I need help building a computer...

[Ωmega]

Alright. My laptop is completely ****ed up (I've had to restore three times) and I'm just done with it. My friends keep telling me to build a computer, but there's just one problem:

I have no idea how.

So, I decided to read up on it and have come to the conclusion that I want to build a computer that can easily play high-graphic games (such as Crysis) and be able to work as a computer for school (I'm only in high school). I don't know where to begin, so I was hoping that some people would help me.

I have a general idea of some of the components that I want:

--Two 1TB 3.5" SATA 6GB/s hard drives ($99.99 each)
I plan on installing A LOT of games, so I need the space. Also, I want two hard drives instead of one in case one crashes.

--4 GB of memory (haven't found one yet...)
With all these games, I'm gonna need a lot of memory. I hope this is enough...

--Whatever video card that can play Crysis...or better.

So...can anyone help me? I wanna build it over the summer before school starts again so I can use it and test it and stuff. And, please, don't call me a noob for not knowing stuff about computers. I'm not tech savvy. One of my friends ran an estimate of what I want and he said that it might cost around $1500 (WAAAAAAAY cheaper than I expected).

 

[Archer]

--Whatever video card that can play Crysis...or better.

So...can anyone help me? I wanna build it over the summer before school starts again so I can use it and test it and stuff. And, please, don't call me a noob for not knowing stuff about computers. I'm not tech savvy. One of my friends ran an estimate of what I want and he said that it might cost around $1500 (WAAAAAAAY cheaper than I expected).

A lot of cards can play it, few can play at max settings with 1080p. My 5770 handles second-to-max well-enough.

 

[TheAppleFreak]

For games, 4 GB of RAM is pretty good, but I'd future-proof it and go for 8 GB. Make sure that it's high-speed RAM as well; the slower the RAM speed, the slower information gets processed and stored. I'm not a PC gamer per se, but I'd recommend at the very minimum 1333 MHz RAM.

Make sure you have a motherboard that can support it. Because I've never built a computer either, I can't say from experience which ones are good.

The processor is also vital, for obvious reasons. If you want high performance, I'd go with an Intel i7. They're currently top of the line, or so I hear, so it'd make sense.

Graphics cards, for a gamer, are required (once again for obvious reasons). Because I have no experience in this either, I can't make any good recommendations, but I hear that NVIDIA GPUs are very good. When shopping around, make sure it has over 512 MB of GRAM; 1 GB or 1.5 GB is preferred (once again, for future-proofing).

...that's really it. If you're going for the two hard-drive setup, you might want to set them up in a RAID 1 setup, so in case one drive fails, it doesn't bring down your entire setup because all of the data is identical between the two disks.

 

[twocows]

Spoiler:

If you've got the money, a 5850 is a great card, if not a 5770 will suffice. i5-750 is a great processor, i7-930 is spectacular. I'm partial to Intel chips, myself, other than that the image above should be a pretty good guideline. Stay away from Nvidia for the moment. Spinpoint F3 is currently my favorite hard drive, followed by the WD Caviar Black.

If you don't want to build your own but still want to customize some of the parts, you may want to try this.

 

[locoroco]

Are you sure an phenom x6 isnt better than that i7 i dnt know i just dont trust intel never had probably never will. also its true what she said stay away from nvidia for now they are great graphic cards but ati is just better.

 

[twocows]

Are you sure an phenom x6 isnt better than that i7 i dnt know i just dont trust intel never had probably never will. also its true what she said stay away from nvidia for now they are great graphic cards but ati is just better.

None of AMD's offerings are better than the i7 line. The i5-750 and the entire i7 series knocks AMD out of the water in terms of performance. Tom's Hardware has some relevant benchmarks if you want to take a look.

Also, I'm a guy.

 

[Archer]

Are you sure an phenom x6 isnt better than that i7 i dnt know i just dont trust intel never had probably never will. also its true what she said stay away from nvidia for now they are great graphic cards but ati is just better.

In programs that use the full six threads, it outdoes the i7-930s slightly, but each of the i7s cores are faster.

None of AMD's offerings are better than the i7 line. The i5-750 and the entire i7 series knocks AMD out of the water in terms of performance. Tom's Hardware has some relevant benchmarks if you want to take a look.

Don't jump so quickly to conclusions. The i5-750 and Phenom 965 are so close it's not funny. The rest are faster, no doubt. Until we get Bulldozer, if it ever gets here. Unless you need higher performance than the 965/i5-750, it's a personal matter - pick a brand.

Also, I'm a guy.

lol. You need to butch up your avatar.

 

[donavannj]

lol. You need to butch up your avatar.

Some of us wanna make our avatars easier to look at, since we know we're going to have to see it every time we make a post, unless we disable avatars. ;)

And you shouldn't be so quick to bash AMD's processors (I'd call it AMD bashing, but you suggested an ATi card, which is made my AMD). They're very capable compared to what most people will be upgrading from.

 

[Team_SJK]

... I'd future-proof it and go for 8 GB. Make sure that it's high-speed RAM as well; the slower the RAM speed, the slower information gets processed and stored. I'm not a PC gamer per se, but I'd recommend at the very minimum 1333 MHz RAM.

I would have to agree with TheAppleFreak on this. I haven't built a computer in a very long time, but I do know that the more RAM you have and the faster it is, the better off you'll be, performance-wise.

As for the rest of the PC, having two 1 TB hard drives sounds like a good call. Also, if you're going to build a high-performance gaming machine, you'll want to invest a little more money in a well-manufactured power supply, as the voltage regulators in a cheap supply will eventually fail and cause damage to the motherboard.

 

[Archer]

I haven't built a computer in a very long time, but I do know that the more RAM you have and the faster it is, the better off you'll be, performance-wise.

Uh... no. You're only going to see an advantage if you use the ram that is provided. There's nothing to stop me putting 16GB in my machine, but any more than 4 is a waste for me. Ram is NEVER something you future-proof with, as it is stupidly easy to upgrade and if you need to double your RAM at any point, your computer is probably already outdated in other ways.

2GB for basic machine - internet, etc.
4/6GB for gaming, media, editing, etc.
8/9GB for virtual machines, video editing, editing huge images, game servers
12GB for big server, or bragging to your friends, as they spend money on useful things.

 

[locoroco]

ok but dont overclock that i7 is gonna burn out. hehe i said amd cuz if you are looking for a really high overclock then amd phenom is the way to go 9ghz on a comp thats ridiculously high haha. i bet the i7 can do that im sorry to rant its that i really dont like intel that not a reason why the i7 is bad they are good processors but for gaming wise i prefer amd.

 

[twocows]

In programs that use the full six threads, it outdoes the i7-930s slightly, but each of the i7s cores are faster.

Yeah, but no games do that at the moment (to my knowledge).

Don't jump so quickly to conclusions. The i5-750 and Phenom 965 are so close it's not funny. The rest are faster, no doubt. Until we get Bulldozer, if it ever gets here. Unless you need higher performance than the 965/i5-750, it's a personal matter - pick a brand.

If you go with an i5-750, you can upgrade to an i7-86x later if you get money. If you go with AMD, you're stuck in AMD's sub-par lineup unless they end up making something good (and compatible with their current line).

lol. You need to butch up your avatar.

Sakura-chan disagrees.

ok but dont overclock that i7 is gonna burn out. hehe i said amd cuz if you are looking for a really high overclock then amd phenom is the way to go 9ghz on a comp thats ridiculously high haha. i bet the i7 can do that im sorry to rant its that i really dont like intel that not a reason why the i7 is bad they are good processors but for gaming wise i prefer amd.

Intel's line doesn't run any hotter, and if you have good cooling it should be irrelevant. Also, overclocking to 9GHz doesn't really have a point unless you're doing @home or something; you won't see any more performance gains in gaming than you would overclocking it to about 4GHz, since the processor won't be a bottleneck at that point.

 

[Archer]

Yeah, but no games do that at the moment (to my knowledge).
Of course not.

If you go with an i5-750, you can upgrade to an i7-86x later if you get money. If you go with AMD, you're stuck in AMD's sub-par lineup unless they end up making something good (and compatible with their current line).
Bulldozer has been confirmed to be AM3 compatible. How's that?

Sakura-chan disagrees.
I was kidding.

Intel's line doesn't run any hotter, and if you have good cooling it should be irrelevant. Also, overclocking to 9GHz doesn't really have a point unless you're doing @home or something; you won't see any more performance gains in gaming than you would overclocking it to about 4GHz, since the processor won't be a bottleneck at that point.

My Phenom 965 is running at 4.1Ghz. If that's a GPU bottleneck, what's the point of an i7? :P Unless you're benching, anything beyond an i5-750 or Phenom 965 is not going to make a difference, to be honest. Even BFBC2 doesn't max out an overclocked Phenom/i5, and I can't see anything being an issue in the near future.

Other comments in Bold.

I love our little debates. <3

 

[Team_SJK]

Uh... no. You're only going to see an advantage if you use the ram that is provided. There's nothing to stop me putting 16GB in my machine, but any more than 4 is a waste for me. Ram is NEVER something you future-proof with, as it is stupidly easy to upgrade and if you need to double your RAM at any point, your computer is probably already outdated in other ways.

2GB for basic machine - internet, etc.
4/6GB for gaming, media, editing, etc.
8/9GB for virtual machines, video editing, editing huge images, game servers
12GB for big server, or bragging to your friends, as they spend money on useful things.

*Spoken in the tone of an old Steve Martin skit*
Well, excuuuuuuuuse me for not complying with your pre-decided standards.

 

[Dawn]

Are you sure an phenom x6 isnt better than that i7 i dnt know i just dont trust intel never had probably never will. also its true what she said stay away from nvidia for now they are great graphic cards but ati is just better.

I'd just like to clarify that an i7 is definitely better.

Also, RAM upgrade is good. Don't be a fool like the people that thought 512 MB should be enough to run Vista. /eyeroll

4 GB is a minimum good ammount of RAM for gaming. Go with 6 GB at least, if you ask me. It's relatively cheap and we gamers don't play the avoid upgrading game.

 

[twocows]

My Phenom 965 is running at 4.1Ghz. If that's a GPU bottleneck, what's the point of an i7? :P Unless you're benching, anything beyond an i5-750 or Phenom 965 is not going to make a difference, to be honest. Even BFBC2 doesn't max out an overclocked Phenom/i5, and I can't see anything being an issue in the near future.

Other comments in Bold.

I love our little debates. <3

I think you took my post a little more dramatically than I meant it. I was actually agreeing with you for the most part in that post. I think I should start preceding all my statements with a descriptor of how they should be taken, like HK-47 does. Also, I realized you were joking there.

I still agree with most of what you said. The biggest reason to get an i7-9xx processor is for future-proofing; if you get a socket 13whatever, you won't be stuck with a socket 11whatever. Intel's probably going to develop for the 13whatever more in the future. Not to mention you'll have a stronger processor for when technology advances, at which point you probably will start to see a difference (especially if you upgrade the rest of your hardware).

I'll reserve judgment on Bulldozer until it's actually on the market. People thought the x6 was going to give Intel some competition and look at what happened with that.

I'd just like to clarify that an i7 is definitely better.

Also, RAM upgrade is good. Don't be a fool like the people that thought 512 MB should be enough to run Vista. /eyeroll

4 GB is a minimum good ammount of RAM for gaming. Go with 6 GB at least, if you ask me. It's relatively cheap and we gamers don't play the avoid upgrading game.

I recommend 2x2GB unless your mobo is x58, in which case I recommend 3x2GB.

 

[locoroco]

i really dont know if amd is better than intel in my opinion after owning all kinds of amd's for more than 9 years it has never let me down. I love my new phenom x4 its overclocked to 5.1ghz water cooling running at 20 degrees before water cooling it was running at 49 degrees it has ATI Radeon HD 5970 1GB GDDR5 725e/1000m and 4 gigs of ram with xp home(sorry no aero bogging down over 150 mb's of ram XD) i like it. In my opinion intel is more for office use. (yes i am still using my as-rock n68s) i like the fast computing of my entire comp though the price tag not too pretty but that fabled game of yours "crysis" i can run it full 1080p or i in a 40" plasma screen tv XD NO LAGG FULL FRAMES!!!

Edit: i dont like the game. i play mostly undercover.

 

[twocows]

i really dont know if amd is better than intel in my opinion after owning all kinds of amd's for more than 9 years it has never let me down. I love my new phenom x4 its overclocked to 5.1ghz water cooling running at 20 degrees before water cooling it was running at 49 degrees it has ATI Radeon HD 5970 1GB GDDR5 725e/1000m and 4 gigs of ram with xp home(sorry no aero bogging down over 150 mb's of ram XD) i like it. In my opinion intel is more for office use. (yes i am still using my as-rock n68s) i like the fast computing of my entire comp though the price tag not too pretty but that fabled game of yours "crysis" i can run it full 1080p or i in a 40" plasma screen tv XD NO LAGG FULL FRAMES!!!

Edit: i dont like the game. i play mostly undercover.

If you've only owned AMD, then you're not really qualified to comment on Intel's offerings. Intel isn't just more for office use; it isn't a question of how the performance is applied. Even the most die-hard AMD fans right now won't dispute that Intel's offerings are better performance-wise. The argument is one of performance (Intel) versus performance-to-price ratio (AMD). This is pretty widely accepted within the tech world at the moment.

 

[locoroco]

thats why i said its an opinion.

 

[Archer]

i really dont know if amd is better than intel in my opinion after owning all kinds of amd's for more than 9 years it has never let me down. I love my new phenom x4 its overclocked to 5.1ghz water cooling running at 20 degrees before water cooling it was running at 49 degrees it has ATI Radeon HD 5970 1GB GDDR5 725e/1000m and

4 gigs of ram with xp home(sorry no aero bogging down over 150 mb's of ram

XD) i like it. In my opinion intel is more for office use. (yes i am still using my as-rock n68s) i like the fast computing of my entire comp though the price tag not too pretty but that fabled game of yours "crysis" i can run it full 1080p or i in a 40" plasma screen tv XD NO LAGG FULL FRAMES!!!

Edit: i dont like the game. i play mostly undercover.

I call bull ****. You recently had a Sempron on integrated graphics and you can't seem to afford to pay for any software. Not to mention that you don't get those sort of clocks on a Phenom without Liquid Nitrogen. Pics or it didn't happen.

I would also like to draw attention to the above highlighted text, allowing much hilarity to ensue. You do, um, realise that you've just talked yourself out of 750MB ram (assuming you aren't full of it), don't you?

Even the most die-hard AMD fans right now won't dispute that Intel's offerings are better performance-wise. The argument is one of performance (Intel) versus performance-to-price ratio (AMD).

Amen.