That's the word around town.

Okay sure, if you're a proper enthusiast like yourself who absolutely feels the need to max every game as much as possible, but even then (well OUTSIDE of the fact that the ARMA2/3 engine being a huge unoptimized pile of steaming shit... which is a really big factor here), it's not like you need to be absolutely maxing the game to enjoy it. The marginal difference here versus the marginal cost (again, well understood for the min/maxers like yourself) is very steep. 1280x1024 at high with a single mid range card like a 6870 or whatever? No problem.

Agreed.

Superclocked or regular?

I'm never a fan of buying "superclocked" cards. You are spending more for the same card, but it just comes with a slightly higher manufacture OC, something you can easily do yourself for free.

EDIT: Then again, when the superclocked card is the same price as the regular (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHW4HXY/...=dradisplay-20), no point in getting the regular.

My thoughts exactly. You can also be sure that the superclocked card has been binned accordingly.

Ordered.

Thank you gentlemen.

hometeam is my first friend on Steam.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgjxq29Pcg1qafrh6.gif

Help building my first gaming rig
 

Add me. BuckinKaeding

Also you should get Running Simulator 2K14 and play with us.

notoriousBIT69 is mine.


I will get the card and PS in Monday or Tuesday. The Dayz standalone runs kind of shitty right now, so I will hold-off until I have installed the gear.

Alright guys, how did I do?

Dell Inspiron 660

I5-3340 $409
1TB 7200 HD
16 GB 1600mhz DDR3 Ram
Win 7 Pro 64 bit
DVD Drive

EVGA 750 Watt PSU $54
EVGA GTX 760 SC $249

I already own a decent monitor.


$712 Total.

Wait, Was the i5-3340 $409 or all 5 of those things combined $409? Because the CPU is only $195 on newegg.

Ya, I got the Dell Inspiron 660 on sale right before Christmas for an insane deal.

The entire computer was for $419 (whoops)plus 30 tax, so I guess it was a little more.

No monitor, of course.

INSPIRON 660
3rd Generation Intel Core i5-3340 processor (6M Cache, up to 3.3 GHz)
16GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1600MHZ
Dell KB113 USB Wired Entry Keyboard, US-English
Integrated Intel HD Graphics
Dell SRV Software 1506
1TB Hard Drive, 3.5", 7200rpm, SATA
Inspiron 660 Chassis, MT, Black w/8:1 media card reader
Black Bezel
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, English,
Dell USB Optical Mouse MS111
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Document Reader Included
DVD+/-RW Tray Load Drive, 16X, SATA
Integrated 5.1
No Speaker Requested
Dell DW1506 (802.11 b/g/n) WLAN half mini-Card
US Power Cord
Documents, Inspiron 660, English
Placemat,Inspiron,660,Global,WIN8
Shipping material for DAO, Inspiron 660
McAfee Live Safe 12 Month Subscription
Additional Software
No PDVD
Software: Microsoft Office 2013 Trial, MUI
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty, Initial Year
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
Warranty Support, Initial Year
Dell Resource DVD,BACK-UP,I660
Dell.com Order
Fixed Hardware Configuration
LBL,REG,Inspiron 660
You have chosen a Windows 7 System

Correction $419 +30 tax.

I'd say you did pretty good.

I dont know what kind of MB came with that Dell but even if you picked your cheapest 8x/8x MB you'd be well over that total after adding in the rest of those parts. Just the CPU, GPU, and memory would run you about $600.

Any rebate on the GPU? An amazing value on that build, but the 760 has been hovering a bit less than that.

I nearly went cheaper, but the guys talked me into the EVGA due to a better cooler.

The cooler will run more silently and cool better than reference.

It also means you can OC better too.

Let me ask you guys about this:

http://m.samsclub.com/catalog/produc...ls/prod9820104

It's on sale right now for 800. I'm not going to be using it for heavy gaming, I have a console for that, more just day to day stuff. Web surfing, kids will use it for homework and printing. Maybe downloading movies and tv shows and streaming to my PS3. I just wanted to check with you guys and see.

Is AMD processors that much inferior to Intel? What is the Intel equivalent to that processor?

Shitty deal.

That AMD APU is a POS when it comes to gaming, andoverall, intels tend to be faster, but for value builds, and for what you want to do, AMD is perfectly fine, including the APU mentioned.

You can build that PC for much cheaper than 800 bucks. In fact, I just built it on PCpart picker, minus the monitor, with likely a higher quality HDD and Mobo (HP leaves out manufacturer on those because they are chinese cheap POS), including windows 8 OS for 460 bucks :/

Can I push OCing when the Dell motherboard is probably shit?

Hometeam and JD are the shit, BTW.


Men among boys when it comes to this stuff.

Im talking about OCing the GPU.

So yes should be fine, you will see the biggest performance increase and actually overclockability (?) in the memory speed rather than clock speed.

I agree with all of this. If I had $800 burning a hole in my pocket I would build a beast, or at least a beast compared to this Walmart computer.

But, if you aren't comfortable building a computer and you don't plan on gaming this computer is all right. The 27" monitor will cost you $250 alone. If you aren't planning on gaming I would go cheaper though, you don't need an $800 computer to surf the internet and do homework.

Edit: I do however have a Microcenter about 3 miles from my house that always has atleast one amazing CPU/MB bundle going one.

Thank you guys for your advise it's much appreciated. But I was just gonna say a decent 27 inch monitor would probably cost me about 2 to 3 hundred, so for about a hundred bucks give or take I have the convenience of just taking it out of the box and it's ready...

I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find a slightly better deal with the same size monitor at a retail spot close to me but I don't think I probably will.

What headphones do you guys use for the PC?

I have PX5's but I don't know if I can use them.

No rebate, just Assassin Creed 4 for free.

I am a WWII and on FPS type person, so I might sell the game.

I need to figure out how to hook my Lightspeed Zulu's into the computer.

Back in HS when I was a "semi-pro" COD 1 player I used 2 headphones. 1 that had really good sound and then I would wrap a cheap one with a mic on it around my neck. It was a lot cheaper than buying a single headset that had quality sound.

Right now I use http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-...070505&sr=1-40 just for sound and all I would need would be a mic to put around my neck and all for <$100 compared to $130+ for a good gaming headset.

Im using steel series v2 right now and I love them. They are the most comfortable ones I have used

I have used the corsair vengeance 1500 as well and those where great but the cord on them died in about 6 months time.

I have also used Razer Caricharias and amazing sound quality as well.. cord died in 6 months too.

I bought the steel series and a 2 year warranty for 3 bucks, im not buying another damn pair of headphones.

I have the Corsair Vengeance as well. Did you ever have any static crackling problems with yours? Mine seem to do it from time to time and unplugging them and plugging them in seems to fix the problem... While I like them, the sound quality is shit compared to the Turtle Beaches I bought from Buck ages ago.

I agree. Very comfortable.

I only did after the cord started to die. It started to fray INTERNALLY near where the volume control knob was, and I got by for a while by rigging it and taping it into a certain position.

I really liked the comfort on those too, but I think my steel series v2 is better in both departments.

I have some turtle beach z11 (entry level TB) and I think the comfort is TERRIBLE on them, and the sound quality is just OK. My girlfriend seems to like them just fine though.

I have the x41's. DAT SOUND QAULITY

Its hard for me to tell the diff between my corsairs, the razers, and the steel series. The steel series seems a little better than the other 2, but all where very good.

I also have a nice soundcard, and I use the razer virtual surround app, so that may have something more to do with what I am actually hearing than speakers that are all fairly close in design.

That would make sense since I'm using the onboard audio. Probably explains why I'm somewhat disappointed in the sound Q.

I am a big fan of AMD APU's for non gaming PC's. Usually a great value for what you get. That being said, my APU of an A6-3500 could hardly handle The Walking Dead running at 720p. LOL. However toss on a 60GB 1080p straight bluray rip and it was smooth as butter.

I just received my EVGA power supply.


Holy shit. I am impressed. Heavy, every cable imaginable, and very nice looking.

Why would you pay $1200 for a gaming computer? A $600 is just as good from what I'm told.

600 vs. 1200 computer isn't the same.

What are you getting at?

$600 buys you better capabilities than the current consoles. $1200 buys you something way better.

$600 allows you to play every game, some maxed out, in 1080p.

$1200 allows you to max every game out for the next 2 years, at least, and play every game for 5+ without upgrading, but I don't expect you to know what that word means.

Did your momma also tell you alligators are ornery cause they got all them teef, but no toofbrush?

Since im in this thread already I have decided to upgrade my 'secondary' rig, which currently is a q6600 and 6870 build.

I think I am going to re-use my case, drives, PSU, and go with an fx 6300 plus either another 6870 or a mid range single card like a 660 and a single 8x1 corsair ram stick.

I think I can do this for around 200 bucks if I keep the GPU, 300 if not. (leaning towards not)

Any COMMENTS OR criticisms? Or better, yet, anyone want to sell a lightly used 660/760 to me? Or even better, BUY A q6600 and 6870 with mobo and 8gb ddr2 ram? :P

Just installed my Power Supply and GTX 760.


I have no idea how I played games before. This is unreal.


I would have been raped on Dayz with the old setup. It is sooooooo smooth right now.

i know that feel bro

The 6300 is the best value cpu out there. Unless you can get an i7 for one of those microcenter amazing deals, no issues there.

http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-...dp/B00E7HJ0Q2/

clip the coupon for $491. Lowest price I have seen. Still, if you can find a 770 for $280 on sale like I did. (My rebates have been approved. YAY!) Or a normal priced 760 are still a better "Value".

I payed 499 for my 780 ACX a few weeks ago.. they have went up about 20 bucks since then.

A good price, and the Zotac cooler is very good.

Coolers are really underrated IMO. I got into them because of getting involved in the OC community online.

After power supply, proper cooling is probably the next most important step in getting the best performance out of your high end CPU/GPU.

since this thread became kind of a catch all for PC building,

A co-worker brought me a PC that has the dreaded FBI ransom moneypak virus on it. I started working on it last night, and after about 4 hours of playing around got it fixed. Had to create a bootable USB stick and hitmanPRO that sucker out of there. I got to looking at the PC and its a built in 2004, Intel celeron single core 2.6ghz with 512mb ram (have to assume ddr1, didn't actually open up the case) and is just slower than frozen molasses. This thing can BARELY run windows XP, MSoffice, etc.

Sooo we talked about it, and I dropped my 'fix it' charge and am just going to give him my normal charge to build him a new one, and also give him back his fixed dinosaur.

We ordered an AMD A6 5400k, 1tb Seagate 7200RPM, MSI a75 mobo, win 7 home basic, 1x4gb corsair XMS ddr3 1333, budget case, PSU, and some budget case fans, and an Asus DVD/rw - He is going to reuse his flatscreen monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Amazing what kind of power/utility you can get on the budget end of custom builds nowadays. With my fee he is looking at $400, which includes fixing his god forsaken POS as well. I am going to include home setup of his wireless router and laptop to go along with setup of the PC. I am going to load him up with AVAST this time too, so he doesn't have to worry about that damn moneypak virus.

Yep my grandmother got that as well. Trying to get it off over the phone was impossible. She ended up buying a new computer. Then the phone calls of how the hell Windows 8 works. I told her I have no idea because I refuse to install it on my computers. Plus I have Windows 7 Ultimate sitting on a thumb drive somewhere.

Its a bitch, but has put a good chunk of change in my pocket over the last 4 months or so. Ransom viruses are the best, because a regular computer user MUST call a guy like me. $$

Just did my taxes, and it looks like Uncle Sam is going to be sending me some funds...was thinking of upgrading my rig and was looking for recommendations.... I am think a new graphics card for sure, and a maybe a blu-ray drive. Would like to keep the GPU around 200 bucks, but am open to suggestions. Here is what I currently have:

I-5 3570K
Asus p8Z77-V Pro motherboard
Corsair Vengeance RAM--12 GB (had 16, but a stick failed recently)
EVGA Geforce GTX 550 TI factory overclocked
128gb solid state drive for Windows 7 Ultimate
2-- 2 tb seagate hard drives for storage
OCZ bronze rated 750w power supply
Samsung DVD writer

Don't think there is any need for you to upgrade that beyond the GPU and you might as well just wait for the next lineup of cards to come out, but for around $200 you are looking at a r9 270x.

Gaming mouse suggestions?

I think a lot of people use trackballs now and mice with thumb buttons on the left side.

Back to trackballs?


Shit.

htismaqe, you are going to find this humorous, but since I installed the 760 and Power Supply my computer has froze a few times.


I think you mentioned unstable computers as a negative in the "Consoles vs. PC" thread. LMAO

Gotta make sure you have enough amperage on the 12V rail to power the GPU.

I will check the cords again. I used an EVGA 750 watt power supply with two sets of 6 pin connectors (I think). I will check when my wife is done with homework.

Here is a pic:

http://i62.tinypic.com/2akmmn5.jpg

Is there any way to monitor voltage?

dont use a trackball... no one uses a track ball for serious gaming. I am using the mazer e-3lue i bought off amazon for 16 bucks check out the reviews. Its nice.

As for graphics cards, please please shop around before you buy any radeons right now ,becuase of cryptocurrency mining they are off the charts more expensive than the MSRP.

also check out www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap there are lots of times people selling NIB graphics cards or slightly used one far cheaper than retail

@notorious

Great clean wire run. Even with my modular setup, I feel it gets a bit rats nest-y.

@hometeam
reddit is amazing for buying new too. /r/buildapcsales

ah yes, i have it on my subscribed reddits as well.

I did just buy a fx-6300 nice MSI mobo 8gb ram combo for 250 shipped from newegg. Was best deal I could find among all the resources of the internet to upgrade my secondary

what is funny is I unsubscribe from it as soon as i have my parts bought for a build for two reasons:

The awful feeling that I wasnt patient enough for that amazing deal.

It will tempt me to buy even more shit. I have enough PCs around the house that arnt used enough.

Can you post a closeup of the sticker on your PSU?

A 750W power supply with multiple rails may be short on Amps to power that card.

That's the strange thing, it will lock up while sitting idle. I will get back from work and find the computer on but the mouse doesn't move and I can't get to the task manager.

My wife rarely remembers to hit the "sleep" button.

I am going to mess with the power-saving features first and see what I can come up with. The fix is probably a lot simpler than I am making it.


I will get the info off the label anyway. I really appreciate the help!

Ah, the video card can DEFINITELY cause that.

EDIT: Check your BIOS for a setting called "GPU post when resume from S3" or something similar.

Even better, here is the link to the power supply info:

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product...120-PB-0750-KR

I didn't mess with the BIOS.

Looks like you have four 12V rails running at 20A each which seems kind of light.

According to EVGA, the max power draw for your GPU is 170W, or about 14A at 12V.

In fact, I found this at the bottom of the page for your GPU:

Requirements

Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 30 Amps.)
An available 6-pin PCI-E power connector and an available 8 pin PCI-E power connector
Total Power Draw : 170 Watts

You will want to get into the BIOS if you're going to mess with sleep/hibernate settings. They have to be set correctly there before you can fiddle with it in Windows.

I am using the SATA plugs to run the card. Here is a pic:

http://i59.tinypic.com/2v31mp5.jpg

JFC.

That graphics card needs 30 amps? I had car audio amps that ran decent power that drained less than 30 amps @ 12 volts.

Sigh. Learning stuff the hard way.

I wouldn't say it NEEDS 30A. That's the EVGA recommendation.

I generally wouldn't put a modern graphics card on a rail with less than 24A though.

And I just bought a 25A MAX PS.

Damnit.

Well, I am going to mess with the BIOS and pray. This PS might end up in my brother's computer.

Thanks for the help. I should have asked you guys before wasting a little money.

Wait wait. link me to the power supply.

Ok nvm. I looked it up.

Why do we think the PSU is not powerful enough?

That PSU can easily run TWO of those graphic cards. It is a high quality, correctly rated, plenty powerful modular modern PSU.

Maybe the 760 needs 30 amp total. 2 20-25 amp power sources overkill.


I didn't find anything on the BIOS to adjust. I did turn off the "monitor shutdown" (in windows) feature since it probably runs through the Motherboard instead of the card.

Do I need to disable the Intel HD graphics?