[SOLVED] Where should I start in choosing to build my own pc?

darkknightrasil

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Jul 25, 2018
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I want to start building my own PC and made a savings spot just to throw extra cash in so I don't spend it to save for it. I have never built a PC and have a 10-year-old one so everything has to be for the new pc.

Where should I start? Should I buy piece by piece or save up a full lump sum before buying anything?
The PC would be for WoW, LoL, (other games) and game design programs which can be intensive.

I currently use an old 2009 Alienware area 51 only upgrades I ever made to it were:
-ddr3 ram to 18 gigs
-video card to 760
HDD to SSD drive



If I can get a starter set going that can be customized later that would also be an improvement.
 

darkknightrasil

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Jul 25, 2018
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My SSD can (would) be used in the new machine. GPU depends if I could use it to start. I'd like to spend less but still, play league and WoW on max settings. Don't have a crazy budget. My motherboard (model: Alienware 0J560M "Version A10")M is so outdated using that pc picker site it did not give me much of a selection of CPU choices but then again I don't know much about this stuff.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
Well budget wise if you can reuse your storage & GTX 760...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($160.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.98 @ Newegg Business)
Total: $352.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-27 16:32 EST-0500

I would look at this as a possible start, the G3 650W is a bit more then you'll need but it's the same price as the 550W so why not.
 

Dugimodo

Distinguished
Because WoW is so old people tend to discount it needing decent hardware, but it is actually quite demanding on max settings.
It is also not very multithreaded and benefits from high single core performance so works better on intel - but not so much that a Ryzen is not a great option. I play on a Ryzen 2700X & GTX 1070 @ 2560 x 1080 and still drop some settings slightly for consistant performance.

It tends to be a bit CPU bound though so for absolute best fps you'd want to look at an 8600k or 9600k.

A 760 will play it well on medium settings, but to step up to max @1080P a GTX1060 or RX580 is the minimum IMHO and may still need to be dialled back a little. One great option WoW has is to set different settings for Raids and single player which hellps it look great solo without suffering too much while raiding.

So where to start? Pick a case and a decent 650W PSU(enough for pretty much any single card setup with some headroom) that's where I'd start.
Then the motherboard/CPU/RAM need to happen all at once but you could use your SSD and GPU to start with. At that point you might be able to sell off the old machine for some extra cash - unless you have a use for it yourself.

I'd suggest
i5 9600K
16GB DDR4 2666
Whatever CPU cooler you like
GTX 1060 or 1070 depending on resolution

And this is focussing on how WoW plays.
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 Gaming Plus ATX AM4 Motherboard ($99.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB AMP Extreme Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake - View 31 TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg Business)
Power Supply: Antec - Earthwatts Gold Pro 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.44 @ Amazon)
Total: $1017.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 21:13 EST-0500
 
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