Gaming PC Build...dont hate me

[MrF1]

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Hello all.


ABOVE LIST REFLECTS THE COMPONENTS RECCOMENDED THUS FAR.


Before i start. Ive googled, searched and amazoned my little arse off. Im still a little lost on what i need.. and thus. This post.
Im not a computer whizz and ive had to google alot of the terms... so go easy on me. This is my 1st time. But i do learn quickly.
So...
Over the last 12 months i built a driving rig with x3 32" LED LCD screens. All New.

Thrustmaster T500 wheels and pedals.

see images

The old PS3 is getting tired and well, ive always done the console thing but its time for the boy to become a man.
So im READY to build a PC. Perhaps as i go, i will update this thread.

My requirements:

Budget $1000 to $1200. The minister for war and finance must be satisfied with my spendings

Must run 3 screens. I dont care how.. just has to do it. Theres a billion GPUs out there and i go dizzy looking.. im not entirely sure what the minimum standard is i should be looking at.

Lots of nice cases. I have my heart set on a full tower case. Its in the pics.
NZXT SWITCH 810. Is that good?

Motherboards. Again, theres too many for me to know what the minimum standard here is. Ive learned it must fit with the CPU and GPU.
So if you can reccomend the 3 you'd be my friend..

i5 Processor seems the norm..?

I need to know what foundations to lay down here.
I do play online GT6
I do play other games like GTA and Batmans. But thats about it really..

If youve read this far, thank you and look forward to some responses.

 

[TB]

Right our of the gate, if you're planning an i7 or i5 build, that motherboard won't work because it's for AMD.

My suggestion, plug your parts into pcpartpicker.com.

I can take a look at it in a bit. Right now, my minister for war and finance wants the mess I made making supper cleaned up.

 

[MrF1]

thanks TB


I had a quick go.. thats a handy tool to use.

Some guidance in what i would require as a minimum would assist me in making the right choice.
GL with the cleaning lol.
look forward to hearing from you

 

[TB]

A few questions.

Do you need an operating system? If yes, is that to be included in the $1-1.2k?
Any preference between Intel and AMD?
Any preference between nVidia and AMD?
For pricing, where are you located? Edit: Never mind - Australia.

 

[sesselpupser]

Well, I've had a quick poke around on PC Part Picker and it looks like a GTX 970 - the card I'd suggest as a minimum for triple monitor Assetto Corsa and Project CARS at high settings - is $500 on its own. In a build I'd consider balanced but still not ideal (i.e. with an unlocked i5 (balanced) but no SSD (still not ideal)) it comes to $1451, that's also with a case $40 cheaper than the one you specified (but you can go a bit cheaper there) and a 600W PSU. No optical drive, no OS and no peripherals.

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/F6bX7P

I should point out that I am an Intel and Nvidia fan purely because I really don't like AMD - I've been there, I didn't like it, I'm not going back. Also that hard drive is more expensive than a Seagate but I had a 2TB Seagate drive die on me recently after only a year and a half, never going back there either! Plenty of people swear by both, so don't take my word for it.

Also I personally consider unlocked i5s a minimum because I think you'll regret not having the ability to overclock when the CPU starts to show its age (I was incredibly smug when I overclocked my 4-year-old 2500K to get GTA V running smoothly instead of buying an all-new CPU and motherboard just for that one game), you might disagree, but I still think it'll be a challenge to squeeze in under your budget... But I'll see if I can adjust that build and get under $1200.

Edit: Well, I came up with this: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/B2D2D3 but it's got a locked CPU (but that'll still run the current crop of racing games fine, not 100% sure about GTA V though), a graphics card with a scroll fan cooler (not as good as twin fan coolers like the Strix so it'll be louder), a cheaper case which will still be great - I have a Core 1300 and I love it - but not as robust or as convenient as the Define R5 and a 500W power supply so it'll be a bit less efficient and less versatile, but on the other hand it'll probably last as long as the CPU does before it really starts to show its age and will do the job no problem. Still no OS included, though.

 

[MrF1]

thanks neema t.

Will poke around at what youve said there and google some references.

i just had a look at a few bits myself.
Struggling to get it under 1200 myself.. if it goes over its ok. Its not a strict budget.. just means I'll be polishing the wifes 370Z next weekend...and the weekend after that lol

 

[MrF1]

A few questions.

Do you need an operating system? If yes, is that to be included in the $1-1.2k?
Any preference between Intel and AMD?
Any preference between nVidia and AMD?
For pricing, where are you located? Edit: Never mind - Australia.

yes need operating system.
no not included in price.

price is hardware only

no preference because i dont know the difference. from what ive read. Intel for CPU because Intel.

GPU i dont care. best bang for buck.

Australia . but im an Essex boy. moved out here lol.
not that it effects price but may effect reputation.

 

[Pseudopod]

Thinking 750-850W power...

You select the power supply based on how much power the other components need, not the other components on how big a PSU you want.

If your other stuff have a peak load (as in actual power consumption when you run benchmarks, not max TDP of all components added together) of 400 watts and an average load of 300, you don't need more than a 600w PSU. With that setup. 600 watts is already a 50% headroom, which is more than enough. Assuming you get a PSU from a good brand anyway.

 

[Grayfox]

And research each CPU choice.

Are you going to really need an i7, do any of your programs have the ability to use hyper threading as not all do.
Do not go overboard with RAM.
16GB is more than enough for anyone.

My rig has 8GB and I do a lot of gaming, and some video encoding and barely hit 7GB of ram use.

http://pccasegear.com/

PC Case Gear is a good place to get your parts locally and they also have some pre-built systems
Since your new to making PCs air cooling using the stock cooler should be more than fine, after you get some experience and knowledge you can go for an after market cooler, a LCLC(Low Cost Liquid Cooling) unit or even go full water cooled loop as well as going into the realms of overclocking

If your other stuff have a peak load (as in actual power consumption when you run benchmarks, not max TDP of all components added together) of 400 watts and an average load of 300, you don't need more than a 600w PSU. With that setup. 600 watts is already a 50% headroom, which is more than enough. Assuming you get a PSU from a good brand anyway.

Lets not forget the possibility of expansions or upgrades

 

[Pseudopod]

Usually not a problem unless you go from having one graphics card to several, or go from what today is considered a budget card to what is a bleeding-edge card at the time of the upgrade. My 8800 GT used roughly as much power as the GTX460 I replaced it with. Perhaps 20 watts more.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Might I suggest hovering over the boards at Linustechtips.com.

That place is dedicated to anything tech-related, so the people over there can tell you exactly what you need.

You're going triple screens, I am assuming 1080p, so I'm not sure what GPU you would need to max out Pcars on all those screens.

 

[MrF1]

good input so far guys cheers.

i can certainly look at 600W PU. Will save me some dollars.

Ive had a look at PC CASE GEAR and they are local to where i live too.
Its likely what i buy will come from them.. im not sure what Amazon is like to purchase from when im in Australia..?

Cooling: Id be satisfied with air cooling at this early stage. And the case ive chose (above) seems to have a great reveiw.

 

[MrF1]

Appreciate the help so far.

 

[Pseudopod]

The 600w PSU was just an example. You'll have to find out how much the other components use first. I don't think it'll be too little for the components you listed, however. Just make sure you get a high quality PSU. They're not created equal and maximum power load is not the only statistic that matters. It also matters where the PSU can send its power.

That said, most 600W PSUs from respectable manufacturers will be suitable for gaming needs.

The components that cause the most significant power load is CPU and GPU. Some reviewers test the typical power load of these components, so you could look for that if you want to be entirely sure (the graphics card review doesn't have to be for the exact same brand as you plan on buying, as long as it uses the same chip and has a similar amount of VRAM). Hard disks generally don't use a lot of power under normal usage scenarios (I've seen figures stating 5-15W), and SSDs use even less. The motherboard (with its RAM and various other features) uses a little bit, but I doubt it would surpass more than 50 watts even with 4 RAM modules.

-edit-
Just checked. seems like the actual motherboards themselves generally consume less than 20W, and each DDR3 module consumes 3-4W each.

 

[ECGadget]

@MrF1 I would probably recommend 16Gb RAM, if you're planning on keeping it for a while. Then again it can be upgraded later...
Also, for the PSU I would recommend Corsair RM650i, it is a little more power than you want but you cannot go wrong with a little extra power!

 

[Pseudopod]

I'd got for 16 GB right away too, but if there's room for 4 modules and he's using 2x4GB, an upgrade isn't hard to do later.

 

[MrF1]

@MrF1 I would probably recommend 16Gb RAM, if you're planning on keeping it for a while. Then again it can be upgraded later...
Also, for the PSU I would recommend Corsair RM650i, it is a little more power than you want but you cannot go wrong with a little extra power!

thanks mate. i had the Corsair RX 600 on my list but i will change that to the RM650i now.

edit. made it the 750i. was cheaper

as far as RAM goes.. i guess i will start with the x2 gb (8g) and update if i have to later..

good input everyone. very helpful. keep it coming.

To get the thing turned on and running.. do i need a sound card?
and what do u need for optical drives. just a dvd/blu ray player...

I'd got for 16 GB right away too, but if there's room for 4 modules and he's using 2x4GB, an upgrade isn't hard to do later.

modules are the section that hold the ram cards?
i will check to make sure there is 4 on that motherboard?

sorry if my questions are stupid guys.. but i promise I'll be like a Stephen Hawking come the end

GUYS


WHAT HDD AND OR SSD?

one or both?

 

[Lain]

To get the thing turned on and running.. do i need a sound card?
and what do u need for optical drives. just a dvd/blu ray player...

No sound card required.

Strictly speaking, no optical drive is required. And unless you're planning on watching/ripping Blu-rays with this computer, I'd probably just stick to a cheap DVD drive if you need it.

modules are the section that hold the ram cards?
i will check to make sure there is 4 on that motherboard?

Modules are the sticks of ram. Motherboards have slots on 'em that you stick the modules into.

Looks like your mobo of choice has 4 slots, so you can do 2x8GB for 16 GB of RAM and still have two slots open for more if you ever feel like adding two more sticks of 8GB (for a total of 32 GB).

Or you can do the same thing with 4GB sticks... 2x4GB for 8 GB total, with room to add two more for 16 GB total. Cheaper, and 32 GB is overkill anyway... other components will be your PC's bottleneck in the future before being stuck with 16 GB of RAM will be.

WHAT HDD AND OR SSD?

one or both?

If you want to strike a balance between affordability and performance, I'd look into hybrid drives.

Since you're on a budget, I wouldn't go the SSD route. You can add one later on down the road as an upgrade... but for now that money would probably better spent on other things.

 

[Pseudopod]

I refer to the "cards" as modules. Cards just sounds dumb to me . RAM modules go into RAM slots on the motherboard.

If you can squeeze an SSD into your budget, go for it. If you want to be able to store any significant amount of videos, music and games, get a HDD as well. If you can only afford one of the two and also want a good amount of space, go with a HDD or hybrid drive.

A decent sound chip is found on all motherboards these days. You don't need a separate sound card unless you are doing something very special.

Your own needs may vary, but I personally haven't had a DVD or bluray drive on any of my computers in over 5 years and I haven't missed it for a second. I do however have a fast internet connection so I can rapidly download any game I want, and I generally only buy Steam games on PC.

 

[ECGadget]

Don't worry about RAM Slots; the motherboard you've picked has 4 slots. I have not yet tried a build with SSDs so I cannot help you in that department, but a Hybrid may be a good way to go, as @Lain said.
I don't think you need a soundcard, unless you want maybe 7.1 surround or something xD
And I requested a BluRay drive on my laptop but that is because I am collecting BluRay films. Apart from that, I have a number of games on disc that I still use. If you don't have any discs, not worth it at all!

 

[Pseudopod]

even motherboard sound chips support 5.1 and often 7.1 these days

If I own a game on disc these days that i want to play, I just download it from an unauthorized source and use the original code i got with my box

if it's cheap enough on a service such as Steam, i might even just re-buy it. Discs are such a hassle and I try to buy digital as often as possible these days, both on PC and PS3/4.

 

[MrF1]

Hybrid Drive. Will look into that.

was just looking at 1TB hard drives with a 160GB SSD.

Modules not cards.. got it.

I do love my blu rays and dvds so a basic one will suffice.

even motherboard sound chips support 5.1 and often 7.1 these days

If I own a game on disc these days, I just download it and use the original code i got with my box

cheers.
i accept my questions are a bit silly to those in the know.. we are getting there lol

 

[Pseudopod]

I just use my PS3 or PS4 if I want to watch a bluray movie.

 

[MrF1]

as far as the disc readers.. or optical drive (assuming thats thr same thing)

Just a basic one? im amazed with all the teck in these things and the front line of the system being the disc reader is $$40-80 lol

I just use my PS3 or PS4 if I want to watch a bluray movie.

but i want to be able to buy PC games ans play them...

 

[Pseudopod]

anything that says "bluray" on it will suffice. I don't know how much they cost. DVD drives dropped in price extremely fast back in the day too, They were like 20 bucks in 2005. It's not weird that the same happens to blurays, considering this format is also losing ground to digital distribution and streaming services.

As for PC games, are you sure you don't want to just buy them on steam or similar services instead? I guess maybe it is easier for me who's got nearly 100 Mbit internet access. I dunno what you have.

Also, edit your posts instead of making two in a row. It looks neater.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

but i want to be able to buy PC games ans play them...

I don't remember getting a PC game on a blu-ray. I think all of them are on DVD's.

 

[LeMansAid]

even motherboard sound chips support 5.1 and often 7.1 these days

Often not via optical without a hacked driver though. Dolby Digital Live tends to be locked. I reckon there's probably plenty of people out there using Astro mixamps and the like, thinking they're getting virtual surround from a 5.1 source, but actually only getting it from 2 channel.

 

[Pseudopod]

I didn't actually know that. Good to know if you want to use digital surround I guess . Analogue surround output should still work, though.

 

[sesselpupser]

but i want to be able to buy PC games ans play them...

You don't need an optical drive, 99.9999999% of the games you play will be downloaded digitally from Steam, GOG, Uplay or Origin (which is apparently changing its name again soon or something) which are all storefronts very similar to the PSN Store. If you want to play one of the four or five games anyone cares about that aren't available digitally - Grand Prix Legends, Richard Burns Rally (except that's available digitally, I just don't trust that the store it's on will be around for years to come...), NASCAR 2003, SWAT 4... Um... I think that's it - then yeah, you'll need a disc drive, but you'd have to really want to play them to go through the hassle of modding and configuring them, it's not easy.

 

[MrF1]

thanks... im seriously behind on the times it seems.


ive updates the top page to reflect the parts list we have at the moment.

open to change still if needed. we've got about 5 days before i go ahead and order everything at once...