Help on building a new gaming pc

SilentHunter

Hi I am looking to get a new gaming pc and I have been looking around until I saw this pre-built one. I want to know is it a good one and would it be able to run Battlefield 3 on very high settings and if possible ultra settings (not getting BF3 just using it as an example).

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/AMD-X6-FX-6100-3-3Ghz-Gaming-Pc-Computer-1tb-16Gb-Nvidia-GTX-660-2GB-Win-7-VB-/140851103641?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item20cb61479

I would also like to know if anyone has order from FreshTech soloutions and had any problems getting a pc from them (if any).

Thanks in advance.

ShadowHearth

Opinion: oh god no!!!!!

Don't buy shiet on eBay and build it yourself. It is as easy as lego these days. Fill in the fo with your needs and budget and we will put together a system, that will have way better quality components, properly balanced, upgradable, might even cheaper.

SilentHunter

Budget I would say be about €800 (hopefully it enough for a good pc).

I will say this I am not good with pc parts but know a small bit.

I have been told the GTX 660 was a great graphics card and I would want atleast a quad core processer (the speed can be decided on depending on my budget).

A person told me when building a gaming pc is to get the parts first and then find a motherboard suitable for those parts.

-( i )- Wicker

Fill this out and we can throw out some build ideas for you:

1. What is your budget? [€xxx]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]

If you have a sample build yourself, use Fluffy's script to format it nicely.

SilentHunter

1. What is your budget? €800

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming. To play games like Planetside 2, ARMA 2, Aliens: Colonial Marines (few examples)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1360 x 768 and yes

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? I am a noob with this so I am not sure what overclocking is.

8. How can you pay? Credit Card

9. When are you purchasing? In 14 days but can be sooner or later if its cheaper or more expensive then my budget.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? No I can look for online videos if I need help.

beno619

Way overkill for your current resolution but will do still do very well once you upgrade to a 1080p monitor.
Item|Price
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€44.15
8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9|€40.99
SANDISK Extreme SSD 120GB 6,4cm (2,5") SAT 6GB`s|€89.99
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.36
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850, 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express|€178.38
ASRock 970 Extreme3, AM3+, ATX|€70.34
Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.94
AMD FX-8320 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€153.05
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.36
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€51.23
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€792.78

SilentHunter

Thanks beno for the list.

SilentHunter

Would it be possible to get a slightly smaller case that would still fit all those parts.

beno619

How small a case, MATX or mini ITX ? have a look on Hardewarevesand and post it here..

SilentHunter

well can really only find one that is within budget and has 3 USB ports.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/53231/Cooltek+K2+-+Rev.+C1+-+Midi+Tower%2C+ATX%2C+schwarz%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

Its more about the height I am worried about but if the casing you picked out is better suited then I can work something out.

beno619

SilentHunter wrote: »

well can really only find one that is within budget and has 3 USB ports.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/53231/Cooltek+K2+-+Rev.+C1+-+Midi+Tower%2C+ATX%2C+schwarz%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

Its more about the height I am worried about but if the casing you picked out is better suited then I can work something out.

The bitfenix case is far superior to the one you linked, you could look at something like this http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=63478&agid=1200&apop=4

If your interested in a small form factor gaming pc
you would have to switch to an mitx motherboard and it's have to be an Intel build as there arnt any AM3 mitx motherboards.

SilentHunter

beno619 wrote: »

The bitfenix case is far superior to the one you linked, you could look at something like this http://lb.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=63478&agid=1200&apop=4

If your interested in a small form factor gaming pc
you would have to switch to an mitx motherboard and it's have to be an Intel build as there arnt any AM3 mitx motherboards.

Ok, thanks I will stick with the Bitfenix case. I just need to change my set up around a bit. Anyway thanks very much for the help and I say I will pick up those parts in the next 2 weeks.

spix

There's a couple of good micro atx cases. Motherboards for them tend to be cheaper than full atx boards as well.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/635/Mini.search

While the bitfenix alpha is a good case for the price I don't see why anyone would go for it when you could get this case for less

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Midi/73897/Sharkoon+VS3-Standard+Chrom%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

It has tooless drive bays, can fit any length graphics card, anti vibration hdd mounting, filtered intake fan (I think). PSU is also top mounted which is better for budget cases imo to improve airflow. If the psu is mounted facing down in the bitfenix alpha it will suck lots of dust into it as there is no filter.

SilentHunter

Damn noticed that the processer has now been changed to an unknown delivery.

I have bump up my budget a small bit for this processer http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Socket+AM3/68995/AMD+FX-8350+Prozessor%2C+Boxed%2C+Sockel+AM3%2B.article

But just wondering would the power supply listed above be enough for everything.

spix

SilentHunter wrote: »

Damn noticed that the processer has now been changed to an unknown delivery.

I have bump up my budget a small bit for this processer http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Socket+AM3/68995/AMD+FX-8350+Prozessor%2C+Boxed%2C+Sockel+AM3%2B.article

But just wondering would the power supply listed above be enough for everything.

The FX 8350 uses ALOT of power

http://www.techspot.com/review/586-amd-fx-8350-fx-6300/page7.html

Personally I'd go for an intel cpu if I was willing to spend 175 on one. If its just for gaming the intel 3470 will perform better in pretty much all situations and use half the amount of power. If you want to overclock you would need to go for a 3570k.

SilentHunter

This is going to go well over budget for me since items keep going out of stock. I find a new part (more expensive) then I have to get a better PSU (more expencive) and then make sure it fits in the casing (could possibly add up).

I don't know what I should do.

marco_polo

spix wrote: »

The FX 8350 uses ALOT of power

http://www.techspot.com/review/586-amd-fx-8350-fx-6300/page7.html

Personally I'd go for an intel cpu if I was willing to spend 175 on one. If its just for gaming the intel 3470 will perform better in pretty much all situations and use half the amount of power. If you want to overclock you would need to go for a 3570k.

I'd have to agree here, while I think the FX8320 isn't bad value for money at 150 or so, spending any higher I'd definitely be looking at Intel.

In relation to power consumption only thing I'd point out is that you have to remember that prime95 is pumping a perfectly balanced, eight threaded workload through the Fx-8350, if you look at the performance of the same two CPUs in an eight threaded benchmark like 7-zip the story isn't quite as bad as it looks at first glance (Its still not great, just not quite that bad ).

The typical system power consumption while gaming would be a fair bit lower, for example when compared to the i7-3770K during a BF3 benchmark, it draws a shade under 40W more from the wall, which is probably be closer to 35W or so after accounting for PSU inefficiencies. And with a less well multithreaded engine than Frostbite, the gap would be even smaller again as many of the 4 modules/8 cores would be idle.

It is only with 8 fully independent threads that you would see the really scary power numbers with the FX8350, because even a game engine like frostbite, which loves quad core CPUs, simply isn't capable of putting prime95-like levels of load on an individual piledriver module.