Building new computer (Noob)

[Graywolves]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
Roughly 1k

2. Where do you live? Southeastern Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia suburbs)

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)? Gaming(especially PS2, SWTOR, and GW2)

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically. Motherboard, processor, power supply, video card, hard drive, sound card, tower/armor/w.e, and cooling stuff. Whatever else I suppose I might need.

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.
most likely nothing.

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
Not sure exactly, definatley want a bigger monitor, maybe two.

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit? What?

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on. I don't know...

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU? Don't know anything about overclocking so probably not.

10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts? Couple months or so.

[Traak]

Here's my thread on a thousand-dollar box for gaming (http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37587)

You need to buy a monitor as part of your thousand-dollar budget?

Here's a monitor for you (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009316)
$119.99

Which would raise my system price as spec'd on that post to about $1120.

[Goku]

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
Not sure exactly, definatley want a bigger monitor, maybe two.

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit? What?

Are we including a new monitor for you in your budget or are you keeping your current one? What kind of monitor do you have at the moment?

Asking whether you have a OS or not in that question for this computer.

Concernig motherboard features. If you do not know what any of those are then you probably do not need them. The only ones I suggest getting is USB 3.0 and Sata III. Both offer far faster transfer speeds compared to the previous versions. Having USB 3.0 will allow for far faster transfer times from your flash drive if it is USB 3.0. Having Sata III allows for a proper use of a SSD down the road. At the moment Sata II (half the speed of Sata III) is a huge bottleneck for SSD performance.

Once I know that I will throw up something for you. Just keep in mind the components can change by the time you want to do the build. Come back within a week of when you are planning on doing your order.

[Graywolves]

Are we including a new monitor for you in your budget or are you keeping your current one? What kind of monitor do you have at the moment?

Asking whether you have a OS or not in that question for this computer.

Concernig motherboard features. If you do not know what any of those are then you probably do not need them. The only ones I suggest getting is USB 3.0 and Sata III. Both offer far faster transfer speeds compared to the previous versions. Having USB 3.0 will allow for far faster transfer times from your flash drive if it is USB 3.0. Having Sata III allows for a proper use of a SSD down the road. At the moment Sata II (half the speed of Sata III) is a huge bottleneck for SSD performance.

Once I know that I will throw up something for you. Just keep in mind the components can change by the time you want to do the build. Come back within a week of when you are planning on doing your order.


I've got Windows Vista. I don't know much about motherboard features but having a fast computer is always good.


I'm planning on getting a new monitor but I wouldn't include it into the budget. It's not real big and is pretty old. I like the monitor Traak posted.

With monitor I'm looking around 1.2k

[Goku]

Is the version you have 64-bit or 32-bit?

Are you interested in a SSD or would you rather get on down the road when they're cheaper?

You are close by to a micro center right? You can pick up a 2500K there for $180 and depending on if the motherboard combo deal is going you can get a extra $40 off. That beats any online computer in terms of bang for the buck.

A recommend getting at least a 23 inch monitor too. 16:9 21.5 inch monitors are pretty small actually due not being 16:10. If you are keeping this monitor for years to come I think spending a bit more money is worthwhile. I bought my current 22 inch for $300 back in 2008 and its been great. It is still hard for me to even want to upgrade to something bigger/higher resolution.

[Bags]

Goku speaks the truth. I couldn't imagine using a bigger monitor.. I'd have to sit back further.

[Graywolves]

Yeah I think I'll buy that at Micro Center.


I'll also look into the monitors a bit more. 22'' or 23''.

[Goku]

What about the OS and SSD Grey? If you have 32-bit OS you will be limited to 3.5 GB of ram instead of the 8GB use able with the build. If are you not interested in a SSD you can probably lower your budget a bit or get a better monitor perhaps.

[Graywolves]

I'd prefer to have 8GB.


I don't know anything about an SSD. Would I get that instead of an HDD and if I did how superior is it?


I've taken a little look at this as well.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/system-builder-value,2972.html

[Goku]

Gray do you know specifically what type of Vista you have? As in 32-bit or 64-bit. 32-bit limits the system to only 3.5GB while 64-bit allows for hundreds of GBs of ram.

A SSD is far faster then any HDD out there, but the downside is the lower storage. You can get a 64GB around $100 and a 128GB around $200. You still have a HDD for your main storage of course. You install your OS and main apps (games, office, and so on) on the SSD to notice the extra speed.

[Traak]

Trash Windows Vista. Get Windows 7. Instantly eliminates a lot of future disasters.

[Hamma]

Totally agreed with that, Win 7 came so much farther since Vista. Great OS.

[Graywolves]

Yeah, getting Windows 7.

Leaning towards an SSD. Do I need to get an HDD with that too or how does that work?

[Goku]

You install the OS with the SSD. Then you just plug in a HDD to another Sata port and you can install all your other stuff there.

[Graywolves]

You install the OS with the SSD. Then you just plug in a HDD to another Sata port and you can install all your other stuff there.

So it would work similar to an external HDD? But inside the computer...


I sound really stupid right now lol


Thanks for the help :D

[Goku]

Lol. You are indeed a noob. It functions the same as the current HDD you have in your computer right now. Just doesn't have the OS is all.

I'm busy tonight, but I will post a build for you tomorrow once I recover from my two tests with a good nap.

[Graywolves]

Lol. You are indeed a noob. It functions the same as the current HDD you have in your computer right now. Just doesn't have the OS is all.

I'm busy tonight, but I will post a build for you tomorrow once I recover from my two tests with a good nap.

Thanks for the help and dealing my horrible lack of knowledge on computers. :D

[Goku]

Here is what I came up with:

Intel Core i5 2500K - $180 @ Micro Center
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB HDD - $64.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145533)
ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor -$179.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059)
GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti - $219.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401)
Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU - $69.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422)
MSI P67A-G43 - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986)
Crucial M4 64GB SSD - $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441)

Total = $1086.92 (Doesn't include rebates, taxes, or shipping)

You have about $100 left out of the $1200 you wanted to spend, so you can choose your own case.

I may have to redo that depending on whether or not you want to get a sound card too.

Do you have a DVD-rom you can use for this?