Ok, I have been looking to do this for awhile now, and now that my gateway is 3 yrs old, and laggy on video games I cant afford to be laggy on, I think its time to take the plunge and try my hand at building my own rig. My goals (besides getting it work, and not frying anything in the process) are to build a very current high powered gaming rig, but not extreme cutting edge where I am paying a premium for the newest stuff out there. So in other words, a B+/A- machine. I want a motherboard capable of upgrading to 2 ati radeon 5770's eventually, so it needs room to do so. I plan on ordering from newegg or tigerdirect, but I would like suggestions mainly on motherboard and processor. I would also like advice on how to install the software/BIOS. Perhaps I am in over my head, but hopefully from feedback I will know so ahead of time. Here is my plan. critique it please and give advice on anything I might have missed. - 850 watt powersupply (already have this in current machine) - ATI radeon 5770 1G DDR. (already have this in current machine) -already have 24" monitor/keyboard/mouse - looking at intel I7 -875K quad core processor (supposedly comes with fan) - ASUS P7P55 Pro LGA SATA motherboard. (has internet card and sound card built in already) -SATA hard drive. (already have a cheap one, but I dont need huge amunts of storage) -6 gigs of RAMM. - large gaming case with ample fans.. I was told to go intel b/c the BIOS is easier to install and its less headaches than AMD. I was also told to go with a motherboard that is "set up" for ATI cards vs nvidia cards.. (how do I tell?) (also, I am not set on the previous mentioned motherboard processor, it just seemed decent for the price and seemed powerful. Please suggest alternatives if need be.) also, do I load the provided bios CD rom first.. then the windows 7 one I am assumming? I guess my main question is besides plugging everything in, is there any tricks or common problems I need to be aware of?
Good luck and godspeed on this. I've been tinkering with the idea of building my own setup for the past year or two, but backed out due to other financial commitments. -- For your first build, I would suggest partnering up with someone IRL who can sit with you and guide you along step-by-step. I have a coworker who just got through building his 6th rig, this time with water cooling, who I have on tap when I build mine. -- I would also find a geek forum somewhere and post all the stats you just listed. Get some different opinions on the motherboard, processor, etc. and maybe any issues you may have missed. Just be sure to let them know exactly what games/apps you want to run on it. Nope. I am of no help at all. But if my coworker's around tomorrow, I'll pull up this thread and see if he has any advice.
If you're going to use this for gaming I'd get an i5 Intel processor instead of an i7. There isn't a huge amount of different and processor speed isn't really a major factor when it comes to games. Use the money you'll save and upgrade your graphics card. If you're current PC is struggling with games then it will almost certainly be your GPU or lack of RAM. I suggest getting an ATI Radeon HD 5850, it's shit hot, not that expensive and it will devour anything you can throw at it. Also buy as much RAM as your motherboard can handle, you can never have too much RAM. Here's a video on how to assemble a PC http://www.tested.com/how-to-build-an-awesome-1500-pc/47-31/
I'd also suggest upgrading from the CPU fan that comes with your processor, although this is not strictly necessary.
thanks guys. So far my approach is to try to purchase a "combo kit" from tiger-direct or new egg. tiger is nice b/c phone reps are knowledgable, and can offer advice... But the"combo" I tried to buy 1/2 the parts werent in stock, or wouldnt be in stock for 1 month... this : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5740530&csid=_22 newegg seems good, but they wont give advice over the phone.. So far my biggest issue is finding a Motherboard that is setup for "crossfire" (vs SLI NVidia) and ISNT AMD..... (since AMD can have more headaches setting up I was told.) so I found this. (supports both SLI and crossfire.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614 However, it says "It supports Core i7 (LGA1366)".. Is LGA1366 a category of Core i7, or just a SPECIFIC ITEM NUMBER.... So in other words, what are my options for the chip? and will a i5 work?(its stuff like this that trips me up, so your advice is invaluable.. ) ****(Also, Toon3 I already own the ATI Radeon 5770, just bought it, so cant really upgrade that part, and am forced to go with crossfire ...
How long do you expect your machine to last? If it's 3-4 years as with me, then you might want to consider buying a new mid-range GPU after two years than working with SLI and a dual card set-up.
LGA 1366 is not officially a category of i7 or i5, i3. It's the Socket type. Current Intel processors are available in two socket types (LGA 1156 and LGA 1366). LGA 1156 is available in i3, i5, and i7-8XX series. LGA 1366 are only on i7. When you price motherboards you'll notice LGA 1366 boards are more expensive. Newegg is better for purchasing and returns. TigerDirect had a poorer repuation over the past 6 years or so for returns or bad customer service. Since you just bought a Radeon 5770, keep that graphics card for another 6-12 months. Don't go for SLI until you realize the image quality and game performance is still lackluster. 2 5770's are not really going to give you long-term (18-30 mos.) of excellent game peformance. Radeon 5850's, 5870's or the 5970 is much more expensive but you're not buying a new card in a year or maybe 2.
Excellent advice everyone.. That video was perfect for a "how to" and answered alot of questions I had. Most of that I knew, but it pretty much helped me with the wiring, and also brought up the idea of the optical drive (didnt realize how that worked).... I guess I want a machine ot last 3-4 years, so I might take your advice Belgian Guy. And thanks DutchFootball for the chip explanation. Good to know for compatiability issues.
You should mention what you're budget. With a low budget, you'll get much more bang for your buck with AMD than Intel. Also, what I put in bold isn't true at all. Intel and AMD based systems share the same basic architecture. Whatever problems that can occur on an AMD based system can also occur on an Intel based system. The BIOS isn't installed. The BIOS is a chip on your motherboard and all motherboards come with one.
Well good news. Everything arrived, and I got everything installed correctly. (sort of) I went with this http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5740530&csid=_22 ) My old DVD drive had a ribbon connection, and the ne wmotherboard only supported SATA, so I had to buy a new one. I also plugged the power connection from case into the wrong motherboard area (I plugged it into power reset.) so when I tried to power it up, it didnt do anything. I quickly put 2 and 2 together and fixed that. Once I did that, it was smooth sailing. I had some driver issues running a game, but fixed that with new DirectX drivers, and a little searching around. To be honest, I did better than I thought I would. And that video posted earlier was priceless. It helped alot as a guide. My school supplied Windows 7 free (32 bit)... I was told that 64 bit is the way to go, but its a double edged sword b/c compatibility issues with some applications.... I can get the 64bit version from school, but should I hold off? or just go ahead and get it? I guess my main question, is how much of a performance difference is 64 vs 32?
Man, where do you get your info? Google is your friend. There is no performance gain between both. The advantage of a 64 bit OS is that it's able to address more memory. No compatibility issues exist either. 32bit applications run perfectly under a 64bit OS. In other words, if you want to be able to use all 6GB of the ram you bought, you have to install a 64bit OS. A 32 bit OS will only address approximately 3.5GB. Found proof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier
It really depends. If you're running nothing but 32bit apps then you'll hardly notice any difference.
Well, I heard the compatibility issue from 2 sources, one being a Geek Squad rep. Perhaps they were wrong. Anyway, yes, the 3.5 RAM issue is something I noitced earlier. I asked the Geek squad guy about that, and he then asked what version I was running. I guess I will get the 64 version soon then. thanks.
probably the worst idea out there. Talk about overpaying for something, that no games can even take advantge of. By the time the software catches up, your rig is "decent/average" (which means you wayyy overpaid when you bought it. And the cycle continues.
i gotta say that the "casperwhips" profile has to be one of the strangest i've ever seen. Ghana + a Corsican football team + Kansas + foe of Barcelona of Guayaquil. alienwaree?
If you are building new PC then you should remember some points before building it such as intel moterboard, sata hard disk, sony dvd writer, microsoft UPS for backup support, RAM configuration and finally best antivirus for your PC such as Malware Removal. For any query take Mac Support.
the first you need to know is what is the purpose of your computer. and your budget ofcourse after that check some pricelist in google.com it may take you an our to realize what your doing but it helps.