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[Goobly]

Hello everyone, at the end of 2013 I'm getting myself a custom gaming PC. The only problem is, I have no idea what parts to buy.

I'm talking about all the parts of a computer (obviously not monitors and such though) and I am asking for help from any of you guys who are willing!

My budget is $1500 and I wish to get, as they say, "the best bang for my buck". I don't want to get my computer all set up only to realise I could of afforded better parts.

Thanks guys! All help is appreciated.

EDIT: Is there a better place for this thread?

[hemmingjay]

I priced this out on CyberPowerPC.com which is a great company to order a custom pre-built computer if you don't want to do it yourself. It came up to just under $1500
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_ASUS_Z77_Configurator

    CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3770K 3.50 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)
    HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
    MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory [+79] (Corsair or Major Brand)
    MOTHERBOARD: * [CrossFireX/SLI] ASUS P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ IRST, Lucid Virtu MVP, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 3x PCIe x16 (2 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2 PCie x1 & 2 PCI (Extreme OC Certified) [+33]
    SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
    VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+312] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

At this price though, I would warn you that you may want a better power supply than the 600w one that comes with it.

[gimlet]

If you're not getting it for what 8+ months?  Then wait until a LOT closer to that time to worry about specific parts - there's no sense buying anything at all before then because technology moves on.   Well, MAYBE something like a case if you find a screaming deal, those don't change tooooo much.  But you'd have to be nuts to buy or even think about a CPU or graphics card now, prices and performance will be way different.

I'd wait til about November and get serious then, and hit up the sales around Black Friday.  Get up to speed reading the latest build guides for  your budget range,  places like Toms Hardware and arstechnica used to have some decent ones but damn they both messed with their sites -http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-a-pc-overclocking-do-it-yourself,3366.html and  http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/ars-technica-system-guide-bargain-box-february-2013/

[Goobly]

Thanks! I'll wait for more replies though before I make a decision. Also, I'm not buying the parts right now but I figured that it'd make more sense to be organized instead of rushing for parts when the time comes. If the hardware is truly better by then though...

[Tellemurius]

off of newegg, obviously some stuff can be swapped


Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$9.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$105.99

   

Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136533
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Recover Your Data(expand for options)
$104.99
   

GIGABYTE GV-R797TO-3GD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
Item #: N82E16814125439
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$20.00 Instant
$449.99
$429.99
   

AMD Gift coupon: Crysis 3 + Bioshock Inf.
Item #: N82E16800995145
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$169.99 Saving
$169.99
$0.00
   

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Item #: N82E16817341018
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$40.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$129.99
   

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233143
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$109.99
   

ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #: N82E16813131837
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$149.99
1   

   

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
Item #: N82E16819116501
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$329.99
   

ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS
Item #: N82E16827135252
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$79.99
   

Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive)
Item #: N82E16820239045
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$129.99
Subtotal:   $1,521.91

[aristabulus]

Thanks! I'll wait for more replies though before I make a decision. Also, I'm not buying the parts right now but I figured that it'd make more sense to be organized instead of rushing for parts when the time comes. If the hardware is truly better by then though...

Technology marches on such that every few months, the same money will get you better bang for your buck.  No way around it, can't stop progress.

Gimlet is correct that the case is less time sensitive than the other parts.  You may also be able to buy a data-only HDD ahead of time without losing much to progress.

Making a list like Tellemurius did and updating it once a month to account for the passage of time is a good exercise.  In parallel to that, also read up on the technology of the parts, to better understand what caveats may come along (performance, compatibility, etc), and how to choose parts to mitigate those caveats.

Examples:

There are limits to how much RAM you can have, depending on your operating system and hardware.  In Tellemurius' List, he picked 16 GB of RAM, but did not list an operating system...  Windows 7 you would need at least Home Premium to use all 16 GB or RAM, Win7 Home Basic caps out at 8 GB, and Win7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise all have a much higher ceiling of 192 GB.  (meant for servers and workstations, but uber-RAM in a gaming box could have benefits)

The power supply unit needed is based on the motherboard's needs, and the video card's needs.  You should chase down the online manual and find out what those numbers are ahead of time.  The PSU should be of wattage at least as high as the larger of those numbers, probably more like add them together, and maybe add another 10% or 20%.  If the PSU gets tired as time goes on, you'll have some head room as its efficiency dwindles.

[Tellemurius]

Thanks! I'll wait for more replies though before I make a decision. Also, I'm not buying the parts right now but I figured that it'd make more sense to be organized instead of rushing for parts when the time comes. If the hardware is truly better by then though...

Technology marches on such that every few months, the same money will get you better bang for your buck.  No way around it, can't stop progress.

Gimlet is correct that the case is less time sensitive than the other parts.  You may also be able to buy a data-only HDD ahead of time without losing much to progress.

Making a list like Tellemurius did and updating it once a month to account for the passage of time is a good exercise.  In parallel to that, also read up on the technology of the parts, to better understand what caveats may come along (performance, compatibility, etc), and how to choose parts to mitigate those caveats.

Examples:

There are limits to how much RAM you can have, depending on your operating system and hardware.  In Tellemurius' List, he picked 16 GB of RAM, but did not list an operating system...  Windows 7 you would need at least Home Premium to use all 16 GB or RAM, Win7 Home Basic caps out at 8 GB, and Win7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise all have a much higher ceiling of 192 GB.  (meant for servers and workstations, but uber-RAM in a gaming box could have benefits)

The power supply unit needed is based on the motherboard's needs, and the video card's needs.  You should chase down the online manual and find out what those numbers are ahead of time.  The PSU should be of wattage at least as high as the larger of those numbers, probably more like add them together, and maybe add another 10% or 20%.  If the PSU gets tired as time goes on, you'll have some head room as its efficiency dwindles.

yea i never posted OS cause usually said person already has it or will by it later (i recommend to buy Professional edition just for the fact you can go over the ram limit of 16gb) usually you can account the 100w rule that your cpu and motherboard require a 100w each. slap that with the stress level of a GPU power usage and 10% more and that can give you a limit.

[hemmingjay]

Also, if you are waiting until the end of the year you will be in luck. nVidia is releasing it's 700 series then which will drop most 600 series cards roughly 30%, meaning a GTX 690 will be @$650, which is a bargain for the life expectancy of that card. Computers have evolved so that for gaming the priority of parts should roughly be:

Video Card   (nVidia cards have more stable drivers typically and better power consumption, while ATI cards are cheaper and slightly faster*, although less stable)
CPU            (i5 is fine for now, but i7 is a wiser investment)
Motherboard (So many good options)
Ram(No more than 16GB needed)
Power Supply (Make sure to get at least Bronze certified power supply and I would recommend a 750-850w supply for gaming. Add 100w if you choose an ATI card.)

[Tellemurius]

Hemmingjay the new graphics cards dont suck up that much power nowadays, you can easily run a HD 7970 on a 550w psu. I would recommend getting a single GPU card though, SLI may be alot stable than Crossfire but there's always something wrong and some games might not like it (especially some old ones). AMDs beat Nvidia by performance and value, the only reason you would pay extra for the nvidia cards is the full Physx support (pretty much prettier effects) which there would be a boost of performance against AMD. That being said, if you want your card to last for a long damn time i would recommend a 680, if you want the best bang for a buck get a 660Ti.

[Sirian]

EDIT: Is there a better place for this thread?

Yea probably in "Life Advice" (i've seen some such threads over there).

[hemmingjay]

Hemmingjay the new graphics cards dont suck up that much power nowadays, you can easily run a HD 7970 on a 550w psu. I would recommend getting a single GPU card though, SLI may be alot stable than Crossfire but there's always something wrong and some games might not like it (especially some old ones). AMDs beat Nvidia by performance and value, the only reason you would pay extra for the nvidia cards is the full Physx support (pretty much prettier effects) which there would be a boost of performance against AMD. That being said, if you want your card to last for a long damn time i would recommend a 680, if you want the best bang for a buck get a 660Ti.

Yes, you can run it on 550w but I wouldn't. Under load and increased temperatures efficiency is decreased significantly. PSU failures(brownouts) are a much more common failure with the current gen of graphics cards. If you have a top notch 550w PSU with gold or platinum cert I wouldn't worry about running on a 550w but a sub $150 PSU I wouldn't trust to reliably push 550, hence my suggestion for upping the limit.

I TOTALLY agree with the single card philosophy and also really like the dual GPU cards like the 7990 and GTX 690. Power consumption is less and performance is nearly equal in most applications while avoiding the problems with SLI compatibility, heat, noise and space. As far as future proofing, I would say a 680 or 7870 should be the minimum option, either of those will give you 2 years of running ANYTHING that comes out pretty much at high settings with a single monitor. The 7990 and 690/Titan are projected to last 4-5 years(as a good card) but that may be optimistic.

[Jar of Jam]

I would recommend checking out Hardware Revolution. I've build my current gaming PC following their advice and I'm happy as can be.

[casserol]

New Intel's haswell processors come out in june, if you're not planning to buy right now skip the ivy bridge (i* 3***) and sandy bridge(i* i2***) families entirely ; the haswell ones are likely to be a the same price than the IB and SB are now.

Regarding the power supply, DO NOT OVERLOOK IT ! that's a very important part and one that looses the least value in time, while other components become "obsolete" faster.

600w should be pretty much enough,even overkill, for any "normal" rig(e.g. one graphic card, one processor), but take a quality one (corsair, antec, fortron, be quiet, flower power to name a few; an interesting article here : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913.html).

As a general rule aim for highest unrealistically possible load +33% , don't go too high as efficiency drops under 20% load and that is important as a lot of the power comsumption comes from the pc being idle or just doing basic internet and office stuff.