[Stix]

Ok, to cut down on the amount of advice on which pc/laptop to buy, or what parts to build, I'm making a thread that will contain all questions and answers to such questions. Everyone who responds in this thread is really knowledgeable, so if we tell you it's not hard to build a PC, trust us, it isn't. We'll also help you as much as possible with anything you guys ask. Trust me on this.
Also, stolen from Blade of Grass, follow this format Por Favor.:

Blade of grass, on 29 December 2011 - 11:53 PM, said:

Hey,
I have to get this off my chest, if your posting in the computer section asking for advice on what computer you should get, or something like that, please specify.

Build or Buy:
Budget:
What you going to be doing on it:
What your looking for:
Desktop or Laptop:

And please, make it so it makes sense. Yeah we all have some grammar/typing fail moments, or are typing things that are hard to phrase, but for the love of god, don't put gibberish that makes no sense.

/Mini helping rant

Its just takes longer if we have to ask the above questions every time. if you want fast and efficient help, do something like the above, it will be 10x faster to help you out.

[Blade of grass]

I approve.

[Stix]

And just to clarify guys, we're not trying to be dicks or anything, we just want to cut down on the amount of "Help me pick out a PC/Laptop/Parts threads".

[Molybdenum]

Let me try it.

Build or Buy: build
Budget: $500, semi flexible
What you going to be doing on it: gaming, probably MWO. Occasional word processing and internet surfing, in case that's relevant.
What your looking for: power per buck, forward compatibility if at all possible
Desktop or Laptop: desktop


I'd like to ditch my current rig, which having been built almost 6 years ago, is rather obsolete. I believe I can reuse the case and associated disk drives, the power supply (500W) and the hard drive, and thus end up with a sightly more powerful rig by only replacing the mobo, cpu, gpu and ram (did I miss anything?), rather than starting from scratch.


Obviously it would be impossible to truly future proof it, but having no idea which companies are doing what right now, I have no idea which interfaces are going to be obsolete soon, and which will likely stick around. If someone has any insight related to that, I would greatly appreciate it.


Last note: I'm willing to wait a few months if new releases will either become more economical or push otherwise out-of-budget parts into range.

[Stix]

Mobo - $79.99
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130616
CPU - $199.99
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116507
GPU - $189.99
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150521
RAM - $66.99
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145332
Total: $539.96

[Blade of grass]

http://www.newegg.co...t/Product.aspx?
Item=N82E16820178412
$56
And swap the video card for this
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150515
$160
And the mobo for this
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130646
$120
CPU
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116507
$200
Total=$536
Either what I'ce said or what Stix has said is great, but mines a bit more future proof with the mobo
If you go with what stix says, get the double d 6850 instead, their is only a 7% performance increase to get the $50 more expensive 6870.

This post has been edited by Blade of grass: 07 June 2012 - 09:19 PM

[Molybdenum]

Thanks a bunch guys, just one question. What exactly does the "turbo" refer to? It sounds like a built in overclock function, but I'd like to be sure.

[polishboy1098]

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

This post has been edited by polishboy1098: 07 June 2012 - 10:27 PM

[Molybdenum]

polishboy1098, on 07 June 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

I do have one fairly close.

Why did you go with the 2500k instead of the 3450s? The 2500k advertises a faster clock, but from what I've found it benches slightly lower. Given they are the same price, it'd be nice to get some more input before I go buy anything.

[polishboy1098]

Molybdenum, on 08 June 2012 - 07:20 AM, said:

polishboy1098, on 07 June 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

I do have one fairly close.

Why did you go with the 2500k instead of the 3450s? The 2500k advertises a faster clock, but from what I've found it benches slightly lower. Given they are the same price, it'd be nice to get some more input before I go buy anything.

With a decent cooler you can overclock to over 4Ghz but the 3450 cant overclock, it has a locked multiplier

[Blade of grass]

polishboy1098, on 07 June 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

Why would you get as ASRock board? Get a name brand like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, and Intel.

If still go with the Ivy bridges because overclocking voids your warranty and cuts down the lifespan.

[Molybdenum]

So it appears the GPUs you guys recommended both require 2 PCI-E power supplies, but my supply only has one. I guess no one followed my links.

Are there any comparable GPUs that only require one PCI, or do I need to adjust my build to include a new power supply?

[Stix]

They usually come with adapters. To make a single PCIe into 2. Or they use the Molex's.

[polishboy1098]

Blade of grass, on 08 June 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

polishboy1098, on 07 June 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

Why would you get as ASRock board? Get a name brand like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, and Intel.

If still go with the Ivy bridges because overclocking voids your warranty and cuts down the lifespan.

It'll only cut down on the lifespan if you increase the voltage, and by using a proper cooler then the heat wont do any damage either.

[maximumslinky]

Build or Buy: buy
Budget: $800 flexible
What you going to be doing on it: gaming along with other stardard stuff
What your looking for: good processor with a decent amount of internal memory
Desktop or Laptop: laptop

[Blade of grass]

polishboy1098, on 12 June 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

Blade of grass, on 08 June 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

polishboy1098, on 07 June 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

Doesn't Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge use dual channel ram, because stix suggested triple channel ram.
Also here is a build I made PC
Edit: crap forgot to ask do you have a microcenter near you because this build includes microcenter prices.

Why would you get as ASRock board? Get a name brand like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, and Intel.

If still go with the Ivy bridges because overclocking voids your warranty and cuts down the lifespan.

It'll only cut down on the lifespan if you increase the voltage, and by using a proper cooler then the heat wont do any damage either.

Have you ever overclocked? Just Woundering.

But it still voids your warranty.

Also, all cards that need two PCIe cords come should come with an adapter.

[polishboy1098]

I overclock my graphics card but not the processor

[Blade of grass]

Well if you overclock and it becomes unstable (sometimes even overclocking it a-bit), you need to up the voltage to make it stable.

[Blade of grass]

maximumslinky, on 12 June 2012 - 03:38 PM, said:

Build or Buy: buy
Budget: $800 flexible
What you going to be doing on it: gaming along with other stardard stuff
What your looking for: good processor with a decent amount of internal memory
Desktop or Laptop: laptop

Well, gaming and laptop doesnt really mix.
What I would suggest is buy a cheap or used laptop, then build a PC with the extra.

[pb=life]

Build or Buy: Build
Budget: $4-$600, can't go much higher
What you going to be doing on it: gaming mostly
What your looking for: Run games like bf3 and arma II or just run of the mill gaming pc. I don't really care about being able to run it in ultra hi-def or anything, just want to be able to play and not have my gameplay affected by my hardware.
Desktop or Laptop: desktop