Help with a new computer.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:27 pm

I'm currently in the market for a new computer, though the wife doesn't know it yet. For the last 7 years I've been recycling old parts just updating what I had to. The wear of 7 years has finally killed my dvd drive. Lol. And this particular computer has murdered two video cards. I normally use newegg, but a friend uses ibuypower. Any suggestions on a good parts site? Or should I stick with newegg?

I'm interested in not spending more than $1k but closer to $750 if possible. I have a 1t hdd, case and 700watt ps, so I can save there. I ultimately want to build a rig that will allow me to record YouTube letsplay content. Any ideas or experiences that might help me with this goal?

I've heard of a site that compares online sales for computer parts to find the best deals, but I've had no luck in finding it. Maybe it's only a myth? :-P

Ceunon · Post by **Ceunon** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:19 pm

While I can't offer much advice myself (I am actually looking into building a machine from scratch), the guys at Polygon put up fairly recently a PC buying guide. You'd probably find some useful info on it.

William the tuba · Post by **William the tuba** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:48 pm

It's been a while since I've completely rebuilt my computer--this year saw only a graphics card upgrade--but when I do, I usually follow the latest TechReport system guide and order everything through newegg. In the meantime though, I discovered PCPartPicker which is the site that I think you were talking about. I haven't used it to actually build a PC, but I've designed a couple builds in it, so I can assure you that the site is functional.

Good luck with your upgrade, hopefully it doesn't end up like this.

icynewyear · Post by **icynewyear** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:55 pm

I recommend popping on the irc and asking for advice. A lot of very knowledgeable people there.

whitechaos35 · Post by **whitechaos35** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:08 pm

You're looking for PCPartPicker. You should easily be able to keep it under $750. I'd recommend the lowest priced i5 quad-core Haswell that meets your performance criteria. The reason I choose Intel over AMD currently is due to the increased number of pipeline flushes, the longer length of each flush compared to Intel uarchitectures, and the fact that most games are not written with parallel processing in mind.

Edit: Ninja'd by William the tuba.

matty79321 · Post by **matty79321** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:49 pm

For parts for a DIY gaming rig, Newegg, NCIX or PCPartPicker are your best bet. If you don't want to do it yourself, then Alienware, NCIX, iBuyPower, and possibly Newegg are good, especially for price-per-performance builds. For higher end machines, which likely you won't go for, but I'll include anyways for those interested, DigitalStorm is a personal favorite, however they are on the "Boutique" end of gaming computers, and their prices match that.

For those interested, here's a list of what would make a decent "Home/gaming" computer (in my opinion, your mileage may vary):

Spoiler

Show

Intel (agreed with whitechaos) core i5 @ 2.5GHz processor
appropriate motherboard (for Intel CPUs, look for LGA___; AMD CPUs look for AM___/FM___)
4-8GB RAM
1TB hard drive
Nvidia GTX 660 or equivalent graphics card (for smooth gaming, also takes some load off CPU) (note that this is not necessary, but assuming you play at least minecraft since you are on these forums its safe to say you'll want a GPU)
400-ish Watt power supply

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:09 pm

So this is the parts list I'm currently looking at. Any thoughts?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Ykrt

Prof_Ion · Post by **Prof_Ion** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:42 am

Rob wrote:So this is the parts list I'm currently looking at. Any thoughts?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Ykrt

Alright well you need a power supply. Good luck turning it on without one. ;) Something corsair with 80+ bronze/gold/silver is good. The better material the more efficient. Don't cheap out on the Power Supply but you don't need super expensive. Also I suggest a second hard drive something not solid state that is bigger. You really don't need that extra CPU cooler, as a stock cooler will do just fine. You can't overclock that CPU anyway, though if you want quite you are doing it right. I think that's about it. Good Graphics card I had looked into getting one at one point. But for a few dollars more the R7-260X is a better card.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:49 am

Probably should have restated that I was salvaging the 700550watt power supply and 1TB hard drive from my current computer. My bad. I'll look into the video card and probably remove the water cooling unit. Thanks.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:14 am

I've been informed by Syruse on the IRC, that the Mysterious Case of the Exploding GPUs is more than likely PSU related. So I'll be replacing that bastard with a http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430 less wattage, but more than enough for the build I've put together.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:47 am

Rob wrote:I've been informed by Syruse on the IRC, that the Mysterious Case of the Exploding GPUs is more than likely PSU related. So I'll be replacing that bastard with a http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx430 less wattage, but more than enough for the build I've put together.

EDIT:

Good Graphics card I had looked into getting one at one point. But for a few dollars more the R7-260X is a better card.

Thanks for that tip, it's better and cheaper actually. Grabbed for the build. :D

New parts list looks like this.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2YAe1

Help with a new computer.

Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.

Re: Help with a new computer.