Help me buy a PC.

[DudeistBelieve]

Initially, when I see someone put up a budget, and then mention Alienware, I just get confused. Those two are mutually exclusive, in terms of getting performance per dollar. Don't get me wrong, I love me Alienware machines and I think they're built and look great, but only if I knew what specs I wanted and didn't care about the price.

Now for something a little more constructive. Specs wise, you'd want something akin to the following:

Hard Disks
An SSD to run your OS and maybe loading-heavy games is ideal. No stream viewer enjoys waiting 5 minutes when transitioning areas in open world games. As big as you can afford, I'd say 120GB if possible.
You will need a few TB of space down the line, video recording and editing eats up space like nobody's business. Thankfully, a 2TB HDD is pretty cheap these days.

Video Card
The crux of any gaming rig, especially for streaming/recording. I'd settle for nothing less than a GTX970. It eats up a lot of your budget, but whatever, you need the horsepower here if anywhere.

RAM
AFAIK, and have tested, the quicker, expensive, low latency RAM doesn't do much. Just get as much as you can in there, nothing less than 8GB (aim for 12GB)

CPU
People will tell you i7 for the video editing. I say you can drop it to an i5 and get as much performance as you need. Heck, my i5 is generations old, I play games on ultra and record/edit videos without a hitch. My friend with an i7 and the same RAM and slightly inferior GFX card didn't show much improvement over my rendering times. I'm not even overclocked.

Motherboard
This one is really more about durability. A trusted brand will go a longer way (usually). Just find the one with the features/PCI/RAM slots you need and fit the budget. You may want to fork out for DDR4, for easier upgrades down the line if you plan to do that rather than buy another outright machine. I find most onboard audio does the job nowadays, unless you're specifically looking for good 7.1 surround or whatever. Even then, there are many decent outboard USB solutions, especially when it comes to recording, when you don't want to weigh down your system internal resources too much.

The rest is pretty easy. Optical drives, cases, just go with whatever is cost effective and necessary. For podcasting, you'll need a good mic. Padding up your room to reduce echo also can make a cheaper mic sound a LOT better. Decent headset and mic also help, try to go for a reputed brand that streamers you follow use, a lot of them have their setups to see equipment and specs on youtube as well.

I may of possibly doubled my budget to 2000. Kills me to do it, so theres a little more wiggle room because I want something that'll last me a bit. I really feel like it might be overkill, I don't quite the high tastes for graphics, Xbox One suits me just fine and the streaming I want to do is very casual, I'm not like trying to be a pro anything here. Maybe I should rethink this a little more. I don't know.

Like am I being unreasonable here? I really want something thats maybe just a touch more powerful than the Xbox's power that can stream, that I don't have to worry about it being outdated for at least a year or two. I really don't care if I lose stream viewers cause my frames are 30 instead of whatever, maybe I'll feel differently after joining the master race, but I legit don't see the difference and those wouldn't be the kind of viewers I'd want anyway if that's what they're looking for. They can go watch the guy who's doing it for cash, ya know?

is anything I'm saying making sense?

cause right now I'm sitting here with an Alienware Alien 51 sitting in my shopping basket, and it's 2000 dollars and the price is making me feel physical ill and all I keep thinking is I could buy a seriously big TV for that price. I appreciate your guys effort on the PC building front, but I don't think thats how I want it to go, cause I want to buy at least a years warranty on thing so if it fucks up at least I'm not just screwed and in debt.

also, Anti-Virus should I do a pay subscription or go free? In the past I've gone free, but that was like $200 dollar computers used for basic internet ya know? This monster is going to be my precious artifact child, I need it to be safe.

I gotta do some thinking about this. I haven't even looked at what the webcams and serious podcast equipment is going to cost. I'm lucky that I have no college debt, but this thing I want to do is becoming a somewhat serious financial gamble.

 

[Elfgore]

, also, Anti-Virus should I do a pay subscription or go free? In the past I've gone free, but that was like $200 dollar computers used for basic internet ya know? This monster is going to be my precious artifact child, I need it to be safe.

I'm not an expert on hardware, but for this I can help. Get Comodo. Free and it is very good. So good that it actually views a file from a Steam game as malware and freaks or every time I use a trainer. Only downside is it installs a bunch of pointless shot, which can be easily uninstalled within minutes.

And to join the echo chamber. Don't buy from Alienware. Pre-built PCs are total rip offs and Alienware is the worst of the bunch by a long shot.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

, also, Anti-Virus should I do a pay subscription or go free? In the past I've gone free, but that was like $200 dollar computers used for basic internet ya know? This monster is going to be my precious artifact child, I need it to be safe.

I'm not an expert on hardware, but for this I can help. Get Comodo. Free and it is very good. So good that it actually views a file from a Steam game as malware and freaks or every time I use a trainer. Only downside is it installs a bunch of pointless shot, which can be easily uninstalled within minutes.

And to join the echo chamber. Don't buy from Alienware. Pre-built PCs are total rip offs and Alienware is the worst of the bunch by a long shot.

Yes but unfortunately I've opened a line of credit with them already so I kinda feel like the die has been cast. Sure I can still open a line of credit with NewEgg but I really don't want to take that hit on my credit rating.

That said... I'm also now sitting on a $2,600 Area 51 machine. Is that something I could realistically build myself?

Hell I feel like it might be overkill. I've gone from just having a functioning machine to having a GTX980 graphics card. I don't even care about seeing every blade of grass, I just want the thing to run games for like the next 6 years. As it stands this is going to cost me about $250 dollars for a year, nothing to sneeze at but manageable.

What should I do about Hard drive space? I know the solid states are faster, but their more expensive. I kinda feel like I'd be happier with an old school 2 TB hard drive. It's cheaper, and it's larger than anything I can afford solid state wise. I'm a whore for hard drive space. When they say it's faster, like how much slower is a normal hard drive? Seconds or minutes here?

Whole damn thing feels like overkill. Time must be used to reflect on this.

 

[kurokotetsu]

, also, Anti-Virus should I do a pay subscription or go free? In the past I've gone free, but that was like $200 dollar computers used for basic internet ya know? This monster is going to be my precious artifact child, I need it to be safe.

I'm not an expert on hardware, but for this I can help. Get Comodo. Free and it is very good. So good that it actually views a file from a Steam game as malware and freaks or every time I use a trainer. Only downside is it installs a bunch of pointless shot, which can be easily uninstalled within minutes.

And to join the echo chamber. Don't buy from Alienware. Pre-built PCs are total rip offs and Alienware is the worst of the bunch by a long shot.

Yes but unfortunately I've opened a line of credit with them already so I kinda feel like the die has been cast. Sure I can still open a line of credit with NewEgg but I really don't want to take that hit on my credit rating.

That said... I'm also now sitting on a $2,600 Area 51 machine. Is that something I could realistically build myself?

Hell I feel like it might be overkill. I've gone from just having a functioning machine to having a GTX980 graphics card. I don't even care about seeing every blade of grass, I just want the thing to run games for like the next 6 years. As it stands this is going to cost me about $250 dollars for a year, nothing to sneeze at but manageable.

What should I do about Hard drive space? I know the solid states are faster, but their more expensive. I kinda feel like I'd be happier with an old school 2 TB hard drive. It's cheaper, and it's larger than anything I can afford solid state wise. I'm a whore for hard drive space. When they say it's faster, like how much slower is a normal hard drive? Seconds or minutes here?

Whole damn thing feels like overkill. Time must be used to reflect on this.

Don't buy nithing that makes you uncomfortable. The elitist will always exist but if you don't care about them don't cater to them. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, just tell you what it is. Have the machine you like. The above examples work and lets go part to part.

Hard drive: Right now thr SSD is mainly used for your OS and basic programs. You will not use it as your primary storage. The differemce in booting can be a minute or two and for launching programs seconds of difference usually.

GPU: The graphics card. It will be the basis of a gaming machine. Video editing and game performance is most related to it, since it takes over most of the processing for those. A new generation is coming soon, but the 980 is a beast of a card that will last.

CPU: Mos gamimg machines can run with an i5 CPU at around 3GHz most games. What this will give you in streaming and general is more programs running and more speed in general tasks. It will also help with audio editing without an audio card.

RAM: Also for running multiple programs at once. A relatively cheap component but in the middle of a generation upgrade. The most common is still DDR3 buy the sticks and motherboards for DDR4 are starting to gain terrain. In 3 or 4 years I expect DDR4 to be the standard and that is why I personally recommend it for a future invesment.

Motherboard: This dictates the other components. Which processor you have, which RAM you can use, how many and which carda can bw added. It will usually also determine which case you get and the ports you have available.

Power source: It is dependant on ypur components power requirments. It will give you the power to your system. Thr larger the card and CPU the more power you need. There are calculators for an apporopiate power supply for a build.

Case: The external part. Most people disregard it as mostly cosmetic but I usually would recommend to se one that is a decent heat sink. If tou have the spave and money I would usually go for a full ATX (large case) for more air flow and more hest capacity to increase the lifetime of the components. Don't go for the cheapedt, try to get one that gives you good cooling.

Those are rhe basics.

But remember. It is YOUR rig. Do what YOU want. Mos prefer to built a PC rather rhan buy it. But if you are not comfirtable, go to Alienware and buy it and be happy with it. You want a simple stram and not play in ultra and 60 fps? Do it. The 970 rigs with an i5 will still last for several years and you can always upgrade RAM and GPU in some years to extend it. It is YOUR PC. Do what feels right for you.

 

[Cowabungaa]

That said... I'm also now sitting on a $2,600 Area 51 machine. Is that something I could realistically build myself?

Better for less? Oh yes, not just better but you'd stomp that Alienware machine into the ground even. That kind of money gets you a beast of a PC and all the money you'd spend on the brandname of Alienware goes to extra performance instead. Performance that gives your viewers a better streaming experience.

Do mind that you don't have to do it alone. When I bought my second computer I wasn't very comfortable with actually putting it together myself either, so I paid the company I ordered the parts from an extra ?50 and had them put it all together. Or you could ask a friend, or local computer shop to do it for you for a small fee.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

So I found this on Amazon, which is my other line of credit. I hate to do it, but whatever. Dell is giving me this nebulous amount of time for when I'd get my account information to get the ball rolling. So anyway, what do you guys think of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-AG6-710-70002-Desktop-Windows/dp/B0124YJVJU/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1459859046&sr=1-5&keywords=Alienware+Area+51&refinements=p_36%3A150000-250000

Has the 980 graphics card, same amount of ram (16), same storage space size I was going to get on the alienware PLUS some 256 extra in the solid state. And even better, 2 year warranty... which is chunk of the reason I want prebuilt.

Looks to me like it's identical to what I have saved in my dell card and it's about a $1,000 cheaper.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

So I found this on Amazon, which is my other line of credit. I hate to do it, but whatever. Dell is giving me this nebulous amount of time for when I'd get my account information to get the ball rolling. So anyway, what do you guys think of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-AG6-710-70002-Desktop-Windows/dp/B0124YJVJU/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1459859046&sr=1-5&keywords=Alienware+Area+51&refinements=p_36%3A150000-250000

Has the 980 graphics card, same amount of ram (16), same storage space size I was going to get on the alienware PLUS some 256 extra in the solid state. And even better, 2 year warranty... which is chunk of the reason I want prebuilt.

Looks to me like it's identical to what I have saved in my dell card and it's about a $1,000 cheaper.

Dude, everyone has been telling you that prebuilts are a ripoff. Even if it's cheaper, it's still a ripoff. Just buy the parts yourself and have a friend or something assemble it if you dont feel comfortable doing it yourself. You should still get a manufacturer's warranty anyway for each individual party you buy.

Hell, I just built this thing myself on Newegg and cut like 100 to 200 bucks off the price. And you can go even lower too. I was just selecting things based off what was more expensive. You dont need a blu ray drive or an SD port. A regular DVD drive is fine. You could probably knock another 100ish dollars off the price if you search around enough.

Yeah well the rip off comes with a warranty if the parts fail, where as if I fuck up putting it together I'm just shit out of luck. I don't mind spending a bit for that bit of confidence, and when were talking at the $2000 level a couple hundred dollars doesn't make a huge difference at that point. Debt is debt.

Christ. and people wonder why the console market still exists. If I didn't need one for what I'm planning, I'd be throwing my hands up at this point and just stick with the Xbox. Plug it in, it plays Fallout 4, fuck if I care if I can't see to the end of the map, it doesn't effect the play style at all.

#VentVentVent GRRRRRRRR!!!

 

[Cowabungaa]

Yeah well the rip off comes with a warranty if the parts fail, where as if I fuck up putting it together I'm just shit out of luck. I don't mind spending a bit for that bit of confidence, and when were talking at the $2000 level a couple hundred dollars doesn't make a huge difference at that point. Debt is debt.

Christ. and people wonder why the console market still exists. If I didn't need one for what I'm planning, I'd be throwing my hands up at this point and just stick with the Xbox. Plug it in, it plays Fallout 4, fuck if I care if I can't see to the end of the map, it doesn't effect the play style at all.

#VentVentVent GRRRRRRRR!!!

That's why we gave you a few options where you can select PC parts as easily as pizza toppings. As for warranty, it all comes with factory warranty anyway. And to make dealing with warranty issues easier you can all order them from one store if you want to. Might even give you the option to let it be assembled for you. Even NewEgg has things like that. This [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2815649] is only one example, but this entire page [http://www.newegg.com/DIY-PC-Combos/PromotionStore/ID-33] has more than enough deals.

The main problem with real pre-built, branded PC's is that they often have an overpowered CPU and a graphics card that doesn't match up with it. And for streaming you need both. So it's not just that you're paying a couple hundred bucks extra, it's also that you're getting way less power than you could get. And for streaming you need every bit you can get.

 

[The Enquirer]

Yeah well the rip off comes with a warranty if the parts fail, where as if I fuck up putting it together I'm just shit out of luck. I don't mind spending a bit for that bit of confidence, and when were talking at the $2000 level a couple hundred dollars doesn't make a huge difference at that point. Debt is debt.

Christ. and people wonder why the console market still exists. If I didn't need one for what I'm planning, I'd be throwing my hands up at this point and just stick with the Xbox. Plug it in, it plays Fallout 4, fuck if I care if I can't see to the end of the map, it doesn't effect the play style at all.

#VentVentVent GRRRRRRRR!!!

That's why we gave you a few options where you can select PC parts as easily as pizza toppings. As for warranty, it all comes with factory warranty anyway. And to make dealing with warranty issues easier you can all order them from one store if you want to. Might even give you the option to let it be assembled for you. Even NewEgg has things like that. This [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2815649] is only one example, but this entire page [http://www.newegg.com/DIY-PC-Combos/PromotionStore/ID-33] has more than enough deals.

The main problem with real pre-built, branded PC's is that they often have an overpowered CPU and a graphics card that doesn't match up with it. And for streaming you need both. So it's not just that you're paying a couple hundred bucks extra, it's also that you're getting way less power than you could get. And for streaming you need every bit you can get.

Yea, this is easily the most important thing to keep in mind. The parts, if you're on a budget generally have a poor build quality to make the specs more appealing as well. The thing with pc's over consoles, and one of the main problems with a prebuilt is that you can upgrade them, but that isn't always easy with prebuilts, so you won't really be keeping a PC for just a couple years ideally. I'm going to have mine for at least 10 years before I need to upgrade, so I made sure everything has a good build quality.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

This thread is absolutely ridiculous. OP is clearly not trying to be the most popular streamer in the world or demanding top-tier performance from his machine.

OP, As everyone has said, you are wasting your money buying a pre-built, and that is a fact that isn't going to change no matter who you open a line of credit with. Not only that, but you're ruining one of the major factors of the hobby. Building and maintaining your rig and making it your own. Building a PC is like legos now. If you fuck it up you kind of deserve it. If you're still monitoring this thread can we dial it back and get a more accurate picture of what you want to do with it? I know these have been addressed somewhat but let's just get it organized. Answer these questions.

1. What types of games are you streaming?
2. How serious are you about cultivating an audience?
3. How important is graphical fidelity?
4. How long do you want this PC to last you?

You do NOT need to spend more than 1k on a pc that you can stream and edit on. You can do that for your budget. The question is how well do you want to do it?

 

[Cowabungaa]

Yea, this is easily the most important thing to keep in mind. The parts, if you're on a budget generally have a poor build quality to make the specs more appealing as well. The thing with pc's over consoles, and one of the main problems with a prebuilt is that you can upgrade them, but that isn't always easy with prebuilts, so you won't really be keeping a PC for just a couple years ideally. I'm going to have mine for at least 10 years before I need to upgrade, so I made sure everything has a good build quality.

An excellent point I completely forgot about.

It's true, prebuilts are often a lot harder to upgrade. And that means that it'll be obsolete quicker, so instead of just replacing one bit you have to replace it all. That makes pre-builts, in the long run, even more expensive and even more of an issue when you, like the OP, have to go into debt to buy it.

So yeah, OP, for the sake of your debt situation; don't go for a pre-built. This [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2781485] to me seems like a really good option. It's even a two graphics cards setup yet cheaper than the pre-builts you want to go for. I would however ask around on streamer reddits to find out more whether it's a good idea for streamers to go for two graphics cards instead of one really fat one. I would think that it'd be the case, with one card handling the streaming part and the other handling the game. But I'm no expert.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Yea, this is easily the most important thing to keep in mind. The parts, if you're on a budget generally have a poor build quality to make the specs more appealing as well. The thing with pc's over consoles, and one of the main problems with a prebuilt is that you can upgrade them, but that isn't always easy with prebuilts, so you won't really be keeping a PC for just a couple years ideally. I'm going to have mine for at least 10 years before I need to upgrade, so I made sure everything has a good build quality.

An excellent point I completely forgot about.

It's true, prebuilts are often a lot harder to upgrade. And that means that it'll be obsolete quicker, so instead of just replacing one bit you have to replace it all. That makes pre-builts, in the long run, even more expensive and even more of an issue when you, like the OP, have to go into debt to buy it.

So yeah, OP, for the sake of your debt situation; don't go for a pre-built. This [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2781485] to me seems like a really good option. It's even a two graphics cards setup. I would however ask around on streamer reddits to find out more whether it's a good idea for streamers to go for two graphics cards instead of one really fat one. I would think that it'd be the case, with one card handling the streaming part and the other handling the game. But I'm not expert.

This is a great build for a solid price. Though, as OP is clearly brand new to PC gaming, I don't know if it would be smart to send him directly into the sometimes choppy waters of an SLI setup. He'd probably be better off with one, beefier card.

 

[Cowabungaa]

This is a great build for a solid price. Though, as OP is clearly brand new to PC gaming, I don't know if it would be smart to send him directly into the sometimes choppy waters of an SLI setup. He'd probably be better off with one, beefier card.

Could be, I mostly wondered whether it would be better with streaming in mind.

If it doesn't matter that much, the Exceptional build from here [http://www.logicalincrements.com/] seems to fit the bill well then, especially if he picks the i7 instead of the i5. Or this one [http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2297079] from NewEgg.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

This is a great build for a solid price. Though, as OP is clearly brand new to PC gaming, I don't know if it would be smart to send him directly into the sometimes choppy waters of an SLI setup. He'd probably be better off with one, beefier card.

Could be, I mostly wondered whether it would be better with streaming in mind.

If it doesn't matter that much, the Exceptional build from here [http://www.logicalincrements.com/] seems to fit the bill well then, especially if he picks the i7 instead of the i5.

Yup I'd agree with you that the Exceptional tier build is pretty much powerful enough for the vast majority of pc players whether they be using it just for games or streaming/editing. If you're listening OP this is probably the best course of action.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Also, logical increments has an article dedicated to video editing pc builds. Might be worth taking a look at. I only glanced at it.

http://www.logicalincrements.com/articles/videoediting

 

[TotalerKrieger]

Don't get a PC with a GTX 980. It is one of the most overpriced cards on the market. You should either go up to GTX 980 Ti or down to GTX 970, the 980 is in a really crappy price point. You can very easily overclock a 970 to the performance levels of a stock 980 too.

With a budget in mind, the GTX 970 or its AMD competitor, the R9 390, are the best buys right now. I usually recommend choosing an i5 CPU over an i7 for gaming, but streaming may require the extra processing power.

 

[Cowabungaa]

You can very easily overclock a 970 to the performance levels of a stock 980 too.

Except that OP is way too new at PC gaming to bother with that. You're right that the 980 is more expensive than it should be, but in this case it's a bit of a convenience tax. Especially considering AMD's driver nonsense (coming from an AMD user) that might give a PC newbie headaches he'd rather avoid. But at least this convenience tax is a lot lower than going for a pre-build.

 

[The Enquirer]

Don't get a PC with a GTX 980. It is one of the most overpriced cards on the market. You should either go up to GTX 980 Ti or down to GTX 970, the 980 is in a really crappy price point. You can very easily overclock a 970 to the performance levels of a stock 980 too.

With a budget in mind, the GTX 970 or its AMD competitor, the R9 390, are the best buys right now. I usually recommend choosing an i5 CPU over an i7 for gaming, but streaming may require the extra processing power.

You can very easily overclock a 970 to the performance levels of a stock 980 too.

Except that OP is way too new at PC gaming to bother with that. You're right that the 980 is more expensive than it should be, but in this case it's a bit of a convenience tax. Especially considering AMD's driver nonsense (coming from an AMD user) that might give a PC newbie headaches he'd rather avoid. But at least this convenience tax is a lot lower than going for a pre-build.

I'm currently running a build with the 980TI and I'm extremely pleased with it. I've done some gameplay recording on it using Nvidia Shadowplay and the results have been great. No loss in framerate at all. Slightly different parameters than streaming buy worth noting.