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[JoshuaFH]

Alright, so my begrudgingly spendthrifty self has, over the course of the year + Christmas Sale, accrued a number of games that my laptop struggles to run.

And hell, most of the time I'm just playing Team Fortress 2 at the lowest possible config I can manage, and still getting wildly inconsistent FPS from 10-30, erring on the lower end when anything involving actual action is happening. When things really heat up though, I might as well be reading the next TF2 comic with how it's slide showing on me.

So I guess it's time to finally put my money where my mouth is, and actually get a rig that can run Surgeon Simulator 2013 at better than 10 frames/second.

I have a decent budget. I can easily afford to buy something in the 700-800 dollar range, maybe a bit more, and I'm told that that's enough to actually get a powerful rig, though it'll be a doitmyself affair.

I just need to know where to even start, so I'm asking for legitimate help here. Of course, I'll dearly appreciate it.

[lordcooper]

Your quest starts here.

[JoshuaFH]

Sweet Jesus, I didn't know a website like that existed.

[nenjin]

Wow, that is a handy site.

[Tellemurius]

Im going to have to note this one down. Looks spiffy.

[JoshuaFH]

After musing for a couple days now, I'm guessing I'll go for something along the 'fair' line of price. I don't play any graphically intense games, so I'm thinking that'll do me good for a long time.

[JoshuaFH]

Ok I'll admit, even after staring down several guides on computer construction, I'm still extremely nervous on actually going through with purchasing any of the components. I'm just so paranoid that I'll have overlooked something or made a mistake somewhere.

[Moogie]

Post the whole set you've chosen here and we can point out anything you may have missed.

[nenjin]

Order it from somewhere with a good RMA Policy, like Newegg. So you can return/replace incompatible parts without a hassle.

[Tellemurius]

Amazon is very easy on RMAs also.

[wierd]

Agreed. It also helps (If you have no experience assembling a modular PC build) to make a checklist for use during assembly, to double check your work against at each stage in that process.  This helps alleviate the anxiety and uncertainty that can come from a first time build, as it nips the "Did I do something wrong!? I dont know!" thoughts in the bud before they can even take root.

If you want to produce such a checklist, there are many experienced system builders here that can help you make a very comprehensive one.

[JoshuaFH]

Well, the item list is basically just the top bracket of everything in the fair tier. I repeat that sentence back to myself and it sounds stupid, but I'm just going with it cause it's hard to make an informed decision on stuff I know next to nothing about besides what product reviews I've read. Without a guide like this, I'm not sure which parts would arbitrarily be incompatible with any other part.

But anyways, it goes like this, from how I understand it:

The GPU that'll actually be doing the game part of the gaming rig.

The thing that'll be the main thinking brain part.

The motherboard where you hook up all the parts too.

The ram, that'll give it thinking room.

The harddrive to let it remember all the crap I put on it.

The Power supply, for the electricity.

There's the case to put it all in, but the case for that tier is sold out, so I'm not sure to go One tier higher or One tier lower.

But then, of course, it doesn't end there, it needs an operation system and I've grown fond of windows 7.

Then of course I'll need something to actually read the disk.

Lets not forget a monitor, and I'd like one that's comfortably big like this one. Bigger than my 15 inch laptop screen.

Then if I'm actually going to be gaming online, I'll need an actual microphone. I've just been leeching on my laptop's built-in mic so far.

I'd be embarrassed if I forgot a keyboard. The only reason I'd want a mini keyboard here, is that my desk has very finite real estate. My lappy keyboard is propped up on the top portion, while my mouse and pad are on a sliding shelf underneath. I'd like to finally place the keyboard right next to the mouse where it belongs, but a normal sized one clearly would never fit...

And while it's definitely the most optional piece of equipment, a new mouse meant for precise movement wouldn't hurt. Though I'm distraught in that I've been using a mini nano mouse, about half the size of a regular mouse, for three years now and I've grown very accustomed to it.

Doing some fast mental calculation, that's around $780-800 depending on which case I went with, not counting the fancy mouse. I could definitely shave off about a hundred if I wanted to be legally dubious and use a cracked copy of windows, but that's an if that I'm not sure is even appropriate to discuss here.

But all in all. I think that's everything, unless I need to get supplementary construction stuff like thermal paste, which is an item I hear throw around sometimes in the tutorials but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

[lordcooper]

Hold up, I'll see if I can save you any money on this.

[lordcooper]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  AMD Athlon II X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard:  MSI FM2-A85XA-G43 ATX FM2 Motherboard  ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($46.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:  Asus Radeon HD 7790 2GB Video Card  ($129.50 @ Newegg)
Case:  Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($58.86 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply:  Silverstone Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:  Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($16.99 @ Microcenter)
Monitor:  Asus VS229H-P 21.5" Monitor  ($147.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $693.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-07 19:01 EST-0500)

I left out the peripherals because I know next to nothing about the cheaper ones.  Pick up an OS from http://www.reddit.com/r/softwareswap/ for about $25.  They're mostly legit and I've bought 11 here with no issues, but it's at your own risk.  I went with a slightly more expensive monitor because I wouldn't wish a TN on my worst enemy.

[JoshuaFH]

Alright, thanks alot LordCooper. I guess I'll stop panzying about and actually buy the goods now.

I mean, I don't know what you got against that particular monitor, but I'll go with your advice on this one.