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Forums - PC Discussion - The Gaming PC Building/Upgrade Thread

poroporo on 16 December 2010

Quick 'light gaming' build, got the memory for $49 on sale. I have a hard drive and an optical on hand. I just need a power supply suitable for the gtx460 and I should be fine.

The mobo is cheap, but it should do the trick as I don't plan to overclock anything, especially if I end up with a cheapo psu.



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poroporo on 16 December 2010
Vetteman94 said:
Epoch said:

I built my i7 machine for $1200 CAD ( tax) about 8 months ago, and things have come down in price a bit since then, so you should be able to build a good machine for $1000.  You may want to wait until after the holidays to see what kind of deals are on as well.

The quad core i5 is a good processor, and will most likely suit your needs.  But if you're looking at upgrading in the future you may want to consider an i7 with the 1366 chipset.  This is the likely platform for future intel processors, and allows more GPU bandwidth if you're looking at dual GPU's in the future.  This is a ton of processing power though, and most games are more GPU heavy, so its probably unnecessary.  Up to you really.

For video cards I think the 5850 has a good price/performance ratio.  I have one and have no problems running games at high/max.  In the future you could buy another card and put it in sli/crossfire, but it doesnt scale 0 and is inefficient.  You'd have to decide at the time.

I'd recommend the Corsair 650tx power supply.  Its a good unit and leaves enough power for extra HDD and a second GPU if you want it in the future.

Thanks for the info,  I am looking into building an i7 computer, so the 1366 chipset is the way to go then huh?   

As for the GPU I am leaning towards ATI Cards, dont know which one as of right now

Corsair is the power supply brand I was looking at,  it seems to be a good one with good praise from others.

I think the toughest part for me is finding the right motherboard, and not forgetting to get the little things, whatever they may be since this is my first build.

Corsair is the best when it comes to PSUs, get yourself a tx650/hx650 or higher and you won't regret it.

As far as motherboards go, anything made by ASUS or Gigabyte will be fine.



Vetteman94 on 16 December 2010
poroporo said:
Vetteman94 said:
Epoch said:

I built my i7 machine for $1200 CAD ( tax) about 8 months ago, and things have come down in price a bit since then, so you should be able to build a good machine for $1000.  You may want to wait until after the holidays to see what kind of deals are on as well.

The quad core i5 is a good processor, and will most likely suit your needs.  But if you're looking at upgrading in the future you may want to consider an i7 with the 1366 chipset.  This is the likely platform for future intel processors, and allows more GPU bandwidth if you're looking at dual GPU's in the future.  This is a ton of processing power though, and most games are more GPU heavy, so its probably unnecessary.  Up to you really.

For video cards I think the 5850 has a good price/performance ratio.  I have one and have no problems running games at high/max.  In the future you could buy another card and put it in sli/crossfire, but it doesnt scale 0 and is inefficient.  You'd have to decide at the time.

I'd recommend the Corsair 650tx power supply.  Its a good unit and leaves enough power for extra HDD and a second GPU if you want it in the future.

Thanks for the info,  I am looking into building an i7 computer, so the 1366 chipset is the way to go then huh?   

As for the GPU I am leaning towards ATI Cards, dont know which one as of right now

Corsair is the power supply brand I was looking at,  it seems to be a good one with good praise from others.

I think the toughest part for me is finding the right motherboard, and not forgetting to get the little things, whatever they may be since this is my first build.

Corsair is the best when it comes to PSUs, get yourself a tx650/hx650 or higher and you won't regret it.

As far as motherboards go, anything made by ASUS or Gigabyte will be fine.

Those are the 2 brands I have been looking through trying to find the right one,  but it is confusing.

I have also switched to looking at an i5 instead,  since I started to build my i7 and realized I was at $1000 for only a Processor, MB, Video Card and Case.

I will post my proposed build soon,  but I think its around $1200 with everything I will need for sometime to come.  Maybe somone here can help me streamline it a bit and shave some bucks off it



Vetteman94 on 18 December 2010

OK this is what I am currently looking at getting for my Gaming PC.

Decided to go with the i5 as the i7 build I was doing was getting expensive quickly.   Not that this is cheap,  but its no where near what the i7 build was getting at.

Processor:     Intel i5-760    204.99
Motherboard:   Asus P7P55D-E Pro   179.99
GPU:   Sapphire Radeon HD 5870  279.99
Power Supply:   Corsair 650TX  89.99
Memory:   G. Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB  59.99
HDD:   WD Caviar Black 1TB  89.99
DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc 24X  26.99
Case:   Antec Nine Hundred  99.99
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit  139.99

Total is:   1,181.90

Total includes thermal compound as well, but does not include a wireless adapter which I will need.  

If there are any ideas on how to streamline this build to be better, cheaper or whatever please let me know.  As it stand I will probably be buying these components before the end of the year.  So any help will be appreciated



Epoch on 18 December 2010
Vetteman94 said:

OK this is what I am currently looking at getting for my Gaming PC.

Decided to go with the i5 as the i7 build I was doing was getting expensive quickly.   Not that this is cheap,  but its no where near what the i7 build was getting at.

Processor:     Intel i5-760    204.99
Motherboard:   Asus P7P55D-E Pro   179.99
GPU:   Sapphire Radeon HD 5870  279.99
Power Supply:   Corsair 650TX  89.99
Memory:   G. Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB  59.99
HDD:   WD Caviar Black 1TB  89.99
DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc 24X  26.99
Case:   Antec Nine Hundred  99.99
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit  139.99

Total is:   1,181.90

Total includes thermal compound as well, but does not include a wireless adapter which I will need.  

If there are any ideas on how to streamline this build to be better, cheaper or whatever please let me know.  As it stand I will probably be buying these components before the end of the year.  So any help will be appreciated

Looks pretty solid to me.  That motherboard is pretty high end, not sure if its worth the price for a gaming machine.  You could shave off $50 with a lower end mobo from Gigabyte or even the non -Pro version of that from ASUS.

That graphics card is beast, but be sure to stress test it early on as some problems may not show up until you run it at 90% for a while. Try a program called Furmark to test it.  Nothin worse than finding out your card has bad RAM 3 months down the road, as that is the most expensive part in that build.

Also, if you're a student, or know a student at a university or college, Microsoft has huge discounts on their windows programs through their MASDNAA program.  I actually got my windows 7 pro 64 for free =D.

May want to wait until boxing day to see if Newegg puts on any sales.  Im not too sure how their business model works, but Ive seen some pretty good sales from them.



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poroporo on 20 December 2010
Vetteman94 said:

OK this is what I am currently looking at getting for my Gaming PC.

Decided to go with the i5 as the i7 build I was doing was getting expensive quickly.   Not that this is cheap,  but its no where near what the i7 build was getting at.

Processor:     Intel i5-760    204.99
Motherboard:   Asus P7P55D-E Pro   179.99
GPU:   Sapphire Radeon HD 5870  279.99
Power Supply:   Corsair 650TX  89.99
Memory:   G. Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB  59.99
HDD:   WD Caviar Black 1TB  89.99
DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc 24X  26.99
Case:   Antec Nine Hundred  99.99
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit  139.99

Total is:   1,181.90

Total includes thermal compound as well, but does not include a wireless adapter which I will need.  

If there are any ideas on how to streamline this build to be better, cheaper or whatever please let me know.  As it stand I will probably be buying these components before the end of the year.  So any help will be appreciated

Nice build, the Caviar Black is a really good choice -- 5 year warranty. If you can buy can Win7 from MSDNAA for cheaper, you could replace that Optiarc with a blu-ray reader/burner. I don't think you'd need it right now, but the media is getting affordable.



mchaza on 30 December 2010

well i am getting an pc to run high end programs, not high high end but need some reasonable processing powerful to run them which my current PC cant go 30 seconds before freezing my computer.

anyways with that i believe i will be able to run some games on it pretty well. Here is what i am getting

CPU:  Intel Core i7-870 / 2.93GHz / 8MB Cache / LGA1156

Cost: $311 AUD

Graphics: ATI HD Radeon 6850 1GB HDMI etc etc (dont know what brand to get tho)

Cost ranges from $200-300 AUD

Motherboard: either: 

Asus P7H55-M Intel Mainboard - 4x DDR3 / 6x Sata / 1x IDE / Gigabit Lan / Onboard VGA/HDMI / LGA 1156

or 

Asus P7H55-M-USB3 Intel Mainboard - 4x DDR3 / 8x Sata / Gigabit Lan / Onboard VGA/HDMI / LGA 1156

The first will cost $91 AUD and the second $118 AUD

Case Power supply: 3x 120mm fans, great new case 980W power supply for $213 AUD 

4GB or 8GB DDR3 Ram: Cost either $80 or $150 AUD 

HDD: 1TB 7200 RPM, cost max $50 dollars 

Already have an optical drive, screen (LED) and keyboard and mouse and Windows 7

So the total cost if counting 300 for gpu, 150 for 8gb ram and 118 for motherboard 

= $1142 AUD

But i could cut down on the motherboard if i get rid of the USB 3.0 and get an graphics for 250 and be down  

and get down to $1065

so i am under budget of $1200 

because i should add i spent 60 on the keyboard, mouse and civ 5 which would bring total to $1125 giving enough for an another game for my PC.

 



Of Course That's Just My Opinion, I Could Be Wrong

lolita on 21 January 2011

If anyone needs a gaming PC in the UK, check out this webpage: http://www.npwsolutions.co.uk/

It's from a friend of mine. So much cheaper than "big brands" lol. His builds are better and more than half the price!



Vetteman94 on 13 February 2011

I know I originally said I wouldnt be able to build a gaming PC because I decided on a 3D Plasma instead,  but I actually got a bonus at work this year so I decided to take the plunge.  First off, I would like to thank the people in this thread that have helped me build my Gaming PC.  I purchased all the components last week, Mostly on Newegg, a couple small things at Best Buy, and I completed building it yesterday.   Here is my Setup, Pictures will be included:

Processor:  Intel i7-950 Bloomfield
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E LGA1366 USB 3.0
Power Supply:  Corsair CMPSU-750TX
Video Card:  Sapphire Radeon HD5870
Memory/RAM: G-Skil RipJaws Series 8GB (4GBx2)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Disk Drive: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit

The Begining:

The Middle:

The End:

 

Spent apporximately $1300 after it was all said and done,  and it runs great,  no issues what so ever on the startup, and I have already started my PC gaming experience and I have this thread to thank for it.  



Oblivion86 on 13 February 2011

I really don't have time to build a PC at the moment, so I just order it through Cyberpower. This is my final build I am definitely excited to get this PC. There was a few things I wanted but I am waiting for them to come down in price,  I got a free upgrade to the 6870 so that was a huge plus for me. I was going to get a 300GB Velociraptor 10000rpm HDD, but at the price and the difference between then 7200rpm 64 cache just isn't big enough.

 

Also I wanted to SLI my video cards. I think I'll waiting till they come down a bit more, overall I am happy with this build. Finally, I will eventually upgrade the radiator and PSU as I do not trust this brand, but should be good for a 2 or 3 years. 

 

FYI, this case looks and cools amazingly.


CAS: Xion Predator 970 Gaming Series Mid Tower Case w/ 2 External Removable HDD Bays
CASUPGRADE: None
CD: * Asus BC-08B1LT 8X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo [ 44] (BLACK COLOR)
CD2: None
CPU: AMD Phenom™II X6 1090T Six-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology [ 86]
CS_FAN: Default case fans
FA_HDD: None
FAN: XtremeGear Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
FLASHMEDIA: None
FLOPPY: None
FREEGAME_VC02: DarkSiders Game Coupon
GLASSES: None
HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Hard Drive)
HDD2: None
IEEE_CARD: None
KEYBOARD: Razer Arctosa Black USB Gaming Keyboard [ 38]
MB_ADDON: None
MEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)
MONITOR: None
MONITOR2: None
MONITOR3: None
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870/SB850 chipset support DDR3 Ultra Durable™3 Socket AM3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 Audio, GBLAN, Support 6-core CPU, CPU Auto Unlocker, USB3.0, SATA-III, ON/OFF Charge for IPod, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI
MOUSE: Razer Deathadder 3500 DPI High Precision 3.5G Infrared Gaming Mouse [ 47]
MULTIVIEW: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors
NCSW: None
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)
POWERSUPPLY: 700 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power Supply [ 10]
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None [-5]
TEMP: None
TVRC: None
USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
USBFLASH: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VC_PHYSX: None
VIDEO: AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by AMD)
VIDEO2: None
VIDEO3: None
WNC: None
XWNC1: * Asus USB-N13 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 300Mbps Wireless USB Adapter [ 22]
_PRICE: ( 1181)

 

Comments and suggestions would be appreciated.