Hardware PC buying/building help

Baccabechoppin

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I'd really like to invest in a desktop PC for gaming/general school work (The laptop I currently use is starting to crap itself). The thing is I'm not exactly knowledgeable in the scene and I'm not exactly sure how much money I should be investing in a gaming PC, I also don't know whether or not I should attempt to build my own budget PC using sites that allow you to build your own PC (Even though I have no experience with building computers what so ever) or whether or not I should try and find a decent prebuilt one, my end goal would be to have a desktop that could run most if not all modern games at a decent FPS, as well as one that will allow me to use my general programs for school such as Microsoft Office and Photoshop etc.

Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
 

TotalInsanity4

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Any particular game you're looking to play more than any other? (I say "game" because that's usually the most demanding thing someone will want to run on a PC) And are you willing to compromise on any particular part? (Graphical fidelity, heat output, power efficiency, etc.)
 

osaka35

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I'd really like to invest in a desktop PC for gaming/general school work (The laptop I currently use is starting to crap itself). The thing is I'm not exactly knowledgeable in the scene and I'm not exactly sure how much money I should be investing in a gaming PC, I also don't know whether or not I should attempt to build my own budget PC using sites that allow you to build your own PC (Even though I have no experience with building computers what so ever) or whether or not I should try and find a decent prebuilt one, my end goal would be to have a desktop that could run most if not all modern games at a decent FPS, as well as one that will allow me to use my general programs for school such as Microsoft Office and Photoshop etc.

Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
Figure out how much money you're willing to spend. Once you have that, we'll be able to hook you up with the best bang/buck ratio. Building it yourself is definitely the way to go if you've got the patience to learn. I know things are usually always way more expensive in australia, but we'll see what we can do.

500?
1000?
1500?
2000?
 
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Baccabechoppin

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Any particular game you're looking to play more than any other? (I say "game" because that's usually the most demanding thing someone will want to run on a PC) And are you willing to compromise on any particular part? (Graphical fidelity, heat output, power efficiency, etc.)
I'd probably spend most of my time playing stuff like Rocket League, The Elder Scrolls games, Assassins Creed & CS:GO. I also don't exactly understand your last question, could you elaborate on it?
Figure out how much money you're willing to spend. Once you have that, we'll be able to hook you up with the best bang/buck ratio. Building it yourself is definitely the way to go if you've got the patience to learn. I know things are usually always way more expensive in australia, but we'll see what we can do.

500?
1000?
1500?
2000?
I could probably do in the $1000-$2000 ratio (or more if required to run the stuff I've mentioned above)
 

osaka35

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I'd probably spend most of my time playing stuff like Rocket League, The Elder Scrolls games, Assassins Creed & CS:GO. I also don't exactly understand your last question, could you elaborate on it?

I could probably do in the $1000-$2000 ratio (or more if required to run the stuff I've mentioned above)
Okeydokey! A few questions:
Do you have a preference between AMD or Intel?
Are you okay with 1080p? Or are you hoping for 2k monitor?
Are you hoping for max settings on all?
What kind of school work are you doing? Video editing?
Will you need a wifi card? Or will you be able to hook into ethernet?
 
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TotalInsanity4

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I'd probably spend most of my time playing stuff like Rocket League, The Elder Scrolls games, Assassins Creed & CS:GO. I also don't exactly understand your last question, could you elaborate on it?

I could probably do in the $1000-$2000 ratio (or more if required to run the stuff I've mentioned above)
Never mind, with that budget and use case you should be fine without making compromises. (For Americans he's looking for a system that's about $750-$1000).

I guess one last question, aside from the ones above, would be: are you comfortable with learning how to build your own pc or would you like us to help you find a pre-built one? It's not difficult at all to put one together yourself (and I certainly recommend it, you'll be more proud of your work and save some money), but pre-built machines by professionals or enterprises tend to look more polished
 
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osaka35

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I could probably do in the $1000-$2000 ratio (or more if required to run the stuff I've mentioned above)

These are the kind of parts I'm looking at for you at the moment. Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? This is my personal list I'm getting for myself :P might be a bit richer than what you had in mind though
-You're going to want a 144hz monitor for gaming.
-The m.2 harddrive is at least 10x the speed of the fastest SSD for not much more.
-The CPU is wayyy cheaper than Intel while still making games run awesome.
-The video card is the latest that isn't insanity priced (there are cheaper ones though).

(I'm hoping the links work for other countries as well)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01798X7D2/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015SOI392/
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-GV-N1080G1-GAMING-8GD-Graphics/dp/B01HSRKJ7Q/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MSOND8C/
 
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Baccabechoppin

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Okeydokey! A few questions:
Do you have a preference between AMD or Intel?
Are you okay with 1080p? Or are you hoping for 2k monitor?
Are you hoping for max settings on all?
What kind of school work are you doing? Video editing?
Will you need a wifi card? Or will you be able to hook into ethernet?
1. Not necessarily.
2. 1080p should suffice, if I ever feel like I need more I could always just upgrade stuff.
3. Max settings isn't a necessity but it'd be nice to have.
4. Just general stuff like writing essays and stuff like that (Other things may be included in the future as I still have 3 years of school left).
5. My ethernet cable resides in my lounge room and I don't think the parents would like me having my PC out there, so I guess I'll need a wifi card.
Never mind, with that budget and use case you should be fine without making compromises. (For Americans he's looking for a system that's about $750-$1000).

I guess one last question, aside from the ones above, would be: are you comfortable with learning how to build your own pc or would you like us to help you find a pre-built one? It's not difficult at all to put one together yourself (and I certainly recommend it, you'll be more proud of your work and save some money), but pre-built machines by professionals or enterprises tend to look more polished
I mean I could always learn how to build a PC, I think it'd be a fun little experience! (Inb4 I break literally everything)
 
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Baccabechoppin

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I'll try and kick around a few configs on PCPP tomorrow and post them here when I'm not on mobile. I'll also have to try and find Australian links for everything lol
Cheers dude! Greatly appreciate the help! (I also apologise if me living in Australia will cause you issues lol)
These are the kind of parts I'm looking at for you at the moment. Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? This is my personal list I'm getting for myself :P might be a bit richer than what you had in mind though
-You're going to want a 144hz monitor for gaming.
-The m.2 harddrive is at least 10x the speed of the fastest SSD for not much more.
-The CPU is wayyy cheaper than Intel while still making games run awesome.
-The video card is the latest that isn't insanity priced (there are cheaper ones though).

(I'm hoping the links work for other countries as well)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01798X7D2/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015SOI392/
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-GV-N1080G1-GAMING-8GD-Graphics/dp/B01HSRKJ7Q/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MSOND8C/
They look alright I suppose however I'd assume I'd to need to buy other stuff as well lol (All of this costs $2150.37 dollars with shipping btw)
 
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osaka35

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I mean I could always learn how to build a PC, I think it'd be a fun little experience! (Inb4 I break literally everything)

If you go to your amazon and put all these parts in your cart, how much is the cost?

-GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 Ultra
-AMD 4 GHz FX-8370 Octa-core Desktop Processor with Wraith Cooler
-Samsung 950 PRO Series - 256GB PCIe NVMe
-EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
-Patriot 16GB(2x8GB) Viper III DDR3 1866MHz
-ASUS VG248QE 24" Full HD 1920x1080 144Hz

They look alright I suppose however I'd assume I'd to need to buy other stuff as well lol (All of this costs $2150.37 dollars with shipping btw)

I'll try and find cheaper options :P You'll still need a wifi card, keyboard, mouse, power supply, and case. Probably have to get a 1060 instead of a 1070 to save a few hundred. I really suggest the m.2 harddrive, though, as it is brilliant.
 
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Baccabechoppin

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If you go to your amazon and put all these parts in your cart, how much is the cost?

-GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 Ultra
-AMD 4 GHz FX-8370 Octa-core Desktop Processor with Wraith Cooler
-Samsung 950 PRO Series - 256GB PCIe NVMe
-EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0
-Patriot 16GB(2x8GB) Viper III DDR3 1866MHz
-ASUS VG248QE 24" Full HD 1920x1080 144Hz



I'll try and find cheaper options :P You'll still need a wifi card, keyboard, mouse, power supply, and case. Probably have to get a 1060 instead of a 1070 to save a few hundred. I really suggest the m.2 harddrive, though, as it is brilliant.
All of the things you've listed there cost me $1270.44 (And the only thing I'd be unable to purchase is the Patriot RAM as it doesn't ship to Australia) :P
 
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osaka35

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All of the things you've listed there cost me $1270.44 (And the only thing I'd be unable to purchase is the Patriot RAM as it doesn't ship to Australia) :P
Excellent.

-Rosewill VALENS-700M modular (pretty sure that's enough juice for you)
-Any DDR3 1866MHz ram will fit that motherboard. 16GB is a minimum. Patriot is a good cheaper brand.
-any case that supports "ATX" will fit your motherboard. Have fun finding a shiny one :P (50-250USD)
-Rosewill WiFi Adapter - 802.11AC Dual Band AC1300 PCI Express Network Adapter
-any keyboard/mouse that works for you
-Seagate Desktop Gaming SSHD 2TB

These are all items I was building for me, so there are going to be a few things you can cut back on if they're too expensive. Just going with the SSHD instead of the m.2 drive, for example, as it isn't essential to do everything...it just helps you do it 10x faster :P
 
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osaka35

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If I may ask which one out of the things you've selected is my motherboard? (I probably sound like a massive idiot lol)
Nah, not at all. Feel free to ask as many questions as you like, even if you think they're stupid.

- GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 Ultra is the motherboard. I picked that one because it has the m.2 slot and usb3.1, plus is a good price/feature ratio.
 
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raystriker

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If you're into AMD I'd rather have you wait for Zen at least. The current FX series has reached the end of its life and only produce barely relevant results in multi-core tasks.
Right now, the way AMD is, their CPUs are a big no-no. If you plan to build the rig sometime in 2017, surely consider AMD.
But for now, stick to Intel.
 
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osaka35

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If you're into AMD I'd rather have you wait for Zen at least. The current FX series has reached the end of its life and only produce barely relevant results in multi-core tasks.
Right now, the way AMD is, their CPUs are a big no-no. If you plan to build the rig sometime in 2017, surely consider AMD.
But for now, stick to Intel.
I agree, except intel is impossible to build on a budget for the same bang/buck ratio. If you're on a budget, AMD is really the only way to go. I'm waiting for the Zen, but sometimes there are situations that make it hard to wait.

And the FX-8370 isn't that bad :P it's quite good for the price and the age of am3+.
 
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raystriker

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I agree, except intel is impossible to build on a budget for the same bang/buck ratio. If you're on a budget, AMD is really the only way to go. I'm waiting for the Zen, but sometimes there are situations that make it hard to wait.
He said he could wait so...
It's either AMD Zen for him or the i3 6100 which will get cheaper when the 7100 comes out.
 
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TotalInsanity4

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Give this a look. It's easily upgradeable if you want more CPU power in the future, but you could also afford an i5 if you just wanted me to stick into the part list now
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($148.00 @ Shopping Express)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($169.00 @ Shopping Express)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($96.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($215.00 @ Shopping Express)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.44 @ Umart)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB GTR Video Card ($399.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($85.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC56 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($73.50 @ Shopping Express)
Total: $1441.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-31 05:40 AEDT+1100
 
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