Gaming PC build HELP

Kotan

Everywhere I have looked to get a gaming PC on a budget, or for any price where you're not being ripped off, is to build it yourself.

My budget is ~ 450 euros
I may be able to go a bit above that

I'm not including a monitor/keyboard/mouse and preferably off a site with minimal delivery expenses

Because this is my first build, if there are any links that give advice on how to put it together that would be great, but if I can get that from yourselves all the better

Patrick 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh455l3348s
I think that may be exactly what you're looking for, clear instructions and everything is linked in the description, good luck with your fist build.

Kotan

Thanks Patrick 1 I found the video incredibly helpful.

Myself I was thinking of using a slightly different build and i would like anyones opinion on this, if the parts are right for each other and so forth. It was a build suggested by areyawell answering someone elses question on building a pc


BitFenix Merc Alpha €34.00
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W €42.28
ASUS M5A78L LE, Sockel AM3+, ATX €50.00
AMD Phenom II X4 945 , Sockel AM3 €68.37
4GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 €16.89
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s €53.54
HIS HD 7770 GDDR5 1024MB DVI HDMI 2xMiniDP €107.74
Samsung SH-118AB DVD-RW €13.33
Windows 8 €86.09
Shipping €18.99
Total €491.14

I am looking to use a different graphics card than this one, a Sapphire Radeon HD 7850, 2GB GDDR5, lite retail. I want to know if for this power supply and mother board, with it will be OK? I'm sourcing all the parts on hardwareversand.de. I can find everything except the processor on that site. I found it on other sites but it costs about $150+. If anyone can give me a link that can find it for cheaper let me know it would be fantastic. His build doesn't mention a seperate cooling fan but i know there's cooling fan in the power supply and graphics card if i don't need another one that's fine.

The person with this build didn't give what windows 7 it is 32 bit or 64 bit i went with a 64 bit myself but say something if it is wrong

challengemaster

You can't use a 7750M because the M stands for mobile - as in for laptops. It's not a PC graphics card, so isn't even remotely compatible.

Kotan

challengemaster wrote: »

You can't use a 7750M because the M stands for mobile - as in for laptops. It's not a PC graphics card, so isn't even remotely compatible.

changed my mind about the graphics card to the Sapphire Radeon 7850 thanks for the tip didn't know M was for mobile

Mister Man

I'm a little out of the loop of PC building ATM, but I would think you'd need a better PSU? Could be wrong.
Might be a good idea to go for a better CPU, if possible. I'd also recommend getting at least 2GB more ram. I've 4GB in my system, and I really notice it lacking in that department. You'll get away with 4GB, if you wanted to save a little
Other than that, seems good to me.

Patrick 1

I definitely agree on getting at least 4gb of RAM, and you will need a cooler for the processor, your PC will have a short and terrible life otherwise. The PSU will barely (and I stress barely) cover that build, so with an 80plus PSU you ideally need to be aiming for 500/550 watt, the computer can deal with to much power by not drawing it, to little makes it cut out.

marco_polo

Patrick 1 wrote: »

I definitely agree on getting at least 4gb of RAM, and you will need a cooler for the processor, your PC will have a short and terrible life otherwise.

If PCs had a short and terrible life because of the stock coolers, then neither Intel or AMD would be in business.

The PSU will barely (and I stress barely) cover that build, so with an 80plus PSU you ideally need to be aiming for 500/550 watt, the computer can deal with to much power by not drawing it, to little makes it cut out.

The SF 450W PSU is more that adequate for the posted build.

Patrick 1

marco_polo wrote: »

If PCs had a short and terrible life because of the stock coolers, then neither Intel or AMD would be in business.

I was thinking that the AMD processor came without a cooler and that an after market one was needed, if this comes with a cooler you're good to go. (Recently moved my PC, didn't notice that the heatsink lost 3 out of 4 connections into the board, processor was hitting 96 and I was complaining about windows, bad updates, drivers etc. but nay, 'twas the heatsink, I'm kinda paranoid 'bout 'em now).

marco_polo

Patrick 1 wrote: »

I was thinking that the AMD processor came without a cooler and that an after market one was needed, if this comes with a cooler you're good to go. (Recently moved my PC, didn't notice that the heatsink lost 3 out of 4 connections into the board, processor was hitting 96 and I was complaining about windows, bad updates, drivers etc. but nay, 'twas the heatsink, I'm kinda paranoid 'bout 'em now).

They do the same as Intel really, their CPUs can come in an OEM version, without a stock cooler (only a few stores sell these directly), and much more commonly a boxed retail version which has stock cooler.

M00lers

marco_polo wrote: »

The SF 450W PSU is more that adequate for the posted build.

+1 to this, more than enough juice for that build.

Kotan

well I'v just looked at the graphics card that i want to use and has a 500W minimum to use it. I think I'll spend a few euro more and get a 550W it's still a Super-Flower PSU so not much of a price difference

Kotan

Also I'm finding it hard to find the processor that I'm looking for but found the
AMD Phenom II X4 965 AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ

for less than what the other processor is being asked for and this one definitely comes with its own heat sink. Any thoughts on my choice.

M00lers

Kotan wrote: »

well I'v just looked at the graphics card that i want to use and has a 500W minimum to use it. I think I'll spend a few euro more and get a 550W it's still a Super-Flower PSU so not much of a price difference

Totally unnecessary. The maximum power a 7770 uses is about 80W and the Phenom about 125W, the rest of your components will use very little, so even if you overclock the crap out of everything the 450W Super Flower is more than capable.

Kotan

I know the power requirements for the processor is 125. I'v decided to go for the 550W on account of the graphics card whose specs show a 500W requirement. Here's a link to the specs:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&lid=1&pid=1472&leg=0#

So just for the graphics card 450W might not do it unless anyone thinks differently cause I'd like as much help as I can get

Gumbi

Kotan wrote: »

I know the power requirements for the processor is 125. I'v decided to go for the 550W on account of the graphics card whose specs show a 500W requirement. Here's a link to the specs:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&lid=1&pid=1472&leg=0#

So just for the graphics card 450W might not do it unless anyone thinks differently cause I'd like as much help as I can get

It will be more than enough. Chances are your system won't ever even draw more than 300/350w. The 500w requirement is to account for ****ty PSUs.

M00lers

Kotan wrote: »

I know the power requirements for the processor is 125. I'v decided to go for the 550W on account of the graphics card whose specs show a 500W requirement. Here's a link to the specs:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&lid=1&pid=1472&leg=0#

So just for the graphics card 450W might not do it unless anyone thinks differently cause I'd like as much help as I can get

No harm in getting the 550W(handy if you upgrade to a better card in the future) but not because the 450W isn't capable of the task.
Have a google for 7770 power consumption......it's tiny!!

Kotan

The build with the 7770 is a suggested build done by the user areyawell. I'm confusing things by having it there as it stands this is what my build will be:


WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s
BitFenix Merc Alpha
ASUS M5A78L LE, Sockel AM3+, ATX
4GB-Kit G-Skill PC3-10667U CL9
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850, 2GB GDDR5, lite retail
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Box, Sockel AM3

For this build is the motherboard suitable even if it's cheap and I have to upgrade in a year or two that's fine, and the 64 bit windows will it work on this system.

On Patrick 1 s video link he mentions thermal paste on the fan just above the processor, is thermal paste something that wear down over a period of use or something that isn't included in some fans at all and something seperate you have to get.

Down the line I was thinking of getting a sound card specifically the
Asus Xonar DS 7.1 PCI Sound Card
will this motherboard support this card and does any one have a link on how to install a sound card?

Patrick 1

It's something you'll probably have to get, but some fans do come with a tiny packet of it. It's about a tenner if not less for a bottle of the stuff and it serves to pretty much glue the heatsink onto the processor, without it the processor cannot send heat to the heatsink to be cooled, any sort of computer store sells it, like maplin or pc world.

Wossack

the 'boxed' amd chip will come with thermal paste pre applied to the base of the heatsink, which doesnt need to be replaced over time

M00lers

Looks like a nice build!! If you get a third party CPU cooler for the Phenom you should be able to hit at least 4.0Ghz with some overclocking.

If overclocking I would probably bump up the motherboard too. Might be worth looking at an AsRock Extreme3.

Kotan

I have heard people mention overclocking. How would some one go about doing that?
Does it require you to modify the processor in anyway or is it something you do with the graphics card settings when the entire thing is built and the OS is installed?

Patrick 1

Get the computer built first man, worry about the overclocking later. For the most part you'd be overclocking the processor, which is typically done in the BIOS just as the computer starts. Overclocking is great craic, and I would definitely recommend it, but familiarise yourself with it first, if I find a good link I'll throw it in later on, no idea where it is at the moment though, probably on the PC.

Ellamm

I'm thinking about building this; http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AF8e Any ideas what 5 should replace or remove? Thanks.

challengemaster

Ellamm wrote: »

I'm thinking about building this; http://pcpartpicker.com/p/AF8e Any ideas what 5 should replace or remove? Thanks.

I'd replace just about everything on that list. It's complete overkill or bad choices for most stuff.

• Do you really need an i7?
• Sandy bridge is outdated - 3770k is the latest i7.
• Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z is complete overkill in just about every way. There's no need for that tbh unless you're doing LN2 overclocking
• Also there's no need for a 750W power supply.

Patrick 1

+1 to above, a 2500k does everything you need, a rig is realistically only going to run 1, maybe two graphics cards, excess is wasted. Also, why 2 1tb drives?

TerrorFirmer

Also, why an older 580....$570?! I paid 150 for a brand new 570 OC edition on Dabs last month.

For the same money and good advice, you could build a PC far more powerful in games - listen to the guys here, they'll give you about the best impartial advice you'll find.

Kotan

Any one have a link to a well priced AMD Phenom II x4 965?

and how does it compare to the AMD Athlon II X2 270

Kotan

I have a concern, seeing as this is my first build, about static electricity discharging from my body and damaging the mother board or the gpu or anything in the computer does any one have any idea how to deal with it?

Wossack

ground yourself on a radiator, or another plugged in computer case etc and dont move from that spot again while buiding

Kotan

Wossack wrote: »

ground yourself on a radiator, or another plugged in computer case etc and dont move from that spot again while buiding

I heard plugging in the computer, even if its not switched on, while grounding yourself can cause a short as when it's plugged in a small voltage runs through it creating a potential difference between you and say the motherboard if you touch it. Unless someone can point me that I'm wrong I just want to be sure.

Some i find just mention getting a wristband for static and connecting it to an exposed metal part of the casing without mentioning plugging it in will do the trick.