Jump to content

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

cgzpack

Building your own gaming computer

Recommended Posts

Hey so I have a gamer teenager and would like to get a nice gaming computer without breaking the bank (only want to spend about 1k).  Intel core i7 I understand is where to start? And at the same time it will give him something to actually do that he might get interested in, like building a computer. Anybody with experience have advice or know where to find a good guide? Should we just start buying parts? Get a kit? Order stuff online? Or does anybody in Reno know of a good shop that could help?

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to Cyberpower and configured my own the last time.  I liked that I could choose a motherboard and it would show the options for compatible parts to go with that motherboard.  You can order the parts or have it ready to run when it arrives.  Keep in mind that if you have a problem, you will need to troubleshoot and each component has its own warranty.  They might expect that you have a certain amount of skill removing that part and sending just that part back for an exchange.  http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/category/gaming-pcs/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's really no appreciable cost savings with building your own anymore. If that's what you want to do, do it for the fun/experience or because you want to build something extraordinary.  Start here:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/serious-gaming.html

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”

-Richard Feynman

"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators."

-P.J. O’Rourke

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An i7 is honestly pretty overkill for a simple gaming computer. It's nice to have to more CPU intensive tasks, but an i5 is going to serve most people just fine. Spend the savings you gain on the GPU, which is far more important. 

I built my first gaming computer when I was 16, and I had a whole lot of fun doing it. AMD K6-2 500Mhz, with a Diamond Stealth S220 and dual VooDoo 2 cards in SLI. 

When I get home tonight I can put together a parts list based loosely on a system that I built for my friend's birthday (gift from his wife) last year. 

I'd highly recommend buying parts and putting it together, it's a lot more fun than buying something off the shelf in my opinion. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SDSUfan said:

There's really no appreciable cost savings with building your own anymore. If that's what you want to do, do it for the fun/experience or because you want to build something extraordinary.  Start here:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/serious-gaming.html

No... just, no on that link. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, cgzpack said:

Hey so I have a gamer teenager and would like to get a nice gaming computer without breaking the bank (only want to spend about 1k).  Intel core i7 I understand is where to start? And at the same time it will give him something to actually do that he might get interested in, like building a computer. Anybody with experience have advice or know where to find a good guide? Should we just start buying parts? Get a kit? Order stuff online? Or does anybody in Reno know of a good shop that could help?

 

Thanks

Here is a good guide and offers several options based on your budget.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-pc-builds,4390.html

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, retrofade said:

An i7 is honestly pretty overkill for a simple gaming computer. It's nice to have to more CPU intensive tasks, but an i5 is going to serve most people just fine. Spend the savings you gain on the GPU, which is far more important. 

I built my first gaming computer when I was 16, and I had a whole lot of fun doing it. AMD K6-2 500Mhz, with a Diamond Stealth S220 and dual VooDoo 2 cards in SLI. 

When I get home tonight I can put together a parts list based loosely on a system that I built for my friend's birthday (gift from his wife) last year. 

I'd highly recommend buying parts and putting it together, it's a lot more fun than buying something off the shelf in my opinion. 

Yeah in doing a little searching it appears the i7 thing is usually a recommendation by a game company - I was thinking it was a minimum spec just to be able to run the game. Thanks for the reply and would love to see that build from last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

55 minutes ago, cgzpack said:

Yeah in doing a little searching it appears the i7 thing is usually a recommendation by a game company - I was thinking it was a minimum spec just to be able to run the game. Thanks for the reply and would love to see that build from last year.

We run I7's at work but We are doing lots of geo-processing which is very CPU intensive.  An I5 should do everything you need especially at a budget of 1k.  You would be better getting an I5 and using the money you saved to get a better Mother board or video card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just an observation of over 60 years of gaming much of it with computers.  The guys who make their own computers always seem to have problems.   I have had dozens of gaming friends who built computers and I don't know of a one that wasn't constantly struggling with keeping the thing working.

I have a friend now that has to log his computer into the game we are playing currently.   Wait for it to crash in the first 10 minutes.  Then he can get on and play and it usually won't crash again.

 

I don't know why but building your own computer and getting it to be a stable machine seems to be really tough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, bluerules009 said:

Just an observation of over 60 years of gaming much of it with computers.  The guys who make their own computers always seem to have problems.   I have had dozens of gaming friends who built computers and I don't know of a one that wasn't constantly struggling with keeping the thing working.

I have a friend now that has to log his computer into the game we are playing currently.   Wait for it to crash in the first 10 minutes.  Then he can get on and play and it usually won't crash again.

 

I don't know why but building your own computer and getting it to be a stable machine seems to be really tough.

I have no clue what your friends are doing, but I've built and rebuilt all of my computers for the last 18 years. I haven't had many issues to speak of, and certainly not like what you're saying. The times that I've had issues are when hardware components inevitably fail from age --- fans die, power supply goes out (after 7 years), motherboard capacitors pop; all things that could happen to a computer that was bought off of the shelf. 

I suppose if you went cheap and bought way off brand things, then you would see more issues, but I, and other people I know, tend to buy quality parts. The PC I'm posting this from right now I originally built in 2013. The only things that I've done to it in that time were to replace the SSD drive twice with larger models, and upgrade the video card twice. Oh, and replace the power supply, but that was a PSU that I had from the previous computer build. The only part that actually failed was the power supply. I gave away the older video cards, and I re-purposed the smaller SSDs into other machines. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, retrofade said:

I have no clue what your friends are doing, but I've built and rebuilt all of my computers for the last 18 years. I haven't had many issues to speak of, and certainly not like what you're saying. The times that I've had issues are when hardware components inevitably fail from age --- fans die, power supply goes out (after 7 years), motherboard capacitors pop; all things that could happen to a computer that was bought off of the shelf. 

I suppose if you went cheap and bought way off brand things, then you would see more issues, but I, and other people I know, tend to buy quality parts. The PC I'm posting this from right now I originally built in 2013. The only things that I've done to it in that time were to replace the SSD drive twice with larger models, and upgrade the video card twice. Oh, and replace the power supply, but that was a PSU that I had from the previous computer build. The only part that actually failed was the power supply. I gave away the older video cards, and I re-purposed the smaller SSDs into other machines. 

I have seen several well to do guys build the ultimate gaming computer with the best parts.

Have to replace the thing in 6 months because parts keep burning up or failing.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, bluerules009 said:

I have seen several well to do guys build the ultimate gaming computer with the best parts.

Have to replace the thing in 6 months because parts keep burning up or failing.

 

That's odd. Like I said, I've been building PCs for 18 years and never had any issues even close to approaching what you've detailed. I know plenty of other people that build their own PCs and haven't had those types of issues either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So here's what I have for a build... it's right at the upper range of your price point, but it's a really solid system.

CPU
Intel Core i5-7400

Motherboard
MSI B250M

RAM
G.Skill Aegis 8GB

Hard Drives
WD Blue 250GB Internal SSD
Western Digital Blue 1TB

Video Card
Gigabyte Radeon RX480

Case
Corsair 200R

Power Supply
Seasonic S12II 520W

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Monitor
ASUS VX228H

Total

$936.81

I left off the keyboard and mouse because those are dependent on personal preference. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, retrofade said:

So here's what I have for a build... it's right at the upper range of your price point, but it's a really solid system.

CPU
Intel Core i5-7400

Motherboard
MSI B250M

RAM
G.Skill Aegis 8GB

Hard Drives
WD Blue 250GB Internal SSD
Western Digital Blue 1TB

Video Card
Gigabyte Radeon RX480

Case
Corsair 200R

Power Supply
Seasonic S12II 520W

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Monitor
ASUS VX228H

Total

$936.81

I left off the keyboard and mouse because those are dependent on personal preference. 

Cool thanks, well here's what junior came up with at pcpartpicker.com (pretty cool site with compatibility menus). See anything that stands out or looks wrong?

Intel Core i-5 7600k 3.8GHz

Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2X8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5” Solid State Drive

WD Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5” 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card

NZXT S340 ATX Mid Tower Case

SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Windows 10

Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan

Total: $1087

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, cgzpack said:

Cool thanks, well here's what junior came up with at pcpartpicker.com (pretty cool site with compatibility menus). See anything that stands out or looks wrong?

 

Intel Core i-5 7600k 3.8GHz

Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2X8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5” Solid State Drive

WD Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5” 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card

NZXT S340 ATX Mid Tower Case

SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Windows 10

Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan

Total: $1087

 

Minesweeper is going to run like a dream on that baby 

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, bluerules009 said:

I have seen several well to do guys build the ultimate gaming computer with the best parts.

Have to replace the thing in 6 months because parts keep burning up or failing.

 

I configured workstations for a 9-1-1 center for over 20 years.  Computers that ran 24/7.  I never had parts burning up or failing in 6 months.  I guess it depends on what you order.  The machines i ordered supported 4 monitors and processed GIS maps/graphics the likes you won't ever deal with.  Gamer's won't  even come close to what these machines would do.  Your well to do fuks don't know shyt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CockyUNLVPoster said:

I configured workstations for a 9-1-1 center for over 20 years.  Computers that ran 24/7.  I never had parts burning up or failing in 6 months.  I guess it depends on what you order.  The machines i ordered supported 4 monitors and processed GIS maps/graphics the likes you won't ever deal with.  Gamer's won't  even come close to what these machines would do.  Your well to do fuks don't know shyt.

Well like you, they all claimed to be experts.

I have a $200 dollar e-machine so old it runs windows 3.0.   It has been running 24/7 since the 90's and still is fine to check e-mail with.  About once every decade i vacuum it out and that is all the support it ever gets.   Can't take much knowledge to be a computer support dude.  If it gets a virus i just wipe it and reload it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, cgzpack said:

Cool thanks, well here's what junior came up with at pcpartpicker.com (pretty cool site with compatibility menus). See anything that stands out or looks wrong?

 

Intel Core i-5 7600k 3.8GHz

Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2X8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5” Solid State Drive

WD Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5” 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card

NZXT S340 ATX Mid Tower Case

SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Windows 10

Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan

Total: $1087

 

So the main thing that I see that's a red flag is going with a GTX 1050, it's an odd pairing given that he wants to go with the 7600K. You're going to get more bang for your buck by going with a higher end GPU than a faster CPU when it comes to gaming. 

Taking the monitor out of the equation, since I didn't see one listed in your buildout, gets us to this machine.

CPU
Intel Core i5 7600k - $229

CPU Cooler
Cryorig H7 - $35
This is the best air cooler on the market, and the price difference between this and the H60 lets us get more bang for the buck elsewhere, mainly in getting the 7600k. 

GPU
EVGA GTX 1060 6GB - $231
Significant step up from the 1050

Motherboard
MSI Pro Series Intel Z270MSI Pro Series Intel Z270 - $130

Hard Drive
Samsung Pro 950 250GB M.2 - $139 (I went with an M.2 here, but you could go with a standard SATA and save about $25)
Western Digital Blue 1TB $50

RAM
ADATA 16GB DDR4 - $110

PSU
EVGA 650W 80+ Gold Modular (I have this exact PSU) - $75

Case
NZXT S340 -  $70
Case is a personal preference, so I left that in place

Total
$1,069

I didn't include Windows or a monitor in this build. But this is pretty much the absolute most bang for your buck. Upgrading to the GTX 1060 is a night and day difference. The 1050 is a entry level budget card, while the 1060 will give much better performance. He'd be in a situation where he would want to upgrade the 1050 quickly, while the 1060 should last him until the next generation. He's not going to get 4k gaming out of it, but at 1080p, he should be able to run most every current game at high or ultra settings. 

It's a bit higher than what your initial price point was once you factor in Windows 10, monitor, and keyboard/mouse... but it's a really high performing machine without completely breaking the bank. The 1070 and 1080 would provide better graphics performance, but it's hard to justify it at their current price points. 

I'm actually looking at doing a full rebuild of my computer over the summer, and I'll likely use what I have above as a framework. But I'd be happy with the machine as configured for just straight gaming. I'll end up with a Kaby i7 instead of the i5, but that's because I do a lot of virtualization and labs, and the hard drives will be much larger. I'll probably keep my GTX 980 Ti in place for some cost savings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...