Thinking about a new PCFollow

Alienware equals massive premiums as far as I know, building it yourself is by far the best bang for your buck. AMD vs Nvidia is a difference in ease of updating drivers (AMD sucks apparently, I've got Nvidia) and AMD doesn't keep up with Nvidia abouve the midrange cards. There's no real choice in processors, it's intel or bust and an i5 fits in your budget easily (i7 only offers hyperthreading over the i5 and that's no use for gaming).


Edit: oh and 8GB ram should be plenty and if not you could always go with 2x4 and add another set of 2x4 later for 16GB.

Edited, Apr 10th 2014 8:53pm by Aethien

Apparently AMD has really stepped up their game in the low-end range. Most people still use Intel for their high-end rigs, but if you're looking at the lower- or mid- budget ranges, a lot of people like some of the newer AMD options. The biggest issue seems to be their power draw, not their performance.

They also let you overclock on a budget, which makes them really competitive against the i3 chips (which are all locked against overclocking, to the best of my knowledge).

Demea, since you have most of your peripherals, all you really need to do is check your PSU's wattage, and then price out a mobo/gpu/motherboard combination (assuming you plan to reuse your case and drives). Though getting new drives is probably smart.

AMD processors are very much at their limit because AMD can't afford to develop a new architecture so they're stretching what they have now which results in affordable budget options that draw loads of power and produce tons of heat. Really not a good option if you can afford to put an i5 in your system.


Also, spending $100 on an i7 over an i5 is entirely worth it if you plan to do a significant amount of rendering and video editing since hyperthreading is good for that. Similarly an SSD isn't going to do anything for games but is worth it for lots of other things.

Which is why I added the video thing, just figured I'd mention what it is good for alongside what it isn't good for. And if he's planning to become the next Youtube star it'll be worth the investment.


Edit: Reddit's /r/builapcforme subreddit is also good for parts lists so you don't have to think about parts much. There's even at least 4 different $1000 build threads on the front page so you probably don't even need to make a thread.

Edited, Apr 10th 2014 9:53pm by Aethien

Windows 8.1 is presently horrible based on interface alone. but there is a fix patch coming in the next 2 months give or take. As of now, 7 hands down. in 3 months, we'll see. 64 bit OS either way. Apple sucks too.



8 is likely enough. ram is dirt cheap though so adding more later is easy.

I have 32 GB and am contemplating swapping out for 64 GB. If you do alot of 3d model rendering it comes in handy. Certain games will also use it. No reason other than cost not to go higher.



Processors:
Intel High end processors are better than AMD high end processors.
AMD high end processors are cheaper than Intel high end processors
At the mid range AMD is still cheaper, Intel still performs better, Intel processors will run somewhat cooler and more energy efficient due to smaller nanometer design.
A core I-5 Quad core 3.2 Ghz processor is probably fine for most gaming PC's. Make sure you match the socket type to the board
The Intel Core I-7 processors give you hyperthreading, which is basically virtual CPU cores (so a quad core becomes an Octo-core processor.
The Socket 2011 Intel processors are the most expensive, but you also get 8 dedicated ram slots with 4 ram channels. You pay a premium for that though.
I personally prefer Intel over AMD. I currently have a Hexacore I7 with hyperthreading (12 logical cores.
Video cards:
I prefer Nvidia over AMD specifically because Nvidia drivers are less annoying to install and maintain than AMD ones. Hardwarewise Nvidia wins at the high end currently, but that varies by month. Get what you are used to and prefer. Either will be fine for gaming.


No, and especially not since Dell bought them out. Now you are paying for a brand name on a Dell computer. There are other companies to try if you still want to buy high end pre-assembled.



1. You want a Solid State hard drive (250GB minimum) to install the operating system and your most used games and programs on.
2. You want a paid of at least 1TB hard drives to install as a mirrored data array for your files
3. Pick a good, high end case. You will likely have it longer than any other component of your computer and it's the one piece that takes the longest to swap out. Start with a Cooler Master CM 690 III or a Cooler Master Haf X then branch out based off your design and look preferences. Large fans move more air with less noise.
4. Don't buy a cheap no name power supply, and always leave some room for hardware expansion (most graphic cards for gaming require at least 525 watts, I wouldn't put anything smaller than a 650 watt PSU into a gaming computer). Also make sure you get a modular power supply. Will make life easier for the build.
5. I prefer Asus motherboards, with Gigabyte as a second choice.
6. The case you buy will likely come with all the fans and screws you need. The motherboard will likely come with the cables. The CPU will come with a cooling fan unless you buy a socket 2011 Intel CPU in which case you will need to buy one separate.
7. Buy a tube of Artic Silver Thermal Grease to have on hand in case you need to take the CPU fan off and back on.
8. If you want I can put together a reccommended build list based on that budget. Does $1,000 include the operating system ~$100?

You know that's technically illegal per the terms of the microsoft OEM EULA right?

My hesitation to build my own rig is that I know almost nothing about hardware specifications. Bus speed? Overclocking? DDR1/2/3? Not a ******* clue.

There are also manuals with your parts that tell you exactly where what should go and loads and loads of instructional videos on youtube.

There may be webshops that will put the whole thing together for you as well, more expensive since you're ordering everything in one place and you pay a fee to get it put together but probably still considerably cheaper than going with a premade PC.

When your upgrade cycle is once a decade, you're probably doing close to a full swap anyway.

You sure? I'd see what card it has and check the specs on that directly. Even the newer mid-high range cards I'm looking at feature DVI output.

You want as much dedicated memory as you can get, really. And try to get DDR5 over DDR3 memory for the graphics card. Obviously this is all budget dependent.

Edit: By as much as you can get, I realistically mean 2GB to 3GB unless you're going to run multiple monitors. 2GB is becoming the standard and 3GB would give you some breathing space. I wouldn't go as low as 1GB if I could help it and 4GB seemes excessive unless you're running a multiple monitor set-up for some high res gameplay.

Edited, Apr 12th 2014 12:21pm by Jophiel

I think ibuypower.com is supposed to be decent price-wise for custom spec'd PCs, but I've never really checked it out to see how it compares.

It depends on what you want to do with gaming. Most games will make use of all the video memory you can throw at them, but it does tend to get to the point of diminishing returns after the 3GB mark. 2GB should be adequate. That being said I have 2 780 GTX TI's with a total og 6GB video memory now. That replaced the 6GB memory total pool of the two 580 GTX's I just pulled out of the system. If youdo any 3d rendering or want to play MMO's in "extreme video settings mode" it comes in handy. That being said a $1,000 budget does not allow for a super high memory video card.



They can be decent. You have to be careful about the components they use, especially on their lower end boxes.

Power supply and motherboard tend to be the two areas they skimp on. Selling gaming PC's with lower than reccommended power supplies and no SLI upgradability, etc.
Other companies to check out include http://www.originpc.com/ https://www.maingear.com/ http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ There are others. Falcon northwest is nice too at the higher end.