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Xeogaming Forums - General Chat - Building New computer. This time for real! | | | |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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So after doing some heavy research I have got the specs, links, and prices for the gaming computer I am building. I already own the case for this bad boy:
XCLIO A380COLOR-PLUS Black 1.0 mm SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case. It's huge!~ So what I wanted to build is a rig that will handle Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 with absolutely no problems on max. I found the "Sweet Spot" for this build and I have even better news. This rig costs no more than 600 bucks. That's right. And I am gonna pour the research I have got all over this thread. If you want to build a great gaming computer and you are under a budget: Look no further! Note: This rig does not include Windows 7, a new monitor, speakers, keyboard / mouse, etc. This is just the tower, CPU, GPU, and RAM. Most of the new mobos already have excellent onboard audio and internet access. So honestly there is no need to worry about it right now. Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189008 83.99 (9.20 ship) Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128431 79.99 (7.87 ship) RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193 96.99 Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127510 234.99 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872 84.99 Total: 598.02 I should have it done either before my Birthday (If I work my ass off) or a week after. It's about damn time I got my butt in gear and get a gaming rig for once. One thing you might notice is that the CPU is a 3 core processor. Right now there are not a lot of games / programs that even utalise more than one core. Starcraft 2 does, which is why 3 cores is perfect for the job. And at 3.1ghz, it's already insanely fast. No need for quad core. The GPU was hailed as the "$200 King". Most reviewers have praised it for running high-end games without the noise as well as high frame rates. It can push SC2 to about 80+ FPS! That's nuts! It's also not that big. Down the road I will purchase Win7, a new monitor, and maybe even some logitech surround sound speakers. Until then, I will be happy once this bad monkey is done. (Last edited by Bitmap on 08-06-10 03:06 AM) |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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So after talking with some friends online I have some good and bad news.
First, let's start with the bad news. Because honestly if you guys are going to follow in my footsteps then you need to hear this first. The bad news is that I need to up the ante on two parts of this computer. Sure it will cost $200 more than what I originally had in mind; the payoff is that I will be able to upgrade it in years time rather than less than five years. First, the motherboard. This is what my original mobo was gonna be. Sure, the motherboard is great! However, it's for "Today". Sure all computer parts become outdated. But this one is nearing it's end. What I want in a gaming rig is something I can improve on after 5+ years of gaming on it. Not two: Which is what this motherboard will provide me in terms of upgrading. But for about 80 bucks more I can get a lot more life out of it meanwhile not have to worry about buying yet another motherboard and spend even more money. ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard: 229.99 This was the motherboard recommended to me. It's only $200 more expensive. Comes with a wide variety of overclocking, BIOS, etc features. And it's basically budget. Compared to an Intel motherboard. This is cheap. And reviewers are flocking all over it. So that adds onto my $600 budget to about $830. Now, to the other part my friend was kinda crucial about. Which it all comes down to you guys really. Before I name this last part (Which should be obvious if you want the most out of your computer in terms of future gaming) just keep in mind that right now Dual Core processors are all the rave. Intel and AMD fight to get you to buy their products. Both are really good! But if you are on a budget like me then AMD is your thing. If you want to do more than Gaming (Like say Movie editing, music, file streaming, etc) then you should stick with Intel in terms of that. I am going to stick with AMD no matter what. And the processor I was going to purchase was a three core at about $90. AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor: 159.99 Now, the recommendation was a six core. Which would be nice; for now I am going to stick with Quad Core. Not only is it lightning fast but it's one extra core in case Diablo 3 requires 3/4 cores or something. Which brings my rig to about a grand. Yikes. $1,000 Once again, this does not include win7, a new monitor, and any other necessities to make the final product even more outstanding. This is just the tower and nothing more. I had planned on getting this beast setup before my Birthday. But now I am going to have to look at October to get this setup. I also plan on making a videoblog about it sometime early September as I slowly buy all the parts and get this bad boy put together. Hopefully by Christmas it will all be done and over with. I forgot the good news! The good news is that after this month I am done with all my car payments. Which makes all this buying and building a lot easier. Taking away weekly rent money, gas, and insurance payments. I should end up about 210 a week. Adding it all up, I -should- really have this done before my Birthday. But alas I know I want to splerge a little. So I am not setting my deadline too high. But at least once this is all done and over with I will be able to have a reliable computer I can depend on and at last rest in awe as I stare at this monster in it's true form. E2- Also, I named my last gaming computer "Blue Bomber". It was a mid-tower that was painted blue. This one I am debating on a couple of names. "Metal Gear" comes to mind. (Last edited by Bitmap on 08-09-10 02:34 AM) |
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Ryan Ptooie Is back! Since: 10-01-04 From: Stafford, UK Since last post: 4623 days Last activity: 4583 days |
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My current gaming rig I was quite pleased with. Now remember British prices seem to be much higher than American equivalents, which really pisses me off.
In total, I think my computer cost around £720-ish, so upwards of $1200, but again, it's fairly cheap given that PC parts here cost more anyway. Intel i5 750 2.66 GHz - Amazing processor for a cheap price, easily surpasses the best AMD one of the time, which was a Phenom 2 X4 965 I think, their 3.4GHz (Again, I think) quad core. Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 - I love this motherboard, it makes overclocking so safe and easy. I certainly fucked it all up first time through, yet nothing went majorly wrong, it just gave me a warning during startup. Titan Fenrir XMas edition CPU cooler - Incredible cooler, at least once I get it attached properly. I think I put an air bubble in the silver paste. Plus it's also attached to face the wrong way, so I had to change the case's airflow. xD 4GB DDR3 1600mhz RAM, can't remember the make - Never had any problems with this RAM yet, and it makes switching between programs damn fast. XFX ATI Radeon 4870 512MB - It's a refurbished one that worked brilliantly for a while, but it's showing signs of aging, probably the parts that weren't replaced the first time it broke. xD 800W generic power supply - Not much to say about this, but I would like to get a decent, branded, modular power supply at some point. Antec 902 Gaming Case - Wonderful case, good size, fucking heavy. It is a huge effort whenever I need to pull the computer out, both from its weight and the really thick rubber feet it's mounted on. Has a bottom mounted power supply, hard drive coolers and removable hard drive trays... Its main problem is it's rather short for a gaming case, so the more powerful graphics cards may not fit in it. Mine just touches the very edge of my hard drive's SATA connection. Thank god for 90 degree cornered connectors. I've had little trouble playing games on it, getting most games on near-max to max settings. Mass Effect 2 looks beautiful at 2048x1152 and Far Cry 2 runs wonderfully without anti-aliasing, everything else maxed, DX10 on, and the LURK mod for STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl looks orgasmic. I'm considering upgrading to a 5770 or the nVidia 460 thing for DX11 stuff, and a little increase in graphics power. Plus it was a refurb and has been a little bit iffy with its overclocking feature, fluctuating a fair bit on how much it will let me overclock without getting graphic artifacts and bullshit like that. Plus, once I re-attach the cooler and remove the air bubble in the silver paste stuff, I should be able to get 3.8GHz easily out of that processor, thanks to CustomPC magazine. |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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It's a good thing I waited awhile before starting buying most of the parts. I checked out a couple of new prices and got yet -another- opinion on what I need to do.
For starters. My good buddy down the road just completed his build. He spent about 720 on his. Bought the GTX460 Cyclone graphics card. Has an AMD Quad Core processor overclocked to 3.6 ghz on air alone. A decent motherboard that cost him 130 bucks (Features Dual Bios settings, wattage tweaking so your CPU isn't maxed out unless it needs to be, and quick boot). It runs Starctaft 2 at a surprising 70FPS on benchmark tests. No noticable difference when he lowered his CPU to 3.4 ghz. Same FPS and everything. Dips to about 50 FPS on huge battles while on the 'Creep'. Which is just golden. All of this was also done with This monitor. So needless to say. The build I am building will have to go with yet another part selection. Also, I start building mid-September. I gotta pay off my final car payment and then I will be ready to get this computer built. I am thinking about going ahead and paying the car off next week so I can just get it over with. I'm so excited. Also, I have been thinking of some names for this comp. But I have yet to think of something that will stick. |
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Cteno Super Shotgun Moderator Since: 01-11-05 Since last post: 70 days Last activity: 68 days |
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Name it after me.
It's an awesome computer name and you know it. |
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Squire Vince Storm Eagle is watching you, he sees your every move. Since: 04-17-10 From: Victorian London. Since last post: 4927 days Last activity: 4901 days |
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He's gonna name it Jeramiah Johnson?! | |||
Phoenixocracy The one true Xeodent Since: 01-08-10 From: Xeomerica Since last post: 1675 days Last activity: 1675 days |
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Originally posted by Urban Astronaut You, my friend, are a stalker and a spammer. In any case, this computer sounds badass...Gunmetal Badass. Expensive as hell, but worth it in the long run. i was contemplating building one of my own after all my financial issues clear up. I could use a good desktop, and hey, why not try out some PC gaming? |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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It's pretty hard going into for the first time. Now that this is my 2nd time I have to worry about a couple of new things. I am sure better system builders will scoff on how you have to think about new stuff. I mean, I am all for the bells and whistles some things have to offer (Like on motherboards) but honestly I don't need them.
Everyone will tell you that your basic gaming computer needs will run you at about 600 bucks. Which is ok. But it's better in the long run to push out an extra 300-500 dollars if you want the best machine out there. A friend of mine bought an alienware computer like two years ago for about two grand. He saved up his summer job money and thought he was boss up until my good buddy built the same computer for less than half. All LED'd up and everything. I took the tower out of the box not too long ago to do another power / fan test on it to see if everything was running good. It was. All of the lights checked out, airflow was nice, and it looks sharp. But then I noticed something: Why in the hell are the hard drive mounts literally right behind one of the 260cm fans on the front? Basically, I need to mod my PC a bit and perhaps fix the airflow that is sucking in to make sure it does not hit the hard drives. See? You gotta think about these things. I learn that little trick while I was in the Navy |
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Cteno Super Shotgun Moderator Since: 01-11-05 Since last post: 70 days Last activity: 68 days |
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I hate it when cases are built and while they may look cool and keep all the cables out of the way, the airflow is absolute shit. Also...
Originally posted by Urban Astronaut I giggled. |
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Xeios You WANKER! Since: 08-16-04 Since last post: 5053 days Last activity: 1363 days |
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Yeah, I was going to say before I saw your second post, that not having an OS would probably be bad.
Otherwise, seems like a decent setup. Since you're doing your shopping on Newegg, don't be afraid to look for deals and such. Most of the time you can get two items bundled together for super-cheap. I had a couple of deals go into my PC. When I built my PC, it ran me about $1100, after the monitor and everything, and let me tell you, I still run current games on 1680x1050 resolution, on ultra graphics settings, and it's a beautiful monster. |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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newegg has never let me down. But I have looked at Tiger Direct for some deals but they have a ton of open box products. Kinda tempted to purchase them seen how they go through more rigorous seeings than factory made products. Plus, the prices are way lower. Not as good as newegg. But at least those prices are more common than newegg. Catch me here?
As for an OS. I have a Winxp disc that I will be using before I buy win7. Sure I won't be using more than two cores. But it will hold me over before then. Next week I plan on buying the power supply (Xclio 750w) and the motherboard (Undecided). Will make a video update when it arrives. I'll also install it on camera. E- I forgot to mention that the 750w power supply may be overkill. But a year later I plan on buying two of those Cyclone video cards so I can SLI them together. It won't make the games prettier. But they will run better. And knowing the times; the GTX460s will be cheaper by then. So long term investment made solid! (Last edited by Bitmap on 09-01-10 11:48 PM) |
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Cairoi This isn't about you and your loud mouth, This is about me and my fucking beard. Since: 08-29-04 From: PA Since last post: 4827 days Last activity: 4451 days |
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Originally posted by Xeios I can attest to this. His computer is a work of art. It functions at a higher processing limit than God itself. |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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Originally posted by Cairoi E- Whoops. I thought you were talking about my build! Just skip over what I say below. Not really. If I had a 2 grand budget. I could do so much more with it. But thinking smart here: Spending that much on a gaming PC would be a waste. It's always street smart to spend around a grand on a new computer. It's always your best interest to think ahead while thinking about your budget. At the most. I would say $1,200. This is without the monitor, OS, speakers, etc. What I have planned will be great for the next five years on gaming. But overall, not futureproof. Update: So I just sent a payment to newegg for my power supply. The Xclio 750w power supply. It should arrive in the mail sometime this week. The reason I went with 750w is because I plan on having dual cards running on this build in the final product. Why? Increased framerates, better stability, and very cost effective. By the time I need the 2nd videocard it will be cheaper and thus is a worthwhile purchase. Still going to focus on the nvidia GTX 460 Cyclone as the main card for this build. I checked out a couple GTX 470 cards and it's a little overkill. With Dual GTX460's in future games it might not look prettier; it will play a lot smoother. Besides, right now the cards that are higher than that is just a waste of money in my opinion. Also, I am debating on getting This CPU as the main chip running this beast. It's only $130 more than the quad core. BUT! With games featuring more cores than needed; it might be a good bet that this CPU is what I need in terms of gaming to the extreme. So what am I gonna do? Work more doubles and just suck it up for the next three weeks to cover the expense. Six. Cores. 3.4 Ghz. Easily OCable to 4.0 on Air alone. That's a little mindblowing. (Last edited by Bitmap on 09-13-10 12:55 AM) |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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Just an update on what is going on. I'll provide content.
E- You might be wondering why I have not have had this computer built by now? Well, certain bills came up. I got sick with something serious. And my car broke down about three months ago: Which costed me around two grand put together. So that put be back behind quite a bit. Anyways! I have a good friend who is into building computers much more than what I do and he basically rallied up a tally on basically the perfect starting computer. Will run anything you throw at it on Ultra settings in videogames and comes equipped with a monitor. Windows 7, plenty of RAM, and a videocard that outdoes the GTX460 that I was praising about. Only problem is that I don't have the list on my on this computer. But I'll post it whenever I get it. Oh yeah, and here is the kicker! It's $800! And as a bonus. The graphics card will be free. Why Free? He has one lying around his house. And he owes me one I have that card sittin' on top of my tower and it's about half the length of my tower. It's huge! Heavy! And it will literally rock out with 2GB of graphics memory. My friend has one of these on his computer and with just one he was able to run off of three monitors while playing FPS games on it on max settings. Crysis be damned. 80FPS on Triple monitor setup. All of them 22" screens. Screaming! Right now I can pretty much purchase the computer. But I want to wait until I get my Tax refund check in before I make any plans on purchasing it. Also, when I do. It's going into my Credit. I need to start building that up and whenever I pay it off, I can use my good credit score to get myself into college. No interest if paid off in six months and I have to put down about $400 to get the party started. So basically, I am pretty much set and ready to go! I talked with an advisor and he asked if I had good credit so I can pull off a good loan for school (Before you yipe about that let me finish). Seen how I have absolutely no credit. He said if I can raise my credit enough; not only will I be able to get a good loan but if I make good grades in school it's practically free. And they will pay me to purchase my books. So basically I am going to be killing two birds with one stone here. Only thing I am waiting on is my income tax check to roll in and I will be ready to rock! (Last edited by Bitmap on 03-27-11 11:52 PM) |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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Oh hi thread, nice to see you again.
I AM ORDERING THE PARTS FRIDAY Income tax came in, owed the IRS 400 bucks, paid that off, and now I am ready to get down to brass tax. This computer needs to happen. Right now. So right now I -do- have the money to purchase the parts. But I am waiting on Friday to roll around because that is when one of my biggest checks cash in. And boy is it a whopper. Once it's cashed in, it's time to go on a shopping spree and finally get the parts moving towords my house. Graphics card is still the same but there are some minor changes. Again, talked with another friend of mine and got some kinks out of the build I am working on. But here is the -FINAL RESULT- Motherboard is out of stock but restocks this Thursday. It's about $110. So yep, Friday. Woo~~!!! |
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Cteno Super Shotgun Moderator Since: 01-11-05 Since last post: 70 days Last activity: 68 days |
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Can't see your wishlist, there...
Make it public and link it from there, maybe? |
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Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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It's public. If you guys can't see it then I'll just screencap it or whatever | |||
Cteno Super Shotgun Moderator Since: 01-11-05 Since last post: 70 days Last activity: 68 days |
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What did you name the wishlist? | |||
Bitmap #1 Enhancement Shaman US Ravenholdt Since: 09-05-04 From: His Laughin' Place Since last post: 4535 days Last activity: 4529 days |
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Newegg has a wishlist you can make for when you buy parts in the future. I posted the wishlist which is also the parts I will be purchasing. | |||
Cteno Super Shotgun Moderator Since: 01-11-05 Since last post: 70 days Last activity: 68 days |
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I know that, I just can't see or find it. In the public wishlists tab it just shows a thousand peoples' lists, so narrowing yours down is hard. The link you gave doesn't go to yours specifically, it just goes to mine (which is empty). |
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