New Computer- Need some Advice

[Dark_Angel13]

Okay so lately my laptops have been giving me a lot of trouble, one runs too slow and the one im on now has fan problems every other day and likes to turn itself off every now and then so I'm gonna be buying a new computer very very soon and wanted some advice on it.

My budget will probably be between 1000 and 2000 bucks and I'm looking to get a desktop computer for gaming and general use, I've looked at some Alienware ones and they look pretty awesome and like what I'm looking for but if there's a better one out there or if I'm better off building it myself then let me know.

I know there are some cool gaming laptops out there too so I'm not completely against getting another laptop either, any advice on this would be great

[JohnFlower]

For 2k, I would definitely build. Stay away from Alienware. Also, if you ask me, intel > amd and nvidia > ati.

[Dark_Angel13]

I may look into building it then, but if end up just purchasing, i need to know what would be best for me

[† ballard]

Like john said, if you're going with a desktop you should definitely build your own. If you need any help with that I'd be more than happy to help you. Since you have a nice budget to go with I would recommend getting an intel processor... a core i7... since it will give you the best performance. As far as graphics cards go, I like both nvidia and ati. You can easily afford a gtx 680, or a 7970.

If you want a laptop I could help you look around, and post here when I find some decent ones.

Here's a good video to watch with some parts listed.

[media

]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnY1KkzYBJs&feature=plcp

• Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 lga 1155 - $125
  
• CPU: Intel i5 2500k OEM - $210 - Also, look for these on fire sale: 2600k/ 2700k
  
• Cooling: XIGMATEK AIO-S80DP Water Cooling: $39
  
• GPU: EVGA GTX 670 $399
  
• OR GPU: PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 7950 3GB - $359
  
• Ram: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $59
  
• PSU: SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - $89
  
• Case: Fractal Core 3000 ATX $69
  
• SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III - $119
  
• CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $17
  

Edited July 12, 2012 by ballard

[Dark_Angel13]

Thanks, if it comes to me building one or purchasing a laptop I will gladly accept your help and I'll be sure to watch the vid

[Elchzard]

For 2k, I would definitely build. Stay away from Alienware. Also, if you ask me, intel > amd and nvidia > ati.

Agreed on both points. With that amount, it's almost guaranteed to be better than what you'd buy if you build.

And yeah, Intel and nvidia, don't bother with AMD or ATi.

You also wanna consider though, are you using the not-good laptops as laptops or more just in your house? If you're taking it places, I'd definitely recommend getting either a high end laptop, or using some of your 2k budget on a laptop too. If you have that amount, you don't want to still be using your awful laptop when you can't be at home.

If you never take it anywhere though, just go all out and make the desktop awesome.

[dark4yoyo]

Well for gaming definately go for intel, and for now nvidia's Kepler is better than AMD's 7000 series so its probably better to go nvidia.

But what do you need ? The whole computer with HDD/SSD, OS and screen ?

Would you rather have a laptop or a dektop ? Keep in mind that (nearly) all gaming laptops are LOUD.

Which games do you play ?

Also, definately build if you want a desktop, you'll get better than an alienware for cheaper.

Also, what do you plan on doing with your computer? encoding or some CPU intensetive software ?

Edited July 12, 2012 by dark4yoyo

[Digatu]

I'd go Intel for CPU for sure. ATI/NVidia for Graphics I like both. Currenly I use sapphire ATI cards in my rigs and I'm quite the fan of Sapphire. I have had Powercolor ATI card in the past though and It was the worst GFX card I ever had. What a useless piece of crap it was.

Build your own PC but take your time researching it.

[Dark_Angel13]

Okay lots of info guys and gals and thanks, now to answer some questions. I currently just use my laptops at home and they very rarely go with me when I leave so I can use those for general stuff still. I would much rather a desktop then another laptop, so it'll be a desktop. I don't play very many hardcore games because i dont have a computer to play them on, this is what getting the new computer is for lol, basically I want the best for the money I've got, I don't care if it's loud, I can get speakers too and have the games up loud lol.

For what I need, I'll need it all if I'm building, I have nothing but laptops so can't scavenge any parts off them so a list of everything I need would be great if one of you don't mind doing that for me, I'd appreciate it a lot, then I'll go about building it and hope for the best lol, though I'm sure I'll have a lot of help from everyone who's posted here

If I didn't answer a question or I missed something I'm sorry, just repeat it for me and I'll answer it as soon as I can

[dark4yoyo]

On what screen do you want to game on ? (like 24", 27",30", 3 screens ?)

Also you missed out the question of "do you encode or use any CPU intensetive software ?

Edit : 30" is out probably of budget though since they are usually around 1000$

Edited July 12, 2012 by dark4yoyo

[† Emotional Outlet]

Do you live near anyone who can help you build your PC? When I built my computer, I had my friend watch over me and generally make fun of me as I attempted to put it together.

It's really not that hard, so I wouldn't worry about the difficulty of building a computer. With your budget, as others have mentioned, you can definitely build a better computer than you can buy. And it'll be easier to upgrade because you won't have to buy a whole new computer, haha. It's important to be at least somewhat familiar with the things you use so it's not just a mystery box on your desk.

And if you want all the parts you should get laid out for you, I'm sure any of the folks here would be willing to set up a shopping list for you. In my case, the same friend I mentioned above put together the shopping list for me.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Emotional Outlet

[Leviathan87]

high end desk tops are the best for gaming tbh. here a pretty good list

mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131805 asus rampage IV 279$

gpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768 evga 680 499$.

cpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501 intell i7 3.5gigz 339$

memory:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468 gskill ripjaws 59$

psu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139029 corsair 850wat 139$

ssd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191 corsair force series gt 120gb 129$

hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 western digital caviar black 1tb 119$

case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225 coolermaster haf x 179$

everything but cpu cooler. you could go two 580s for about 700$ and get a ssd 256gb for 200$

[dark4yoyo]

high end desk tops are the best for gaming tbh. here a pretty good list

mobo:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131805 asus rampage IV 279$

gpu:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130768 evga 680 499$.

cpu:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116501 intell i7 3.5gigz 339$

memory:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231468 gskill ripjaws 59$

psu:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139029 corsair 850wat 139$

ssd:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233191 corsair force series gt 120gb 129$

hdd:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533 western digital caviar black 1tb 119$

case:http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119225 coolermaster haf x 179$

everything but cpu cooler. you could go two 580s for about 700$ and get a ssd 256gb for 200$

I disagree on quite a few things. CPU he doesn't need an i7 unless he's doing encoding or something like that. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115072 is enough if he's only gaming.

PSU 850W is overkill, 850W is enough for sli gtx 680, they don't draw much power. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139020 is more than enough (70$ with mail-in rebate)

Mobo is overkill too, http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130643 is more than enough.

As for graphic card, I'd say http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130797 is better, overclocked and a way better cooling.

For the SSD, http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227706 is better and cheaper.

Getting a caviar black for storage is pretty much useless, unless you like the crazy noise they make, better get a cheaper & bigger HDD : http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136891

Also, he needs a screen, though I can't really help on that, especially since I don't know what size of screen he wants.

Better get two gtx 670's in sli rather than two gtx 580's. the 670 heats waaay less for better performance.

Sli isn't needed if he's gaming in 1080p though, he'll get 60 fps in pretty much all games with a single gtx 680.

Edited July 12, 2012 by dark4yoyo

[† ballard]

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157293 $125 - Asrock z77 extreme socket lga 1155

CPU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115095 $310 - Intel Core i7 2700k

GPU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130769 $520 - EVGA superclocked GTX 680 2GB

RAM: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231417 $44/$88 - G.Skill DDR3 8GB kit (I recommend buying 2 of these if you need a lot of ram. $44 each. If you only want to buy one kit 8GB is more than enough.)

PSU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817151108 $140 - Seasonic M12II 850w bronze (Whatever you do, don't buy a cheapy power supply. Especially for a computer that costs this much.)

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135204 $19 (I'm not sure if you want a blu-ray optical drive or not, but here's a decent standard dvd drive/burner.)

As far as storage goes... I'm not sure if you want a mechanical hard disk drive or a solid state one.

Solid state drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820239045 $140 - Kingston Hyperx 3k 120GB

Hard disk drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136769 $65 - Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM

You could always get both and use the SSD for the OS, and the HDD for storage. If you're going to do that you should get this HDD.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533 $120 - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM

I'm not sure what kind of case you want. Here are several I personally like.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811352010 $70

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129021 $100

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129100 $168

It would be a good Idea to get a nice CPU cooler. Here's a few to choose from...

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103057 $34

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118128 $20

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103099 $35

You should definitely get this thermal paste. It's what I use. I like it more than arctic silver 5 because there is no curing time.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835186020 $9 - Arctic Cooling MX-2

This pretty much covers all of it other than the operating system, monitor, speakers, and a sound card if you want one. The total comes to around $1500 depending on the setup you choose. Not including tax and shipping.

Edit: The core i5 that dark posted will also do very well instead of the core i7 I listed if you want to save some money. The PSU he posted is also good. I listed an 850w just incase you wanted to add a second gtx 680 later on.

Edited July 12, 2012 by ballard

[† Emotional Outlet]

I have been bossed into sharing a link regarding PSUs.

[Here]

I don't understand everything on the page, but I suspect the rest of you will. Carry on.

Also:

♪ also tell them the days when it was unneCCessary to go with quad CCore proCCessors are over ♫

[Koby]

Whats with the double cap C's EO?

Personally I'm an AMD man.

I went with AMD FX-8150 for my CPU, and I'm really happy about it. Every time I post my video encoding fps and time, people are extremely amazed and impressed. Being an 8-core processor it really is freaking awesome at encoding. It's 3.6GHz out of the box, but can easily be overclocked without any issues to like 4.2GHz. However it won a Guinness award for successfully being able to overclock over 8GHz, higher than any other processor out there.

I can encode HD video in a matter of minutes when not using filters @ over 400 fps. A heavy filtered encode has still seen fps at ~35.

If you're going to be gaming, well most of the gaming isn't about your CPU as much as it is about your GFX card. An Intel CPU will be better for gaming overall, but the AMD FX-8150 will work just fine while being a lot cheaper. Just be sure to get an awesome GFX card. I went with a Radeon HD 6790. It's not terrible, but it's not great either. It's sort of mid level on graphics cards. Can play games like WoW on max settings, but stuff like Skrim and Battlefield 3... low to mid settings is likely all it can handle (haven't tried). So if you're a heavy gamer, you'd definitely want to invest in much better GFX cards than I did. I'd like a better one, but this was the best I could get with the budget I had at the time. FYI I built my PC for only $1,000.

[† Emotional Outlet]

Whats with the double cap C's EO?

Lul, that's my friend's quirk on Pesterchum. It also has a grey gradient and musical puns. It's in stark contrast to my quirk, which is a pink gradient, cat puns, and horrible misspellings.

[† ballard]

Your card could easily handle Skyrim and Battlefield 3 Koby. I have a 7750, and I'm able to play skyrim on high/ultra settings with 2x anti-aliasing and 8x anisotropic filtering. I haven't personally tested BF3 with this card though so I'm not sure what settings it could play it on. (Sorry for getting off topic.)

Nice link by the way EO. I'm sure it will be very useful for everyone. ^-^

Edited July 12, 2012 by ballard

[Dark_Angel13]

On what screen do you want to game on ? (like 24", 27",30", 3 screens ?)

Also you missed out the question of "do you encode or use any CPU intensetive software ?

Edit : 30" is out probably of budget though since they are usually around 1000$

24" screen is fine and no i dont encode or use and CPU intensive software, as far as building the computer goes I'll be fine with it, I've torn apart a few old ones and build one or two cheapy computers, did a few computer courses too that had me doing repairs and stuff so I'm mostly all good on that front. I'd like to thank everyone for replying so far and giving me HEAPS of advice and a special thanks to those who went ahead and made me a list of options, I will be certain to look them through intensively and then decide on what I plan to do from there.

I know I've mentioned that I just want this computer for gaming but honestly, if I had a decent computer I would probably be willing to step down some other roads and really use it to it's full potential once I knew how.

Ballard: "You could always get both and use the SSD for the OS, and the HDD for storage."

I think this is what I will do since I'd love to have A LOT of storage space for this computer as it will most likely hold all of my anime etc, although for the money I'm spending I may also invest in some 1tb hd's to keep some of it portable or just as backups.

A big thanks to everyone again for all of the info and advice, once I've decided on everything I'll show you guys and you can tell me what you all think.

[Dae314]

This kind of stuff is why my guide exists. I'm a bit disappointed that nobody bothered to point him there.

The guide thread is stickied: http://forums.kametsu.com/index.php?/topic/30271-a-newbies-hardware-guide/

I go over everything you should know about the parts you're going to buy in there. I'm not saying that anything in this thread is wrong though. On the contrary I like the builds I see, and seeing more builds will help you start to understand what people think are good parts and combinations. I highly recommend you check out the sections about monitors and SSDs (for SSD's look in the further reading too). There's a ton of information that, in my experience advising builds, isn't very well known in those sections. Also, I don't know if this was cleared up from above, but as far as gaming grade graphics cards go Nvidia and AMD are pretty much neck and neck right now. It's very hard to choose one over the other (at least from my perspective).

Give my guide a read (if you want you can look at the builds too, but people already made custom build suggestions for you so I'd use those). You may find some information in there that you didn't know.

--edit--

Oh I just noticed that the forum rollback took out my guide update. The opening post reads May, but I've already updated the guide for July. Don't worry about info being too out of date .

Edited July 13, 2012 by Dae314