Building a new rig?

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:59 pm

So it happens my friend needs a new build, and among my family and friends I used to be the guy who built PCs. And it's also the perfect time for me to change my computer; my motherboard is like 6 years old and supports only DDR2 800 RAM, and my processor is an AMD 4200+.

BUT, I haven't really kept in touch with the subject matter since I made my computer, at least 5-6 years ago, so I need help from my fellow dackers.

I've always went with AMD processors and ATI card, and I'd like to stay in the same vein because it works. My recipe has always been : simple case, good mobo, good proc, quality RAM and video card. I don't want water cooling, LEDs, overclocking and shit that's gonna break, because I'm also the technician and if the thing keeps having problem I'll be the one fixing them.

The budget needs to be under 1000$ (canadian dollars), and I'm planning on ordering from Canada Computers.

Also, those will be gaming rigs, and I need an HDMI output on the vid card, because I'm gaming on my plasma TV.

Care tu suggest some mobo/proc combinations?

Ian Miles Cheong Wen Xian · Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:52 pm

susan!

Tofu Man · Post by **Tofu Man** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:06 am

Seems like the FX-83XX is your negro.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html

People seem to like the i5-3570 too, but then I wouldn't know. Haven't built a desktop in what, a decade?

Good to see AM to the D back in bang-for-buck contention, tho. 64 3000+ repsehnt!

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:59 pm

How am I supposed to read this stuff though? The best on the list is a 19 bucks Opteron?

Like, should I opt for a 6-core, 8-core, what the hell? What's the standards nowadays?

SenisterDenister · Post by **SenisterDenister** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:10 pm

Here is a list of parts I found a while back. The prices have probably dropped since I found it, you could get a better video card. I'd stick with Nvidia and stay away from AMD, but that's just me.

The list is half of what you intend to pay, so you can add to it until you hit your ceiling.

Really right now you just want to get a good motherboard for when you keep adding on to it.

Ian Miles Cheong Wen Xian · Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:57 pm

Does anything worthwhile use more than 4 cores yet? I wouldn't get more than that in any case

Post by **Manoil** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:58 am

My bud Danny's computer has been a work in progress for four years now, upgrading parts as he goes. Currently has six cores and enough power to run all his video editing, creative suite, and next gen games simultaneously without a hint of framerate loss. He says its current incarnation is roughly $1500, so I'm probably gonna follow that model and get his help with my next rig

Tofu Man · Post by **Tofu Man** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:04 am

S4ur0n27 wrote:How am I supposed to read this stuff though? The best on the list is a 19 bucks Opteron?

Like, should I opt for a 6-core, 8-core, what the hell? What's the standards nowadays?

2 things, first check out overall cpu mark for power - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html and then that one for cost/quality.

Within the 200$ tag that you probably want to stick to if you're going to spend 1000, those seem to be the best AMDs. Within Intel, the earlier i5-2500k's been outdone by the newer i5-34/3570.

Now the cores question- If it's gaming you're worried about, recent-ish Tom's Hardware article seems to suggest a 4 core (the intel) in a 1000$ build. I struggle to think where you'd find use for the extra 4 cores of the FX and this guy seems to think the same.

To put it bluntly, nothing seems to have changed since I last checked hardware, least at the CPU level. Intel is still only as fast as it needs to be and AMD is still trying to catch up and failing, unfortunately.

Anywho, 2 (euro)cents & all that.

jimmypneumatic · Post by **jimmypneumatic** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:51 am

One tip from my own experience if you build your pc, don't recycyle parts from your old setup. I learned the hard way saving a few bucks on an upgrade here or there will actually cost you more in the long run what with the rate they are phasing out old tech. Disc drives are the only exception to this rule. The one time I might stray from this is with the video card, as you will come to find a good HD compatible video card will be more than a third of your budget. You want to have a nice mobo/cpu combo so if you skimp anywhere, don't skimp on that or you'll just find yourself in the same predicament. If you can afford to wait with your current monitor and video card for a better upgrade do it.

POOPERSCOOPER · Post by **POOPERSCOOPER** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:17 pm

There is a site called Techreport.com that does a monthly parts guide for computer building and it's pretty good. I can't tell you exactly what parts are good anymore since I haven't looked at them in years but I generally always go with the top of the line that is out (not the ridiculously overpriced). One area that always gets overlooked in the case, you don't really think about all the features of a case that are important for upkeep and having ports in the right place etc. It seems like everytime I get a case I always overlook something and it becomes a pain in the ass the whole time I have a computer.

In terms of cores you might as well get as many as you can as long as they don't sacrifice the speed or whatever, you never know what happens in the future. I bought like an i7 few years ago with a ton of cores and I don't think I've had the need for them and the new i5's we got at work actually seem a lot faster. I know it's probably more logical to buy decent hardware then do upgrades but I can't be asked to do that so I overshoot as much as I can in the beginning.

I know now with PC gaming you can basically get really good hardware and play whatever you want really well right now but that will probably start changing next year when the new power house consoles come out and developers can now start going to the next level. It's been kind of nice the last few years for PC because developers haven't really been pushing hardware that much so you can run everything at max.

So my suggestion is to get the best you can now within reason and definitely get the best case you can get.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:21 pm

Yo it's not my first build; I'm not recycling anything, except mouse, keyboard, monitor. And I'll be making 2 builds, one for me, one for my friend who doesn't have a PC, so recycling isn't even possible there. Anyway, here's my setup so far : http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oOgy

Though I will probably change the cpu for a quad core instead of 8, as it looks to be the logical choice?

Is there really a good reason to change to Intel/nVidia? I've always been with AMD/ATI builds and they've always ran fine. Intel and nVidia seems to be more expensive and like I said, as far as stability and overheating goes I've never had any probs with ATI/AMD.

And since I've always used ATIs, it seems like a better idea to use an ATI in my friend computer, as I'll be his tech guy (he never had a PC

)

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 10:40 pm

I upped my rig just recently, to a z77a-gd65 mainboard and an i7-3770 cpu. No complaints so far. Can't give an honest review until either of these break really.

Tofu Man · Post by **Tofu Man** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:35 am

Coincidentally, RPS reported on AMD's apparent impending doom today.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11 ... k-in-tech/

SenisterDenister · Post by **SenisterDenister** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:48 am

Honestly, stay away from AMD. I've never had good experiences with their products. Intel is a higher quality and Nvidia, if anything, has better driver support.

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:27 am

SenisterDenister wrote:Honestly, stay away from AMD. I've never had good experiences with their products. Intel is a higher quality and Nvidia, if anything, has better driver support.

Seconded. Amd is (generally) higher performance p. buck, but burns out too fast and is very crash-prone.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:04 pm

How do you explain I've never had any problems with AMDs and ATIs

Like, none ever broke or exploded or whatever.

Still, I'm tempted to try Intel and Nvidia. It would be a premiere.

The i7-3770 is kinda expensive, any suggestion for a cheaper Intel proc that's not shite?

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:07 pm

S4ur0n27 wrote:How do you explain I've never had any problems with AMDs and ATIs Like, none ever broke or exploded or whatever.

How about you tell me what you use it for? I remember getting Doom 3 running smoothly on my p2 233 by oc'ing that shit like crazy and gluing two tnt2 cards together. Meanwhile, all the athlon xp2XXX's I went through, as they essentially became obsolete 6 months after I bought them and wouldn't oc without bsodding when I tried playing mp3s -- shit was all bsb.

(Well, honestly, they never really 'broke' but they were always unstable as fuck, clocked or not)

Also, switched up from my 8800 to my current rhd 5830, and performance increase was barely noticeable and I get display glitches whenever it's out of breath. Also, easily responsible for 50% of the total heat in my rig.

S4ur0n27 wrote:Still, I'm tempted to try Intel and Nvidia. It would be a premiere.

The i7-3770 is kinda expensive, any suggestion for a cheaper Intel proc that's not shite?

Well, I was using i2 quad until quite recently, and that shit is still fully serviceable. Turned all my old stuff into a secondary computer which is, well really, about as powerful as my new one.

How about an i3-2120? It's dual-core, but the only things that make use of quad so far still seem to be emulators and database/rendering specific apps anyway.

POOPERSCOOPER · Post by **POOPERSCOOPER** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:42 am

You could always go Intel and get an ATI card. I've done that with the last two builds I've had.

SenisterDenister · Post by **SenisterDenister** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:09 am

Ew, no. AMD processors work best in tandem with AMD ATI cards.

If you're going to go AMD might as well go full out.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:32 am

St. Toxic wrote: Well, I was using i2 quad until quite recently, and that shit is still fully serviceable. Turned all my old stuff into a secondary computer which is, well really, about as powerful as my new one. How about an i3-2120? It's dual-core, but the only things that make use of quad so far still seem to be emulators and database/rendering specific apps anyway.

That's one of my concern too; isn't buying a dual-core a bad idea? Like, won't it be obsolete in 2 years?