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Author Topic: Building my own computer  (Read 3397 times)

Mono124

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #15 on: July 19, 2013, 03:40:50 pm »

Related question: Can I do this for a laptop?
No, don't even try. Gaming laptops are terrible, and custom-making one would be more money than it's worth.

They usually all have the same problems. They overheat hot enough to the point you can cook eggs on it in a short time, the battery life is ridiculously low, and you're essentially paying a lot of money for a mediocre system when you could of used that money to get a top-end system.
While this IS true, if Chairman's situation is anything like mine where I need to have a portable computer, like to play games, and don't have enough money for a desktop and a laptop, you *can* find a good gaming laptop out there, it isn't impossible (but seriously, don't even try to custom build). You are going to end up spending a whole lot more time finding a decent gaming laptop than you will spend building a decent gaming desktop. A must have for any gaming laptop is something like Nvidia's Optimus, which turns off the GPU when you don't need it so your laptop lasts longer than an hour, and numerous hours of reviews between 2 or 3 laptops that are all virtually the same, except you find out that 1 or 2 or all of them have overheating issues. My current laptop afaik is a pretty good one considering I spent $700 and bought it in store when the model had just came out, and it never overheats (I sometimes play games with it sitting on my lap while I am laying in bed with the covers propped up around me, and it never goes over 80c). Stock battery life was shitty, 2 1/2 hours (and the battery was at 75% capacity when I bought the laptop due to improper storage -.-), but I bought a 9000 mah battery for it and it now lasts about 6 hours as long as I'm not gaming (and I'm not needing to game when I am using it in class), so plan on buying a new battery that has a higher capacity and storing your old one for emergencies (stick it as close to 0c as possible at 40% level and take it out once a month to make sure it stays at 40%). It isn't the most powerful gaming laptop by any means, but it runs everything at playable frames even if it looks a bit shitty. Overall I probably spent $860 on it after upgrading the ram and the battery. I couldn't spend $860 to get a portable machine and a gaming desktop that would work better than what I have.

More on topicish, pretty much everything in a desktop is important, right down to what compound you use for your heatsink. Without nitpicking, for gaming you probably want (assuming you are using 64bit) 8gb of *good* ram, because 8gb of good ram will go a long way versus 12 or 16 of crappy stuff (good meaning good clock speed and latency). GPU wise, consider possibly doing SLi or Crossfire (though I have heard crossfire causes stuttering like a madman), because you can spend the same amount as a great GPU and get more performance (though it will heat up more, and you will need a better PSU). Some games don't support SLi or Crossfire, or either though, so it might also be better to just have one great GPU. For CPU, I really can't add much because I am an Intel fanboy and everyone here seems AMD (personally I like AMD better, but I've been using laptops for a while and I can't find a good laptop that uses an AMD cpu), but for gaming, the latest i5 or AMD equivalent would probably be fine (either the one that has hd 4000 or hd4600 (even though you should never be using the integrated craphics). An i7 might seem like it will get you a whole lot more performance, but unless you commonly play games that use your CPU a lot, it won't really net you much visibly. PSU you want anywhere between 120% to 150% of what you think you are going to use, depending on if you are going to OC or not. If you plan on overclocking, make sure your case has plenty of cooling support, and buy better heatsinks than stock. There's more but I gotta go so I'll just leave this here.

edit:
I wasn't particularily thinking on a "pure" gaming laptop (albeit what I have in mind is buying one that can run some decent games at a good pace -eg: DF, C:DDA, Torchlight 2, Warband-). And I was wondering whether custom-buying it via PCBOX or simmilar services would be better (eg: cheaper) than getting a factory one. My idea was to spend about 600-700€.
Are you looking to play those at high graphic levels and good FPS, or slightly shitty graphics and good FPS?
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Bdthemag

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #16 on: July 19, 2013, 03:44:01 pm »

I'm just saying, why buy a cheap gaming laptop when you can buy a mid-spec gaming desktop? If you want a laptop that's cheap, and can run very low-spec games on the go, you can do this without buying from brands that label their products as gaming laptops. Just find a decent spec laptop for around 300-400, and you'd be surprised what games you can get to run decently on them.
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Mono124

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #17 on: July 19, 2013, 03:47:40 pm »

I'm just saying, why buy a cheap gaming laptop when you can buy a mid-spec gaming desktop? If you want a laptop that's cheap, and can run very low-spec games on the go, you can do this without buying from brands that label their products as gaming laptops. Just find a decent spec laptop for around 300-400, and you'd be surprised what games you can get to run decently on them.
I couldn't find a laptop for 300 or 400 that would play stuff like Metro Last Light, DayZ, Skyrim, or Planetside at 20-40 fps on lowest settings. I was originally going to spend $700-800 dollars on a desktop and get a laptop for class, but my computer classes *highly suggested* I had a slightly beefy laptop, so I just went laptop all the way.

edit: I'm not arguing that Gaming Laptop > Gaming Desktop, but if you need a laptop and don't have enough money for a laptop AND a gaming desktop, you can get a gaming laptop. If you can though, get a gaming desktop, because it really is that much better. If you can't though, there are options, but they are buried under the corpses of a thousand other failed laptops.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2013, 03:49:28 pm by Mono124 »
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Bdthemag

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #18 on: July 19, 2013, 03:52:06 pm »

I'm just saying, why buy a cheap gaming laptop when you can buy a mid-spec gaming desktop? If you want a laptop that's cheap, and can run very low-spec games on the go, you can do this without buying from brands that label their products as gaming laptops. Just find a decent spec laptop for around 300-400, and you'd be surprised what games you can get to run decently on them.
I couldn't find a laptop for 300 or 400 that would play stuff like Metro Last Light, DayZ, Skyrim, or Planetside at 20-40 fps on lowest settings. I was originally going to spend $700-800 dollars on a desktop and get a laptop for class, but my computer classes *highly suggested* I had a slightly beefy laptop, so I just went laptop all the way.
I'm not suggesting you can. I was more referring to Poo's post about wanting to play roguelike games, Torchlight, and Warband. Although both Skyrim and even DayZ can run on a computer at that price-range. I have a laptop around that price that could play DayZ at 20 FPS after a few tweaks here and there, and one that could run Skyrim pretty reliably since it's not exactly a high spec game.
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #19 on: July 19, 2013, 04:00:23 pm »

I'm just saying, why buy a cheap gaming laptop when you can buy a mid-spec gaming desktop? If you want a laptop that's cheap, and can run very low-spec games on the go, you can do this without buying from brands that label their products as gaming laptops. Just find a decent spec laptop for around 300-400, and you'd be surprised what games you can get to run decently on them.
I  have a pretty good desktop. I want a laptop because I'd like something better than my 5-years-old netbook that I can take along with me when I have to travel outside town. I was using the 600 tag because I saw one with an i3 processor and a Nvidia car moving around those prices. There were cheaper ones, but used Intel integrated graphic cards, which in my experience are a big no. I haven't checked it throughly tho, so maybe looking in specialized shops might result in a better price for those specs.
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Knight of Fools

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #20 on: July 19, 2013, 09:35:15 pm »

Integrated graphics are actually getting pretty good. I remember reading somewhere that they got Skyrim running on one at ~25 FPS. Sure, that really sucks, but it's cheaper than getting a GPU and faster than without integrated graphics at all. They're great for portable electronics, but the only reason you wouldn't want one is because you have a dedicated GPU, in which case, yeah, don't worry about the integrated graphics at all.

Honestly, if you want a gaming laptop that runs modern triple-A games at decent frame rates and settings, you're going to have to drop a pretty penny and it's not even going to compare to a halfway decent gaming PC. If you have a tight budget you'd be better off saving for a tower and using a cheaper laptop, or even a net book, for work or creative pursuits.

One thing I'm excited about for laptops is when SSDs become more common in them. I hate the boot up times on laptops.
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #21 on: July 21, 2013, 05:12:45 am »

I've had bad experiences with netbook integrated graphic cards (incompatibilities, etc...). I think I can get a decent computer with a decent graphics card for around 600-700€ (which would be around 900$). I'm willing to go over that if necessary, but I'd rather stay under 1000€, mostly for my internal accounting, meaning it'd not leave me bankrupt but I begin to get a queasy feeling after I spend beyond a certain % of my monthly earnings.
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Darkmere

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #22 on: July 22, 2013, 10:17:31 pm »

Everything ever has complaints, because the majority of people who got theirs and never had a problem didn't see the need to say anything. You'll want to check the 3 and 4 star reviews to get an accurate picture, as it seems to me 5-stars get flooded out with people who literally just turned on X and it seems to work, so it's completely flawless and amazing.
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jaass

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #23 on: July 22, 2013, 11:22:54 pm »

Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($117.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard:  Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX  AM3+ Motherboard  ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($254.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case:  NZXT Tempest 210 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($47.06 @ Amazon)
Power Supply:  XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:  Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $702.10

____

I would generally go for intel if you can afford and drop that CD drive if you don't want it.

edit: you can use this as an example.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 11:26:42 pm by jaass »
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Tellemurius

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #24 on: July 25, 2013, 01:34:23 am »

Serving as both a bump and a question:

For an intel CPU that is, AFAIK, the same as the AMD one (This one), the price is a LOT higher, and I'm wondering what advantages an intel core has to the AMD one?
extremely Higher single thread performance

jaass

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2013, 11:10:19 am »

Don't go for the i7 you won't see much improvement I would just go for the i5-3570K.

Does newegg do UK delivery, and what is the pricing if they do?
Don't know they have customer support for a reason.
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jaass

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #26 on: July 25, 2013, 11:18:54 am »

Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard:  ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX  LGA1150 Motherboard  ($160.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($59.98 @ NCIX)
Storage:  Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($104.99 @ NCIX)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($67.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card:  Zotac GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card  ($259.00 @ Canada Computers)
Case:  BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply:  XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($47.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive:  Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($16.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $986.48
______

You can drop the solid state  if you don't want faster boot times and put it into a better CPU or GPU.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2013, 11:28:46 am by jaass »
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2013, 12:45:17 pm »

This is for a laptop, or is it for a desktop?
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jaass

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2013, 01:01:36 pm »

This is for a laptop, or is it for a desktop?
Desktop.
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Tellemurius

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Re: Building my own computer
« Reply #29 on: July 25, 2013, 02:42:00 pm »

Serving as both a bump and a question:

For an intel CPU that is, AFAIK, the same as the AMD one (This one), the price is a LOT higher, and I'm wondering what advantages an intel core has to the AMD one?
extremely Higher single thread performance
Righty then.

I think I'll make some new accounts on some sites, then I'll go and order my parts!

EDIT: and a problem cropped up.

Does newegg do UK delivery, and what is the pricing if they do?
For UK i recommend buying from Overclockers UK
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