2262 replies to this topic

[dhatcher1]

Gigashadow said:

For others, spending $500 on such a device feels like a waste of money.

You dont need to spend even half that much anymore.  60GB Sandforce SSDs are below $150, 90GB are below $200 and 120GB are below $250. I wouldnt get less than 60GB since you want to keep them at least half empty.  The OS takes 10+GB and each game takes about 5-10GB.

[Nickolai]

Could someone please help build a budgeted PC for me. I've never built a computer from scratch before and plan to build one that can run GW2, Fallout: New Vegas, and other games as well for the next few years. It also has to be capable of running other programs such as Sony Vegas. As this is the first computer I've ever built I'm not quite sure all the components necessary for building one so if you could explain in detail each component with maybe a link to the part on newegg.com or tigerdirect.com. I don't have a specific budget but can't afford a $1000 machine. Maybe in the range of $500s-$600s. I have a mouse and moniter, also looking for a recommendation for a good cheap gaming keyboard.
Thanks so much for your help, this is my first time trying to build my own computer and I couldn't be more confused!

Also one quick question. Do tower computer cases come with their own fans, do you need to buy separate fans to put in the case?

My current computer is a Dell Dimension 8300. I was wondering if it would be possible to just upgrade it instead of building from scratch. Is that a good idea or would it be better to just start over? Could I use any parts from my dell to substitute things I would have to buy for my new computer?

Sorry I had so many questions but thank you so much for helping me!

[Kamatsu]

Nickolai said:

Also one quick question. Do tower computer cases come with their own fans, do you need to buy separate fans to put in the case?

Most cases come with 1-2 stock fans on them (either 1 intake and 1 exhaust fan, or just 1 exhaust fan) with room to place more fans if you desire.

If your computer is in an air-conditioned room and/or your not going to use it for much gaming or heavy usage then this is generally fine. However, if your in a hot environment and/or going to be gaming and/or heavy usage then I'd personally recommend on adding 1-2 extra case fans (Case fans generally cost an extra $10-15 each, so should be affordable and is worth the extra cost imo).

Quote

My current computer is a Dell Dimension 8300. I was wondering if it would be possible to just upgrade it instead of building from scratch. Is that a good idea or would it be better to just start over? Could I use any parts from my dell to substitute things I would have to buy for my new computer?

I'd strongly suggest against trying to upgrade your current computer. Generally pre-built computers are designed/built in ways to limit the person buying them from expanding them - bad/small case, cheap/bad motherboard that can't use good/decent memory, low wattage power supplies that can't cope with any extra frills, etc.

And as for that particular computer. That's an old, old, old system.. you would struggle to find the parts to upgrade it with nowdays (if you even could, or if it can even be upgraded).. and you'd have to pay 2-4 times the price for these parts.. and the performance would nowhere near match a system you could have built with the same amount of money

My recommendation - if the original post doesn't help, create a new thread listing out the budget your looking for, your location and what your aiming for with the computer.

[The Comfy Chair]

I had the fun of upgrading dells, you basically end up replacing the whole system half the time if it's anything more than a RAM upgrade!

Also, noted about the cases dhatcher, i'll have a look later on :)

[Dream Catcher]

Just updated the prices for you Comfy and changed a couple of items due to extra room in the budget due to price drops, hope this is ok for you. Prices as of 14th November 2010. Also added a Enthusiast Build using Intel.

The Basic GW2/Gaming machine:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 740G Socket AM3 £40.83 aria.co.uk

Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit - £54.99 aria.co.uk

Graphics Card: ATi Radeon hd5750  - £75.99 aria.co.uk

Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.0GHz  - £73.44 aria.co.uk

HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95  @ aria.co.uk

Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply - £44.64 aria.co.uk

Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x  £13.45 aria.co.uk

Case: £30 allowance

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit Home premium OEM - £73.24

Total Price: £447.53 + ~£10 postage.


The Standard Gaming machine

Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 740G Socket AM3 £40.83 aria.co.uk  OR MSI H55M-E33 (intel) - £68.51

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1050T - £135.07 aria.co.uk OR Intel i5-760 - £135.11 aria.co.uk

RAM: Memory: G.Skill RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C8 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit  £64.99 aria.co.uk

Graphics Card: Nvidia gtx470 (Asus) @ ebuyer.co.uk - £179.99

HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95  @ aria.co.uk

Power Supply: 600W OCZ stealthXsteam II- £51.69 aria.co.uk

Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x  £13.45 aria.co.uk

Case: £30-50

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit Home premium OEM - £73.24

Total Price:  AMD Build  £630.21 / £650.21 (with £50 case)
Total Price:  Intel Build  £657.93 / £677.93 (with £50 case)
Postage: ~£10


The enthusiast gaming machine (AMD)


Motherboard: Asus M4A89GTD Pro - £94.62

CPU: Phenom II X6 1050T - £135.07 aria.co.uk

RAM: G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit  - £64.99 aria.co.uk

GPU's: 2x HD6850 1GB ASUS OC - £148.85 each from scan.co.uk

PSU: XFX Pro Series 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Single Rail - £84.89 aria.co.uk

HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95  @ aria.co.uk

Mushkin Callisto deluxe 60GB 2.5" SATA-II  £89.99  aria.co.uk

Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x  £13.45 aria.co.uk

Case: Antec 300 - £46.96 aria.co.uk

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit Home premium OEM - £73.24

Total: £851.87 / £941.86 (with SSD)
Postage: ~£15


The enthusiast gaming machine (Intel)

Intel Core i7 950 3.06Ghz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366) £214.99 aria.co.uk

Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard  £143.34  aria.co.uk

Asus GeForce GTX 470 V2 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express x2 £184.98 Each  overclockers.co.uk

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz  £89.99  aria.co.uk

Mushkin Callisto deluxe 60GB 2.5" SATA-II  £89.99  aria.co.uk

HDD: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ Hard Disk Drive - £40.95   aria.co.uk

Antec CP 1000W Modular Power Supply  £112.79  aria.co.uk

Optical drive: Liteon IHAS124-19 DVD-RW 24x  £13.45 aria.co.uk

Case: Antec 300 - £46.96 aria.co.uk

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit Home premium OEM - £73.24

Total = £1,105.67 / £1,195.66 (with SSD)
Postage ~ £10

Edited by Dream Catcher, 15 November 2010 - 09:44 AM.
added updated Basic build

[The Comfy Chair]

Thanks dream catcher, i'll amend the main post when i get some time tomorrow!

[Elk]

thanks a lot :D! was just about to start one of those "will this run x?" threads, turns out what i had in mind is the standard GW2 machine almost exactly ^^
i thought that was a bit overkill as well, for games like sims 3, multiple GW's and eventually GW2 as well as photoshop elements. it should be able to handle those right :D?

[The Comfy Chair]

aye, it'll be just fine :)

[Undead]

I could throw up some builds from newegg for the US market if you want?

[The Comfy Chair]

Sounds good cheese, sorry if i've not got around to updating the main  builds yet :/ been quite busy the last few days :(

[Undead]

The Comfy Chair said:

Sounds good cheese, sorry if i've not got around to updating the main  builds yet :/ been quite busy the last few days :(

Which price points (in $) should I cover?

[The Comfy Chair]

I'd roughly go for the $ equivalent of the UK builds, which is about $650, $1000 and $1500 respectively, although it'll be cheaper in the US anyway, so adjust as you see appropriate (i.e. try to aim for about the same level of price/performance).

[Undead]

All components and prices are taken from Newegg

$550 budget build

Processor: AMD Athlon II X3 440 $74.99
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78LT-M LE $59.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) $61.99
Graphics Card: Sparkle GTS 450 $114.99
Harddrive: Samsung F3 500GB 7200RPM $54.99
Powersupply: SeaSonic SS-350ET $42.99
Case: Xigmatek ASGARD (SUBJECTIVE) $29.99
DVD Drive: Any $15 drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $99.99

Total: Approx $557


-------------------------------------------------

$850 build

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T $179
Motherboard: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 $99.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 1333MHz CL9 $61.99
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX 470 $254.99
Harddrive: Samsung F3 1TB 7200RPM $69.99
Powersupply: Rosewill Green Series 530W $49.99
Case: Xigmatek ASGARD (SUBJECTIVE) $29.99
DVD Drive: Any $15 drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $99.99

Total: Approx $857


-------------------------------------------------

$1000 build

Processor: Intel Core i5 760 $204.99 - (If you live near a Microcenter pick up a i7 860 for $199.99!)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 $119.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) CL7 $84.99
Graphics Card: 2x Gigabye GTX 460 768mb $159.99 each
Harddrive: Samsung F3 1TB 7200RPM $69.99
Powersupply: Seasonic S12II-520 $59.99
Case: Coolermaster HAF 912 (SUBJECTIVE) $59.99
DVD Drive: Any $15 drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $99.99

Total: Approx $1035


-------------------------------------------------

$1500 build

Processor: Intel Core i7 950 $294.99
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 $199.99
RAM: G.Skill PI Series 6GB (3x2GB) 1600MHz CL7 $149.99
Graphics Card: 2x MSI GTX 470 $254.99 each
Harddrive: Samsung F3 1TB $69.99
Powersupply: XFX BE 750W $129.99
Case: Coolermaster HAF 912 (SUBJECTIVE) $59.99
DVD Drive: Any $15 drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit $99.99

Total: Approx $1510

Edited by Undead, 21 November 2010 - 02:47 AM.

[The Comfy Chair]

Cool! Thanks cheese, just say when it's finished and i'll put it in the main post :)

[Faer]

I have a feeling this is fairly relevant to the discussion at hand, here.

[Undead]

Faer said:

I have a feeling this is fairly relevant to the discussion at hand, here.

Link does not work.

[Lord Sojar]

Faer said:

I have a feeling this is fairly relevant to the discussion at hand, here.

Their SSD recommendations are garbage.  Seriously, Intel?  I laughed.

They are also recommending buying older 4k series Radeon cards, another mistake this late in the game.  

They suggest Geil as a decent RAM manufacturer.  That's iffy at best, laughable at worst.  Corsair has also fallen from a lot of their former grace, though they are still leagues ahead of Geil and other no names.

Not one single ASRock motherboard recommendation?  Some guide that is...  excuse me, need to go vomit up some more sarcasm.

[N.Nick]

So what kinda Laptop will i need to run GW2?
Alienware or decent ~~700$ laptop?
I would buy Desktop PC , but ... im sick of those huge boxes ...

This

Spoiler

Samsung R528
ntel Core i3-350M
4096 MB ram
nVIDIA GeForce 310 M 512MB

?

Looking for the cheapest and the best laptop who could run gw2 on high with ~35FPS..

Edited by N.Nick, 19 November 2010 - 04:32 PM.

[dhatcher1]

N.Nick said:

So what kinda Laptop will i need to run GW2?
Alienware or decent ~~700$ laptop?

$700 will buy a decent gaming desktop, but only a minimal notebook.

310 is a low-mid range laptop graphics card.
http://www.notebookc...ards.130.0.html

Usually you need over $1000 for an acceptable mid-range graphics laptop and $1500+ for one that is actually good.  Laptops cost around twice as much as a desktop of the same performance.


This is a pretty good $1100 gaming laptop with 5870 graphics and 17 inch monitor.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152206

This $700 notebook has 5650 graphics which at least fall in the mid-range category.  Lots better than 310.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834115863

Edited by dhatcher1, 19 November 2010 - 04:51 PM.

[Faer]

Lord Sojar said:

Their SSD recommendations are garbage.  Seriously, Intel?  I laughed.

Why are they garbage?

Lord Sojar said:

They are also recommending buying older 4k series Radeon cards, another mistake this late in the game.

What would you sacrifice/change in those low budget builds to add a newer/stronger GPU without raising the price of the overall system at all?

Lord Sojar said:

They suggest Geil as a decent RAM manufacturer.  That's iffy at best, laughable at worst.  Corsair has also fallen from a lot of their former grace, though they are still leagues ahead of Geil and other no names.

Undead Cheese suggested Giel, and you aren't complaining about his suggestions... Corsair, too, has been suggested numerous times, and you haven't said anything about it until now. Why is that?

Lord Sojar said:

Not one single ASRock motherboard recommendation?  Some guide that is...  excuse me, need to go vomit up some more sarcasm.

It's absolutely ridiculous to insult the guide as a whole because it does not include a certain brand of motherboard, when it does cover other solid brands. You're not being at all constructive here.

[N.Nick]

dhatcher1 said:

This is a pretty good $1100 gaming laptop with 5870 graphics and 17 inch monitor.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834152206

Meeh , 1100$ for gaming pc ... thats like 800 euro here ... just to play gw2 , damn i hate my country ...
I hope it wont require really that much ... :|

[dhatcher1]

Undead Cheese said:

$1000 build

Processor: Intel Core i7 860 @ Microcenter $199.99 - Link

Thats in-store pickup only so its not a very fair price to quote.  The i5 760 is the same price at newegg (cheaper in-store at microcenter) and performs the same in virtually every game.

[Undead]

dhatcher1 said:

Thats in-store pickup only so its not a very fair price to quote.  The i5 760 is the same price at newegg (cheaper in-store at microcenter) and performs the same in virtually every game.

I was not aware of that, i'll change that soon.

Faer said:

Undead Cheese suggested Giel, and you aren't complaining about his suggestions... Corsair, too, has been suggested numerous times, and you haven't said anything about it until now. Why is that?

Originally I chose the G.Skill RAM but it seemed to have dissapeared off newegg/or I read the price and specs wrong so I had to quickly use some other £55ish RAM to fill the gap as a template, I chose the GeiL RAM in the mean time... I am still changing things. I don't consider GeiL bad either, I consider them average.

And that guide is pretty poor, anyway.


I am trying to squeeze in an i7 with the $1000 build, but it's not so easy when $100 is wasted for the OS, It's hard to justify a $1000 AMD build. I could just use the i5 I guess.

N.Nick said:

I would buy Desktop PC , but ... im sick of those huge boxes ...

Go Mini-ITX?

Edited by Undead, 20 November 2010 - 01:22 AM.

[dhatcher1]

Undead Cheese said:

I am trying to squeeze in an i7 with the $1000 build, but it's not so easy when $100 is wasted for the OS, It's hard to justify a $1000 AMD build. I could just use the i5 I guess.

The only good reason to go x58/i7 is for the x16/x16 sli/crossfire on very high end graphics cards.  You ned a budget of closer to 1500 and include a ~$250 SSD.  If you spend a little more for a P55 mobo with NF200 on it you get the same performance anyway.  I havent seen any games where the i5 760 wasnt within a percent or two (sometimes its faster) than a comparable Mhz i7.  Hyperthreading only seems to help graphics arts, scientific apps, and video encoding.

I almost always recommend Gskill or Mushkin but I havent heard any complaints about Geil.  I would still take Corsair given equal stats at an equal price but they have been too expensive lately.  OCZ is the RAM company to avoid right now.  OCZ RAM modules since the DDR3 Gold series was released wont run stable at its rated specs.  I made the mistake of buying some because it was cheap.  Makes it much harder to get a good stable overclock when you cant trust the RAM specs.

[Undead]

dhatcher1 said:

The only good reason to go x58/i7 is for the x16/x16 sli/crossfire on very high end graphics cards.  You ned a budget of closer to 1500 and include a ~$250 SSD.  If you spend a little more for a P55 mobo with NF200 on it you get the same performance anyway.  I havent seen any games where the i5 760 wasnt within a percent or two (sometimes its faster) than a comparable Mhz i7.  Hyperthreading only seems to help graphics arts, scientific apps, and video encoding.

I almost always recommend Gskill or Mushkin but I havent heard any complaints about Geil.  I would still take Corsair given equal stats at an equal price but they have been too expensive lately.  OCZ is the RAM company to avoid right now.  OCZ RAM modules since the DDR3 Gold series was released wont run stable at its rated specs.  I made the mistake of buying some because it was cheap.  Makes it much harder to get a good stable overclock when you cant trust the RAM specs.

Um, I meant the Lynnfield i7 860 or 870's...

OCZ Reapers are usually pretty good, can't say the same about their lower end RAM sticks though.

[N.Nick]

So basically im going to spend around 600 euro / which is 800$, and with that kind of money i have no hope running gw2 with 30fps (medium/high) ?

[The Comfy Chair]

N.Nick said:

So basically im going to spend around 600 euro / which is 800$, and with that kind of money i have no hope running gw2 with 30fps (medium/high) ?

It'll probably max guild wars 2, even the basic gw pc should be running it very well, hence why it's the minimum :) I could do with clearing up the post, making it less reading and more bullet pointy since most people do just skim, but the basic build says it's designed to run gw2 at high settings.

[Undead]

The Comfy Chair said:

It'll probably max guild wars 2, even the basic gw pc should be running it very well, hence why it's the minimum :) I could do with clearing up the post, making it less reading and more bullet pointy since most people do just skim, but the basic build says it's designed to run gw2 at high settings.

If you do indeed clear up your OP, may I suggest doing a ''build summary'' portion instead of commenting on each component you pick?, that may help clear up the clutter abit.

N.Nick said:

So basically im going to spend around 600 euro / which is 800$, and with that kind of money i have no hope running gw2 with 30fps (medium/high) ?

You said you don't want a desktop because they're too big, are you open to building a M-ATX or ITX PC?, you'll get much more out of it than a laptop and theyre small.

Edit: I'm pretty much done with the builds, it's good enough for now.

Edited by Undead, 20 November 2010 - 02:04 PM.

[The Comfy Chair]

Undead Cheese said:

If you do indeed clear up your OP, may I suggest doing a ''build summary'' portion instead of commenting on each component you pick?, that may help clear up the clutter abit.

I agree, since the parts change around anyway, i'll hopefully sort that out later and add in your US builds :)

[Lord Sojar]

Faer said:

Why are they garbage?

What would you sacrifice/change in those low budget builds to add a newer/stronger GPU without raising the price of the overall system at all?

Undead Cheese suggested Giel, and you aren't complaining about his suggestions... Corsair, too, has been suggested numerous times, and you haven't said anything about it until now. Why is that?

It's absolutely ridiculous to insult the guide as a whole because it does not include a certain brand of motherboard, when it does cover other solid brands. You're not being at all constructive here.

Intel's SSDs are overpriced and underperforming.  That's why they are garbage.  Sandforce's controllers easily outpace Intel's stuff.  Even Intel's newest controller  that has yet to be released can just barely beat out the current (and almost year old) Sandforce based drives.  Intel's SSDs are junk.  

I wouldn't sacrifice anything.  I'd get an HD5000 series equivalent card that has DX11 and GPU acceleration features compared to the now ripe old HD4000 series.  

Hopefully Undead Cheese changes that.  Geil is not known for quality RAM, and they do not use consistently reliable RAM modules in their builds.  Not trustworthy, plain and simple.  They are average to below average, and generally not that inexpensive compared to other more reputable brands.  

And actually, it isn't ridiculous to insult the guide as a whole for an obvious omission of, arguably, the best budget board manufacturer on the planet right now.  That's just idiotic oversight if ever I did see it.  ASRock has been getting phenomenal reviews across the net, and continue to do so.  Neglecting to include them is stupid.