Thinking about building my own PC

rather than ordering something. I tend to use my PC mostly for surfing the web.. watching DVD ( not always blu-ray ), and my MMORPG games , obviously playing City of Heroes and want to play the new Star Wars MMO.

The most important thing for me besides good performance is that it is quiet. My current PC is very loud ( to the point I sigh when it shuts off ). I dont really care if its AMD or Intel. I am not married to either. I would like a decent video card. if It could run ultra mode great..From what I read on here I should look for Nvidia over ATI.

I know some of the usual places like Tiger Direct and New Egg but any other places I should look for parts.

Im figuring to spend around 1000-1200 and I can build it slowly as I dont have all the money right now.. Ive never put a PC together from scratch but i have replaced Ram. hard Drives, Video cards etc etc.. and I think i am pretty bright.

I have no idea what kind of case to get.

I have no idea how much power supply I should get

I am thinking an Intel 5 or an AMD chip ( my understanding is that some AMD's are cheaper and run quite well for what I am doing ). I dont think I need an i-7.

I need advice on how to keep it quiet and cool.

Any advice from the pros would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

I know some of the usual places like Tiger Direct and New Egg but any other places I should look for parts.
Not in my book. I've built my past 3 systems and buy everything from NewEgg.

Im figuring to spend around 1000-1200 and I can build it slowly as I dont have all the money right now.. Ive never put a PC together from scratch but i have replaced Ram. hard Drives, Video cards etc etc.. and I think i am pretty bright.
Having done all those things, the only aspect that would be even slightly challenging is applying thermal compound to the CPU and mounting the heat sink. There are plenty of tutorials for this on the web on tech sites and youtube. Personally, I'm a fan of Arctic Silver and went by the guides on their site www.arcticsilver.com

Also, I would suggest DON'T build it slowly. The technology is improving constantly and better components come out all the time. You gain nothing by building it gradually. Save your money and then buy everything at once.

I have no idea what kind of case to get.
Pick a good name brand. My current case is from Antec, the previous was from Thermaltake. First, figure out how big a video card you'll be getting and if you must have certain connectors in specific places. Do you need 8 USB connectors? Do you need Firewire on the front panel? On the top? Do you need four external drive bays?

I have no idea how much power supply I should get
The other components will determine that. AFTER you select all your other parts and review the power requirements of the video card, go to a site like this one and tell it everything you're installing. It will advise how big a power supply you need. It will also suggest how much surplus to factor in to account for aging and if you plan to run the system 24/7 (like I do).

I am thinking an Intel 5 or an AMD chip ( my understanding is that some AMD's are cheaper and run quite well for what I am doing ). I dont think I need an i-7.
Yep. An i5 should be fine, based on your first paragraph. I'm not familiar with AMD's product line.

I need advice on how to keep it quiet and cool.
Yeah... well, the #1 way to keep it cool is to add fans... which makes it noiser. Keep one thing in mind - bigger fans are better. A larger fan doesn't need to spin as fast as a smaller one to move the same amount of air. This is one reason I picked my case (Antec 900). It has a 22cm diameter fan in the roof of the case. Yes, that's about the size of a DINNER PLATE (almost 9").

I'll second the thought on an i5 CPU, it's plenty for anything you may want to do short of high end video and/or animation work. The 2500K seems to be the chip of choice and it's very overclockable. AMD makes decent CPU's but they can't compete with the performance of the i5/i7. That said they do make a decent budget choice... but with $1,200 in the pot you'll have plenty for that i5. Oh, and I don't look any further than Newegg for parts.

As for a case that's completely up to you... you can spend anywhere from $20 - $500 on a case. Generally I buy something in the ~$50 range for a personal system... I don't need all the extra bells and whistles. I suggest a mid tower ATX case WITHOUT a PSU... the power supplies that come with most cases are crap you'll throw away anyway. Figure out how many drive bays you need (and add a couple extra just for giggles... you'd be surprised how easy it is to run out of room a year or so down the road) and what extras you want, like front USB ports, audio ports, Firewire, etc.

For your PSU I've had good luck with Antec, and depending on your video card and how many drives you install you'll want a minimum of 500 watts. Unless you're doing something silly like running a pair of high end vid cards in SLI you shouldn't need anything stronger than 700 watts.

Keeping it cool is easy, also keeping it quiet is a bit of a challenge however. There are high efficiency case fans that are very quiet, they'll cost a few dollars more but they're worth it. I've used a few Silenx fans in builds and they're quiet enough it's hard to tell they're running from a couple feet away. You'll also want a good CPU heat sink/fan, I've had good luck with Zalman and they're also quiet enough that with the case buttoned up I don't hear ANY fan noise from the box... the loudest sounds are the hard drives spinning up.

Beyond that there's other ways to quiet it down more with acoustic insulation on the case but IMO that's getting well into diminishing returns. You WILL want to replace the stock fans that come with the case, they're typically really loud. Also the thumb rule of "bigger is better" applies; a 120mm fan moves more air with less noise than an 80mm so if a larger fan will fit it's better than using a smaller one. Tom's Hardware did a couple of articles recently on cooling and airflow, check them out for more ideas.

Building your own isn't really all that difficult as long as you have patience and the ability to use a screwdriver without breaking anything. When you're ready to buy, and I agree with Ironblade that you'll want to get everything at once, just ask and I'm sure we can put together a "parts list" for you. One thing you'll want is to make sure you buy quality parts... cheap hardware is just full of problems waiting to happen and it isn't much less money than the good stuff.

An I5 would be great.

Cases... do you have a computer store nearby? CompUSA, Frys, etc? It really helps to be able to go and *look at* (and touch) a case to me. Not just for "looks," but to feel if it seems solid or not, to see what's available for space and fans, and (importantly, and often overlooked, it seems) to see how it would be to work in it.

If you don't, look for reviews. I don't spend $50 or less on a case, and see no reason to spend $200 or more on one. (Not saying they aren't good cases - some are, certainly - but they're usually a bit "too much" in those ranges, or gimmicky.)

I've liked (recently) the Coolermaster CM 690 (I think they're 690 II now.) Don't know what they run at this point. But it's a solid case and plenty of room to work in - and room for lots of fans and drives.

Do not, in any circumstance, cheap out on the PSU. Just don't do it. Go with less RAM or a few Mhz less speed or Gb less space if you need to - do *not* cheap out on the PSU. Antec's good, Corsair's gotten good reviews, PC Power and Cooling (think that's the name) is good but tends to be a bit pricy.

Start with FatherXmas lists on parts to get ideas, I'd say. MaximumPC and Tom's Hardware also do machines at various budgets - Tom's just updated.

Okay, suggestion if you're buying in pieces, BUY THE VIDEO CARD LAST!

Right now nVidia's on the cusp of rolling out it's next-gen stuff. But even if you don't get one of them, the current generation of cards will drop in price.

As for AMD vs Intel. Just go Intel. AMD is essentially a waste of money right now.

Intel i5 2500K CPU $220
Intel Z68 motherboard $190
8+GB of DDR3 memory $47 (Known compatible with the motherboard)
Case (whatever blows your skirt up)
650W or better PSU $175
Still getting boned rough and raw by the hard drive crisis right now $180

Current pick for Video Card:
Either a
1GB GTX 560 Ti $250
or a
2GB GTX 560 Ti $280

Optical: You can get yourself a DVD burner or a Blu-Ray player.

With a bit of judicious shopping, you may be able to fit this into your budget.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Right now, for gaming, the Intel 2nd Generation Core family of CPUs (aka Sandy Bridge) pummel AMD CPUs about the head and shoulders like Batman with thugs. Doubly in the case of AMD's new FX-4xxx, FX-6xxx, FX-8xxx series CPUs (aka Bulldozer).

Right now hard drives are expensive due to a stoppage of production in Thailand because of record breaking flooding. This causes the OEM hard drive market to have excessive shortages and when supply dries up, prices shoot up. It looks to be recovering a bit but it will be a while until hard drive prices come down to August's prices.

Memory is cheap right now, less than $10 a GB for high speed, faster timing DDR3 memory.

Video cards. AMD just paper launched their HD 7970 but it and it's lower priced brothers won't be available for a few months. nVidia is on the verge of releasing their next generation GPU. When new video cards are released, their "older" siblings are usually reduced in price. Right now, for me, the GTX 560, GTX 560Ti and GTX 570 are the three video cards I would look at, depending on your budget.

Power supply. This is one of the most overlooked part in a home build. Don't go cheap here. You should budget around $15-20 per 100 watts. Look for PSUs with an 80Plus rating with the 12 volt part of the supply being able to crank out at least 80% of the PSUs maximum wattage (for example a 600 watt PSU should be able to put out 480 watts or 40 amps [480/12] at 12 volts).

The intel i5 processors are great, but for just web surfing and gaming, and AMD chip would be much cheaper, and work just as well. The AMD 970(4 cire 3.5ghz) is only about 130 bucks, and while it wont benchmark as high as an i5, is easily overclockable and built for gaming, not to mention the AMD chips are much easier to mount the heatsink and fan on. I've ran both AMD and Intel, and for everyday tasks, you can't really tell a difference.

Here is a build, including monitor, that would run you under 1000 dollars, and thats including buying a copy of Windows 7 64.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103923

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147153

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145533

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009316

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157281

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130749

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986

The power supply in this build could be a bit bigger,but the 500w should have no issues whatsoever pushing everything, and Corsair is a very good brand. This system would be able to play any modern game at high settings with great fps, and CoH on ultra would be a breeze.

Just gonna throw the my responses inline on the quotes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demon Forge Here is a build, including monitor, that would run you under 1000 dollars, and thats including buying a copy of Windows 7 64. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103923 See my post above about "Why go Intel instead of AMD". http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147153 A fugly case IMNSHO, but to each his own. It's a cramped case too. There's minimal clearance between the right-hand ATX base-plate screws and the drive cages. Some slightly longer cards will have problems getting mounted in a case like this. I used to deal with cases like this for silent computing. Nowadays, I prefer roomier cases. Also, if you're into any sort of cable management (so the inside of the system has nice air flow and doesn't look like a rats' nest), this is NOT the case for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145533 While I still have an original 7200 rpm IBM "Death Star" hard drive in working order, I worry that you've recommended this drive's successor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009316 No comment on the monitor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157281 It's ASRock. It's cheap and that's about all it has going for it. Never mind that ASRock has a component failure rate that's positively atrocious. While they may have originally spun off from Asus, they retain none of Asus quality controls and it shows. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130749 No comment on the video card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027 PSU is too small for the video card and system. 600W minimum is really recommended. Will it run? Sure. How stable is the system going to be pushing the 12v rails like that? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314 No comment on the RAM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986 The power supply in this build could be a bit bigger,but the 500w should have no issues whatsoever pushing everything, and Corsair is a very good brand. This system would be able to play any modern game at high settings with great fps, and CoH on ultra would be a breeze.

Corsair? Corsair what? Your link is to G.Skill memory.

Also, you neglected an optical drive.

Honestly the OP should hit up my guide on asking for a new computer/components and fill it out. It'll help decide what if any, of the things you put in were needed or not (like the monitor).

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Spoken like a true intel fanboy. I've been building systems for years, and never had any kind of issues whatsoever running AMD processors. I've used both, in my own systems and customers systems, and for general gaming and all around use, there is virtually no difference. If I was doing serious multitasking, or video decoding, or something that is processor intensive, I would recommend an intel processor, but for CoH, and any other MMO around, as well as 99% of other games out, anything more than a solid AMD quad core is just overkill.
I recommended the 4 core over the 6 core purely because of clock speed, and the fact that unless you are doing some serious multitasking, you arent going to see a performance increase with a lower clock 6 core.
The power supply(which is a Corsair Builder Series) is 80+ certified, with the system components running at 422 watts (at max, which would very rarely happen) would be perfectly fine to run these components. If you were planning on adding a second video card or something down the road, get a bigger PSU.
The motherboard is a cheap one, but I've used ASrock in several systems and have had no issues. Your personal experiences may vary. Mine have been good.
As for the case, you could go with a full size atx case and have more room to work with and hide cables, but you'd probably be surprised how much bigger it is than your average oem computer. This case has very good reviews, and will work with the card I've listed, I've used the combination before.
You could spend a little extra money and get a WD caviar, or maybe a SeaGate Barracuda hard drive, but all in all it wont make much of a performance difference.
We aren't talking about a high end gaming rig here, which is what you guys seem to be recommending. CoH is near the very bottom of the spectrum when it comes to graphics load. I play CoH on an AMD 4450e system with a 9800gtx, and can run in ultra on 1440x900 with no issues whatsoever.
If you don't mind spending an extra 200 bucks on the system for what amounts to brand name preference, by all means, go with Intel. It is faster, and because it is, will probably last a year or 2 longer. But realize that the hardware is WAY ahead of the software right now, and this has been the issue for a couple of years. Having an I7 or i5 is great, but there really isnt much out there that requires the performance increase that they have over AMD processors.

AMD Phenom II X4 970 ($140) Vs Intel i3-2100 ($125)

Dragon Age - Intel 9.8% faster
Dawn of War II - Intel 15% faster
WoW - Intel 19.1% faster
Starcraft II - Intel 10.5% faster

And that's between your AMD 3.5GHz quad core Vs an Intel 3.1GHz dual core with hyper threading.

While AMD had a great run against Intel during the Pentium 4/D era in gaming, once the Core 2 hit the scene AMD has been playing catch up. Now AMD has been competing with Intel by trying to price according to performance in thread heavy applications, usually by requiring more cores to do so.

And is a lot of cases, cranking the graphics settings up in games can saturate a single GPU video card so the differences in general CPU performance vanish but it still makes an impact when a gamer chooses to go with multiple GPUs.

I'm not a fanboy of one CPU or GPU company over the other. I once used AMD CPUs in my low end rig parts list until Intel finally came out with Sandy Bridge based CPUs in the sub $100 price range. Heck even the Pentium G840 I currently recommend is faster than the AMD X4 970 in those games and it lists for only $85.

And the primary reason I'm recommending nVidia over AMD now (I was recommending AMD GPUs until recently) is the whole graphics driver roulette problem with this game. When AMD can come out with three consecutive WHQL drivers that work with CoH, I'll start recommending them again but until then I'll rather sacrifice a bit of performance at the same price range with nVidia than being forced to choose between a driver that works with CoH and one that works with whatever latest game that the current driver is tweaked for.

Just found something that would probably sway me to an intel chip for a budget system, i5 2300 is only 166 bucks on amazon.com. I'm not a hardcore AMD fan, just pointing out that that you shouldn't just automatically ignore them because of the intel chips being faster. For the price vs performance, they are comparable. But, at 166 dollars for the 2300, its a great deal.
As for choosing Nvidia cards over AMD, for anyone that plays CoH, they should def get an Nvidia card, the problems with AMD drivers and CoH are bordering on stupidity. I don't know if this is the fault of CoH or AMD, but it doesn't make any sense at all.

The system I linked would be able to easily run CoH on ultra(at whatever res you wish), with either the AMD or Intel processor. That is pretty much a given. My whole intention on replying to this thread was to offer a slightly less expensive system. There are a lot of people who simply refuse to acknowledge that AMD processors are a viable alternative. For the x% increase in performance, you are paying 50% more going from a 970be to the i5 2500, and that's not including the price of the motherboard. I'm offering a lower cost solution, and that is it in its entirety. I'm not saying by any means that the AMD processors are better, they are not. The fact that he said he would have to buy it a piece at a time makes me think that this is not someone who has 1200 dollars laying around, and might like something that would meet his demands without spending quite as much. Hyper, I apologize for the fanboy comment, a lot of people just seem to have the opinion that Intel is the answer for everything, regardless of the cost to performance ratio.You are obviously more informed than that, though we obviously have different approaches for computer building. I didn't mean to step on anyones toes, and I'm not trying to start a"I know more about computer building than you" war, just trying to give the guy some options, and to let him know that you can build a very nice system with an AMD processor.
There are good parts and points in all of the posts in this thread, and if nothing else this will give the OP something to research before building his system.

*grabs a bowl of popcorn and watches*

1) What will you primarily be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
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I am web browsing, playing dvd and videos, family photos, listening to music and the most intense thing I do is play CoH. I would like to play the new Star Wars MMO. I dont play MW3 or FPS on a PC, I have an Xbox260 for that.


2) What's your budget? (Real Dollars) Are tax and shipping included? This is important as it allows people trying to help you to suggest things appropriate to your budget.
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I am figuring between 800-1000 not including a monitor, speakers, tax and shipping.


3) Where do you live? This is important as it affects what vendors you may buy from and how much shipping costs might be.
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I live in NYC.


4) Are you planning to buy or build?
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Build


5) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need. If you're unsure what exactly you need, say so.
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I would need everything. Case, motherboard, Ram, CPU, Optical Drives, Sound Card. ANd unfortunately a Hard Drive.



6) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
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7) Will you be overclocking?
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No I dont plan to.

8) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
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I have a cheap 17" monitor I can use now. I was either planning to buy a new 22-24" monitor. Eventually I have a 32" HDTV that I was hoping I could wall mount and use as a monitor when I get a bigger TV for the bedroom.

9) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
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I am planning to build it over the next 2-3 months. I will need to get things little by little.


10) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
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ill be honest I am not sure. Im not even sure if I need Raid or FireWire. Im not interested in Crossfire or SLI. I would like to have at least 1 USB 3.0.


11) Any specific must-have features? Must be able to max out Ultra-Mode? Must have 6+GB of RAM? Must have an SSD? etc.
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I want to have at least 6-8 GBs of Ram and I am leaning to 8. I dont want to max out ultra mode but I do want to stop playing on the Lowest settings like I am now. Mid Ultra Mode would be fine for me. I need QUIET my system is really loud. Ive thought about a SSD for the operating system and some other stuff, but I dont know if I really need that.


12) Are there any vendors/brands you'd specifically prefer to use?
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I do know that I have looked and Antec Cases and Power Supplies and I think I like those. I want to stick with Intel for CPU. I think an I5 is best for me. I am looking at nVidia for Graphics card as CoH seems to have a lot of issues with ATI. Ive used Crucial Memory but not married to it.


13) Are there any vendors/brands you'd specifically prefer to avoid?
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Really dont want cheap stuff just because its lower priced. Dont want a AMD CpU or ATI graphics card.


14) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? (Note: If your current OS came with your computer, odds are that it is NOT transferable.)
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No I dont have a legit liscence.



A few things I think I have already decided..

Intel I5 CpU Sandy Bridge.. not sure which one to get
Not sure on Mother Board.. Asus or Intel I guess.
at least 6 but preferably 8 gigs of Ram
500MB hard drive. I dont need 1TB.. Id rather have a smaller faster HD
Need good fans.. 120mm and quiet
Nvidia 550 Ti seems to be the card I can afford that will work well.
Antec Case.. like those best so far.
No Liquid cooling.. dont trust it.. just the thought of liquid around electronics scares the crap outta me.
I would like 2 optical drives.. one regular and one burner.. I dont know if I want Blu ray

( i dont have a lot of Blu Ray Dvd's now and I dont have a HD monitor either ) I might do a Blu ray player and a regular burner.. I dont know.. maybe I dont need two.. undecided..

Need a good but not necessarily great Sound card.. and would like at least one open slot for a wireless card later.. might want a bluetooth keyboard and mouse at some point..

Thats about all I can come up with from doing research from yesterday.