Hello hello! Newly employed, I now have the option of replacing my dying pc! Huzzah! However, rather than buy from Dell or anything like that, I want to assemble my own PC. As stated in the title, I have never done this before, and hoped you, my fellow escapists, would offer your knowledge and experience. I managed to snag a new Nvidia GeForce 9800GT already (got it cheap from a friend,) but don't have anything else, and no experience shopping for things like motherboards and memory. Please help me pick out components for a good gaming rig. FYI I'd like to keep the budget in the neighborhood of $800. (Less is good too, of course). Thanks in advance to everyone who replies!
Building my 1st PC
- Thread starter DraconusMagnus
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I normally keep my nose out of these threads, as PC builds are easy flame-bait and I'm sick of arguing, but meh.
Unfortunately I wont be able to help with the pricing, so maybe some basics will be just as good.
Power Supplies work best on a 50%-80% load, they generate less heat and tend to last longer.
Get someone to help you with the Motherboard/CPU/RAM, the last thing you need is incompatibility.
Don't use the stock Heat Sink that comes with the CPU, they are terrible and reasonable ones are quite cheap.
(I am going to go out on a limb and recommend Noctua)
4 gig of RAM is pretty standard these days, I advise using 4 at minimum.
Operating System will probably be Win7 Home Premium, anything above is a waste of money unless you really like some of the features.
Win7 Home Basic is a pile of crap, don't be fooled into buying it.
Hard Drive: I am just going to flat out recommend one of the Western Digital Black range.
Good balance of speed, stability, heat and price.
Case: Something with decent air-flow.
Optical: Any dvd combo drive, they are much of a muchness.
Graphics Card: You mentioned you already have a 9800GT? That should be ample, basic but ample.
Enjoy =3
Unfortunately I wont be able to help with the pricing, so maybe some basics will be just as good.
Power Supplies work best on a 50%-80% load, they generate less heat and tend to last longer.
Get someone to help you with the Motherboard/CPU/RAM, the last thing you need is incompatibility.
Don't use the stock Heat Sink that comes with the CPU, they are terrible and reasonable ones are quite cheap.
(I am going to go out on a limb and recommend Noctua)
4 gig of RAM is pretty standard these days, I advise using 4 at minimum.
Operating System will probably be Win7 Home Premium, anything above is a waste of money unless you really like some of the features.
Win7 Home Basic is a pile of crap, don't be fooled into buying it.
Hard Drive: I am just going to flat out recommend one of the Western Digital Black range.
Good balance of speed, stability, heat and price.
Case: Something with decent air-flow.
Optical: Any dvd combo drive, they are much of a muchness.
Graphics Card: You mentioned you already have a 9800GT? That should be ample, basic but ample.
Enjoy =3
Good luck, I remember my first (I'm on, like, my 5th now). Just remember to check all the figures between CPU, RAM and Board (FSB, frequency, socket, etc.), even though you can mix and match these, it'll be a lot faster and more efficient if they all match.
Get a PSU, even if theres one in the case, and try and make sure its above 80% efficiency and i'd say a minimum of 650W.
And the number one problem I had with my latest build: remember to make sure the power supply has the right outputs for the motherboard. Had an absolute mare with the last build when it turned out the board required an 8-pin for the CPU as well as the usual 24-pin.
And you can never have too many fans. If you're worried about noise then you can find a case that will cost a little extra, but include fan controls to turn them down when you're just listening to music or anything else not strenuous to the computer, then you can turn them up when you want to game or do something else high-end (I don't know, molecular simulations or anything like that).
If you're worried about compatibility ask a friend or post on here when you've looked around and got a basic idea of the parts you want. Since I ordered all the parts from a single supplier the first time I built I called up their customer services and got them to check it all for me.
Get a PSU, even if theres one in the case, and try and make sure its above 80% efficiency and i'd say a minimum of 650W.
And the number one problem I had with my latest build: remember to make sure the power supply has the right outputs for the motherboard. Had an absolute mare with the last build when it turned out the board required an 8-pin for the CPU as well as the usual 24-pin.
And you can never have too many fans. If you're worried about noise then you can find a case that will cost a little extra, but include fan controls to turn them down when you're just listening to music or anything else not strenuous to the computer, then you can turn them up when you want to game or do something else high-end (I don't know, molecular simulations or anything like that).
If you're worried about compatibility ask a friend or post on here when you've looked around and got a basic idea of the parts you want. Since I ordered all the parts from a single supplier the first time I built I called up their customer services and got them to check it all for me.
I would probably buy this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233141
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
and if you want to buy a graphic card aswell
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127562
But then the total cost will be $1,024.93
and $734.94 without a gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233141
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
and if you want to buy a graphic card aswell
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127562
But then the total cost will be $1,024.93
and $734.94 without a gpu
I would say swap out the WD with a Spinpoint F3Tubez said:
Also 2 x 2GB is better than 1 x 4GB.
And, assuming OP is at 1920x1080, 1GB of VRAM will be fine for a 6950, which could bring down the cost.
Really it's only about a 15% chance of affecting your 3Gb/s SATA ports so as long as you use the 6Gb/s ports you'll be fine.pezwitch said:
Also that was back in January; all affected mobos have already been recalled.
You can flash the 6950 to become a 6970 thats why I took a 2gb version and I rather have to much vram then to little and the the reason I took 1x4gb is because I was a bit lazy and I know that vengeance is good but you are right 2x2gb is better because dual channelKabutos said: