So, I'm buying a new PC...

[War lord]

I'm not the most techy person when it comes to hardware. Which makes buying a new PC a bit of a daunting task. There isn't really much out there in terms of information as to what's compatible with what, what preforms well etc. Everyone and their cousin is trying to sell you some peace of crap with no RAM and €200 worth of LEDs on the case.

So, I have a GEforce GTX 750 Ti SC GPU, everything needs to be compatible with that. I know I want 8 GB of RAM. I want a Processor that keeps pace with the GPU, last machine I had the card in I was experiencing slowdown due to a weak Processor. I don't need to buy any accessories just the stack itself. My hoped for budget is between €350 and €550. Anyone more knowledgeable then me have suggestions?

[Goofy]

Everyone and their cousin is trying to sell you some peace of crap with no RAM and €200 worth of LEDs on the case.

Indeed. Never buy a prebuilt PC if you hold your hard-earned money dear. By picking parts yourself you'll save yourself a lot of money, and, on the long run, spare yourself quite a few headaches.

As for your request, if you can give the following details it will be much easier to help you:

1. Where do you live (country)?
2. Is selling your current GPU and getting a new one an option? (In other words, is it brand new?)
3. Are you going to do video editing, streaming etc. on your PC, or will it only be a gaming machine? Also, what kind of games do you play?
4. Do you need a solid-state drive (SSD)? In case you don't know what SSDs do, they basically make your PC boot a lot faster (that's the best thing about them) and can be used to make your programs run faster.
5. Do you need a new chassis or is the GPU the only pre-existing part of the build?
6. Do you need to have the PC pre-built or do you have a friend to help with that?
7. Is the cost of the operation system included?
8. Does your PC need to be able to be overclocked?
9. Are you willing to spend some extra to get a more future-proof system? Also, is there any chance you can spend more or is 550 euros the absolute maximum?
10. Does the size of the chassis matter?
11. How quiet does the machine need to be?

Well, that's quite the list but if you can answer these it'll be much easier to help you out with this. Sorry for the messy sentences, I'm tired.

Regarding part compatibility, I guess I can enlighten you a bit - it's never bad to know more stuff.

There isn't really much out there in terms of information as to what's compatible with what

Checking part compatibility is actually quite easy (though I do understand why it might seem daunting). You just need to check the following things:

1. Your chassis has enough room for your GPU (length) and CPU cooler (height). This information can be found in the chassis product details.
2. Your motherboard, power supply and chassis are the same form factor. ATX is the most common one (therefore you'll want to go for ATX). ATX cases can also accommodate smaller motherboards (Mini-ATX, microATX).
3. Your power supply is powerful enough (550W is usually the minimum for a gaming PC) and has the required cables (this is usually only a concern if you plan on running two GPUs at the same time).
4. Your motherboard has the right socket for your CPU - for AMD that is currently AM3+ and for Intel LGA 1150/1155. The socket is usually in the name of the parts.

I think that's all. However, there is also this great site that can be used to check if your parts are compatible with each other.

Man, I love lists.

[War lord]

Indeed. Never buy a prebuilt PC if you hold your hard-earned money dear. By picking parts yourself you'll save yourself a lot of money, and, on the long run, spare yourself quite a few headaches.

As for your request, if you can give the following details it will be much easier to help you:

1. Where do you live (country)?
Republic of Ireland.

2. Is selling your current GPU and getting a new one an option? (In other words, is it brand new?)

I got it the last month, I'm happy with the performance and it'll run on relatively low grade Hardware. So I'm not really willing to buy another one that might make the Machine €100 more expensive for the sake of 10 frames better performance.

3. Are you going to do video editing, streaming etc. on your PC, or will it only be a gaming machine? Also, what kind of games do you play?

Gaming only, I don't do any of that leet yewtubes supa star stuff. The most intense thing I see myself running on it is Arma 3, I mostly play older games and Grand Strategy games like CK II, though I also play Skyrim.

4. Do you need a solid-state drive (SSD)? In case you don't know what SSDs do, they basically make your PC boot a lot faster (that's the best thing about them) and can be used to make your programs run faster.

Nope, while they do seem to be the future of Hard drives I don't see them as anything more then an extravagance outside of specialist applications in the current time. They cost more and store less. A 1 TB HDD is more then sufficient for my needs.

5. Do you need a new chassis or is the GPU the only pre-existing part of the build?

I have a GPU, literally everything else has to be bought.

6. Do you need to have the PC pre-built or do you have a friend to help with that?

I have any number of friends and associates who'll build it either for free or very little money. So to avoid ugly cases/daylight robbery, I would actually prefer a parts list.

7. Is the cost of the operation system included?

That's within the budget. So yes, I need to fork out for a new copy of Windows 7.

8. Does your PC need to be able to be overclocked?

Nope. I'd also like to ensure it isn't one of those rigs that has to worry about over heating within normal operations. As I said I'm far from Hardware savvy.

9. Are you willing to spend some extra to get a more future-proof system? Also, is there any chance you can spend more or is 550 euros the absolute maximum?

Not really, I'm not one for playing new releases and I'll probably buy a console at some point to satisfy my current release needs. The more I spend the longer I have to wait. So I'd rather shoot for the budget now and upgrade a part later then have to wait another 3 months.

10. Does the size of the chassis matter?

So long as it's within reason, no. I don't expect to be transporting it anywhere frequently and it's going in a bedroom so it's not as if I need to worry about it clashing with the decor or something.

11. How quiet does the machine need to be?

Again, so long as it's within reason not a concern. I don't live in one of those households where anything more then a whisper is casus belli for a huge row. (Everyone who's in their twenties has that one friend, am I right?)

Answers in Italics.

[Goofy]

I got it the last month, I'm happy with the performance and it'll run on relatively low grade Hardware. So I'm not really willing to buy another one that might make the Machine €100 more expensive for the sake of 10 frames better performance.

Well the reason I'm asking this is that you could get an AMD R9 280 for 200 euros or a bit less, and it's way more powerful than your current GPU (it can easily run Battlefield 4 at 60+ FPS on ultra while yours will probably struggle to maintain 35-40 FPS). You could probably get 100 to 120 euros for your GPU if you sold it, so if I was you I would try and do that. If not, fine, the EVGA superclocked GTX 750 Ti is probably the most powerful of them and it's not that bad at all. Especially if you're happy with the performance yourself. But I can totally recommend the R9 280, it's a damn good card for that money. Up to you.

Gaming only, I don't do any of that leet yewtubes supa star stuff. The most intense thing I see myself running on it is Arma 3, I mostly play older games and Grand Strategy games like CK II, though I also play Skyrim.

Good to know. Arma 3 is super heavy though.

Nope, while they do seem to be the future of Hard drives I don't see them as anything more then an extravagance outside of specialist applications in the current time. They cost more and store less. A 1 TB HDD is more then sufficient for my needs.

Alrighty. I warmly recommend anyone to get an SSD but it's not a must-have for budget builders at all. If you ever have a spare 70 euros or so, get a Crucial MX100 128 GB.

I have any number of friends and associates who'll build it either for free or very little money. So to avoid ugly cases/daylight robbery, I would actually prefer a parts list.

Yeah, I actually meant if you need the selection of parts assembled into a PC by the company you buy the stuff from but apparently you don't so that's good.

That's within the budget. So yes, I need to fork out for a new copy of Windows 7.

Are you sure you want Windows 7? I mean, that's what I got too but Windows 8 is better from a performance standpoint while it costs pretty much the same amount of money as far as I know.

Not really, I'm not one for playing new releases and I'll probably buy a console at some point to satisfy my current release needs.

I'm afraid that makes literally no sense, seeing as your PC is going to be multiple times more powerful than those "next-gen" consoles. The consoles only run new games because they either run in 1080p at 30 FPS or 720p/anyrandomnumberp at 60 FPS, on what would be "medium" graphics preset on the PC. You can get the same, or in fact better, results by doing the same thing - taking the graphics settings down a bit.

Not to mention in the long term PC gaming is way more affordable. Your money is naturally yours but I strongly advise against getting a console. And that money would be much better spent on upgrading your PC.

Republic of Ireland.

That's good, you'll have plenty of stores to choose from. Speaking of which, I think Amazon is one of the cheaper ones out there.

I'll give you my configuration proposal(s) soon enough. Considering the tricky situation you are in I'll probably make at least two.

[War lord]

Well the reason I'm asking this is that you could get an AMD R9 280 for 200 euros or a bit less, and it's way more powerful than your current GPU (it can easily run Battlefield 4 at 60+ FPS on ultra while yours will probably struggle to maintain 35-40 FPS). You could probably get 100 to 120 euros for your GPU if you sold it, so if I was you I would try and do that. If not, fine, the EVGA superclocked GTX 750 Ti is probably the most powerful of them and it's not that bad at all. Especially if you're happy with the performance yourself. But I can totally recommend the R9 280, it's a damn good card for that money. Up to you.

Good to know. Arma 3 is super heavy though.

Alrighty. I warmly recommend anyone to get an SSD but it's not a must-have for budget builders at all. If you ever have a spare 70 euros or so, get a Crucial MX100 128 GB.

Yeah, I actually meant if you need the selection of parts assembled into a PC by the company you buy the stuff from but apparently you don't so that's good.

Are you sure you want Windows 7? I mean, that's what I got too but Windows 8 is better from a performance standpoint while it costs pretty much the same amount of money as far as I know.

I'm afraid that makes literally no sense, seeing as your PC is going to be multiple times more powerful than those "next-gen" consoles. The consoles only run new games because they either run in 1080p at 30 FPS or 720p/anyrandomnumberp at 60 FPS, on what would be "medium" graphics preset on the PC. You can get the same, or in fact better, results by doing the same thing - taking the graphics settings down a bit.

Not to mention in the long term PC gaming is way more affordable. Your money is naturally yours but I strongly advise against getting a console. And that money would be much better spent on upgrading your PC.

That's good, you'll have plenty of stores to choose from. Speaking of which, I think Amazon is one of the cheaper ones out there.

I'll give you my configuration proposal(s) soon enough. Considering the tricky situation you are in I'll probably make at least two.

Battlefield isn't on my playing list, so that's not a concern. As I said heaviest thing it'll touch is Arma 3. I can just bring the settings down a little on that.

I see no point in getting an SSD till they work out the kinks in the technology.

Windows 8 is in the running for worlds worst UI in my book, if I wanted my desktop to look like a Xbone dash, I'd buy an Xbone.

Wrestling Games are console only, that's a large part of my gaming. So I'll be getting a PS4 for that and I'll play MGS 5 on it while I'm at it.

[Goofy]

Battlefield isn't on my playing list, so that's not a concern. As I said heaviest thing it'll touch is Arma 3. I can just bring the settings down a little on that.

It is kind of a concern because while you may not play Battlefield (I only used it as an example by the way) it means you could get a much more powerful GPU for just a bit more money. And Arma 3 is way heavier to run than Battlefield 4. However, the good thing (kind of) is that Arma is very CPU-reliant so you might not get any better FPS even if you had a more powerful graphics card. So you are right in a way. Also, because of Arma's CPU-reliability, bringing the settings down won't do much in regards to FPS, but then again that has nothing to do with your GPU of choice.

If you don't want to sell your GTX 750 Ti, keep it. It's an alright card and great value for the money for sure. And you have the EVGA superclocked edition so it's probably as powerful as a GTX 750 Ti gets.

I see no point in getting an SSD till they work out the kinks in the technology.

I don't think there are any problems with it right now. A normal SSD can currently endure 500+ terabytes of writing. I've been running an SSD myself for three or four years now with zero problems. I'd say SSDs are perfectly fine as long as you don't store irreplaceable data on it.

But no, you don't necessarily need one.

Windows 8 is in the running for worlds worst UI in my book, if I wanted my desktop to look like a Xbone dash, I'd buy an Xbone.

I know what you mean, that's exactly why I got W7 64-bit as well. Though they say you can customize W8 so it looks like W7. Anyway, W7 is absolutely fine.

Wrestling Games are console only, that's a large part of my gaming. So I'll be getting a PS4 for that and I'll play MGS 5 on it while I'm at it.

Alright, that's one of the few viable reasons (to me anyways) to buy a console.

[War lord]

It is kind of a concern because while you may not play Battlefield (I only used it as an example by the way) it means you could get a much more powerful GPU for just a bit more money. And Arma 3 is way heavier to run than Battlefield 4. However, the good thing (kind of) is that Arma is very CPU-reliant so you might not get any better FPS even if you had a more powerful graphics card. So you are right in a way. Also, because of Arma's CPU-reliability, bringing the settings down won't do much in regards to FPS, but then again that has nothing to do with your GPU of choice..

You've hit on it Goofy, I've pre-tested this, Arma 3 runs fine on my card, the problem at that point was loading lag, which is a CPU and RAM issue. Worst case scenario I can always upgrade cards at a later date. Arma 3 is heavy because it does alot of stuff with the CPU and it's badly optimized.

[Goofy]

You've hit on it Goofy, I've pre-tested this, Arma 3 runs fine on my card, the problem at that point was loading lag, which is a CPU and RAM issue. Worst case scenario I can always upgrade cards at a later date. Arma 3 is heavy because it does alot of stuff with the CPU and it's badly optimized.

Great job, it seems you have done your homework.

...

Now, finally my recommended configuration. It's right here, with German prices (so you see them in euros). Let me know what you think about the price - it can be brought down a bit by making certain sacrifices, as I tried to make this as future-proof as possible (that means this build has slightly more expensive parts - I suggest you do pay some extra, it's worth in the long term, and we're not talking about €100 more). Also, note that the German version doesn't show the price for Windows 7 64-bit for some reason, but it's around 90 euros. I'm not sure if you can get it cheaper somewhere. I saw some site selling Windows keys for very cheap prices but I don't know if it's legit. Will have to take a look into that.

I'll list the parts here as well and make some comments on them where needed.

CPU: AMD FX-6350

Six cores running at 3.9 GHz. You could get the 3.5 GHz FX-6300 for a few euros less but since you're not one to OC, I recommend this factory overclocked CPU. Intel i3 would be better for most games right now, but it only has two cores and games are currently beginning to utilize more than two cores so this is one of the choices that make this build more future-proof. It's kind of slightly underpowered now, but you're very likely going to see a great benefit from the extra cores in two or three years. Some games, such as Battlefield 4, do this already unless I'm mistaken.

It's also great for multitasking. And great value overall. This thing should currently not bottleneck any GPU out there, especially none of those I'd currently recommend to you.

CPU Cooler: Gelid Solutions CC-Siberian-01 51.9 CFM blah blah

Nothing special here, just one of the cheapest CPU coolers I was able to find. You are gonna need one, because AMD stock fans tend to sound like jigsaws. And I'm not even kidding. I don't know if this thing is any good but it can't be worse than the AMD factory cooler/fan.

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0

Again not the cheapest mobo (definitely not an expensive one either), but it has more features and will surely support your CPU without a BIOS update. You can even do some slight overclocking with this one. Supports USB 3.0, which is a good plus though not a must-have.

Also, you're going to get an OEM copy of Windows and the license can only be activated on one motherboard, so you'll want to get a good one at once. This board should last until Windows 7 has become outdated and you should get a new version of Windows anyway.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600 MHz CL9 2x4 GB

Quite affordable while it is probably the most reliable RAM out there. 8 gigs is a must.

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB

Nothing special here. Solid HDD, yet cheap.

Chassis: Cooler Master K280 (ATX)

Just a recommendation. The greatest upside of this chassis is that you can install a very long GPU inside it so you will never need to buy a new case again. Well, at least not for years. If you don't like its looks (Google it), just pick a different one. It's a matter of personal preference so I can't really choose the chassis for you.

PSU: EVGA 600B 600W

EVGA makes pretty good PSUs, yet they are very affordable. Therefore you can afford to get a 600 W for further future-proofing (you don't want to end up buying a new PSU if you need to upgrade your GPU in the near future).

Optical drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE

One of the cheapest DVD drives out there.

...

Let me know what you think. If you are desperate to bring the cost down, I can make another "as cheap as possible" config for you. Just know that I would personally go for this one, definitely.

[Totalheadache]

Just my my two cents i'd get cheapest overclockable quad intel and not an amd chip. Not yet.

But that's my opinion.

No reason u cant overclock nothing hard about it.

Oh and guys you talk about fps and gpus but I cant see anywhere mention of the op's screen resolution.

When I upgrade I look to do monitor as well (better monitor with more pixels means better experience). Ofc this means better gpu which needs enough cpu muscle (i.e you are looking at min 4ghz with latest gpus). If you do have a decent enough monitor then by all means keep it and get a better gpu.

P.s nothing to much wrong though with goofy suggestions. Amd chips arent bad per say but you will lose out on a good chunk of perf in games.

[Goofy]

Just my my two cents i'd get cheapest overclockable quad intel and not an amd chip. Not yet.

But that's my opinion.

Yeah, it's not a bad idea either but the cheapest 4th gen Intel i5 CPU sells for 160 euros or so, so it's over his budget. FX-6350 is fine.

I'm all for War lord buying an i5 though, but that's up to him if he wants to spend the extra €50.

Oh and guys you talk about fps and gpus but I cant see anywhere mention of the op's screen resolution.

When I upgrade I look to do monitor as well (better monitor with more pixels means better experience). Ofc this means better gpu which needs enough cpu muscle (i.e you are looking at min 4ghz with latest gpus). If you do have a decent enough monitor then by all means keep it and get a better gpu.

We've talked about that stuff using Visitor Messages, but actually I don't know the resolution. He's not getting a monitor of his own at first from what I gathered, so it's best to prepare his machine for the time he does get a proper one - I think he's going to upgrade the needed parts/monitor later on when he has the money if it is needed. And he's certainly not going 4K anytime soon if that's what you mean.

The cheapest 24" 1920x1080 60 Hz monitors sell for €120-ish so there's no reason for him to get anything worse than that because that is a very affordable price. Anyhow, that doesn't matter now.

[Goofy]

Actually, he could get an i5 without exceeding the current budget too much. I did some research on allkeyshop.com last night and I found out that you can get a Windows 7 64-bit (seemingly) key for 50 euros, legally. That means he'll get it for 40 euros less which in turn means he could get an i5 and still keep the cost near the €500 mark (and still below 550 which is the absolute maximum budget he has). Indeed, that would be the best thing he can do unless he thinks €520-ish is too much.

[War lord]

I'll probably spring for an i5, for future proofing and because I'm ever skeptical of AMD workmanship.

[Goofy]

I would probably buy the AMD CPU on your budget (again, keeping the future in mind - games supporting multicore processors are coming soon, and the FX-6350 has 6 cores). But if you are sure you want Intel, I'd recommend this. There are cheaper i5 CPUs out there, but I'd say if you go for it, get a good one. That particular build will exceed your intended budget but if you want to go the Intel route, that's the stuff worth getting.

You can also look around if there are some used i5-4670Ks/i5-4690Ks for sale (I could pay €150-160 for one, but no more). Could save you a bit of money. You can also get used RAM if you can find some for cheap. RAM failures are very rare so the risk of it ending up being a bad purchase is very small. And the RAM specs aren't that important as far as gaming is concerned, as long as you have 8 GB or more.

[War lord]

That last list looks all good, might spring for the aforementioned R9 280 should I get more money then I'm expecting.

[Goofy]

That last list looks all good, might spring for the aforementioned R9 280 should I get more money then I'm expecting.

Yeah, it's worth getting should you decide to upgrade your GPU. In general AMD makes the better GPUs below the €300 mark. But don't worry about that now, the GTX 750 Ti you have is decent enough for now so it's not a priority. Luckily you have the superclocked model which is more powerful than most 750 Ti models, though it'll still be underpowered comparing to your CPU so you'll probably want to make the upgrade at some point.

You can also look around and see if there are any good deals on used Radeon HD 7950s. It's essentially the same card as R9 280 but their prices are usually lower. You might be able to grab one for €100-120 and sell your 750 Ti at a similar price, while new R9 280s usually sell for €190 and above. If you want a new one, keep an eye out for sales. The manufacturer doesn't matter all that much if you can get it at a considerably lower price, but if none is much cheaper than the rest, pick Gigabyte, ASUS or MSI, whichever is cheapest. I'm a huge Gigabyte advocate at the moment and it is probably cheaper than ASUS or MSI, so you should probably get the Gigabyte model. But that's entirely up to you and the prices in the end.

Any idea where (and when, out of curiosity) you're going to buy the stuff from?

[War lord]

I was going to source the parts from Amazon. I'm expecting €300-€400 euro this Christmas from my relatives on my fathers side (I'm one of only 2 members of my Father's family still young enough to receive a substantial gift) and I have around 300 euro saved from my v.modest income. So as long as I don't get unexpectedly short changed I should be able to order the parts late December/early January, have them by mid January and have the thing built for mid to late January.

[Goofy]

Alright, sounds good. I will be pretty much away for the whole 2015 after January 5th so I can't help you out more, but it would be great to hear how things turned out when you're done.