Gaming PC

[Schwad]

I'm a wannabe PC gamer - I love how PC games look, there are no console wars, just brainy, technical stuff. The problem is that my computer is a factory-line Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop from summer '08, which is around basically to serve me for college. I used to have The Orange Box installed, and it ran adequately with some of the graphics options turned down a couple notches until I tried firing up Half Life 2: Episode 2. The title screen took forever to load, and I had to close the program from the task manager. Afterward, the rest of The Orange Box kept crashing at some point or another, or at least skipping way too much for my taste, and TF2 never really worked that well on this thing anyway. The Orange Box has subsequently been removed from this machine, and the only game I'm running currently is WoW.

So that's my current situation. This summer, I'm looking to either buy or, with the help of a friend or two, build a new rig. I don't want to go over $1,000 (hell, $750 is pushing it). I'm not looking to be able to run anything on the Cry engine or anything like that, I just want something that can hold me over and run Source engine games and things like that without much hassle. If I was going to buy a PC, what sorts of systems or specs should I look for, and how much would it cost me? If I was going to build, what sorts of parts would I look for, and again, how much would it wind up costing me?

 

[oliveira8]

Want an advice?

Look at the steam hardware survey thingie. It will say what PC components most people use. Work from there. ^^

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

It says what parts are the most popular among the Steam community. You can see that Dual Core processors are the most used, how many RAM, etc etc etc.

Further advice take a copy of the survey and take it to a hardware store that you can trust, show the people the list and say you want a computer similar to the components in that list within your budget price.

 

[Isalan]

Self build will be considerably cheaper, buts it can be a daunting task if you've never done it before. If you got mates to help thats for the best. On the plus side though, you can get the components you want which saves you getting lumbered with a crap graphics card that most manufacturers will wedge into the case.

Graphics card will be your most important choice. Nvidia or ATI. I've always preffered Nvidia's GeForce cards to ATI's Radeons, though thats cos I had a radeon go wrong on me. At the moment the best value card is a Radeon 4650 (or 4850? I forget), though I'll be sticking with GeForces I think.

Processer Manufacturer choice is easy, Intel are romping ahead at the moment. Your real choice lies in wether you want to save money and get a Dual Core, or splash out a few quid and get a Quad Core which is a little more future proofed. Saying that, there are faster Dual Core processers than the slowest Quad core processers, though games developers are coming round to writing code designed to work on 4 cores.

Memory is easy too, XP will take anything up to 2 gigs and Vista will take anything up to 4 gigs (ish). Memory is fairly cheap and a decent amount will really help load times and stuff like that so its worth forking out for a decent amount. Given a choice, buy memory from a trusted manufacturer such as Corsair or OCZ. Its much less likely to melt/explode/throw a massive tantrum.

Once you've decided on the above, look for a motherboard that supports the processer you want to use and comes from a good maker. Asus and Gigabyte boards have always been good to me, but there are literally loads out there so get one of your computery mates to have a look with you.

Oh and top tip, make sure you note down the form factor of your Motherboard (likely ATX). Buying a case thats too small to fit your motherboard into is hilariously funny a few years later, but at the time I could have quite happily kicked that PCB through a wall.

 

[Schwad]

Ah, thank you very much. If there's any other advice, I'm more than willing to hear it. I will be using Vista, thank you. Oh, and if anyone can suggest a good, relatively light anti-virus software I could make use of, that would be great too.

 

[mikecoulter]

A really good very lightweight PC Security Suite is Eset Smart Security. It uses a NOD 32 scanner..... Microsoft also use it to scan the operating systems before they're distributed. So its just perfect. No problems with it yet


EDIT: Woo 100th post! Go me ^_^

 

[Inurdaes]

Self build will be considerably cheaper, buts it can be a daunting task if you've never done it before. If you got mates to help thats for the best. On the plus side though, you can get the components you want which saves you getting lumbered with a crap graphics card that most manufacturers will wedge into the case.

Graphics card will be your most important choice. Nvidia or ATI. I've always preffered Nvidia's GeForce cards to ATI's Radeons, though thats cos I had a radeon go wrong on me. At the moment the best value card is a Radeon 4650 (or 4850? I forget), though I'll be sticking with GeForces I think.

Processer Manufacturer choice is easy, Intel are romping ahead at the moment. Your real choice lies in wether you want to save money and get a Dual Core, or splash out a few quid and get a Quad Core which is a little more future proofed. Saying that, there are faster Dual Core processers than the slowest Quad core processers, though games developers are coming round to writing code designed to work on 4 cores.

Memory is easy too, XP will take anything up to 2 gigs and Vista will take anything up to 4 gigs (ish). Memory is fairly cheap and a decent amount will really help load times and stuff like that so its worth forking out for a decent amount. Given a choice, buy memory from a trusted manufacturer such as Corsair or OCZ. Its much less likely to melt/explode/throw a massive tantrum.

Once you've decided on the above, look for a motherboard that supports the processer you want to use and comes from a good maker. Asus and Gigabyte boards have always been good to me, but there are literally loads out there so get one of your computery mates to have a look with you.

Oh and top tip, make sure you note down the form factor of your Motherboard (likely ATX). Buying a case thats too small to fit your motherboard into is hilariously funny a few years later, but at the time I could have quite happily kicked that PCB through a wall.

Xp and Vista 32 bit will take 39459348573948 gb's of ram. difference is how much will actually be used by the OS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156062 - Computer case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130210 - MSI ATX motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210 - AMD dcore processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 - 4 GB (2x2) ddr2 800 RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261 - 250 GB SATA HDD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102792 - ATI 4670HD 512 MB card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 - Samsung DVD-RWx22 burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 - Windows Vista Home Prem

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109132 - Microsoft Keyboard + Mouse

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 - Processor thermal paste

Kthxbai.

EDIT: If your gonna use more then 3 GB of RAM, you need a 64 bit OS to be able to use it all.

 

[Inurdaes]

Oh, and I use AVG Free. It's pretty leet.

 

[kolompi]

Oh, and I use AVG Free. It's pretty leet.

Yessir! It is.

 

[timlxq]

When you say $1000, you mean what currency?

The steam survey helps, but it is a bit too generic. Stick with what Isalan has to say, self build will definitely be cheaper, and if you look in the right corners you will be able to pick up a good deal. If you are gunning for an average gaming PC, you should be looking more for value for money rather than actual performance (your cash is rather tight for a high end anyway, same problem here).

Processor:
Since people are recommending Intel, I think we should stick to that.
Core 2 Duo would suffice, since Core 2 Quad is rather expensive, and I think it's speed isn't that fantastic, unless you're prepared to pay a lot of money for a 2.66 GHz, which I think isn't very worth it. As Isalan said, Quad core may be the future, but that's where the money is .
So again depending on the price you want to pay, the chip ill still vary, but I think Quad is out of the question for now.
This site is good for Core 2 Duo http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/specifications.htm?iid=prod_core2duo+tab_spec
Core 2 Quad, if you want to take a look
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/products/desktop/processor/processors/core2quad/feature/index.htm

BTW the sites don't state cost, but its 12.30am here and I can't really go sniff out better links. Sorry

Graphics Card:
Again, since people want Geforce, we shall stick to that
I heard 8800GT is the most value for money, and its around midrange as well, so that should do.

Well all the Nvidia Geforce Cards are found here, they have a nice tool for giving you a budget and all too. It's in USD as far as I know.
http://www.nvidia.com/HelpMeChoose/fx/HelpMeChoose.asp

2GB RAM should suffice, since a 32bit Processor on XP or Vista shouldn't be able to take more. But again its choice, I'm not sure of the pricing of RAM and stuff, but 2GB should be under $50 if you're lucky.

OS is entirely up to you, this thread isn't going to become a Vista hate thread. But as far as I know Microsoft has stopped selling XP, so it should be Vista unless you can find an XP disc. Windows 7 is coming up however, and if you can wait that may be a thought, but people might slam it as a total failure again.

I'm not sure where to get the prices for Vista, and I can't find them on the Microsoft site, but hey its 12.45 am now, cut me some slack.


I have no idea about Motherboard choices, so don't ask me.


Hope I helped

 

[searanox]

You can use the following guides as a good start for what components to look for:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2009/03/03/what-hardware-should-i-buy-march-2009/1
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3486

However, don't necessarily follow them exactly, because a lot of things like cases, keyboards, mice, speakers, monitors, etc. (basically input and output devices) come down to personal preference.

My advice is to find a PC hardware forum like [H]ard|OCP, Anandtech, Ars Technica, bit-tech, or similar, and make a thread there informing them it's your first time building a computer and that you need help with choosing and assembling the components. Building a computer isn't hard if you're able to break it down into smaller tasks and make sure that all your components are compatible with one another, but it's still easier said than done and by ensuring that not only are your individual components good, but that they work well with each other, you will save a lot of time and headaches.

Also, I'm going to be blunt here, so I hope I don't offend anyone: the above posters really do not know what they're talking about, and you should probably not take their advice without a grain of salt. That's why I recommend going to a dedicated enthusiast community - you know that the people there are going to be knowledgeable about the stuff.

 

[sneak_copter]

Ah, thank you very much. If there's any other advice, I'm more than willing to hear it. I will be using Vista, thank you. Oh, and if anyone can suggest a good, relatively light anti-virus software I could make use of, that would be great too.

Try ESET Nod32 for that anti-virus program.

Also, if your looking to build your own PC, you might as well use this site:-
http://www.mysuperpc.com/

 

[Mayonegg]

Before I bought my PC over a year ago, I researched the hell out of it. Where I bought mine (PC Specialist, England based) there asking price for my specific configuration was actually less than the separate components. Only when I took into account bulk pricing did the cost end up being about £40 over the sum of the parts.

That said, it is fun to experiment with a PC and on my last PC I increased the shelf life by putting in another 1GB of RAM and 300GB HDD.

 

[cyber_andyy]

If you have the money, buy an alienware PC, all the power with out the trouble of customizing (which is scary, to say the least) to a newbie.

 

[timlxq]

Oh yes, I forgot about the antivirus part, AVG free is enough for all your needs.

@cyber_andyy
$1000 can't buy you an alienware.


Custom is the way to go, and if you're facing difficulties you could ask the guy who sold you the parts to help you out. If you look into the corners for places with cheap parts you will probably end up buying from people who make their own PCs every day, and if they're nice they will do it for free. At most you could fork out a small labour charge, after all you've already patronised them

 

[Horticulture]

Searanox's guides seem like good ones; there's also a monthly video card comparison at Tom's Hardware [http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-radeon,2218.html] which is helpful in comparing the dizzying array of available cards, and finding good deals.

This comes in at $650 before rebates ($50) for the machine itself (no OS, keyboard, mouse, or monitor):

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3, 2.8 gHz [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649]

A fast, triple-core processor which overclocks well. Great performance for the price. There's a deal allowing you to save $70, to get it, go here [http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/March09/index.html?cm_sp=Cat_CPUs-Processors-_-AMD/March09-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fAMD%2fMarch09%2f118x118.gif] and add the CPU and motherboard to your cart using the checklist.

GPU: ASUS Radeon 4870 512 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121288]
Normally I'd recommend the 1 gig version (which runs better at high resolution), but this particular card is a very good deal even before the combo savings.

Motherboard: Foxconn 790FX [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186149]
Overclocks well, and part of a combo deal with the CPU. It's not AM3, the newest AMD socket, but AMD designed the new AM3 CPUs to be backwards-compatible with the older AM2+ socket. It also supports crossfire, allowing you to use multiple ATi GPUs together, though this is prohibitively expensive.

PSU: BFG LS-550 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702008]
Reliable, cheap, and more than adequate for the system.

RAM: 4 gigs G.Skill DDR2-1066 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166]
As mentioned previously,to use all 4 gigs, you'll need a 64-bit OS. Otherwise, only 3 will be recognized.

Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black 640
The small price premium over other drives buys you faster loading and boot times.

Optical: LG DVD-RW [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152]

Case: Antec 300 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042]
Cases pretty much come down to personal preference. This case may be a bit boring, but it's inexpensive and will keep everything within cool and safe.

Lastly, if you want to overclock, you'll want an obnoxiously large heatsink [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004]. The coupon code for $10 off is 'EMCLPPM52'.

Happy building!

Edit: I should note that this is overkill if all the games you play are Source-engine. This build will run Crysis and everything else out today near max settings. It would be possible to save a few dollars by switching to a very low-end Intel or AMD dual-core CPU/Motherboard and a Radeon 4830 or geForce 9800 GT, but this is certainly the best bang for your buck.

 

[searanox]

Case: Antec 300 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042]
Cases pretty much come down to personal preference. This case may be a bit boring, but it's inexpensive and will keep everything within cool and safe.

Lastly, if you want to overclock, you'll want an obnoxiously large heatsink [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004]. The coupon code for $10 off is 'EMCLPPM52'.

I don't know about that specific heatsink (the brand is unknown to me, which means I don't trust it), but if it's anything like the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120, then it will be too big to fit into a case like the Antec 300. A smaller cooler like the Scythe Mugen or Ninja will work better for that sort of chassis.

 

[Horticulture]

I don't know about that specific heatsink (the brand is unknown to me, which means I don't trust it), but if it's anything like the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120, then it will be too big to fit into a case like the Antec 300. A smaller cooler like the Scythe Mugen or Ninja will work better for that sort of chassis.

It's possible that it'd be tight, but I have one in a Lian-Li PC-7b and it fits. I don't think it's quite as big as a TRUE, though it is large. It feels a little flimsy thanks to the huge stack of aluminum fins, but it keeps my e6400 very frosty. I haven't used a Scythe, personally, but I recall hearing good things.

 

[searanox]

It's possible that it'd be tight, but I have one in a Lian-Li PC-7b and it fits. I don't think it's quite as big as a TRUE, though it is large. It feels a little flimsy thanks to the huge stack of aluminum fins, but it keeps my e6400 very frosty. I haven't used a Scythe, personally, but I recall hearing good things.

They don't have any thing that can compete with the TRUE 120, and nothing geared specifically towards the Core i7, but they gained a lot of praise and market share last generation with their Core 2 and Athlon/Phenom coolers. They specialise in heatsinks and fans with both great cooling potential as well as extremely low noise, so while they're not the absolute most efficient coolers out there, they do have an excellent performance considering that they're more or less inaudible.

 

[wordsmith]

I upgraded a few weeks ago:

Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £115

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 2 x 3.00Ghz 6Mb Cache 1333 FSB Dual Core Processor £150.00 (

RAM:
OCZ Reaper HPC 2GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.00

Power:
Corsair 650w ultraquiet- £79

Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 CPU4 £20.70

GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11133-00-20)- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....&subcat=939

I paid £487 for that machine, as I managed to re-use everything else from my old system, although I also bought a Tera External hard drive to bulk it up. Loving it

EDIT:
Also, it works brilliantly with the Orange Box, I'm actually running Steam from the external with no problems.

It also plays GTAIV, which is a nice bonus