PC Build

[Solacian72]

So I'm saving up for a good gaming PC, and right now, I need some assistance. I already have the rest of the setup thought out, just need help on the tower. Should I go Custom build or Pre-Built? If custom, what parts? And if pre-built, which one should I buy? The games I am interested in playing are Star Citizen, a heavily modded Skyrim, Mount and Blade, maybe some Total War, and Crusader Kings 2.

[Azmodan412]

I am using a custom built. Knowing what you want to put in it makes the PC even more so yours.

[Pillow]

Building your own lets you:
1. Save more money that can go towards even better hardware to put in the machine.
2. Choose every part that goes in so you know that every part is good
3. You can choose parts that leave room to grow (such as extra SATA ports or PCI lanes)
4. It's really rather fun
4.like really fun
5. Bragging rights among your friends

also if your trying to save just a little bit of money AMD processes and graphics cards are almost as good as Nividia plus mantle will be supported in star citizen getting you a few extra frames.

[Ninjah!]

https://pcpartpicker.com/
An I5 series from intel will do fine
Need nothing fancy as MOBO (motherboard)
Be sure to calculate the needed PSU (power supply unit)
8 gig ram suffices but you might want to consider 16 or 12
A moderate GPU should do the trick for your needs (unless you want hyper realistic skyrim)

Tbh I only built one pc so far, I aint no pro.

[Ninjah!]

Building your own lets you:
1. Save more money that can go towards even better hardware to put in the machine.
2. Choose every part that goes in so you know that every part is good
3. You can choose parts that leave room to grow (such as extra SATA ports or PCI lanes)
4. It's really rather fun
4.like really fun
5. Bragging rights among your friends

also if your trying to save just a little bit of money AMD processes and graphics cards are almost as good as Nividia plus mantle will be supported in star citizen getting you a few extra frames.

Besides NVIDIA being shitheads by keeping their tech to themselves instead of going open source.

[MadSnailDisease]

https://pcpartpicker.com/
An I5 series from intel will do fine
Need nothing fancy as MOBO (motherboard)
Be sure to calculate the needed PSU (power supply unit)
8 gig ram suffices but you might want to consider 16 or 12
A moderate GPU should do the trick for your needs (unless you want hyper realistic skyrim)

Tbh I only built one pc so far, I aint no pro.

I too built mine, but I didn't calculate the PSU I needed, and just sprung for an 850 watt since I got a good deal on it. How do you calculate it? Also I have a pretty inexpensive Ti-650 which runs ED at max settings at a steady 60 FPS, and games like CS:GO at like 120-180 FPS.

OP: VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure everything is compatible with the rest of your parts. ESPECIALLY the CPU and the motherboard, because that's like $300+ dollars out the window if you fuck it up. Normally the motherboard will have it labeled right next to the port, but double-check so you aren't screwed.

And if you want to get good prices for monitors go to Amazon, because you can get high quality monitors for a steal.

[Pillow]

I would recommend an AMD fx-series processor, simply because the 8320 (when i built about ~1 year ago) was only 150ish. 100 dollars cheaper than the i5 and they are very easy for overclocking. Though eight cores is mildly overkill for gaming I just run seti in the background and put my spare cores to use.

I may be ever so slightly biased

also I recommend a PSU that has at least a bronze energy efficiency if not a higher rating.

[Solacian72]

Alright, so how many gigs of ram do you recommend? I would like to get the best performance possible on most games, but I don't know if 8 gigs will be enough or to go 16.

[MadSnailDisease]

I recommend 16. RAM is pretty cheap

[Pillow]

8 is more than sufficient, but 16 gigs wouldn't hurt anything and as already stated RAM is rather cheap. Though you would want to buy higher preformance ram vs simply more ram. And the speed supported by the mother board is an important aspect of choosing RAM. AND if you get good quality ram you can even overclock it more just for giggles. though that would void any warranties.

[Solacian72]

So, I am debating whether I should get NVIDIA or AMD, both seem like good companies, but NVIDIA seems like the way to go. Any inputs on this?

[MadSnailDisease]

For processor or what?

Also for hard drive get a 2 TB HDD, decent sized SSDs are super expensive and honestly not worth it.

[Solacian72]

For graphics, mostly, but a processor would be useful information, as well.

[LocatingGoku]

5. Bragging rights among your friends

More like permission to annoy console peasant friends. Don't do that, kids, or soon you'll have no friends.

[apophis775]

More like permission to annoy console peasant friends. Don't do that, kids, or soon you'll have no friends.

[Ninjah!]

So, I am debating whether I should get NVIDIA or AMD, both seem like good companies, but NVIDIA seems like the way to go. Any inputs on this?

I support AMD just because they support the gaming community and have a more for gamers feeling. NVIDIA sometimes has superior tech tough.

[MadSnailDisease]

Can confirm.

Boy do I have help for you, OP. Tech support will be very mad at you if you mix and match brands within your computer. Very, VERY mad. I did an msi mobo with the aforementioned Ti-650 (made by NVIDIA) and when I called up about drivers not installing, they told me to basically go fuck myself since I wasn't using an Asus mobo, but with the pretense of saying it was incompatibilities. They will not listen to you if you built your computer unless it has been fully operational for like 2 months. The degree at which I am done with all forms of tech support is too damn high.

[Solacian72]

Alright, so I've decided to go AMD for graphics and processor, 16 gigs of ram, and a 2 terabyte hard drive. I will be sure to use the PCPartPicker someone linked so I don't fuck myself over and waste 300+ dollars on parts that won't work together. If anyone has more tips, feel free to say them, I need all the help I can get, haha.

[Azmodan412]

I like AMD myself. Good shit. I'd recommend installing Malware Bytes first thing when you finish. Also, how many cards are you planning to have graphics wise? I believe the card to monitor capacity proportion is 1:1. My comp was built, and can run five monitors, but I make do with two.

Monitors: Use the HP 2011x one. I love em.

[Solacian72]

Yeah, I think I'm going for one monitor for now, but I am guessing I can install more graphics cards if I decide to buy more monitors.

[MadSnailDisease]

you do not need multiple graphics cards for multiple monitors. As long as you dont have games in each window your FPS wont be affected that much

[LordeKilly]

So, I am debating whether I should get nVidia or AMD, both seem like good companies, but nVidia seems like the way to go. Any inputs on this?

From what I've used, AMD has better lower end graphics cards per pricing, but if you're going for a godly card (needed for star citizen, but not for the rest of those games) nVidia is the way to go.

Also, I'd suggest an i7, i5s are good, don't get me wrong, but if you want to multitask or run most games with relative ease, go for the i7.

Another note, something to look into are external hard drives. You can buy pretty big ones, and they can act as just a harddrive or a flashdrive.

Finally, you should always check compatibility with your parts, I ended up getting a few for my rig which cost me a couple hundred dollars.


welcome to the master race friend

[MadSnailDisease]

why external hard drives opposed to internal? internal tend to have a higher space per cost and have the advantage of connecting straight to the SATA ports on the motherboard

[Pillow]

From what I've used, AMD has better lower end graphics cards per pricing, but if you're going for a godly card (needed for star citizen, but not for the rest of those games) nVidia is the way to go.

Actually Star Citizen will be having support for the Mantle API, and on a single card by card basis almost any amd will hold its own verses its equivalent nividia card and be cheaper to boot.

Also i recommend getting an SSD boot drive 120gb should be enough for OS and a few games.

[WyattH]

I think so much of a PC build first depends upon budget, and then upon the exact features desired.

Some people find it a MUST to have their OS and everything on 1 huge harddrive, others are fine with smaller drive, or even separate OS and storage drives.
Some people try to future-proof their CPU and motherboards some, others just buy what is adequate at the time.
Same with graphics card as well.


An important thing to not make a mistake on though is the power supply for the whole computer, never get one that's too cheap or too weak.

I personally really believe in using SSD as the boot drive and holding most of my programs, so that's something I'd recommend at least.