Help me build my new PC u nerds!

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Stranger
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Post by Stranger »

Now that my wedding is over i can finally build my new PC! I would like some input from you PC guys on what you think is best to buy.

-Like AMD vs. Intel
-what kind of graphics card or what specs i should be looking for.
-Motherboard features
-power supply size (as an electronics guy i know how important a good power supply is, and i see alot of these DIY kits have 500W supplies, seems kinda low to me)
-quad core, eight core? CPU speed? overclocking (do i need to be concerned with this)

Basically i have a pretty good general idea of alot of these things but im looking for some good inside info some of you guys might have. I have seen some nice AMD barebones kits on tigerdirect for pretty cheap. Here is what i was initally looking at and this price range seems to be pretty good to me. So any info you all can give would be much apreciated. Help me get into the PC gaming universe so i can be up to date with all you dudes!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica....tId=332
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GORDON
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Post by GORDON »

Last time I did Tiger Direct, they were charging me state tax.

newegg.com, last time I bought from them, did not charge state tax in Ohio.
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Post by GORDON »

Also, go get a copy of "PC Gamer" magazine. Every month they spec out a great gaming rig for less than $1500, and it will be even less if you already have mouse/keyboard/monitor.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012....nd-more
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Post by Malcolm »

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Post by Stranger »

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica....69-1412

Well i did it. I bought this one. I decided that Intel was the way to go (I5 3570k). I've been reading that the ivy bridge is the best choice right now. Not really sure what that means but i went with it.
motherboard will be fine, it has all the ports i need and room to expand. 650W PSU will be more than enough for expansion also.

I'm going to buy the video card separate cause there are so many options and prices out there for that. Im leaning towards a GeForce 660 with 2GB of DDR5, prices out at $229.

So im thinking not a bad start into the PC gaming world. Now i don't have to hear all the shit talking about my Mac anymore.
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Post by TPRJones »

Depending on what video card you end up going with, you might have to replace that 650W power supply. Especially if you intend to do anything with that crossfire support.

Otherwise it looks like a good base to build on.
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Post by Stranger »

if i ever end up getting a second graphics card i would definetly consider this, but im just gonna start with one for now. And that supply has a lifetime warranty so if i have problems at least im covered.
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Post by GORDON »

I only have one graphics card. I like having two monitors.... dont know if that still applies.
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Post by Stranger »

Do any of you IT guys have access to Windows 7? like a free copy or something? I don't really wanna put Vista 32 bit on my new computer.



Edited By Stranger on 1350414715
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Post by Leisher »

It's possible I could have a copy. 32 or 64 bit?

Also, you mentioned that Cake might get them cheap?
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Post by Stranger »

64 bit please.. lemme know
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Post by Cakedaddy »

Get what cheap? Win 7? No. But Microcenter is VERY competitive with Newegg prices. Even after tax, they are cheaper on many parts than Newegg. Especially CPUs and motherboards. They sell the CPUs at around $50 less, and then they give you an additional $50 off motherboards when bought at the same time.

The only problem with a lifetime warranty on a power supply is that yes, you will get a new PS if that one dies. However, they do NOT replace your motherboard, hard drives, etc if it takes them with it! Which happened to me once. I used to buy some pretty shitty power supplies though. Now it's name brand only.

Video cards. . . don't assume the higher number (660) is the faster card. It's not uncommon for 570s to out perform 660s, and stuff like that. In fact, the chart I'm looking at shows just that. And the $570, according to this site, is at the same price point. Might use less power and stuff being one generation behind. However, make sure the 570 supports all the stuff you want (DX 11, PhysX, CUDA, etc, which are words I'm pulling off of nVidia's website). So, the 660 might be slower than the 570 in FPS, but might add some new shader technology that makes things look way better. I didn't do a lot of research myself because I knew I was buying a current generation GPU which came with a free copy of BL2.

I upgraded from two 260 GTX cards in SLI to the 670 GTX FTW edition. League of Legends looked exactly the same. I got ripped off. . .
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Post by Stranger »

I have done quite a bit of research since yesterday on the video cards out there. I really like the GeForce GTX 660 for $220. good price range for me and competes really well with similar cards. That 670 is really nice, but a little outside of the price range im looking at.

League prolly wouldn't look any better for you cause its not really a high end graphics game. im sure you already had all the graphics set to max. Now for me its gonna be like im in a whole new world. I've been playing with every setting on low and my screen res was only at 1200 x 800 or something like that. and i was still only getting about 20 fps!!
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Post by TPRJones »

I've got the GeForce 560 2GB OC and it is plenty good enough. I haven't found anything yet that it doesn't do well at full settings.
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Post by Stranger »

My PC arrived yesterday and i spent the evening putting that together. It was a pretty simple task but there are so many cables that come off of the power supply that it really clutters up the inside. It woulda been nice to have one that you use just the cables that you need, but its the one that came with the bundle so i'll just have to tuck them away the best i can.

After all that was done it was time to power it up. I must say this was where i double and triple checked all the connections just to be sure i wasn't sending the wrong voltage to the wrong places. Although its pretty much dummy proof, i still wanted to be sure. Everything booted up just fine and all the fans were running.

The thing that i wasn't expecting was next. Maybe its nothing new anymore but when the bios came up it was all in 3D. It was a picture of the motherboard and all the components on it. I could use the mouse to point at the CPU, RAM, PCI, ect. and click on them to change all the parameters. Clicking on the CPU would tell me the temp, fan speed, MHz, and all sorts of other things. It would be a breeze to overclock this thing if i wanted to. I will not be doing that unless i buy a new CPU fan. I thought that it was a cool feature that made it really easy to set things up the way you would like. And if your a fan of the traditional bios setup all you have to do is press F1.

So now all i need is an OS and ill be up and running. I will be ordering my GTX 660 sometime withing the next few days. So far im happy, all the components were recongized and working fine. So far no need to RMA anything (crosses fingers)
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Post by Leisher »

I'll ask Cake today if he can get them cheap. If not, I could magically make one appear for you as soon as tonight.
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Post by Stranger »

umm yeah!! make it happen my man. thanks
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