Building my first comp. - have a few questions

[KilyenaMage]

There's a great sense of pride you get every time you sit down and turn on a computer that you built yourself.

I suggest getting a large FULL TOWER. These are very rare to find in pre-built machines, and will allow you to upgrade your machine indefinitely. They also obviously allow for much better air flow (and thusly cooling).

You also get the satisfaction of hand-selecting each component. Sure it may only be a savings of $1-200, BUT you'll likely be getting higher-quality components also.

For example you'll be able to get some nice Corsair gaming RAM for essentially the same price you'd pay for some no-name generic RAM cards otherwise.

I **VERY** strongly suggest going with NVidia for graphics right now -- and eventually getting a 3D Vision Kit and a 120hz monitor. NVidia's 3D Vision is simply amazing, especially with certain games, and you will not be disappointed.

[toddfx]

I stumbled upon this article today and thought of this thread:

http://lifehacker.com/#!5151369/the-...r-from-scratch

Should be helpful

[Obama]

Here is what I would suggest: you need to think of the right things to search for. Google "cpu benchmark comparisons" for example, and you will find which processor is the most bang for your buck (and then read reviews on them to see if they are reliable). If you don't want to spend too much time then browsing newegg will give you an idea of what to get.

Just be confident in your abilities, take your time, do your research, and you may enjoy your blazing fast computer even more.

[SwordNboard]

Don't get too sucked up in one processor having 512MB more cache than another. Instead look for hardware that is maybe 1 step behind (not the "cutting edge state of the art" new release). Buy OEM harware, it's cheaper. Why? Because it doesn't come with 20 "free" games and manuals and 7 different connectors. Don't buy Intel, they're greedy with pricing. Otherwise, just make sure all the DIMM slots and processor pin counts on your hardware and motherboard match up. ATI? Nvidia? Hmmmm, Ford or Chevy? Doesn't matter. I've always built my own PCs with this 1 step behind theory and have made awesome rigs for under $1,000. Way under.

Feel free to PM me with some questions.

[Galv]

Thanks for all the info. I have been on that Toms Hardware site every day reading as much as I can about all the hardware. I've put together several rigs on newegg and was surprised at the machine I could build for ~$850-$900. That's complete with OS, monitor, everything.

It's sad to know just how far behind the curve I am on computers. To give you an idea my last comp. was a Dell 4700 series, my current one is an AMD 2850e from walmart. I am use to playing games on very low settings with frame rates of 10 to 20. So being able to play a game on max settings and get 50 to 60 FPS will be unreal.

I currently play on P99 and I cant even turn the settings up past low on my wiz without it bogging down when I cast an AE. Most of the time i just play with them off.

[Extunarian]

Good advice here and I'd also recommend building it yourself. I like Newegg for hardware purchases or my local Microcenter.

Most importantly, as someone stated above, if/when something goes wrong it is best to get help and don't try to jury rig anything. The time you might save is not worth the time lost in RMAing all the crap you fried.

[odizzido]

toms hardware has some testing problems and a general lack of knowledge.

I would suggest www.techreport.com

[KilyenaMage]

Also remember that you can the Nvidia 3D vision kit at anytime, so long as you have a 120Hz monitor (60hz for each eye)

I might even stay away from the 3D vision kit for now, and see what comers out in the next couple years. (glasses-free etc) For example I cannot play WoW in 3D, it gives me bad headaches - there's just TOO MUCH going on for your eyes to deal with while being manipulated by shutter glasses.

[Thetan]

I recently purchased a I5-2500K CPU and appropriate motherboard for $300.

Have been able to OC without any effort to 4.4Ghz and others have gotten up to 5 Ghz, so if you want a very fast box that will last for years for a fairly reasonable price, this it the MB/CPU combo I recommend.

PS. There was a flaw discovered in some of the MB chipset silicone after the initial release of P67 and H67 chipset MBs which has been fixed and the MBs are going to be working their way into the channels shortly, so you should wait until those new MBs are available.

PPS. If you already own one of these MBs, Intel is paying for the replacement of all MBs effected by this defect, so contact whomever your purchased your MB from to find out when a replacement will available.

The flaw is with the 3GB SATA interface, the 6GB interfaces are fine on these MBs.

[odizzido]

I don't think I would ever use a 3 megabyte interface....Why did intel even build them?