Bismarck.Dreadnot said:
»Okay, so I have a question for Dread, Jet, anyone else familiar with specifics of PC parts. If I get this bonus at work that I'm hoping for, I'm looking to build a new PC so I can play these newer games like Skyrim and FFXIV that people keep talking about.
My question comes down to this type of stuff...
1. Processors. Is i5 still pretty much the most functional in the way of performance and value? If so, that brings me to my next question. (Just grabbing two that have significant a price difference as an example.) Is there going to be a noticeable performance difference between
this one and
this one. I realize the second in this example doesn't have integrated graphics, but that's not really a factor and it brings me to my next question.
2. GPUs. I'm assuming the 600 series GeForce GTX cards are the best way to go from what I've seen people discuss before. My main question is, is there a specific series card I should be looking for? Like, is a 680 going to be a lot better than a 650, for example. And what's the reason for the huge price range? And is there something else (500 series, or a Radeon card that's similar performance) that I should look into instead that is better as far as cost:performance?
And last, and probably the one I'm least informed about:
3. Motherboards. I know I need to be sure it's compatible with whatever CPU/GPU/memory I pick out. But beyond that, I'm not sure, as far as brands and (again) cost goes. I'm not looking to be as cheap as possible, but I don't want to buy the most expensive of everything if it's not going to make a big enough difference.
I also looked into some pre-built PCs on NewEgg, but none of them really seemed worth it as far as the cost compared to what they actually came with.
Thanks in advance!
Ok, lets see. For motherbords you want to look at the chip set. Both processors you linked are LGA 1155, there for you need to find a motherboard that has that style (that isn't a micro ATX board)
Both processors you linked are good, naturally I would go with the i5-3570K.
GPU's you get more bang for your buck. The 670 is solid for the price, and 680 is awesome, the 690 is better then both. You can't go wrong with any of them, but I would aim for the 670 atleast.
I'd go with the 1155 chipset right now anyway, as to which CPU is better, I'd go here:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
I don't keep up with individual parts, and I haven't looked in awhile, ***changes so often and I don't have the patience to look on a daily (or even weekly or monthly) basis, maybe if I built them more often I would.
I don't really keep up with GPU's either.
What's wrong with Micro-atx? aside from the limited expansion capability? for some people it works just fine.
Oh I'd definitely get a SSD.
for hard drives I'd probably go Crucial or Intel on a SSD, Western Digital for hard drive (the edition depends on the use, black are the fastest consumer ones iirc).
Crucial or Corsair for ram, Kingston I'm ok with if it's an older machine and I'm just looking to expand the life of it (typically for other people's machines, probably wouldn't buy for my own).
Corsair make good PSU's, I'm not sure as to whether or not coolmax or raidmax (I forget all the brands) are worth it, never tried.
the same could be said about the cases, to each their own in that regard, I just like to stay away from aluminum cases anymore, they bend too easily if you're in them a lot. Steel ftw.
I'd probably get an Asus motherboard, but maybe a Gigabyte, depending of the features/price.
not sure what I'd get on a video card at the moment.
It's best to stay away from these as far as I'm concerned: PNY, OCZ.
If you don't plan on overclocking and you don't mind the fan noise a stock fan will most likely do you.
Good thing to note when you buy drives, if they're "OEM" they don't come with cables, I buy all cables when I can now on monoprice.com the quality is great and the prices are greater.
Just remember in your pricing that if you are building a system it doesn't come with an operating system, while windows 8 is cheaper I personally wouldn't get it, way too many compatibility problems right now.