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verno71

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Jul 9, 2013
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I want to build a gaming PC, but I have no idea where to start, so google brought me here. Do you have any suggestions/tips to learn how to learn this process? I see people coming in here and asking for a gaming PC build for $xxxx. I could do that, but I would have no idea if the recommendations were sound.

For example, here a few questions that I don't know the answers to...
1. AMD or Intel for a gaming PC
2. What's the difference between i5 and i7
3. Which graphics card should I purchase for Diablo 3, Neverwinter, Path of Exile or any other AARPG game.
4. Which case? Why are there so many cases?
5. Can my machine use all of 8 GB of ram? I see people getting 16 GB and people calling them stupid.
6. Do I need more than the stock cooling fans in the case? Does a cooling fan come with the CPU/motherboard or do I have to buy it separately?
7. Is an SSD needed? If it's only 125GB, what do I install on it? Just games, certain files of games or just Win 7?
8. It looks like there are multiple companies that make the same video cards. Everyone says theirs is the best. Does it really matter?
9. Finally, should I just go buy an Alienware from Dell? Would it just save me a lot of time/money/heart ache?

Thank you in advance
 
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Consider this: You've just pointed out that you'd have no idea if our recommendations were sound, then asked for advice. Thus, you're asking for advice you can't verify, which will in turn be used to verify our advice. Seems a tad circular, don't you think? 😛
In all seriousness, if the person advising you has a decent number of little badges (such as Gaming Expert, Graphics Authority, etc.), you can general trust that they're experienced and that they give good advice.

Now, to address your questions:
1: At a lower budget it would vary, at a high budget always Intel. The i5-4670k is the best gaming CPU there is, right now.
2: Varies by the specific i5 and i7, but if you mean the i5-4670k and i7-4770k, pretty much nothing except hyper-threading.
3: Probably a pretty weak one. Those sorts of games have very low requirements, though if you even intended to play games with higher requirements, you might get a stronger GPU (though that would depend, of course, on budget).
4: It varies. And there are so many because it varies. Some cases are quiet, some cases are very good for cooling, some cases look very nice, some cases are cheap, some cases are good for mounting radiators for water-cooling, some cases are combinations of some of the above elements...
5: When you're gaming, no. If you're doing things like video editing, yes. 8GB is all you need for gaming, but for editing and some other applications 16+ is justifiable.
6: Varies by case. On a good case, usually no. You get a stock cooler, but if you want to overclock (or you live in a very hot place) you'd want to replace it with a stronger aftermarket cooler.
7: SSDs are never needed but always nice. They essentially eliminate load times, and are thus usually used to store OS, applications, and games with longer loading times. Additionally, SSDs come in sizes from >40GB all the way up to 512GB or more, 120-128 is just the most efficient in most cases.
8: Everyone says their brand is best because (assuming they're informed folks) it was the same information that lead them to believe that which lead them to purchase those cards. Brand does very much matter, as different brands have different warranties, coolers, printed circuit boards, and often times different reliability. Good names include ASUS, EVGA, Sapphire, and Gigabyte.
9: NOOOOOO! Well, perhaps, but you're going to be essentially burning money if you do. It would essentially depend on how much energy and time you're willing to invest in saving money and getting better quality. If you get a build from this forum (from a trustworthy source, of course), order and assemble the parts yourself, and do it correctly, you will not only save a huge amount of money, you'll end up with a much higher-quality end result (prebuilt PC brands scrimp on everything they can, particularly "invisible" parts like motherboards, power supplies, and storage), not to mention a feeling of satisfaction and a much greater degree of understanding of your system.

Hope this was helpful. :)
 
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Solution
D'aww somebody beat, me!
1. This will differ from person to person, but generally intel has better performance, depending on which chips your comparing.
2. i7 has hyperthreading which isn't useful for gaming
3. Those aren't overly demanding games so I'd say amd7850-7870 or nvidia650 ti-660/760
4.For cases you have decide what you want. If you want a small computer go microatx or M-ITX, if you want normal go mid-atx, if you want large go full tower. Theres so many because there's a lot of different setups to account for, plus competition.
5.Depending on what your running it could. 16 GB is usually a for gaming because games don't use that much, nor do normal programs on win 7.
6.If you plan on overclocking yes you will need something better. Even if you don't plan on overclocking it's usually a good idea to do, since those heatsinks aren't very...good.
7.SSDs aren't needed but they do increase loading speeds by quite a bit. But if don't have the money just stick with a HDD (sdds aren't usually big enough to hold everything so usually people will have an SDD boot drive and another HDD for storage).
8.The differences are usually clock speeds, cooling solutions, and the video inputs on the back. I'd research comparisons for this. It matters if you want the best performance out of your card.
9. Alienware is generally more expensive than building it yourself. Building may be tough looking at first, but if you follow directions it can be done. I would simply recommend that you look into how to apply thermal paste onto your cpu since this is usually a speed bump for people.
 
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-amd for budget builds, intel for higher end builds. but it also depends on what other tasks you are doing besides gaming. budget is a main factor
-i7 for work and games, and i5 for games. there is no performance difference if you are gaming but there is a 35% difference in multi-threaded work
-your games arent demanding and in general, you dont need a expensive build nor a expensive graphics card. if you are only playing those games, overclocking ready rigs are totally unnecessary
-depends on your budget. there are so many cases because companies can make them.
-for gaming, you want 8. for video work, you want 16 or even up to 32.
-stock cooler is only good for locked chips and stock speeds. anything higher it will fail on you. comes with the CPU
-depends on your budget. anything above 800 should have a SSD. the OS, games, and apps go on the SSD
-yes it does matter. there are reference designed cards which tend to suck and there are aftermarket
cards with custom pcbs and custom coolers. some pcbs are better than others and some coolers are better and quieter than others
-if you go to ailenware, it would be no different than a big box store machine: a total scam

what would be smart of you would be using the build template located at the top of the forum section or in my signature in the right hand bottom corner of my post. fill it out, and we should get cracking at your rigs and needs
 
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You can also either do your own $XXX build, or copy someone's. Post it here and you should be able to get a general consensus. When you have lots of people saying don't buy a 5400RPM drive for your OS, or you need a better PSU, then you know the advice is sound. The biggest problem you are going to have is half of people saying go Intel over AMD, or AMD over Nvidia. This is a hard one that I wish I had an answer for.

FYI, cases are a personal thing. What I think is great others think are hideous. Buy one YOU think looks good.
 
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@ jack - I deserved that. Thank you for putting me in my place. :)

It appears to me the best way for me to learn is post my noob questions here. Thanks to everyone who answered. By the way, should Mod answers be trusted? I have found that in gaming forums, mods can't always be trusted. I am guessing it might be a little different here

And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who responded, this seems like a very friendly environment.
 
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That's what you get for asking fallacious questions when there are philosophy majors around. 😛

Posting noob questions is a good way to stop being a noob, in my experience (and believe me, I've been in your shoes).

The mods around here are quite trustworthy, even though the two in this chat appear to be an animate toilet and a Canadian. I've found the mods on this forum to be eternally helpful, extremely experienced, and generally excellent chaps.
 
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WHAT? YOU DON'T TRUST ME AUTOMATICALLY?!?!?!? Kidding.

This one is kinda tricky. I would normally say no as we are really just people to so we can have bad days where we aren't as sharp and on top of things like normal. But I know there is sort of a "review process" on this forum where they watch you to see what kind of person you are and if you would make a good mod. They don't "promote" people to mod if they give out wrong/bad answers. You might want to give them a bit more weight, or use their posts for any "tie breaking" issues. But normally I would say we are just people. And I personally believe we normally go with/suggest the same things as others.

Edit:
this seems like a very friendly environment.
Click to expand...

We are normally very friendly to new users. It's not until you stick around for awhile that we start to pick on you. 😛 (half tease...)

Edit 2: Jack, I can surf in my bathroom way faster then you can. HA!
 
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But of course.

OP, should you want a build suggestion (or even just an idea of what we would recommend at a given price bracket), we're waiting in the wings.
 
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I spent the last two hours trying to build a set around some of the recommendations above and I admit, I am completely lost. The motherboard was the 2nd item to pick, and I was completely overwhelmed. LOL. So I am looking for a PC for ~$1100. It will be used for gaming, web surfing and MSOffice 2010.

i5-4670k seemed like a good place to start
8 MB Ram
1 TB HD (not concerned about SSD at this point)

Any help is greatly appreciated. Oh, and I have no problem with you guys hijacking the thread. I feel honored that you guys are offering so much help!!!
 
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I went into the system forum and stole a build from Manofchalk. Thanks buddy.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.97 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $891.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-09 11:41 EDT-0400)

This should be a good start and can be tweaked as needed. You said around $1100, so this $900 build leaves room to buy a copy of windows or a monitor, etc.
 
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This would be my suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Performance ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($112.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($403.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black/Orange) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1073.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-09 17:03 EDT-0400)

Note: I assumed that you had an OS, monitor, and peripherals. If this is incorrect, I can revise the build. As it currently stands, it has a more powerful CPU and GPU than the other suggestion, as well as a faster SSD.
 
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Guys, I can't thank you enough. It is cool to see this much help for someone who may have no business trying to build a computer. I will make sure I am wearing socks and building the computer on the carpet in the middle of the living room. :)
 
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Oh god, Christmas gift shaking... why did we ever think that was a good idea, when we were kids?

In all seriousness, OP, you might consider getting an antistatic wristband. You don't need one, per se, so long as you take the appropriate antistatic measures, but they're quite cheap and, in my opinion, worthwhile for the peace of mind.
 
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Not a bad build, overall, but you're very much under-investing in your GPU. GPU is the single most important element of a gaming PC, and for a build with this budget I would generally settle for nothing less than a GTX 760, like so:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($193.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.13 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($356.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1116.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-10 11:55 EDT-0400)

You can get the whole parts list by clicking the BBCode Markup button, which is right above the Remove All button. Make sure to select "Your preferred merchant list", otherwise it will always try to include the walk-in only deals from Microcenter.

Edit: Build tweaked somewhat.
 
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this is better
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1dNCz

-no reason to get the 4670 when its barely any faster than the 4430 for much less
-its a h87 board. you dont need anything fancy
-the ram can be price matched for 54.99 at us.ncix. save yourself the 7 bucks
-better SSD
-better GPU
-you dont need a mid tower for a matx board but for yours, there are still better options than the 410
-no reason to get windows 7 pro. you arent going to use more than 16gb anyways
 
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- Dubious. The 4670 is a stronger CPU, though I agree that a better GPU is more worthwhile.
- The Performance was discounted to be level with my standard H87 pick (the ASRock Pro4) when purchased with the 4670
- Good find.
- That's a bit dubious. It has a much lower write speed, though it is cheaper.
- Can't argue with that. The 7970 is a great GPU.
- Why go for mATX when you could get ATX? Also, what mid tower would you recommend over the 410?
- Good call. I was editing OP's build, and completely missed that it had Win7 Pro in there
 
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to be honest, most people in general will use only one video card and maybe a wifi card. If you were to be sure to use 2 video cards,then a atx board would make sense but otherwise i see no reason to get atx if all you are doing is putting a single card in the rig
 
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