MoogleViper Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 Fair enough. Well the 8350 will give you the best "bang for your buck" of any CPU, so it's a good choice on that front.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 I finally have the money to build the computer of my dreams, so I looked around a bit and realized that I have no idea what I'm doing whatsoever. All I know is that I need something to play games on that isn't this hunk of junk laptop (What's that? You're trying to grind in Shin Megami Tensei on an emulator while watching Orange is the New Black? Hahaha. *FPS drops to single digits in Shin Megami Tensei and the screen freezes in Orange is the New Black*). I'm looking to spend, erm... whatever's reasonable? £1,000-1,500 or something. I assume that should cover everything I'll need.
MoogleViper Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 I finally have the money to build the computer of my dreams, so I looked around a bit and realized that I have no idea what I'm doing whatsoever. All I know is that I need something to play games on that isn't this hunk of junk laptop (What's that? You're trying to grind in Shin Megami Tensei on an emulator while watching Orange is the New Black? Hahaha. *FPS drops to single digits in Shin Megami Tensei and the screen freezes in Orange is the New Black*). I'm looking to spend, erm... whatever's reasonable? £1,000-1,500 or something. I assume that should cover everything I'll need. £1500 will get you an absolute beast of a computer. £1000 would still get you a great gaming rig. First of all, are you looking to build or buy pre-built? If building here's a base recommendation to start with: CPU - AMD FX-8350 - £140 GPU - Sapphire R9 280 DUAL-X 3GB - £180 RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8GB 2400mhz - £70 Mobo - Asus M5A97 R2.0 Socket AM3+ - £65 PSU - EVGA Supernova NEX 750W Fully Modular 80+ Gold Power Supply - £80 SSD Crucial 240GB M500 SSD - £80 HDD Toshiba 2TB Internal Hard Drive - £55 That comes to ~£650. The only things left would be to add in a case (personal preference, but should be ~£50), and whatever optical drives you need (£15 for DVD RW, £40 for Blu-ray, £60 for Blu-ray RW). Here's a decent price for a Blu-ray and DVD RW combo - £40. So in total you'd be looking at the best part of £800 to build this yourself. As a comparison, I made this build in PCSpecialist, and it would cost £1068 to have it built and delivered (to UK). So it would cost almost £300 extra to have it built for you.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 £1500 will get you an absolute beast of a computer. £1000 would still get you a great gaming rig. That's what I like to hear. Though I will have to spend some money on a a screen and a keyboard and all that stuff, too. An operating would be nice... I guess. I figured I'd build it myself, because it can't be that hard, right? ... Right? No idea how to pick a case. I worry about not being able to fit everything inside.
MoogleViper Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 That's what I like to hear. Though I will have to spend some money on a a screen and a keyboard and all that stuff, too. An operating would be nice... I guess. I figured I'd build it myself, because it can't be that hard, right? ... Right? No idea how to pick a case. I worry about not being able to fit everything inside. If you have space in your bedroom then you could always just go for a full tower case. Bigger case = better cooling (generally). Building a computer isn't too hard, there's plenty of guides to help you. Read up on a few before you buy anything.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Speaking of cooling, am I fine with whatever's included in the parts you listed? I just assumed I'd need more, but maybe that's not the case.
MoogleViper Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Speaking of cooling, am I fine with whatever's included in the parts you listed? I just assumed I'd need more, but maybe that's not the case. The CPU will come with it's own heatsink/fan. The GPU has a fan. The case will have x number of fans. That should do it. But some people like to stick an extra fan or two in there just be sure, particularly if you're going to be running intensive games/programs.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Okay, that makes sense. Are there any parts that are worth upgrading if I'm willing to spend a bit more money, or will it not be worth the cost?
Sheikah Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 I'd recommend ditching the heatsink/fan that comes with the processor and getting your own ('aftermarket') cooler, since they are better at cooling the processor. I have the Hyper 212 evo which is good. If money is no object you can up the RAM to 16GB and invest in a second graphics card. You can run two of the same graphics card on one motherboard (check the motherboard supports it). For AMD cards the dual setup is called Crossfire, for nVidia it's called SLI.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Is it worth the extra expense, though? Also, any screen suggestions? I saw one for £700 or so the other day, but that seemed like overkill.
Shorty Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Since you like to do two things at once, I'd recommend a dual monitor setup
MoogleViper Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Is it worth the extra expense, though? Also, any screen suggestions? I saw one for £700 or so the other day, but that seemed like overkill. What size are you looking for? If money is no object you can up the RAM to 16GB and invest in a second graphics card. You can run two of the same graphics card on one motherboard (check the motherboard supports it). For AMD cards the dual setup is called Crossfire, for nVidia it's called SLI. I've never really got crossfiring GPUs. If you're going to be spending double the money on two cards, why not just buy a much better card?
Sheikah Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 To be honest, I don't really understand it. I just remember back when the 7850s went really cheap that people were suggesting to run a dual setup because they were so easy to clock and affordable. Although I've also heard about game compatibility issues with dual card setups... so maybe best to stick to just one card. As for the aftermarket cooler, it's pretty cheap and I think that you should definitely get it. The 16GB RAM is up to you, but useful if you plan to run a lot at once. A decent motherboard is often if you want to overclock your processor to get the most out of it, although I'm not really sure about the pros of the really expensive motherboards. And for the monitor, at least get one that supports the beast resolutions that you intend to run games at.
Magnus Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 "Buy two cards! Actually, don't buy two cards." :p Since you like to do two things at once, I'd recommend a dual monitor setup Is that what you have? Do you really find it makes that big of a difference? I'm not sure Final Fantasy II and House of Cards really require a screen each, but my options for doing two things at once have been pretty limited so far, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. What size are you looking for? Erm, whatever's reasonable? I read somewhere that a larger monitor just means the picture gets more stretched, so I don't know.
MoogleViper Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Screen - getting more than 1080p/2K is very expensive. So if you stick to that resolution you don't really want anything more than a 23/24" monitor. As for dual monitors, they can be good for chatting whilst you're gaming/watching a film. Other than that there isn't much point for most people. Only really useful for workstations. RAM - You don't really need to push it up to 16GB. Extra RAM is always something you can buy later on. I'd only get 16GB now if there was a good deal, so the price per stick was a lot less if you bought a 16GB bundle. GPU - Just go for the one card. Crossfire is only useful if you can get two cards quite cheap, or if you're looking to boost a current system without buying a new expensive card.
The Bard Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) @Magnus For your CPU I really wouldn't recommend the FX8350, its single core performance is below par compared to even four generation old Intel CPUs, and the idea that its multithreading capabilities are going to help you going forward is a little contentious since raw efficiency in any given i5 or i7 Intel CPU will completely leave it in the dust. Personally, if you want the best of both worlds, I'd recommend you go for the i7 4790k, it'll allow you to run every game out so far at Max settings (if your GPU isn't a bottleneck) and is also hyperthreading enabled so it'll be well suited to handle ported code that's been written with the PS4/XBone in mind. Considering your budget, the 4790k is your best bet going forward unless you want to fork out for the new Haswell-E chipsets, specifically the i7 5820k. But that comes with a whole load of other considerations, including Z99 Motherboards and DDR4 Ram which are all heinously expensive. Other than that I'd say go with what @MoogleViper says, specifically the single card thing. Going forward, a lot of PS4 and XBone games are going to rely on the unified 8GB of RAM the APU has, and if you crossfire or SLI two GPUs, they're only capable of using the VRAM from one card. Which is obviously a problem since the best single cards on the market only have about 4GBs of VRAM (You're going to want to upgrade later on, whereas your CPU and all else will keep kicking for fucking ages). Also: What are people's preferred methods for applying Thermal Paste? Thinking of re-applying it onto my GPU, but there are a variety of conflicting accounts on the internet and I'd rather just ask here since I'm fairly sure you guys aren't going to bullshit just to fuck with me Edited September 1, 2014 by The Bard
MoogleViper Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Also: What are people's preferred methods for applying Thermal Paste? Squirt it on and hope for the best. @Magnus For your CPU I really wouldn't recommend the FX8350, its single core performance is below par compared to even four generation old Intel CPUs, and the idea that its multithreading capabilities are going to help you going forward is a little contentious since raw efficiency in any given i5 or i7 Intel CPU will completely leave it in the dust. Personally, if you want the best of both worlds, I'd recommend you go for the i7 4790k, it'll allow you to run every game out so far at Max settings (if your GPU isn't a bottleneck) and is also hyperthreading enabled so it'll be well suited to handle ported code that's been written with the PS4/XBone in mind. @Magnus, if you go for the i7 you'll need to get an intel chipset mobo (1150 socket). The i7 will cost you ~£240. Or you could save yourself £30 and get an AMD FX 9590. It's not quite as good as the i7, but it's not as expensive either. So if you don't want the really top end performance then it's slightly better value. Edited September 1, 2014 by MoogleViper Automerged Doublepost
The Bard Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 You're right, but I was banking on both the better performance of Intel CPUs which with Magnus' specified budget, unless he wants to build a holodeck worth of monitors in his bedroom, is probably the better bet. Also the 4790k is better both theoretically and in practice. If you look at the comparative statistics on CPU boss, the 4790k comes out way ahead, and if you take actual gaming benchmarks for CPU intensive games like Crysis 3, the Intel CPU comes out ahead too. I reckon it's worth the £30 difference.
Sheikah Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Also: What are people's preferred methods for applying Thermal Paste? Thinking of re-applying it onto my GPU, but there are a variety of conflicting accounts on the internet and I'd rather just ask here since I'm fairly sure you guys aren't going to bullshit just to fuck with me I put a pea sized blob on the centre and then layer the heatsink down on it.
The Bard Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 I put a pea sized blob on the centre and then layer the heatsink down on it. Ok good, that's the way I did it, but there are a bunch of nerds saying you need to scrape it all over the component with a credit card. Sounds like some smelly chat going on over at Yahoo Answers.
Magnus Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) You're right, but I was banking on both the better performance of Intel CPUs which with Magnus' specified budget, unless he wants to build a holodeck worth of monitors in his bedroom, is probably the better bet. Well, I do want to outdo Shorty... But yeah, £30 isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, so I'll probably go with the thing you said. The i something something k or whatever. @MoogleViper, okay, assume I'm going with Bard's recommendation - which motherboard should I buy? I thought I'd be able to find one based on what you said, but there are too many and I don't know what the difference is between them other than the price. Edited September 1, 2014 by Magnus
MoogleViper Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Here you go. Whenever you choose a mobo you need to check that Qualified Vendors list to see if the RAM you want is listed. I couldn't find the one I listed (it might still work, but no guarantee). Here's some others that are listed though: G.Skill 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3 2666MHz Memory - £130 8GB 2400MHz DDR3 Predator Kit - £75 Take your pick which one (or ask Sheikah to choose, but I'm pretty sure I know which one he'd go for).
Magnus Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Take your pick which one (or ask Sheikah to choose, but I'm pretty sure I know which one he'd go for). Yeah, the opposite of the one you'd go for...
Sheikah Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Only you can make the decision of whether you want 8GB or 16GB RAM. I have 16GB in my iMac because I process some really large images and it helps. If you aren't doing much intensive, then you probably don't need 16GB. But then again, you seem to have a lot to spend on a PC and a RAM upgrade is usually a decent and not too expensive choice.
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