The PC Builder's Guide

[Xyvik]

Spychi mentioned a thread like this, so I got around to putting my thoughts down. As of yesterday, 2/10/2010, I have been hand-building computers for exactly ten years, starting with my own and then for clients. I have built literally hundreds of machines in ten years and have come away with some distinct impressions of how it is done.

With the SC2 system requirements expected soon, many are planning on upgrading or buying a new one off the bat. I will share some of my ten years worth of experience in the hope that some may find it helpful.

Reminder: This is based off of my own personal experiences and opinions. Others will undoubtedly disagree on some areas, perhaps strongly, but following these points for me has led to the least amount of warranty work. Whenever I ventured off of my personal experience and opinions, things went poorly, both for the client and myself. Take that however you wish.

For the Uninitiated
Since you’re on a gaming forum, I assume you have at least a modicum of computer knowledge, but not everybody does, so I will provide a quick rundown of the major components necessary for your PC to function properly. For those of you who know these things, I have kept this section hidden so as to prevent a Gifted-level Wall of Text.

Hidden Content:

CPU: Also known as the processor, your CPU is often likened to the brains of your machine. It can come in single, dual, triple, or quad-core flavors. Its speed is based in Gigahertz (if yours is measured in megahertz, that’s the first sign you need to upgrade). Simplistically put, the higher the gigahertz, the faster the processor, ie, 2ghz is faster than 1ghz. Once you start getting into the high 2s, however, there is very little difference that can be seen in gaming circles. The two major players in this field are AMD and Intel.
Motherboard: the motherboard is the backbone of your computer, the piece of hardware that all other pieces of hardware connect to. Motherboards come in all shapes, sizes, colors, brands and features so the motherboard is one of the more subjective pieces of hardware around. It is extremely important to note, however, that your motherboard MUST match the ‘chipset,’ or socket, of your processor. AMD motherboards are much easier in this regard as you really only have to worry about socket AM2+ and AM3. Intel motherboards have at least five different sockets, and getting it wrong will mean a machine that won’t even fit together, let alone work.
Memory: Known by its more technical term, RAM is an extremely critical component of the computer environment. Having enough RAM is important, but also make sure it is fast and reliable.
Hard-Drive(HDD or SSD): Hard drives come in many sizes, brands, and formats. It used to be that IDE was the standard format for hooking your HDD to your motherboard, but nowadays SATA2, or SATA 3gb/s, is the new standard (a faster one is still being phased in, although they are harder to find). Most HDDs have a rotation speed of 7500rpms, but can go to 10,000rpms or even 15,000. HDDs are also measure in read speed, write speed, continuous read/write, and random access. These all mean different things at different times and if you want a more thorough explanation, PM me. SSDs are the new breed of hard-drives that do not have discs but are, in effect, giant flash drives. They are hideously expensive for their gigabyte capacity, but extremely fast in all but continuous read/write mode.
Graphics Card: also known as the GPU, the graphics card is the portal to your monitor; without one your monitor won’t receive a signal. Some motherboards have onboard graphics cards, but these are usually not desirable in a gaming situation. The big players in this arena are ATi, which is now part of AMD, and nVidia. The cost and size of the graphics card depends very much on which games you plan to purchase.
Power Supply: This is the beast that provides the juice your machine needs to run. Watts and brands also vary, but for a gaming machine, 500watts can be considered the minimum anymore.
Case: This is the other beast of the setup, and excluding the power supply, the heaviest one of the bunch. As long as it is large enough to fit all of your components there is an endless variety of cases for sale, in every price range.

Upgrading your PC
In some, perhaps most, cases you will not need to purchase an entirely new computer but may be better off simply upgrading. The best way to find out for sure is to request in this thread, posting your system specs. Memory, aka RAM, is the cheapest and first upgrade I recommend to people, especially those who have less than 1 gig of it. A great way to find out what your system has is to download this program http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Buying a whole new PC
Purchasing a new PC for SC2 will depend mainly on its minimum system specs, but be prepared to spend anywhere from $300 to $2000 on the process. Yes, I have recently built $300 machines that could run modern games at medium settings, so buying a new PC does not have to break the bank…yet. Here is a list of the items I personally recommend in each section:

CPU: I will always, always recommend AMD processors over Intel, unless you have plenty of money to blow and you don’t mind being overcharged. Intel processors are amazingly excellent pieces of machinery…if you’re planning on doing things other than gaming, such as video editing, music authoring, software debugging, etc. For gaming, however, nothing can beat AMD’s price-per-power input in the Phenom II series. I recommend the Black Editions, which provide extremely stable overclocking potential. My Phenom II X4 940, stock 3.00ghz, overclocked to 3.7 rather effortlessly with a not-too-expensive aftermarket CPU fan and it stayed stable as long as my motherboard did. If, however, you do have extra money to blow, nothing can match the i7 for pure, raw power.

Motherboard: Another of the reasons I recommend AMD processors is that their motherboards are, on average, $100 cheaper than Intel’s i-series motherboards. The AMD north and south bridge processors are also more stable and generally superior to their Intel counterparts. However, regardless of whether you get an Intel or an AMD motherboard, Asus, Gigabyte and MSI have always treated me well, in that order.

Memory: DDR3 is the current standard, with prices dropping pretty rapidly. Corsair and Kingston are the brands I trust most, in that order.

Hard-Drives: I refuse to purchase SSDs until they have more gigabtyes for their price range. For that reason Western Digital is the only company which has only had one HDD failure for me. All the others have had many, many failures. The VelociRaptor is a very nice piece of machinery. If you want an SSD, Intel, OCZ and Kingston are the brands to get.

Graphics Card: At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, there is absolutely no reason to purchase an nVidia card. Their ‘killer’ fermi card has been delayed so long that by the time it is released to the public, ATi will have a card that beats it. As it stands right now the ATi 5800 series is the best value in graphics card, for sheer power and DX11 compliance. Just make sure your case is large enough to fit it.

Power Supply: I have used many brands in my day, and only Enermax has consistently proven to be dependable. However, Corsair PSUs are also very nice. Modular PSUs give you the nice option of not having unused cords floating in your case lowering your airflow.

Once the SC2 specs are released we will have a better idea of what kind of performance we will need in order to play it properly. Until then, if you have any questions or are contemplating a PC upgrade/build, feel free to post. Myself, spychi, or another knowledgeable member will be more than happy to assist.

And if I forgot anything, be sure and let me know.

[AdmiralMengsk]

Well its that time of the year........TAX RETURNS! I'm looking to build/buy a new pc and I've got about $800 for everything. That includes the operating system. It's pretty much going to be a gaming, internet surfing rig. I don't need the monitor, keyboard, or mouse. I know I want to go with ATI GPU and AMD CPU. I don't really have preferences for anything else. If its a little over $800 I maybe able to get the wife to let me swing it but can't be much. Help please.

[Xyvik]

$800, eh? That'll be a bit of a challenge, but not too much! I'll take a look at it tomorrow (waaay past bedtime) and I'll make you a suggestion

Question: building it yourself? (I hope?)

[AdmiralMengsk]

Yeah building it myself.

[screw_ball69]

What do you got fpr a computer already Mensk, might be cheaper to swap out parts.

[AdmiralMengsk]

I've got a wal-mart fall-apart E-machine. I'm not using any parts out of it due to the um...plans I have for this POS.

[screw_ball69]

Save the case, save money there?

[spychi]

@Admiral Mengsk
AMD Phenom II 955BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-808-_-Product

HD 4870 1GB from Sapphire
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102849
or
HD 5770 Vapor-X cooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-868-_-Product

Corsair Dominator 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-265-_-Product

Asus M4A79XTD EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-402-_-Product

OCZ Stealth Xtreme
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-010-_-Product


all this 690$
+ a case
CM690 Advanced (new version)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-216-_-Product
CM Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-196-_-Product
Antec 902
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-058-_-Product

I exclude the HDD since I think you have one already, if you think about buying a HDD than you need to add ~ 75$ to all that (~875$ total)
this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-359-_-Product

[Xyvik]

If you plan to sledgehammer the old one, just for the heck of it, I understand. I actually also wouldn't recommend saving the case in this case (ha...ha..) e-machines have hideously poor air circulation.

Anyhoo, I came in at under $800 for you...it won't be the monster machine, but it'll handle anything on the market right now and certainly SC2.

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition

MSI 790X-G45 AM3 Motherboard

XFX Radeon 5770 1gig

Western Digital Caviar Green 750gig HDD

Kingston 2gig DDR3 1066

Antec Nine Hundred Computer Case

Antec NEO 620W Power Supply

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM

LITE-ON CD/DVD burner

With shipping costs it comes out to $780.48, so you could treat your wife to a small dinner on the money you saved

/edit Spychi's is also a very nice rig. I assumed you wanted to rid yourself of all your old components, so take a look at both offerings and see what you think

[spychi]

The Phenom II X4 955 outperforms completly the one Xyvik posted
2GB Kingston of ram like really?
4GB of fast Corsair's Dominator memory kills it
No OS included, unless someone says so
same goes for CD/DVD ROM's
OCZ, Corsair, CM, Tagan are the leaders in terms of PSU