So with the xbox and ps4 not looking great so far I'm thinking about trying pc gaming. The only problem being that the only pc I have is a crappy laptop so I think I'm going to try to build a gaming pc. The problem with THAT is I'm not to sure on how to build a computer. Is it just get the parts together and put plug A onto slot B or is there something else? Also a shopping list of the parts I'll need would be very much appreciated. or if you don't want to explain all that could you point me to a website or video with this information? thank you in advance.
Help a PC noob please.
- Thread starter fangclaw
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It's pretty simple, everything is labelled and it's not as complicated as one would think.
http://www.buildeasypc.com/category/build-pc/how-to-build-a-computer-step-by-step-video-guide.htm
Your parts will obviously be different but use that as a reference, it's basically putting each plug into the matching slot. Other than that it's tetris with wires, I suggest getting zip ties so that your wires are all neat and held in place, you wanna make sure none hit the CPU fan, oh boy that's gunna be loud and cause a heap of problems.
http://www.buildeasypc.com/category/build-pc/how-to-build-a-computer-step-by-step-video-guide.htm
Your parts will obviously be different but use that as a reference, it's basically putting each plug into the matching slot. Other than that it's tetris with wires, I suggest getting zip ties so that your wires are all neat and held in place, you wanna make sure none hit the CPU fan, oh boy that's gunna be loud and cause a heap of problems.
Assembly is pretty straightforward, yes. All you need is a basic flat (-) screwdriver and a philips screwdriver (+). Practically every component requires power and an "optic" connection, so basically you'll know something is done when it's got 2 cables going in/out of it. Plus your motherboard should come with a manual, and since it's everything plugs into your motherboard it becomes the guide to putting your whole rig together. It's fairly easy, but it's fairly easy to miss something too, and that makes it a fun but stressful thing. One thing I would like to stress is don't be afraid to press hard when you insert anything, those mobos are bendy. But I digress...
I scared you didn't I? Look, it's not that hard. But if you find you have all the pieces at home and you can't bring yourself to do it, you can always take it to your local PC shop, they can assemble it for a fee, but it always comes down to far less than ordering one pre-made. Or heck, order a prefab online, I don't judge.
This is the check list you wanted.
http://www.davesite.com/computers/system/checklist.shtml
As for what brands and components to get, well I'll tell you upfront it's a headache to choose, especially when you're not in the loop already. One thing a lot of people will tell you is that NVidia/Intel are the best gpu/cpu respectively. Well it's true that they've held the top-of-the-line for a while, but when you're building a budget- or moderate-priced PC, AMD can get really competitive in the cost/power department. I promise it should clear up after a bit (a lot) of research.
One specific pointer, it's almost all in the GPU. RAM is easy, you just need 4 gb to run practically any game, although 8 gb are recommended (by me anyway). There are a lot of different types of RAM (clock speeds and DDR types), but I don't have top of the line sticks and I tend to be among the first to load the map in the server anyway, so as far as I know all that matters is that you have enough. CPU can bottleneck but I haven't found having a really good one to be that useful. One thing is that while octocore CPUs can seem awesome it's really not for gaming, as no game uses more than four really and they aren't that efficient at it. That's not to say don't get an 8 core (I have one, those cores happened to be attached to a good processor), they can be useful in day-to-day activities.
Anyway, I'm a bit tired, PM me if you want, but uh... welcome to the dark side. I hope it doesn't spit you out like it did that other guy who posted about it.
I scared you didn't I? Look, it's not that hard. But if you find you have all the pieces at home and you can't bring yourself to do it, you can always take it to your local PC shop, they can assemble it for a fee, but it always comes down to far less than ordering one pre-made. Or heck, order a prefab online, I don't judge.
This is the check list you wanted.
http://www.davesite.com/computers/system/checklist.shtml
As for what brands and components to get, well I'll tell you upfront it's a headache to choose, especially when you're not in the loop already. One thing a lot of people will tell you is that NVidia/Intel are the best gpu/cpu respectively. Well it's true that they've held the top-of-the-line for a while, but when you're building a budget- or moderate-priced PC, AMD can get really competitive in the cost/power department. I promise it should clear up after a bit (a lot) of research.
One specific pointer, it's almost all in the GPU. RAM is easy, you just need 4 gb to run practically any game, although 8 gb are recommended (by me anyway). There are a lot of different types of RAM (clock speeds and DDR types), but I don't have top of the line sticks and I tend to be among the first to load the map in the server anyway, so as far as I know all that matters is that you have enough. CPU can bottleneck but I haven't found having a really good one to be that useful. One thing is that while octocore CPUs can seem awesome it's really not for gaming, as no game uses more than four really and they aren't that efficient at it. That's not to say don't get an 8 core (I have one, those cores happened to be attached to a good processor), they can be useful in day-to-day activities.
Anyway, I'm a bit tired, PM me if you want, but uh... welcome to the dark side. I hope it doesn't spit you out like it did that other guy who posted about it.
Ask questions herefangclaw said:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/PC-Builders-and-Hardware-Group
you'll get much better responses that can be tailored to your exact problem if you give some more details.
Kinda of.fangclaw said:
Step 1: Ensure you are electrically grounded to the PC case.
Step 2. Put a part in the only place it'll go [Can be a bit hard to tell sometimes, but should be mostly straightforward. Your case should have a diagram somewhere on the box or something if you're lucky, if not take a picture and post it online asking for help.]
Step 3: Screw it in if need be, if not skip this step
Step 4: Plug in any cables that'll plug into the thing.
Done. Repeat until its done.
Parts you'll need:
Case
Motherboard
CPU
Graphics Card
RAM
Hard Drive
CD Drive
Power Supply
If you want more specific than that, we'll need a budget, and where your preferences on power/cost are; I.E: Max cost max power right now [Within your budget], minimum cost required so it'll max everything out now at 1080p, minimum cost now required to run a certain game, or anything in between.
Escapist PC building usergroup Assemble!ResonanceSD said:
Hello Fangclawfangclaw said:
A few questions to help with your pc:
What is your budget?
What country do you live in?
Would you prefer pre-built or would you build it your self or know anyone who can build it for you?
I will either find a good pre-built or find the parts for you if you answer those questions.
Assembling a PC is quite simple, you would have to actually damage some parts to put them in wrong.
For choosing the components this [http://www.logicalincrements.com/] should help. Even with that guide I would advise to read up on the parts. Also don't take the high end stuff, you would pay a lot for a little more power that you might not even need.
Don't forget that you won't be finished with assembling the parts and installing windows, a PC needs more attention to run properly than a console.
If you are unsure, ask a friend who has more experience with PC or ask in a shop. A prebuild PC could also save you a lot trouble, but it would cost a little more money.
For choosing the components this [http://www.logicalincrements.com/] should help. Even with that guide I would advise to read up on the parts. Also don't take the high end stuff, you would pay a lot for a little more power that you might not even need.
Don't forget that you won't be finished with assembling the parts and installing windows, a PC needs more attention to run properly than a console.
If you are unsure, ask a friend who has more experience with PC or ask in a shop. A prebuild PC could also save you a lot trouble, but it would cost a little more money.
My advice as a lifelong pc gamer, who is still not overly tech-savvy:fangclaw said:
Find a pc hardware store with good prices and service. For example at my store they build your pc for you from the parts you choose. They help me with trouble, free of charge, and sometimes just over the phone, if it doesn't take to long to solve. And just give me small parts if I need a cable or adapter or something like that, if I need it for a new part.
Having go-to guys like that will make your life as a pc gamer a million times easier, especially in the long run when (not if) you run into issues with your hard- and software.
Awesome! thank you guys for your help. The dream/goal is to run FFXIV with absolutely no problems on the highest settings so I figure its not going to be cheap and its going to take quite a while. The plan is to save up and get the parts one at a time and just leave them in the box in a safe place until I have gathered all the parts then put everything together.
Country: U.S.A.
Pre-built? No, my own weird logic tells me that a computer that I build will be easier to upgrade if necessary.
I'm sorry but this part confuses me, can you please explain some more? Also, thank you for the list.Joccaren said:
Budget: Hard to pin down. I have the patience of a rock so its anywhere from nothing to infinite. if this is really that important then tell me and I'll see if I can come up with a better answer.Crises^ said:
Country: U.S.A.
Pre-built? No, my own weird logic tells me that a computer that I build will be easier to upgrade if necessary.
To an extent you answered it with this anyway:fangclaw said:
But largely it was asking what you want it to be able to do, where your priorities are. Would you rather it be a cheap machine that can run a certain level of modern games, though not on good settings, one that will max out everything for the next 3 years, or a middling cost one that'll run games fairly well, but extreme performance isn't necessary.
From what you've said though you just want one that'll max out FFXIV at probably 80 FPS [Some safeguard for framerate drops in certain sections to keep it above 60 at all times], on max settings. That's a basis for giving you an estimate on how much it'll cost, and staying under a given budget so we're not giving you a supercomputer that could be used by NASA [To use the common phrase that is absolutely false anyway], and costs a small fortune, instead of a gaming machine that can do what you want it to.
Additionally I'll ask; Are you likely to try overclocking at any point in the future?
Budget isn't too important if we have a goal for the machine. Now we can give you an estimated cost and you tell us to reduce it or increase it.
USA is good, as you've got sites like NewEgg which can sell things for very cheap prices sometimes.
And prebuilts [usually] can be fairly easily upgraded, but there is something to be said for knowing how its all assembled as you did it yourself. Does make it that bit easier through experience.
Anyway, first rough list of parts from a quick online search:
CPU: i5 3570
Motherboard: ASUS P8PZ77
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 560 Ti or Radeon equivalent
RAM: 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz RAM [If you want a specific brand then I'll look a good one up]
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB
Link to parts:
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131832
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130720
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148540
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=5961731&SID=0
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
Costs:
CPU: $215
Motherboard: $120
Graphics Card: $145
RAM: $67
Power Supply: $70
Case: $60
Hard Drive: $75
Total: $752
Could probably drive the costs lower if you want, this was only a quick search. Could also future proof it to some extent if you want it to max out games like BF3, TW2 or likely a lot of upcoming games too, seeing as a single 560Ti will benchmark 80FPS for FFXIV at 1080p, but I was lucky to get higher than 40 on max settings BF3 with one.
This is where the priorities thing I mentioned comes in: Higher cost, but it'll run more things better from now into the future, or keep around the same cost, a bit lower thanks to searching for parts that fit closer to the specs and are cheaper, whilst leaving it only able max out most current gen games, and probably a couple of next gen ones?
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Putting together a pc is not hard but if your uncomfortable with it then I would look for a computer shop around you that can build it for you then you can do some upgrades to it down the line and get more comfortable with hardware.
It's pretty straight forward putting it together.
If you don't want to bother with building it. You can just buy the parts and pay someone to do it for you. A lot of computer shops will put together for you for around $20-40.
If you don't want to bother with building it. You can just buy the parts and pay someone to do it for you. A lot of computer shops will put together for you for around $20-40.
My motherboard, case, and just about everything else came with basic instructions that were easy to follow. I can't guarantee EVERY piece you buy will do this, but most pieces are just "screw/slide here."
If you can follow an instruction sheet, you can put together a computer.
When in doubt, check the internet. Or follow Tom Wait's Hat's advice and pay someone.
If you can follow an instruction sheet, you can put together a computer.
When in doubt, check the internet. Or follow Tom Wait's Hat's advice and pay someone.
Because I don't know what you mean by overclocking i want to say no, but for the same reason i want to say yes but only accidentally.Joccaren said:
So I'll get what I want with these parts?
I can go a little higher with costs. I was thinking of going with the outstanding row in the list that Neonsilver provided minus the parts you didn't list.
If I want better parts for a little future proofing what parts and what specs should I be looking at when comparing?
Yeah I'd agree with this if it's your first time and if you don't have a friend handy who's done it before. I taught myself, but I already had a main computer and I did it with spare parts lying around. There are a few dicky things that can be a real pain. However computers are a lot simpler nowadays and it shouldn't be rocket science.Tom Waits said:
here would be my two main concerns:
1) Putting CPU onto motherboard - If you are still keen on a DIY, at least get the shop to put the CPU onto the motherboard (or watch a youtube of it). Some are simple, others more complex and fiddly, either way this is the most expensive thing to fix if you mess it up, and if they don't want to replace due to that. Most shouldn't even charge for it, but it's good for peace of mind.
2) Installing the cables for switches and lights (HDD light, reset & power switch). This can be a real tedious experience, depending on mother board and case. Some are harnessed together very nicely and simply, others are tiny and separate and you'll need to study the motherboard manual to get it right, not to mention being wary of grounds.
I've built many computers in the past, haven't for a while now but I'd be willing to help with any problems, can send me a PM and I'll get to ya when I can.
As for future proofing Joccaren's build, I think you would get the most for your money with a better graphics card. With a GTX 660 TI it would be very close to my own PC. I'm very satisfied with my PC and I can play most games on the highest setting.fangclaw said:
I don't know if Joccaren's build would be enough for FFXIV.
About the outstanding row of the list, I think the excellent or superb row should be more than enough. The money saved compared to the outstanding row could be invested in a mouse, keyboard, speakers, headset or a monitor, depending on what you already have.
After reading everything I have been presented here is the build I have come up with:
CPU: i5 4670
motherboard: this thing: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DDR3-Motherboard-Z87-GD65-GAMING/dp/B00D12OBYK/?tag=logicaincrem-20
graphics card: gtx 770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127741
ram: 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz RAM
power supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W
hard drive Seagate Barracuda 1 TB
I figure the case doesn't affect the computers performance so I'll think about that later, but I've been wrong before.
after all these parts are put together, will I be able to play FFXIV A Realm Reborn with absolutely no problems on the highest settings? (by problems I mean anything that is not the result of a crappy internet).
CPU: i5 4670
motherboard: this thing: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DDR3-Motherboard-Z87-GD65-GAMING/dp/B00D12OBYK/?tag=logicaincrem-20
graphics card: gtx 770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127741
ram: 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz RAM
power supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W
hard drive Seagate Barracuda 1 TB
I figure the case doesn't affect the computers performance so I'll think about that later, but I've been wrong before.
after all these parts are put together, will I be able to play FFXIV A Realm Reborn with absolutely no problems on the highest settings? (by problems I mean anything that is not the result of a crappy internet).
Alright, I'll try to briefly explain this.fangclaw said:
Your CPU, RAM and Graphics card have clock speeds. This is the Mhz or Ghz value normally listed with its name. A clock speed of 3.3Ghz for the i5 2500 for example, or 800Mhz for the 560Ti. Overclocking is using either the system BIOS or software provided by the manufacturer [or third party software even] to increase these speeds. Your 3.3Ghz 2500 is boosted to 3.8Ghz, your 800Mhz 560Ti is boosted to 900Mhz. This can prolong the effective life of certain parts, as when they are old and no longer up to scratch you can just boost their speeds and get more performance out of them.
The downsides are that it costs more to get an overclockable CPU, it produced more heat that you need to dissipate in your case, it shortens the actual lifespan of the part you are overclocking, it can be unstable if you do not do it well [I.E: I can clock my 2600K to 5.1Ghz and have it work perfectly fine, if a bit hot. I push it to 5.2Ghz and it will load, but crash if I try to run anything], and if you want to do it through non-automated processes for better results it takes a bit of learning and a lot of trial and error.
Its mostly just an enthusiast thing that people building PCs like to do, and unless pushing your system beyond its limits for fun sounds like a good time to you you're unlikely to need it.
You will get Final Fantasy XIV running at 80+ FPS on maximum settings at 1080p with those parts.
Main thing for future proofing will be the graphics card. The CPU... The 3570 is, ATM, more than you will ever need to run a game. A better CPU will net you in the decimals of FPS, and will cost significantly more a lot of the time. RAM is useful if you're planning on multitasking a lot, but otherwise you'll see next to no benefit from increasing the amount of RAM you have, but the graphics card...
A 560Ti will net you 80 FPS or so in FFXIV.
A 660Ti will net you over 90 FPS in FFXIV [Don't have an actual benchmark to check with sorry, so it might get even better performance]
A 760Ti will net you over 100FPS in FFXIV [Again, no benchmark for this one, so potentially even better performance]
The graphics card provides a large benefit, the CPU a small one unless its a bottleneck [Which the 3570 will not be for several years at this point], and the RAM next to nothing unless you're doing heavy multitasking.
As for specs that you should be looking at? Benchmarks. As a general idea of how things will perform, check these two links:
CPU: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
Graphics: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
This gives you relative scores of how CPUs and Graphics Cards perform against each other on that specific benchmark. You should also google and find more benchmarks if you're really interested, though they're generally not as easy as those two to compare a wide array of parts.
Well for one, yeah, the case does next to nothing for performance. Its just the bottleneck for how much cooling you can run on your PC, which can be a problem in some areas, and is always a problem if you're overclocking. So really you should be fine, maybe it'll get a bit stressed in summer but nothing too much.fangclaw said:
Secondly, with all those parts together you'll be able to play BF3 on two 2560*1440 screens on maximum settings with no problems. That will absolutely destroy FFXIV on a single 1080p screen.
As for any recommendations on the parts themselves... If swapping the CPU and motherboard to something a bit lower would net you enough money to bump up the 770 to a 780, that'd probably be a better investment, and if you want near instant boot times a 64Gb SSD to install Windows to could be something to look at from reduced costs in other areas too. Otherwise it should work, and will do what you need it to do for many years to come.