Holy cow I'm so sorry for not responding sooner, I didn't think this thread would move this fast
@DarkRiolu264, I'm going to give you a few pointers to consider right now since my online time is going to be a bit unpredictable today:
@DarkRiolu264, I'm going to give you a few pointers to consider right now since my online time is going to be a bit unpredictable today:
- If you're going to be playing modern games, while looking for a CPU settle for no less than 3 cores at about 3.2gHz
- A lot of people will probably try to tell you that clock speeds on GPUs matter. While this is true, this is one of only a lot of factors that goes into the decision making process. Depending on the GPU, vRAM can make a HUGE difference; look for the highest end GPU in your budget and then see if there is a 4GB or above version.
- Decide your budget early and then set aside about 1/3 of it for the GPU, you'll thank me later.
- READ REVIEWS. It will save you from accidentally making the worst decisions you could when building a PC. Don't just look at the PCPP reviews, look at the reviews on retailers sites as well.
- Old hardware =/= bad hardware, but there are benefits from getting newer hardware; if you can get parts cheap that are outdated but are certified for performance, more power to ya. Just keep in mind that newer parts are typically more energy efficient and generally better at doing what they do. Which leads me to...
- When you're building a small form factor PC, you're going to want to build it so that it has the lowest TDP possible (aka lowest wattage). Why? Less power = less heat, and SFX PCs typically only have room for one or two fans, or may even *shudder* be passively cooled.
- For RAM, make sure you have at least one 8GB DIMM running at 1866mHz. This leaves room for future expansion to 16GB and will allow you to play every modern game available, aside from Star Wars: Battlefront
Last edited by TotalInsanity4,