PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Headspace]

My friend is offering to sell one of his gaming rigs to me, I'll put what he's said so far in text since he hasn't told me every component

CPU: AMD Phenom x4 9550 Quad Core 2.2 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 RAM @ 270 MHz
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce 9800gtx+ 512MB DDR3 dedicated
ASRock N-68C-S UCC Mobo
no optical drive
1TB western digital HD @7200rpm
Stock cooling

I asked him to benchmark FFXIV since that's what it'd be mainly used for until I upgraded parts, and it benchmarked ~4500 on max settings.

He offered it up for $500. Thoughts?

[Seiji Okita]

My friend is offering to sell one of his gaming rigs to me, I'll put what he's said so far in text since he hasn't told me every component

CPU: AMD Phenom x4 9550 Quad Core 2.2 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 RAM @ 270 MHz
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce 9800gtx+ 512MB DDR3 dedicated
ASRock N-68C-S UCC Mobo
no optical drive
1TB western digital HD @7200rpm
Stock cooling

I asked him to benchmark FFXIV since that's what it'd be mainly used for until I upgraded parts, and it benchmarked ~4500 on max settings.

He offered it up for $500. Thoughts?

4500 at what resolution? Also no, that's a terrible price for the parts listed. You should immediately reconsider the choices that led to your friendship.

[Headspace]

4500 at what resolution? Also no, that's a terrible price for the parts listed. You should immediately reconsider the choices that led to your friendship.

1280x720.

Yeah I've been reading up on some of these parts (like I know what this shit means) and seems a lot of those parts are discontinued so obviously way cheaper now.

[Don Katsu]

My friend is offering to sell one of his gaming rigs to me, I'll put what he's said so far in text since he hasn't told me every component

CPU: AMD Phenom x4 9550 Quad Core 2.2 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 RAM @ 270 MHz
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce 9800gtx+ 512MB DDR3 dedicated
ASRock N-68C-S UCC Mobo
no optical drive
1TB western digital HD @7200rpm
Stock cooling

I asked him to benchmark FFXIV since that's what it'd be mainly used for until I upgraded parts, and it benchmarked ~4500 on max settings.

He offered it up for $500. Thoughts?

Unless he has a case and power supply that's worth $300 he's ripping you off. I would value that system at around $220

Sometimes I just like building random builds, but I always go for a best bang for buck thing.
Thoughts? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1rWNG

I would replace the 7870 2GB with a 7950 3GB, it's a better card and it's $3 cheaper

[Headspace]

Unless he has a case and power supply that's worth $300 he's ripping you off. I would value that system at around $220

Well shit. So I could build a pretty decent XIV machine for $500? My girlfriend for some reason said shed prefer me to build a new PC than get a ps4, so if I can build a decent rig for $500, I'll do both haha

[Boyiee]

Well shit. So I could build a pretty decent XIV machine for $500? My girlfriend for some reason said shed prefer me to build a new PC than get a ps4, so if I can build a decent rig for $500, I'll do both haha

You can do pretty well for $500, but 6-750 is golden if you can stretch it.

Especially if you hit up some of the B/S/T's like hardforums, or spread out certain parts.

[Tyche]

Do you only need a PC? No monitor? I'll set you up with a cheap monitor! Also maybe even a 660ti that runs XIV on max for cheap!

[Headspace]

Do you only need a PC? No monitor? I'll set you up with a cheap monitor! Also maybe even a 660ti that runs XIV on max for cheap!

I was thinking if just hooking it into my tv to keep costs low initially.

[Kalmado]

Is the difference between 120mm and 80mm case fans important enough to spend the extra money on the 120mm fans?

[gaogaostegosaurus]

Larger fans, in general, provide more overall airflow for less noise. (I think)

[Buffy]

Larger fans, in general, provide more overall airflow for less noise. (I think)

This is a generally true statement.

I would get the larger fans, if there are no other considerations than money.

[Kalmado]

Was able to get amazon to price match newegg (so no hassle w/mail in rebate) and got 3 blue led 120mm cooler masters for $9. I'm pretty stoked. Still waiting on Sallie Mae money to purchase the rest of the parts.

[Seiji Okita]

Is the difference between 120mm and 80mm case fans important enough to spend the extra money on the 120mm fans?

Yes, just don't get a cheapo fan, bigger fans are nice but certain ones are noisy/super slow.

[Kalmado]

Here is the fan I went with. I'm going with a mostly black and blue build as the case I have picked out is similar and the Asus mobo I have picked out is blue. Just picked up a Cobra mouse on the cheap as well. I'm trying to save where I can and put the extra money towards a better psu.

I've been told that if possible get similar brand parts so I planned on getting an Asus mobo with an Asus GeForce 760. If anyone has an opinion on that please share it.

[Kalmado]

Does the sound card effect the quality of sound when streaming to a tv? I don't plan on having any special speakers for the pc, but since I'll be gaming/streaming a ton I want to make sure sound it good quality.

[Krandor]

As in thru an HDMI cable? If that's the case then your answer is no.

[Kalmado]

As in thru an HDMI cable? If that's the case then your answer is no.

Ok cool. Thank you.

Anyone have a favorite brand of mobo to get? More specifically any clear winner mobo under $150 for I5-3570k?

edit: I was looking at this one paired with the Asus GeForce 760.

[Headspace]

I guess a similar question to Kalmado's that was probably answered by Krandor already, but if I want to run my PC through my receiver to get both surround sound and picture to my TV, I would just need a decent enough GPU with HDMI output?

[Dngnhack]

Ok cool. Thank you.

Anyone have a favorite brand of mobo to get? More specifically any clear winner mobo under $150 for I5-3570k?

edit: I was looking at this one paired with the Asus GeForce 760.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130646

i recently built mine with that. The auto OC on it got 4.2mhz out of my i5-3570.

and bonus it lights up blue

[ArchDizzle]

I guess a similar question to Kalmado's that was probably answered by Krandor already, but if I want to run my PC through my receiver to get both surround sound and picture to my TV, I would just need a decent enough GPU with HDMI output?

Correct.