Build me a computer

[Yichimet]

This is a little pie-in-the-sky, because I don't think I can afford it right now, but I want to keep my eye on deals popping up during the X-mas shopping season. I don't need peripherals or software. I have a decent 24" monitor and all the other crap, plus a copy of Windows 7. But I'd be starting from scratch for hardware--case on up. So, in the $800-$1000 range, build me a balanced computer. You get +Yichimet points if you link on newegg so I can add them to my watch list there.

[Greebo]

I would start with an excessively over powered processor designed for servers that costs just under $2000 and suggest you get 24x7 onsite support for it at several thousand dollars per year.

[Abric]

I made a post a few months ago - and you can just search Ashenfury's name. If he isn't talking about PvP, he's making seven or eight computer posts.

[Yichimet]

Did you do it in that budget range, Abric?

Oh, right, $1500. I see it now!

[Abric]

About $1250. I bought a few things I didn't need, though - but I've kept because it's one of those "have it when you're ready" sort of things. I believe the system I'm on right now was about $1100 in total.

Just make sure you double check whatever company website you're buying your stuff from, to see if your product has any replacements or better versions. The monitor's I got are good - but I could of gotten a hell of a lot better for an extra 20 bucks.

[Ashenfury]

My best recommendation is to go to extremely high end PC gaming hardware sites like http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ and http://www.alienware.com/ . Find their very best and highest priced computer to see where gaming technology is currently at and then browse some other pre-built machines that are in your price range to get an instant idea of what hardware you will be dealing with. So now you have an idea what you want and what you can afford. Then mix and match from both computers until you end up with a well priced MegaRig3000.

There are three components that I do NOT skimp on:
Motherboard/Processor (yes I'm counting that as 1 component)
Nvidia Graphic Cards
DDR 3 Memory

The biggest one by far is to get a nice mobo and processor as graphic card technology is moving too fast even for most enthusiasts. They are almost always bundled very nicely. If you can afford an i7 (I think AMD calls theirs Phenom2 or something) then I highly recommend it. I cannot spout enough technobabble about how awesome the i7 processors are.

Please remember that most games only utilize 1gb of memory on a graphics card regardless of how much you have. Most games do NOT utilize multiple cores. The new ones are starting to but don't depend on it. In other words: Regardless of the number of cores, make sure that your clock speed is healthy. 100GB of RAM is worthless if it only performs at 10mhz. Make sure that you check your ram speeds and that they are supported on your motherboard.

I'm really just rambling and hopefully it's not redundant information that you already knew.

[Yichimet]

Nope, good suggestions all. I went through the Ars system guide from March.It all still seems relevant save for the platter hard drive recommendation--apparently no one makes anything but 7200rpm anymore for desktops? I'll check out your links too.

How big is the step down from i7 to i5?

[Malstrom]

Note that hard drive prices have essentially doubled in the last few weeks because of a flood in Thailand. (Hopefully) prices will come down when the manufacturing catches up, so if you can put off buying a harddrive for now, do so...or go SSD which I believe escaped any flooding (and is still too expensive imho).

Mal

[Abric]

Performance, beyond the super high-end, you'll see very little difference between the i5 and i7 to justify the price. Unless you are doing some heavy video editing or graphic design - i7 is just a penis check. The $100-$200 you'll save on the processor can go into something more important; like the graphics card or monitors (minimum of two!)

I'd recommend you get an SSD, too. I bought a 60gig one that I've put Windows on and other vital programs, and it's beautiful. While my HDD does spin up when I'm gaming, that is the *only* time it does. Saves on the heat, saves on the speed, and saves on the space. Also - if shit hits the fan ... then you'll either have Windows safe (on the SDD) or all your files/programs safe (on your HDD).

Or... if you want to get real hardcore; buy a 120gig SSD and you can put the most used programs on it. I wish I would of done that, but the difference between a 60 gig and 120 gig SSD is about ... $50-$150 bucks, depending on company you shoot for.

[Grainger]

Using the 3 or 6 month old recommendations from Ars or Tomshardware is a great way to get a cheap machine that does everything you need.

I'd also keep an eye on NewEgg for the build yourself PC deals they do they. I started with one of those for my base build and then just added more goodies that I needed.

With a 24" monitor (1900x1200 I assume) any $250 video card will be more than enough. WoW doesn't need that much power and Skyrim scales really well on slightly less powerful hardware. (Although playing Skyrim with everything maxed at 2560x1600 is rather beautiful :) )

[Yichimet]

I was wondering about the DIY sets on newegg. Some of them look great and cheap, and all I'd need to add would be a decent graphics card and SSD. Hmm.

[Yrzuli]

I had done that with my computer, Yichi, back when I had to replace my piece of crap. I think it was Mal who had recommended that. So I built it back when we were in SSC... I'm still running it with only minor upgrades since then (vid card, and a new mobo because I accidently fried the old one).

Mind you... it died about a month ago, but I've been too lazy to find out the issue (probably another mobo). (Shush Anaie! I'll get to looking into it!)

I also built Anaie's like... 2 years ago? I don't recall starting with a kit then, but it was only around 1000-1200$ and largely because he picked the most insanely powered vid card he could at the time.

[Malstrom]

Yup. No reason to break the bank.

I bought a barebones kit from TigerDirect in 2007. Added a few custom components. All told, I spent about $900 on the system. Since then I have upgraded the video card and added more memory (which I did last week - $300), and I can run Skyrim at Ultrahigh graphics mode. At Ultra graphics in WOW I am getting 60 FPS in a raid.

I long ago gave up SOTA purchases. I am all about the "bang-for-the-buck" now. You can play all the games you want for years to come for a relatively small investment if you buy your components now leaving room to upgrade components in the future.

If you want to play with Crossfire, liquid cooling etc... of course feel free. But realize this is more of a hobby thing (building performance systems) then something you need in order to play games.

Mal

[Greebo]

MMO-Champ has a setup-of-the-month thing.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/102 ... -the-Month