Need helping building / Buying a PC.

Nocturnalx36

Honorable
Nov 25, 2013
6
0
10,510
I am currently looking at new PC's to get around Christmas. I built one a year or so ago, but the parts I bought were released a couple years earlier. And the build was essentially a O CRAP my Mobo just died, better rebuild my PC for 500$ on Black Friday! So my question is, with most pre-built PC's being purely AMD or Intel setups. Which is better for price / gaming? And also, if building a PC is a better option, it would be extremely appreciated if someone could tell me what parts are really good gaming parts. The budget for said gaming PC would likely be between 1500-2000$.

Also it is worthy to note i am not a huge fan of overclocking / liquid cooling as i dont know what i am doing with either..
 
Edit: sorry for incoming wall of text!

that is one hefty budget and you will be able to get a good PC no matter what path you take.

that being said, most people here will say that building your own is the way to go, not surprising as Tom's Hardware is a computer hardware enthusiast site after all, and most of the time it is true, the labor costs are important to many people and is a part that is easily saved (by building your own)

HOWEVER, I do recommend that you look at certain coupon/deal sites and browse their forums for a while (somewhere like slickdeals.net or something), once in a while you'll find a hefty coupon for a nice pre-built Dell or HP or some other computer retailer. For example, a few weeks ago there was a coupon for 30% off any Dell/Alienware refurbished computer above $800, which is absolutely amazing in terms of value, a builder cannot beat that price without waiting a few months in between parts to get the best deals, I'm not sure if a builder can beat it at all actually.

Another option is custom gaming PC sites such as IBuyPower or CyberPowerPC, but for these sites, unlike Dell or HP, they will unlikely to ever offer you a coupon deal or hefty discounts, since they only sells PCs and accessories essentially, while Dell and HP and the like make money primarily off of services. So for these sites you get hefty labor costs, but the good thing is that you won't have to build it yourself, you can pay for them to overclock the PC for you, and it will be guaranteed to work out of the box. Keep in mind that for your budget the labor costs will be around $300+ compared to building your own computer with parts.

If you want to build a PC, I recommend using this site: http://pcpartpicker.com/
it is a very handy resource to keep track of which parts you want, what they cost, and how compatible they are.
As for gaming parts themselves:
For CPU Intel is often better, they have strong processors that handily beat out AMD in single threaded apps (which most games are, though that is starting to change a bit), but they are expensive and usually used in 1000+ dollar builds, which is no problem for you so I'd recommend a nice i5 4670k, hefty single core performance (on par with the i7's), can be overclocked, only loses in multi threaded apps because no hyperthreading.
GPU you can go with either AMD or Nvidia, both are superstars honestly and both pump out good cards, just look for the good brands such as Sapphire, EVGA, Asus, MSI, etc

a sample build for you would be:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($200.49 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill BlackHawk ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($140.29 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($54.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($98.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1608.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

powerful processor, strong mobo, GTX 770 in SLI for mind numbing performance. You can overclock if you want to, or you can leave it at stock, I noted that you aren't a huge fan of it and that's totally fine, but when the time comes that you feel like you may want to take a shot at it this is an option :)
the same PC will cost you around 2,300 or more on CyberPowerPC, so building it yourself is definitely something that you'd want to do!
Of course this is just a build I threw together really quick, if you tell me some more specifics on what you're looking for I could possibly cut costs/direct money better!
 
Previous post is too long so I'll break this one down to a 2nd post in order not to confuse you :x

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22&puid=891fb8bc

this is a refurbished Alienware Aurora R4, it sports a powerful i7 processor (definitely stronger than the i5 I linked) and a GTX 690, which is a dual GPU card and is likely just as good as an SLI set up (since the 690 is basically just 2 GTX 680 chips mashed into one card), all for within your price range, not to mentioned it's already been overclocked so you don't have to do it. If the coupon for 30% off were still around, this computer could've been bought for around 1400 before tax, which is just completely stupid cheap, not something a builder can match with. It has a scratch and dent tag on it but that's nothing a good polish and buffer cannot mask, as long as the internal components are fine then there really is no problem.

So in the end I suggest you look around for deals, which can be really good if the time is right. If you can't find any mind boggling deals just build one yourself and save a couple hundred bucks :)
 

Nocturnalx36

Honorable
Nov 25, 2013
6
0
10,510
First of all thank you for the time you took to reply, I actually have bought numerous PC's from Cyberpower in the past. And have gotten some good PC's from them, however I am starting to notice they are extremely overpriced compared to what you spend putting one together.

I spent all of yesterday looking at parts, benchmarks, talking to friends that build PCs.. And so far this is what i have picked out..Bear with me for a bit as this is going to be a fairly long post.


Case:Cooler Master HAF 922 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and All-Black Interior

Monitor: ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor

Mobo: MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Power Supply:Cooler Master V850 - 850W Power Supply with Fully Modular Cables and 80 PLUS Gold Certification

RAM:CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9

Processer: AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

SSD:Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F240GBGT-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

GFX:XFX Double D FX797GTDFC Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...

Storage:Western Digital WD Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM


This build comes out at $1,867.36 after shipping. However I am not sure how i feel about it. The build was made with advice from multiple friends that build PC's...Benchmarks etc, however I wonder if i could get more bang for my buck. Essentially what i want the PC to do is run games on max with good FPS. But I want the PC to last me awhile as far as parts dieing, and how well it can run games. Im not one that has to run games on max to enjoy them, so i understand over time my PC wont be able to handle everything at max. There is a lot of confusion in my mind about the Intel CPUs...Some people tell me they are the best for gaming. Others tell me your better off getting a 8 core because more and more games are starting to use them. Also what are the benefits to sticking 2 GFX cards in the build? It is worth noting that i mostly play RPGs, shooters, and RTS games.

If there is other information i can provide for you to assist me let me know.
 
Okay, now I can really narrow down my responses haha, really sorry for all that wall of text!

Your components look pretty good, but there are a couple of things I would change.
First off the mobo:
After a failure in my father's build and numerous reviews out there I would say do not go with an MSI mobo, maybe someone out there can vouch for them but I certainly cannot, MSI mobos are known for faulty VRMs and often lack VRM protection, I would say switch to a more solid brand like
Asrock 990FX Extreme4
Asus M5A99FX Pro R2

these mobos are actually cheaper than the MSI (hover in the 120/130 range) and should be more reliable.

Another component is your SSD, do you really need it to be 240Gb? Since most of your hefty files will be placed on the HDD, I think a nice Samsung 120Gb will be good enough, their 840s are highly praised.

About the CPU, Intel is often said to be the best because they have top notch performance, use less power, and run cooler than the AMD chips, and honestly the 8 cores don't make too much of a difference at this point in time, it is a bit "future-proof" I would say but many would advise people to build for current needs because no matter how much you prepare for the future, your system will be relatively outdated (though still powerful) in 2 years time. That being said, if you want 8 cores just go for an i7, as it has 8 threads just like the FX 8350 (the only difference being that hyperthreading creates virtual threads within a core, while the FX 8350 has 8 physical threads inside 4 modules), the argument here would be that an i7 is much more expensive, but I think I can make it happen with your price point.
single vs dual GPU set ups are basically whether or not you want to game 1. at higher resolutions, and 2. with more monitors. If you just want higher resolutions, a nice 4 Gb R9 290 will be excellent at 1440p (though you will need a monitor that can run those resolutions), if you want extra monitors, stick in another GPU, if you want neither and just want a nice 1080p experience, a solid single GPU with at least 2Gb will be enough. (and you always have the option of sticking another one in later too)

And yeah it seems that some parts of your PC are pretty overpriced, I'll see what I can do to bring that down:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($115.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card ($316.13 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($121.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $1259.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

As of right now, any single card set up with a 850W PSU is complete overkill, if you do not plan on crossfiring cards later then just get a good Seasonic 650W, it will be enough to power single card set ups for a while.
 

Nocturnalx36

Honorable
Nov 25, 2013
6
0
10,510
I think i am actually going to stick with the build i posted, except for the mobo which i changed to the one you posted. I thank you greatly for letting me pick your brain, and i believe i have a much better understanding of computer parts now and the differences between brands.
 


haha no problem and happy hunting! :) your build is excellent and you will be happy with it, you also have the option of adding another 7970 down the road!