade your PC in the future, ensure they've got SLI/Crossfire support on that Mobo aswell if you are interested in going with two cards down the line -that means you'll need two PCIe x16 slots. Just remember to swap out the PSU in the event that it can't support that wattage for the inclusion of the second card.
Speaking of cards, he doesn't need two cards for a budget of $1000 euros - it would probably be best not to do that anyway, because he'd be limited in his card choices and would then need to consider his PSU which will be more strain on how much he has to spend. Getting a good single card is all he needs.
As for processors, there's no comparison and it should be said that only Intel is the way to go. The socket type will have change from gen to gen, but it'll be some number of LGA so as it's been said before, just ensure that your MOBO supports it. I would also recommend you go for an i5 if you're planning on going just with gaming. If you do other things that make better use of Hyper Threading (3d rendering, encoding etc), then maybe you could consider the i7 - but save where you don't have to spend.
For mobo, just get a standard ATX and ensure you don't get a micro one. Also ensure that whatever RAM is compatible with your mobo and try and stick with the same type of memory - ideally, you want your sticks to be just about similar (clock speeds etc). It isn't usually recommended that you mix memory from different brands and manufacturers if you're using dual-channel memory slots for said reason before.
If you want to upgrade your PC in the future, ensure they've got SLI/Crossfire support on that Mobo aswell if you are interested in going with two cards down the line -that means you'll need two PCIe x16 slots. Just remember to swap out the PSU in the event that it can't support that wattage for the inclusion of the second card.
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
oh, i agree about SLI/crossfire. i was just giving that as a reference. 400$ is probably a bit much for at or under 1k usd, i'm not sure how it'd work with euros, but even a 660 should run everything pretty well at a smaller resolution
PC configuration
- There is usually a sweet spot for CPUs and GPUs where you get "almost all" the power for a good price. The last I looked ATI was still beating NVIDIA for years in row.
- I assume you aren't looking for a display or mass storage, although I might consider an SSD.
- If you're not building a student budget machine then SILENCE. Get the quietest case and PSU available, passive cooling where possible, and only the best fans where not. I don't find water cooling necessary but if you don't mind the hassle the why not.
- For controls, a SteelSeries mechanical keyboard, lazor mouse, and surface (I find glass the absolute best, although it requires replacing mouse glides regularly to stay pleasant). Quality is superb and they don't look retarded like most gaming stuff.
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
noise is less of an issue with headphones. i have a hafx, which has about 4 fans in the case, and a asus RIVE which has a tiny little delta fan on the mb heatsink, as well as my two cards at 80% in gaming situations, and altogether it get's pretty loud. doesn't bother me personally though and with headphones i can't hear it expect in a quiet moment.
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Ace of Swords
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Re: PC configuration
This is the pc I assembled a couple of months ago total cost of around 890-950 euro so this is should give you an idea of what you are making if that's your price range if you need further help contact me on steam I helped a few of my friends in making their PCs.
And I definally recommend you to built it by yourself.
This is a common mistake, what you need to look at is the Amperage provided by the various lines of the PSU, and for the rest Aim for a quality one you don't really need anything more than bronze though.
And I definally recommend you to built it by yourself.
Power Supply thing that keeps the pc going, look for one in the 650-750 watt area, some might call that overkill but it's better to have more wattage that necessary for the ability of future expansion than not have enough and have your pc explode, corsair has a pretty good reputation here, but i'd check out cooler master or rosewill if corsair is out of your price range
This is a common mistake, what you need to look at is the Amperage provided by the various lines of the PSU, and for the rest Aim for a quality one you don't really need anything more than bronze though.
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crazyman64335
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Re: PC configuration
guess i should've thrown in that last bit ace had to mention, ALSO 1 more less important thing (but annoying when you get to the actual build if you're doing it yourself) look for a modular power supply, i had to throw all my wires all around my pc because 1 my case sucks and 2 because i don't need them all right now, just something to toss in there if you can find it. It'll help significantly
Re: PC configuration
This is a common mistake, what you need to look at is the Amperage provided by the various lines of the PSU, and for the rest Aim for a quality one you don't really need anything more than bronze though.
Well this is a bit misleading, as they are all directly related (VI=P). At least 75% of draw is from the 12V rail since the 2000 ATX12V spec. You should be mainly be looking at the 12V rail for modern systems, and if at least 80% of the wattage is not on the 12V rail you should have some serious reservation about the unit. There's no telling if the manufacturer is being candid when advertising their units however (they could be assuming unrealistic 30C when giving specs). "Bronze" etc simply relates to power efficiency (how nice it is on your electricity bill) but is also a general hallmark of quality. Bronze is pretty easy to attain these days though, so the higher end units will be silver+.
So, just stick with well known brands that are rated at 50C. Corsair has been mentioned here and it's a good bet; the units are as good as any other and then they trump the rest with very good warranties on their high end models (7+ years).
Re: PC configuration
Thank you, all of you for your messages. I think I'm decided on the main things:
MSI Z87-G45 GAMING
Intel Core i5 4670K (the K version is cheaper for some reason, though I believe the only difference is the possibility to overclock)
Radeon R9 280X Gaming - 3 Go
Now I'm uncertain about the RAM; should I favor high frequence or low timings? I found some Corsair 8-8-8-24 at 1600Hz and GSkill 11-13-13-35 at 2666Hz for the same price.
I'm still looking for a nice and silent case (so many models and everyone of them looks cool), the PSU and the additionnal fans, especially for the processor. No water cooling otw.
MSI Z87-G45 GAMING
Intel Core i5 4670K (the K version is cheaper for some reason, though I believe the only difference is the possibility to overclock)
Radeon R9 280X Gaming - 3 Go
Now I'm uncertain about the RAM; should I favor high frequence or low timings? I found some Corsair 8-8-8-24 at 1600Hz and GSkill 11-13-13-35 at 2666Hz for the same price.
I'm still looking for a nice and silent case (so many models and everyone of them looks cool), the PSU and the additionnal fans, especially for the processor. No water cooling otw.
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crazyman64335
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Re: PC configuration
in regards for the additional fan for the aftermarket CPU fan i HIGHLY recommend the cooler master hyper 212 evo, the difference between the evo and the + is the evo has a flat bottom which makes it easier to clean and reapply the paste should you need to. It's probably the best CPU aftermarket fan out there, i run my i5 at 4.0 while rarely even touching 50 degrees C, and it reaches 4.5 in the correct case with proper cooling.
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
i have an h100 and it works very well and very quietly. i have a 3930k at 4.7Ghz and it runs at about 50C when playing games. it's prepackaged as well so you don't have to deal with the water. the only difference between installing it and a fan based cooler is having to mount the radiator.
PC configuration
Asmon wrote:I'm still looking for a nice and silent case
http://www.silentpcreview.com/
My last ones have been from Antec (Sonata and Performance One) but I haven't really followed what's going on since the last PC that I made... The Antec case was one of the quietest ones back then, neutral-looking, and easily available (some of the stuff on SPCR was seriously hard to find) so I took that and replaced the fans with Noctua.
Re: PC configuration
If you are planning on playing FPS games I would also consider a newer monitor. It will improve your fatigue and clarity in every game. Im am bidding on these bad boys. Though these might go down in price with the announcement of the newer technology on upcoming monitors.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370973949330?ss ... 1438.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370973949330?ss ... 1438.l2649
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
i bought a $400 crossover on ebay that came with free shipping from korea; one of the best things i've done for my computer. 32" (i think) 2560x1440 ips panel. works well for gaming and has really good colours.
Re: PC configuration
lol i cant even play on monitors which is greater then 19'' or wide:)
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
i can't even comprehend how you cannot... my laptop was 18" and my second screen is 22"(?). is it too big for you to focus on?
Re: PC configuration
yes it is too big+ wide screen is just annoying as hell for me, it is nice to watch movies but for games i hate it.there was no benefit for me other then movies...
i had 23'' full HD gaming monitor and i sold to one of my friend and bought a normal 4:3 monitor:)(+ i had to download bluray quality movies(25GB) to see them, cos otherwise the scene was awful like wtf)
i even noticed that in games what i play i scroll up an down 80% of the time mostly, so widescreen was pointless for me...and i like also playin old games which is a pain on newer monitors when they cant support it in normal resolution.
i had 23'' full HD gaming monitor and i sold to one of my friend and bought a normal 4:3 monitor:)(+ i had to download bluray quality movies(25GB) to see them, cos otherwise the scene was awful like wtf)
i even noticed that in games what i play i scroll up an down 80% of the time mostly, so widescreen was pointless for me...and i like also playin old games which is a pain on newer monitors when they cant support it in normal resolution.
Farseer/Doombringer/Falcon/Mindwar IGN: Ypulse
Re: PC configuration
But nothing forces you to play on fullscreen ;>
I'm used to play on my laptop with a 17' screen but I think I'll buy a new screen around 22'. It's obviously better for HD videos and, as I said, you can still play lower resolutions only on a part of the screen.
Again, thanks everyone for your messages. Any more words about RAM? I'm still undecided.
I'm used to play on my laptop with a 17' screen but I think I'll buy a new screen around 22'. It's obviously better for HD videos and, as I said, you can still play lower resolutions only on a part of the screen.
Again, thanks everyone for your messages. Any more words about RAM? I'm still undecided.
Re: PC configuration
Generally, frequency matters more than latency in gaming, so I'd go with the G.Skill ones. (and especially so because they're at the same price as Corsair's).
Some indices and good review on RAMs at different frequencies at Ananadtech:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memo ... on-haswell
Some indices and good review on RAMs at different frequencies at Ananadtech:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memo ... on-haswell
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Nuclear Arbitor
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Re: PC configuration
my recollection is that everything above 1800 is considered over clocking and not necessarily supported. i haven't had any notable experiences with RAM, positive or negative, but i have 4x4 1600 gskill ripjaw in my desktop and it works fine.
Re: PC configuration
Asmon wrote:But nothing forces you to play on fullscreen ;>
it does force, but nvm.
Farseer/Doombringer/Falcon/Mindwar IGN: Ypulse
Re: PC configuration
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Re: PC configuration
Thanks to my "crappy" PC I had to buy me a new one, so yeah ah dunno your budget but these are the parts I bought for myself:
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79-UD3 - 180 €
Ram: G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 - 127 €
Cooling: Swiftec H220 - 125 €
CPU: Intel Core™ i7-3820 - 269 €
HDD for my OS: Samsung 840 EVO 2,5" 120 GB SSD - 82 €
a new tower: Thermaltake Chaser A71 - 120 €
Video card: Gainward GeForce GTX 780 Ti Phantom - 599 €
=> 1502 €
I know its not the best of the best, could have gone for a better video card or a better cpu, but I think its still okay.
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79-UD3 - 180 €
Ram: G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 - 127 €
Cooling: Swiftec H220 - 125 €
CPU: Intel Core™ i7-3820 - 269 €
HDD for my OS: Samsung 840 EVO 2,5" 120 GB SSD - 82 €
a new tower: Thermaltake Chaser A71 - 120 €
Video card: Gainward GeForce GTX 780 Ti Phantom - 599 €
=> 1502 €
I know its not the best of the best, could have gone for a better video card or a better cpu, but I think its still okay.
"A fortress is built with blood and toil. Only by blood and toil may it be taken." Leman Russ
Re: PC configuration
Ok Max, thank you 
Is that what you got to replace your video card that died recently?
Is that what you got to replace your video card that died recently?
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Ace of Swords
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Re: PC configuration
If it's purely for gaming, and if you don't have money to waste, the i7 of any type and generation is absolutely useless, there is something like a 5% to 0% of fps performance in games when compared to any i5 of the same generation, though if you work with it with like video rendering or simulations or stuff like that then it's good.
The same I would say for the card, I just recently bought a '280X 'Toxic version'' of Sapphire and im running every game of current gen at max settings with no troubles, and that costs 3/5 or even half the price if you are lucky of a 780ti.
The same I would say for the card, I just recently bought a '280X 'Toxic version'' of Sapphire and im running every game of current gen at max settings with no troubles, and that costs 3/5 or even half the price if you are lucky of a 780ti.
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