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Mid Range Gaming PC Build Help.
I'm building a new gaming rig, have a budget of around 1000 USD and here is what I came up with:
CPU-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074
GPU-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363
PSU-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
MB-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131604
HD-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795
RAM-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
SSD-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550
Case-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
DVD Drive-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039
I guess I'm just posting this to make sure everything works together and see if yall thought it was a good buy. Thanks alot for your time!
Comments
The processor won't fit the motherboard. All motherboards that have the appropriate processor socket have been recalled, and should return to market in a month or two.
You should be warned that the SSD is likely to be one of the 25 nm models that only gives you about 51 GB of usable capacity, rather than 56 GB like the older 34 nm models.
Ah thanks I was worried about that.
In that case do you think getting a AMD Phenom II x4 970 would be a good alternative choice? And then I could get this motherboard instead.
As for the SSD I dont know a bunch about them I was just recomened that one by a friend, is it still a good buy for the money or would you get something else?
The SSD might well still be a good buy. I'm just warning you that you shouldn't plan on putting 60 GB of stuff on it. Assume it will have 50 GB of capacity and you'll be fine if that's enough.
Nearly all of the significant processors on the market today, apart from the Sandy Bridge ones for which the motherboards were recalled, launched in 2009 or earlier. So if you buy right now, you're getting a rather dated system. It's a question of whether you really need a new computer right now, or are willing to wait a couple of months for something that will likely last you years longer. Sandy Bridge, and AMD's upcoming competitor for it, Bulldozer, are likely to be about the end of the line in CPU gaming performance for a long time to come. Anything you could buy right now will be rather dated in a few months. A Sandy Bridge or Bulldozer system should still be pretty nice a few years from now.
If you do want a Phenom II X4, then you should know that a "black edition" processor means you can clock it however you want, and all of the Phenom II X4 black edition processors are just different bins of the same die. Instead of buying one clocked at 3.5 GHz, you could buy one stock clocked at 3.2 GHz and then clock it at 3.5 GHz yourself. That will probably work just fine, though it's not entirely guaranteed, of course. If it works, it will get you the same performance and save $40. The downside is that you'll end up with somewhat higher power consumption, and maybe burn an extra 10-20 W at load.
Well if thats the case, I would like this PC asap but also I'd like it to last a couple of years so I'll wait for the new motherboards to come out.
Would it be a bad idea to purchase everything (accept the motherboard of course) and just use my old CPU and MoBo (their compatable)? My old computers GPU is dead so I have nothing to play till I buy this.
One thing you have to think about is the bulldozer line is a completly new architecture for AMD since 2003. The 955 / 970 BE is the last generation rock solid chip from 7 years of the Athlon / Phenom architecture.
Bulldozer is a complete redesign of the AMD archtecture, meaning it's the first generation.
If I were buying a computer today or in the next few months when Bulldozer comes out, I would get a 955 BE. This isn't the late 90's where a computer is obsolete in 2 years. Things don't move as fast these days in advances.
By the time games catch up to using the power of Bulldozer in 3 or 4 years they will be on a another generation and a much more solid chip.
Basically, your not a computer enthusiasts. Your a mid-range guy, and instead of taking a risk with a new design let all the computer entusiasts who get the new thing every 6 months test all this stuff for us. You will not be upset getting a 955 BE, even though its nearly 2 years old. It is one hell of a chip!
Sure, you can do that no problem. You could also just order the GPU now (and maybe power supply, depending on what you have now and what GPU you get), and then get the rest of the computer later on too, which is what I would recommend.
But things do still move. Compare Deneb (Phenom II X4) to Sandy Bridge (Core i5 2500, etc.), for example. With the same clock speed and same number of cores, Sandy Bridge might typically offer 30% better performance, while using 30% less power. Add to that that Sandy Bridge can clock higher, and offers turbo boost and power gating to further improve both performance and power consumption in workloads that don't scale well to many cores.
While Sandy Bridge is very good, it's not some super miracle chip. It's just the results of a full node die shrink, additional years of research, and some new features that were created in that time. Given the choice between Sandy Bridge and Deneb, you'd much rather have Sandy Bridge. And this isn't speculative, either. Sandy Bridge launched last month; the reason you can't buy it now is that the chipsets that pair with it were recalled, but it will be back with the same performance as before.
Bulldozer, meanwhile, will be AMD's answer to Sandy Bridge. Bulldozer gets a full node die shrink as compared to Deneb, and also adds HKMG to the process node. Given the choice between Bulldozer and Deneb, why would you pick Deneb? I can understand why a business that absolutely needs it to just work, and doesn't care much about performance, would choose the older technology. But a gamer, where performance matters?
Furthermore, you say that Bulldozer will be great for 3 or 4 years. Isn't that a good thing, not a bad thing? Wouldn't you like a computer that you buy today to last longer? Do you want to buy a computer today that, three years from now, will be thoroughly obsolete and desperately in need of replacement? Or would it be worth it to pay an extra $50 or $100 or so to get a computer that, three years from now, will still be pretty nice, and there's not much point in upgrading anything but the video card? Saving $100 to cut the useful life of a machine in half is not a good deal.
Processors aren't the sort of part where it's dangerous to be on the bleeding edge. One might want to shy away from buying a brand new SSD, for example, because it is likely to run into firmware problems. If a video card is very new, you can expect driver problems for the first few months.
But processors don't run into that sort of thing. The problem with Sandy Bridge chipsets (not the processors, which are fine) is extremely unusual, and even there, someone who already bought one can pretty well work around it by moving any storage devices from the SATA 2 ports to the SATA 3 ports. Nvidia had some "bumpgate" problems a few years back, but that wasn't discovered until the chips had been shipping for more than a year, so even buying older tech wouldn't have saved you there.
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Now, if you need to build a new computer today and want a Phenom II X4 955, it's a decent choice if appropriate to your budget. But you should realize that it's going to be obsolete much sooner than what you'd be able to buy in a few months. If you accept that, then go ahead.
If the problem is that the video card in your old computer died, then you may be able to buy some parts new and use them in the old computer, and then buy the rest of the parts new in a few months. You can install a new video card in an old computer. Depending on what else you've got in the old one, it might (or might not) be best to replace the case and power supply now, too. Or you could buy everything except for the motherboard, processor, and memory now, and then buy those later. Note that memory goes with the motherboard, too, as the new motherboard will take DDR3 memory, while the old one likely uses DDR2.
$700 for a computer that can run anything on the current market at max on 1680x1050. $1000 is overkill unless that includes your monitor and other external hardware.
I derive my strength from passion. Do you feel that? That is what seperates you and I, Jedi!
I'm in need of a new gaming pc and was considering something in the $1k range. I have never built a pc from the ground up and was wondering if anyone could point me to some good resources for a build. More specifically, I'd love a checklist of what you need for a ground up build. As I've never done one, I wouldn't want to forget something.
Warhammer fanatic since '85.
Do you need it right now, or would you be willing to wait a couple of months for Sandy Bridge and/or Bulldozer? You'll get a couple extra years or so from the useful life of the processor and motherboard if you wait.
Always start with your tower. It's the basis for everything. It decides cooling, motherboard, and peripheral space. On a 1k budget NZXT has some very aesthetic towers you could look at. Especially the Guardian! Then you need to consider your motherboard and power supply. An ATX style for both will fit nicely in to the case. How many watts will your PSU need to be? Are you running AMD for a lower budget? What type of video card do you prefer? There are a few variable in place that need to be addressed.
Your MB and CPU are not compatible. It's an 1155 CPU and an 1156 MB.
Why do it that way? Why not start with the performance parts first, and then once you know what you want, pick a case that can accommodate them?
Thanks alot for the help everyone.
I think I'll just wait it out for the Sandy Bridge Mobo's to be back in stock and just go with those. Its tempting to not just get a new computer sooner but I want something that will last.
Oh and my current computer is around 4 years old so it needed to be upgraded anyway, I'm not just upgrading the whole thing because the gpu went out.
Thanks again!
I'm in no hurry as I'm still layed off for the winter, was planning on building it this summer since I'll be so busy working as to not have time for gaming.
Warhammer fanatic since '85.
I always start with the video card, since it's usually among the most expensive and has the largest bearing on gaming performance for most games. After that comes the motherboard, which determines which socket CPU I can fit. Once the video card and CPU class are picked, you know the size of the power supply you need. Then comes the tower - I need to make sure it will fit the video card, and the cooler for the CPU. Then anything else that I need to spend money on, and then the CPU is usually the last thing, and I throw whatever I have left in the budget at the CPU. If I end up over budget before I get to the CPU (which is often), then I know I can cut some slack off the video card or scale back the motherboard to one with fewer features or different socket/CPU class.
I don't know why you would restrict yourself to building a computer around the case, unless your looking to fit a very specific form factor, like a LAN box or a low profile HTPC. Most all "enthusiast" gaming motherboards are ATX profile, and most midtower cases are typically adequate for single video card installations (with a few exceptions). But if you have the case first, you've restricted yourself on video cards, which are the single biggest impact item, and CPU coolers.