Help Build Computer - CLACK CLACK CLACK

[Nacey]

Introduction

It's the new Help Build Computer thread, ready to get you up and running for Mists of Pandaria, Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2 and whatever other terrible games you waste your life on.

The point of this thread is to serve as a parts picking and buying guide for those looking to build a computer for gaming use. More on that in the next post.

[Nacey]

Questions and General Stuff

Can I buy a pre-built machine instead?

You can sometimes find pre-built computers at a good price, but usually you won't, and/or they will have low quality parts included. Large volume manufactureres like Dell generally use cheap PSUs at least, and the included graphics cards will be low-end and largely worthless for gaming. If you are on an extremely tight budget it can sometimes working out reasoably if you buy a cheap pre-built machine and replacing the PSU and GPU, but generally that is not the case and in the OPs I will only talk about building for yourself. Feel free to link a prebuilt machine here if you want someone to check it over for quality/value but be prepared to be told that you shouldn't buy it since that will nearly always be the correct advice.

Why should I build my own machine?

Building a machine yourself is the best way to get the computer that suits your needs and fits your budget and it will works out cheaper than buying an equivalent pre-built gaming machine. You can also learn something in the process about how your PC works!

How do I actually build it?

It's pretty easy to do and I'm sure people will help you out if you need it. You can ask any questions you have in the thread or grab me on Steam/Voice/Hangouts some time. I successfully talked Loz throguh the process which pretty much means that anyone can do it! There are videos and guides around but it will depend on your current level as to what is the most useful. Ask me about it if you're unsure.

Can you build it for me?

Yes, if you have a way to get the completed machine from my house to wherever you want it (that means someone collects it), I will put your machine together in exchange for delicious apple-based alcohols. I can also come over and help out if you're anywhere nearby. I actually enjoy this shit.

Where should I order from?

This varies over time. I used to use Ebuyer for nearly all my component purchasing but these days I'm mostly using Scan and Amazon. Shop around for the best prices. There is a list of recommended vendors near the bottom of these posts. Note that I mostly don't bother adding the actual product links here (because I am lazy) but I'm sure you're all capable of searching for this stuff. Ask in the thread if you can't find something.

I have an Amazon Prime subscription and can order you stuff next-day to wherever you want in exchange for you bank transferring me the cash.

How much should I spend?

This doesn't have a single answer and really it depends how much you want to spend. If you aim to buy hardware which sits at the optimum point for price vs. performance you will probably spend around £700 on a base unit (excluding OS, monitor, and other peripherals). But it is quite possible to build a PC on any budget and I've done builds on budgets from £300 to £1500. Make sure to mention your budget when asking for advice.

What do all these model and performance numbers mean?

Model names and numbers are meaningless and should be totally ignored for all purposes except identifying which product you are buying. Other numbers (speeds, sizes, etc.) are frequently meaningless or impacted by manufacturer bias to the point that you shouldn't trust them. Basically the model numbers are listed here so that you know which product to buy, you shouldn't interpolate or guess about whether something else is better/worse than it without asking in the thread first. This is especially true for graphics cards!

Other questions?

Ask in the thread!

[Nacey]

Quick Builds

Here are three nice builds to get you started, these use popular and readily available parts and are guaranteed compatible. You can use these as they are, or treat them as a starting point. For all of these builds you'll need to add add a case and an OS, plus any additional drives and peripherals as required. I don't list all this stuff individually any more because it takes too much time to keep it updated. As always, ask in the thread and we can help.

Where no specific brand/model is listed, just find something from a reputable manufacturer which matches the description. You can mix and match parts here, with a little bit of care. In simple terms, keep the CPU and motherboard from a single build, and pick the PSU from the highest build that you take parts from. You can also pick whatever sizes you want for these SSDs / HDDs, these are just examples. As always, ask in the thread for more specific advice.

I might actually update these properly one day. Yell at me in the thread if I didn't do it yet.

High Performance Gaming
(If you don't want to overclock the CPU, don't buy this.)
CPU: Intel i5 7600K
Mobo: <Needs updating>
RAM: <Needs updating>
Graphics: GeForce GTX 1070
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
HDD: <Needs updating>
PSU: <Needs updating>

Sweet Spot Gaming
CPU: Intel i5 7500
Mobo: <Needs updating>
RAM: <Needs updating>
Graphics: <Needs updating>
SSD: <Needs updating>
HDD: <Needs updating>
PSU: <Needs updating>

Penniless Student Gaming
CPU: Intel i3 3750K
Mobo: <Needs updating>
RAM: <Needs updating>
Graphics: <Needs updating>
HDD: <Needs updating>
PSU: <Needs updating>

[Nacey]

Keeping a couple of posts in case I need them later.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Nacey

[Nacey]

Keeping a couple of posts in case I need them later.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Nacey

[Largi]

Awesome, can I have a MLP avatar?

[Tiran]

No, only I may have Rainbow Dash avatars on this forum.

[Nacey]

Brilliant, I managed to pick the same horse as the only god damn brony on the forum. Changed since I don't want to cause some kind of pony war.

Thread off to a good start .

[NATO]

what's the UK release date for ivy bridge? Also what's the likelihood that their release will push down sandy bridge prices?

[Nacey]

Yesterday

If you're actually buying, the one you want is the i5 3570K.

Intel do not lower previous generation chip prices when they release new ones so the old prices won't change. You may find individual stores looking to shift stock but I haven't really seen that happening.

[Sharp]

It's the new Help Build Computer thread, ready to get you up adn running for Mists of Pandaria

Thread has lost all credibility.

The End.

[Largi]

There was a red post at the top warning if you posted before the thread was ready you'ld get a MLP

I just wanted to see if Todd was bluffing.

[Nacey]

It's the new Help Build Computer thread, ready to get you up adn running for Mists of Pandaria

Thread has lost all credibility.

The End.

Don't worry, thread will be losing all posts too.

[Largi]

Construct faster!

[Nacey]

So impatient. Are you interested in something specific? I'm mostly waiting for Ivy Bridge stock and prices to settle.

[Largi]

Looking at what I can build for about £600 in a month or 2 (No OS, No Peripherals)

And also my GF's 15 year old brother is looking at upgrading his current PC, i'm convinced he's better off with a rebuild so looking at bits for him too.

[Nacey]

While I get stuff up (yes I am writing it, just not writing it here), the new quick build will be something like:

Intel i5 3550 / 3570K (depending if you want to overclock)

Asus Z77 (cheapest one that has the things you want)

8GB RAM (Corsair/Crucial/Kingston, 1333 or 1600, any latencies)

And then graphics to suit your budget. New nVidia cards in the next week or two will shake up the mid-market prices.

[Nacey]

Holy shit I wrote one section, go me.

[Nacey]

At this rate the thread will be done by Christmas, just in time for your Christmas requests, see how excellent I am at planning for you all?

[NATO]

Can't wait till Christmas, has money now.

3550

Asus p8h77

8gb crucial 1333mhz

600w corsair

Antec 300

A Samsung DVDRW

£398.42, which I think is quite good.

I am taking HDs and GFX (HD 5770 1gb) from old machine. A little unsure on the ram manufacturer, my other plan for ram; also unsure on 600w PSU since I have no plan to case disco.

EDIT: stupid formatting

Edited June 10, 2012 by NATO

[Nacey]

If you plan to keep the 5770 you can definitely cut back on the PSU, ~500w would be plenty. Mmost of the Corsair Builder Series (CX) units are horrible rebranded junk, I believe that currently applies to everything except the CX 650W V2 but I've lost track a little. I'm not sure you'll actually save much money but you can get a better quality unit with lower watage. Ebuyer has a crappy choice right now, I posted on SA about it for you so I'll post back with opinions later. My initial thoughts is maybe a GS500:

http://www.ebuyer.co...u-cp-9020005-uk

RAM manufacturer (I wrote the RAM post the other day and my PC crashed ) doesn't matter between the main players (Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, G-Skill) and 1333/1600 value stuff is all you need, what you have there is perfect and the Corsair stuff is identical so just take the cheaper one.

Edit: However, for £10 more you can get a 3570K. Given that overclocking now consists of changing one value in the BIOS, it's really worth considering. You didn't link the mobo properly so I'm not sure how much it would cost you overall. But consider that you'd probably get an extra 500MHz out of it on the stock cooler, maybe more.

[NATO]

I'd be keeping the 5770 for now, eventually upgrading to something better but not for another 6/12 months probably. http://www.ebuyer.co...s-550-acaae3-uk looked decent to me. I currently have a x-power 580w ... which I don't trust. It's also about 3 years old now, never had any issues with it but as I say, I do not trust it.

Not sure what to think of things like http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/PSUEngine, but this one puts my new system at 304w, or if I stick a GTX 690 in it jumps up to 519w ... not that I'd be upgrading to a 690.

Edited June 10, 2012 by NATO

[Nacey]

That CM is pretty mediocre. CM seem to have gone downhill recently, all their stuff is OEMed so it's all about who they rebrand. Ebuyer currently stocks a bunch of cheap shit and the odd okayish things, I'm struggling to be honest, all the good stuff is out of stock even on Scan and Amazon.

The Antec HCGs are supposed to be pretty good for budget parts:

http://www.ebuyer.com/245670-antec-400w-high-current-gamer-psu-0761345-06201-5

If you're going to pay more the only thing I'd look for is a Seasonic S12II but those are mostly out of stock.

Edit: Saverstore have one, used to buy all my parts from this site back when it was watford.co.uk, prices not as good these days but still reputable.

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20075232/7725665/Seasonic-S12II-430-Bronze-430W-20-24pin-ATX-PC-Power-Supply

[NATO]

You think it's worth boosting the wattage just for a quality boost? I can spend a little more if it's worth the quality. As I said I will want to upgrade my graphics card at some point, and would rather not replace my PSU at the same time. Stretching to something like http://www.ebuyer.com/257232-corsair-tx-650w-v2-psu-80plus-bronze-certified-cmpsu-650txv2uk wouldn't be too bad, it's only £10 more and definably gives me the room to not have to worry about worry about power in the future, from what I can see reviews seem positive. The question is, would that be completely over the top and unnecessary? As I said, I want to keep upgrading in mind.

[Nacey]

Oh the TX V2 is back, nice. Yeah, take that, it's a nice (Seasonic OEM I believe) unit and gives you plenty of headroom for a GPU upgrade later. It's definitely more than you need right now but it isn't crazy overkill considering a future upgrade.