building my first gaming rig

Anaxo

Well-Known Member
So, I'm turned 18 in just 3 days, (March 25th) and when I do turn 18, I'll have access to an inheritance left to me. I've been wanting to build my own gaming rig since I was like 15, and I've been waiting ever so patiently, and it's been painful; I'm stuck with a Dell that only cost 300 dollars stock plus an upgraded geforce 9500gt, which is still incredibly outdated. This has greatly limited the games I've been able to play.

The plan is to order the parts to build my own rig within the next few weeks. I started with this youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjwgLcSlu7Y) , going with the medium option of the three provided, I decided to go with a 1TB hard drive instead of the 256gb SSD, as I do plan to be using plenty of space, and SSDs performance eventually degrades. That's the only thing I've changed, but I've added on the Razer Abyssus, a very simple mouse, since I've never really wanted hotkeys on my mouse before and I use the finger grip. I've also added a highly rated backlit and mechanical keyboard.

My question to you, T9K community is : Does this look like a solid build to you? Would you change anything? Different GPU? Would you upgrade to 16GB of RAM? Do you have any experiences or recommendations as far as mouses and keyboards go?
I'm willing to spend up to 1500 bucks, and I may add a joystick to the list for Star Citizen in particular.
I honestly know squat in comparison with most of the T9k community, and your input would be greatly appreciated.

Pcpartpicker
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/OaR
 
You linked to the amazon shopping cart. Nobody else can see it. Put your parts into a pcpartpicker list.
 
Okay, go to your partlist. Look toward the top above where it says, "Have you built this configuration? Show off your work!". There should be a text field titled "Permalink: ". That is what you want to copy and paste.
 
Also, will I need any kind of cooling system for this build? The one I looked up didn't include one. And if anyone else has a superior build with Star Citizen in mind in particular for around 1500 bucks, I'd love to see it.
 
Also, will I need any kind of cooling system for this build? The one I looked up didn't include one. And if anyone else has a superior build with Star Citizen in mind in particular for around 1500 bucks, I'd love to see it.
If the case comes with fans, then no, but if you're going to put 1500 bucks into the thing, I'd suggest a liquid cooling unit.
 
Don't scrip on the memory, but don't feel like you have to spend all of your money. So long as you do a ATX type build out you can swap parts out over time. I spend about 400 bucks ever two years or so to 'refresh' my PC (MB, CPU, RAM) with occasional Video and Hard Drive Upgrades along the way.

I typically go about two steps down from 'top of the line' as it's usually affordable and you get the best life, that being said don't be cheap on the motherboard, for that I usually go top end.
 
Don't scrip on the memory, but don't feel like you have to spend all of your money. So long as you do a ATX type build out you can swap parts out over time. I spend about 400 bucks ever two years or so to 'refresh' my PC (MB, CPU, RAM) with occasional Video and Hard Drive Upgrades along the way.

I typically go about two steps down from 'top of the line' as it's usually affordable and you get the best life, that being said don't be cheap on the motherboard, for that I usually go top end.

Yeah, I think I'll end up going with something like this build, probably the single graphics card option, then a few years down the line I'll just buy another of the same video card when games start demanding even more power : http://toptengamer.hubpages.com/hub/Best-Gaming-Computer-Under-1500

With this build along with the keyboard and mouse, it adds up to about 1700 bucks, I'll wait at least a year till I spend money on a HOTAS and a really nice pair of headphones.
 
Looks pretty good so far. I would recommend an SSD. The 600W might not be enough for a 770. I would also recommend looking into AMD cards, as they are giving Nvidia a run for their money these days. Here's a chart for video cards http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
Unless overclocking, and even if you were, I don't you'd have any issues with a 600W PSU. I personally prefer Corsair's TX series, but from what I've seen from reviews of other models, they tend to be pretty rock solid as well.

A stock 770, at full load, should at most, pull ~220Watts. The 4670 is rated at 84Watts. HDD is negligible - biggest draw is at spin-up. Corsair themselves generally assumes ~75Watts for motherboard and it's components. Even with memory you should have some breathing room.
 
So, I'm turned 18 in just 3 days, (March 25th) and when I do turn 18, I'll have access to an inheritance left to me. I've been wanting to build my own gaming rig since I was like 15, and I've been waiting ever so patiently, and it's been painful; I'm stuck with a Dell that only cost 300 dollars stock plus an upgraded geforce 9500gt, which is still incredibly outdated. This has greatly limited the games I've been able to play.

The plan is to order the parts to build my own rig within the next few weeks. I started with this youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjwgLcSlu7Y) , going with the medium option of the three provided, I decided to go with a 1TB hard drive instead of the 256gb SSD, as I do plan to be using plenty of space, and SSDs performance eventually degrades. That's the only thing I've changed, but I've added on the Razer Abyssus, a very simple mouse, since I've never really wanted hotkeys on my mouse before and I use the finger grip. I've also added a highly rated backlit and mechanical keyboard.

My question to you, T9K community is : Does this look like a solid build to you? Would you change anything? Different GPU? Would you upgrade to 16GB of RAM? Do you have any experiences or recommendations as far as mouses and keyboards go?
I'm willing to spend up to 1500 bucks, and I may add a joystick to the list for Star Citizen in particular.
I honestly know squat in comparison with most of the T9k community, and your input would be greatly appreciated.

Pcpartpicker
http://pcpartpicker.com/b/OaR


I'd say the only two things you should change is maybe adding a third party cooler (because stock coolers suck), and maybe going for a more expensive mouse. Razer isn't really a good choice for gaming mice, especially if you're going to go cheap. I'd say go with a Steel Series, or a Corsair.
 
Sigh, alright how about we start from the basics. What do you want this gaming rig to do? How long do you want it to last? Do you absolutely need to build this now or can you wait til Black Friday when prices are hella-good? Using the monitor you have from the older PC? Do you really want to use inheritance for a PC, I mean damn man that is just like "Hey grandpa/ma, thx for the monies you left me, it bought a really nice computers." (I guess it's better than booze and hookers, but still...) Do you know how to install liquid cooling, and by that I mean if your gonna have a Nvidia card you might have to make a junction to cool that with liquid as well and that can be a pain to do... Just give us something to work with rather than 1500 cash for gaming pc.

P.S. If you're building to where you can upgrade parts later invest in: Motherboard, CPU, PSU, SSD (best for OS boot, also Win7+ has TRIM to help prevent degradation of SSD.)
Parts that you can buy low-end on initial parts: GPU, Ram, Optical Drive (if you even get one), Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, All-in-one reader, case, etc...

Sidenote: Check on cases whether they come with fans or not, CPU as well may or may not contain a stock heatsink. Just know there is a bit ya have to do to clean the CPU when changing out cooling system later on that can be a hassle if you don't know what your doing :p.
 
Sigh, alright how about we start from the basics. What do you want this gaming rig to do? How long do you want it to last? Do you absolutely need to build this now or can you wait til Black Friday when prices are hella-good? Using the monitor you have from the older PC? Do you really want to use inheritance for a PC, I mean damn man that is just like "Hey grandpa/ma, thx for the monies you left me, it bought a really nice computers." (I guess it's better than booze and hookers, but still...) Do you know how to install liquid cooling, and by that I mean if your gonna have a Nvidia card you might have to make a junction to cool that with liquid as well and that can be a pain to do... Just give us something to work with rather than 1500 cash for gaming pc.

P.S. If you're building to where you can upgrade parts later invest in: Motherboard, CPU, PSU, SSD (best for OS boot, also Win7+ has TRIM to help prevent degradation of SSD.)
Parts that you can buy low-end on initial parts: GPU, Ram, Optical Drive (if you even get one), Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, All-in-one reader, case, etc...

Sidenote: Check on cases whether they come with fans or not, CPU as well may or may not contain a stock heatsink. Just know there is a bit ya have to do to clean the CPU when changing out cooling system later on that can be a hassle if you don't know what your doing :p.
I want this rig to run high end games on high-max settings
I'd want it to last a good 5 years before I need to upgrade.
I'm not waiting another 8 months to build this pc.
Yes, I'll be using the 20" monitor I have now.
1500 is a fraction of the inheritance and is all I'm spending of it, the rest will be waiting to pay for college. I'm getting my drivers license next month and a job will shortly follow so that I'm not spending any more of the inheritance. There's my defense of my purchase, trust me, I'm not going to blow through my money, I already watched my brother and sister do just that.
Can I install liquid cooling? Well... there's a youtube video for everything, although, I'm willing to go with traditional fans, I usually wear headphones when on the computer, so sound isn't a problem.
And yeah, I think I'll probably go with a 250gb SSD as well as the 1TB disc drive.
And sidenote noted, thanks.
 
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