Need help picking parts for new PC

For around $100-$150 a computer shop can build your machine. I would go to yellowbook.com and see about computer shops in your area and they do have reviews.
 
All you need to do with SSDs is make sure that the SATA mode is set to AHCI in the BIOS before you install Windows on them (and on most modern boards it is already set to AHCI) and when you are installing Windows onto the SSD make sure it is the only disk plugged into the board at the time. Once you have installed Windows you can connect the other disks. That's it! :D

Download Blue Screen View and that'll help you determine what the BSOD problem is: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html post the logs on here and we'll have a look (might be best to start a new thread for that since it's a different topic).

If you want to spend the same amount of money on having it built by CyberPower for you as you would be doing it yourself you need to determine a budget, go to CyberPower and configure a build for yourself that fits your budget. You'll likely have to downgrade:

- CPU from i7 to i5
or
- RAM from 16GB to 8GB
or
- GPU from 970 to 960
or
- Lose the SSD and/or aftermarket CPU cooler

To keep it in budget if you bought it from them.

I've already told you that the most important component for you is the GPU, so given the choice downgrade the RAM or the CPU.

==OR==
If you were asking how to afford Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate and still use your other components then I'd say don't bother with either and just get 8.1 for 100 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6776&cm_re=windows_8.1-_-32-416-776-_-Product but if you really must use Windows 7 then in order to be able to afford Pro or Ultimate you'll need to make one of the compromises listed above.
 
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You're spending way too much money on a board that is Z97. I changed the parts a bit here. Added an i5, changed RAM to 1600 and the mother board which is SLI capable. Like I said, click on the parts and then click the Newegg link. I believe all the parts are sold by Newegg so the links should be there. However, the cheapest prices come from other vendors. Keep in mind that your out of pocket expense is the base line cost before rebates.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FMsYzy
 
Agent Smith said:
You're spending way too much money on a board that is Z97. I changed the parts a bit here. Added an i5, changed RAM to 1600 and the mother board which is SLI capable. Like I said, click on the parts and then click the Newegg link. I believe all the parts are sold by Newegg so the links should be there. However, the cheapest prices come from other vendors. Keep in mind that your out of pocket expense is the base line cost before rebates.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FMsYzy
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Thanks smith. So i imagine this will decrease performance by maybe 5-10% (or at all?) but drastically reduce the cost from the previous build i posted?
 
In games there will barely be any difference between this and your i7 + 970 build for the reasons I mentioned earlier:

spirit said:
The i5 is a very powerful CPU. The major difference between an i5 and an i7 is that the i5 doesn't have hyper-threading whereas the i7 does. That means that whilst the i5 has 4 cores and 4 threads, the i7 has 4 cores and 8 threads. Where the i7 comes in handy is when working with multi-threaded apps such as running virtual machines or rendering graphics or editing video and things like that because those types of applications can take advantage of the extra threads that the i7 has.

For gaming at the moment I believe only a handful of games are truly making use of quad-core CPUs and very few are taking advantage of CPUs with anything above 4 threads, which means that for the vast majority of games out there at the moment there is no, or very little, difference between gameplay on an i5 system and an i7 system.
Click to expand...
 
spirit said:
In games there will barely be any difference between this and your i7 + 970 build for the reasons I mentioned earlier:
Click to expand...

I am planning on keeping the 970 i'm pretty content with that. so what your saying is on that build smith just revised, the I5 from i7 will basically make no difference with 90% of games?

"threads" "cores" I picture a lady knitting a sock next to a dude doing crunches. it's alien to me for the most part. that's why i'm glad knowledgeable people such as yourselves are choosing to help out! :)
 
ok great so that will be "the build" for now, I'm pretty happy with it.

question about the card though, I see smith changed it to a "superclocked" one. so this is a bit faster i'm assuming but more power draw? is there anything special about these "clocked" cards that makes them different when setting them or or anything special I should know about them?
 
Yeah, I would go with the i5 and use the GTX 970. That Gigabyte board I chose looks good too. It has SLI, all sold caps, duel BIOS and durable. When you save more money you could go SLI with two GTX 970's.

To get an idea on the comparison of the i7 and i5 look here and scroll to the bottom where they list games in FPS (Frames Per Second). They are nearly identical. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1260?vs=1261
 
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Funkygodzilla said:
question about the card though, I see smith changed it to a "superclocked" one. so this is a bit faster i'm assuming but more power draw? is there anything special about these "clocked" cards that makes them different when setting them or or anything special I should know about them?
Click to expand...

They just come with a factory overclock meaning that they are a tiny bit faster than the 'stock/reference' cards. They don't really draw too much more power.
 
spirit said:
They just come with a factory overclock meaning that they are a tiny bit faster than the 'stock/reference' cards. They don't really draw too much more power.
Click to expand...

excellent. so the basic process of putting this together.

first and foremost motherboard.
then attach all the other shnazzle to it, hook up some wires badabing badaboom

THEN make sure the SSD is like... HOCD in BIOS or something
ok check
then install windows
then, everything works and is auto (?) and I have to do nothing else except download noscript adblock etc etc
 
Darren said:
Check the guide in my signature for how to assemble your parts.
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thanks, nice guide! was feeling really confident up until the cable part, that looks tough. definitely gave me a better feel for where this stuff will be plugging into though that's great. I also don't really understand the whole lifting the motherboard off the case, maybe I didn't read slow enough I will reread it as I realize it's very important
 
You need to make sure the standoffs are installed. Some cases will have them preinstalled and others will not. The standoffs are screwed into the case and then the motherboard is then place on top of the standoffs and screwed into them. I cleaned up the wording in the guide. It was a little confusing.
 
Darren said:
You need to make sure the standoffs are installed. Some cases will have them preinstalled and others will not. The standoffs are screwed into the case and then the motherboard is then place on top of the standoffs and screwed into them. I cleaned up the wording in the guide. It was a little confusing.
Click to expand...

What materiel are these made of? so it's like screws that you screw the screws into... I get it now
 
Funkygodzilla said:
What materiel are these made of? so it's like screws that you screw the screws into... I get it now
Click to expand...

Brass and they screw into the case.

With regards to the SSD. When building the PC only plug the SSD into the board and power, when you boot the computer up go into the BIOS and make sure the SATA mode is set to AHCI. Then install Windows. After that's done put your other disks in.
 
spirit said:
Brass and they screw into the case.

With regards to the SSD. When building the PC only plug the SSD into the board and power, when you boot the computer up go into the BIOS and make sure the SATA mode is set to AHCI. Then install Windows. After that's done put your other disks in.
Click to expand...

other disks?
 
Agent Smith said:
The 1 TB platter HDD. I would have chose a black Western Digital but you changed it to Blue.
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can always change it back, nothing is ordered yet. and DARN i really wish i could take advantage of the six hour thing, thanks so much for posting it though. I unfortunately don't have funds usable card atm not until tomorrow evening...

also thanks for clarifying what that meant.
 
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