Who wants to help build a Desktop?

[Keverian FireCry]

After my laptop disaster, the only way I'm going to be able to afford a new, powerful gaming computer is if I build it myself.

I've seen plenty of guides out there, but I'd love to hear from some of you who've actually done it.

First off, what are all of the components I will need?

Secondly, do you have any 'learning experiences' you could share that could help me through the process?

Also, any particular product/company recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I'm looking for something between 500-800. Aside from being able to play recent/upcoming games. It doesn't have to be a beast, as I plan on upgrading it in the future as my budget allows.

Thanks

[Kluden]

I've been looking recently myself, but its actually a very convoluted market right now. Way too many options, and when you look at pricing, it gets even more confusing, because more power can be had for tens of dollars more, not hundreds like in the past.

I'm of the opinion that for gaming, the video cards are still the driving factor, and any modern cpu will do...so my only real input would be don't skimp on the video card.

The new intels are great for a budget PC, but so are the amd phenom II's...board prices are where the discrepancy is really. If you have to have quad core, cheapest way will be amd. If you don't care or buy into the quad core thingy, then dual core intel is clearly the choice...like the i5 650. I think that's a less than $150 cpu.

Do you have any parts or peices laying around now that you could reuse? that would also help in determining what to go with as to save money, since you plan to replace in the near future (1 to 2 years?).?

[Leonaerd]

This guide encompasses my mindset. Your results may differ, and I'm sure Winnow and others will have more to add.

Components you need:

Case: Unless space is an issue, get a full tower. Someday, you may want to put a gigantic video card in it, and many mid towers simply cannot accomodate these. Things I look for in a case: airflow (both to keep components cool and to keep dust at bay. Important: where are the case fans placed?), mounting bays (will it be easy to move hard drives / power supply around?), construction (if there's flimsy plastic anywhere, don't do it).

Power Supply + Motherboard: I put these in the same category because if you need to check to see if the power supply in question will fit the motherboard in question. There's nothing worse than buying a 20 prong power supply for a 24 prong motherboard and then having to drive back to micro center and make a fool of myself at returns. These are the quiet heroes of the computer - plan on having them for a long time, so budget accordingly.

Things to look for in a power supply: airflow - the box should have CFM (cubic feet per minute) of airflow listed. Bigger = better, obviously. Your power supply will heat up during gaming sessions and if it can't take the heat, will become a bottleneck and your computer's worst enemy. More CFM doesn't mean shit if there isn't enough voltage to power your rig, and voltage doesn't mean shit if the power supply doesn't have good current flow. The airflow / voltage / current trifecta offers many marketing loops and is why you'll see so many different power supplies. I assure you, there is a best choice. Browse forums, read user reviews, and don't simply buy the power supply with the most voltage. How important is it that your cords be organized? Some power supplies manage cords better than others. Finally, do you care about how loud your rig is? Power supplies can be noisy.

Things to look for in a motherboard: Namely, will it work with AMD or Intel processors. I haven't kept up with hardware in years but when Intel came out with Dual-Core, they had the better product and buying an AMD capable motherboard would have been bad. Figure out what processor you want and then decide which motherboard to get. You definitely get what you pay for. Some motherboards will offer snazzy cooling options which may become crucial to your overclocking needs (do you intend to overclock? The components you will get within your budget will be mega underclocked and you'll probably be able to get 20% or more framerate increase through overclocking. From now on I'll assume you're going to overclock). Shitty motherboards die a young death. Go Asus or its ugly cousin Abit. Read BIOS reviews. If you're overclocking, you'll be dealing heavily with the BIOS.

Processor + HSF (heatsink and fan - get a Zalman): First decide AMD or Intel processor. Plan on spending about 1/4 (or much less if you overclock well) of your budget on it. Unless either AMD or Intel has a big hardware lead right now, the only thing that would determine which I would get is which is more capable of overclocking. Read intelligent reviews and benchmarks. Mounting the processor onto the motherboard, and in turn the HSF onto the processor, is one of the most joyous parts of rig building. You only get one chance to do it perfectly. And that's because you'll be using Arctic Silver 5 (buy it) thermal paste to help conductivity between processor and HSF. Thoroughly research how to apply the AS5 correctly. A hint: when sandwiching HSF to processor, imagine the AS5 spreading so thinly that at its thinnest it barely reaches the edges of the two surfaces. Overclocking capability depends on proper processor installation so don't rush this.

Video card: Really determines how high you'll be able to turn up the graphics. Should cost more than any other component. You get what you pay for, typically. Benchmarks matter most for video cards over any other component. I like to first find which card in the budget-range benchmarks (you'll want mid-budget cards prob) has the highest framerate in stressful gaming environments (while keeping heat in mind. It can become an issue). Once I've narrowed it down to one card, I look for different offerings of the same card (PNY / EVGA, etc). Usually at this point it boils down to what comes packaged with the card. I got Far Cry with one card and couldn't have been happier. Most current motherboards have a PCI-Express slot for video cards, so congruency with motherboard shouldn't be an issue (but double check).

RAM: Get 4 gigs if your budget permits, though 2g will (it hurts to say) likely be enough. Both sticks must be identical for dual-channel to work, which is why sticks are sold two at a time. In my day, the best ram, hands down, in terms of latency (4-3-4-12 etc) and overclockability was "G. Skill." Look for overclocking benchmarks, but in the end G. Skill is probably the best brand to get. Don't get fooled by big names like Kingston and Corsair. and don't get "value" ram. Finally, make sure to get ram that fits your motherboard.

Hard drive(s): I don't have any recommendations here, in terms of specifics. The usual question is - do I want my data to be safe if a hard drive fails? Look into the different RAID configurations, know the differences, know your budget constraints.

Disc Drive(s): DVD R+RW at the minimum.

Sound Card (optional): Sound Blaster X-Fi. Truly, to game without a sound card is near criminal. Your budget is super low though so you'll have to make a big decision on this one. My benchmarks showed 10-15% framerate increase just by having a sound card, so keep that in mind. Processors can focus on other things when not limited by onboard sound. When choosing between different X-Fi's, determine what you will want to plug into the card, i.e. do you just want a headphone jack or do you plan on recording music.

Case Fans! (somewhat optional): Since I'm a rabid overclocker, I demand high quality airflow through my case. There's a balance between CFM airflow and noise, usually. Figure out your own balance. I recommend staying away from plastic fans, as their insulative properties don't help dissipate heat like metal ones. Correct me if I'm wrong - there's a fan called the Tornado that is known for moving air at tornado esque velocities, and unsurprisingly is incredibly loud. Depending on your case, you may only need one rear exhaust fan. Some cases require several more fans. Try to see how others with the same case configured their fans.

I think that's most of it. Thoroughly research your specifics. When installing, remember to keep yourself and your components grounded at all times by keeping in near-constant contact with the case. Do not work near carpet or anything else with static tendencies. Take overclocking slowly. Make sure you ENJOY what you're doing! I drool over the opportunity to build a computer.

[Bubba Grizz]

Best thing to due is start with a list and work from there.
In no particular order:
Case
Motherboard
Chip
Powersupply
CD/DVD
Graphics Card
RAM
Network Card
Hard Drive
Operating System

I'm sure I am missing something here but you get the idea. Some of this stuff you can get as a package or part of a Bare Bones system. Once you have a list put together and some ideas for each slot you will need to research to make sure that all these parts are compatible with each other.

I have a members card for Newegg that allows me to spend over $500 and not make payments or pay interest for like 6 months. It also has other perks as well. I try to buy all my parts from the same place be it Newegg or someplace else.

Edit: Or what he said up there ^. We must have been typing at the same time ish.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Following Bubba's list a bit

Case
I'm a huge ANTEC fanboy as far as cases go. P183 is a great one, quiet, easy to install in, great airflow and looks decent. Possibly the Sonata III as you're on a budget - it comes with a pretty good 500w psu.

Motherboard / Processor
This of course depends on what CPU you decide to go with. At the moment, consensus seems to be that the best bang for your buck is Intel's i5-750 processor. So you'll need a socket LGA 1156 mobo to go with that. I like the Gigabyte P55 series, they're supposedly a little picky about RAM, but they've got a great set of features.

Powersupply
If you're going with the Sonata III, you wont' need one. I like the look of the Corsair TX series. 650 should do you fine.

CD/DVD
Get something cheap that works. You can get a Samsung dvd burner for $20. And you can always invest in a bluray drive later, if you want.

Graphics Card
It's tricky, because you're saying you want a computer that'll run you for a while. Most of the DX11 enabled video cards are prohibitively priced atm (at least $300 for the HD5850) and/or hard as hell to find. The HD4890 gives you more bang for your buck but you won't get DX11 support. Do some research!

RAM
No matter what route you end up going with, make sure to do a little research as far as mobo and ram goes. For odd reasons, some mobos just don't like certain manufacturers of ram. That said, I think it's worth looking at fairly high quality sticks, here. G. Skill (supposedly best for Gigabyte mobos), OCZ, Corsair are good points to start.

Network Card Shouldn't be needed.

Hard Drive
I can't recommend the WD Caviar Black 640gb drive enough. Rock solid, quiet, and well priced.

Operating System
See what bundles you can come up with and get Win 7 Home Premium.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

btw, here's a decent DIY guide http://techreport.com/articles.x/13671

[Bubba Grizz]

Yeah I added the Network card incase there is a desire to add wireless. I know that some boards actually have wifi onboard now.

I also love the Antec cases. Mine has a huge fan on the top.

Something that should be mentioned too is that you will want to go 64bit. Make sure that your system is 64bit capable (most probably are by default now). 64bit will allow you to utilize over 3gb of ram.

I know you will probably use the current monitor you have but keep this in mind, much like how a stereo is only as good as it's speakers, I feel the same holds true for computers as well. You system may be kick ass but if it looks like shit on the display...

[Aabidano]

Just bought a Radeon 5750 for $130, looked like the best bang for the buck at the moment for gaming. I was willing to spend more, but there really didn't seem to be much point right now.

Antec makes great cases, I've got a P180 and a Sonata and am very happy with both.

450 watt power supply should be considered the minimum. A brand name 450 will generally serve you better than a generic 650+.

[Winnow]

I'm not much help in between my PC builds. I do intensive research for a month before I build and then pretty much forget about it for a few years. My current build is still zooming along so I don't see upgrading in the near future. If you build well, you'll get a solid 2 years out of a PC at high performance levels.

You'll still find useful information in my last i7 build here:

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... 25&t=23769

Even slightly out of date, I still cover my reasoning behind my part choices and how I got the best bang for my buck, including power consumption, etc, which should be helpful as you research the current batch pf products.

I'd also suggest finding my SSD thread on the first page. My 128 SSD hard drive kicks ass as an OS drive. Wait times are non existent for both loading apps and of course, load screens in MMORPGs, etc.

Hard Forum will always be your best friend when it comes to researching the latest chips/boards, etc.

[Keverian FireCry]

Thanks to everyone for your help!

[Keverian FireCry]

I know you will probably use the current monitor you have but keep this in mind, much like how a stereo is only as good as it's speakers, I feel the same holds true for computers as well. You system may be kick ass but if it looks like shit on the display...

Yeah, after getting out my old, giant ViewSonic out and actually using it for the first time in about 10 years, I can say for sure that I'll be getting a new monitor. Everything is out of focus. Hurts my eyes to look at it. Gonna need to get used to it for a while though. :/

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

I know you will probably use the current monitor you have but keep this in mind, much like how a stereo is only as good as it's speakers, I feel the same holds true for computers as well. You system may be kick ass but if it looks like shit on the display...

Yeah, after getting out my old, giant ViewSonic out and actually using it for the first time in about 10 years, I can say for sure that I'll be getting a new monitor. Everything is out of focus. Hurts my eyes to look at it. Gonna need to get used to it for a while though. :/

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=39226

but most monitors should be fine for normal use, unless you're as anal about it as Winnow very picky.