PC Hardware Thread: Now With 100% More Folding!

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

You still need someone to look over your build?

Yes please

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I'll throw in what knowledge I can provide:

Mobo - Good
Cpu - Good
Gpu - I know fuck all concerning Nvidia GPU's, though if you look around you could probably find a Radeon HD 5770 for the same price, or a few extra.
PSU - Overkill. You will never need 850w for any single GPU + CPU. 600w max, 500w is good for overhead room and future-proofing, 450w is fine for that card.
RAM - Won't Work. The Mobo is dual channel, while the RAM is triple Channel, meaning it will support 2 RAM cards, not 3. Find some 4GB (2 x 2GB) RAM sticks, and save money ( 1600MHz or 1333MHz, are both fine, DDR3.)
HDD - Good
Optical Drive - Good
Case - Good

Hope it helps, and getting more opinions is also a good idea.

Thats great, thanks. I saw some dual channel 2x2 gb DDR3 1600 for about £100 on the pc world website. this is it http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/kingston-hyperx-pc3-12800-ddr3-1600-dimm-ram-memory-module-kit-4gb-2x-2gb-04787725-pdt.html
And the PSU is the thing I know least about, so i just went with the highest number i could find XD
Just looking at that, you have already saved me a goodly amount of money, i thank you kindly.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

Kingston is a good brand for RAM, so that works fine.

Look through Horticulture's guide on GPU's in the second post of this thread to see if you can save some money on the GPU

I shall do so at once. and thanks for this, its most awesome of you
On a side note, i was really surprised at the reasonable prices on the pc world website. Usually things are overpriced to hell.

I found this GPU for £30 cheaper. Its 1gb and supports directx 11. it seems like a pretty good alternative.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-ati-radeon-hd-5570-pci-e-graphics-card-1gb-06282158-pdt.html

 

[Jumplion]

Hidely-ho PC-reenoes, I have a situation that I am praying that one of you can help me with;

I'm on the edge of convincing my dad to let me buy some parts for a new gaming computer. He says that building your own PC gaming machine actually costs more than buying a prebuilt one (I have no idea if he's right, though he is an electrical engineer of sorts), but he says if I can get a list of parts to build a PC that is cheap (~$1000, most likely less) then he'll consider letting me build one.

I'm not much of a PC guy, so I'm really hoping that I won't be screwed over. Are the lists on the OP still good by today's standard? If so, do things like OS and stuff contribute to the cost? If not, could any of you be a valiant white knight and set up a list of a good gaming rig (~$1000 but if you could get less that'd be great). I'm looking for a good enough gaming rig to play most games on STEAM and be able to last me a good couple of years without needing to upgrade.

If any of you can help, I'll be sincerely grateful (and would be looking forward to slaying some zombies in L4D2 with you )

~Jumplion

EDIT: Hmm, maybe bump that down to between $500-$700 depending on if my dad is gracious enough to pay for some parts/half the cost.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

Sorry for the late reply.

Anyways, I wouldn't do it. Price may be good, but that card only has DX11 going for it.
It is still a pretty weak card. If you are going to go Dx11, then atleast get the 5750 (which is alittle stronger than the 4850).

Ok, thanks. I shall continue to look around

 

[Jumplion]

$500-700. Okay.

Case won't be very important. Get one with some vent and a fan. Branded cases are generally a waste of money. I'll say $80 for the case. Just get the best one you see from any of the stores you go into.
GPU-ATI 5750, preferrably 5770. Preferably Gigabyte or Asus in my experience. ~$150

Mobo- Asus M4N68T (940 pins) is cheap. Asus M4A88TD is preferable, but costs above $130.
CPU: AM3 x4 945. $160
RAM: 4 GB. Corsair, Kingston both good brands. However for quality, expect around $130 dollars.
CD/DVD player less than $30. doesn't really matter. Get Sony or LG.
Hard-Drive- Seagate or Western Digital I trust.
You can get a Western Digital SATA (Get SATA) for less than $60, $80 for 1TB.
PSU- DONT STINGE ON THE PSU. Get Antec or Corsair, don't think ASUS do them. Expect to pay around $100.

Make sure this mobo is suitable with all the stuff. Thats crucial. Make sure. I'm not promising anything. This is just to give you an idea.

This comes to.
Over $800.

I've failed you.

Will look into it more tomorrow.

Sorry, I already got a new PC for about $1500 (including monitor, so about $1100 or so). Thanks for your help anyway, I do appreciate it.

 

[Jumplion]

Sorry, I already got a new PC for about $1500 (including monitor, so about $1100 or so). Thanks for your help anyway, I do appreciate it.

Yeah just realised that post was around a month old. We dropped the ball on this one.

Wouldn't mind sharing the specs would you?

Sure (if I can find out how to run "dxdiag" on the damn thing)

What I know for sure is that I have an i7 processor (800 version I think), Raedon 5770HD graphics card, and DirectX 11 with Windows7.

 

[Jumplion]

Sorry, I already got a new PC for about $1500 (including monitor, so about $1100 or so). Thanks for your help anyway, I do appreciate it.

Yeah just realised that post was around a month old. We dropped the ball on this one.

Wouldn't mind sharing the specs would you?

Sure (if I can find out how to run "dxdiag" on the damn thing)

What I know for sure is that I have an i7 processor (800 version I think), Raedon 5770HD graphics card, and DirectX 11 with Windows7.

Nice processor. I bought intel, they're somewhat more reliable and compatible (I also feel they do better with heat and bottlenecking but not a fact). However, for my personal case, I probably should have bought an AMD. (No biggie, buyers remorse is always there).

5770 is a good card from what I've heard.

1. Start => Run => Type in "dxdiag"
2. Choose "Yes"
3. Click on the "Display" Tab and turn on all Accelerations
4. Click on the "Sound" Tab and move to full acceleration.

If that helps. Stolen from yahoo answers.

Oh, yeah, I forgot, Windows7 doesn't have the "run" option from what I can find, just an actual "dxdiag" program. Anywho, here it is;

Windows 7
Intel core i7 860 (~2.8GHz)
8GB of RAM
750GB of space
DirectX 11
ATI Radeon HD 5770
And some High-Def audio+video stuff

hope that helps.

 

[Jumplion]

Sorry, I already got a new PC for about $1500 (including monitor, so about $1100 or so). Thanks for your help anyway, I do appreciate it.

Yeah just realised that post was around a month old. We dropped the ball on this one.

Wouldn't mind sharing the specs would you?

Sure (if I can find out how to run "dxdiag" on the damn thing)

What I know for sure is that I have an i7 processor (800 version I think), Raedon 5770HD graphics card, and DirectX 11 with Windows7.

Nice processor. I bought intel, they're somewhat more reliable and compatible (I also feel they do better with heat and bottlenecking but not a fact). However, for my personal case, I probably should have bought an AMD. (No biggie, buyers remorse is always there).

5770 is a good card from what I've heard.

1. Start => Run => Type in "dxdiag"
2. Choose "Yes"
3. Click on the "Display" Tab and turn on all Accelerations
4. Click on the "Sound" Tab and move to full acceleration.

If that helps. Stolen from yahoo answers.

Oh, yeah, I forgot, Windows7 doesn't have the "run" option from what I can find, just an actual "dxdiag" program. Anywho, here it is;

Windows 7
Intel core i7 860 (~2.8GHz)
8GB of RAM
750GB of space
DirectX 11
ATI Radeon HD 5770
And some High-Def audio+video stuff

hope that helps.

Holyshit, 8GB of RAM? No doubt you're running 64 bit.

Nice computer. Don't be afraid to buy additional hard-drives. They're under $100 for a TB don't put much strain on the PSU and really easy to install.

Happy gaming.

Yeah, I'll be getting an external harddrive soon. And Dell wouldn't let us go lower than 8GB since we were going the "build custom PC" route on their site.

And so far I'm enjoying TF2, so yes, happy gaming indeed

 

[dfcrackhead]

Hopefully this thread will provide a single source of advice about hardware choices for new builds and upgrades. There are several PC-knowledgeable Escapists, so chime in if you have any comments. If you have anything to add, or disagree with information in the OP, send me a message or post to the thread and I'll try to work it in if it's relevant.

If you're looking for advice, post a budget, the parts you want to hold over (if any) from your current machine, and the games you want to play or programs you want to run (include settings and resolution). The information in this post and the next is provided assuming that you'll use your PC primarily for gaming, so those who have other needs should take the info with a grain of salt.

And, of course, feel free to share your specs or any horror stories (or words of encouragement) you have.

Current contributors: Oopsie [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Horticulture]

Your PC needs the following components to function:
-Motherboard (Mainboard): Recent motherboards also contain network and sound chips, some include weak GPUs
-CPU (Processor)
-GPU (Video Card)
-RAM (Memory)
-Disk Drives (Hard Drive and Optical)
-Case
-PSU (Power Supply Unit)

And, of course, a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and speakers if you hope to interact with it.

Crash courses in each component type are under the spoiler tags in the next post.

For those seeking instant gratification, three builds follow at three different price points: Budget (~$500), Mid-Range (~$700), and High-End(~$2000). The mid-range build is all most gamers will need, and even the budget build will handle any game out today at reasonable settings. They're updated from time to time, and the high-end build assumes that you will overclock. It should be noted that none of these have wireless cards built in, so grab a wireless card [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315041] if you'll be far from your router. The linked one is cheap and works well with XP, Vista, and Windows 7.


The Build: Budget* (~$530):

Updated 2/2010
CPU: Athlon II X3 440 (3GHz triple) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843]
Motherboard: Gigabyte/AMD 770 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128419]
GPU: XFX Radeon 5770 (1 gig) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462]
RAM: 4 gigs Kingston DDR3-1333 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134792]
PSU/Case: Antec 300+430W PSU [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065]
HDD: Seagate 500GB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395]
DVD: LG SATA DVD-RW [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167]
What it does: Max out many games up to 1920x1200 and most up to 1680x1050. Run all current games on the cheap.


The Build: Mid-Range* (~$950):

CPU: Intel Core i5 750 (2.66 gHz Quad) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215]
Motherboard: Gigabyte P55 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425]
GPU: Powercolor Radeon 5850 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131184]
RAM: 4 gigs G.Skill DDR3-1600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277]
HDD: Samsung F3 1TB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185]
DVD: LG SATA DVD-RW [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167]
PSU:OCZ 600W (Modular) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017]
Case: Antec 300 'Illusion' [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066]
(Optional)CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065]
What it does: Max out most games at common resolutions (1920x1200 or less), and perform well at higher resolutions with all titles. Compared to the budget build, it's an improvement in all areas, especially video/gaming performance.


The Build: High-End (~$2000)

CPU:Core i7 930 (2.8 Quad) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225]
MoBo:Gigabyte X58(+SLI, USB3) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423]
RAM:3x2 gigs G.Skill DDR3-1600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225]
GPU:2xXFX Radeon 5870 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443]
SSD (OS+Apps): Intel X25-M 80GB (OEM) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167016]
HDD (Storage):Samsung 1TB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185]
Blu-Ray:LG Blu-Ray Combo Drive [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136162]
PSU:Corsair 850W [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009]
Case:Cooler Master HAF 932 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160]
CPU Cooler (Optional, for heavy overclockers)rolimatech Megahalem [http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html] (Add a fan and thermal paste)
What it does: Max out everything; validate your existence. With two of the fastest available GPUs and a fast SSD, this is beyond overkill for most users. If you have two grand to burn, though, this is your machine.


*the budget build is now using a micro-ATX motherboard, which is smaller than standard ATX If you plan to use several PCI/PCI-e expansion cards, spend a few dollars extra for a standard ATX board with more room for expansion.

Want a way to take advantage of your swanky PC/PS3 while you aren't gaming?

Join the Escapist Folding@Home [http://folding.stanford.edu/] team!(Folding@Escapist)
Team#: 171286

What is Folding @ Home?

Folding at Home is a distributed computing project for the simulation of protein synthesis.

What the hell does that mean?

It's for science!

Folding at Home takes advantage of the unused power of your computer (and thousands of others) for medically-applicable biological research. A group at Stanford, with grants and support from the National Institutes of Health and several major tech companies, set up a system to run complicated protein simulations on other people's computers to do computer-intensive medical research. This research may be applicable to the treatment of a number of diseases, including Mad Cow, Alzheimer's, and many cancers.

How do I get started?

It's easy. Go here [http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Download], select the appropriate client for your operating system, download, and install. Your computer will be folding proteins in less time than it takes to fall asleep in organic chemistry.

If you have a fancy-schmancy video card(GeForce 8xxx, 9xxx, or GT2xx, Radeon HD), it can help you fold even faster. You need to use a special (Windows-only) client, though. Get it here [http://folding.stanford.edu/English/DownloadWinOther].

PS3 owners can even get in on the fun. Point at least one of your 7 processors this way [http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Download] and grab the PS3 client from the bottom. Yeah, you don't get to play Halo, but 360 owners don't get to cure cancer!


What's all this about a team?

The team bit is just a way to log folding work done by its members. It's totally optional, but lets us log the power Escapists have directed to a good cause.

It's easy to join. Just enter the Escapist team number 171286 at setup or in the "Configure" menu.

I did the folding thing since I rarely do anything hardcore with my laptop, but "viewer.exe" keeps crashing, solutions?

 

[mikecoulter]

Hopefully this thread will provide a single source of advice about hardware choices for new builds and upgrades. There are several PC-knowledgeable Escapists, so chime in if you have any comments. If you have anything to add, or disagree with information in the OP, send me a message or post to the thread and I'll try to work it in if it's relevant. Snip...

Hey, I love your thread, excellent information. I'm coming into some money soon and wanted to make myself a budget/midrange system. But then I found a pretty reasonable pre-built system at a local shop.

Can I get your opinion on the system?

System Link [http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/irushpro.html]

Thanks for any help!