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When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. |
Hey guys, I want to build a new computer. I hope all the relevant questions are answered with the form in the spoiler, otherwise please ask whatever you need to know. Thanks in advance for your help!
+ Show Spoiler +What is your budget?
800€, 850€ max
What is your resolution?
Right now it is 1920x1080 but i plan on buying a 1920x1200 monitor.
What are you using it for?
Gaming. The games I will be plaing mainly are SC2, WoW, Guild Wars 2, Dota 2. I do like to play the occasional good game thats coming out, think Skyrim, Arkham City. Playing those kind of games at the best possible settings would be nice. I do not plan on streaming, encoding or anything of that kind.
What is your upgrade cycle?
Roughly 3 years.
When do you plan on building it?
I would like to order the parts tomorrow (thursday) or friday at the latest.
Do you plan on overclocking?
Yes I would like to, though I am a novice at it so I don't need the crazy stuff :D.
Do you need an Operating System?
No.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No.
Where are you buying your parts from?
I am from germany, so the obvious choices are Hardwareversand.de, Alternate.de, Mindfactory.de, if not there is geizhals.at where you can create a wishlist of parts and it will show you the best combination of vendors to buy from.
Additional Information
I do own a Asus Xonar Essence HD I wasn't able to put into my old PC (I was really, really sure I had another PCI-E slot ~~) so i need a motherboard that has enough slots. I never had a SSD so I don't know how heavily it impacts performace to have one, I generally consider them optional though. Also I don't need a big HDD, 500gb would me enough for me.
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Hey, I'm struggling to find the right build for me I've asked some friends but I feel like no one has true experience / knowledge so I ended up here to feel safe about my computer. (since it's alot of money).
+ Show Spoiler +What is your budget?I think the very maximum I can spend is 1200 Euros. If I can get everything I want for slightly less that will ofcourse make me happy so somwhere between 1000 / 1200. What is your resolution?I own a BenQ 120hz 1920x1080 monitor. What are you using it for?I want to start streaming starcraft 2 in good quality and just enjoy other games smoothly. But main focus will be streaming sc2. What is your upgrade cycle?I don't have one. Maybe every 2/3 years? When do you plan on building it?Somewhere this month (august). Do you plan on overclocking?I'm still not sure but I would like to atleast have the possibility if I were to decide to OC my pc in the future. Unless it's not possible within my budget / build. Do you need an Operating System?No Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?Not as far as I know. I'm no expert so I do not know what this will do for me. So unless I need it to stream or whatever I'm not planning to add a second gpu. Where are you buying your parts from?http://www.alternate.nl/html/index.html
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On August 15 2012 12:34 billy5000 wrote:
I just built a computer, but there's a problem when I try to install windows. There is no available hard drive to install it on. However, the hard drive is recognized by the bios. It's a 6 gb/s hard drive, and I tried a different cable on both sata2 and sata3 ports on the motherboard. I have the PSU cable plugged to the hard drive also. What is wrong?? I even changed the sata mode selection from IDE (default) to AHCI. Still no recognized hard drive to install windows 7 on.
I tried just about everything. Even the small stuff like changing sata3 to sata2 cables to their respective ports on the mobo, which shouldn't make a difference. I'm starting to think it's a faulty hard drive; however, bios recognizes it by name as well as the storage space. Windows 7 still doesn't recognize the hard drive prior to installation. Is there an off chance that it could be a faulty hard drive although the bios recognizes it?
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So you are getting up to the screen where you can select a HDD to install Windows 7 on? But it's showing nothing?
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Have you tried testing the HDD in another computer? Maybe it is faulty. Or maybe the wire is faulty (seems unlikely if you've tried different ones). The ports being faulty is also unlikely if you're tried different ones.
If you don't have another computer to test the HDD on, maybe you can test another HDD on that computer. If you don't have one readily available, buy a cheap one from the store and return it after testing.
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On August 15 2012 19:21 eLyx wrote:Hey guys, I want to build a new computer. I hope all the relevant questions are answered with the form in the spoiler, otherwise please ask whatever you need to know. Thanks in advance for your help! + Show Spoiler +What is your budget?
800€, 850€ max
What is your resolution?
Right now it is 1920x1080 but i plan on buying a 1920x1200 monitor.
What are you using it for?
Gaming. The games I will be plaing mainly are SC2, WoW, Guild Wars 2, Dota 2. I do like to play the occasional good game thats coming out, think Skyrim, Arkham City. Playing those kind of games at the best possible settings would be nice. I do not plan on streaming, encoding or anything of that kind.
What is your upgrade cycle?
Roughly 3 years.
When do you plan on building it?
I would like to order the parts tomorrow (thursday) or friday at the latest.
Do you plan on overclocking?
Yes I would like to, though I am a novice at it so I don't need the crazy stuff :D.
Do you need an Operating System?
No.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No.
Where are you buying your parts from?
I am from germany, so the obvious choices are Hardwareversand.de, Alternate.de, Mindfactory.de, if not there is geizhals.at where you can create a wishlist of parts and it will show you the best combination of vendors to buy from.
Additional Information
I do own a Asus Xonar Essence HD I wasn't able to put into my old PC (I was really, really sure I had another PCI-E slot ~~) so i need a motherboard that has enough slots. I never had a SSD so I don't know how heavily it impacts performace to have one, I generally consider them optional though. Also I don't need a big HDD, 500gb would me enough for me.
You said you wanted to overclock, but generally in your budget area I think the extra $70-100 euros you spend on overclocking is better spent on GPU. Now if you loves some 4v4s, SC2 can be smoother when overclocked, so you could consider that then. With a weaker GPU (7850 or 7870), you should be able to fit an i5-3570k & cheap z77 board & HR-02 Macho into the build. I also didn't include an SSD, something you could add at the higher ends of the budget. But I biased towards being under budget, not maxing every bit out of 850 euros. If you get an SSD I recommend a 128gb from one of the following brands:
Plextor M3
Corsair Performance Pro
Crucial M4
Samsung 830
Intel 330
Intel 520
Other than that, I minimized cost on supporting components to fit in a really good graphics card with the i5 CPU. For instance, the case is pretty cheap & pretty basic, but it works fine (I have the Merc Alpha). Also, I only looked at hardwareversand.de, so feel free to shop around and compare prices elsewhere. That said, on to the build!
CPU: i5-3450
Mobo: Asrock B75 (has 3 PCI-E slots)
RAM: 2x4gb Kingston ValueRAM (1333mhz)
Case: Bit Fenix Merc Beta
PSU: Super Flower Amazon 450w
HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 500gb
A DVD-burner
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/Socket 1155/56298/Intel Core i5-3450 Box, LGA1155.article
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=59305&agid=1601&apop=1
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/1333 Low Voltage/44142/8GB-Kit Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10667U CL9.article
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50576/BitFenix Merc Beta.article
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/400 - 500 Watts/30074/Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W.article?lb
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/7200 rpm/30390/Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB, 16MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5).article
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/S-ATA/62885/Samsung SH-222BB schwarz.article
Sub-total: 440 Euro (including taxes, but not shipping)
Video Card:
MSI 7950 (328 Euro) or
Reference 670 (377 Euro)
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/3072 MB/59897/MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5 V2 OC, 3072MB DDR5, PCI-Express.article
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/2048MB/59050/MSI N670GTX-PM2D2GD5 OC, GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5.article
Total w/7950: 768 euro
Total w/670: 817 euro
I'd probably go with the 7950, and maybe go up to the 850 euro range by fitting in one of the SSDs above, but it's up to you.
Edit: Changed to follow Myrmidon's excellent advice below.
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You're right, as usual. I never remember which PSUs have the good fans/perks. This is why I made sure to get your advice when I got mine  .
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Thank you very much! I went for your suggested components (with the changed PSU),a 7950 and a crucial m4 for 847€ including shipping.
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Hey skyr mirmydon and misterfred. I just got my new PC you helped me build and its a FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!!
Thanks and I love you
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If I want to run a 2nd display at 1920x1080 while I play some single player RPG's with an Nvidia GTX 660 Ti do I need any more specific specs n the monitor? Also if I hook it up through DVI and the monitor does not have speakers I won't get sound from it correct, if I can how would I go about doing that, I plan to mute my main monitor.
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The last thing I'm waffling on is gtx 680 vs. hd 6970. The monitor I'm getting now isn't even big enough to support games at the resolution intended for these babies... but I do plan on upgrading my monitors within a ~6-8 month period.
http://i.imgur.com/8JNt1.png
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@Hierarch
Just plug it in and you should be pretty much good to go. Computers don't think about sound out-put on a per-monitor basis, it just uses speakers on monitors as regular speakers (I'm pretty sure anyway, lol). You should get the same sounds coming out of your main monitor as you do coming out of speakers (so if you have a video or stream going on the 2nd monitor while gaming on the first monitor, both video & game sounds should play).
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On August 16 2012 23:49 Nuwen wrote:The last thing I'm waffling on is gtx 680 vs. hd 6970. The monitor I'm getting now isn't even big enough to support games at the resolution intended for these babies... but I do plan on upgrading my monitors within a ~6-8 month period. http://i.imgur.com/8JNt1.png
I'm assuming you mean 7970 vs 680 (or, I suppose 6970 vs 580 if you're going off really out-dated advice). The answer is generally: neither, go with the 670. Only a tad worse performance than 680, and $100 or so cheaper.
However, there's LOTS of other stuff you should be waffling on. Including but not limited to:
DO NOT BUY RAIDMAX PSUs. RAIDMAX=BAD FOR YOUR PC.
You're overspending somewhat on motherboard. A cheaper one will give you no loss in performance for less money.
Looks like you have the non-low profile Corsair vengeance, which is a bad mix with air coolers.
You're buying a relatively small/bad monitor for how much you're overspending on everything else. Get proper price/performance components and a real monitor that will actually let you use your graphics card to the fullest.
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For the Dutch guy above (and for you awesome buildmakers/selecters for future reference), Alternate is quite an expensive shop in the netherlands. Azerty.nl and 4launch.nl are cheaper with about the same service. Overall, azerty seems a bit more expensive but with a bit better service, so the decision between the two is mostly up to the buyer.
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On August 17 2012 00:31 MisterFred wrote:
@Hierarch
Just plug it in and you should be pretty much good to go. Computers don't think about sound out-put on a per-monitor basis, it just uses speakers on monitors as regular speakers (I'm pretty sure anyway, lol). You should get the same sounds coming out of your main monitor as you do coming out of speakers (so if you have a video or stream going on the 2nd monitor while gaming on the first monitor, both video & game sounds should play).
Awesome that's cool, saves me some money on buying a 2nd monitor with speakers. Will streaming, say some anime, while playing skyrim on max or close to max settings affect my video performance or fps sine my card is powering 2 displays at 1920 x 1080? Also response time is usually only useful for gaming on said monitor right? If it's just gonna be used for internet browsing and watching streams, 5 ms should be fine right? Lastly would I hook the 2nd monitor to my mobo through hdmi or through DVI through my card? Which would give me the best visuals in 1920 x 1080?
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DVI & HDMI will give you the same quality signal. You'll want to plug into your video card. As for what monitor to pick, I recommend perusing the Team Liquid Monitor Thread, maybe asking for advice there. Or maybe someone here will respond. Long story short, no response time won't matter much and manufacturers often lie about true response time anyway. Depending on what monitor you have now & your budget you might even use your current monitor as the secondary screen.
As for watching video & gaming, desktop graphics tasks take essentially no effort for your GPU. I'd expect no reduction in skyrim or other game performance or next to no reduction.
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EPT
