Hardware Custom made Computer

[WiiFit_Guy]

I'm considering doing a custom made computer in the future. Though I want to have your input gbatemp. Also I dont know much about building computers.

My budget would be 1000-1500 (with tax). Im looking for a PC that can be able to emulate dolphin perfectly and some 3D model programs.

I hear i5 processor is good enough for dolphin (selecting i5 to save money also). Only difference I hear for i7 is hyper-threading which is really only good for video editing programs.

 

[raystriker]

Assuming you have all the other components figured out, Go for the Intel i5 4690K . Feeling adventurous? Overclock it.

 

[RustInPeace]

I'm sort of on the same boat, only my budget is most likely $3300, looking at the parts I'd like to get. A gaming PC, and just something to handle CPU intensive tasks that this old 2GB RAM PC can't do. For example, I can't play some 720p videos, can't play any 1080p+ ones, can't emulate on Dolphin. Sometimes the PC shuts down, low amount of RAM, dare not to play any PC games, programs can run slow. I've been saving pretty much since February, so my patience and work habit is being tested. Some setbacks, just today I had to help my grandmother pay the Fios bill, on my side, I dropped down $100, and hope the other person helping meets halfway. I'm around 3/4 of the way to my goal, so it's only a matter of time.

 

[Originality]

The more information you provide (e.g games, apps, etc), the more help you can get.

If you're not serious about 3D modelling (I.e. If it's only for small projects like for college) then you're better off saving the money and getting Core i5 instead of i7. You probably won't notice the benefits of HyperThreading and 500Mhz extra stock speed.

 

[WiiFit_Guy]

Assuming you have all the other components figured out, Go for the Intel i5 4690K . Feeling adventurous? Overclock it.

How do you overclock it?

I'm sort of on the same boat, only my budget is most likely $3300, looking at the parts I'd like to get. A gaming PC, and just something to handle CPU intensive tasks that this old 2GB RAM PC can't do. For example, I can't play some 720p videos, can't play any 1080p+ ones, can't emulate on Dolphin. Sometimes the PC shuts down, low amount of RAM, dare not to play any PC games, programs can run slow. I've been saving pretty much since February, so my patience and work habit is being tested. Some setbacks, just today I had to help my grandmother pay the Fios bill, on my side, I dropped down $100, and hope the other person helping meets halfway. I'm around 3/4 of the way to my goal, so it's only a matter of time.

I hear you! Thats why Im looking foward to custom made computer. Sure it is a lot more, but worth it in the long run. Plus you can change your parts/upgrade without limitation. I myself more and more becoming a retro gamer. Therefore processing power like I mentioned would only be for streaming and dolphin really.

The more information you provide (e.g games, apps, etc), the more help you can get.

If you're not serious about 3D modelling (I.e. If it's only for small projects like for college) then you're better off saving the money and getting Core i5 instead of i7. You probably won't notice the benefits of HyperThreading and 500Mhz extra stock speed.

Basically Youtube, Twitch, able to record and multitask (more ram). I would like to run dolphin very smoothly. Windows media player or video software and thats about it.

 

[Ericthegreat]

I'm considering doing a custom made computer in the future. Though I want to have your input gbatemp. Also I dont know much about building computers.

My budget would be 1000-1500 (with tax). Im looking for a PC that can be able to emulate dolphin perfectly and some 3D model programs.

I hear i5 processor is good enough for dolphin (selecting i5 to save money also). Only difference I hear for i7 is hyper-threading which is really only good for video editing programs.

Hey you, new processors(Skylake) coming out in August, new i5 will be a lil faster, if you dont care about that, then pretty much anything you can buy right now will be much cheaper, if you do go with the new processors (and with your budget prolly worth it ?) you will need a different motherboard with the z170 chipset as well. The new processors will also come with much better integrated graphics, dunno what your plans for a gpu are tho.

Anyway I can highly recommend to you pcpartpicker.com. ( reddit.com/r/buildapc is nice too)

 

[RustInPeace]

How do you overclock it?


I hear you! Thats why Im looking foward to custom made computer. Sure it is a lot more, but worth it in the long run. Plus you can change your parts/upgrade without limitation. I myself more and more becoming a retro gamer. Therefore processing power like I mentioned would only be for streaming and dolphin really.


Basically Youtube, Twitch, able to record and multitask (more ram). I would like to run dolphin very smoothly. Windows media player or video software and thats about it.

You should try https://pcpartpicker.com/, build your own PC and get price comparisons, or view complete builds. Right from the click of the link, you'll see a feature guide for a $1458 rig.

 

[Originality]

Brief version of overclocking Intel CPUs - the clock speed is made up of the base clock (usually 100Mhz for Intel Core i) and the multiplier (e.g. x35 for the 3.5Ghz i5-4690K). TurboBoost is the automatic overclocking that can push it up to 3.9Ghz. You can safely manually overclock it to 4Ghz (for example, to match the i7-4790K speed) just by increasing the multiplier. In order to get higher speeds (e.g. 4.7-5Ghz), you will need to increase the CPU voltage (e.g. to 1.35V) to keep it stable. This sucks up more power (strains the VRMs of the motherboard) and generates more heat, so you will need a better cooler (e.g. big heatsinks or even liquid cooling). Also overclocking mileage varies from case to case, even with identical parts, so tweaking and experimenting is required to find the actual limits (many can't even hit 4.8Ghz stable). Also better motherboards (e.g. Asus Rampage series) will have better stability when overclocking.

If this sounds fun to you, or if you need the extra performance, then feel free to overclock. If you're worried about potentially frying parts or the fact that overclocking reduces the lifespan of the CPU and motherboard, then you're already better off leaving it to TurboBoost to overclock for you. But mild overclocks (like 4.0Ghz) are fairly safe and won't strain the parts (much).

 

[WiiFit_Guy]

Brief version of overclocking Intel CPUs - the clock speed is made up of the base clock (usually 100Mhz for Intel Core i) and the multiplier (e.g. x35 for the 3.5Ghz i5-4690K). TurboBoost is the automatic overclocking that can push it up to 3.9Ghz. You can safely manually overclock it to 4Ghz (for example, to match the i7-4790K speed) just by increasing the multiplier. In order to get higher speeds (e.g. 4.7-5Ghz), you will need to increase the CPU voltage (e.g. to 1.35V) to keep it stable. This sucks up more power (strains the VRMs of the motherboard) and generates more heat, so you will need a better cooler (e.g. big heatsinks or even liquid cooling). Also overclocking mileage varies from case to case, even with identical parts, to tweaking and experimenting is required to find the actual limits (many can't even hit 4.8Ghz stable). Also better motherboards (e.g. Asus Rampage series) will have better stability when overclocking.

If this sounds fun to you, or if you need the extra performance, then feel free to overclock. If you're worried about potentially frying parts or the fact that overclocking reduces the lifespan of the CPU and motherboard, then you're already better off leaving it to TurboBoost to overclock for you. But mild overclocks (like 4.0Ghz) are fairly safe and won't strain the parts (much).

Thanks for the very informative response (especially for a computer noob like me ). Well if I want to overclock it (which I would like to do), then I would need to get a motherboard that would allow me to be able to customize and change the voltage without a hassle (Asus maybe, ASUS motherboard for their UEFI BIOS with the automatic "Performance" overclock instruction for the CPU and an unlocked ("K") Intel CPU with an aftermarket heatsink). As for liquid coolers, that seems cool. I have a cooler master cooling pad, and I like it very much. I know that company also makes the liquid coolers. Would they be a good choice as well?

Hey you, new processors(Skylake) coming out in August, new i5 will be a lil faster, if you dont care about that, then pretty much anything you can buy right now will be much cheaper, if you do go with the new processors (and with your budget prolly worth it ?) you will need a different motherboard with the z170 chipset as well. The new processors will also come with much better integrated graphics, dunno what your plans for a gpu are tho.

Anyway I can highly recommend to you pcpartpicker.com. ( reddit.com/r/buildapc is nice too)

Thank you! All I need is a good i5 for dolphin really.

 

[Taleweaver]

Logical increments is a good starting point if you 'just' have a budget and want a balanced bang for your buck.

 

[Originality]

When looking for motherboards that are able to overclock, it's primarily Z97 motherboards (although I recently found out some H97 motherboards can do it too). So long as you have a Z97 motherboard, no matter which brand made it, they are all capable of overclocking. The difference between them is in design and quality of parts, which will effect how easily/effectively they overclock and (generally) how long they last. I wish I could use the "you get what you pay for" line, but when it comes to motherboards there's little to no consistency between price and performance (i.e. value).

As for which cooler to get, look up reviews. Most closed liquid cooling setups are somewhat easy to use as long as you can find a way to mount it in your chosen case, although the better ones will have longer radiators that make it more difficult to find cases that can mount it (but there are still many in the market). The most important thing is noting if the radiator is 120mm size, 140mm, 240mm (2x120), 280mm (2x140), or rarely 360mm (3x120). The bigger it is, the harder it will be to find a case that can mount it. When looking, the first place to look tends to be the top of the case to see how many roof fans it has.

For reference, I use a Corsair H110 cooler which has a 280mm radiator. When I looked for cases that could mount it, I could only find a small handful of cases to choose from that could use it without any modifications. The H100i is smaller (240mm) which means there are that many more compatible cases, although 120mm fans are louder than 140mm fans.

 

[Kioku]

You've got a nice budget for your needs. The new 300 series cards by Radeon paired with an i5(gaming)i7(gaming/work) would do you nice. I can get a good list going here by the end of the day. Everyone else is covering technical specs..

 

[Qtis]

Unless you have a specific need for an i7 over an i5, the extra cash invested in the better CPU is better invested in a better GPU. I've discussed this before in some threads here, but the GPU boost is in most cases more bang for the buck compared to a CPU upgrade.

What I have at the moment is roughly the following (less than 1500$ with monitor included):
I5-4690k + separate cooler
Gtx 970
16gb Ram
Z97 mobo
Get a SSD for OS and main apps, HDD is fine for games/data.

I can run anything I throw at it at the moment and even games like Witcher 3 work great (the game can melt any config available now). If you want more performance, get a GTX 980 Ti. A bit more expensive than a GTX 980 vanilla, but closer to a GTX Titan in terms of performance. Other component changes get you marginal performance benefits offer the ones I listed.

 

[WiiFit_Guy]

Unless you have a specific need for an i7 over an i5, the extra cash invested in the better CPU is better invested in a better GPU. I've discussed this before in some threads here, but the GPU boost is in most cases more bang for the buck compared to a CPU upgrade.

What I have at the moment is roughly the following (less than 1500$ with monitor included):
I5-4690k + separate cooler
Gtx 970
16gb Ram
Z97 mobo
Get a SSD for OS and main apps, HDD is fine for games/data.

I can run anything I throw at it at the moment and even games like Witcher 3 work great (the game can melt any config available now). If you want more performance, get a GTX 980 Ti. A bit more expensive than a GTX 980 vanilla, but closer to a GTX Titan in terms of performance. Other component changes get you marginal performance benefits offer the ones I listed.

That's an awesome build! Though I wouldnt mind playing games like witcher 3, for the moment its dolphin that I really want to run smooth. And I much rather go for the i5 and overclock it. Though your GPU is expensive, but you think I can get a full build with the GPU you mentioned with an i5 and mediocre components for the rest of the build (monitor, ssd, hdd, liquid cooler ect).

 

[Qtis]

That's an awesome build! Though I wouldnt mind playing games like witcher 3, for the moment its dolphin that I really want to run smooth. And I much rather go for the i5 and overclock it. Though your GPU is expensive, but you think I can get a full build with the GPU you mentioned with an i5 and mediocre components for the rest of the build (monitor, ssd, hdd, liquid cooler ect).

It all depends on what you're doing with the computer. CPU boots are marginal for gaming. Paying a few extra $100 for 1-2 fps benefit is not worth it. Paying the same for a better GPU will benefit you on the long run a lot more. Personally I think that the GTX970 is fantastic value as the benchmarks are in most cases better than the previous generations series, but costs a fraction of the price.

That said, emulation is another matter. The i5-4690K I have can easily run Dolphin and many other emulators available at 1080p with very playable rates. I like to do a lot more than just emulation so I invested the extra oomph on the GPU. If I was still studying, I might have invested in a GTX980 (or if I bought my computer now, the GTX980 Ti).

But to answer the question. Yes. You can get the build I mentioned and even better with $1000-1500 budget, especially if you have an existing case/PSU/monitor/whatnot. If I was able to get the price range in Finland for less than 1500€, you should have no problem in the US/Canada with NewEgg, Amazon and the likes selling stuff with better offers and rebates

 

[endoverend]

If you're willing to wait till August, I would get the i5-6600K when it comes out. As part of the new Skylake Intel models, it should be much more powerful over a 4690k.

The build Qtis mentioned is the de facto 2015 gaming PC build and you should be able to get it for a little over $1000.
But I am a little concerned about how future-proof the GTX 970 is. Right now, it's the absolute best bang for your buck, but spending the extra money on the 980 would certainly increase your PC's viability 5 years from now if you're not the type of person who upgrades frequently. Another (albeit expensive) good option would be to SLI two GTX 970 cards.

If you want to save ~$50, I would go for 8GB of RAM rather than 16. 16 is overkill unless you do a lot of video editing and 8 is fine for gaming. Besides, you can easily upgrade RAM later.

 

[WiiFit_Guy]

It all depends on what you're doing with the computer. CPU boots are marginal for gaming. Paying a few extra $100 for 1-2 fps benefit is not worth it. Paying the same for a better GPU will benefit you on the long run a lot more. Personally I think that the GTX970 is fantastic value as the benchmarks are in most cases better than the previous generations series, but costs a fraction of the price.

That said, emulation is another matter. The i5-4690K I have can easily run Dolphin and many other emulators available at 1080p with very playable rates. I like to do a lot more than just emulation so I invested the extra oomph on the GPU. If I was still studying, I might have invested in a GTX980 (or if I bought my computer now, the GTX980 Ti).

But to answer the question. Yes. You can get the build I mentioned and even better with $1000-1500 budget, especially if you have an existing case/PSU/monitor/whatnot. If I was able to get the price range in Finland for less than 1500€, you should have no problem in the US/Canada with NewEgg, Amazon and the likes selling stuff with better offers and rebates

Thank You! I will definitively prioritize the GPU after picking a good i5 processor and a good cooling system accessory. Like @endoverend mentioned, I may get the new i5-6600K. Or I may just opt to get something similar but on the less expensive end.

If you're willing to wait till August, I would get the i5-6600K when it comes out. As part of the new Skylake Intel models, it should be much more powerful over a 4690k.

The build Qtis mentioned is the de facto 2015 gaming PC build and you should be able to get it for a little over $1000.
But I am a little concerned about how future-proof the GTX 970 is. Right now, it's the absolute best bang for your buck, but spending the extra money on the 980 would certainly increase your PC's viability 5 years from now if you're not the type of person who upgrades frequently. Another (albeit expensive) good option would be to SLI two GTX 970 cards.

If you want to save ~$50, I would go for 8GB of RAM rather than 16. 16 is overkill unless you do a lot of video editing and 8 is fine for gaming. Besides, you can easily upgrade RAM later.

Thank You as well. Yes, you are right about the ram. I have 8gb laptop and that runs smoothly alone with most of my everyday use (except maybe not for Halo 2 Full speed, but that can be GPU and processor end). I will opt for 8Gb, and upgrade if necessary (more money saved).

 

[Originality]

Not that it matters much, but my GTX 770 is still going strong (originally released August '13). Haven't played any games yet that I can't max out at 1200p. GTX 970 will also go last a while.

 

[WiiFit_Guy]

Not that it matters much, but my GTX 770 is still going strong (originally released August '13). Haven't played any games yet that I can't max out at 1200p. GTX 970 will also go last a while.

Hey, if it can play 1200p and if i can save some extra help, that helps!

 

[Originality]

You won't be able to save any on the 770 as opposed to the 970, since the 770 is no longer being sold in most outlets. I was just reinforcing the fact that the 970 is more than enough, and you prolly won't see much benefit from the 980 for a few years. Unless you go 4K or multi-monitor.