Hardware Questions about building a PC

[Scott-105]

So, someone has offered to buy my laptop for $400. So I want to buy a new computer. I was thinking of bulding one. But first, I have a couple questions. Also, I'll have around $600 to spend, in total.

1. How hard is it? I've never done this before, and I don't want to mess it up.
2. Is it cheaper? I need to get enough RAM, a good graphics card, and good processing power, as I want to run newer games. Portal 2, Witcher 2, Call of Duty, just to name a few.
3. What's a good place to buy the parts? I'd like to get them from a cheap, but reputable shop.

Thanks in advance for help guys! I really appreciate any and all help.

 

[Pyrmon]

1. It's relatively easy. Some says it's like lego, others say it's hard. I think it's fairly easy. Besides, there are many guides and tutorials to help you. And the tempers are here too

2. MUCH cheaper. You can get the same spec as a 1300$ pre-built machine for 800$ or less if you find good enough deals. Don't forget to check several places for the same parts to check price differences and bundles.
3. Newegg and TigerDirect are good places to start. Type "Computer parts" in Google. First four results are good. If you like, you may check reviews and ratings on the site you will buy from.

 

[suppachipmunk]

I feel it's pretty easy to build custom rigs.
Almost any computer component you buy will come with instruction manuals detailing how to hook everything up and describing what ports are what.

If you just want a basic rig that browses the internet, it is usually cheaper to buy a dell/hp/etc
But if you value the quality of the parts that will go in your rig, I would say it is cheaper to build. Especially if you are looking to do even some modest gaming.

The best place that I found to buy parts is Newegg.com. I believe there is also a Canadian Newegg site as well, something like newegg.ca... I could be mistaken though.

You can easily get an AMD build within that price range that would fit your needs

Rosewill Challenger Case (saw it on sale for like ~$50)
Asus Mobo 990x ~$100
AMD Quad Core 945 ~$110
4GB Quality RAM (Kingston/GSkill) @ 1600MHZ ~$40
Western Digital Black 640GB (saw on sale for like ~$55)

80 Plus certified Power Supply, go for at LEAST 550w for a decent build. ~$60-100
This component is very crucial. Do NO cheap out on the power supply. Get a decent name like Seasonic, Antec, Corsair. (Seasonic makes most of Corsair/Antec's PSU). Maybe even grab an OCZ for cheap. I had the 550w FaTa1ty for a while and it was nice.

Graphics card will really depend on what settings you want to play your games on.
From reading, it appears that the AMD 6790 is one of the best budget cards ~$100. It beats out the NVidia 550

Total price on the higher end ~$555 (give or take)

Hopefully this will give some insight. I am by no means an expert, but have built quite a few computers recently and pretty up to speed on components (I over analyze everything i buy).

 

[Scott-105]

1. It's relatively easy. Some says it's like lego, others say it's hard. I think it's fairly easy. Besides, there are many guides and tutorials to help you. And the tempers are here too

2. MUCH cheaper. You can get the same spec as a 1300$ pre-built machine for 800$ or less if you find good enough deals. Don't forget to check several places for the same parts to check price differences and bundles.
3. Newegg and TigerDirect are good places to start. Type "Computer parts" in Google. First four results are good. If you like, you may check reviews and ratings on the site you will buy from.

Thanks for all the info

One more question, do either of those sites take Paypal? That's the only way I'll be able to pay. My parents HATE when I use their credit card for expensive things.

 

[Pyrmon]

1. It's relatively easy. Some says it's like lego, others say it's hard. I think it's fairly easy. Besides, there are many guides and tutorials to help you. And the tempers are here too

2. MUCH cheaper. You can get the same spec as a 1300$ pre-built machine for 800$ or less if you find good enough deals. Don't forget to check several places for the same parts to check price differences and bundles.
3. Newegg and TigerDirect are good places to start. Type "Computer parts" in Google. First four results are good. If you like, you may check reviews and ratings on the site you will buy from.

Thanks for all the info

One more question, do either of those sites take Paypal? That's the only way I'll be able to pay. My parents HATE when I use their credit card for expensive things.

TigerDirect and Newegg both accept Paypal. I would assume most of these sites do.

And don't forget to make a lot of research on the parts you are planning to buy. You want to make sure it a)fits your needs and b)all fits well together.

 

[doyama]

You can definitely build out a decent system for $600.

If you've never opened up a computer it's not too bad. Though I recommend one thing you absolutely must buy before you do anything else

Static Wrist Strap

DO NOT PROCEED OTHERWISE

I've seen way too many people short out all sorts of crap because they have no idea that static electricity fries electronics. Once you get comfortable with the innards of a computer it's not too bad. It's basically $5 worth of stupidity insurance. I saw a tech fry a $30k IBM blade because he was 'too good' for static wrist straps. After we stoned him to death we all got static mats and wrist straps.

If you need a sort of benchmark to know how much costs and and such I always like using Tom's Hardware articles on building a system. Here's one where they build a $500 gaming pc

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/diy-gaming-pc,2970.html

I would mostly use this as a guide. you can tweak things up and down depending on how much performance/price you want. But at least you have a starting point.

 

[Scott-105]

I've followed everyone's advice and found some parts. But after looking at Pyrmon's post, I don't know how to tell if they fit together. These are all the parts:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16811147153
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16817371035
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822148488
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16814102945
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16820231314
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813131708
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16819103809

It comes out to $750, which I could save up for pretty easily.

 

[suppachipmunk]

For the most part, it looks good.
That graphics card is killer. I will have to see if it can run on 500w.

But the MOBO WILL NOT work with that CPU.
Its an intel board and AMD CPU...

EDIT: Take a look at the Asus 970 (not 990x as I previously mentioned)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813131767

I would personally pay the extra bit of money (~$10) for the WD black drive (there is a Sata3 and Sata6 version).
The sata3 is 32MB Cache and the sata6 is 64MB cache...

 

[Scott-105]

For the most part, it looks good.
That graphics card is killer. I will have to see if it can run on 500w.

But the MOBO WILL NOT work with that CPU.
Its an intel board and AMD CPU...

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the graphics card is good, or bad?

I'll swap one of them. Just a sec. Would it be best to swap the mobo or the CPU?

 

[suppachipmunk]

sorry. that graphics card is good...
It's just very powerful and maybe (dare i say) too powerful for what you want...

To save cost, build AMD...

The intel i3 2100 (lowest intel model that has HT) ~$130
Intel board that you have selected ~$130

AMD Quad core 945 ~$110
AMD Board 970 ~$95

So you can save a little bit of money. I am not biased towards one or the other, but AMD has a bit better cost savings if you are on a budget...

I will look at some benchmarks between the low end Intel and low end AMD CPUs

EDIT: there are several benchmark sites out there, but this one in particular shows the 945 scoring a little higher than the 2100...
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Ultimately, this is your decision on what you build, so do some research before you pull the trigger.

 

[Pyrmon]

For the most part, it looks good.
That graphics card is killer. I will have to see if it can run on 500w.

But the MOBO WILL NOT work with that CPU.
Its an intel board and AMD CPU...

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the graphics card is good, or bad?

I'll swap one of them. Just a sec. Would it be best to swap the mobo or the CPU?

He's saying the GPU may be too powerful for the PSU.
I also think 8GB of RAM is overkill

 

[trumpet-205]

Building PC is very easy. It is sorta like Lego.

Only thing to watch out for when building PC is static. Make sure your hand and surrounding environment are static free. A tiny static spark can easily kill a computer component.

 

[Scott-105]

I'll lower the RAM to 4GB, and would it be best to get a weaker GPU, or better PSU?

 

[Pyrmon]

I'll lower the RAM to 4GB, and would it be best to get a weaker GPU, or better PSU?

Depends on what you will do with it. Do you want light gaming, moderate gaming, hardcore gaming, e-peen contest, etc.

 

[Scott-105]

I'll lower the RAM to 4GB, and would it be best to get a weaker GPU, or better PSU?

Depends on what you will do with it. Do you want light gaming, moderate gaming, hardcore gaming, e-peen contest, etc.

I'd like to be able to play most new games.

 

[Joe88]

hdd http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822136073

 

[Pyrmon]

I'll lower the RAM to 4GB, and would it be best to get a weaker GPU, or better PSU?

Depends on what you will do with it. Do you want light gaming, moderate gaming, hardcore gaming, e-peen contest, etc.

I'd like to be able to play most new games.

Maxed out settings? Medium? If it's just to play games and you don't feel the need to max out everything, I would say to downgrade the GPU.

 

[Santee]

I would recommend you get this cpu+mobo combo http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDeta...st=Combo.681782

This the same HDD I have and is fast, and reliable http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822136697

A very important thing that we need to know to help you pick a gpu is the screen resolution you plan to use.

 

[Scott-105]

I'll lower the RAM to 4GB, and would it be best to get a weaker GPU, or better PSU?

Depends on what you will do with it. Do you want light gaming, moderate gaming, hardcore gaming, e-peen contest, etc.

I'd like to be able to play most new games.

Maxed out settings? Medium? If it's just to play games and you don't feel the need to max out everything, I would say to downgrade the GPU.

Just medium settings is good. How's this GPU? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16814125387

 

[Pyrmon]

I would go with something along the lines of:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822152185
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16820104206
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16811119216
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16817151096
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16814102921
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16819103808
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813130590
Which rings up at 731 CAD, without shipping. You could probably get a little lower price if you looked at different sites and for combos.