Buying/building a computer

[Nyxos]

hey guys, I want to build myself a PC for the first time ever and I'm quite ignorant of all the stuff I should buy, and where.

The reason I don't want a pre built computer is that I want to buy the components in the US then bring them back to France where I live most of the time in my suitcase. The main reason is that I don't have enough €s to buy a computer and the exchange rate is horrible.


I have a $1000 dollar budget and a few things I really want about my computer :


1- I want it to play Battlefield 3 and the latest IL-2 (Cliffs of Dover)
2- I want to video card to have a DVI exit/thing/whatever that's called (but don't they all have those now ?)
3- I want a good surround audio card
4- I want it to last long


the only thing I'll buy in France is the case, since that won't fit in a suitcase.I'm looking to buy all these things on internet and have them shipped to San Francisco, or buy them in a store in the Bay Area, whichever is the cheapest and safest.


Thanks in advance

[mrmouth]

I'm headed out the door at the moment...

Are you factoring in a monitor to your $1000 budget? Either way, you can get a very nice build going with your budget.

Newegg is just about the most popular online vendor for PC components, etc. Keeping in mind that they are based in Cali and you will unforutnatley be charged tax as a result if you do order while in Cali. A positive is that they now offer will-call at the Southern Cali warehouse so you can pickup your order after ordering online and save on any shipping. Not a bad drive from SF, and something you might want to consider.

So with tax in mind, you can start to look at stores as well. They have a Micro Center in the Bay Area, which typically has great deals on processors, and a Fry's.

[Nyxos]

If I order while in France, would I have to pay tax ? I'll still ship it to San Francisco.Also, I don't have a drivers licence, so I'm limited to public transportation systems, but they are pretty good in the Bay Area.
And I already have a monitor, 27' HD and all that


Newegg looks nice, and I think I can get someone to drive me to Fry's, Palo Alto isn't too far away IIRC.


thanks a lot, I still need all your help in choosing my stuff since I have no clue what anything means :/

[mrmouth]

If I order while in France, would I have to pay tax ? I'll still ship it to San Francisco.

thanks a lot, I still need all your help in choosing my stuff since I have no clue what anything means :/

I'm almost positive that Newegg requires that your billing and shipping addresses are the same. I would call them and tell them your situation, find out about tax, etc. Or if you don't feel comfortable doing that I could try and find out for you.

And Im really out of the loop at the moment. I haven't been following the new stuff that much since my last build. I'm sure this thread will populate with plenty of people looking to give you advice. And ultimately you will end up with the best build possible for your budget.

[Devilmaypoop]

You should get an i5 2500K as the CPU(K model because you can easily overclock it later), since it easily has the best bang for the buck in its category. Might want 8gb of RAM since you want it to last long(two 4GB sticks, either Corsair or G-skill).

As for the GPU, I recommend AMD 6950.

[Nyxos]

I would pay with an american credit card anyway so the shipping address would be the same as the billing address, and tax isn't too bad in CA anyway. I don't mind giving money to the state.

@devil, thanks, I might not want to overclock anything since I'm of the cautious type, and I'm scared I might break it or reduce its lifespan. I know a lot of them are relatively easy to overclock and safe so I might still look into it. I'd definitively go for at least 8gigs, unless if 8 gigs is enough for a long time.


I really don't want this computer to break down in 2 years or to be completely obsolete in 5. I know these things go really fast but the longer this computer lasts, the happier I am, in 5 years I'll be an engineer so I'd be able to afford a NASA computer

[Devilmaypoop]

@devil, thanks, I might not want to overclock anything since I'm of the cautious type, and I'm scared I might break it or reduce its lifespan. I know a lot of them are relatively easy to overclock and safe so I might still look into it. I'd definitively go for at least 8gigs, unless if 8 gigs is enough for a long time.

You won't really see any reduction in lifespan from a reasonable OC with voltages under the safe limits. Like 4ghz-4.3ghz from the stock 3.3ghz. Games have a sweespot for little over 4ghz, so it would pay off. Modern CPUs have all kinds of safeguards and such, so you can't really break it unless you ramp the voltage so high it would fry the CPU in seconds.

Stock frequency will do for now though, as 2500K is very powerful. Doubt you will need to OC for few years.

[Hunter Makoy]

With Newegg you can ship to a different address. I had to do that when I built my last rig while in school.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

indeed when i order my shipping is always different then my billing, since customers pay for parts themselves and there delievered to my door for assembly and testing, that way if im not here there parts are still under warranty

[Nyxos]

so, I'll probably be getting this ($280) as a graphics card, this for RAM ($80), this as the CPU ($220)

All that on Newegg is $574,97 at this time, so that leaves $430 for a motherboard, a fan, a sound card, a HDD (1To would be cool since I eat up 500Go pretty fast), a power supply, a DVD drive. I'll buy the case in France so its not included in the $1000.
Have I forgotten anything ?


(for those that don't want to click the links and thus finance TWC, the GPU is a radeon 6950 2Gb, the CPU a i5 2500K and the ram is 8 Gb of G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH - that last part is gibberish for me so I copy pasted )



edit : since I forgot that americans never talk about tax, I forgot to add an extra 50 bucks to my total, but I'll pay tax over that $1000 limit, I can afford $100 more.

[Devilmaypoop]

so, I'll probably be getting this ($280) as a graphics card,

Might want to get this instead. It's only 10 dollars more but runs much cooler, around 20c or so less, so you don't definitely have to worry about temperatures.

[Nyxos]

indeed, thank you very much.

[mrmouth]

The thing with the 6950 is that you can 'unlock' it and actually achieve 6970 levels of performance. A huge deal. It isnt a guarantee, but works for the vast majority of people, and is very easy. Just mouse clicks. You can do this down the road when you feel more comfortable, and there are plenty of sites that will walk you through it.

What you need, though, is the proper video card to do so. And neither of those will do. The MSI Twin Frozr will, but you need the III. Or this from XFX, which Newegg apparently does not have in stock right now.

Keep in mind that the MSI has a 2-3 warranty, and the XFX is a lifetime warranty, that is even transferable to someone else. That can be handy if you want to sell it for an upgrade down the road.


And you dont need 8gb of ram. 4-6 gb will do just fine.

Take a look at this, stay with the single 6950 and go for the cheapest ram possible: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...a-pc,2969.html

[Nyxos]

so I did a little research on my own and found this sound card (http://fr.store.creative.com/sound-b...m/1-17927.aspx) and I was wondering if it might be worth it that I spend $100 more on a i7 2600k instead of the i5 2500k. that would bring my total to about $800, leaving $200 for the motherboard (any suggestions on that ? or does newegg propose the best motherboard for your current purchase and I haven't found that button yet ?) What do I need to connect to a network via WiFi or Ethernet ? (most likely Ethernet though).

Also, what's a good brand of power supplies ? And a good brand of cases ?


thanks guys.

[Devilmaypoop]

I was wondering if it might be worth it that I spend $100 more on a i7 2600k instead of the i5 2500k.

No. Unless you run applications that use 8 threads all the day, it's useless. You'll get slightly better temperatures and overclocking with the i5 2500K.

[Nyxos]

No. Unless you run applications that use 8 threads all the day, it's useless. You'll get slightly better temperatures and overclocking with the i5 2500K.

that was what I was thinking, but in terms of durability and capacity to play games or run programs in a couple or more years, I was wondering if, in the eventuality that I have $100 to spare, I should go for the i7.


On another note, whats a good brand of HDDs I could buy from ? I'm looking for fast 1Tb disks.

[Devilmaypoop]

that was what I was thinking, but in terms of durability and capacity to play games or run programs in a couple or more years, I was wondering if, in the eventuality that I have $100 to spare, I should go for the i7.


On another note, whats a good brand of HDDs I could buy from ? I'm looking for fast 1Tb disks.

Well current games rarely even use 4 threads, most common being 2 or 3. 6 threads are only supported by a few games. With out current heading, I don't see games utilizing more than 4-6 cores for the next 2-4 years. the extra 4 threads would only make a 5%-20% difference anyways, because they are so weak. But if you just happen to have the cash to spare, go for it.

Samsung, they are easily the best. Just buy a Spinpoint F3 1TB, much cheaper, reliable and faster than other companies 1TB models.

[mrmouth]

Also, what's a good brand of power supplies ? And a good brand of cases ?

Stay away from Creative sound cards if possible. They have been steadily going downhill in terms of reliability, and the drivers they run are have always been terrible.

I would recommend Auzentech, but they are currently going through a product reshuffling. The thing with Auzentech is they are built off of Creative Xfi cards, but better engineered (better reliability) and they have their own drivers which are worlds better than Creative drivers. I own this, its more than enough, and a great blend of music and game capability. Has a built in headphone amplifier. Not in stock at many places anymore.

There is also HT/Omega and Asus Xonar cards - which are fairly expensive.


Id stick with the 2500k and spread the $100 around.

As far as cases go, you can go mid or full tower. Id probably go full tower, but it is huge, and you would have to consider that in brining it back home. Look at Antec and Cooler Master.

Might as well just recommend Corsair power supplies, but if price is an issue, you could maybe find something cheaper.

[Nyxos]

The size of the case isn't a problem, I'll buy that in France. thank you all. I think I might be good to go except for the motherboard now, if someone could point me at them, I'd be very grateful

[Gorrrrrn]

I have a titanium x-fi sound card - great when it works, a pain when it doesn't.
Creative have a new beta driver which seems more reliable than the old one.
They are notorious for being slow with driver updates.

I'd go with a on-board sound chip to start with and see how you get on with it.
If it really is bad then get a sound card, but if you can live with it, don't bother

If you need to know cost of importing items (like computer components between countries) check:
http://www.dutycalculator.com/