Crim's Computer Thread

[CrimsonNuker]

Completed build has of Dec 31, 2013
Pics of my computer
Components-
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70
Mobo: MSI Z77A-GD65
CPU: Intel i5 3570k (Vanilla clocked to 3.5 jiggahertz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 (Idle CPU runs at 30, load runs at 40-45)
GPU: MSI HD Radeon 7870 Hawk Edition (Idle runs at 30, load runs 50~ on max setting games)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB)
PSU: Corsair HX650 80+Gold
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM, Western Digital 500GB Blue 7200RPM
SSD: Intel 530 240GB, Corsair Force 2(?) 60GB (2 SSD AND STILL MANAGE TO GET ONLY 5.9 IN WINDOWS INDEX SCORE)

Peripherals-
Monitor: 27" BENQ (GW2750HM), 21.5" Acer (A221HQL)
Keyboard(s): Microsoft Sidewinder X4, Cooler Master CM Storm Quickfire Rapid (Mechanical, Red)
Mouse: Logitech G500 (first generation)
Speakers: Audioengine A2s, Polk 10" 100W subwoofer
Headphones: Steelseries Siberia V2

Misc components-
Fan controller: Scythe Kaze Master II
Case Fans: 3x Cougar 120x120 1200RPM (1 exhaust, 2 intake), 2x Corsair 120x120 SP120 2300RPM (Radiator fans), 1x 140x140 Cougar 1200RPM (bottom intake), 1x generic Corsair 120x120 1200RPM (intake)
Lights: NZXT 1m white sleeved LED
Wifi Card: Gigabyte GC-WB300D (With Bluetooth)

Spoiler!

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/3333/xs5y.jpg

See my latest post. Updated July 22
SEE COMPLETED BUILD. JULY 30

Spoiler!

Worth it?

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I sent an email asking some general questions like how long he has had it for, why he is selling, etc. (and hard drive make/model).

Is there anything else I should ask or check for?

And then there are these 2:

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[woutR]

Water cooling can mess you up if you don't know what you're doing bro. My bro flooded his PC. He retarded though, but still.. be careful!

[CrimsonNuker]

Water cooling can mess you up if you don't know what you're doing bro. My bro flooded his PC. He retarded though, but still.. be careful!

Yeah I asked him what the maintenance with the water cooling is like also. I don't trust myself enough to tinker with it

[dom]

Go to the Canada computers store (I went to the one in Orleans 2 weeks ago). Tell them your budget and a one of the reps will help you squeeze performance by knowing what's for sale and stuff. Then, ask them to put it together. They might charge like half an hour of labour or do it free since your spending a couple hundred.

It will cost you less, be better and newer.

[CrimsonNuker]

Unless CC replies fast, I think I'm going to end up buying the first computer for 520$

[Azilius]

Do what Dom said. I've now made 4 computers buying almost every part from CanadaComputers. Their prices are decent and they usually have good stock. You can also check out http://www.shoprbc.com/ca/index.php

they sometimes have good deals and there location is in bells corners which isn't far from you. All of those pre mades can be made by yourself, also don't be fooled by the "liquid cooling". It's not an actual loop set up that requires maintenance and they don't preform as well. There are some heat sinks that cost less and preform better (hyper 212+ for instance).

I'm also pretty sure a 5770 cannot run battlefield or skyrim on high settings and get decent framerates all the time @ 1080p. My gtx 570 sometimes dips below 30 fps on Skyrim (with AA on).

As for the $850 one, the x6 1090T was somewhat of a failure of a CPU, though it's still decent. The 5870 is somewhat old though better than the 5770 by quite a bit. The solid state drive is decent though.

And the $950 one..the i7-875k is something like 2 years old by now. The agility 3 240gb SSD can also be found for like 130$ on sale (ya cheap as hell). The 6950 is decent but for 950$ I'd expect at least a Sandy bridge CPU.

tldr
make ur own

[Toshiharu]

Avoid searching for 'gaming' because they're all bullshit builds with video cards like that and not worth the price. They're trying to get what you can get for new. I suggest build one and stop being so afraid of it. If you're that afraid then help us build a computer for you and have a local pc shop see if they'll put it together for you. At most they should charge $30 if you're that afraid.

First one-
Is worth $400 since it's i5 2500(Not even k? Really?) and the rest is probably $200 more.

Second one
It's worth around.. honestly I just wouldn't buy it at all. More cores doesn't mean it's better and the CPU is just bad for the entire price itself.

Third Computer-
That processor was around $300 videocard.. I believe $300-400? Throw in the rest around $1200 at the time. In my opinion it's worth $650 at most now.

They're all trying to get their money back or at least most of it.

[CrimsonNuker]

Every time I try to build myself a computer, it always ends up being at least like $800 pre-tax, and then after tax is at least $900 on a $800 system

And then I have to think about parts being on sale and stuff and price matching. NCIX, Newegg, Canada Computers, etc. I look at all those sites to see if I can get the same part for cheap, and then when I do find it, it ends up being more expensive cause of taxes and shipping. It's just all very overwhelming.
If this was a couple of years ago, I could have done it easily, I knew exactly what I wanted; so I didn't really have to compromise. Now I don't even know whether to get an ATI of Nvidia card, it was so easy before. Everybody knew the 8800 was the shit, but now I don't even know which generation is the current one, there's just too much shit out there lol.

I only have a budget of $600; so if I can really build a whole computer that could run BF3 on good settings with good fps for that price, please help

I know I probably want an...
i5 2500k - $200 (unless I don't absolutely need an i5...)
graphics card that can do what I want it to do - $150

The cpu and graphics card alone already cost more than half my budget. WAT DO.

Is it unreasonable for me to think that a $600 system can run BF3?

#POOR AND CHEAP PROBLEMS

Edit:

After looking around a bit more, I found this GLORIOUS site.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/cAOv
Did I do good? What do you guys think?

[Avalanche]

My buddy just built a pretty good computer for around ~$500. Got all the parts on Newegg. If you want his build sheet I'll pm it to you.

[CrimsonNuker]

My buddy just built a pretty good computer for around ~$500. Got all the parts on Newegg. If you want his build sheet I'll pm it to you.

Sure, i'm open to pretty much anything right now

Edit:
So i've updated my build a little bit to save about $20 for what I hope is the same performance.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/cBwm
Grand total comes up to just over $600 including mail-in rebate

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*Correction, GPU is $141.24 total, with $15 rebate

I know pretty much nothing about motherboards; so does anybody think I could make do with a cheaper motherboard? (Keep in mind the $20 rebate)

[penfold1992]

to just go on that pc build, id buy a super cheap pc case as you shouldnt really need a great case...
also if you are planning to run 32 bit win7 then just 1/2 the ram

then buy yourself a quad core i5 and your sorted =)

edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115089

$179 dollars

[CrimsonNuker]

But I read the i3 I chose was almost just as good as the i5 2500k

[penfold1992]

uh... nope.
and if you are going with windows7 32 bit you do realise you have wasted 5g of ram right?

[Azilius]

2500k and an SSD. It's worth it.

[Toshiharu]

2500k and an SSD. It's worth it.

IMO SSD still aren't worth it. Until I can buy 500gb for $100 then I'll reconsider.

[Azilius]

2500k and an SSD. It's worth it.

IMO SSD still aren't worth it. Until I can buy 500gb for $100 then I'll reconsider.

Then you've never had one and experienced the change I guess..Hands down best thing you can buy for your money right now. The difference is really noticeable. $50 can get you a 80~ GB drive which is enough for your OS and a lot of programs/some games.

[Toshiharu]

I'm a cheap person. It's about gb/price. The premium isn't worth the cost.

[CrimsonNuker]

uh... nope.
and if you are going with windows7 32 bit you do realise you have wasted 5g of ram right?

Yeah yeah I realize this, I don't know how I keep forgetting to tell you, but i'm planning to go x64.

Unless you think going with 4gb, 32x and a slightly cheaper case if possible will be able to snag me 2500k that still fits my budget

I think the only reason i'll ever get SSD at the prices they're at now is just for boot-up; so I'll eventually get a small one when I see it on sale.

Other than the CPU/SSD/RAM, does the build look solid?

I'll try to reconfigure everything so I can fit the 2500k in tonight

EDIT:

Will be adding the i5 2310
Total setup will cost around $650 after taxes and rabte

[penfold1992]

i have a slightly tainted opinion on x64. i had such a bad time with windows xp 64 bit being so unstable at release that i really feel they arent exactly worked on enough to become worth the hassle. creating an aditional directory just to store 32 bit programs in a 64 bit work space also is a little annoying... as well as finding drivers can sometimes be tricky.
but also once u have a set up you can just adjust it to fit your budget.

changing the cpu and mobo is the biggest problem due to compatibility... id suggest looking for those 2 first (or looking at them last depending on the way you build... up to or from your budget)

[CrimsonNuker]

And again.
Upgraded CPU to Sandy Bridge i5, and downgraded ram to 4gigs.
http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/cEfR

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[*BlackFox]

Well, the build looks good.. Just slightly over your budget.. xD

[CrimsonNuker]

Well, the build looks good.. Just slightly over your budget.. xD

Sadly. The i3 2120 only has 2 cores which was really a turn off for me, but hey, I can only get what I can afford

I might start ordering parts as soon as tonight

[Toshiharu]

Well, the build looks good.. Just slightly over your budget.. xD

Sadly. The i3 2120 only has 2 cores which was really a turn off for me, but hey, I can only get what I can afford

I might start ordering parts as soon as tonight

Personally I wouldn't go cheap on the processor. That'll be your main component of your computer for the next.. I don't know.. at least 5 years unless you plan upgrading new computers before then. Everything else you can swap out or put more in.

That's my opinion though.

[CrimsonNuker]

Well, the build looks good.. Just slightly over your budget.. xD

Sadly. The i3 2120 only has 2 cores which was really a turn off for me, but hey, I can only get what I can afford

I might start ordering parts as soon as tonight

Personally I wouldn't go cheap on the processor. That'll be your main component of your computer for the next.. I don't know.. at least 5 years unless you plan upgrading new computers before then. Everything else you can swap out or put more in.

That's my opinion though.

Switched to an i5 2400 just because you said that.

Now, my last question before I go ahead with this build, is 4gb of RAM better on 1 stick, or on 2 sticks (2x2gb)?

[Toshiharu]

They're both the same assuming same speeds also sorry for your wallet.

[CrimsonNuker]

They're both the same assuming same speeds also sorry for your wallet.

The SLIGHTLY better cpu I replaced it with was only $5 more, meh
Saved another $3 by getting 2 sticks of 2gb instead of 1 stick of 4gb

[Amarisa]

If you are on a budget go AMD, if what you are doing is gaming then a $100 quad core from AMD will be more then enough. I speak with experience here, My CPU was $100 and my GPU was $100 and I still play most modern games on high settings. AA and that junk bog me down but that is the GPU's problem.

I even have an FX4100 CPU computer, runs my virtual computer server and random junk. I looked into Intel whenever I look to build a new PC but I don't want to pay $100 for a dual core with hyper threading when I could get 4 real cores for the same price.

Is it unreasonable for me to think that a $600 system can run BF3?

I can with a Athlon x4 640 and 9800GTX+ on high settings.

[CrimsonNuker]

If you are on a budget go AMD, if what you are doing is gaming then a $100 quad core from AMD will be more then enough. I speak with experience here, My CPU was $100 and my GPU was $100 and I still play most modern games on high settings. AA and that junk bog me down but that is the GPU's problem.

I even have an FX4100 CPU computer, runs my virtual computer server and random junk. I looked into Intel whenever I look to build a new PC but I don't want to pay $100 for a dual core with hyper threading when I could get 4 real cores for the same price.

Is it unreasonable for me to think that a $600 system can run BF3?

I can with a Athlon x4 640 and 9800GTX+ on high settings.

Yeah i've considered the 4100, but I plan to keep this computer for a very long time, and as stated before, the cpu is the hardest thing to swap out
+I always had a preference for Intel CPUs
And the scores for the i5 2400 are double of what the 4100 is according to this:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I'm on a budget, but in this case, I think I'll spend a little more for the cpu I chose.

[Toshiharu]

They're both the same assuming same speeds also sorry for your wallet.

The SLIGHTLY better cpu I replaced it with was only $5 more, meh
Saved another $3 by getting 2 sticks of 2gb instead of 1 stick of 4gb

Like I said the RAM you can easily swap out and since your board listed has 4 ram slots it's not a big deal between the two. Want more RAM? Well shove a couple more sticks in. So it isn't a big deal between the two.

[Amarisa]

If you are on a budget go AMD, if what you are doing is gaming then a $100 quad core from AMD will be more then enough. I speak with experience here, My CPU was $100 and my GPU was $100 and I still play most modern games on high settings. AA and that junk bog me down but that is the GPU's problem.

I even have an FX4100 CPU computer, runs my virtual computer server and random junk. I looked into Intel whenever I look to build a new PC but I don't want to pay $100 for a dual core with hyper threading when I could get 4 real cores for the same price.

Is it unreasonable for me to think that a $600 system can run BF3?

I can with a Athlon x4 640 and 9800GTX+ on high settings.

Yeah i've considered the 4100, but I plan to keep this computer for a very long time, and as stated before, the cpu is the hardest thing to swap out
+I always had a preference for Intel CPUs
And the scores for the i5 2400 are double of what the 4100 is according to this:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

I'm on a budget, but in this case, I think I'll spend a little more for the cpu I chose.

I plan on keeping my computer for a long time? and what? how is the CPU the hardest thing to swap out? You must be used to Intel. AMD you can just pop in a new gen CPU into a last gen socket as AMD makes it compatible.

also the i5 is almost double the price? lol

oh and the FX6200 beats the i5 2400 for less $ fyi