Need advice for new PC build..

[boman744]

Hey all,

I plan to build a new PC in the very near future.. I'm not too savvy with Motherboards and cpus etc. This will be used primarily for gaming (BF3 / BF4, Bio-shock, and other up and coming releases).

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming. Office work etc.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$2000

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

I've always used intel and nVidia.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

8gb Ram and harddrive - 1TB (may consider upgrading to SSD tho)

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default (not savvy with OC'n)

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

I am unfamiliar with the current resolutions at the moment... some feedback would be nice

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
1-4 months
X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

No




I require:

- A new case -- Interested in something large such as the Cooler Master HAF X

- PSU - What wattage?

- CPU - i7???

- GPU - ASUS GTX 670??

- MotherBoard - - preferably capable of SLI for future 2nd card upgrade.

- Single monitor or dual?? I don't think I would use 2 for gaming, but wife would like it for schoolwork and her studies.. preferably larger than 23" per

I have 8gb ram and necessary Hard drives.


Thanks so much for the help.. it's tough when there is so much out there and so many locations to purchase from. I'm in Canada.

Cheers,

Boman

PS.. please fill me in if I've forgotten anything.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I think most would suggest going with an i5 since games today dont seem to use more than 4 threads, but with your budget I'd say go ahead and get an i7 anyways. Since you don't plan on overclocking, I'd point you towards this processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286&Tpk=e3%20xeon%201230%20v2&IsVirtualParent=1

It's not much more than a 3570k and offers performance equal to the i7 3770. It's technically a server part but it's really a i7 without overclocking and on board/integrated graphics disabled, which won't be an issue for you since you have a video card. I am using that CPU on my photo/video editing machine and it works great and runs cool.

GTX 670 is a pretty good card to get for gaming, the 680 and 690 are obviously better but for the price the 670 is probably the best route to go.

If you're wanting to SLI in the future I'd look at a minimum 700 watts for a power supply just to be safe. The one thing I will point out is that if you are planning on adding an additional card at some point in the future, if it's more than 6 months out then chances are the next generation of cards will be out and you may not want to SLI then but rather just upgrade to a newer card. If that's the case you could save a lot of money now on that and just go with an H77 or B75 chipset motherboard for around $100. They don't support SLI (at least I havent seen one that does, but they might be out there idk) but you'd save about $50 vs a Z77 board. In addition you wouldn't need quite as powerful of a PSU.

For the monitors, I'd definitely suggest 2 for your wife. It's really helpful when doing homework and even with gaming I will sometimes still have something pulled up on the second screen which is pretty nice to have.

 

[Cerb]

Figure out what you want for monitor(s), then deal with the left over budget for the box. In the long run, you will thank yourself for getting nice displays, more-so than a beefier CPU or GPU, and you'll get to start bitching about how every other monitor causes eye strain.

With $1k, you can't do that. With $2k, you can, and should.

 

[Ken g6]

WHEN do you plan to build it?
1-4 months

I suggest you come back in two months when Haswell is out.

 

[Zap]

Some great suggestions already!

Figure out what you want for monitor(s), then deal with the left over budget for the box.

One of my favorite ways to budget for parts!

$2000 budget
-$350 for Dell Ultrasharp 24"
-$350 for Dell Ultrasharp 24"
=$1300 budget
-$100 for case
... etc

I suggest you come back in two months when Haswell is out.

Based on the estimated timetable for this build, a no brainer.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'd budget for the monitors, processor, and graphics card FIRST, above any other parts, because that's what you shouldn't skimp on. Everything else, like a nicer case, a premium motherboard, or a bigger SSD, is a luxury, and so should be budgeted for last after the more important performance parts.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Some great suggestions already!



One of my favorite ways to budget for parts!

$2000 budget
-$350 for Dell Ultrasharp 24"
-$350 for Dell Ultrasharp 24"
=$1300 budget
-$100 for case
... etc

Based on the estimated timetable for this build, a no brainer.

2nd'ing the two 24'' ultrasharps. They're great monitors, at an excellent price. Also, if you plan on gaming on a single 1080/1200 monitor, it's probably easier to not mess around with crossfire/sli and just use single gpus. This could also save you money both on GPUs, and on your MoBo as well.

 

[boman744]

Excellent! Thanks a ton for all the suggestions. Is Newegg.ca reliable and are the prices close in comparison to NCIX canada? I ask because I have an NCIX 2 blocks from my place..

 

[Ken g6]

Newegg in general is reliable, but I hear shipping to Canada is slow, and it frequently appears to be expensive. Not to mention any potential RMAs required.

Still, if you can get a good deal on things that rarely fail, Newegg isn't a bad choice.

 

[boman744]

Ok thanks.. I will look into the price differences..

As far as the monitors go.. Im not too familiar with IPS displays.. The Dell ultrasharp features this... Is there a noticable difference in picture quality with and without??

Thx

 

[Sleepingforest]

Yes. A TN panel has much worse color reproduction and intensity compared to an IPS panel, not to mention viewing angle issues on TN panels. If you are going multi-monitor, you absolutely must get IPS panels simply because TN panels will be totally faded and dark at an angle.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Is there a noticable difference in picture quality with and without??

Yes. Absolutely. The difference in picture quality is night-and-day and I'm not exaggerating, it really is that good.

You can read more about it here:

TFT Central - Panel Technologies

 

[boman744]

The response time of the Dell ultrasharp seems to be 6ms. Is this something I will notice while gaming? I have a 2ms monitor at the moment... I've read that ghosting can take place with a higher response time.

Thanks

 

[harobikes333]

I highly doubt you honestly could tell the difference of 2ms to 6ms. What monitor do you have now that's 2ms...?

 

[boman744]

right now i've got a Samsung SyncMaster P2370 (23") 2ms 50000:1

 

[mfenn]

The response time of the Dell ultrasharp seems to be 6ms. Is this something I will notice while gaming? I have a 2ms monitor at the moment... I've read that ghosting can take place with a higher response time.

Thanks

To paraphrase Mark Twain, there's lies, damned lies, and then there's LCD response time specs. There are so many different ways to fudge the numbers while still being technically true that anything the manufacturer lists is completely unreliable. The difference in input latency will be a bigger factor than actual physical response time.

Based on what I found, the P2370 has an input latency of between 6-32ms (seems to be random!). The U24112M is about 17ms. Take these numbers with a grain of salt because there weren't measured with identical techniques, but on average the two monitors should be about the same.

 

[Zap]

2nd'ing the two 24'' ultrasharps. They're great monitors, at an excellent price.

At an even better price now! For those looking into these, Newegg and Amazon have it for $280 shipped. Amazon is probably a pricematch so who knows when it ends. Newegg is using a promo code (listed right on product page) that expires 4/17.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, there's lies, damned lies, there's LCD response time specs. There are so many different ways to fudge the numbers while still being technically true that anything the manufacturer lists is completely unreliable. The difference in input latency will be a bigger factor than actual physical response time.

/truth