New PC, Need Advice

[Kira365]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
-PC will be used solely for gaming purposes

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
-My price range is around $1,000$

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
-I will be buying from the US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
- definitely Intel and nVIDIA

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
-Dont have any current parts to use
*

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
- I plan on OCs
8. What resolution will you be using?
I'm not planning un running flight simulators but I want to set up peripheral monitors
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
-I need to save the money for some of the parts, because I only have a portion of my budget, but I am planning to be done with the project by Feb 2013

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
-I need a good optic disc, but I dont necessarily need blue ray. However if the price is only a little more then I wouldn't mind getting the blue ray.
-Windows 7 64bit is what ill be using

BTW I also plan on using a liquid cooling system, if you could refer a good one, also this is the case I'm thinking about getting:

http://estore.in-win.us/product_info...352860628f04bd

But if someone thinks that there is a better one for a better price please tell me

 

[Kira365]

So everyone has a better idea on what graphics card would be good I just thought I should mention some of the games I'll be playing: Total War Shogun 2, WOW, Battlefield 3, skyrim, ect.

 

[lehtv]

Do you have a Microcenter nearby? You can save almost $100 by buying the CPU and motherboard there instead of newegg and such, but it's in-store only.

8. What resolution will you be using?
I'm not planning un running flight simulators but I want to set up peripheral monitors

Just to confirm - do you yet own a monitor or not? If not you'll want to get a regular 1080p 23-24" monitor. Also curious about why you want peripheral monitors for a gaming only PC. To set up a proper triple-monitor gaming rig you'd have to pretty much double your budget.

BTW I also plan on using a liquid cooling system, if you could refer a good one

Put bluntly, proper liquid cooling is a no go on your budget. Liquid cooling kits like Corsair Hydro series and Antec H20 series aren't worth the asking money either.

, also this is the case I'm thinking about getting:

http://estore.in-win.us/product_info...352860628f04bd

The link doesn't work.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So everyone has a better idea on what graphics card would be good I just thought I should mention some of the games I'll be playing: Total War Shogun 2, WOW, Battlefield 3, skyrim, ect.

Oh, dear. For shogun2 and Skyrim, you'll need BOTH a powerful CPU and GPU. Shogun2 is very CPU hungry, so don't go below a 3570K and HD7950/GTX670...

 

[Kira365]

Thanks for the feed back guys

"Do you have a Microcenter nearby? You can save almost $100 by buying the CPU and motherboard there instead of newegg and such, but it's in-store only."
-I'm not sure but I'll google to see if there is

"Just to confirm - do you yet own a monitor or not? If not you'll want to get a regular 1080p 23-24" monitor. Also curious about why you want peripheral monitors for a gaming only PC. To set up a proper triple-monitor gaming rig you'd have to pretty much double your budget."
-I do own a monitor already but its not 1080p, and since I need to stick to the budget I'll follow your advice and just stick to one

"Put bluntly, proper liquid cooling is a no go on your budget. Liquid cooling kits like Corsair Hydro series and Antec H20 series aren't worth the asking money either."
-So you think I should just stick to the fans??

And sorry about the link its cause I copy and pasted the message. Heres the good link:

http://estore.in-win.us/product_info.php?products_id=85&osCsid=d9111ab930affaad67352860628f04bd

 

[Kira365]

Oh, dear. For shogun2 and Skyrim, you'll need BOTH a powerful CPU and GPU. Shogun2 is very CPU hungry, so don't go below a 3570K and HD7950/GTX670...

I wanted to see if I can get a 3rd generation i7 intel, that would work good right??

 

[lehtv]

Oh, dear. For shogun2 and Skyrim, you'll need BOTH a powerful CPU and GPU. Shogun2 is very CPU hungry, so don't go below a 3570K and HD7950/GTX670...

Yeah, pretty much. I played that game for a while on 560 Ti and i7 920, it ran like crap.

I wanted to see if I can get a 3rd generation i7 intel, that would work good right??

Games, including Shogun 2, usually don't take advantage of more than 4 CPU threads and some are still limited to two. i7-3770K is beyond your budget anyway.

I do own a monitor already but its not 1080p, and since I need to stick to the budget I'll follow your advice and just stick to one

OK. I recommend you do upgrade the monitor, you can then use your old monitor on the side for multitasking purposes, or sell it away to pay for some of the PC.

-So you think I should just stick to the fans??

Yeah just stick to regular air cooling.

And sorry about the link its cause I copy and pasted the message. Heres the good link:

http://estore.in-win.us/product_info...352860628f04bd

Alright I'm gonna have to break it to you. You're looking at parts meant for a $2000 rig. Your budget is $1000. This is more like what sort of a case you should be getting unless you want to completely cripple the performance of your PC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146083

 

[DSF]

First and foremost if you aren't going to be buying until February we're jumping the gun a little bit. Any specific parts recommendations we give now will likely be outdated at that point.

That said, have you started pricing any of this out? On a $1000 budget where you have to buy a monitor and an OS license, you're probably going to have to be choosy with your parts. I don't think you'll be getting an i7, and certainly not watercooling.

 

[Kira365]

"That said, have you started pricing any of this out? On a $1000 budget where you have to buy a monitor and an OS license, you're probably going to have to be choosy with your parts. I don't think you'll be getting an i7, and certainly not watercooling."
-Alright I just thought I should throw this out there, but I'm sure everyone has already noticed. This is my first time trying to build a computer. The budget is a 1000$ but there is always a little wiggle room. I also don’t know the pices for some of the equipment so I tend to mention things that are out of the price range, however I also want a comp that will run smooth and not be crappy since I'm doing it from scratch.

"First and foremost if you aren't going to be buying until February we're jumping the gun a little bit. Any specific parts recommendations we give now will likely be outdated at that point."
-February is a deadline not the building date, I will be buying the parts one by one and when I have all of them I will assemble the comp. If I have the parts by January because I get a good Christmas bonus then it will be built then.

 

[Kira365]

"Games, including Shogun 2, usually don't take advantage of more than 4 CPU threads and some are still limited to two. i7-3770K is beyond your budget anyway"
-which CPU do you recommend. Intel, AMD, or GeForce??

"OK. I recommend you do upgrade the monitor, you can then use your old monitor on the side for multitasking purposes, or sell it away to pay for some of the PC."
-Do you now how to set up my second monitore? Are there any extra parts involved, like an adapter or something??
PS: as I said sorry but this is the first time I do this, and again thank you all for your advices and suggestions.

"Alright I'm gonna have to break it to you. You're looking at parts meant for a $2000 rig. Your budget is $1000. This is more like what sort of a case you should be getting unless you want to completely cripple the performance of your PC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146083"
-I looked at the case and I was really surprised actually, idk i could buy em for that cheap, I mentioned the other one because I was looking up stock comp. then i decided to customize one and found that the best case they had, well that I liked of course, was that.

 

[lehtv]

Pro tip: rather than typing out quotation marks, please use the Quote button in the lower right corner of the post you're replying to. If you're replying to different parts of the post one at a time, you can separate the different parts in the post editor and click the text bubble icon to encase the highlighted text in

tags.

-February is a deadline not the building date, I will be buying the parts one by one and when I have all of them I will assemble the comp. If I have the parts by January because I get a good Christmas bonus then it will be built then.

You shouldn't buy any parts sooner than a week or two before you plan to have the PC sitting on your desk. This is because if you happen to get a part that's dead on arrival or incompatible/suboptimal for use with other parts, returning or replacing it will be much more of a hassle. Most retailers have a two week policy for easily replacing a purchase. By buying parts too early you may also miss out hot deals closer to your build date.

-which CPU do you recommend. Intel, AMD, or GeForce??

Intel and AMD make CPUs and Intel is definitely in the lead and will be for a long time, especially for gaming purposes. AMD and NVIDIA make GPUs. GeForce is NVIDIA's product name for its consumer GPU lineup. Both AMD and NVIDIA offer good choices at the moment. More specifically, with your budget I'd get an Intel i5 Ivy Bridge and a Radeon 7870 or 7950 or GeForce GTX 660 Ti. By February, the CPU will not have changed (Intel is not releasing the next generation of CPUs until around April), but we may have new generations from both GPU manufacturers.

By the way, since you're new to all this, your preference for NVIDIA seems a bit unfounded. (It is usually not well justified even with experienced users who hold that bias)

-Do you now how to set up my second monitore? Are there any extra parts involved, like an adapter or something??

You just plug it in to a free display output port (DVI, HDMI or VGA). You'll have both a graphics card with ports, as well as integrated graphics (located on the CPU) with ports in your motherboard's rear panel. You can use them simultaneously and with multiple monitors I recommend you do, as this avoids putting unnecessary load to the graphics card while it is idling.

PS: as I said sorry but this is the first time I do this, and again thank you all for your advices and suggestions.

No worries, helping out noobs is what we do ()

 

[Kira365]

Btw really important: Whats an os license????

 

[lehtv]

Operating system. Windows 7. It is sold in licenses, one license costs you about $100. Can't run a gaming rig without one.

 

[Kira365]

Operating system. Windows 7. It is sold in licenses, one license costs you about $100. Can't run a gaming rig without one.

OHHH ok lol, never heard of it being mention as a OS license before

 

[Kira365]

Pro tip: rather than typing out quotation marks, please use the Quote button in the lower right corner of the post you're replying to. If you're replying to different parts of the post one at a time, you can separate the different parts in the post editor and click the text bubble icon to encase the highlighted text in

tags.

-Thank you, will do from now on :thumbsup:

You shouldn't buy any parts sooner than a week or two before you plan to have the PC sitting on your desk. This is because if you happen to get a part that's dead on arrival or incompatible/suboptimal for use with other parts, returning or replacing it will be much more of a hassle. Most retailers have a two week policy for easily replacing a purchase. By buying parts too early you may also miss out hot deals closer to your build date.

-So I should just save the money and keep looking up deals till I have enough?

Intel and AMD make CPUs and Intel is definitely in the lead and will be for a long time, especially for gaming purposes. AMD and NVIDIA make GPUs. GeForce is NVIDIA's product name for its consumer GPU lineup. Both AMD and NVIDIA offer good choices at the moment. More specifically, with your budget I'd get an Intel i5 Ivy Bridge and a Radeon 7870 or 7950 or GeForce GTX 660 Ti. By February, the CPU will not have changed (Intel is not releasing the next generation of CPUs until around April), but we may have new generations from both GPU manufacturers.

-I'll stick to intel then

By the way, since you're new to all this, your preference for NVIDIA seems a bit unfounded. (It is usually not well justified even with experienced users who hold that bias)

-The reason for my bias is that every computer that I have used in my life have had NVidia, but you of course have more experience than me. If you think that AMD is better then I will try it

You just plug it in to a free display output port (DVI, HDMI or VGA). You'll have both a graphics card with ports, as well as integrated graphics (located on the CPU) with ports in your motherboard's rear panel. You can use them simultaneously and with multiple monitors I recommend you do, as this avoids putting unnecessary load to the graphics card while it is idling.

-regarding this, the graphics card is the one with the HDMI input in the back of the pc right?

 

[Kira365]

I was looking at Newegg.com and found this, please advice me if this is a good deal?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1156447

Also found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231460

PS: Good news to everyone who is helping me, I dont have to pay for this trip i was going to with my gf so I should have enough money for the rig in about a week...or two lol

Should I get this if the computer is finished before the special's end date??

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/..._6101i08g3y8h6fq4ggk6_19056916392&WT.search=1

 

[lehtv]

-So I should just save the money and keep looking up deals till I have enough?

Or, start looking at deals when you have enough money.

The reason for my bias is that every computer that I have used in my life have had NVidia, but you of course have more experience than me. If you think that AMD is better then I will try it

Both are good, and AMD has a slight edge in performance per dollar. But NVIDIA offers other features like CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX and such that you probably won't need. For most people, performance per dollar is probably the most important metric.

-regarding this, the graphics card is the one with the HDMI input in the back of the pc right?

Almost all motherboards for Intel Ivy Bridge have HDMI output and many have DVI and VGA as well. Not all graphics cards have HDMI output. DVI is the most common, but mini-HDMI and DisplayPort are also offered fairly often. You'll get a pretty good idea of what's what by filtering newegg's motherboard an graphics card sections for different video outputs.

Usually people use DVI to connect the monitor to the graphics card.

I was looking at Newegg.com and found this, please advice me if this is a good deal?

You should get standard profile RAM. Modules with tall heat sinks interfere with most large CPU coolers.

It's a bit early to look at specific parts until you're ready to start buying.

Should I get this if the computer is finished before the special's end date??

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...92&WT.search=1

That applies to computers that already have Windows 7 installed; if you want Windows 8, get a Windows 8 license.

 

[Kira365]

Both are good, and AMD has a slight edge in performance per dollar. But NVIDIA offers other features like CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX and such that you probably won't need. For most people, performance per dollar is probably the most important metric.

-Alright so I'll stick to AMD to get a better deal

Usually people use DVI to connect the monitor to the graphics card.

-will it give me the full resolution of the graphic card that I pick though?

That applies to computers that already have Windows 7 installed; if you want Windows 8, get a Windows 8 license.

-Ohh lol thanks, I thought it was just a sale

 

[lehtv]

-will it give me the full resolution of the graphic card that I pick though?

You mean the full resolution of the monitor? Yes.

 

[Kira365]

You mean the full resolution of the monitor? Yes.

-Yes, sorry I got confused

 

[mfenn]

To recap: you have $1000 to spend and you need everything, including monitor and OS. Is that accurate? What about peripherals (keyboard, mouse, speakers/headphones)?

 

[Kira365]

To recap: you have $1000 to spend and you need everything, including monitor and OS. Is that accurate?

-Yes, but again I can possibly manage like 1200$ if I have to.

What about peripherals (keyboard, mouse, speakers/headphones)?

-Keyboard and mouse i would prefer to get new ones but if it throws the budget off I have some stock ASUS keyboard and mouse.

-As for the speakers I have a sound system that I will hook up, and my gf is buying me some AfterGlow wireless headphones

 

[Kira365]

Alright guys i've been researching with your feedbacks and this is what I got so far:

1.ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - 263.48$ (free shipping)Amazon

2.Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I53570K
214.99$ (free shipping) Amazon

3.Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI-I/HDMI/2x Mini-Displayport PCI-Express Graphic Card GV-R795WF3-3GD - 319.99$ (free shipping) Amazon

4.Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10) - 81.20$ (free shipping) Amazon [lehtv- I know you said you didn't recommend this one but I couldn't find one without the heat dispersion thing on]

5.NZXT Source 220 CA-SO220-01 Black Steel / Aluminum-like finish ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 49.99$ (newegg)

6. OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom - 74.99$ (free shipping) Amazon

7. Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST3000DM001 - 139.68$ (free shipping) Amazon [I know 3 TB is a lot but you never have enough space for games lol and also the prices I was seeing were like 40$ difference for 2TB and 60-70$ difference for 1TB]

8. I don't know what optical drive to get, if someone could recommend one i would appreciate it.

Most of the prices and items are from Amazon as you can see, however I'm just using this a reference for the components. I found out that theres a Microcenter 30min away, in the next city. So i'll go check them out.

Again all comments all welcomed and greatly appreciated

 

[Kira365]

Also found this monitor in best buy for 150$

Samsung - 21.5" Widescreen Flat-Panel LED HD Monitor - Black High Glossy/Blue Deco

And I forgot to ask, if later on I want to upgrade from my Intel i5 CPU to an i7 I can right???

 

[Kira365]

Aso for 20$ more (170$) I found this LG

LG 21.5" 1080p Widescreen LED Monitor