Help on building a PC with a tight budget!

spirit said:
OP, did you see that post, that has a list of parts you can use, as Ben said above though, the combo deal isn't available anymore.


Nope wasn't being sarcastic, 600 is perfectly doable. I've gotta get to bed now, but I'll get you a build up tomorrow if you like. For the meantime, take a look at the advice given above.
Click to expand...

Creating PC builds is somewhat of a challenge and I wish to have the best user to give me the best build. Sorry, it may sound harsh but I shouldn't even be putting money to do this. Thanks everyone and I'll wait for your suggestion tomorrow, Spirit.
 
Also, would anyone kindly help me with a few easy questions?

1) How do I know which part is better than which in terms of value? Pricing, reviews, etc?

2) How long does it usually take for an average person to build a computer once they have all the parts needed to assemble it?

3) What are the major parts that I should focus more attention on if I wanted the best gaming computer on a budget?

4) How many fans does a PC usually have and how many is recommended for intense usage?

5) Best brand for each part needed to assemble a PC?


Thanks and so far so good!
 
Benny Boy said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.985661
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147108
Click to expand...



DVD burner- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247

Processor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=i5 2500k

Hard drive- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Motherboard- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-p8z77vlx

Video card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

Power supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013#top

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147108

Would this be compatible? It's not my build but a friend who doesn't know much and just looked things up.

If there is anything better to replace for the equivalent or not much of a price range, please recommend.

Which is better?
 
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Benny Boy's recommendation comes in at $422 without a processor. I'd have Dirt 3 with $40 off on promo codes which brings it in at $382 without a processor and without shipping.

The other one that my friend built(but IDK about his cause he's not too bright and its probably not compatible) is $712 with Dirt 3 and $20 off promo codes which brings it at $692 without shipping.

Which one shall I get?
 
Ocean Spray said:
Creating PC builds is somewhat of a challenge and I wish to have the best user to give me the best build. Sorry, it may sound harsh but I shouldn't even be putting money to do this. Thanks everyone and I'll wait for your suggestion tomorrow, Spirit.
Click to expand...
Benny Boy's good at speccing out builds, I've done a lot lately though so I know what I'm doing. ;) Before I spec you a build though I'm going to give my recommendations to you below.

Ocean Spray said:
Also, would anyone kindly help me with a few easy questions?

1) How do I know which part is better than which in terms of value? Pricing, reviews, etc?

2) How long does it usually take for an average person to build a computer once they have all the parts needed to assemble it?

3) What are the major parts that I should focus more attention on if I wanted the best gaming computer on a budget?

4) How many fans does a PC usually have and how many is recommended for intense usage?

5) Best brand for each part needed to assemble a PC?


Thanks and so far so good!
Click to expand...
1 - You have to look at benchmarks and look at price/performance ratios to make sure you're getting the best deal. Anandtech Bench is a good site to look on for this.

2 - Depends on experience and what kind of a system you're putting together. If it's your first time and you're building a system like your's, I'd say maybe an hour or so (not including installing Windows and software). Usually it takes me far longer than that because I'm a cable management freak and I like all my cables neat. I've got a PC I'm re-building at the moment and I started work on Monday or Tuesday and it's still not done. ;) But yes, usually a few hours.

3 - Get the best graphics card you can afford, then once you've spent the most you can on the graphics card get the best CPU you can afford.

4 - Depends entirely on what case you have, most have 2 or 3 (one intake and then either one or two exhaust). Higher-end cases usually have 4 or 5 fans (not including CPU cooler fan or power supply fan). I'd say a single fan is an absolute minimum, two preferably.

5 -
Case - Corsair, NZXT, Cooler Master, Antec (sometimes), Fractal Design, Lian-LI
Hard drive - Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital
SSD - Crucial, Corsair, SanDisk, Samsung, Intel, OCZ
PSU - Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling, XFX
CPU - Intel, AMD (they're the only two major competitors anyway)
Motherboard - Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, MSI, EVGA
Graphics (AMD) - Sapphire, HIS, XFX, ASUS, Gigabyte
Graphics (NVIDIA) - EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte
RAM - G.Skill, Crucial, Corsair, Mushkin, Patriot
DV-RW - LG, Samsung
Cooling - Cooler Master, Arctic Cooling, Noctua

I'm sure there are others I've forgotten but you get the idea.

Ocean Spray said:
DVD burner- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247

Processor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&Tpk=i5 2500k

Hard drive- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Motherboard- http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-p8z77vlx

Video card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

Power supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013#top

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147108

Would this be compatible? It's not my build but a friend who doesn't know much and just looked things up.

If there is anything better to replace for the equivalent or not much of a price range, please recommend.

Which is better?
Click to expand...
DVD burner - good

Processor - good (but the 3570K is newer but it's probably more expensive and the 2500K is still way more than enough)

Hard drive - get the Seagate, has twice the cache buffer

Motherboard - for 10 bucks more this is way better http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

Video card - get the 6950 if you can but if you can't then a 6850 will be fine. There's always the 6870 which comes right in between the 6850 and the 6950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

Power supply - good, if you get a 6950 you may want just a bit more headroom though, so try to get a 600W or 650W variant of that unit if you want a 6950, otherwise the 550W will be fine for a 6850 or a 6870

RAM - good (I think you linked to the same product twice though)

Case - this is better for not much more money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Yes all would be compatible.
 
spirit said:
Benny Boy's good at speccing out builds, I've done a lot lately though so I know what I'm doing. ;) Before I spec you a build though I'm going to give my recommendations to you below.


1 - You have to look at benchmarks and look at price/performance ratios to make sure you're getting the best deal. Anandtech Bench is a good site to look on for this.

2 - Depends on experience and what kind of a system you're putting together. If it's your first time and you're building a system like your's, I'd say maybe an hour or so (not including installing Windows and software). Usually it takes me far longer than that because I'm a cable management freak and I like all my cables neat. I've got a PC I'm re-building at the moment and I started work on Monday or Tuesday and it's still not done. ;) But yes, usually a few hours.

3 - Get the best graphics card you can afford, then once you've spent the most you can on the graphics card get the best CPU you can afford.

4 - Depends entirely on what case you have, most have 2 or 3 (one intake and then either one or two exhaust). Higher-end cases usually have 4 or 5 fans (not including CPU cooler fan or power supply fan). I'd say a single fan is an absolute minimum, two preferably.

5 -
Case - Corsair, NZXT, Cooler Master, Antec (sometimes), Fractal Design, Lian-LI
Hard drive - Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital
SSD - Crucial, Corsair, SanDisk, Samsung, Intel, OCZ
PSU - Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling, XFX
CPU - Intel, AMD (they're the only two major competitors anyway)
Motherboard - Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, MSI, EVGA
Graphics (AMD) - Sapphire, HIS, XFX, ASUS, Gigabyte
Graphics (NVIDIA) - EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte
RAM - G.Skill, Crucial, Corsair, Mushkin, Patriot
DV-RW - LG, Samsung
Cooling - Cooler Master, Arctic Cooling, Noctua

I'm sure there are others I've forgotten but you get the idea.


DVD burner - good

Processor - good (but the 3570K is newer but it's probably more expensive and the 2500K is still way more than enough)

Hard drive - get the Seagate, has twice the cache buffer

Motherboard - for 10 bucks more this is way better http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544

Video card - get the 6950 if you can but if you can't then a 6850 will be fine. There's always the 6870 which comes right in between the 6850 and the 6950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

Power supply - good, if you get a 6950 you may want just a bit more headroom though, so try to get a 600W or 650W variant of that unit if you want a 6950, otherwise the 550W will be fine for a 6850 or a 6870

RAM - good (I think you linked to the same product twice though)

Case - this is better for not much more money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Yes all would be compatible.
Click to expand...

Gee, thanks. I really appreciate all that you have done and if I can get everything working, I wouldn't mind tipping you.

Anyways, I decided to keep a burner that I had from my old computer.
Going with the seagate 1tb.
Going with the i5 2500k.
Going with gigabyte.
Going with radeon 6870.
For RAM, the deal was no longer there so I changed to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314.
For PSU, I'd rather cut down on that a bit. PSU doesn't affect the performance and so I just want one that can effectively power my computer without taking a big portion of my budget. Any recommendations for one that is durable and cheap? I've heard of cheap PSU's frying things up for not actually fulfilling what it is said to achieve.
For the case, how many fans does that case provide? And what is the $10 advantage that it would offer over the Rosewell.

Other than that, it seems I got everything figured out. Not only did I get a build that I will get to love; I learned a lot. Thanks a bunch to you and everyone else!
 
Gee, thanks. I really appreciate all that you have done and if I can get everything working, I wouldn't mind tipping you.

Anyways, I decided to keep a burner that I had from my old computer.
Going with the seagate 1tb.
Going with the i5 2500k.
Going with gigabyte.
Going with radeon 6870.
For RAM, the deal was no longer there so I changed to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314.
For PSU, I'd rather cut down on that a bit. PSU doesn't affect the performance and so I just want one that can effectively power my computer without taking a big portion of my budget. Any recommendations for one that is durable and cheap? I've heard of cheap PSU's frying things up for not actually fulfilling what it is said to achieve.
For the case, how many fans does that case provide? And what is the $10 advantage that it would offer over the Rosewell.

Other than that, it seems I got everything figured out. Not only did I get a build that I will get to love; I learned a lot. Thanks a bunch to you and everyone else!

Also, is there a way I can get a connection to my router/modem without the use of an ethernet cable that stretches 30 feet upstairs? I hate to have to use my CP in the living room instead of my bedroom.
 
Hey not a problem! :)

To answer your questions:

Yes that RAM is fine. A good, cheap, durable PSU would be the Corsair CX600, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028 that would power a 6870 just fine. Yes, bad power supplies can go fail and take out the rest of your system, it's happened to me before. :(

The HAF 912 provides 2 or 3 fans as standard but you can add more. Has much better airflow than the Rosewill cases and also better cable management too. Downside is the interior is silver. The alternative is something like a Carbide 300R but it costs way more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

You could always use Wi-Fi if your router supports it which I'm sure it does. USB wi-fi adapters are cheap and pretty reliable these days.

Hopefully that answers your questions. :)
 
spirit said:
Hey not a problem! :)

To answer your questions:

Yes that RAM is fine. A good, cheap, durable PSU would be the Corsair CX600, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028 that would power a 6870 just fine. Yes, bad power supplies can go fail and take out the rest of your system, it's happened to me before. :(

The HAF 912 provides 2 or 3 fans as standard but you can add more. Has much better airflow than the Rosewill cases and also better cable management too. Downside is the interior is silver. The alternative is something like a Carbide 300R but it costs way more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

You could always use Wi-Fi if your router supports it which I'm sure it does. USB wi-fi adapters are cheap and pretty reliable these days.

Hopefully that answers your questions. :)
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll stick with that RAM and case. I'm very hesitant in using Wi-Fi because ethernet cables gives a better connection. I'll see. Thanks and may I PM you if I have any more questions?
 
You could PM me but you'd need to write another 74 posts before you can. :P You need 100+ posts in order to use PMs and visitor messages sorry. :(
 
If you have any questions just throw a post up here or write back on this thread, I'll see it - I seem to spend my whole life on here these days. :)

What you have got planned all looks great, I'm sure it'll be fine.
 
I'm sure we can shave 200 bucks off the price. I'm trying to rebuild one of my PCs right now but I'll be back in a bit with some suggestions. :)
 
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