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New Gaming PC

L

Lowen

n00b
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
40
Hello everyone,

Lately my PC has a lot of bluescreens and I get more and more stuck in the Windows screen (the motherboard was broken since the very beginning). For this reason I want to buy a new PC after having endured the old one for 2.5 years.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Webbrowsing, working and some casual gaming. But the PC should be ready to play my all time favourite game Skyrim on the highest settings and a lot of mods. A lot of VRAM is needed I heard for this.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'm willing to spend about 2000 dollars.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
I live in Switzerland.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
  • Graphic card (I'm waiting for the new ones which supposedly come out at the end of September)
  • Processor
  • Motherboard (Not ASUS if possible - I never want to buy from them again)




5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.



6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
2560x1440, 27" https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/dell-ultrasharp-u2713hm-27-350cdm2-2560-x-1440-pixel-monitor-438200. Still my old monitor - I'm quite happy with it.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
At the end of September, or as soon as possible. This current PC is less and less reliable each day.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I just want one HDD, and I guess one graphic card. I'm not really sure what the other things are.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No, I will buy a new Windows 7 Home Edition (64bit).

Hope you guys can help me :)
 
Your current PSU is fine to reuse. For the CPU, you'll be fine with the Core i5 4590:
https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/produc...x-lga-1150-330ghz-prozessor-2578899?tagIds=76

As for the motherboard, your needs are rather simple. So you'll be fine with this motherboard:
https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/produc...-1150-intel-h97-express-atx-mainboard-2750902

UNless you're planning on running synthetic benchmarks all day long, the extra money for that RAM is not worth it over this RAM:
https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/produc...00-dimm-240-arbeitsspeicher-2488377?tagIds=76

You should absolutely have a SSD as that will speed up load times and overall system responsiveness. Unless your budget was $500, there is no good reason for you to NOT have a SSD. I recommend the Samsung Evo 840 250GB SSD:
https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/samsung-840-evo-basic-250gb-25-ssd-457739?tagIds=76

Install the OS, needed/heavily used programs as well as Skyrim + mods on the SSD. Everything else should be on the hard drive.

That case is not worth the money. I recommend any of this better cases instead:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
$75 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black w/ Window ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$105 - Antec 1100 V2 ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom 530 Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Graphite Series 730T ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 Gunmetal Full Tower ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 White Full Tower ATX Case
$190 - Corsair Graphite Series 760T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$250 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
 
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Thanks Dangman for the long reply! A question though:

For the CPU, I read that the major difference between i5 and i7 is Hyper-Threading. The i7 has basically 8 cores (as I understood it) while the i5 only 4. I want this PC to be future proof, is the i7 in this case the better way to go?
 
You don't need a Core i7 processor. Most games can't take advantage of Hyper Threading and in areas where it is useful, multi-threaded tasks like running multiple VMs simultaneously, the processor doesn't perform as a "true" eight-core processor.

The performance "advantage" of a Core i7 processor using Hyper Threading, compared to a Core i5 processor without it, varies based on the benchmark being used.
 
A good third-party CPU cooler can cool better and run quieter than the stock CPU cooler that comes with the processor. Unless you live in a very hot environment, however, it's an optional purchase.
 
Lowen said:
I just read this thread (http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1833222) where someone mentiones the bad fancontrol of Gigabyte motherboards.

Which motherboards would you guys recommend in this case? (maybe including Asus :ll)
Click to expand...

Did you see the last post where the OP actually tried the actual fan control software for that mobo? Seems to be working fine for him now.

Anyway, the main reason why I recommended that Gigabyte mobo was that it's the only H97 mobo on the site you provided. To have a good chance for getting out of the box support for the CPU I recommended, you need a H97 or Z97 motherboard. Unfortunately, all of the Z97 motherboards available on that site are well and beyond your actual needs. And all are Asus mobos as well.
 
Lowen said:
If buying this (Intel Core i5-4690K) + this (Asus Z97-A) it's only ~50 dollars more expensive than the motherboard and CPU you recommended.
Click to expand...

That's still around 50 dollars (or the Swiss/Euro equivalent) more than you need to spend on this build. Yes, the i5-4690K at stock speed is faster than the i5-4590 that Dangman chose, but the i5-4590 is still a great processor for gaming.

If you don't like Asus, why change your mind now? All you need in a board is the ability to connect your parts to it, and the Gigabyte H97-HD3 is more than enough for your needs.

Another thing: You might want to consider Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 7 Home Premium. Mainstream support for Windows 7 ends on January 13, 2015, which means that you'll only receive hotfixes and security patches until January 2020. Mainstream support for Windows 8.1 doesn't end until January 2018. (If you prefer the Start Menu to Windows 8's Start Screen, you can get it back through either Classic Shell or Start8.)
 
Thanks, you are right, I will go for the Gigabyte motherboard.

About the OS: I read a few articles after you mentioned this and if I undertood correctly this just stops Microsoft from releasing new features to Windows 7? I read so many negatove things about Windows 8 that I'm not sure if it's worth it (even if the Start Menu is added, it still remains an OS mostly for tablets no?)

And the last thing: On the website I buy from the GTX 980 just got released.. why do the cards have different prices though? Is this just Asus selling overpriced? I don't see a difference between the cards and still one is ~35 dollars more expensive.

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/asus-gtx-980-gm204-4gb-grafikkarte-2759283

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/gigabyte-gtx-980-gm204-4gb-grafikkarte-2759789

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/zotac-gtx-980-gm204-4gb-grafikkarte-2759284
 
Lowen said:
About the OS: I read a few articles after you mentioned this and if I understood correctly this just stops Microsoft from releasing new features to Windows 7?
Click to expand...
That's correct, Microsoft will no longer add any new features or performance upgrades to Windows 7. Windows 7 will only receive security updates.

Lowen said:
I read so many negative things about Windows 8 that I'm not sure if it's worth it (even if the Start Menu is added, it still remains an OS mostly for tablets no?)
Click to expand...
Windows 8.1 at this point is worth the trouble. Though it was "advertised" as a "tablet OS," it actually had some under-the-hood performance improvements over Windows 7. The update from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and the availability of third-party Start Menu programs made the OS better (for lack of a better term) for keyboard-and-mouse users.

Lowen said:
And the last thing: On the website I buy from the GTX 980 just got released.. why do the cards have different prices though? Is this just Asus selling overpriced? I don't see a difference between the cards and still one is ~35 dollars more expensive.
Click to expand...
That's the retailer's decision. In the U.S., Gigabyte and Asus are considered better quality than HIS, but Gigabyte has the best customer service support of the three. (I don't know how the vendor quality and support is in Europe, so I can't make the comparison.)
 
Is there a reason you're choosing these giant full towers when all you have is 1 hdd and 1 graphics card?

Lowen said:
I read so many negatove things about Windows 8 that I'm not sure if it's worth it (even if the Start Menu is added, it still remains an OS mostly for tablets no?)
Click to expand...
Windows 8 has some (minor/major ... depends on your taste) annoyances in the form of the Start Screen and the Charms Bar.

However, one little free app called "StartIsBack" changes all that. With that installed, Windows 8 looks and feels pretty much like Windows 7 with a different theme.

I'm a major hater of Metro on the desktop, i.e. the forced marriage of desktop and tablet features, but with StartIsBack available I won't install Windows 7 ever again.
 
timmay said:
Is there a reason you're choosing these giant full towers when all you have is 1 hdd and 1 graphics card?


Windows 8 has some (minor/major ... depends on your taste) annoyances in the form of the Start Screen and the Charms Bar.

However, one little free app called "StartIsBack" changes all that. With that installed, Windows 8 looks and feels pretty much like Windows 7 with a different theme.

I'm a major hater of Metro on the desktop, i.e. the forced marriage of desktop and tablet features, but with StartIsBack available I won't install Windows 7 ever again.
Click to expand...

I was iffy about getting Windows 8 myself.. I was still using Vista until last month though lol. But I have to say, I love Windows 8 so far. I got StartIsBack right away, and it's great. Got rid of the charms bars, the start screen. Some apps are crap, for instance I use Skype a lot with friends all over the country... the Skype Windows 8 app is AWFUL. But you can still download and install the regular desktop version of it. I haven't found anything about 8.1 that I don't like so far.
 
I have a problem. I just got all parts and noticed that the motherboard has only 4 fan connectors. The case and the CPU need 5 however..

Could you recommend me another motherboard?
 
you do not have to have every fan run off the MOBO...I have my front 2-120mm case fans running just off of the Power Supply(full speed)
My Case -side and back fans run off of the MOBO...along with the CPU fan
 
Full speed however means that especially while idle the PC will be very loud.. and I'm not a fan of of loud PCs.
 
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