The Ultimate 'Build-A-PC' Thread. Complete With Pricings & Recommendations (06/06/10)

I have a curious question because, while I'm pretty knowledgeable about computers and components, I just really don't know how much it matters in this day and age with multi-core processors and whatnot...

But how is gained or not gained in having a good dedicated sound card in a modern computer? I know back in the day a good sound card could actually increase FPS because it took stress off of the CPU... but that was single core days... A long time ago.

It likely doesn't matter... I really think I'm going to have to get one for a optical out as I have a gaming headset I want to use in a couple areas of the house but I'm curious if I would get any other gains out of it...

Also is there any sound cards with decent prices people recommend...? Back in the day it was Creative Labs or nothing... but some of the recent Creative Labs cards I've looked at reviews for haven't been all that glowing...

 
In this day and age, the hardware necessary for audio processing is usually built into the motherboard. This usually eliminates the need for an additional sound card. Even mid-tier motherboards usually come with support for full surround sound these days.

A dedicated sound card will provide you with a superior audio experience. But it won't really affect the performance of how your PC runs. If you are getting a dedicated sound card, it is because you are an audiophile who craves the absolute best in PC audio. The average PC gamer is never going to know the difference.

I haven't installed a separate in sound card in a really long time. But I'm also not too particular about the quality of my audio. My surround sound system is in my living room, not my office.

 
Richard Kain said:
I haven't installed a separate in sound card in a really long time. But I'm also not too particular about the quality of my audio.
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Ditto. My ears just aren't that good... Too many airplanes landing on my head in my Navy days.

And silly me... I just got to looking at the back of my motherboard and I do have an optical out. I never would have thought I had one considering the age. (about 3 and half years old now... And all do for a replacement.)

 
Anyone have any opinions on the 290 vs 290x ?

Been trying to help a buddy build a new rig, last thing he needs is the GPU

 
The reference designs

dcm1602 said:
Anyone have any opinions on the 290 vs 290x ?

Been trying to help a buddy build a new rig, last thing he needs is the GPU
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The reference designs get quite hot, and run loud. I would honestly wait for the cooler non reference designs, but your buddy can't wait. It's his choice, but please look up the heat output of those cards. They are good value for the money, and with liquid cooling they are probably quite incredible.

As far as comparing the two. They seem to be quite comparable. Only one is a lot cheaper. However we really don't know yet, because they are impossible to overclock properly with the stock coolers.

 
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Nekopanchi2012 said:
The reference designs

The reference designs get quite hot, and run loud. I would honestly wait for the cooler non reference designs, but your buddy can't wait. It's his choice, but please look up the heat output of those cards. They are good value for the money, and with liquid cooling they are probably quite incredible.

As far as comparing the two. They seem to be quite comparable. Only one is a lot cheaper. However we really don't know yet, because they are impossible to overclock properly with the stock coolers.
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Well i was recommending he grabs a

Arctic's Accelero Xtreme III along with it
 
This is the SLI. The gigabyte actually fits in either slot. I was really surprised as the card is very, very long. I'm upset that the Asus seems to sag in the slot as you can see(this is no fault of mine, but the cards as it did the same in the top slot).

Picture11_zps1cbfa4af.jpg


 
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I figured I would ask this here instead of making a new topic.

I have a relatively new, about a year old, Dell XPS desktop and it's run fine up until about a week ago.

This annoyingly loud buzz is coming from inside.

I'm not too computer savvy but I tried opening up the PC and found it was one of the fans. It's on the graphics card, an AMD Radeon 7770.

If I physically bang the desktop gently it will stop for a minute or two then start back up. Is there anything I can do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 
Biggzy32 said:
I figured I would ask this here instead of making a new topic.

I have a relatively new, about a year old, Dell XPS desktop and it's run fine up until about a week ago.

This annoyingly loud buzz is coming from inside.

I'm not too computer savvy but I tried opening up the PC and found it was one of the fans. It's on the graphics card, an AMD Radeon 7770.

If I physically bang the desktop gently it will stop for a minute or two then start back up. Is there anything I can do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Buy a replacement fan and replace it. It's dying. It happens.

 
Thanks for the reply guys.

I was googling some info and found that cleaning it, what you mentioned encendido, helped. So I opened it up and pulled out the graphics card. All the sites I looked over said to lubricate the bearings.

So I tried pulling off the fan and ended up breaking what looks a tiny motherboard. Well long story short, the fan doesn't work now but the noise is definitely gone.

This is the one I have

http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1280&bih=601&tbm=isch&tbnid=7kKKFejdgQMMiM:&imgrefurl=http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Radeon-HD-7770-and-7750-Cape-Verde-GPU-Review/Radeon-HD-7770-and-HD-7750-&docid=mgn2opRQmmFjmM&imgurl=http://cdn.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2012-02-13/01.jpg&w=602&h=402&ei=A459UvbLH9OSkQf5zYDwCA&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:9,s:0,i:108&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=180&tbnw=264&start=0&ndsp=15&tx=141&ty=68

Again, I don't know too much about computers, can I still use my computer without that fan working? Will it damage or overheat? There are two other fans inside the desktop but I know that one was specific to the graphics card.

If not, can I buy just a replacement fan? Where can I get that? Is it easy to install? Would I need to solder?

Sorry for all the questions. I really wish I knew more about computers.

Thanks again.

Edit: Is this fan compatible with my Graphics Card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-119-083&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=3#scrollFullInfo

 
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Doh... Did you break a part of the fan or the video card? Maybe take a picture?

I wouldn't risk running the video card without the fan. At best, the card will crash from overheating and at worst the card will get damaged. Can you run the PC with onboard graphics for now?

If it's just the fan, it shouldn't be to hard to remove and put a new one. I'm not to familiar with that card but I doubt you would have to solder anything.
 
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encendido5 said:
Doh... Did you break a part of the fan or the video card? Maybe take a picture? I wouldn't risk running the video card without the fan. At best, the card will crash from overheating and at worst the card will get damaged. Can you run the PC with onboard graphics for now? If it's just the fan, it shouldn't be to hard to remove and put a new one. I'm not to familiar with that card but I doubt you would have to solder anything.
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Lol tell me about it.

I think its just the fan. On the first picture I posted, where the fan is, the sticker in the center, on the reverse side. It's like the size of a quarter, it looks like a tiny motherboard. I broke that.

I hooked everything back up and everything works fine with no noise, I'm using the comp right now to post. Just the fan doesn't work.

I checked the Device Manager and it says the graphics card is working properly. I don't notice any difference in anything. I just don't wanna do any damage longterm without a fan.

 
Hi everyone. I posted here about a year ago about building my first pc and got some great advice from a number of people. First, I'd like to say thanks again to everyone who helped me out, my computer has been running like a dream and I've loved all the gaming I've been able to do on it.

My friend is now interested in building a pc as well, and I informed him that this would be a good month to start looking for parts. I also mentioned that he should post in this thread and see if he could get some advice about what to look for. His new account can't seem to reply to this topic, even after clicking the verificaiton link in his email, so I said I'd post his message here. Any help is appreciated.

"I’m looking to build a computer within the next month within the price range of $600. I want the computer for word processing and internet browsing, but the main reason I want it is for gaming. I want this to be my alternative to buying a next gen system. I figure that I need a new computer and the new game consoles cost almost as much as one so I might as well build a gaming computer. I’ve never built a computer before and am not very tech savvy. I’m here looking for help. Where do I start?"

 
From what I've read, an AMD CPU is perfect for that a build of that budget.  It looks like you can start with something like this:

https://teksyndicate.com/videos/kill-your-console-build-2-600-gaming-pc

and customize it.  With Black Friday coming up, you should have no problem getting a pretty good rig for $600.  

Microcenter has the i7 4770k for $200 and the i5 3570k for $150.  Maybe I should have waited a couple of months to build mine :lol:

 
Great, thanks for the link! That'll be a good starting point for him since I remember how lost I felt last year until I had a build to start working off of. Also that Microcenter deal looks amazing. There's a Microcenter in our state and it's not far at all, so I'll definitely tell him about it. Just have to keep a look out for a decent compatible motherboard to go on sale. But would it be worth it for him to go all the way with the i7 4770k since he's trying to keep that $600 budget?

 
I think he would be better off getting the 3570 and putting the money saved towards a better video card. I'll try to put a sample build together to see if I can make it below $600.

Edit:
Here's what I was able to put together using the 3570. It comes in at $570 after rebates.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/condor80/saved/2Sea

He will still need an OS, monitor and mouse and keyboard if he doesn't already have one though. I tried putting in a 670 or 760 but they're not on sale right now. He should be able to get one for around $200, which should put him at $600. This would be a pretty killer rig though.
 
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That's fine since I don't believe he was including those in his budget. That rig is looking really sweet...I'm already getting jealous. Thanks again for your suggestions. The CPU is already a given and the price on the motherboard is looking good too, so this seems like a great start. Hopefully some more deals start appearing soon with Black Friday around the corner.

 
Prota said:
"I’m looking to build a computer within the next month within the price range of $600. the main reason I want it is for gaming. "
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Hey, I'm in the same situation. Does anyone have any particular places to look for Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals?

 
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1464727

I'm trying to get a build going for my little brother.  He doesn't spend a ton of time at the PC, he used to play some FPS game and C&C but mostly he's just in need of something new.  His PC is from 2003 and I was wondering what you guys thought of this build.

My only real requirement is that it stay under $400.  I know I'll run into issue not having a graphics card but I'm not sure I can get one in there at the $400 tag.

 
ZForce915 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1464727

I'm trying to get a build going for my little brother. He doesn't spend a ton of time at the PC, he used to play some FPS game and C&C but mostly he's just in need of something new. His PC is from 2003 and I was wondering what you guys thought of this build.

My only real requirement is that it stay under $400. I know I'll run into issue not having a graphics card but I'm not sure I can get one in there at the $400 tag.
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You're better off buying everything separately. Here's a sample build I just did. It's a better CPU and you get a 7770 in there for less than $400. This includes $60 in rebates though. You can also probably get better pricing if you spread out your purchases these next two weeks. I'm sure there will be some deals on Black Friday.

For another $20-$25 you can get a 650ti or a 7850, which are supposed to be better. That build didn't include an OS or accessories, so I didn't include that in your budget.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/28Tat
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/28Tat/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/28Tat/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-P33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.25 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: HEC Enterprise MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $385.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-26 08:32 EST-0500)
 
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Deliberating this EVGA 770 on Newegg -- comes to $330ish with shipping after you enter in a promo code from their 'pre' BF flyer thing.  $15 MIR and I'd just sell the game codes off for like $40ish.  Everything I've read about it is fine although part of me would prefer the Gigabyte 770 which goes for $334 without any kind of promos.  No MIR, either, and the Nvidia bundle expires at the end of today.  Wonder if that might pave the way for straight up $20-30 discounts off the base price and/or a new bundle could pop up in a couple of weeks.  Obviously they made the end date before Black Friday for a reason but I have the feeling BF will hit and there won't be anything significant deal-wise.

 
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ZForce915 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1464727

I'm trying to get a build going for my little brother. He doesn't spend a ton of time at the PC, he used to play some FPS game and C&C but mostly he's just in need of something new. His PC is from 2003 and I was wondering what you guys thought of this build.

My only real requirement is that it stay under $400. I know I'll run into issue not having a graphics card but I'm not sure I can get one in there at the $400 tag.
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This is $300 after promo code: 64888

http://www.staples.com/Lenovo-H535-Desktop-PC/product_57448

Looks to be almost exactly what you were going to get, and it includes Windows (which costs $80-100 anyways) and includes wifi so you don't have to buy another adapter.

 
Mooby said:
Obviously they made the end date before Black Friday for a reason but I have the feeling BF will hit and there won't be anything significant deal-wise.
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You might be right... but I'm going to roll the dice and wait.

Also curious about what people think about 2GB video cards vs. 3GB/4GB cards. Do you think that with the new consoles out that games requirements are going to go up enough to make it worth the price? (I game at 1080P right now but I suspect I'm going to need a new monitor soon so I cannot say that's what I'll be gaming at in a year's time or whatnot.)

 
Welp, I rolled the dice and thinking I lost.  Really I should have bought two or three weeks ago when the promo was going on and sold the game codes for $40-50.  For whatever reason Amazon is totally out of stock of almost every 770 card except overpriced EVGAs and the slightly inferior ASUS.  You'd think a major e-retailer would be getting more but it's been slowly dwindling and now they only offer through third-party sellers.  Plenty at Newegg, though, but I doubt I'll see any meaningful discounts the next two days.

As far as 2 gb vs 3/4 currently 2 is probably all you need at 1080 for another year or so.  People keep pointing to BF4 recommended specs but that's probably to push AMD sales.  While you're certainly better off with more VRAM for games two+ years down the line I would only recommend it if you opt for AMD and get a 280x or 7970.  The 4 gb on a 770 seems excessive and -- from what I've been told -- poorly designed as the bus is still only 256mb (verus 384 on the AMDs).  So, ultimately it comes down to whether you want Nvidia or AMD.  I've read a lot of feedback/forum posts in the last few weeks and AMD still seems to be having trouble with its drivers, artifacting and various other issue.  Enough to push me towards Nvidia.  But, as I said, the $50-$60 it costs to upgrade to a 4 GB 770 doesn't seem worth it.  By the time 2 GB will be pushed down to medium or lower settings by nextgen games at 1080 resolution it'll probably be time for a new card, anyway.  The Nvidia 800 series is coming out in a year (possibly sooner) and is being touted as a major advance unlike between the 600 and 700 series.  Not having the luxury to wait due to my old computer dying I'm having to buy this go round, otherwise I'd wait.

For now, though, if you have no issues with AMD I would say the 280x is the clear choice.  Better value, performance equal to the 770, and you still get a copy of BF4 you can probably offload for $20-25.

 
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Someone at SD made a black Friday video card tracking thread:

http://slickdeals.net/f/6489494-the-ultimate-black-friday-cyber-monday-video-card-thread-updated-hourly
 
Any recommendations for a good blu ray drive?  I want to burn all my blu rays to my pc so I want a fast write speed.  I was looking at the Pioneer BDR-208DBK since its only $60 and has a 15x write speed. Also would I be able to just swap out my current drive for this new drive or do I need to get different data/power cables for the Blu ray drive? 

 
What's the good word on AMD cards? I'm looking to upgrade my Geforce GTX 460, price range $150 ish?

Here are my specs

 
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 975 38 °C
Deneb 45nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 419MHz (6-6-6-15)
Motherboard
ASRock M3A770DE (CPUSocket) 28 °C
Graphics
ASUS VH236H (1920x1080@60Hz)
767MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (Undefined) 30 °C
Storage
115GB OCZ-VERT EX PLUS R2 SATA Disk Device (SSD)
230GB OCZ-VERT EX PLUS R2 SATA Disk Device (SSD)
Optical Drives
Memorex DVD+-RAM 550L v1 SATA CdRom Device
Audio
NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
 
For those still waffling over graphics cards like me (if you think I agonize over $5 games think how much I do over $300 video cards!) Newegg has a deal on the MSI 770 2GB for $300 and an additional $15 MIR (effectively making it $285) with free shipping.  The deal ends tonight (I'm guessing at midnight pacific): http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127741

Apparently they're still giving out the free games despite the fact the promotion technically expired a few days ago.

They're out-of-stock now.

 
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Hey guys, my laptop is my main online gaming pc, and it only runs on "g" is it worth it to get a usb "n" adapter? or should i get a bus card version?

 
Well this is interesting...  Used 7950's are selling for $400 on ebay because of litecoin mining.  

http://bit.ly/1bjy9jD

So would it be worth selling my 2 month old card and getting a GTX770?  I would probably break even or even make a few bucks on the transaction.

 
I'd probably do it.  Newegg just got a new shipment of Gigabyte and Sapphire Toxic 280x's in but I fully expect them to sell out within an hour.  Kicking myself for passing on the $300 MSI 770 deal... now waiting for Newegg or Amazon to get off their duffs and restock their 770's.  Can't understand why two major retailers take so long to restock when ncix, tiger direct, and some shadier outfits seem to have a good supply.

 
Thanks guys.  I listed it last night at $420 and it sold in 3 hours!  The only problem is I forgot to request immediate payment, but it seems like a legit buyer.  I looked into mining, but it seems it has diminishing returns since it's getting harder and harder to make money.  As soon as he pays, I'm hopping on Newegg to get that 770 :)  They currently have an extra $20 off with this code: NAFSAVETENDEC6W.  See the link below.

http://promotions.newegg.com/nepro/13-6069/index.html?SID=lT86CF59EeOX7NJa3lBe5AZFz_6aBr3_0_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=

 
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You can't use those codes on 770's due to the game bundles they come with -- it counts those as 'bundled products'/'free gifts.'

 
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Thanks for the link, noticed it earlier.  Tricky thing about that is while it's the 4 GB version of the 770 it's actually base/reference core clocks unlike the other Gigabytes that are OC out of the box (you'll notice there's another 4 GB for sale with the higher clocks speeds but it's more expensive).  The way I see things with the 256 BUS going after a 4 GB 770 isn't worth it.  And while I deliberated AMD 280x for a while given the coin mining craze there's zero chance of getting one unless you notice a deal within thirty minutes.  I should have grabbed the $300 ($285 with MIR) MSI when I had the chance but now I'll just keep kicking myself and wait until they get back in stock and dip to an acceptable $320ish.

It's hilarious how prices were cheaper across the board two weeks before Black Friday.  Coin miners have wrecked the 770/280x market.

 
Mooby said:
It's hilarious how prices were cheaper across the board two weeks before Black Friday. Coin miners have wrecked the 770/280x market.
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An article I read the other day, have no idea where (likely couldn't find it again), is that is really hard to break even when you start figuring out your energy bill for all those graphic cards... (Not to mention their cost)

Granted, I've never looked into mining bitcoins, or actually done, it so I have no idea of that article was even correct or full of BS...

 
I haven't, either, although a lot of people are making a good bit of money for essentially doing nothing.  The energy bills aren't too bad.  That said many of these people are going to get snakebit when the market crashes because tons of people are doing it now.  So if someone loads up their credit card by purchasing dozens of graphics cards they might not be able to pay it off in the long run.

 
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