PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Kayatani]

Revisions!

http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/vkG5

[Jojimbo]

Would still say the i3 is the better option, uses less than half the power (significantly less after you OC the X4, which tbh you won't get far on a budget MB), after removing the aftermarket cooler is a bit cheaper (don't need one for i3) and should be a bit faster as well.

I would look for alternative cases, that one has no cable routing options at all, NZXT Source 210 is a good budget cases, simple looks and doesn't cost much more. Bitfenix Merc Alpha is another cheap option. One you listed would work though, just will be very messy with all the cables.

[Hiryo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/voEB

Going for a budget build again, copying much of my 1 year old tower. I'm not really sure what sort of advances and price cuts have been made. If anyone can pick out a few of my choices to save a little more or point out better parts for similar pricing, it would be appreciated.

[Kayatani]

Would still say the i3 is the better option, uses less than half the power (significantly less after you OC the X4, which tbh you won't get far on a budget MB), after removing the aftermarket cooler is a bit cheaper (don't need one for i3) and should be a bit faster as well.

I would look for alternative cases, that one has no cable routing options at all, NZXT Source 210 is a good budget cases, simple looks and doesn't cost much more. Bitfenix Merc Alpha is another cheap option. One you listed would work though, just will be very messy with all the cables.

Is it worth spending more (like twice as much as i3) to get an i5? A friend suggested I spend less on the GPU and more on the CPU since I was only running 1 monitor (1680x1050 :3) for the time being so the video card was apparantly overkill. I get the impression that MORE CORES = MORE POWER, but I understand that older programs (eg. FFXI) don't utilise more than 1 core at a time? Should this even be a concern?

I was considering that first case, it was £10 off last week but it does look a better choice even without discount.

[Kayatani]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/voEB

Going for a budget build again, copying much of my 1 year old tower. I'm not really sure what sort of advances and price cuts have been made. If anyone can pick out a few of my choices to save a little more or point out better parts for similar pricing, it would be appreciated.

750W PSU seems a bit excessive, but I think I've already demonstrated I'm not an expert.

Also don't you already have a copy of Windows knocking around if you only got a PC a year ago?

[Hiryo]

750W PSU seems a bit excessive, but I think I've already demonstrated I'm not an expert.

Also don't you already have a copy of Windows knocking around if you only got a PC a year ago?

This is a 2nd PC I am trying to build. My other one is running the license from my walmart e-machine lol I assumed I would need a new os

[Cyn]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/voEB

Going for a budget build again, copying much of my 1 year old tower. I'm not really sure what sort of advances and price cuts have been made. If anyone can pick out a few of my choices to save a little more or point out better parts for similar pricing, it would be appreciated.

I don't really understand the reasoning behind going for Corsair on the memory and PSU and skimping on the GPU and CPU.

[Jojimbo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/voEB

Going for a budget build again, copying much of my 1 year old tower. I'm not really sure what sort of advances and price cuts have been made. If anyone can pick out a few of my choices to save a little more or point out better parts for similar pricing, it would be appreciated.

Is that GPU left over from previous build? Because there's no way it's worth $226. Not worth buying that RAM either, you'll less less than 1% FPS improvements over cheaper 1600MHz and I don't think that H77 chipset even supports over 1600MHz anyway. PSU is also overkill and you seem to be missing storage.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vs6Q

Is it worth spending more (like twice as much as i3) to get an i5? A friend suggested I spend less on the GPU and more on the CPU since I was only running 1 monitor (1680x1050 :3) for the time being so the video card was apparantly overkill. I get the impression that MORE CORES = MORE POWER, but I understand that older programs (eg. FFXI) don't utilise more than 1 core at a time? Should this even be a concern?

I was considering that first case, it was £10 off last week but it does look a better choice even without discount.

Have no idea what he was talking about, i5 is certainly better for gaming but a HD 7850 is already the weakest GPU I'll get for a non ultra-budget build. i3 + 7850 will perform much much faster than i5 + 7770 because you'll just run into GPU bottlenecks.

[Nitsuki]

no one answered my question yet

Will my 600W PSU be able to handle the GTX680? I plan on OCing it of course, also i'm reading up that the 700 series may come out in march, true?

[Isiolia]

no one answered my question yet

Will my 600W PSU be able to handle the GTX680? I plan on OCing it of course, also i'm reading up that the 700 series may come out in march, true?

GTX 680 only uses a hair more power than your 560 Ti, so you should be fine.

There's speculation for both company's next-gen chips launching around that timeframe, but thus far that's all it is.

[Avarice]

Building my very first (budget) rig, using mostly new parts, but also a handful of old parts; just wanted to get some feedback on if these will mesh well and if it'll be capable of playing most current and upcoming games (in specific TERA, XIV, and other somewhat high-end games) and with a decent amount of detail; I don't mind if I can't max the graphics, for example, but I'd like to not have to play it on low either.

Thanks.





Operating System: Windows 8 Pro

Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

Processor: Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz || LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX (UEFI BIOS)

Memory: 120GB SSD - SATA III (in addition to 5.5TB in External HDDs)

Video Card: SAPPHIRE (AMD) Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

RAM: 16GB DDR3

Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212

Power Supply: Corsair GS700

[Jojimbo]

Overall budget? What parts do you currently own?

EDIT:: If you don't want to OC then you can cut a lot of cost of the MB (I wouldn't buy that one anyway) and cooler, as well as get a much cheaper but not much slower CPU. Haven't added up how much your list costs you but:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vUMz

Changed MB to cheaper H77 (Z77 allows you to go up 4 bins, but with a single low/mid range GPU you won't be able to make use of this in games),
removed cooler (don't need it at stock),
Changed SSD, slightly cheaper and slightly faster (tbh, either are reliable and well work well)
Changed GPU to a much faster card using budget freed up from changing other stuff
8GB RAM instead of 16,
Changed case, still basic/sleek but has a few over the 300 (cheaper, USB 3.0, cable routing, better mounting system)

[Avarice]

$500ish; the GPU, RAM, Power Supply are what I currently already own.

[Jojimbo]

What CPU are you upgrading from? And what RAM is it.

[Avarice]

Upgrading from an AMD Athlon II x4 635 (2.9GHz). As for the RAM, I can't remember the exact make, but I know it's 4x4GB DDR3.

[Mojo]

I am looking to purchase a laptop. The requirements are as follows.

CPU - Core i7
GPU - No Intel GMA integrated solution

The cheapest I've found is this, although I haven't looked very hard. If there are other choices that justify an increase in price, I'd be all ears. I will be using this for CAD modeling, finite element analysis, and games.

[Tyche]

OK BGs, build me a rig. Soft budget of $1,000. Already have a 660 ti, so no need for a video card. I think I want an overclocked i5 3570k, seems to be as good a gaming chip as you can get with the i7s offering marginal upgrades outside of the 3930k. Let's assume I need everything outside of a monitor, video card, keyboard, and mouse. If a decent WASP can be squeezed into the budget, I won't complain.

[Tyche]

This is what I've kind of thrown together. Will the noctua fit in a challenger and clear the ram and shit?

[Jojimbo]

That RAM is ultra low profile and sits below the DIMM locks, somehow I think it'll fit lol. I can't tell about the case though, it's max cooler height isn't listed anywhere that I can see.

How far do you plan to OC it? I would get a better MB if you plan on keeping that cooler, if not then just get an Extreme4 and Hyper 212 EVO and you'll be able to push 4.4~4.5GHz depending on luck (4.5~4.7GHz with a Noctua, maybe 4.8GHz but few 3570k's can reach that at safe voltages). Extreme6 and Extreme4 practically have the same VRM setup so there won't really be any different beyond ports. Asus P8Z77-V (or -V Pro) are good MBs, Pro has better VRM setup but tbh either would work.

PSU is overkill for single 660Ti, A 620W would work for a single 660Ti or 750W if you want to have SLI as a future upgrade. That is a good price for a 850W gold unit though, so could keep it if you want to. Just make sure the SSD is updated with latest firmware, the M4 had some sort of problem with it's firmware but I think they fixed it.

EDIT:: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXyz would work as a more budget OC build, 200R should be able to support both 212 EVO and NH-D14 (just, I think, NH-D14 is 160mm tall and 200R can accept 160mm coolers), the 2/3TB Seagate HDDs in that line have had bad QA but they upped the HDDs warranty to 2yr from 1yr, so they might be a bit better now.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXye with better MB/cooler/PSU

EDIT:: Changed SSDs, didn't see that Intel had a well new priced 240GB drive, better option than 840 for not much more.

[Tyche]

I'm getting a new desk and doing some remodeling in my house. Since its air cooled, I don't know how the ambient temp is going to run. That's my only worry with going with a lesser cooler. I'll probably OC to 4.4-4.5. I doubt I'll attempt much higher. I also don't know much about cases or how well they ventilate.