Build suggestions

Viral

New Member
Hello. I'm new here, and I know very little about computers in regard as programming and building(but someone will be building it for me, free of course).

So the thing is... I'm trying to get a computer that can run a good online video game in the highest setting of the games and never lag at all(from the computers part-- server wise is out of my control).

I want it to be able to process a lot of data quickly, and I want it to be able to have great display graphics. I'd love for it to have a high memory bank(as in like downloading files and never slow down because of it). I know computers are ever changing.... but i'm not the richest guy out there. Most I can afford currently would be a 500 to 800 dollar computer.

I just wanna know what parts I should get and what goes with what. Cause I know some parts require a certain "set". I hear some people get 4 cores and others say that it may backfire calling it a "bulldozer". I don't know much about specs all I know is the bare minimum. I don't mind spending a bit(within range), but I do want to get a bang for my buck. It'd be even better if I can play a game while downloading music or chatting with friends while playing(good at multitasking). It's not a necessity if it can't do two or three things at once. But it IS a necessity that it'll be good for a great deal of HIGH quality games out there(speaking of being able to support high graphics, process a HUGE amount of data quickly thus reducing lags to the minimum on my side, etc).

I've just about had it with my current computer. It's from 200X (think 2004 2005), lags like no tommorrow( spent 30minutes on a page waiting it to load cause it had just bombed my computer with many pictures...), sorta loud sometimes, and can't even play a simple game! :C

I'd like this build to last me atleast 5 -10 years. I know if I get a higher tech setting then ill be set for years to come before I need a new one. I'd prefer it to be a desktop.

Oh and good vivid sounds would be great(not necessity)

So would you guys be kind enough to list a good build for this year in that price range?

I'm saving up as it is(I got 350 saved up- the rest will probably by summer).

Please and thank you very much.


----
P.s. my friend told me most top notch games require 4gb of ram to run at an okay speed. So I wonder if I got a 12gb of ram will this last longer? Since I know stuff updates very drastically(sadly computers change sooo much that they can't just do one big update instead they like to do it in small portions forcing to either upgrade alot of buying high from the start).

The computer will also be used for surfing the web, buying, chatting, watching movies, and listening to music.

If I do have to go a little higher than 800 please include that also (if it's a MUST so that itll last atleast 6years or more).....
 
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Getting a computer to last 5-10 years is pretty tough if you plan to game on it that long. Scratch tough. Impossible. At that budget you could build a machine that can max anything out right now but doing so in even 2 years won't happen. Medium settings is probably what you could expect in two years. I don't ahve time to get a full parts list but you'd probably want to look at something like a FX 6300 and a 7870 or something along those lines. Some of the other members are better at doing builds than me but that's just some food for thought for now.
 
5 years is fully possible denther. look at what was out in 2009. Core 2 and first gen 45nm i7's for processors and GTX200/GTX400 and HD4000/HD5000. A 4870 will still game quite well today, even paired with a core 2.
Now 10 years is a pipe dream. 03 you are looking at pentium 4s and FX5000 (iirc). You are lucky to boot 2009 games on that.
 
2009 is 4 years ago (barely) last I checked. Even then gaming fine is relative. If he's wanting even medium setting on 5 year old hardware that's not a going to happen. Low settings is possible. Just don't expect it to last that long for gaming.
 
Mine is actually from 2006. I can only play games in the lowest of settings for 2009 games. Higher and it says I can't. How do gamers keep up with it? This stuff is expensive.

Well for now. What's the current equipment that will last me 5 years at least? :v
 
i5 3570K, Gigabyte Z77 board, 8-16GB of DDR3 1866MHz (you can always get 8GB and upgrade later), and something like a 7950 or a 670 would be fine (but again, graphics cards are easy upgrades).

Of course you need a case, PSU, optical drive and hard drive too.
 
2009 is 4 years ago (barely) last I checked. Even then gaming fine is relative. If he's wanting even medium setting on 5 year old hardware that's not a going to happen. Low settings is possible. Just don't expect it to last that long for gaming.
okay 5 years is 08 then (I never claimed to be good at math). Even then, you are still looking ath the same chips, just core 2 instead of i7 and HD4000/GTX200. If you have a 260-216 or 4870 I will guarantee medium+ on current gen games from personal experience.
 
A GTX 260 and a 4870 will still be OK for gaming, but the truth be told, graphics cards are so easy to upgrade people will change them later on anyway and keep the rest of their system the same.
 
3570K and a 7950 is pretty much out of budget. That's too expensvie for a budget that's he's looking at.
 
Honestly the budget can increase a bit but... never over a thousand... More than that and I'll have to work for a year. ;----; I just don't know how you guys keep it up. Like. Can the computer itself be upgraded when needed to support future gaming needs?

For now I play a game called digimon masters(silly to some of you I know) and I lag hard in some areas. Settings have to be at the minimum to play okay. I also play megaten(shin megami tensei) which has nice graphics but lags if you leave them over medium.

I end up having to alternate between games. I can only have one game installed in my computer at any given time for them to run properly.

I hate having to delete it so I can play one week of one game, and then switch. ;< I'm just wondering what would be a good set to last me five years with said budget. The lesser the better. : <
 
Well normally you can buy a computer then upgrade parts as you go for demands of higher performance. Since I built my computer in September of 2011 I've upgraded my video card, RAM, CPU Cooler, and case. I honestly could still game just fine with the setup I had before those upgrades. My motherboard still can support the current newest line of AMD CPU's so I can upgrade that later down the road if I need to. The point when you basically need to start over is when you need a new motherboard and CPU since the socket will eventually stop being supported by new CPU's. It's expensive if you want to always be able to play high settings all the time but if you're content with lowering settings gradually as new games come out it should last you a while.
 
Well normally you can buy a computer then upgrade parts as you go for demands of higher performance. Since I built my computer in September of 2011 I've upgraded my video card, RAM, CPU Cooler, and case. I honestly could still game just fine with the setup I had before those upgrades. My motherboard still can support the current newest line of AMD CPU's so I can upgrade that later down the road if I need to. The point when you basically need to start over is when you need a new motherboard and CPU since the socket will eventually stop being supported by new CPU's. It's expensive if you want to always be able to play high settings all the time but if you're content with lowering settings gradually as new games come out it should last you a while.
I don't mind lowering the settings later on(as long as the graphics will look like the graphics of now), but if I do that. How long can I keep the comp till I need to upgrade?
 
It's hard to pin an exact number on that but don't worry, you'll have a solid computer and if you ever feel the need to upgrade you can. You'll probably end up upgrading the graphics card before anything else.
 
It's hard to pin an exact number on that but don't worry, you'll have a solid computer and if you ever feel the need to upgrade you can. You'll probably end up upgrading the graphics card before anything else.

That'll be hard to constantly keep upgrading things yearly or every other year. :/
 
That'll be hard to constantly keep upgrading things yearly or every other year. :/

Put it this way. If you save 10 dollars every month and upgrade in two years you'll have 240 dollars to upgrade to a better video card. But you probably won't even need to upgrade it that soon anyway. Yes stuff moves quickly but people that still use older machines can game okay. If you want to be a PC gamer you either going to need to accept that your machine will be outdated (but not weak) in a few years or swallow the money and upgrade every few years.
 
Put it this way. If you save 10 dollars every month and upgrade in two years you'll have 240 dollars to upgrade to a better video card. But you probably won't even need to upgrade it that soon anyway. Yes stuff moves quickly but people that still use older machines can game okay. If you want to be a PC gamer you either going to need to accept that your machine will be outdated (but not weak) in a few years or swallow the money and upgrade every few years.

Based on what you said. For now I'd like to know what set up will be able to play games like these :
http://www.joymax.com/dmo/


And pretty much any of the atlus and aeria games. As well as I bought skyrim for the computer. Only to find out I cannot play it in this current computer... So...

What set up will be able to play ANY of these games at maximum settings, never lag at ALL, and be able to hold their downloads so I don't have to delete to actually make more room. I'd like the computer itself to be able to have alot of memory space(to store pictures, games, etc) without the need of a usb. I know there's different kinds of memory. RAM i think is for the speed process(8 ram is good and the higher the better. so far I hear you can get a max of 16-18 of ram Idk if its gigs or megabytes), I'd like to be able to over clock any of these said things so when the time comes that i'll need a new upgrade to play a game in high settings I Can just over clock the system for a while, and then play games in min. setting when necessary. I think max I'll upgrade would be every 4-5years(system).
 
I'd like to think that we've reached the point in history where games become more optimized and easier to run.
But I still use hardware from 2007 paired with an HD 6870 today.
The Q6600 is still capable, and I can't imagine games in 10 years being too hard for an 8320 or 3570k.
But with the budget you said, you're looking at an entry level gaming PC today, which will not last 10 years - most likely.
 
Gigabyte UD3H Z77
Intel i5 3570K
MSI HD 7870 Hawk
Corsair TX 650 (get the TX 650M if you want semi modular)
NZXT Source 210 (Any Case from Corsair, NZXT, or Bitfenix will work)
G Skill Sniper 2 x 8 GB 1866 MHZ DDR3 Memory (8 GB 1600 MHz will work fine for the next couple years, but for 5 years, get 16 GB 1866 MHz)
Seagate barracuda 2 TB 7200 RPM 3.5 SATA

Overall, this build should last around 5 years, with the first 3 of those years being medium settings at least, the last 2 at low, maybe medium on some games. Sorry for no links, but I don't know what country you live in. If you live in the us, us newegg.com . Also, if you are waiting to buy, buy a haswell i5, but you will need a different motherboard. Get the successor to the gigabyte UD3H.
 
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Gigabyte UD3H Z77
Intel i5 3570K
MSI HD 7870 Hawk
Corsair TX 650 (get the TX 650M if you want semi modular)
NZXT Source 210 (Any Case from Corsair, NZXT, or Bitfenix will work)
G Skill Sniper 2 x 8 GB 1866 MHZ DDR3 Memory (8 GB 1600 MHz will work fine for the next couple years, but for 5 years, get 16 GB 1866 MHz)
Seagate barracuda 2 TB 7200 RPM 3.5 SATA

Overall, this build should last around 5 years, with the first 3 of those years being medium settings at least, the last 2 at low, maybe medium on some games. Sorry for no links, but I don't know what country you live in. If you live in the us, us newegg.com . Also, if you are waiting to buy, buy a haswell i5, but you will need a different motherboard. Get the successor to the gigabyte UD3H.
I'm waiting currently till my funds increase... I'm hoping to make the total of a thousand by the end of the summer. (we get paid in chickens I guess lol).

Oh how I wish I could have a job that teaches me about computers, and lets me be in the "in" enough to be able to buy comp. tech for a lower price than most people. xD

Btw. Since I wanna buy this online. Do you guys suggest a good online store? One that will not screw you over in any way possible? Cheap is good too; but I think I prefer quality over cheap a bit.

Say they sent a broken part-- they'd replace it(of course I'd return it back). Cause "accidents" seem to happen the last time I bought online(granted it wasn't a computer, it was a ps3).

Thank you soo much guys. :) I couldn't be in a friendlier forum even if I tried. I tried going elsewhere before finding this place. I was treated like a not very bright person. ><;;

Also, do you guys have tutorials so I can learn the INS AND OUTS of a computer? As well as programming and such? I always wanted to make a video game of my own but never knew how people did it asides just a random bunch of numbers(codes-- 0s and 1s. Forgot what they call that sequence).
 
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