46 replies to this topic

[Name144795]

Ok, since I've been saving for a bit I've put together a list of computer parts that I want to assemble for my new Gaming/College rig. The problem is I'm having conflicted information from my friends. I have one that is virtually telling me that I shouldn't build my PC and that its too much risk since this is going to be my first build. That having it custom built is the way to go and having the warranty is worth the money.

I have others that are saying I should do it and are willing to help me out in building the rig. That in doing so I'll get everything I want in my case without having to lose out on anything.

Overall my total budget is $1500.00 but keeping it south of that is my overall objective.

So here's my build that If I were to do it myself (with help from friends.) would cost me $1269.90

• SilverStone Precision Series ATX Mid Tower Case (99.99)
  
• ASRock H77 Pro-4M LGA 1155 socket mobo (89.99)
  
• EVGA SuperClocked GTX 660Ti 2gb (309.99)
  
• Cosair Enthusiast Series 650w Modular (80+ Bronze) (109.99)
  
• Intel i5-2500 3.3Ghz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) (209.99
  
• G.Skill Aries Series 8gb DDR 3 1600 Ram (54.99)
  
• Western Digital 500 gb Caviar Black HDD (84.99)
  
• Crucial M4 128 SATA III SSD (109.99)
  
• ASUS 24x CD/DVD-R burner (19.99)
  
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium [consumer copy] (179.99)

Now looking at companies I had two choices Digital Storm or Ironside Computers. I also have open to me buying a bare bones system at my local PC shop and having them install my GPU, SSD, and other parts for a fee [for free if I buy them in-house but they are 30-40% more expensive then New Egg]


If I had to choose a company it would be Ironside Computers due to the full 3 year warranty they are handing out (full parts and labor for 3 years). Digital Storm has a 3 year limited warranty (1 year parts 3 years labor).

My Ironside configuration is the following. (Main difference is no Solid State Hard drive total net price is $1235.70.

• Case - NZXT Guardian Blue (Mid Tower)(10% off)
  
• Intel Processor - Intel Core i5-2500 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Boost (Quad Core)
  
• CPU Cooling - Corsair Hydro H60 Liquid Cooling
  
• Intel Motherboard - ASRock H77 Pro4-M [VGA DVI HDMI] SATA 6Gb/s USB3 {4 DDR3 Slots Max 1600MHz}
  
• Memory - G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
  
• Primary Hard Drive - Western Digital 750GB Caviar Black 7200RPM
  
• 1st Optical Drive - DVD Writer
  
• Graphics Card - Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 Ti 2GB (Min. 600 Watt Power Supply)
  
• Power Supply - Corsair Builder Series CX600 600 Watt 80 Plus
  
• Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
  
• Networking - Standard Onboard Ethernet
  
• Sound Card - Integrated HD Audio
  
• Packaging - [FREE] Advanced Packaging System - Custom foam to protect and secure internal components from shipping abuse
  
• Wiring - [FREE] Professional Wiring - Cables will be organized to achieve maximum airflow
  
• Technical Support - Life-time U.S. based technical support and customer service by our own in-house technicians
  
• Rush Service - [Standard] Shipped Out in 2 - 10 Business Days
  
• Video Demonstration - None
  
• Warranty - Standard 3 Years Parts and 3 Years Labor

So now I'm stuck I can go either way on this but I would like some opinions its always good to get enough information before buying a PC. The last two PC's I've purchased have been Dell laptops but I do miss having the reliability of a tower.

[Dymitry]

Your friend is bulls*itting you. To build a computer, it does not take any skill that you haven't learned while playing with lego or meccano.

Do it, no risk whatsoever unless you use a hammer, its cheaper and rewarding.

Quick note, you will want to buy an OEM version of windows, not a consumer copy, since you are building a new rig.

If you performance/costs is of high relevance to you, go with an AMD based solution.

[Barbaric Soul]

Personally, I always choose to build my own.

[Dymitry]

Plus, usually warranty on individual components is at least equal when does not outlasts the ones offered by assemblers. Search for the individual components and see it for yourself.

[AtomCore]

H77 - HXX chipset doesn't support virtual GPU (but it supports turbobust and overclocking - its good). If you take 2nd generation CPU (i5 sandy bridge 32nm) - it has Intel HD 2000 or 2500 or 3000 GPU - so it would be great to enable virtual GPU (discrete GPU and GPU in CPU work together - its 30-70% more fps)
BXX chipset supports GPU from CPU, but not supports overclocking.
Z77 chipsets supports both (and RAM boost up to 2800MHz, and Ivy Bridge)

Now about CPU. You've took i5-2500. Is it i5-2500K? ("K" means CPU multiplier blockirator swiched off - u can gain up to 4.5GHz i5 CPU, and up to 5GHz i7)
So take i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 32nm or newer i5-3XXX Ivy Bridge 22mn (3rd generation for now haven't i5-3XXXK).

HDD, tower, optical drive and even RAM DDRIII 1333 could be found on junk jard. So, price is about 600 and 800$ (for i3 or i5, Z77, 1Gb video, SDD).

Edited by AtomCore, 24 August 2012 - 04:18 AM.

[Razor Kotovsky]

Dymitry, on 24 August 2012 - 03:25 AM, said:

If you performance/costs is of high relevance to you, go with an AMD based solution.

As opposed to compatibility and reliability, yeah.

Never bought a pre-built solution crew checking in.
Building and upgrading your rig is half the fun.

Edited by Razor Kotovsky, 24 August 2012 - 03:57 AM.

[TROWAHC]

building your own is always the better of the two options and as long as you build it in a static free environment your good. trust me been building/maintaining pcs for a living it's not that hard. Just dont try to push something into the wrong slot .

[Renthrak]

I was in a similar situation a number of years ago. I had saved up $1500 and wanted to build a gaming rig. I considered my options, shopped around, compared prices etc. In the end, I found a smaller computer store nearby that had something relatively close to what I wanted on sale. I went in and asked to customize one of those, picking a different case, a slightly better CPU, the specific video card I wanted and so on.

In the years since, I have performed several upgrades to that computer myself, and it remains my best system for running games. I even put together two decent computers from the spare parts left from the upgrades. So, I have experience with self-assembled and custom ordered PCs to speak from.

My personal advice would be to wait for a local store to have a good deal on something close to your desired rig, and have them custom build it with your desired parts. This does depend on finding a good price, of course. If the savings from buying all of the parts individually yourself is large enough, however, that may be your best option. In that case, ask one of your friends with experience to put the parts together for you.

The issue with doing the assembly yourself is that there are many little details to properly putting a computer together that you really can't learn without doing it first. Once you know what you're doing, it's very simple, but it's extremely easy to destroy the parts if you handle them incorrectly. One little mounting nut in the wrong place behind your motherboard, and you can short out the system. Push too hard trying to insert a video card, and you can crack the motherboard. Touch the processor in just the wrong way while inserting it, and it's fried. The horror stories go on forever.

If you pick up any computer component, there is the possibility of static electricity destroying it. Static that you can't even feel is powerful enough to kill some of the more delicate bits of hardware. There are many simple things to do that can prevent all these disasters, but unless you know all those simple things, you're running a pretty big risk. If you're alright with the risks, then you can go ahead and do it yourself, but it's safer for someone who has done the assembly before.

I may sound somewhat alarmist, but you need to know the risks before you decide if you want to take them. If you know someone who has done the work themselves, or better yet has formal training, they would be your best bet for an economical solution if you decide against a store-built system.



Oh, and as for the hardware, I've had AMD and Intel systems. The AMD was cheaper, but I paid for the difference in all of the headaches. In every case I have encountered, AMD based systems are less stable and have more odd hardware issues, and crash more often. I don't think it's worth the trade-off.

[Dymitry]

Razor Kotovsky, on 24 August 2012 - 03:56 AM, said:

As opposed to compatibility and reliability, yeah.

Take bias stuff out of a relevant discussion. You want to buy intel, cyrix, ibm, samsung, qualcomm, cray, good for you. Being a fanboy does not help OP nor you.

And really, really really ticks me off.

Open a thread and feel free to scientifically prove us wrong.

Edited by Dymitry, 24 August 2012 - 04:07 AM.

[Razor Kotovsky]

That's an observation and based on experience.
Much like your "If you performance/costs is of high relevance to you, go with an AMD based solution.".

[TROWAHC]

Razor Kotovsky, on 24 August 2012 - 03:56 AM, said:

As opposed to compatibility and reliability, yeah.

Never bought a pre-built solution crew checking in.
Building and upgrading your rig is half the fun.

If your trying to say a Intel cpu is more compatible and reliable then a AMD cpu. Then your are grossly mistaken sir. The only real differences atm between Intel and AMD cpu's are AMD's run hotter then intel but with watercooling or good air flow, no problem.
Intel are easier to install cause of the 1155, 1156 and 1366 sockets having the pins rather then the cpu having the pins (amd a3 socket). And that amd have hex and quad core options while Intel don't yet.

[Dymitry]

Razor Kotovsky, on 24 August 2012 - 04:08 AM, said:

That's an observation and based on experience.
Much like your "If you performance/costs is of high relevance to you, go with an AMD based solution.".

I am sorry but, you are wrong. Mine is based on numbers. Quite a lot of them too. Had the op said "I want the best overall performing pc, no budget" I would have gone with Intel.

Anyway we are straying off topic. Feel free to suggest, based on your empiric evidence, a more reliable/compatible Intel build.

[Razor Kotovsky]

I don't get what's the problem then.

The configuration in the OP is pretty much what i'd get for myself. If he is fine with it then why muddy the water?

Edited by Razor Kotovsky, 24 August 2012 - 04:15 AM.

[Dymitry]

Renthrak, on 24 August 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

Oh, and as for the hardware, I've had AMD and Intel systems. The AMD was cheaper, but I paid for the difference in all of the headaches. In every case I have encountered, AMD based systems are less stable and have more odd hardware issues, and crash more often. I don't think it's worth the trade-off.

Same goes for you. Prove with numbers please, instead of "feels". You buy cheap stuff, you get issues. People go with AMD to save every penny and then go like "my dual xeon workstation is much more stable". no ****, sherlock.

[OMNl]

Definately build your own.

My first comp was a Compac; the problems numerous like propietary on board sound cards and shotty performance. You'd think I would've learned then.

3-4 years later I bought a Gateway back when they still had stores you could drop off the comp for upgrades and/or repairs. At that time I was told by The sales rep (yeah I know; BS artist subtitle) that not only would I be able to upgrade to anything from any manufacturuer but that also I would only be dealing with tech support based in my country speaking my known language.

When my video card went out not only had they closed all stores(less than a year later) but tech support was based out of somewhere like India from a guy reading off a tech spread sheet. After hours of useless info verifying account status, tech support upgrade sales pushes we finally determined I was under warrenty.

At the time a Nvidia 4200 was a higher end card. As stated in the warranty I was entitled the same or a equivilaent card as a replacement. Not only was the replacement card substandard (ATI 860e) but the card was so poorly made and tested it wouldn't work out of the box without going to ATI to get a patch just to install because the in box CD was corrupt on all or most of those cards as I had a previous one in a back up system bought from Fry's with the exact same issue. Gateway failed to supply an equivalant card and support was very shotty, if you could even understand him.

Then later as I was trying to upgrade the system I found it had a minimal power supply( 200watts, It would have never taken a upgraded card) and it was killing cards requiring more power. Not only were the plugs proprietary but the power supply it's self was too. Unable to find a replacement for the PS in the general market I was forced to tear it apart, jury rig a few power adapters with jumpers and screw a 3mm fan to the outside of the PS case just to get it to run.

So I thought; Another comapny couldn't be this bad. I bought a Dell 720 xps.
The OEM Windows vista never worked properly, things like, unable to create a back up and various bugs/glitches to numerous to mention. At time of purchase again I was lied to that I would only be dealing with tech support in the US as I felt it pertainant to express my belief in keeping our own countrymen/women employed. Again I was dealing with people from another country bearly able to speak English let alone pronounce it.

In just over a year, fancy that; The HD failed. The CD drive froze up. The little cheap plastic door hiding the CD tray broke off. The video card failed and windows started some really odd bugs that I could never find the source/cause.

So as I rebuilt this comp for MWO; replacing the Vid card, HD, ram and a store bought copy of Win7 I realized what did I pay for a motherboard, power supply and case with some temporary parts not designed to last more than the 1 year warranty? Oh and a few days worth of time talking to people I couldn't understand and couldn't help me?

All in all build your own. If nothing else; if something goes wrong you can only gripe at yourself. That and feel a whole lot better when you've built something useful with your own hands. It is not all that hard even the HD has directions for installation.

[Capp]

I'm typing this from a computer assembled by Digital Storm. They get a thumbs up from me.

You can do it yourself, of course... I just got sick of it. Plus it's still under warrenty after OCing because THEY did it.

Edited by Capp, 24 August 2012 - 04:23 AM.

[Nachocheese]

didnt have any problems with my AMD cpu,

bought my Phenom x3 when it came out and havent had any problems with it.

today the only original part in my PC is the CPU, the rest went down over the years and got replaced for something new.

[TROWAHC]

Renthrak, on 24 August 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

The issue with doing the assembly yourself is that there are many little details to properly putting a computer together that you really can't learn without doing it first. Once you know what you're doing, it's very simple, but it's extremely easy to destroy the parts if you handle them incorrectly. One little mounting nut in the wrong place behind your motherboard, and you can short out the system. Push too hard trying to insert a video card, and you can crack the motherboard. Touch the processor in just the wrong way while inserting it, and it's fried. The horror stories go on forever.

Ok so scare tatics aside. The only issue with assembling a pc youself is if you think like what you have writen. Motherboards are not as flimsy as you are saying. Yes a mounting nut in the wrong place can cause issues but not enough to fry a board unless the power suppy you have is 10 years old. Touching the processor won't do anything, dropping it or forcing it into a socket will. So if your gentle then you will be fine.

All in all if you build your pc (i.e motherboard, cpu, ram, graphics card, any other sister cards) before you mount the motherboard into the chassie you will be fine.

[Vulpesveritas]

Razor Kotovsky, on 24 August 2012 - 03:56 AM, said:

As opposed to compatibility and reliability, yeah.

Never bought a pre-built solution crew checking in.
Building and upgrading your rig is half the fun.

AMD processors are fully compatible with any program out there, and are just as reliable as intel processors.

Razor Kotovsky, on 24 August 2012 - 04:08 AM, said:

That's an observation and based on experience.
Much like your "If you performance/costs is of high relevance to you, go with an AMD based solution.".

Actually, math, and hence scientificly speaking, AMD has a better price/performance ratio.


OP, I do recommend building your own, as you will get a faster and more reliable system for the cost. Check out my builds of the week thread, it should give you some ideas.

[ScrapIron Prime]

True that putting together your own PC can be a daunting task, but really its just connecting all the parts. The TRICK is making sure that all the parts work well together. If you pick a cheap motherboard that doesn't like the CPU you purchased, you're in for some hair pulling before your PC is going to work right.

Then there's cost. If you need to purchase the operating system as well, you might actually be better off buying a pre-made PC (which comes with the O/S already) and modifying it.

For example... google search this PC...

HP Pavillion p7-1240

You can get one for $599 without half trying, and can get it for under $500 if you can locate a deal. That's got everything you need to run MWO on high graphics except the graphics card. So grab yourself a good graphics card.

http://clbenchmark.c...p?test=CLB70101

That page will give you performance data on graphics cards. You basically want to select the one with the longest green bar that you can afford. The Radeon HD 7850, for example, will set you back about $200 if you find a decent price and a rebate, and is pretty near the top of the pack.

Total exependature... about 700 bucks. And all you have to do is add the new video card and turn the PC on.