Want to start PC gaming.

  • 144 results
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

This topic is locked from further discussion.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#1 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

So, recently I've been thinking about trying to make the leap from console gaming to PC gaming. As of now, I own a 360, and plan to keep on using it, but there are always titles here and there that make me wish I had a good PC to game on. As far as a know, I have a decent PC (HP Pavilion a6302f), and I'm also aware that to be able to get a good PC gaming experience I would need a video/graphics card and CPU processor which are up to snuff. Anything past those basic requirements, I'm not too sure of. Yes, I'm a PC noob, but I have to start somewhere.

For example, the computer I'm using now is one which the whole family uses, so I would need to buy a new one which to use for gaming. The problem is, I don't really have any idea what to look for or what specifications I should be looking into. Not to mention all the accessories which would come after. So, if anyone would be able to help me out a bit with some information on how to get started, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Avatar image for Deadly_Fatalis
Deadly_Fatalis

1756

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#2 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts
If your interested in getting a new gaming computer, first off it's best to give us a budget, you should read up on how to build a computer, as building is the way to go for PC Gaming. :)
Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#3 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

I guess that is what I will start with then. When you say "build a PC" though, what exactly do you mean?

Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#4 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

I guess that is what I will start with then. When you say "build a PC" though, what exactly do you mean?

Halak41

you need to buy the necessary parts and put them together. all the plugs and screws fit exactally like legos. its easy. but how much are you willing to pay. building your own for 800 is good, even 600. 1000$ can run smoothly about every game out right now. Do you need to buy a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and speakers also?

by the way, when you start pc gaming make sure you check out STEAM

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#5 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

I am actually in a situation where I am willing to pay anything up to $2000 (at the extreme most). And from what I've just recently read, I understand that I would need to buy many different parts to put things together. However, what base am I putting this all into. In other words, when you say that everything will fit together like Lego pieces, what am I connecting all these pieces to?

Sorry if I'm coming off as knowing absolutely nothing, but, as you can see, I'm new to this.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#6 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Also, to answer your question, yes, I will need to buy a monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.

Avatar image for ProudLarry
ProudLarry

13511

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#7 ProudLarry
Member since 2004 • 13511 Posts
Looking at your computer's specs, they're really not that bad. Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and 3GB RAM is enough to play just about anything. The only concern is the lack of a video card. There's an empty PCI-E expansion slot, so that makes things easier. But the only concern is that your power-supply may not be able to support a video card. I can't find any details on the power supply, but likely it would need to be replaced. But between that a new video card, you may be only looking at $150-$250 worth of upgrades to get to a point where you can start playing games.
Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#8 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

well the people here will set you up with all your parts. NEWEGG is the best website to buy everything from, if your from the US. I wouldnt really spend over 1500$ on the computer itself if i were you.

videos you should watch first (click)

1. tips

2. Building a pc

3. Building a pc part 2

To build a PC you will need an Operating System, ie. Windows 7 64 Bit, a case to put everything in, really just your taste. A mobo (motherboard), A PSU, power supply, A CPU, processor, RAM, a graphics card (GPU) a hard drive (HDD) and a CD drive.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#9 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

The problem with that is, I won't be able to use this one for gaming, so upgrading it is not really an option. From what I've read, building one seems like the best way to go.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#10 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

That last post was directed towards ProudLarry. Also, I'm from Canada, not the U.S., which might be an issue.

Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#11 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

That last post was directed towards ProudLarry. Also, I'm from Canada, not the U.S., which might be an issue.

Halak41

then use newegg canada http://www.newegg.ca/?nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA-_-Branding-_-NA-_-NA

Avatar image for ProudLarry
ProudLarry

13511

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#12 ProudLarry
Member since 2004 • 13511 Posts

^

The problem with that is, I won't be able to use this one for gaming, so upgrading it is not really an option. From what I've read, building one seems like the best way to go.

Halak41
That's cool.

That last post was directed towards ProudLarry. Also, I'm from Canada, not the U.S., which might be an issue.

Halak41
Newegg has a Canadian site as well, and NCIX also seems to get referenced commonly by Canadians around here as well.
Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#13 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Wow, if I can get everything from one place like that it will really help. Hopefully NewEgg is as good as you guys say it is, although I don't doubt that it is. And thanks for all the info so far, it's amazing what you can learn in such little time when you put your mind to it and get good help.

Avatar image for Deadly_Fatalis
Deadly_Fatalis

1756

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#14 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts

Its good to check both NCIX and Newegg, I'm Canadian and I have used both, and they are both good, use the one in which you can get a better price ;)

Also, do you plan on doing any video/image editing? AMD CPU's and Intel's are essentially equivilents in gaming, but if you do other CPU intensive tasks, the Intel CPU's pull ahead.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#15 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

Thanks for the extra info. I'll keep that in mind. As for the videos that somegtalaover posted, I just finished watching them all and they were very helpful. I will definitely have to go back and watch the again once I get to that stage (if I ever do). Also, I was just wondering, do most people build their PCs this way for gaming, or is it more common to buy pre-built ones?

Avatar image for Deadly_Fatalis
Deadly_Fatalis

1756

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#16 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts
For your average user, most people would buy a pre-built, however among the PC Gaming community, many people build their own computers, as it ends up being cheaper, and it's cool to have a sense that this is your computer and it is unique.
Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#17 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

^

Thanks for the extra info. I'll keep that in mind. As for the videos that somegtalaover posted, I just finished watching them all and they were very helpful. I will definitely have to go back and watch the again once I get to that stage (if I ever do). Also, I was just wondering, do most people build their PCs this way for gaming, or is it more common to buy pre-built ones?

Halak41
most commonly i see people on here building their own. pre builts are over priced. your paying for them to build it for you. Also its good to build a pc yourself because after your done youll learn alot, and if something goes wrong with your computer, which usually doesnt, youll know which part it was and you can return it. They have some good lifetime warranties and if the product is faulty you can send it in and get a replacement in little to no time.
Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#18 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

Your gonna have to choose whether you want to buy either NVIDIA or ATI for your graphics card.

Nvidia is a little more expensive but has cuda, phys x, 3d vision, 3d vision surround (3 monitors in 3d), SLI (multi GPUs, that scale better than ATI) and some other stuff

ATI has eyefinity and crossfire but not quite as good as SLI because their drivers arent as good as nvidia, they are a little cheaper though


Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#19 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

Speaking of graphics cards, I'd be looking for one which would be able to run games on their highest settings without lag/drop in framerate. Of course, this is in an ideal situation, and because of how expensive that might be, I'm not sure if it's doable or not. Thanks for all the extra answers by the way. I have to say, gamespot/gamefaqs has never helped me out so quickly or efficiently.

Avatar image for somegtalover
somegtalover

2700

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#20 somegtalover
Member since 2007 • 2700 Posts

^

Speaking of graphics cards, I'd be looking for one which would be able to run games on their highest settings without lag/drop in framerate. Of course, this is in an ideal situation, and because of how expensive that might be, I'm not sure if it's doable or not. Thanks for all the extra answers by the way. I have to say, gamespot/gamefaqs has never helped me out so quickly or efficiently.

Halak41

For Nvidia id buy a 470, For ATI, in which im no specialist, id buy a 5870

they come in a bunch of different brands such as EVGA, XFX, ASUS, Sapphire, Radeon, but they are all essentially the same card, some might be overclocked, some might have different cooling and more fans, or it just might be a preference about looks

Avatar image for osan0
osan0

18263

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#21 osan0
Member since 2004 • 18263 Posts
a few notes from my own PC experiences over the years. 2 things that shouldnt be skimped on. 1) the power supply...a good quality and reliable power supply is very important. you dont need to go and buy the one with the most watts (650-700W should be fine for a single GPU setup and quad core CPU) but make sure it comes from a company like corsair or antec. also a modular power supply will make building a bit easier. the spare cables can be a bit of a faff otherwise. thats just an extra luxury though :). 2) the monitor. a good quality monitor will last for years and many PCs. also what good is a nice GPU is the monitor its pumping the visuals too is crap? again you dont need to buy the most expensive or the biggest one but dont buy the cheapest you can find. im not 100% up to speed on the latest monitor tech mind so it might be worth looking in to before buying one. also the higher the native resolution of your monitor, the more you will need to spend on your PC to drive it. although you can play games at a lower res than your monitors native resolution....it will compromise the visuals a bit so its not ideal. if it was me then id go for a good quality 1680X1050 monitor but you pay prefer something higher or may be happy with a lower res. just something to think about. i would also recommend a nice mouse. i use the logitech MX518 which i hear can be got for reasonable money now. its a very nice mouse. there are better ones of course but i wouldnt know what to recommend as i havent looked a tthe mouse market in years. theres no real need to worry about getting a gaming keyboard though. id advise one thats nice to type on of course (microsoft make nice keyboards in my experience though theres plenty of choice out there) but dont go wild unless you want to :).
Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#22 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts

so you're in canada? well then you will probably have to tone down your parts since i was looking at newegg.ca just now and almost everything is about 30-50$ more than in the US. also the tax u guys get is insanne... i built a phenom x6 rig and in the ccheckout part there was like $600 of tax...

Avatar image for Deadly_Fatalis
Deadly_Fatalis

1756

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#23 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts
That's why one of the benefits of going NCIX is that the shipping usually isn't as bad as NewEgg and they have quite a few good deals that change approximately every week.
Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#24 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

$600 of JUST tax? That would mean soemthing around $4000 base price.

Avatar image for Deadly_Fatalis
Deadly_Fatalis

1756

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#25 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts
It's not that expensive, you don't need to go and get a 6-core processor, there are alternative's that are much cheaper. How you manage to get $600 of tax? That's some crazy stuff...
Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#26 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Question about the specifics. For example, I'm looking into motherboards right now. The problem is, there are so many of them and they are all around the same price. In this case, how am I supposed to make a choice on which one to get?

Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#27 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts
[QUOTE="Halak41"]

^

$600 of JUST tax? That would mean soemthing around $4000 base price.

lol i had 3000$ base price.. i was just fooling arround and trying to get the best parts
Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#28 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts

Question about the specifics. For example, I'm looking into motherboards right now. The problem is, there are so many of them and they are all around the same price. In this case, how am I supposed to make a choice on which one to get?

Halak41
Well motherboards are usually the hardest part to pick(for me at least). I'd say just read reviews for motherboards arround your price point and whichever one gets the best reviews.. well go for it. If you're going to overclock, then you'll need to do a bit of research to see if the motherboard is good for overclocking. Otherwise, I'd juust get a mobo based on features(like whatever you need, e.g. you may or may not need 3 way sli, usb 3.0, etc) and most importantly get a reliable brand(ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock makes some good mobos, but i would stay away from MSI) because you don't want it breaking down. Reading lots of reviews is the best way to see how reliable the mobo is.
Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#29 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts
It's not that expensive, you don't need to go and get a 6-core processor, there are alternative's that are much cheaper. How you manage to get $600 of tax? That's some crazy stuff...Deadly_Fatalis
loll yeah. i know, i was fooling around with the 6 core build. And i managed to get 600 dollars of tax because i put the shipping to a walmart in ontario so there was 13% HST and also i had a 3000 dollar base price :P
Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#30 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

I don't think I'm going to be overclocking. I looked into it and it seems quite complicated. Correct me if I'm wrong, though, because this will influence my decision. Also, can anyone give me the pros and cons of Intel over AMD and vice versa?

Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#31 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

[QUOTE="Halak41"]

Question about the specifics. For example, I'm looking into motherboards right now. The problem is, there are so many of them and they are all around the same price. In this case, how am I supposed to make a choice on which one to get?

Cheesehead9099

Well motherboards are usually the hardest part to pick(for me at least). I'd say just read reviews for motherboards arround your price point and whichever one gets the best reviews.. well go for it. If you're going to overclock, then you'll need to do a bit of research to see if the motherboard is good for overclocking. Otherwise, I'd juust get a mobo based on features(like whatever you need, e.g. you may or may not need 3 way sli, usb 3.0, etc) and most importantly get a reliable brand(ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock makes some good mobos, but i would stay away from MSI) because you don't want it breaking down. Reading lots of reviews is the best way to see how reliable the mobo is.

MSI isn't as bad as it was before anymore. They have some really good boards out now.

When it comes to motherboards, I would look into the following ones for each socket:

AM3: MSI 790FX-GD70, MSI 890FX-GD70, Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5, ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme

LGA1156: ASUS P7P55D-E, MSI P55A-G55, EVGA P55

LGA1366: ASUS P6X58D-E, Gigabyte X58A-UD3R, ASRock X58 Extreme3

Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#32 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts

Well you can just read guides for overclocking, and some mobos make it really easy with a very user-friendly interface. When I first got my i7 920, i raised the clock speed from 2.66GHz(stock) to 3.2GHz, just by changing one setting, the Base Clock(BCLK). I know it's a bit confusing, but honestly, if you just read a couple of guides then it makes it much easier. You may not want to overclock however, as keeping your CPU at stock speed can extend the life of it.

As for Intel vs AMD, I'm not an expert, but I do know a few things.

Intel

PROS:Great for CPU-intensive work like video editing and encoding, rendering, number crunching, etc. If you're gonna be doing anything very CPU-Heavy, Intel offers better performance than AMD

CONS: Intel has a really bad habit of replacing their sockets very often, so if you wantto keep your i7/i5 for4 years thenpop in another CPU to upgrade to the current modelsyou'll be out of luck, as the sockets will be competely different so your mobo will not be compatible. Also the price is much higher than AMD processors, unless we're talking the i5-750 in which case the prices are very close.

AMD:

PROS: Very cost effective, the Phenom II X4 line is very affordable and they offer great performance for the price. Previously, Intel was dominating the high-end market, but the new Phenom II X6 processors(mainly the 1090T) stack up very well against the Core i7 line and the 1090T beats the i7 920/930 in many performance tests. AMD does also not replace their sockets nearly as often as Intel does so you'll be better off with AMD if you want..er.. future-proofness(is that a word?)

CONS: Most of the AMD processors still get dominated by Intel in CPU-Heavy work, and even though the 1090T is a great i7 920/30 killer, it still loses to the 920/30 in applications that use hyperthreading, since AMD processors don't have it. The highest end Intel processors(980X) still kick AMD's ass.

As you can see both companies have many pros and cons, and u should go with whichever suits your needs. Neither company offers any noticable edge over the other in gaming.. so if you're mainly getting this pc for gaming then I'd go for the cheaper AMD. I personally went with an i7 920 because I do some rendering work and video editing, and Microcenter had the i7 920 for only 200$

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#33 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Well I spent a good two hours on Newegg and put together a build which is a bit over $1000 base price. None of this is final, however, as I'm just testing things out. This link may work if anyone wants to look at it:

http://secure.newegg.ca/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

If not, then here's the links to all items:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135201

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Feedback would be appreciated.

Avatar image for Cheesehead9099
Cheesehead9099

2849

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

#34 Cheesehead9099
Member since 2008 • 2849 Posts
[QUOTE="Halak41"]

Well I spent a good two hours on Newegg and put together a build which is a bit over $1000 base price. None of this is final, however, as I'm just testing things out. This link may work if anyone wants to look at it:

http://secure.newegg.ca/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

If not, then here's the links to all items:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135201

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Feedback would be appreciated.

thats good.. but one slight problem. You forgot the motherboard :P
Avatar image for hitman6actual
hitman6actual

869

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#35 hitman6actual
Member since 2009 • 869 Posts

Well I spent a good two hours on Newegg and put together a build which is a bit over $1000 base price. None of this is final, however, as I'm just testing things out. This link may work if anyone wants to look at it:

http://secure.newegg.ca/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

If not, then here's the links to all items:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136313

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135201

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Feedback would be appreciated.

Halak41
I don't believe that newegg will let us view your shopping cart, because of Identity theft issues and such, just letting you know :P . As far as your build is concerned, your making the right choice to build your own, just do a good bit of research before you start putting things together. You also have a couple decisions to make. Do you want an AMD based system, or one that uses Intel CPUs? Do you want to use an ATI GPU or a Nvidia one? When I build a new computer I build everything up to the motherboard and pick that last. But the first step (which you've already completed) is how much I want to spend, so your off to a good start. Next, I think the best thing to do is to decide on what kind of processor I want to have in the system. I personally recommend AMD, even though I'm an Intel owner myself, because they are much cheaper than Intel, and give you great performance for much less money. Look into the AMD Phenom II X4 965, and the 955 if you choose to go the AMD path. On the Intel side of things, you will want to look up their core i7 CPUs. Specifically, I would look at the i7 920 for starters, and if you have some extra money left over at the end, go up to a 930 or 950. As far as your graphics card is concerned, I personally would highly recommend getting an ATI card. But before we get into the specifics of different cards, you need to consider two things. 1: Do I want to stick with a single card solution (1 GPU) or put 2 or more cards in CrossfireX or SLI. 2:How long do I want the cards to last me, for the future. These questions will help you solve the question of whether or not to get one, faster, more able GPU, or, get 2 or more, slightly slower (if you choose to do so) cards and put them in CrossfireX or SLI. My recommendation for you is a single, powerful GPU, such as ATI's 5870, which brings us to the second question, ATI or Nvidia? ATI is generally cheaper than Nvidia when you look at the price/performance ratio between the two companies, but Nvidia does have quite a bit more features for their GPUs like PhysX and a CUDA core computing engine. However, Nvidia is plagued by high temps (which aren't a bad thing if you can cool the GPU down effectively, and high power consumption, which isn't a big minues either if you've got a quality PSU in your system).That said, as of now, ATI holds the competitive edge in gaming, because of, once again, the bang for your buck that you get out of their cards, DDR5 memory in their entire 5XXX series, and so on and so forth. As you do more research, you can choose between the two, but as of now, I think ATI is defiantly the way to go. Now on to the easier stuff... RAM: You'll need around 4GB. for good performance in gaming, specifically DDR3. I would look into Corsair for the brand. PSU: If you buy a good, quality, PSU, you can get away with one that is only 500W to 600W, so again, I recommend a Corsair. And finally, your motherboard: Because you haven't picked a CPU yet, looking at the Mobos won't really do you much good yet. So, my suggestion for you is to decide on whether or not you like Intel or AMD better, and then get back to everybody on here. Then later on then you can decide on things such as what case to get, and all the other stuff outside the actual computer. Ohh, and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#36 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

I don't believe that newegg will let us view your shopping cart, because of Identity theft issues and such, just letting you know :P .

As far as your build is concerned, your making the right choice to build your own, just do a good bit of research before you start putting things together. You also have a couple decisions to make. Do you want an AMD based system, or one that uses Intel CPUs? Do you want to use an ATI GPU or a Nvidia one? When I build a new computer I build everything up to the motherboard and pick that last. But the first step (which you've already completed) is how much I want to spend, so your off to a good start.

Next, I think the best thing to do is to decide on what kind of processor I want to have in the system. I personally recommend AMD, even though I'm an Intel owner myself, because they are much cheaper than Intel, and give you great performance for much less money. Look into the AMD Phenom II X4 965, and the 955 if you choose to go the AMD path. On the Intel side of things, you will want to look up their core i7 CPUs. Specifically, I would look at the i7 920 for starters, and if you have some extra money left over at the end, go up to a 930 or 950.

As far as your graphics card is concerned, I personally would highly recommend getting an ATI card. But before we get into the specifics of different cards, you need to consider two things.

1: Do I want to stick with a single card solution (1 GPU) or put 2 or more cards in CrossfireX or SLI.
2:How long do I want the cards to last me, for the future.

These questions will help you solve the question of whether or not to get one, faster, more able GPU, or, get 2 or more, slightly slower (if you choose to do so) cards and put them in CrossfireX or SLI. My recommendation for you is a single, powerful GPU, such as ATI's 5870, which brings us to the second question, ATI or Nvidia? ATI is generally cheaper than Nvidia when you look at the price/performance ratio between the two companies, but Nvidia does have quite a bit more features for their GPUs like PhysX and a CUDA core computing engine. However, Nvidia is plagued by high temps (which aren't a bad thing if you can cool the GPU down effectively, and high power consumption, which isn't a big minues either if you've got a quality PSU in your system).That said, as of now, ATI holds the competitive edge in gaming, because of, once again, the bang for your buck that you get out of their cards, DDR5 memory in their entire 5XXX series, and so on and so forth. As you do more research, you can choose between the two, but as of now, I think ATI is defiantly the way to go.

Now on to the easier stuff... RAM: You'll need around 4GB. for good performance in gaming, specifically DDR3. I would look into Corsair for the brand.

PSU: If you buy a good, quality, PSU, you can get away with one that is only 500W to 600W, so again, I recommend a Corsair.

And finally, your motherboard: Because you haven't picked a CPU yet, looking at the Mobos won't really do you much good yet. So, my suggestion for you is to decide on whether or not you like Intel or AMD better, and then get back to everybody on here. Then later on then you can decide on things such as what case to get, and all the other stuff outside the actual computer. Ohh, and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. hitman6actual

There. Wouldn't you agree that looks much more readable compared to the massive brick you posted? :P

Avatar image for hitman6actual
hitman6actual

869

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#37 hitman6actual
Member since 2009 • 869 Posts

[QUOTE="hitman6actual"]

I don't believe that newegg will let us view your shopping cart, because of Identity theft issues and such, just letting you know :P .

As far as your build is concerned, your making the right choice to build your own, just do a good bit of research before you start putting things together. You also have a couple decisions to make. Do you want an AMD based system, or one that uses Intel CPUs? Do you want to use an ATI GPU or a Nvidia one? When I build a new computer I build everything up to the motherboard and pick that last. But the first step (which you've already completed) is how much I want to spend, so your off to a good start.

Next, I think the best thing to do is to decide on what kind of processor I want to have in the system. I personally recommend AMD, even though I'm an Intel owner myself, because they are much cheaper than Intel, and give you great performance for much less money. Look into the AMD Phenom II X4 965, and the 955 if you choose to go the AMD path. On the Intel side of things, you will want to look up their core i7 CPUs. Specifically, I would look at the i7 920 for starters, and if you have some extra money left over at the end, go up to a 930 or 950.

As far as your graphics card is concerned, I personally would highly recommend getting an ATI card. But before we get into the specifics of different cards, you need to consider two things.

1: Do I want to stick with a single card solution (1 GPU) or put 2 or more cards in CrossfireX or SLI.
2:How long do I want the cards to last me, for the future.

These questions will help you solve the question of whether or not to get one, faster, more able GPU, or, get 2 or more, slightly slower (if you choose to do so) cards and put them in CrossfireX or SLI. My recommendation for you is a single, powerful GPU, such as ATI's 5870, which brings us to the second question, ATI or Nvidia? ATI is generally cheaper than Nvidia when you look at the price/performance ratio between the two companies, but Nvidia does have quite a bit more features for their GPUs like PhysX and a CUDA core computing engine. However, Nvidia is plagued by high temps (which aren't a bad thing if you can cool the GPU down effectively, and high power consumption, which isn't a big minues either if you've got a quality PSU in your system).That said, as of now, ATI holds the competitive edge in gaming, because of, once again, the bang for your buck that you get out of their cards, DDR5 memory in their entire 5XXX series, and so on and so forth. As you do more research, you can choose between the two, but as of now, I think ATI is defiantly the way to go.

Now on to the easier stuff... RAM: You'll need around 4GB. for good performance in gaming, specifically DDR3. I would look into Corsair for the brand.

PSU: If you buy a good, quality, PSU, you can get away with one that is only 500W to 600W, so again, I recommend a Corsair.

And finally, your motherboard: Because you haven't picked a CPU yet, looking at the Mobos won't really do you much good yet. So, my suggestion for you is to decide on whether or not you like Intel or AMD better, and then get back to everybody on here. Then later on then you can decide on things such as what case to get, and all the other stuff outside the actual computer. Ohh, and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. ravenguard90

There. Wouldn't you agree that looks much more readable compared to massive brick you posted? :P

Ahh yes, sorry about that. My browser, Google Chrome, does all kinds of weird things to my posts on here. So please excuse me. And it looks as though the OP has possibly posted some new hardware, so some info from the brick may be irrelevant now. (I didn't see any new posts while typing that thing, obviously)

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#38 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

Thanks for the amazing feedback Hitman, was very helpful and really got me thinking. However, it did raise a few questions, such as how it is possible to use two GPUs at once. Also, I'm not very clear on why a memory unit is needed when I already have a hard drive.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#39 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Okay so I've done some research on CPUs and am now torn between these two in making my final decision.

_

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

_

Both get very good reviews, although it seems that Intel's processor may be a bit better for gaming. On the other hand, AMD's processor is a six-core model as opposed to a quad-core, and it seems to offer more bang for my buck, considering both are at nearly exactly the same price.

Avatar image for i_am_the_slime
i_am_the_slime

317

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#40 i_am_the_slime
Member since 2009 • 317 Posts

Personally, I would just go with the quad core AMD (and save $150).

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#41 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

^

Thanks for the amazing feedback Hitman, was very helpful and really got me thinking. However, it did raise a few questions, such as how it is possible to use two GPUs at once. Also, I'm not very clear on why a memory unit is needed when I already have a hard drive.

Halak41

Running two or more GPU's has become a more popular way to increase framerates without having to buy a more expensive card all the time. The two types of multi-GPU configurations are Crossfire (from ATI), and SLi (from nVidia). What they do is pretty much use two or more of the same video cards, and then divide the workload between the two in order to boost performance. It's looked at as a cheaper way of getting more performance, as you don't need to keep going up another more expensive tier in video card each time you want more performance.

Memory and hard drives are needed for two very different uses. Look at them as short-term and long-term memory of the computer. Memory is needed as the computer is running in order to run tasks from the hard drive, while the hard drive is used to store large, dormant files.

As for the two different processors, this is my take on it: If you look at reviews between the two, the Phenom II X6 only shines when the program actually supports hexa-cores. In any other case, it suffers against the i7 930 due to the fact that it's the same core structure as the Phenom II X4, which is not as good as the i7. My recommendation would be to buy the i7, since most games don't take advantage of hexa-cores. Secondly, when hexa-cores do become widely supported, the Phenom II X6 would most likely be obsolete when that time comes.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#42 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

Intel seems to be the best way to go then. That does mean I need to get an Intel motherboard to go with it though, right? And, concerning GPUs, I am finding it near impossible to narrow down my options because of how large the selection is.

Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#43 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

Not necessarily a motherboard from Intel specifically, but you do need to get an LGA1366 motherboard. You can refer to my previous post for good motherboards in that socket. As for your video card, it all depends on your budget, of course. The best cards out right now would be the HD 5970 from ATI, and the GTX 480 from nVidia.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#44 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

^

What I don't understand is that when I look on Newegg, there are many GPUs that have GTX 480 or HD 5870 in their title, but none of them are specifically ATI or Nvidia. This is what is making it so difficult to choose. Also, the way I see it, ATI's HD 5870 is equivalent to Nvidia's GTX 295, and the HD 5970 is equivalent to the GTX 480. Again, any additional information which would help me in making this choice will be highly appreciated.

Avatar image for Jaysonguy
Jaysonguy

39454

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 0

#45 Jaysonguy
Member since 2006 • 39454 Posts

^

What I don't understand is that when I look on Newegg, there are many GPUs that have GTX 480 or HD 5870 in their title, but none of them are specifically ATI or Nvidia. This is what is making it so difficult to choose. Also, the way I see it, ATI's HD 5870 is equivalent to Nvidia's GTX 295, and the HD 5970 is equivalent to the GTX 480. Again, any additional information which would help me in making this choice will be highly appreciated.

Halak41

READ THIS

That's the tier list right now

Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#46 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

Ah, okay. Well, the best brand to buy from when it comes to nVidia products would be EVGA, as they have an immaculate modder-friendly lifetime warranty. As for ATI, it would be XFX who would take the cake, as it has a transferable lifetime warranty (lifetime warranty for anyone you sell it to should you decide to do that later on). The other brands are pretty good as well, like Zotac, ASUS, and Sapphire. Just stay away from Gigabyte for ATI cards and PNY for nVidia cards, as their warranty is junk due to either 1) warranty starts at the date of manufacture (you pretty much lost a year in the worst-case scenario), or 2) lifetime warranty is not exactly a lifetime warranty (if the card is not made anymore, your warranty is not valid anymore as well).

When comparing the cards between ATI and nVidia, there needs to be two tiers that you should compare them on: pure framerate-crunching horsepower, and DX11 capabilities. I'll break it down for you:

Framerate-Crunching Horsepower:

GTX 295 = HD 5870 = GTX 480 < HD 5970

DX11 Capabilities:

HD 5870 < HD 5970 < GTX 480 (GTX 295 does not support DX11)

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#47 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Okay, so how's this for a GPU?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121382

There is also this one

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121374&cm_re=asus_5870-_-14-121-374-_-Product

which seems to be the same thing but 1GB insteag of 2GB. Not sure if that will make a difference.

Lastly, how does it compare to my original choice, which was

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318

Also thank you to the above poster for the list.

Avatar image for Halak41
Halak41

1095

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

#48 Halak41
Member since 2007 • 1095 Posts

Actually raven, your last post pretty much answers my question. Didn't see it before I posted. I think I'll stick with the Asus ATI HD 5780, the 1GB version. Seems the best choice, although it is a bit pricy.

Avatar image for 29121994
29121994

1166

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

#49 29121994
Member since 2008 • 1166 Posts

[QUOTE="Halak41"]

^

Speaking of graphics cards, I'd be looking for one which would be able to run games on their highest settings without lag/drop in framerate. Of course, this is in an ideal situation, and because of how expensive that might be, I'm not sure if it's doable or not. Thanks for all the extra answers by the way. I have to say, gamespot/gamefaqs has never helped me out so quickly or efficiently.

somegtalover

For Nvidia id buy a 470, For ATI, in which im no specialist, id buy a 5870

they come in a bunch of different brands such as EVGA, XFX, ASUS, Sapphire, Radeon, but they are all essentially the same card, some might be overclocked, some might have different cooling and more fans, or it just might be a preference about looks

With a 2000 dollar budget i reckon he could maybe afford an ATi 5970 which would pretty much never lag in any game and run everything at full detail for the next 3 years. @Halak41 if you want a very decent build for playing games, something similar to mine would do you justice. You can see my build in my sig. I built mine in australia for 1500 without a graphics card. ( i already had one when i was building it and upgraded later). There are some things you must consider with your choice of graphics card. With your budget i would at least go for a radeon HD 5870. That card will run any current games easily at high resolutions. There aren't many drawbacks to it at all. I have it and have had no driver issues or ANY issues at all for 4 months unlike my previous nvidia card. It uses rather modest amounts of power compared to the competition, doesn't make much noise and doesn't get too hot either. As for Nvidia's range of cards you could get a gtx 480 which is the fastest single gpu card in the world currently (not by much though). It offers extreme performance but runs hot, uses a lot of power and gets quite noisy but will be worth your money. The thing is though, if you're only gaming you can get an AMD cpu and save a lot of money for very similar performance to what you would get with an intel cpu. I'll probably post back here
Avatar image for ravenguard90
ravenguard90

3064

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#50 ravenguard90
Member since 2005 • 3064 Posts

Good choice. That ASUS version of the HD 5870 is a very nice one due to a larger cooling fan and optimized internals. And just to clarify, 2GB's of memory for that card isn't really necessary, as benchmarks show there is little to no difference in performance with it.

As for the post about AMD vs Intel being just about equal, it is basically true, but drop it down to a CPU-intensive resolution and you'll see the true difference between the two processors. What it means is that the video card is actually the bottleneck in terms of performance when you increase the resolution, not to mention that the i7 is running at 2.66ghz while the X4 955 is running at 3.2ghz. In the long run, the i7 will last the TC much longer than a cheap alternative like AMD's offerings, thus meaning he or she could be happy with the majority of the internals for a longer time period.