New Build, halp!

[Kanzas]

hey everyone, just thought I'd stop in here and ask you all a question(s)!

Basically, I need a new computer. I am using a laptop, and it's getting shitty.

So, my question is this... If you've built a custom computer, or even bought one, what do you have, why, and how much did it cost? I am not against buying a pre-built computer or making my own, I've heard pros and cons from both so i need a little swaying on where to go.

Anything that you know about this would help GREATLY! I very much appreciate your time on the matter, thank you!

[TheRapingDragon]

Originally Posted by Kanzas

So, my question is this... If you've built a custom computer, or even bought one, what do you have

Got a custom computer in January 2011 after my previous computer completely broke. I got it through a German company called Ankermann and it consists of:

USB3 AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition
4x3.50GHz Socket AM3 6MB L3 Cache
ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTS450 1024MB
PCI-e 16x Card GDDR5 RAM Direct X 11.0
4,00 GB RAM DDR3 1600MHz (2x 2GB)
Mainboard ASUS M4A88T-V Evo/USB3, 880G
SONY NEC DVD WRITER 24x MKulti Format DVD-RW

Originally Posted by Kanzas

why

I got more for my money. At the time I rivaled my dad's computer, which he paid around £800 for.

Originally Posted by Kanzas

and how much did it cost?

£499.

[Deidara837]

This site should help a lot
http://www.logicalincrements.com/

The build I'm looking to put together next year, basically min-maxing power/performance vs. price while staying in a solid performance range for gaming.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/2rt2Fd

[PhantomPuppy]

Funny enough I'm finishing my pc build today lol. It has an i5-4590, 16gb ram, 1tb hybrid drive, and a gtx 770. I'd recommend buying a used gpu, saves a lot of money. Total for this build with os was around $750.

[trumaestro]

Built my PC about 4 years ago. Still in it's original configuration and still going strong today. I don't exactly stress it much, but it still runs fine for stuff like TF2, or the stupid little indie games I buy and forget about and then find in my Steam catalogue and install and then don't like

Spent about CDN$1200 when it was new, i5-2500k OC'd on stock fan to 3.9, Gigiabyte z68 motherboard, 8gb ram, good power supply, decent case, and comparatively skimped on the video card, which is the only upgrade I should need to make for quite some time to come. Maybe some more ram would be nice though...

Thing is, I can do that. I can buy parts and throw them in and have them work. That's why you build your own. You have room to add in more ram, or a better video card, or another video card, or more hard drive space. You might not necessarily have that with a pre-built. Plus you get to choose what the box looks like.

Originally Posted by Kanzas

I am not against buying a pre-built computer or making my own, I've heard pros and cons from both so i need a little swaying on where to go.

Don't be scared of building your own. Think of it as a big expensive lego kit with like 8 pieces. You only need a screwdriver to put it together. It's easier when you know what to expect going in though.

A good place to read up is /r/buildapc. Also Youtube. There are a lot of people with videos up where you can see a computer being built. I'm partial to Carey Holzman and any of his "how to build a computer" videos.

Don't cheap out on the power supply, and don't forget your motherboard standoffs. You'll be fine.

[Poison-]

Building your own will likely be cheaper, as long as you're willing to put it together. there are probably even places that offer pc building as a service

Get the best you can afford to increase the longevity of your pc. It might be more convenient to buy something cheap now, but when it's dated in a year, you'll regret it

[RagedBerserker]

I actually just built my second PC this weekend. You can definitely go cheap with it. I previously went with an AMD cpu and a Radeon gpu and they rivaled higher end Intel cpus and Nvidia gpus.

I only recently made another PC because I decided to sell this one to a family member and make another with some extra money I had made. So, this time around I bought an Intel i7 6700 cpu, an ASUS GTX 970 gpu, a Samsung 250gb SSD, 1tb Seagate HDD, 16 gb RAM, a Z170 mobo, an aftermarket cpu fan (cooler master 212 evo) and 650W psu. Also, a full ATX tower case, which you do not necessarily need unless you know some of the items you are buying are massive. My previous computer was in a Mid-tower and it was fine, just a bit more cramped. This computer was not exactly bang for my buck-type build, just more of me not wanting to have to replace anything for a while unless it failed.

I think the first time around I saved a great amount of money for the perfomance as I took my time and found great deals and went with cheaper components. I probably spent about $650. If you buy an AMD processor (I had an FX8350) and even a Radeon gpu (new ones coming out later this year, so potential price drops for gpus all around) then you are already going to save a good amount of money. It can be argued the quality is worse, but from my experience my computer ran wonderfully for the 2 years I owned it.

Also, knowing what pieces are in your computer, how they go in and out of your case, and what the condition of your computer is, makes troubleshooting issues a bit easier. And then it also leaves the ability to replace certain components if they become outdated.

[DarkZtar]

If you can hold out until thanksgiving I'd recommend doing that. Black Friday sales are always really good, and the new top of the line and previous gen intel processors and the newer gtx gpus (1080x) will all have gone down in price considerably by then. Also +1 recommendation for building your own pc, a lot cheaper and makes upgrading a lot easier. Also makes maintenance a ton easier since you know how to put everything together etc.

[Kanzas]

Awesome, thank you everyone for all your input! ^_^

When I figure out what I'm building, I'll probably ask for your opinion on the specs when I get there.

[Azpb Djbread]

- CPU: Intel i5-6400 3.2GHz Quad Core Skylake
- GPU: ASUS STRIX NVIDIA GTX 970 4GB GDDR5
- RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz
- Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E
- Power Supply: 600w AeroCool Integrator Power Supply
- Case: AeroCool Aero-800 Windowed Midi Tower
- HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda SATA III HDD
- DVD Drive: 24x Samsung Internal DVD Re-Writer
- CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Contac 21 CPU Air Cooler
- Mouse: Razer Deathadder Chroma (400dpi - 6/11 windows - 2.25 sensitivity in CSGO no acceleration)
- Mousemat: Razer Goliathus Alpha Speed (this or Steelseries Qck+ are excellent!)

The Apocalypse PC also has Next Day Delivery available: http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+...

[PhantomPuppy]

Originally Posted by Azpb Djbread

- CPU: Intel i5-6400 3.2GHz Quad Core Skylake
- GPU: ASUS STRIX NVIDIA GTX 970 4GB GDDR5
- RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz
- Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E
- Power Supply: 600w AeroCool Integrator Power Supply
- Case: AeroCool Aero-800 Windowed Midi Tower
- HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda SATA III HDD
- DVD Drive: 24x Samsung Internal DVD Re-Writer
- CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Contac 21 CPU Air Cooler
- Mouse: Razer Deathadder Chroma (400dpi - 6/11 windows - 2.25 sensitivity in CSGO no acceleration)
- Mousemat: Razer Goliathus Alpha Speed (this or Steelseries Qck+ are excellent!)

The Apocalypse PC also has Next Day Delivery available: http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+...

with this build, keep in mind that a SSHD is only $20 more than an HDD, so there's really no point in not getting it. i'd personally like 16GB ram but only because I was maxing out 8GB before; depending on his use 8GB would be plenty, so not gonna make any arguments there. everything else seems pretty good :)

[Deidara837]

Originally Posted by Azpb Djbread

- Mouse: Razer Deathadder Chroma (400dpi - 6/11 windows - 2.25 sensitivity in CSGO no acceleration)
- Mousemat: Razer Goliathus Alpha Speed (this or Steelseries Qck+ are excellent!)

As long as you don't get a Razer "keyboard"

[PhantomPuppy]

Originally Posted by Deidara837

As long as you don't get a Razer "keyboard"

this. razer keyboards are not good at all imo.

[_Zenith_]

Originally Posted by DarkZtar

If you can hold out until thanksgiving I'd recommend doing that. Black Friday sales are always really good, and the new top of the line and previous gen intel processors and the newer gtx gpus (1080x) will all have gone down in price considerably by then. Also +1 recommendation for building your own pc, a lot cheaper and makes upgrading a lot easier. Also makes maintenance a ton easier since you know how to put everything together etc.

I got my build around this time and at one point it was roughly $200 but I had to wait a little bit so the end cost wound up being roughly $350 + $100 (monitor that I got from christmas).

Honestly if it wasn't for the sale I would still be using some rig from the 90s

[Kanzas]

Originally Posted by PhantomPuppy

this. razer keyboards are not good at all imo.

I don't like Razer lol Plus I got my k120 n_n

And yeah, I'll def need 16 over 8gb, just in case lol

[reborn.1234]

Originally Posted by Kanzas

hey everyone, just thought I'd stop in here and ask you all a question(s)!

Basically, I need a new computer. I am using a laptop, and it's getting shitty.

So, my question is this... If you've built a custom computer, or even bought one, what do you have, why, and how much did it cost? I am not against buying a pre-built computer or making my own, I've heard pros and cons from both so i need a little swaying on where to go.

Anything that you know about this would help GREATLY! I very much appreciate your time on the matter, thank you!

All Computers become out of date at some point. all new computers state otherwise what the system is used for. If the specs show at least 16 Gb of Memory or more, it's most likely used for gaming. Anything 8Gb or less of Memory is most likely used for business or others.

[Mahou]

Originally Posted by Deidara837

As long as you don't get a Razer "keyboard"

Ironically, my best fiffer score came from a razer keyboard. However, keyboard didn't last for 3 months.