PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[hey]

And even today, 4 gb is fine for what you listed. 8 gb is probably about the most you'd even benefit from. If you want to make absolutely sure you still have enough 7 years from now (which would be silly, since by then you'll probably be able to get 16 gb of ram for a third of the price today), go with 16 gb. It will be a really long ass time before 32 gb isn't pointless for someone who's most demanding activity is gaming.

[Jojimbo]

When I built my computer 7 years ago, I was told the exact same thing about 4 GB of RAM then.

The GPU you picked can't be used in 3 way SLI, and 4GB is still fine for gaming/general use (games rarely go anywhere near 2GB usage) but it's so cheap to get 8GB that many people do. 16GB is ok if you do video editing or run other RAM intensive programs, maybe 32GB if you have very specific needs (you don't)

Why only $250 and why must it have 3 cards? This makes no sense what so ever, how many monitors do you want to have?

What is your budget for the entire thing? You could probably make a better PC

[Buffy]

The GPU you picked can't be used in 3 way SLI, and 4GB is still fine for gaming/general use (games rarely go anywhere near 2GB usage) but it's so cheap to get 8GB that many people do. 16GB is ok if you do video editing or run other RAM intensive programs, maybe 32GB if you have very specific needs (you don't)

Why only $250 and why must it have 3 cards? This makes no sense what so ever, how many monitors do you want to have?

What is your budget for the entire thing? You could probably make a better PC

I appreciate the feedback on the video card - I was unaware before your comment that it needed to be specifically designated as a 3-way card. I see now on the product description page where some cards say 3-way sli and others don't. What is the designation for Radeon cards? It seems like two cards is called Crossfire, and 3 or more is called CrossfireX, is that correct?

And I want 3 monitors - I'm aware that some really large cards can run 3 monitors themselves - but I'm simply thinking of bang for the buck, and it seems like you pay a premium for those high end cards. I'd rather 3 lower cost cards that replicate the work of one monster card. If there is an alternative solution, that still supports 3 monitors, I'm open to that.

edit: $1800 including case, windows 7, DVD drive, not including monitors, keyboards, or power supply (already have)

[hey]

Any halfway decent ati video card will support 3 monitors (2 max for nvidia, and for 3+ on ati you need to connect via displayport). If you plan to game with all 3 monitors, you may not be able to handle the higher resolution with a cheaper card, but otherwise pretty much anything will run 3 monitors.

[Jojimbo]

I appreciate the feedback on the video card - I was unaware before your comment that it needed to be specifically designated as a 3-way card. I see now on the product description page where some cards say 3-way sli and others don't. What is the designation for Radeon cards? It seems like two cards is called Crossfire, and 3 or more is called CrossfireX, is that correct?

And I want 3 monitors - I'm aware that some really large cards can run 3 monitors themselves - but I'm simply thinking of bang for the buck, and it seems like you pay a premium for those high end cards. I'd rather 3 lower cost cards that replicate the work of one monster card. If there is an alternative solution, that still supports 3 monitors, I'm open to that.

edit: $1800 including case, windows 7, DVD drive, not including monitors, keyboards, or power supply (already have)

500 and previous nVidia cards can only support up to 2 monitors per card (680 supports up to 4), AMD cards since 5000 series at least have been supporting 3-4 (somethings 6) monitors per card, some cheaper versions of certain 6000 cards don't but vast majority will.

You'll be running into a lot of compatibility issues running 3 smaller cards, they will consume more power, run hotter and take up more space as well. It's best to get a single GPU even if it's slightly less cost effective, unless you already have the most powerful card and still need more.

Are you looking to game over 3 monitors with eyefinity/surround or just have 3 and game over a single 1920x1080 monitor (and will it be 60 or 120Hz? or even 2560x1440)

EDIT:: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/810G If you are only going to be gaming over 1 monitor then drop one of the 7970s (went with them as they are slightly cheaper than 680s, are in stock, and have a three for free offer)

[Buffy]

You included both a ssd drive and a regular hard drive in your build. Have I misunderstood what a ssd is? I thought it was the new type of hard drive.

[Vincento]

Most people use an SSD as their Operating System drive, a container for their browser, few other programs and maybe a game or two. The regular HDD is used for everything else.

[Isiolia]

You included both a ssd drive and a regular hard drive in your build. Have I misunderstood what a ssd is? I thought it was the new type of hard drive.

SSDs are a newer/different type of drive, yes. They excel at access speed, and typically offer very high read speeds as well, usually in the territory of high performance HDDs or RAIDs. For certain applications, or for multitasking, there's really nothing that compares to the performance boost an SSD offers. They particularly shine with stuff that needs to jump around and touch a lot of small files.

That said, they're much, much more expensive per GB. It's common to complement an SSD OS/app drive/array with mechanical HDDs for mass storage (movies/music/etc) and games in order to keep costs reasonable.

[elison]

So it's time for me to upgrade my GPU but I'm on the fence this year. I've always used AMD but ever since I decided to crossfire earlier this year, I've had nothing but headaches with their drivers and what have you.

Really it's simply come down to either the XFX Black Edition OC'd 7970 or the EVGA 680. I only really use my PC for gaming (TERA, BF3, FF14 and soon Diablo 3), and I won't be SLI/CFX my new video card for a few months since their both over $450.

Any suggestions?

[Lost]

I would suggest not getting a EVGA 680 GTX. Not that they're bad or anything (I own one) but the 670 came out and is very similar to the 680 performance wise. I don't really think it's worth the extra $100 for a 3-5% difference for most games. I ended up returning mine and getting an EVGA 670 GTX.

[Asilius]

Hello all,

Looking to build this computer:

Case: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=C283-1187

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...651&CatId=7246

CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...08191&csid=_23

RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...075&CatId=4534

Video Card (x3): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...161&CatId=3669

along with a copy of Windows 7, and a 128 GB SSD drive (ouch they are pricey). I also have a 1k power supply ready, unused.

It has been 7 years since I built a new computer, and that one finally died on me. I would like to build a computer that is going to serve me as long (as long as I make upgrades to CPU and video cards as appropriate like I did before). I would like advice on several fronts:

1. Have I overlooked anything with regards to compatibility? In other words, the motherboard matches the socket for the cpu, the motherboard matches the ram, etc. I don't believe I have, but want to be sure.

2. I know that intel has several great chips out, but would prefer to stick with AMD - if I have chosen a poor AMD chip for the price, please let me know, but I would prefer the responses didn't revolve around "sandybridge duh".

3. I've only run dual-sli before, not tri-sli, but want the tri-sli for multi-monitor support. Anything special I should know? I am a Nvidia fan, but am willing to do switch to Radeon, the 6870 series had a lot of great reviews. Please advise if using Radeon/crossfire would be better then Nvidia/SLI. The price point here is important. I would prefer not to go over 250$ per card, and would like 3 cards. I would be open in particular to a card with a full HDMI out instead of a mini-HDMI.

4. Although this build doesn't currently include liquid cooling, it will in the future. I know to leave room for the reservoir and pumps, does that case suffice? The video seemed promising. I've never done liquid cooling in the past.

5. The reviews on that chip I've read seem to think the thermal paste and fan supplied with it might not be sufficient. How do I identify a better CPU fan?

The computer will be used for general all-purpose (web browsing, schoolwork, etc), gaming (FFXI and FFXIV, CIV V), and the watching of Hulu/Netflix.

Thanks all.

I would not go with those video cards as im pretty sure it will only utilize 1 gb of the video memory which is not enough and with compatibily and stutter problems i would say go with a 680 or 7970. And do not go with amd cpu.

[Dizzy's]

My mother was thinking about buying a new computer, and i told her that i could build her a better one the Dell Inspiron 620 that she was looking at buying ( http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...d=inspiron-620 ). Would it be possible to build a better one with a budget of $600-$800? She currently has a dell inspiron 530, so I'm thinking about just using the monitor that came with that. She mainly uses the one that she has now to play the games that they have on facebook, (to run these games "better" is the whole reason that she wants a new computer) so i guess it would need to be geared toward gaming. Everything on her current computer is stock.

Would anybody mind putting together a list of parts that i would need? It would be much appreciated, if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM.

[BadKarma]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131754

Anyone use this board?

Looking for a decent one for my starter build and the one I was recommended was out of stock

[hey]

She mainly uses the one that she has now to play the games that they have on facebook, (to run these games "better" is the whole reason that she wants a new computer) so i guess it would need to be geared toward gaming. Everything on her current computer is stock.

She can play farmville for half the price. Literally anything you can buy will do.

[Boyiee]

I would suggest not getting a EVGA 680 GTX. Not that they're bad or anything (I own one) but the 670 came out and is very similar to the 680 performance wise. I don't really think it's worth the extra $100 for a 3-5% difference for most games. I ended up returning mine and getting an EVGA 670 GTX.

Do not get a 670 over a 680. For the small difference in price, you lose a lot in the areas of overclocking and such. Lot of people really unhappy with how the 670s turned out. For an out of the box card its great, but for a couple dollars more the 680 is godtier.

[Caiyuo]

My mother was thinking about buying a new computer, and i told her that i could build her a better one the Dell Inspiron 620 that she was looking at buying ( http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...d=inspiron-620 ). Would it be possible to build a better one with a budget of $600-$800? She currently has a dell inspiron 530, so I'm thinking about just using the monitor that came with that. She mainly uses the one that she has now to play the games that they have on facebook, (to run these games "better" is the whole reason that she wants a new computer) so i guess it would need to be geared toward gaming. Everything on her current computer is stock.

Would anybody mind putting together a list of parts that i would need? It would be much appreciated, if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM.

She can play farmville for half the price. Literally anything you can buy will do.

Stuff like this makes me wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile to put together a few BG reference builds on pcpartpicker. Budget, affordable gaming, same as every other list of builds, but something we can keep updated ourselves and just point to and let people adjust to their preference.

[-Zer0-]

Hey guys, my laptop's almost ready to croak, and I'm not as tech-savvy as I used to be; I'm behind the times as I haven't built a desktop in 6-7 years so I could use some help and advice. I'd like something strong and ideally upgradeable. Performance-wise, I need something to be able to handle a lot of intensive digital work without lag and drag since I do a lot of concept art. Gaming is secondary but also something to make note of. My cousin's got some new parts that he's not using and was going to send it my way, and if we can work around that, it'd be great. Budget-wise...I'd say between $800-$1200. Thanks, gang!

Parts so far:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...m%20pro%20600w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220557
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

[-Zer0-]

So I fooled around a little bit and decided to try and keep it under $800. Along with the parts I'm getting from my cousin, here's what I managed:

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136533
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157293
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119233

and for Graphics Card I'm not sure what "Ti" is. If someone can explain the advantages of it, I'll choose this graphics card as opposed to this cheaper non-Ti card. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks gang!

[Senji]

The non ti is basically a 460, with the ti an entirely different card and considerably less powerful. No brainer for $30 difference. Explained more between them with ati too maybe, a few pages back.

[Intrinsic]

Go with an i7, unless you're not running things like Lightwave or 3DS Max. I would be wary of the PSU as well. Your PSU is not where you want to be cutting corners.