Help with PC Specs

Okay I'm gonna be honest. I know next to nothing about PC hardware even though I love PC games. I'm making this thread because my PC bit the dust recently and I wanna get a new one. I need advice on the specs for my new rig so, any would-be builders out there please give me some advice.

what is your budget?

Budgets alright. A few thousand in US dollars. I'm not american. Could you give me standard international prices for your suggestions?

Kind of depends on what your primary use for that computer is going to be. I assume it'll be gaming. With that said, it helps to have a starting budget so you can work within that and choose better parts as you need them, rather than going crazy on the latest gear all around.The major parts you're going to need for your build are:CPU
Your CPU is the chip inside your computer which does the calculations. Your options for manufacturer are limited to AMD and Intel; the Intel i-series (namely the i5 and i7) will likely be your port of call since they can outperform AMD's chips in some areas (but cost more). The higher-end Intel chips are kind of finicky with RAM selection and cost slightly more when it comes to performance:cost ratio. AMD's current chips cater more to higher-mid to low-high tiers of performance requirements. They tend to run quieter and cooler in my experience, and give more bang for your buck if you're on a tight budget.Motherboard
This is a big deal. Generally you'll select your motherboard after you've chosen your CPU, as different CPUs require different sockets (AM3 for AMD chips, Socket 1366+ for Intel. Make sure you check this). USB 3.0 support is being phased in, so if that gives you a hardon by all means get one with it. If you're a massive graphics whore and for some ungodly reason want two graphics cards, make sure your board has at least two PCI-Express sockets and supports CrossfireX or SLI. Four to six RAM slots are standard now as well.RAM
Branding? Corsair has reliable RAM modules. What you're going to want is at least 4GB of DDR3, clocked at either 1333MHz or 1667MHz. If your board and CPU support triple-channel RAM, up it to 6GB.Hard Disk
Up to you, really. I make do with a single 500GB SATA drive. I'd suggest against a Solid State Drive since you don't seem to be a power user who likes superfast booting; they can be more hassle than they're worth for a newbie. 1TB to 1.5TB should be fine.Graphics Card
This is the fun part. Your two main choices are cards from nVidia or from ATi/AMD. You're going to want to read around for sure on this one. The hardest-hitting card on the market is nVidia's GTX 580, but that carries the downside of having a rather large power draw, being expensive and it can be rather noisy - the GTX480 is the next step down and has a similar set of issues. AMD's top-performing card (once again, from memory) is either the 6870 or the 5870; the reviews have not been clear on which has better performance overall. They are, like much of AMD's gear, aimed more for builders on a budget but are still very powerful cards in their own right.Getting two graphics cards (usually of the same type) will allow you to CrossfireX/SLI on ATi and nVidia cards, respectively. This increases your power draw but can give excellent results in performance increases.Power Supply
Once all of the above is sussed, find out the maximum draw (in Watts) all your components are going to take. Add another half of that on top to get a power supply with plenty of overhead room that will act on maximum efficiency. That can be kind of impractical when you're reaching a max draw of 600-700W, however, so adding 200W to the total is a less efficient but much easier and cheaper way to do it. There are certain brands you should be using; cheap power supplies can die very quickly and have low efficiency ratings.Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse
If you need to replace them, by all means do so. Logitech and Razer both have decent keyboards and mice, but I'd advise against Razer at the moment, their 64-bit drivers are buggy.OS
Should be Win7, and since your budget is high, Win7 64-bit to take advantage of at least 4GB of RAM.Don't think I've missed anything. Any questions?

Replying to #4

I would suggest going for an AMD over an i5, as the i5 is a midrange processor. i7s are slightly better performing than the best AMDs, but you pay for it. For gaming the priority has to be given to clock speed over number of cores.

Replying to #4

suis forgot to mention that its x16 slots used for graphics cards. Also make sure its by a good brand, theres a lot of cheap crap out there.

Replying to #4

Gskill and mushkin tend to be the most highly thought of gaming ram, but it isnt always easy to find. Most motherboards support dual channel, this means you must have an even number of ram modules and they must all be the same size, speed and latency. Only intel boards support triple channel, and this means modules must be installed in multiples of three, again identical capacity, speed and latency

Replying to #4

You want at least 7200rpm and SATAII (SATAIII is meh for mechanical hard disks) avoid any 'green' disks as the performance is lacking. 1TB drives are currently the most cost effective.

Replying to #4

again, what suis failed to mention is the two cards must be identical.

Replying to #4

DON'T SKIMP HERE. If this blows it could well take out the rest of the machine. avoid cheap, and get a PSU that supplies at least 300W more than you think you'll need. As a rule, nothing less than 500-600W.

Replying to #4

win 7 professional. Ultimate is an unnecessary expense, and home premium lacks essential features.

Eadelas · #3Budgets alright. A few thousand in US dollars. I'm not american. Could you give me standard international prices for your suggestions?

better yet just buy an alienware desktop to save the trouble. I wouldn't RECOMMEND it but it is always the easiest path if you have a fairly high budget

Replying to #6

THIS IS BAD ADVICE. ignore it. Alienware will NOT save you any trouble, but will cause a hell of a lot.

Eadelas · #3Budgets alright. A few thousand in US dollars. I'm not american. Could you give me standard international prices for your suggestions?

No, unfortunately not. There is no such thing as a standard international price. If you tell us what country you're living in that will give us a starting point.

Replying to #7

ohh... well it's a good thing I never bought one. my friend just told me they are very powerful. and it is easy to calculate your money to US dollars. just tell us where you live

Thanks for the additions loony, I knew I was missing some detail.With that said, the higher-end i5 processors are adequate for gaming. I personally have an AMD processor on my rig for cost-effective multicore work, though.

Replying to #9

my friend has an intel i7 processor. it was codenamed bloomfield I think? core i7 970

I'm from the Philippines and it's hard to get good hardware here if you're a PC fan since most stores sell consoles and the ones that do offer PC hardware are behind the times. I'm still looking for a decent store. Recently I've given thought to have my new rig shipped in.PS. I've never liked Alienware products.

Replying to #11

there's this place called octagon in megamall over at cyberzone. they have intel processors there. but no graphics cards.

its generally cheaper to order parts from an online store and have them delivered, certainly in the western world. the situation may be different in the Philippines considering that its a group of islands rather than a solid landmass.

well i would build one because its cheeper and you learn stuff in the process if you want a laptop the best gaming laptops are dell alienwares as far as i know

Replying to #14

They are not.gaming laptops are an oxymoron.

Replying to #15

Disagree. Asus do a rather good gaming laptop.Generally I use the rule of thumb:
- Gaming
- Laptop
- CheapPick two.

your better off with a PC because it's faster, cooler as in it won't overheat as fast as long as you got fans, etc.). If mobility is a must, than get a laptop which is probably twice as expensive as a PC with the same price.How about gaming equipment such as keyboard, mouse, headset assuming that you don't have that yet :)

Loonylion · #13its generally cheaper to order parts from an online store and have them delivered, certainly in the western world. the situation may be different in the Philippines considering that its a group of islands rather than a solid landmass.

I did think about ordering online. Shipping costs could be a bit big though.

Replying to #18

for parts they generally arent too bad.

This post is a week older now but replying so that someone may find it useful if not the person who started it.

Suiseiseki · #4Kind of depends on what your primary use for that computer is going to be. I assume it'll be gaming. With that said, it helps to have a starting budget so you can work within that and choose better parts as you need them, rather than going crazy on the latest gear all around.The major parts you're going to need for your build are:CPU
Your CPU is the chip inside your computer which does the calculations. Your options for manufacturer are limited to AMD and Intel; the Intel i-series (namely the i5 and i7) will likely be your port of call since they can outperform AMD's chips in some areas (but cost more). The higher-end Intel chips are kind of finicky with RAM selection and cost slightly more when it comes to performance:cost ratio. AMD's current chips cater more to higher-mid to low-high tiers of performance requirements. They tend to run quieter and cooler in my experience, and give more bang for your buck if you're on a tight budget.

AMD CPUs cost less but if you have budget go with intel i7 or i5.
AMD CPUs generate more heat, so if going with AMD buy extra cooling fans :P.
Either one you pick just be sure to get the higher CPU within the series like i3 320 is better than i3 310 but a Core2 Quad 3Ghz is better than both (although from lower series).
Look for more cache memory in CPU ex. 7MB L3 cache.
Higher the FSB the better. Look for at least 1667MHz FSB.
Also higher frequency is better. Go with 3.0+ GHz.

Suiseiseki · #4Motherboard
This is a big deal. Generally you'll select your motherboard after you've chosen your CPU, as different CPUs require different sockets (AM3 for AMD chips, Socket 1366+ for Intel. Make sure you check this). USB 3.0 support is being phased in, so if that gives you a hardon by all means get one with it. If you're a massive graphics whore and for some ungodly reason want two graphics cards, make sure your board has at least two PCI-Express sockets and supports CrossfireX or SLI. Four to six RAM slots are standard now as well.

For nVidia:
If you are going for High budget get a SLI-ready Motherboard (If buying 2 Graphic cards) (for 3 cards buy Tri-SLI).
For ATi:
If you are going for High budget get a CrossFireX-ready Motherboard (If buying 2 Graphic cards).You can go with USB 3.0.
SataIII is also there.
If not buying a Soundcard pick a board with 6 or 8 Channel Audio.Also take a board with DDR3 ram support.
FSB at least 1333 MHz (1667 MHz preferred )4-6 RAM slots must be there.

Suiseiseki · #4RAM
Branding? Corsair has reliable RAM modules. What you're going to want is at least 4GB of DDR3, clocked at either 1333MHz or 1667MHz. If your board and CPU support triple-channel RAM, up it to 6GB.

Depending on FSB support of motherboard take RAM. Like for FSB 1667 take 1667 MHz not 1333 MHz (both work but...)
Take at least 2 X 2GBs .

Suiseiseki · #4Hard Disk
Up to you, really. I make do with a single 500GB SATA drive. I'd suggest against a Solid State Drive since you don't seem to be a power user who likes superfast booting; they can be more hassle than they're worth for a newbie. 1TB to 1.5TB should be fine.

Go with at least 1TB SataII with 7200 rpm.

Suiseiseki · #4Graphics Card
This is the fun part. Your two main choices are cards from nVidia or from ATi/AMD. You're going to want to read around for sure on this one. The hardest-hitting card on the market is nVidia's GTX 580, but that carries the downside of having a rather large power draw, being expensive and it can be rather noisy - the GTX480 is the next step down and has a similar set of issues. AMD's top-performing card (once again, from memory) is either the 6870 or the 5870; the reviews have not been clear on which has better performance overall. They are, like much of AMD's gear, aimed more for builders on a budget but are still very powerful cards in their own right.Getting two graphics cards (usually of the same type) will allow you to CrossfireX/SLI on ATi and nVidia cards, respectively. This increases your power draw but can give excellent results in performance increases.

For games GRAPHIC CARDS are MOST important. (not shouting :D).
Go with GeForce GTX cards for high range in nVidia.
2 Cards doesn't mean double performance It gives 1.5 (1.8 in best cases) times performance.I say go with nVidia GeForce 480 GTX (1 or 2 choose by budget).
Take card which has at least 1 DVI and 1 HDMI (HDCP).
Multi monitor is NOT supported in SLI mode.
SLI / CrossFireX can be configured with two different supported cards like GeForce 260 GTX + 9800 GT or 250 GTS.
It will support DirectX 11, Cuda, OpenGL 4.0, Pixel Shader/Shader Model 4, PhysX, 3D Vision.

Suiseiseki · #4Power Supply
Once all of the above is sussed, find out the maximum draw (in Watts) all your components are going to take. Add another half of that on top to get a power supply with plenty of overhead room that will act on maximum efficiency. That can be kind of impractical when you're reaching a max draw of 600-700W, however, so adding 200W to the total is a less efficient but much easier and cheaper way to do it. There are certain brands you should be using; cheap power supplies can die very quickly and have low efficiency ratings.

GET SLI-READY 1000W+ Power Supply
Corsair or CoolerMaster are good brands to choose.
It will do fine with anything mentioned above ( excluding Tri-SLI 480/580).

Suiseiseki · #4Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse
If you need to replace them, by all means do so. Logitech and Razer both have decent keyboards and mice, but I'd advise against Razer at the moment, their 64-bit drivers are buggy.

A 14" monitor with GTX 580 is useless USELESS !!
If you have at least 22" Full HD LCD/LED monitor then fine else go for LED 22"+ Full HD ( 3D Vision :P).SOUNDCARD
Buy a good PCI Soundcard with 8 Channel Audio.
Must Have SPDI/F output.
But Without good Speakers it is useless Of course :D.Gamepad
If you play Racing, Fly Sims, 3rd Person RPG/Shooters, Sports, etc. Buy one Gamepad.
I have 2 XBox 360 Wired controllers and they rock !!
Try Dark Void or Bioshock with one.
It's best controller for PC.
For pure Flying/Racing games JoyStick is better.ODD
For enjoying HD content you MAY buy a Blue-Ray Drive.

Suiseiseki · #4OS
Should be Win7, and since your budget is high, Win7 64-bit to take advantage of at least 4GB of RAM.

Take Windows 7 x64 (64 bits) Ultimate. Correct me if I am wrong somewhere, But I am Damn Right. :P