A building a computer thread.

kineaesth

kineaesth

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So I need to make a new computerbox! My laptop's soundcard, display, keyboard and touchpad are all ****ed.

So my budget is variable, but I'm looking to spend around 1000-1500 NZ dollars (700-1000 US). Clearly, the cheaper the better.

What I'm looking for is not something amazing - I'm not really the type of person to keep up with every new game that comes out, and even if I had a computer to play them on I doubt I'd ever find the time to actually play them. So this build doesn't need to be able to run Crysis, but if it could run, say, GTAIV that'd be cool. Also if it could run most Source games on higher settings that would be nice, I'd like to play through the HL series with the new graphical updates. So my budget is pretty high, but I've got the feeling it doesn't need to be, although futureproofing is, I suppose, never a bad thing.

Essentially I've fallen completely behind on computer components, so any advice for starting points would be most welcome.

THANK YOU from KA
 
I'd help you but you're usually way too mean to me.

But seriously for $700-$1000 USD you should be able to run crysis like a champ, that game was released almost 3 years ago. I have a quad core AMD 9600 cpu with a AMD 5770 video card and 2GB ram. Performs fairly well with the newest video games (High settings on COD: MW2) and you can probably get it for around $500 USD (assuming you dont need a monitor).

If you are currently on a laptop going to that kind of desktop set up would be a huge improvement.
 
I am currently on a laptop that is plugged into a larger screen, I would like a computer that didn't bluescreen and smoke all the time, I think that would be pretty nice.

So yes I have a screen, keyboard+mouse, OS.

One of the major problems is the availability of products in New Zealand, though - I'm pretty ignorant about what product equivalents are so I'm going to have trouble if someone suggests a product that is basically unavailable in NZ. Also our prices for components seem to fluctuate wildly.

This is probably the website I will be using to organise everything.

(and the only time I was mean to you was that time I called you really fat and let's face it that was just an observation, I'm sure we can put that behind us)
 
Hey bro, I totally lost weight since then. But anyway...


That website kind of sucks, but here is what I came up with:

CPU: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=307313

Motherboard: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=390345

Memory: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=524812

Case + 500W PSU: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=177980

500GB HD: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=421227

Video Card: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=504868

Unless my math reallty does suck I'm adding all that up to around $1,000 NZ. This is practically the same computer I have (500GB in storage less) and I'm sure it would run crysis fine. Take it from there, I'm sure many other people have much better advice on newer components.

As a disclaimer keep in mind I didn't spend all that much time on this and I've had a few tecates in me at this point, but it looks solid. I'm not sure if the CPU includes a heatsink, you might want to make sure of that. This also doesn't include a CD/DVD writer as that's kind of a personal preference.

Also, as long as you stay away from the really dirty porn sites you should be good on the blue screens and smoke coming out of your computer.
 
It's less that the website sucks and more that the range of parts you can get in New Zealand from NZ distributors is horribly small.
 
Maybe...or maybe the website just kind of sucks. Then again I went to it again and the features you would need are all there if you know how to find them, just something about that interface that makes me want to throw up. Personal preference I guess.
 
I prefer Intel and Nvidia over ATI and AMD, you get more 'bang for your buck', and they are a bit more reliable imo.

Chassis (Antec Three Hundred): I prefer this over the Antec case No Limit linked because this one has much better cooling, it's simple, and expandable: http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=294113

CPU (Intel Core i3): http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=527318 It really doesn't matter how many cores you have, not all games take advantage of them. Today, it's still mainly about the clock frequency.

GPU (XFX Nvidia GTS 250 1GB): http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=410184 It's a 9800 GTX redesigned to the GTS series with better cooling and memory. You don't need a GTX 200/400 series card to play any of the games you mentioned, these will run fine on here. Crysis will run on this, too. (Probably on Medium/Low settings)

RAM (2GB DDR3): New OSes like Windows 7 adjust to your RAM amount/usage, so this isn't a big deal. http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=515699

Hard Drive (500GB Western Digital): http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=145652 HDDs are getting cheaper every day, with SSDs just becoming more popular. A 500GB drive is fine for anybody, you can partition it if you want.

Motherboard (Asus P7H55-M): A good, non-cheap motherboard is key, because if it fails, or has some sort of defect, it affects your whole system, and can possibly damage another component. http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=555179

Power Supply (Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400W): http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=344723

Total Price: About 900$ (USD)

You can modify the parts a bit if you would like, for whatever reason.
That PC will run any Source Engine game on all high settings (at a decent FPS), and could run GTA4 at probably medium/high settings.

Also, use a program like Ashampoo WinOptimizer and the simple (already in Windows) msconfig tool to reduce the amount of active/startup services, will make it run much faster.
 
If you want to spend the extra cash I totally agree, go with intel and nvidia. But I wouldn't dismiss the value of cores. The argument that most programs aren't multicore is many years old, by now most programs are optimized for multicore.
 
No Limit said:
If you want to spend the extra cash I totally agree, go with intel and nvidia. But I wouldn't dismiss the value of cores. The argument that most programs aren't multicore is many years old, by now most programs are optimized for multicore.
Click to expand...

True. An i3 will work fine, though.
 
I don't know why he would want a processor with integrated graphics like the i3-540.

I can definitely recommend my i5-750, but there may be better options now. I bought that just after it came out late last year.
 
VirusType2 said:
I don't know why he would want a processor with integrated graphics like the i3-540.
Click to expand...
What does intergrated graphics have to do with anything? Intel put that there just so it's there. When you install the video card drivers, it uses the GPU instead of the intergrated stuff. The CPU is perfectly fine.
 
dabomb29 said:
What does intergrated graphics have to do with anything? Intel put that there just so it's there. When you install the video card drivers, it uses the GPU instead of the intergrated stuff. The CPU is perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

What does it have to do with anything, that's what I'm asking. Why would he want it, or pay for it, if he won't use it? The CPU is $150. $50 of that is probably wasted on the integrated GPU. It's not free.

Compare the benches. The i5-750 is way better. Pay attention, where indicated, that lower is better on many of these charts.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=143

45 different benchmarks, the i5-750 only lost in power consumption tests.
 
VirusType2 said:
What does it have to do with anything, that's what I'm asking. Why would he want it, or pay for it, if he won't use it? The CPU is $150. $50 of that is probably wasted on the integrated GPU. It's not free.

Compare the benches. The i5-750 is way better in every single way. Pay attention, where indicated, that lower is better on many of these charts.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=143
Click to expand...
Well, I wasn't choosing the i3 for the intergrated graphics, but I guess it's his own choice between the i3 and the i5.
 
I edited my post. The i3 did beat it in power consumption.

The i3-540 is the perfect CPU for a video card-less High-Def machine. Low power, no video card required to play Full HD movies.

But there are much better options to choose from for a game PC which will have a video card.
 
I find Intel CPUs to be too expensive. Sure, they're good, but for a cheapskate like me, I find AMD to be more cost-effective.

Get a Phenom II X4 955, it's like $200, and works pretty well.
 
Viperidae said:
Uh, where is the i5 the same price as the 955? I've yet to see this.
Click to expand...

Is it cheaper? OK, makes sense. I'm only going by what he said. I paid just under $200 for the i5-750.

But the 955 should be less expensive. Although it tied in 3 of them, it lost pretty badly in all of the 45 benchmarks except one (by only one point).

Get the i5-750. That's my advice. But I don't think you'll find anyone recommending a bad processor here. In games, the 955 seems to (usually) be about equal to the i5-750, but it's about $40 cheaper, so there's that.
 
VirusType2 said:
The i5-750 is way better, and it's like $200.

Again, on some of these scores, the lower score is better. Compare the CPUs for yourself:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=88
Click to expand...

Well, I got the 955 when it was like $200. It's like $150 now.

Personally, I don't think it'll be that great of a difference while gaming. Other things, I dunno. Anybody try that X6 yet? Because I've heard that its also pretty much the same with 955 in terms of gaming.
 
Uh, the 955 is usually around $30-50 cheaper than the i5. Hence my recommendation.
 
15357 said:
Well, I got the 955 when it was like $200. It's like $150 now.

Personally, I don't think it'll be that great of a difference while gaming. Other things, I dunno. Anybody try that X6 yet? Because I've heard that its also pretty much the same with 955 in terms of gaming.
Click to expand...

I got the i5-750 when it was $195 last year, and it's still $195.

Now I'm recalling - I'm pretty sure the 955 got bumped down in price when the i5-750 came out.

You're right, the difference isn't great in gaming; it's about equal except in certain games.
 
Personally, I would chose Intel over AMD any day as AMDs are more of a "value" processor and aren't as reliable as Intel CPUs, IMO.
 
Rich bastard. :p


Tbh, AMD seems fine in every way including reliability. No real difference between the two except for price and power.

Besides, I also chose AMD because they make it way easier for me to know what CPUs are better and whatnot. Intel's numbering confuses me.
 
dabomb29 said:
Personally, I would chose Intel over AMD any day as AMDs are more of a "value" processor and aren't as reliable as Intel CPUs, IMO.
Click to expand...

You pay more for Intel, and get marginally better performance. AMD are cheaper, but not quite as fast. Reliability is a load of horseshit.
 
Viperidae said:
I mostly agree with what No Limit posted, but in terms of futureproofing, you don't want to be stuck on an AM2+ board.

I'd change the mobo to this, the CPU to this, and the ram to this.
Click to expand...

The ram is a bit overboard really, but beyond that I agree with these suggestions.

dabomb29 said:
Personally, I would chose Intel over AMD any day as AMDs are more of a "value" processor and aren't as reliable as Intel CPUs, IMO.
Click to expand...

Nah. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any legitimate evidence to back up such a statement. I've owned plenty of both brands, and they've all been quite reliable. Its all about the price/performance ratio, and finding where the sweet spot is for you.
 
I take it you guys don't get Samsung RAM? Hmph. It's cheap and reliable.
 
Samsung probably makes the RAM that many other manufacturers sell. (Rebranded or installed in pre-built computers like Dell or something)
 
Hi I already ordered the parts hahahahahah


But seriously thank you to everyone in this thread apart from Pi for your input! I hope everything works out well.
 
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