PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Doombard]

So I've never built a PC before, and It's probably time to upgrade. Four years ago I bought a HP desktop from bestbuy and it just won't work anymore and I was wondering if I could pull parts from it like the HDD and bluray disc drive and use on a new build. Now I'm not very confident about building a PC and not messing it up somehow so I guess my question is if there is a PC I can buy from a box store where I won't be getting ripped off? Will just be using the PC for gaming and schoolwork.

[Jojimbo]

It's almost impossible to buy a good PC from a store without getting ripped off, even if you managed to get one at a good price with right specs in a sale/discount or something then the components will be crap/cheap.

You should be able to use Bluray Drive/HDD from your HP desktop though. What's your budget? There are plenty of video/guides to help with first time builders.

[Doombard]

I wanna be around $800ish, already have a monitor and HDD+disc drive

[Jojimbo]

Something like this will work, could replace 560Ti with HD7850 (out of stock), if you want to wait until the end of April then Ivy Bridge CPUs will be out.

[Doombard]

Something like this will work, could replace 560Ti with HD7850 (out of stock), if you want to wait until the end of April then Ivy Bridge CPUs will be out.

Would I need to add anything else to my cart with this? I'll probably need some thermal grease but anything else?

[Jojimbo]

Oh right, the heatsink does some with some but you could add MX-4. You shouldn't have to add anything other than a different GPU.

[Byrthnoth]

Does MATLAB prefer CUDA over OpenCL (or whatever AMD offer) and is multithreaded enough to make use of HT (additional thread per core)?



Should work, you could wait and see what 600GTX (March/April) and Ivy Bridge CPU (end of April) brings though if getting this isn't time critical.

Could drop RAM down to 8GB if MATLAB isn't RAM intensive, 2600k down to 2500k if it doesn't need HT or you just don't care that much about fastest possible [whatever MATLAB does] (2600k doesn't provide much benefit to gaming over 2500k), SSD from 128 to 64GB if you won't be using it for much more than a few programs and OS. Case is up to you, wasn't sure if you wanted a flashy 'gamers' case or not.

Thanks for the reply!

MATLAB appears to prefer OpenCL in most cases, but the difference isn't that large: http://blog.accelereyes.com/blog/201...da-and-opencl/
It is just a data-crunching program, basically. The "hardest" things I do with it is generate graphs with a ton of data points and crunch gigantic numeric matrices. Even most old computers can handle it. The timing of this purchase is critical, as I have to get approval from the professor and get the order out/reimbursed by the University before the end of April. I don't care about having a flashy "Gamer's" case. The lower-key the better.

A few questions:
* The recommended Gigabyte motherboard seems to have pretty substantial boot loop issues (~25% one-star reviews as a result). Are you sure it is a good option?
* Why do you recommend a VGA cable? Did you mean it to be an HDMI?
* I notice no other cables included in the order. I remember in the past when I bought a harddrive I had to buy cables to connect it to everything separately. Have times changed?
* What the heck is this Corsair brand that has apparently appeared and gotten huge since the last time I looked at computer components? Are they good?
* Any recommendations for a monitor? No need to adjust components so it fits under $1500. I have a spare HDMI TV that I can use in the meantime.

[Ashmada]

So I've never built a PC before, and It's probably time to upgrade. Four years ago I bought a HP desktop from bestbuy and it just won't work anymore and I was wondering if I could pull parts from it like the HDD and bluray disc drive and use on a new build. Now I'm not very confident about building a PC and not messing it up somehow so I guess my question is if there is a PC I can buy from a box store where I won't be getting ripped off? Will just be using the PC for gaming and schoolwork.

Don't worry too much about building, it's piss-easy if you follow the instructions that come with the motherboard.
The potential mistake is buying incompatible components, so make sure all components are compatible with the mobo before ordering.
Oh, and make sure the case is big enough to fit the GPU, they're huge nowadays.


Oh, and if your monitor's an old VGA, you'll probably have to either buy a new one or buy a PCI VGA card, newer mobos don't tend to feature VGA ports anymore (HDMI ONRY).

[Jojimbo]

Thanks for the reply!

MATLAB appears to prefer OpenCL in most cases, but the difference isn't that large: http://blog.accelereyes.com/blog/201...da-and-opencl/
It is just a data-crunching program, basically. The "hardest" things I do with it is generate graphs with a ton of data points and crunch gigantic numeric matrices. Even most old computers can handle it. The timing of this purchase is critical, as I have to get approval from the professor and get the order out/reimbursed by the University before the end of April. I don't care about having a flashy "Gamer's" case. The lower-key the better.

A few questions:
* The recommended Gigabyte motherboard seems to have pretty substantial boot loop issues (~25% one-star reviews as a result). Are you sure it is a good option?
* Why do you recommend a VGA cable? Did you mean it to be an HDMI?
* I notice no other cables included in the order. I remember in the past when I bought a harddrive I had to buy cables to connect it to everything separately. Have times changed?
* What the heck is this Corsair brand that has apparently appeared and gotten huge since the last time I looked at computer components? Are they good?
* Any recommendations for a monitor? No need to adjust components so it fits under $1500. I have a spare HDMI TV that I can use in the meantime.

EDIT:: Scrap that, looks like you are better off with nVidia for MATLAB, hard to find much on it though.

Wasn't aware of the bootloop issue, would be worth swapping it then.
What VGA Cable? There are component leads but they were bundled with another item.
SATA Cables should come with the MB, DVI/VGA with the monitor.
Corsair are one of the top RAM/PSU manufacturers, they are pretty good and trusted.
Case is personal preference though, find one you like the look of and google reviews to see if it's any good.

As for monitors, what is your budget/how many would you want? I like IPS monitors myself for better colour representation (at additional cost), in which case Dell make good ones at 23/24/27/30" although 27/30 are expensive as hell. You can also get cheaper TN panels, some of which are 120Hz (mainly a gaming thing so you can play games at a 'smooth' 120fps instead of 60, or to have 3D). Multiple monitors is amazing for multitasking as well.

[Caiyuo]

Oh, and make sure the case is big enough to fit the GPU, they're huge nowadays.

On this note, is it fairly easy to tell if certain cards will fit a case? Are mid-towers generally still sufficient for high-end cards or are full towers necessary now? A friend is doing his first build, likely using a 2500k with a high-end card and I wanna make sure it's as painless as can be.

[Senji]

On this note, is it fairly easy to tell if certain cards will fit a case? Are mid-towers generally still sufficient for high-end cards or are full towers necessary now? A friend is doing his first build, likely using a 2500k with a high-end card and I wanna make sure it's as painless as can be.

"Mid towers" have a huge range. Best bet is to troll some reviews or just get a list of towers and ask.

[Caiyuo]

Thanks, I think I'll have a peak at some samples of high-end builds on r/buildapc and see what's getting praise.

[Ashmada]

On this note, is it fairly easy to tell if certain cards will fit a case?

Googling. Sounds silly but srsly, just google the question "does X fit in Y" and you'll probably (depends how widespread the components are) get a swathe of answers, enough to cross-reference for potential BS.

Checking reviews from Tom's Hardware helps as well.

My HD6950 fits in my "midi" case, but it's a rather big "midi" case (Antec 902), case sizes aren't as standardized as they used to be.

[Veikuri]

Not sure if this goes here, but is this a good deal or can I find better for around this price range? Not too laptop savy, but i5 and 6 gigs of ram seems great.

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-.../ref=de_a_smtd

[xElipsis]

Hello. I'm about to buy my first self-built PC and have been trying to get as much feedback as possible. I'm not an expert in which parts are the best, so please be nice if I made a terrible choice on a part.

PC info: This new computer will replace my old piece of shit compaq computer that I bought from Staples 4 years ago for $300......... I'm looking to use this computer to surf the web, school work, and play games!(skyrim, diablo 3, borderlands 2, etc...) The budget I set for myself is ~$700


[reddit link] (the layout is really nice)
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/com...gaming_pc_700/

(there is a 'first build' then an 'updated build'. I will probably end up going with the updated build if everyone okay's it here)

I didn't really get much feedback from Reddit, but there was one comment that had some good advice. So I made a few changes.

One thing I am concerned about is the video card. I've read some pretty bad reviews on NewEgg and am hoping if I do go with this card that I will not run into the same problems.

Thanks :]

[Caiyuo]

Friend is planning out this build and wondering about a PSU. The only direction I really knew to push him in from this thread was an 80+ certified, but I'm not sure about wattage or what brands are trusted the most. He's also considering SLI in the future for 3D gaming and wasn't sure whether to include it in the wattage or just wait and buy another PSU later. Comments on the build itself are appreciated too if there's anything that sticks out.

CPU: Intel I5-3750K
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Hard Drive: Sandisk Ultra 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case
Optical Drive: Asus DVDE818A7T/BLK/B/GEN CD Reader, DVD Writer

[Jojimbo]

A good corsair/seasonic 750+W PSU will be enough for SLI 680GTX

You can get better HDDs than the F3 now, WD Caviar Blacks are cheaper/faster I think and I've never seen a Sandisk SSD before but most people are opting for Crucial M4 as a mix of reliability/price.

[Caiyuo]

Thanks. From a cursory glance at newegg taking that into consideration, what should he be looking for between things like 12V rails, main connectors, fans and PCI express connectors? The only search constraints I put in were 750W and up, modular and 80 plus which naturally put up almost only corsair and seasonic.

[Jojimbo]

You don't have many options beyond how much you want to spend, either TX***m for "bottom of the line" semi-modular 80+ Bronze, HX for 80+ Silver fully modular or AX 80+ Gold. Their specs are about the same, just getting more efficient/expensive.

[five]

anyone know of a good wireless adapter usb card? currently using a crappy Zonet one..