BEFORE YOU POST IN THIS SECTION READ THIS! STICKY PLEASE, AT LEAST WHILE STILL APPLICABLE
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Currently, the majority of questions come across in this section are about compatibility and computers for a certain price. To help you guys out, a certain few things can be worth taking note of. This thread aims to inform you sometimes sadly misinformed facepunchers as well as erase many of the misconceptions you have about computers parts and pricing in general. I will try and provide adequate examples of current low end, middle ground and high performance gaming computers systems, hopefully reducing the number of threads about these issues, as well as providing steps to help you guys work out whether or not a part is compatible with your current hardware. This thread will mainly focus on the Intel 1155 platform, as it is the most common solution at the moment, as well as the fact that I have not had much experience with recent AMD platforms.
We'll start of with the definition of "low end", "middle ground" and "high performance" systems. Low end will get the job done, however may struggle with maxing absolutely every setting a game has to offer. Low end has a price of $1000 and under. Middle ground offers good performance in most games, with the ability to max most settings. Middle ground has a price of $1600 or less. High performance is really for people with more money than sense. High performance is $2200 plus.
[B]CPU:[/B] The current Intel 1155 platform, commonly referred to as Sandy Bridge features support for i3, i5 and i7 processors (also known as CPU's). The 1155 refers to the number of contact points on the bottom of the CPU, and in turn, the number or contact points in the CPU socket itself. To check if the i3, i5 or i7 CPU you have selected is compatible with a socket 1155 motherboard, refer to the number of numbers after the i3, i5 or i7 denotion. If there are 4 numbers, for example i5 2500, or i7 2600, or i3 2100, it will be compatible with your motherboard. If there are 3 numbers, such as i7 950, it is NOT compatible with your 1155 motherboard. i3 is suitable for low end, i5 middle ground, i7 high performance.
[B]RAM: [/B]It also natively supports dual channel DDR3 ram, and depending on the motherboard you choose, can support frequencies of up to 2200Mhz, although most gaming users will not see an amazing difference above 1333Mhz. 1333Mhz is also a relatively sweet spot price wise at the moment. Notable brands ram wise are G-Skill, Corsair (some argue this is overpriced, in the case of the dominator series, it most certainly is) and Kingston. Corsair offers a very cost effective solution in the form of the XMS3 modules, which are as cheap as $35 for 4GB of 1333Mhz ram. Ram is sometimes a very fickle beast, and can come straight out of its packaging and not work. The process of checking for issues in a new build beyond compatibility is not going to be covered in depth.
[B]GPU:[/B] The choice of graphics card (also known as GPU) is what will have the biggest impact on your gaming performance. A major misconception faced by current gamers is that to enjoy good performance, they need the newest series of graphics cards. Although new graphics card offer support for more recent technologies, and usually are more powerful overall, the massive price drop to a previous generation card of slightly less performance is one rarely exploited by system builders (from what I have observed, basically lurking during my time here). I personally learnt this when I was unexpectedly given a HD5770 from a mate. It was an entire generation above my HD4870, but I thought that I would see little to no difference, as it was 2 series behind current cards (the HD6900 series). To my amazement, the joys of a new graphics card were all mine. The change was incredible, but the card was so old? For those of you struggling to game with pre builts, upgrading to a slightly older, yet incredibly cheap card (HD5770's can be found for as little as $119) will provide an immense change.
For those of you who have your hearts set on an entirely current generation graphics card, the choices are as follows. First of all, AMD or nVidia? These two manufacturers have managed to provide price point perfect, completely different solutions of the same performance. For example, the HD6970 vs the GTX570. Each card sits around the $340-360 price range, and offer basically identical performance. There are points of separation between current generation AMD and nVidia cards, such as AMD cards ability to provide 3 display out connectors from each card, and nVidia's CUDA, however they can basically be considered a preferential choice. For lower end budget system's, currently AMD's HD6870 is a good option, as well as nVidia's GTX560. For middle ground systems, depending on your individual budget, AMD's HD6950 and HD6970 and nVidia's GTX 570 and GTX560Ti are good options. For high end systems, AMD's HD6990 and nVidia's GTX590 (or SLI GTX580's) offer incredible performance at a disgusting price.
Notable brands in nVidia GPU's are EVGA (offer a great warranty ), MSI (their aftermarket coolers, the Twin Frozr 2 and 3 are both very appealing), Asus (their ROG stuff is always overpriced, but none the less incredible), Gigabyte (always competitively priced). Notable brands in the AMD corner include XFX (double lifetime warranty, maybe triple, offers great resale value), Asus, Gigabyte, Sapphire and MSI. Some less notable brands for AMD include HIS, VTX3D and Powercolour. The same pros and cons stand for both brands in regards to both AMD and nVidia.
[B]PSU: [/B]The power supply is the [B]MOST IMPORTANT[/B] part you will purchase. [B]DO NOT SKIMP HERE. [/B]A good power supply (although more expensive) will provide much more reliability than a cheaper option. Too often a dodgy power supply can be the end of your otherwise fine computer. Notable brands in this area are Corsair, Silverstone and Antec. Corsair offers the most reliable and energy efficient PSU's on the market, however at a significant cost. [B]NEVER EVER SETTLE FOR AN UNKNOW BRAND, OR SOMETHING WHICH SEEMS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE (1000 WATTS FOR 100 DOLLARS). IF YOU ARE NOT SURE IT IS GOOD QUALITY, DON'T BUY IT. [/B]A good starting point wattage wise is 550 watts. A good 550 watt PSU has adequate power for a low end system, although not much headroom for expansion in the future. An appropriate PSU for a middle ground computer is 650 to 750 watts. A good 750 watt PSU will allow for SLI or Crossfire in the future, and a 650 watt will provide enough power for your computer's current chosen hardware. PSU's for high performance computers are upwards of 850 watts, depending on how much stuff you are powering, what kind of cooling solution you are utilising, and how much headroom you want for overclocking. A good in between for a high performance computer is 1000 watts. This is easily enough for SLI or Crossfire, and a good 1000 watt PSU will have great overclocking potential.
[B]CASE: [/B]In my opinion, ricer is shit. No questions about it. Ricer is cheap asian junk, for all you people out there. It usually features copious amounts of led's, disgusting cable management and no interior design features. However, they can be quite cheap. This is an obvious trade off for build quality and design features. Reputable brands case wise are again Corsair (although pricey), Lian Li (arguably have some off the best full tower cases around, although pricey), Antec (although design wise they are slipping, quality is still good), Fractal Design (a relative newcomer, although well designed and appropriately priced, I'm looking at you Define R3), Silverstone (a favourite among people looking for the most well laid out interior with their revolutionary 90 degree motherboard placement), Coolermaster (has had great success with the cheap and brilliant HAF series). Choosing a case really comes down to personal preference. I for one am not a fan of led's any more. Also a decision needs to be made about full or mid tower case choice. Full towers offer many more drive bays, but can be awkwardly large. Mid towers have enough drive bays for most people's needs. Another key factor is case choice is what kind of motherboard it will support. Most cases support Mini-ITX and ATX. Simply match up the size of your motherboard, either Mini-ITX or ATX with the size of your case. Note that Mini-ITX motherboards are mainly used in home theatre systems and other applications where a small footprint is ideal.
[B]MOTHERBOARD: [/B]If the CPU is the heart of your computer, then the motherboard is definitely the nervous system. It is what ties everything together. Current motherboards feature either the prefixes H67, P67 or Z68. These letters are more simply explained by Linus Tech Tips. He also talks about the different capabilities of the i3, i5 and i7 CPU's.
[video=youtube;wUgBNWtCsnk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUgBNWtCsnk[/video]
Now that that is cleared up, the motherboard for you needs to be chosen, based on a few important factors. First of all, how much expandability do you want? That is, do you intend to add another GPU in the future? Do you intend to overclock? If you do, select a motherboard with multiple PCIe 16x slots for multiple GPU's, or a motheboard with overclocking capabilities, usually found on most motherboards in the $200 plus range. After that, certain other features you want/need may become deciding factors. Do you need USB 3.0? Can you utilise USB 3.0? Do you need SATA 6GB/s (for newer SSD's, probably)? After these decisions have been made, select a motherbord with specs appropriate to your needs. Notable brands are Asus and Gigabyte.
[B]SSD: [/B]SSD's (solid state drives) are a more high end solution. They offer incredible read and write speeds, as well as amazing lifespan, which is usually about 2 million hours (mainly because they have no moving parts). They really only improve boot times, if your OS is installed on the drive (why else would you get one), as well as programs also installed on your boot drive. At roughly $2/GB, they are much more expensive than a conventional HDD, at $0.060/GB.
[B]HDD: [/B]All HDD's nowadays use the SATA interface. They are also relatively cheap; a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 can be bought for $60. This drive is also AMAZING. So cheap, and so reliable, they are a must for anyone looking for a HDD.
[B]CD/DVD DRIVE: [/B]Not as important of a feature as it once was. I for one have used my exactly twice since I installed windows 7. However, they are still necessary. You really can't go wrong with any drive, they all support the same things. You may be inclined to by a Blu-Ray drive - the choice is yours.
[B]LOW END:
[/B]CPU: i3 2105
RAM: 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3
Graphics Card: 560Ti or HD6870
Power Supply: 550 watt
Case: YOUR CHOICE
Storage: 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3
CD/DVD DRIVE: CAN'T GO WRONG
TOTAL: $742 + case and OS.
[B]MIDDLE GROUND:
[/B]CPU: i5 2500K
RAM: 8GB of DDR3 1333-1600Mhz
Graphics Card: GTX570 or HD6970
Power Supply: 750 watt
Case: YOUR CHOICE
SSD: 60GB OCZ Vertex 3
Storage: 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68-UD4
CD/DVD DRIVE: CAN'T GO WRONG
Total: $1357 + case and OS.
[B]
HIGH PERFORMANCE (PLEASE NOTE THIS IS INCREDIBLY COST INEFFICIENT - BRAGGING RIGHTS ONLY):
[/B]
CPU: i7 2600k
RAM: 16GB of DDR3 1600-2200Mhz (whatever after market heatsinks you want, you have money apparently)
Graphics Card: GTX 580 SLI, HD 6970 Crossfire, HD6990, GTX590
Power Supply: 1200 watt
Case: YOUR CHOICE
SSD: 120GB OCZ Vertex 3
Storage: 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 x whatever
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme (this really comes down to preference)
CD/DVD DRIVE: CAN'T GO WRONG
Total: $2500+ and + case and OS.
[B]
NOTE: ALL PRICES IN AUD! HAVE FUN SAVING MONEY IN THE US![/B]
Hopefully I have answered some of the questions you regularly ask about building your own computer. Any suggestions, please post.
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUgBNWtCsnk"]
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Do not get an i3, it is usually a bit overpriced, isn't it?
Thelow-end should be with a Phenom II X4, I think
There's a lot of incorrect information here, and your example builds are quite bad.
There's more than just i3/5/7 on LGA 1155, there's more than just those three chipsets.
Also you're not supposed to just ask for a sticky, you're supposed to contact a moderator and ask before posting anything.
This is terrible.
Incorrect information everywhere.
At least hes tried, why dont you guys go to the effort of pasting the incorrect information /correct it. A thread like this would cut the amount of questions in half on the PC build sub forum especially if someone went to the effort of updating it when new technology was released.
[QUOTE=Godline;32184377]At least hes tried, why dont you guys go to the effort of pasting the incorrect information /correct it. A thread like this would cut the amount of questions in half on the PC build sub forum especially if someone went to the effort of updating it when new technology was released.[/QUOTE]
a polished turd is still a turd i guess
It's just too much, unneeded, and not organized at all. I made the sticky in tech support and it's very short so that people will actually read it, yet it still manages to go unread and noone follows the directions.
[QUOTE=Shadaez;32184679]a polished turd is still a turd i guess
It's just too much, unneeded, and not organized at all. I made the sticky in tech support and it's very short so that people will actually read it, yet it still manages to go unread and noone follows the directions.[/QUOTE]
I guess if people dont read it, then you shouldnt waste your time.
You don't note how little difference between the new Sandy Bridge i5 2500K and i7 2600K there is. (Also, the K means it's unlocked meaning its made (almost WANTS) to be overclocked.) You can buy the i5 (3.3 GHz four cores) and then for $100 more you can buy the i7 (3.4GHz four cores). Why spend an extra $100 for the extra .1 when you can super easily overclock it to 3.4 - 4GHz. For free.
As an example I have my i5 2500K overclocked to 5GHz. Of course I have a water cooling system for it as well. Otherwise it would burn and explode under load.
You also don't explain how useless the 1st gen i7 processors are for gaming. I think it's the i7 970 and up (or maybe it's 960 and up) that all have HEX core processors. Of course people go ZOMG HEX CORE I GOTTA HAVE IT! When in reality if you just wanted a gaming computer you wouldn't be utilizing any of the extra power. Quad is more than enough.
Apparently my unknown brand PSU + GTX 550Ti + i5 2400k is considered low end, when I can rather run everything max with 30+ fps on modern games.
Who cares if it's under 60 fps, its still beautiful and awesome. The line crosses at television standard framerate (24fps), then it's shit.
[QUOTE=Coridan;32188725]You don't note how little difference between the new Sandy Bridge i5 2500K and i7 2600K there is. (Also, the K means it's unlocked meaning its made (almost WANTS) to be overclocked.) You can buy the i5 (3.3 GHz four cores) and then for $100 more you can buy the i7 (3.4GHz four cores). Why spend an extra $100 for the extra .1 when you can super easily overclock it to 3.4 - 4GHz. For free.
As an example I have my i5 2500K overclocked to 5GHz. Of course I have a water cooling system for it as well. Otherwise it would burn and explode under load.
You also don't explain how useless the 1st gen i7 processors are for gaming. I think it's the i7 970 and up (or maybe it's 960 and up) that all have HEX core processors. Of course people go ZOMG HEX CORE I GOTTA HAVE IT! When in reality if you just wanted a gaming computer you wouldn't be utilizing any of the extra power. Quad is more than enough.[/QUOTE]
uh yeah, a i5 2500k @ 3.4 Ghz is far less powerful than a i7 @ 3.4 ghz, there's more to a processor than clockspeed. There's quite a difference in performance between the two, as well. You just really don't need the extra power that the i7 2600k brings to the table, it's a waste for gaming, an i5 2500k is almost a waste, it's very powerful and you likely won't need a better CPU for years.
[QUOTE=Coridan;32188725]You don't note how little difference between the new Sandy Bridge i5 2500K and i7 2600K there is. (Also, the K means it's unlocked meaning its made (almost WANTS) to be overclocked.) You can buy the i5 (3.3 GHz four cores) and then for $100 more you can buy the i7 (3.4GHz four cores). Why spend an extra $100 for the extra .1 when you can super easily overclock it to 3.4 - 4GHz. For free.
As an example I have my i5 2500K overclocked to 5GHz. Of course I have a water cooling system for it as well. Otherwise it would burn and explode under load.
You also don't explain how useless the 1st gen i7 processors are for gaming. I think it's the i7 970 and up (or maybe it's 960 and up) that all have HEX core processors. Of course people go ZOMG HEX CORE I GOTTA HAVE IT! When in reality if you just wanted a gaming computer you wouldn't be utilizing any of the extra power. Quad is more than enough.[/QUOTE]
2600k has 33% more cache. 4 more threads which CAN help in some cases. Cache is pretty useful in media creation if I recall correctly, and if people usually go for the 2600k due to it's superior multitasking performance due to more threads and larger cache. 2500k is more streamlined and better for gaming since you don't need the extra threads for that.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I understand that some of the builds are not as price or performance point perfect as many of you would like, however they do offer an indication of some of the performance brackets. This thread was really intended for people with next to no experience building their own computer, more in depth questions can be covered in subsequent threads. This thread is also nowhere near as indepth as it could have been, it really just tries to explain the basics of compatibility and what to expect at a certain price point.
You did not discuss Pentium 1 - 5 processors and their major impact on the market.
[QUOTE=srador;32179564][B]LOW END:
[/B]CPU: i3 2105
RAM: 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3
Graphics Card: 560Ti or HD6870
Power Supply: 550 watt
Case: YOUR CHOICE
Storage: 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3
CD/DVD DRIVE: CAN'T GO WRONG
TOTAL: $742 + case and OS.[/QUOTE]
[b]WHY THE FUCK A Z68 MOBO[/b]
[editline]9th September 2011[/editline]
As in, no ssd and no K processor, H61 will do (H61 = H67 without SATA3)
Z68's are awesome.
But with an i3 it's kind of silly.
You get some information in there, but it's neither tidy and there's really too much , and there's some aspect that I simply (I read alot and I didn't read it all, I doubt a person just wanting help is gonna read any of it) find wrong. You should almost always go AMD on an entry-level build, for example. Especially witht he new APUs.
I realise now that I jumped into this without an ideal amount of knowledge. Hopefully in the future this idea will be replicated but with better execution :(
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