Building a new PC

[GomerBucks]

Alright.. I have a new mission.. I have never built a PC for myself piece by piece.

I would like to keep my total under $1000 (or at least close.) but still be able to run games like Skyrim and BF3 at max settings.....

Suggestions? Recommendations?

 

[CentralMOBuck]

Newegg has tons of DIY combos. Putting a PC together is alot easier than it sounds. I watched a youtube video of someone putting one together back when I built mine. As far as running BF3 and Skyrim on max settings I don't really know what to get.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=30000007%20600084356&IsNodeId=1&name=Enthusiasts%20%2f%20OC%20Gaming

This looks like a good combo to me. The only thing I would add is a nice cooler for your CPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.770959

 

[buckedouteyes]

Try microcenter there have some pretty decent prices

 

[scott91575]

I would start here and upgrade the GPU (this also does not include the cost of OS)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html

I would upgrade to a 6950 2GB card if you want max or close to maxed BF3 on 1920x1080. For a little more performance get a 2500k and an aftermarket cooler, then overclock (note - this would also require an upgraded motherboard...a p67 version).

You can get combo deals on processors and motherboards that can't be beat at Microcenter (yet I would not buy anything else there, and those deals are in store only). The rest can be bought on Newegg or Amazon. Tiger Direct occasionally has some deals, but I prefer the other two.

It's really easy to do. The only even slightly tricky thing is mounting the heatsink to the processor. The rest is easy.

 

[Dryden]

Agree on the MicroCenter combo. i5 2500K is the processor of choice right now. Don't know about BF3, but I can run Skyrim at hi-res on this 6850.

 

[GomerBucks]

Alrighty folks... my quest to build a computer has taken an interesting turn..... My wife's office recently sold to a larger entity and the previous owner gave some of the old computers that would have been trashed to us...

So far, I have a great case, two DVD R/W's and about 1TB of hard drive space... I haven't fired anything up yet as I need to put a new OS on it. I also have no idea what kind of processor or RAM I am looking at. I didn't really have time yet as I was tearing apart 5 computers to see what was going to be usable...

A question I DO have is that the CPU I am building has an ATI FirePro V7750 graphics card. This machine was previously used for medical imaging and is advertised as a 3d card for imaging, CAD, etc.... It currently sells for around $500.00 new... IS this card going to be a decent one for me? I would be using it for your normal home use and maybe some gaming..

Thoughts?

 

[scott91575]

Alrighty folks... my quest to build a computer has taken an interesting turn..... My wife's office recently sold to a larger entity and the previous owner gave some of the old computers that would have been trashed to us...

So far, I have a great case, two DVD R/W's and about 1TB of hard drive space... I haven't fired anything up yet as I need to put a new OS on it. I also have no idea what kind of processor or RAM I am looking at. I didn't really have time yet as I was tearing apart 5 computers to see what was going to be usable...

A question I DO have is that the CPU I am building has an ATI FirePro V7750 graphics card. This machine was previously used for medical imaging and is advertised as a 3d card for imaging, CAD, etc.... It currently sells for around $500.00 new... IS this card going to be a decent one for me? I would be using it for your normal home use and maybe some gaming..

Thoughts?

Those cards are expensive since they sell them to companies and they come with high level customer support especially for drivers. They are no different than the stuff they sell to average customers (minus a few tweaks). They simply change the name and like I mentioned offer driver support for CAD, imaging, etc.

Anyway, to the card itself. I believe it's simply a 4830. That is becoming a rather old card, but should still be able to play most games around 1080p at lower settings. It will certainly play anything out there if you lower the resolution (and honestly it's probably only Battlefield 3 that would require that).

As for the rest, are you salvaging the motherboard? If so and you can figure out what it is, then let me know and I can tell you what you can get for processor and RAM. If you want to fire up a computer simply install Windows 7 (use 32 bit). It will work fine for 30 days and even after the 30 days it simply gives annoying messages. You should be able to download an .iso file of Windows 7 from the internet and burn it to a dvd. Then simply startup from the disc and the rest is simple. If you cannot determine the motherboard by looking at it, once you fire up the machine you can look it up through the OS.

 

[GomerBucks]

Those cards are expensive since they sell them to companies and they come with high level customer support especially for drivers. They are no different than the stuff they sell to average customers (minus a few tweaks). They simply change the name and like I mentioned offer driver support for CAD, imaging, etc.

Anyway, to the card itself. I believe it's simply a 4830. That is becoming a rather old card, but should still be able to play most games around 1080p at lower settings. It will certainly play anything out there if you lower the resolution (and honestly it's probably only Battlefield 3 that would require that).

As for the rest, are you salvaging the motherboard? If so and you can figure out what it is, then let me know and I can tell you what you can get for processor and RAM. If you want to fire up a computer simply install Windows 7 (use 32 bit). It will work fine for 30 days and even after the 30 days it simply gives annoying messages. You should be able to download an .iso file of Windows 7 from the internet and burn it to a dvd. Then simply startup from the disc and the rest is simple. If you cannot determine the motherboard by looking at it, once you fire up the machine you can look it up through the OS.

That is what I figured about the video card.... I just didn't know if there was more that I needed to know about it.

This is an HP XW9400 Workstation and I see two 1GB sticks in it.

I AM salvaging the motherboard etc... The computer is only a couple years old, and had been running XP... I ran the setup utility to find the processor....

What would you recommend doing/upgrading besides the peripherals?

 

[scott91575]

I deleted my last post because I want to simplify this.

That workstation has a dual processor setup. Not dual core, but actually 2 processors that are dual core.

I wouldn't upgrade the processors, they are fine. The only upgrade you could make would be minor or would require a new motherboard.

You could put in more RAM. Just need DDR2 at 667 speed. Get four 2GB sticks.

The only other upgrade would be a SSD. Getting a lower speed one (around 200 MB/s) is fine since it's SATA2 and won't be able to take advantage of the higher speed ones. You can still get a higher speed one, it just won't be as fast as advertised. Also make sure you have an extra power connector on the power supply so you can use the SSD and the mechanical hard drive at the same time.

Other than that, get a 64 bit OS to use all the RAM.

That is not a bad machine at all. I am willing to bet it cost around $3000 new. It is about 4 years old or so, but still a good machine.

 

[GomerBucks]

I appreciate it! I will upgrade the ram.. I am not all that concerned about going to SSD... The good news is, I can now put the money into a screen or other peripherals without upsetting the wife

I have plenty of power for hard drives... There are currently 5 hard drives in there... I going to replace a couple of them with hard drives from one of the other CPUs, they have twice as many gb.

 

[OneBuckeye]

I'm in the market for a new computer, not really looking to build. Just looking to buy a box that can play games well. I'm looking to spend <750 I want to get the best value for my dollar. Below are two examples I would possibly consider. I know nothing about components these days and would love some suggestions as to what I could get.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220156

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229330

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227408

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227410

 

[scott91575]

I'm in the market for a new computer, not really looking to build. Just looking to buy a box that can play games well. I'm looking to spend <750 I want to get the best value for my dollar. Below are two examples I would possibly consider. I know nothing about components these days and would love some suggestions as to what I could get.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220156

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229330

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227408

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227410

Forget the first two. The GPU's suck. The third one will be the best gaming PC. It's an AMD CPU, so the 4th one is better for computing (the AMD will also be worse for power usage, but as long as you don't use it 24/7 it's not that big of a deal). Yet for gaming the AMD is fine. Unless you run CPU heavy programs you won't notice much of a difference. Although the AMD is 8 core, so if you have heavily threaded apps it will perform rather well.

On Newegg, at that price, you pretty nailed the best gaming PC. The 6850 is a solid gaming GPU. Not top of the line by any means, but will play every game out there in 1080p no problem (games like BF3 would probably require medium settings, but it will still look great). The CPU is perfectly fine. 1 GB storage is good, and 8GB or RAM is perfect. I really don't see anything wrong with the iBUYPOWER Gamer EXTREME 589D3.

BTW...I have never used iBUYPOWER, but I have not heard anything bad about them. They are pretty much just a place that builds PC like you can at home and charges for labor. The plus with that is they won't use super cheap components designed specifically for OEM's (although I am sure they use some lower end stuff, but it's still commercial parts which are better than the cheapened out OEM stuff). The negative is they will need to work with each components suppliers and don't really have a built in return department. So if something goes wrong it can be a hassle. Think of it this way, iBUYPOWER is like you paying me to put together a machine for you. If you have a problem, I won't have local repair guys that can come to your home and at best I can only help you with getting parts from the individual makers of the parts.

 

[OneBuckeye]

Forget the first two. The GPU's suck. The third one will be the best gaming PC. It's an AMD CPU, so the 4th one is better for computing (the AMD will also be worse for power usage, but as long as you don't use it 24/7 it's not that big of a deal). Yet for gaming the AMD is fine. Unless you run CPU heavy programs you won't notice much of a difference. Although the AMD is 8 core, so if you have heavily threaded apps it will perform rather well.

On Newegg, at that price, you pretty nailed the best gaming PC. The 6850 is a solid gaming GPU. Not top of the line by any means, but will play every game out there in 1080p no problem (games like BF3 would probably require medium settings, but it will still look great). The CPU is perfectly fine. 1 GB storage is good, and 8GB or RAM is perfect. I really don't see anything wrong with the iBUYPOWER Gamer EXTREME 589D3.

Thanks! Are there better options out there for my $750? How much better could I do if I built it?

 

[scott91575]

Thanks! Are there better options out there for my $750? How much better could I do if I built it?

I was just looking around wondering that myself. That is actually a hell of a deal. I checked Amazon and Tiger Direct. I couldn't find anything close.

If you build it yourself I would recommend something similar to what Tom's Hardware did for $500 (although if you don't have a copy of Windows you will need to add $100)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-pc-do-it-yourself-geforce-gtx-560,3216.html

I would upgrade the case and RAM. That would make it about $650 to $700 (including Windows), but the 560Ti is a better card than the 6850 (I would say it's about 20-25% better). The 6850 is about $70 cheaper. So for a similar machine around $630.

edit: Now that I look at it more, you would have to upgrade the CPU and the hard drive. So no real cost savings if you do it yourself. At lower prices this is often the case vs. boutique builders.

 

[Buckeneye]

Didnt really take the time to look but if that 3rd rig
Has a 6850, depending on manufactorer - I could suggest
A couple quick things to help with preformance while
Avoiding serious modification. Im sure Scott can as well.
Curl away my friends.