Hello, I'm currently researching parts to build a PC. I've never built one before, so I could use some help and would welcome suggestions. My budget is about $1,300 and my purpose is to build a relatively high-end gaming PC. Some things I already decided on:

• CPU: I will be buying the Core i7 920 CPU ($280) and I plan to overclock it to a moderate degree. Based on my research, the 920 is the best CPU for overclocking and is fairly cost effective.
• Video card I've spent a lot of time looking at these and I think I should go with EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 "superclocked" edition (Cost: $200, or $170 after MIR). At this point, I will only be purchasing one (I will not be doing SLI), but I want to keep the possibility of adding another one in the future (so I need to pick a compatible motherboard and power supply).

The other components I'm still deciding on. I'm listing some of the options I found and would definitely appreciate any recommendations in these areas.

• Case
  • What I'm looking for: a case that has great cooling and a somewhat attractive design. I also hate noise. Should be full ATX size.
  • Current choice: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
    • Product Link
    • Price: $110
      • Possible deal: -$25 combo discount with: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM. $110 case + $90 hard drive - $25 discount = $175 for case + hard drive
  • COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
    • Product Link
    • Price: $140
      • Possible deal: $100 at Fry's
    • Great cooling and design, but some reviewers point out issues with dust.
  • COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
    • Price: $70
      • Potential deal: -$45 combo discount with: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM. $70 + $75 hard drive - $45 discount = $100 for case + hard drive.
    • Cheaper than the other options here, but doesn't look quite as attractive. Some reviewers point out that the bottom-mounted PSU can be problematic when assembling the system. Cabling may also interfere with air flow.
• Motherboard
  • I could use some help here!
  • Some basic requirements: it must have an LGA 1366 CPU socket type and should probably be full ATX. Other than that, I like easy settings for overclockers, support for 2 video cards in an SLI config (and perhaps an extra PCI-e slot to spare), and something that will last me a good time allowing for the possibility of upgrades in the future. Also, I value good audio quality (in fact, I might decide to get a sound card at some point). Good reviews and your recommendations will probably be the deciding factor, as I'm not too sure what else to look for.
  • List of all compatible motherboards on NewEgg
  • My default choice is the EVGA E758-A1 for $280 ($260 after MIR), simply because it has the most ratings and it sounds like a middle of the road kind of choice. It has utilities for overclocking easier, which is also a plus.
    • Also, there's a -$20 combo discount for this board with the GTX 260 video card.
• Power supply
  • Based on the rest of my config, as well as my intention to overclock, and my desire for upgradeability in the future, I decided to aim for an 850 W power supply. Is that too much, or too little?
  • Also, the GTX 260 video card specs recommend 36 amps on the +12V rail. However, I've read many reviews on NewEgg where people post their entire builds, and I've seen that many people successfully run the GTX 260 (even 2 in SLI) on power supplies that only provide 30 amps.
  • A modular power supply would be a plus, but they tend to be way more expensive.
  • My current choice: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
    • Price: $140 ($110 after MIR)
    • It has a single 12 V rail, and the output is rated at: +3.3V@30A, +5V30A, +12V@70A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3A
• RAM
  • Would prefer about 6 GB, and the faster the better. Many manufacturers advertise they're "compatible with Intel's X58 boards and Core i7" - I've been going for these, although I'm not sure how much this matters.
  • Current choice: OCZ XMP Ready Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3X1600LV6GK
    • Price: $130 ($110 after MIR)
    • XMP means it should be relatively easy to overclock, which is a plus for me (and for the i7-920, memory needs to be overclocked because the memory clock in the CPU runs at a slower 1066MHz). There's a slightly cheaper version of essentially the same RAM here ($110 after MIR), but many reviewers had difficulties getting it to run with the rated timings.
    • Also, there's a -$12 combo discount for this memory with the CPU.
• CPU Cooler
  • Since I plan to overclock, it'll probably be a good idea to get one of these.
  • Current choice: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
    • Price: $33.98
• Hard Drive
  • Looking for about 1 GB and preferably 7200 RPM
  • Currently going with the combo deal with the Antec Nine Hundred Case:
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
    • Price: $90, but there's a $25 combo discount.
• CD/DVD burner
  • No need for anything fancy here, but they're not really expensive.
  • Going with: HP Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA 24X Multiformat DVD Writer for $32.

The total for this system comes out to be $1,239 before all the rebates, and $1,139 after, so I'm well under the budget and there's still room to step up a couple of the components. (Or I could buy myself a nice gaming keyboard and mouse, like the Logitech G5 and the G11). Now I have some questions. 1. First and foremost, did I miss anything!? (I think I got everything covered, but keep in mind it's my first time.) Will I need to buy all the cables, or do those generally ship with the parts? Are there any other accessories I might need? I bought thermal paste, which I think is necessary to install the CPU cooler. Anything else? 2. Can someone briefly glance through the list to verify if these components are actually compatible? Again, I tried my best to make sure all the connectors and sockets match, but I wouldn't be surprised if I overlooked anything. I'm especially worried about the power supply because that is the component that I understand the least. 3. I would highly appreciate any suggestions you may have about this build.

• Are any of these parts perhaps a bit excessive? I'm going for performance, but at the same time, I don't want to pay $100 extra for an increase or benefit that I won't even notice.
• I'm not feeling too sure about the motherboard because I didn't understand a lot of the tech specs - I chose it more or less randomly. Is my choice ok?
• Any other suggestions.

I also have a couple more general questions: 4. I plan to overclock the CPU and the RAM (and the video card is factory overclocked). Is it a bad idea to run overclocked 24/7, or do people generally do it without problems? I'm also wondering if it's a setting I can change while I'm running, or if I have to reboot the computer and go into the BIOS each time I want to enable/disable overclocking. 5. For people who build computers regularly: I'm just curious about how the nature of "upgrading" for you is different from the mainstream. For people who buy pre-built systems, doing an "upgrade" is something that is done perhaps yearly, and all at once. For people who buy components and do the building themselves, does upgrading tend to be a more "progressive" process where you might buy a component here or there when you see a good deal, swap components from one system to another, or perhaps even build an entire system from a stash of spare parts you've accumulated over the years? I'm not sure if this is a weird question or not, but I really am wondering... 6. I noticed there's a high variation in price for RAM as well as power supplies and many other components with nearly identical features. Do "brand names" play a role here? 7. I couldn't find the answer to this: if you want, say, 8 GB of RAM, is it better to buy 2 x 4 GB or 4 x 2 GB? Judging by price, I'm guessing 2 x 4 GB - is it just faster? 8. Many components come with optional $20-$30 warranties. Do you recommend buying some of these warranties, or are they pointless? If a component gets shipped to me "Dead on Arrival", I can return it without a warranty, right? And if a part stops working a month in through no doing of my own, I can expect to be able to return it also without a warranty, right? I would appreciate any amount of feedback you guys could give! This took weeks of research , and I feel like I'm almost ready to take the plunge. I just need some confirmation before I go and spend over a thousand dollars on this. Thanks in advance.

Suggestions:

a. buy a DX11 Ati card from the 5x00 series. The 5850 is at roughly the same price, but faster and more capable than the GTX 260. DX10 cards are a bad buy right now.

b. I've yet to see a better full ATX case than the Antec P182, as far as cooling, noise and general layout is concerned.

c. A 850W power supply is overkill even if you plan to overclock and use SLI. I am not sure about the power consumption of i7, but I would be very, *very* surprised if your system exceeded 150W on idle and 300W on load. For comparison, my system (2.66GHz Core 2, 4x2GB of memory, 3 drives and a relatively inefficient 4850 GPU) consumes just 112W on idle and ~250W under full load. This rises to 120W/270W when I overclock to 3GHz.

With this in mind, I would go for a 650W power supply *at most* - this would have better efficiency, (potentially) less noise and the same support for future hardware upgrades. Just make sure you get a good piece: Corsair and Seasonic make excellent PSUs at that power levels. (For the record, I am using a 430W Seasonic S12 that is virtually inaudible in the P182 case).

d. Go for a WD or Samsung drive. Seagate's 500GB and 1TB drives where not very good (this may have changed now, but it was true 6-12 months ago). Personally, I am using a 1TB Samsung F1 which is very quiet and very fast.

e. CPU cooler - there are better coolers than Arctic Freezer, but I don't know anything suitable for the i7-series, sorry. I am using a passively-cooled Scythe Ninja tower (no fan, yes it's that good), but even this has been surpassed now.

f. RAM (2x4GB or 4x2GB). Just buy whichever is cheaper, RAM speed doesn't really matter. (Better invest the extra money into a better CPU or GPU than spend it on RAM).

g. Will you be getting a new monitor, keyboard and mouse?

Regarding your other questions:

4. Overclocking will increase power consumption and noise levels. Depending on the motherboard and CPU, it may be possible to overclock dynamically, but this may not be 100% reliable (especially if you need to change voltages). Personally, I value silence more than raw performance so I no longer overclock - unless I actually need the extra power (e.g. new shiny game that runs better on 3GHz rather than 2.66GHz).

5. I upgrade semi-regularly (more memory, new hard drives, better GPUs) and create systems from spare parts. The only part I avoid upgrading is my CPU, as it is much more invasive - you typically need a new motherboard and new memory.

6. and 7. faster RAM might make a 1-3% performance difference, so it's not worth the markup. Just make sure your RAM comes with a good warranty (lifetime is good), as RAM chips may fail (it's rare, but it happens). Check your motherboard's site for compatibility lists before you buy RAM (also unlikely, but you never know) and make sure you run a thorough RAM test whenever you install new chips.

RAM failures may be rare, but they can result in data corruption so it's not something to trifle with.

8. Optional warranties? Never heard of that before...

Why on earth would you do that for? Since you say you never done this before, then the best solution is to contact a hardware company. There are plenty companies that can build you a custom computer and even more standard models to choose from.

If you insist in building it yourself, you should know that there are many things that can go wrong, like setting jumpers incorrectly and burn things out or even slight hardware incompatibilities that will cause random and unexpected crashes, blue screens, overheating etc.

Besides, buying piece by piece will actually cost you more.

Quote: Original post by LeChuckIsBack
Why on earth would you do that for? Since you say you never done this before, then the best solution is to contact a hardware company. There are plenty companies that can build you a custom computer and even more standard models to choose from.

If you insist in building it yourself, you should know that there are many things that can go wrong, like setting jumpers incorrectly and burn things out or even slight hardware incompatibilities that will cause random and unexpected crashes, blue screens, overheating etc.

Besides, buying piece by piece will actually cost you more.

Because it's a nice hobby.

No, it won't cost you more than a comparable pre-built system (it will cost you *less* if anything, provided you have some time to spare). It will also be faster and of much higher quality than the crap sold by Dell, HP and the rest.

If you are a company, it makes sense to buy a pre-built system. If you are a hardware enthusiast, I'd always recommend building the system yourself. Just get help from your neighborhood geek if you've never done this before.

Edit: setting jumpers incorrectly? This is 2009, we are not in the '90s anymore. :)

Quote: Original post by LeChuckIsBack
Why on earth would you do that for? Since you say you never done this before, then the best solution is to contact a hardware company. There are plenty companies that can build you a custom computer and even more standard models to choose from.

If you insist in building it yourself, you should know that there are many things that can go wrong, like setting jumpers incorrectly and burn things out or even slight hardware incompatibilities that will cause random and unexpected crashes, blue screens, overheating etc.

Besides, buying piece by piece will actually cost you more.

Jumper settings? Maybe 5 or 10 years ago, but these days there are no jumpers on any hardware. It's all set in BIOS and firmware. And unless you are really careless you cant burn/destroy anything. The hardware is actually very ergonomically designed, probably to cut down on assembly cost for big places like Dell.

As to why self-build: That way you know exactly what hardware you're getting. Many prebuild will give you the cheapest RAM and motherboards to cut cost. Sure, it may work, but will it last? And will you get top performance? The places that lets you customize to that level are usually very expensive, so there goes the cost difference.

Quote: Original post by serioso

Any other suggestions.

If you pay for your own electricity, or pity the person who does, I suggest you pay attention to the energy efficiency of your power supply.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply_unit_(computer)#Energy_efficiency

Quote:
8. Many components come with optional $20-$30 warranties. Do you recommend buying some of these warranties, or are they pointless?

Personally I wouldn't bother, it's simpler to save the money and buy a replacement, possibly better part if something fails ... unless it fails inside of any standard warranties / legal requirements (will vary by country). If you do decide to get a warranty, make sure it won't be voided by anything you plan to do.

Faulty memory is very common and I suggest you test it as soon as you receive it, before even installing an OS. That avoids any doubt if there's a problem - when this happened to me I had no trouble getting a replacement from the supplier (I just had to run on one stick until it arrived).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memtest86

Quote: Original post by serioso
5. For people who build computers regularly: I'm just curious about how the nature of "upgrading" for you is different from the mainstream.

The way I work is to buy a moderately decent pre-built machine, then upgrade parts over time. These are usually pretty basic upgrades (more RAM, a better video card, more storage, a new optical drive). At some point it will not be economically viable to keep upgrading this old machine, so I replace it with a brand new pre-built machine.

Parts are quite expensive in the UK, and pre-built machines can be extremely cheap if you take advantage of the business deals from Dell. [smile]

I also would suggesting dropping the gtx 260, and going for one of the new ati 5800 cards. ATI is the way to go, at the moment.

Quote: Original post by serioso
5. For people who build computers regularly: I'm just curious about how the nature of "upgrading" for you is different from the mainstream. For people who buy pre-built systems, doing an "upgrade" is something that is done perhaps yearly, and all at once. For people who buy components and do the building themselves, does upgrading tend to be a more "progressive" process where you might buy a component here or there when you see a good deal, swap components from one system to another, or perhaps even build an entire system from a stash of spare parts you've accumulated over the years? I'm not sure if this is a weird question or not, but I really am wondering...

The last PC I bought whole was a Pentium II 233 with an 440 FX board. Not too bad, but even if you opt for the quality brands, you'll always end up with a frog in the basket. Like that Ensoniq sound card which shipped with a DOS driver that ran a protected mode TSR O_o

Normally I just replace components in my system. If a new GPU comes out, the previous generation normally drops in price, so that's the time I upgrade to a newer GPU. Like when Intel's Larrabee and NVidia's G300 hit the market this winter, I might finally replace my old GeForce 8800.

And once in a while, every 2 or 3 years maybe, I go for a new mainboard, CPU and memory upgrade in one step. Those bastards keep inventing new sockets... Socket A, Slot 1, Socket 734, Socket 939, AM2, EDO-RAM, SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, PCI, AGP, PCIe. With the intervals I upgrade in, incremental updates for these components fall flat.

There was this one time about 6 or 7 years ago when I built a new PC from scratch. Took a Lian Li PC-71 case (they're overrated imho), went for the best water cooling system I could find, installed everything with great care and, while the contents of the case may have changed, that's what I have under my table right now.

Now I'm always paying about $50 extra on any GPU or CPU upgrade to get a water-based cooler that fits on it. But you can't tell whether my system is on or off :-)

The nice thing about building a system yourself is that you can upgrade when the time is right that you won't end up with some box with a huge no-name 2 TB HDD and the cheapest mainboard and RAM that can possibly boot the thing just so they can put a sticker on it: "huge 2,000 GB storage."

Quote: Original post by Cygon
The nice thing about building a system yourself is that you can upgrade when the time is right that you won't end up with some box with a huge no-name 2 TB HDD and the cheapest mainboard and RAM that can possibly boot the thing just so they can put a sticker on it: "huge 2,000 GB storage."

... half of which is taken up with a massive 'restore' partition because they're too cheap to give you a windows CD, and a metric ton of useless crap software that will slow your boot up times to a crawl, and will take you days, or even years to get rid of.