PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Aylee]

So I'm going to attempt to do a build in the next couple of days - weeks depending on when some stuff I have sells. My budget should be around $1000, but I wont need anything but the tower/guts (no monitors/keyboards, ext). I see a few builds for around the 1k mark on here but a lot of them include things I don't need like monitors/os. Can anyone suggest a good build for me? I would like the parts to be from amazon / new egg if possible but if really cheep other places then what ever I guess. The three main games i'll be playing are starcraft II, terra, and FFXIV.

Few questions though, whats the difference in a mid size and full case? Also would there be any reason to go with a i7 over i5? (may fiddle with photoshop but nothing extravagant or professional)

[Prothescar]

Would 1000 be an absolute cap? Any leeway between 1000 and 1200~1500?

[Tyche]

Planning on overclocking? You can get a solid build for $1,000 that plays all those games at really high settings.

[Aylee]

Would 1000 be an absolute cap? Any leeway between 1000 and 1200~1500?

There is a little give in the budget. I dont want to go over say 1.1k but not gonna flip over a little over.

And I dont PLAN on over clocking just because it seems difficult finding a setting that works without making it unstable. I'm not against it, just never done it and not really sure how to do it, or how hard it is.

[Prothescar]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gxd6

$882 and will have no issues running XIV at high spec. Unlocked processor and aftermarket cooler in case you decide to dabble in OCing, it isn't very hard to do tbh but it's pretty time consuming. I left out storage since that's up to you what you want to do, adding a 1TB drive and SSD for your OS would be another $150~200 or so, about 100 for just a good 1TB HDD. I'd recommend a seagate barracuda or a western digital caviar black/green for HDD, and a Samsung 830 or 840 for SSD. For an extra $105 you can upgrade to a 670 if you want to which would allow you to run at max no problem, though the 660ti should be sufficient for that already or at least close.

[Aylee]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gxd6

$882 and will have no issues running XIV at high spec. Unlocked processor and aftermarket cooler in case you decide to dabble in OCing, it isn't very hard to do tbh but it's pretty time consuming. I left out storage since that's up to you what you want to do, adding a 1TB drive and SSD for your OS would be another $150~200 or so, about 100 for just a good 1TB HDD. I'd recommend a seagate barracuda or a western digital caviar black/green for HDD, and a Samsung 830 or 840 for SSD. For an extra $105 you can upgrade to a 670 if you want to which would allow you to run at max no problem, though the 660ti should be sufficient for that already or at least close.

Awesome thank you! I will def add a sad and hdd. Looks good to me so when the money comes in ill buy and build it. If anyone else has other suggestions let me know

[Asai]

ASROCK extreme 4 motherboard would save 20 bucks or so and supports higher speed RAM. Power supply seems a lil low, especially if you wanna go with a factory overclocked 670 (whinch would be better in the long run). Can save 10 bucks on RAM going w/ corsair vengeance, same CAS/clock/everything. That's a pretty popular/good cpu cooler. As for SSD's there are some pretty good deals going on right now (like 128gig OCZ Vertex IV for 100 bucks) and HDD prices are back down finally too so they're not too bad either. 1TB is a lot of space, lol.. I never seem to use more than half of that.

Edit: if you really dont wanna overclock, cut out the cooler, if you change your mind later you can get a self-contained water cooling loop for slightly more. 3570k runs fine on stock fan, mines OC ever so slightly and still on stock fan. And if you really wanna press towards that budget, look into a GTX 680 and a 750w power supply.

[Tyche]

A 680 would take up half his budget and his PSU should suffice if he has no SLI plans. I got a 750 gold modulated seasonic for the same price though. You have to just grab deals as they come for the best budget.

I run a 3570k and a 660Ti. The 660Ti is resilient. Can SLI them for same price as a 680 and outperform it (if there's SLI support). On the FFXIV benchmark, I ran about 8,000, which is max settings at 1080p at 60fps. You can overclock the 660Ti and run as good or better than a stock 670. It's a great budget card at ~$250.

[Jojimbo]

The problem with the basic AIO "water" coolers is that they are are on a similar level to the 212, the very basic ones will be probably be worse and the lower end thin 120mm rads will be on par or only a few degrees better for 2~3 times the cost (depending on whether you look at the 212+ or not), thicker 120mm/140mm/240mm/280mm and so on will all be better of course but require cases that can support them and cost a lot (more than competing big air like NH-D14 and Phanteks 14PE)

And where did you get a 660Ti for under $250? They are $~300 cards, the cheapest I see is $270 with most costing $280~290. HD 7950 is another option, but needs to be OC'ed to compete tbh (the lucky cards can get a 50% OC on them pushing them ahead of an OC'ed 660Ti, the not so lucky would be in the ~40% OC but you can get unlucky 660Ti that don't OC well too).

[Aylee]

ASROCK extreme 4 motherboard would save 20 bucks or so and supports higher speed RAM. Power supply seems a lil low, especially if you wanna go with a factory overclocked 670 (whinch would be better in the long run). Can save 10 bucks on RAM going w/ corsair vengeance, same CAS/clock/everything. That's a pretty popular/good cpu cooler. As for SSD's there are some pretty good deals going on right now (like 128gig OCZ Vertex IV for 100 bucks) and HDD prices are back down finally too so they're not too bad either. 1TB is a lot of space, lol.. I never seem to use more than half of that.

Edit: if you really dont wanna overclock, cut out the cooler, if you change your mind later you can get a self-contained water cooling loop for slightly more. 3570k runs fine on stock fan, mines OC ever so slightly and still on stock fan. And if you really wanna press towards that budget, look into a GTX 680 and a 750w power supply.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GBvh

So something like this? upped the power supply just to be safe. Switched out the ram for the cheeper corsair, Got rid of the heatsink i'll buy one later if I decide to OC, and added the ssd and Hdd. With 128 GB SSD how much would I be able to put on there after the OS? Maybe SC and 1-2 mmos or is that pushing it? Also any other suggestions? I appricate all the feed back

[Jojimbo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Gb2p

Get RAM in that, the fins on the RAM you picked will haunt you if you ever try and put a moderately sized air cooler on; plus they do fuck all.

No need to spend that much on a PSU for single GPU setup, a good 600~W is fine even after OCing. Unless you really want the gold+ then you can get a cheaper PSU; Seasonics 620W modular bronze+ is a good buy.

[Tyche]

I got the 660Ti at best buy for $245 out the door. EVGA superclocked edition. I spent a good month or two grabbing stuff as it went on sale though. If he's patient he should be able to nab one for that price if he doesn't mind MIR.

Sign up for the newegg newsletter too. They have a lot of coupon codes for 10% off most of the stuff you'll need. Saving $10 here and $25 there will add up.

[Aylee]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GClp

awesome thanks! I switched the cases to a windowed one that also has a discount when bought with that psu you recommended. I also prefer radeon over nivida cards anyway, just always seems like shit is going wrong with nivida drivers.

[Jojimbo]

That's surprising lol, most people complain about AMD drivers being shit

If you have the spare money then you could change the HDD/SSD back, WD blacks are faster and have longer warranty (blues are faster than green but quieter/cheaper than black) and the 840 is a budget SSD and I think OCZ have stepped up with their 4 series (gen 3 sucked and had some of the worst return rates of all main SSD manufacturers but they changed a lot of the SSD with gen 4).

[Tyche]

This is my first nvidia. I don't think I'll go back to AMD.

[Aylee]

That's surprising lol, most people complain about AMD drivers being shit

If you have the spare money then you could change the HDD/SSD back, WD blacks are faster and have longer warranty (blues are faster than green but quieter/cheaper than black) and the 840 is a budget SSD and I think OCZ have stepped up with their 4 series (gen 3 sucked and had some of the worst return rates of all main SSD manufacturers but they changed a lot of the SSD with gen 4).

I'm fine with both of those. Do I need the after market heat sink if i don't plan to OC atm?

So you guys think nivida is better than amd? I've never used a nivida just remember seeing how some nivida drivers were giving problems

[Jojimbo]

You don't, although 212 will be cooler and you don't have to mess around with refitting it when you do but at stock clocks the stock cooler that comes with the CPU will work, even works up to around 4GHz depending on the chip but of course will be running pretty hot at that point.

[Tyche]

Depends on the chip you get too. Mine wanted to have more voltage than I cared to give it. Still air cooled at 4.5 ghz, so I don't guess I can complain. Some of these processors you can overclock (mildly) and not touch the voltage or the heatsink.

Nvidia vs AMD is like asking xbox or ps3. No one cares and it probably doesn't matter.

[Don Katsu]

Can someone explain the benefits of getting a Z77 motherboard? Plan is to get an i5 and not do any overclocking

[Jojimbo]

Z77 MBs typically have two PCI-E 3.0 slots, so x8/x8 for CF/SLI rather than rather weak 3.0 x16 / 2.0 x4 you get on cheaper Z77 and other budget chipsets. Z77 can also increase multiplier even on non-k i5/i7 (not sure about i3) giving them 400MHz OC and you can OC memory as well (if you brought RAM that is faster than 1600MHz, not that there is much point). Z77 boards are typically better quality and have more features, although budget end is still budget. Can see some of the other differences here.

However if you are getting a non-k i5 to save money then you can just get a cheap H77, Z77 for the +400MHz if you wanted it, or B75 if you really want to save money.