Build me Gaming PC. Limit $1500.

[Crowort]

When building a PC for the 1st time. All you need to do is take your time and follow the included instructions. Almost everything can only fit in one place anyway.

The things I most often see people having problems with are; They didn't use standoffs and are shorting the MB. They didn't plug in the CPU power cable (4 or 8pin). They have the case power switch plugged in wrong.

There are lots of good guides out there. One tip I'd give is to install cpu / heatsink outside of the case. It is not only easier to do, but it also doesn't feel like the pressure needed to lock down the cpu cover is stressing the Mobo the same.

[Cjskater]

When building a PC for the 1st time. All you need to do is take your time and follow the included instructions. Almost everything can only fit in one place anyway.

The things I most often see people having problems with are; They didn't use standoffs and are shorting the MB. They didn't plug in the CPU power cable (4 or 8pin). They have the case power switch plugged in wrong.

I saw a guy on /g/ plug the floppy power connector into a 4pin fan on the mobo. Takes a special type of person to notice it wont fit but still force it in.

[Agito]

Solid State Drives are not really a good option to go with. If you want fast storage then get 4 western digital caviar black 500GB hard drives and put all of those in a raid 0 configuartion, it will give you 2 TB of incredibly fast storage. Raid 0 turns 2 or more hard drives into one super, mega fast hard drive, the only downside is if 1 hard drive fails, you lose all of your data saved to this configuration. Or you can just get 2 western digital velociraptors http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-296-_-Product and put those in raid 0.

[Drex]

Building your own PC isn't too hard - hardest part of mine was opening up the stupid cd/dvdrw trays, and remembering to plug absolutely everything in everywhere lol It's also great because you know and understand what everything is and what it does, instead of just seeing a big clump of wires like most people do when they open up their pre-built PC to try to fix something on their own.

Just don't forget to take your time, use your anti-static precautions, and double-check/reseat EVERYTHING. And save all your packaging/boxes/proof of purchase in case something is dead on arrival.

[Brewski]

Just ordered my PC Guys, its official!

Thanks to all who shared there input and helped me build the PC i always wanted for Gaming, MUCH Appreciated!!

I'll post pics afterwards :D or ill be hitting up the forums again if i got problems hah.

[KuroTsuki]

I saw a few people mention guides to help teach about PCs and what's compatible. I'm interested in learning all that stuff, so does anyone know a place that has a good guide? I know I can just google it, but then I don't know if it's any good.

[Minions]

Solid State Drives are not really a good option to go with. If you want fast storage then get 4 western digital caviar black 500GB hard drives and put all of those in a raid 0 configuartion, it will give you 2 TB of incredibly fast storage. Raid 0 turns 2 or more hard drives into one super, mega fast hard drive, the only downside is if 1 hard drive fails, you lose all of your data saved to this configuration. Or you can just get 2 western digital velociraptors http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-296-_-Product and put those in raid 0.

Theres nothing wrong with a SSD for OS only. 30GB SSD are not much more than 7200 rpm drives are atm, and there are definite advantages to them.If I didn't raid 0, I would have gone with one for the OS.

[levish]

send the kingston v series ssd back and get one of their V+ series ssd's or a intel x25-m. the V series is poopy

[SaviorSelf]

Any update on this? Let us know how it's going!

[Brewski]

Any update on this? Let us know how it's going!

Got everything but the Case, shipping estimate is today! planning to make time to put it together 2morrow. (:

[Fade]

Just wondering does anyone know of a good website where I can configure my PC and have them ship to me built? Only ones I know of are Dell, Gateway and iBuyPower.

[Agito]

Just wondering does anyone know of a good website where I can configure my PC and have them ship to me built? Only ones I know of are Dell, Gateway and iBuyPower.

Uh, if it's an absolute necessity then CyberpowerPC maybe..

Looking forward to the build Brewski!

[SaviorSelf]

Try building it outside the case perhaps just to make sure everything works? Disappointing to install everything in the case and then realize something isn't working. :[

[guartz]

god all these builds are so overtop to play games.

[Brewski]

My PC works great!! love it! rocking Bad Company 2 and soon to be Starcraft2 Beta on it.

Had 2 problems though.. with the case i bought (shown somewhere in this thread) wouldnt fit my SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820139162 Sucks too because i looked and it said not refundable, so I really should figure out how to fit this in.

Other problem (not a problem, think was just my friend and I not knowing how to install it lol) but we couldnt figure out how to install the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233029 into the PC, so right now im just using the stock one.

So besides those minor issues, my pc is going great. I do notice that im at a high degree for temp on the cpu.. but I dont know if that temp is good or bad for a cpu so any thoughts on that?

Screenshot: http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Untitled1.png

[Pikarya]

mhmm yeah turn that shit off stat.

While your processor can run at those temps. That 50% over what it should be idle OVERCLOCKED to hell. Clean up your thermal paste, I'm betting you used too much. As too little will not give that much of a temperature increase.

[Brewski]

any other suggestions to lower that? will using the heatsink fan i bought over using the stock lower it?

Also, my Case has 3 fans going inside, but in that screenshot on the bottom it only shows 1 fan.. are the other 3 fans not suppose to show up there? or did my friend and I miss something re-guarding those fans

[Crowort]

Yes the 3rd party cpu cooler will cool better.

To fit the XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight you will need to remove the mobo. As it is fitted using a backplate which will sit behind the mobo.

[Pikarya]

any other suggestions to lower that? will using the heatsink fan i bought over using the stock lower it?

Also, my Case has 3 fans going inside, but in that screenshot on the bottom it only shows 1 fan.. are the other 3 fans not suppose to show up there? or did my friend and I miss something re-guarding those fans

Well rule of thumb is to have front/bottom fans always blowing air INTO the case. As for exhausting, always make sure the fans are blowing out of the case in the rear, and top (blowholes) if possible.

As for the heatsink, usually all aftermarket units outperform the stock Intel cooler. So you should use that. Did your friend apply thermal paste to the processor/HSU? How much did he use?

[Crowort]

Don't retail stock coolers come with thermal pads anymore? (and they were always nasty) I'm not sure as I haven't bought a retail cpu in years.

I'd be temped to say more than a paste issue there. Those temps are coming close to thermal shutdown, and it will start throttling before that.

About the fans, fan speed can only see what the motherboard is telling it. Either the fan header you have the fans on aren't giving the info, or the fans are connected to the psu (this ain't bad just means they run 100% all the time).