zombola
04-27-2015, 12:50 PM
C/P fr TheSurfinBird
How to build a gaming PC!
http://i.imgur.com/P7iMnKm.jpg
TravianTrav's guide on how to build your very own computer! As long as you do your research and ask if you ever need help you will be fine!
Motherboard (mobo)
http://i.imgur.com/Gh31Kms.jpg
The motherboard or mobo is the spine of your computer. It takes the messages and sends them all over the place to wherever they are needed, so do not skimp out on your motherboard!
- Check the socket for the motherboard. You cannot fit an intel CPU in a motherboard for an older processor or an AMD processor! Be sure that the motherboard supports your CPU! Check the manufacturer's website.
- Check for wireless internet if you will need it. If your motherboard does not have any you might need to buy a wireless card to attach to the motherboard in one of the PCIe slots.
- Check the amount of PCIe slots. That is where you will plug in your graphics card and possibly a sound card or something else.
- Check which chipset the motherboard is on. For instance the ASRock Extreme3 Z87 and ASRock Extreme3 Z97 are practically the same except all Z97 motherboards will have some extra features over their Z87 equivalents as well as support for the latest intel processors.
- Check the general quality of the motherboard. You do not want something that will break within a year of use.
- Check the overclocking capabilities if you will be overclocking.
- Check for the amount of RAM slots and how much RAM it supports
- Check how many sata slots it has. If it has 6 for instance you will be able to place a maximum of 6 pieces of hardware which transfer data such as CD drives, hard drives and SSD's.
- Check for how many USB slots it has. If you have a tendency to use up 4 USB 3.0 slots and 2 USB 2.0 slots at all times be sure to have a motherboard that can support that!
- Check if it supports SLI or Crossfire. SLI is the ability to support a second graphics card. Crossfire is the AMD equivalent.
- Read the motherboard manual. There are some wires that have to be plugged in a certain way or else the computer won't turn on! You won't destroy it but it may cause a headache.
Processor (CPU)
http://i.imgur.com/jlS37p7.jpg
Your CPU is the brain of your computer. It will do all of the major processing so you should pick one that you will be comfortable with. Remember that the speed that everything will run at is generally limited by your CPU unless another factor such as hard drive speed gets in the way first.
Different CPU's are for different situations. For instance if you will only be gaming you do not need an i7 4770k. You will be better off saving your money by buying an i5 4670k instead (the "k" at the end of the processor means it is unlocked, which allows for easier overclocking of the processor).
Look into the CPU and decide what will be most suitable for your situation. Keep in mind that PC parts do not scale at a 1:1 ratio when it comes to price:performance so the difference between a 250 dollar processor and a 300 dollar processor will be less than the difference between a 200 dollar processor and a 250 dollar processor.
Do not limit yourself by only looking at AMD or Intel. They are both good brands, although you should keep in mind to look behind the numbers. For instance the AMD FX-8350 is an 8-core 4 GHz beast for about $220 while the Intel i7 4770k has 4 cores at 3.5 GHz for $385. Sounds like a no-brainer right? Wrong! The i7 4770k is actually a much stronger processor. It has hyperthreading meaning it runs 8 logical cores and although it does not run at 4 GHz it can keep its own and is in fact much more efficient than the FX-8350.
Basically, look into the processor and make sure it suits your situation.
CPU cooler
http://i.imgur.com/QVejin4.jpg
Your processor will come with a CPU cooler already but not a very good one. If you want a silent computer or want better cooling so that you can overclock you will want a better CPU cooler.
- You will have to add thermal paste to your CPU. Clean off your CPU with isopropyl alchohol using a cotton swab then add a small dab of thermal paste in the middle of the CPU. Place the CPU cooler on top and screw in the nails and you're done.
- Check reviews to make sure the CPU cooler is good enough for what you have planned.
- Check measurements. If the CPU cooler is too tall for your case it won't work. If it is too wide it may cover up your RAM.
- Closed loop liquid CPU coolers are almost silent and cool more efficiently than air coolers in most cases but they are more expensive.
- Different coolers are mounted in different ways so be sure to go over the manual to make sure you know what you're doing!
Graphics card (GPU)
http://i.imgur.com/OmL6mpM.jpg
Ahh the GPU. Arguably this is the most important part of your build and where 40-50% of your money should go.
- DO NOT COMPARE AMD TO NVIDIA BY NUMBERS IT DOES NOT WORK. Google up comparisons and the frame rates that the graphics cards support, do not just base it off of the amount of vRAM they have and their clock speeds.
- Do your research. You don't want to buy an extremely hot graphics card which throttles down and performs more slowly than it should because of how how it gets.
RAM
http://i.imgur.com/6ipTJfj.jpg
RAM is generally simple to choose. Just keep a few things in mind.
- 1600 MHz is about the sweet spot. More than 1600 is generally more expensive and might not be worth it.
- 8GB of RAM is the sweet spot for gaming. Most games will not utilize more than 4GB but having a bit of extra room for other programs will help.
- Your motherboard will only have a certain amount of slots for RAM and will only support a limited amount of it, so don't go out and buy 64 GB of RAM to find out your motherboard can only support 32 GB.
- Dual-channel will always run faster than single channel, so two 4 GB RAM sticks in a dual channel configuration (be sure to check your motherboard because to run dual channel successfully you will need to place the RAM in the correct sockets. Some motherboards do not support dual channel as well.) will run faster than a single 8GB RAM stick in general.
- RAM coolers are practically useless. Don't bother with them. Just save your money.
How to build a gaming PC!
http://i.imgur.com/P7iMnKm.jpg
TravianTrav's guide on how to build your very own computer! As long as you do your research and ask if you ever need help you will be fine!
Motherboard (mobo)
http://i.imgur.com/Gh31Kms.jpg
The motherboard or mobo is the spine of your computer. It takes the messages and sends them all over the place to wherever they are needed, so do not skimp out on your motherboard!
- Check the socket for the motherboard. You cannot fit an intel CPU in a motherboard for an older processor or an AMD processor! Be sure that the motherboard supports your CPU! Check the manufacturer's website.
- Check for wireless internet if you will need it. If your motherboard does not have any you might need to buy a wireless card to attach to the motherboard in one of the PCIe slots.
- Check the amount of PCIe slots. That is where you will plug in your graphics card and possibly a sound card or something else.
- Check which chipset the motherboard is on. For instance the ASRock Extreme3 Z87 and ASRock Extreme3 Z97 are practically the same except all Z97 motherboards will have some extra features over their Z87 equivalents as well as support for the latest intel processors.
- Check the general quality of the motherboard. You do not want something that will break within a year of use.
- Check the overclocking capabilities if you will be overclocking.
- Check for the amount of RAM slots and how much RAM it supports
- Check how many sata slots it has. If it has 6 for instance you will be able to place a maximum of 6 pieces of hardware which transfer data such as CD drives, hard drives and SSD's.
- Check for how many USB slots it has. If you have a tendency to use up 4 USB 3.0 slots and 2 USB 2.0 slots at all times be sure to have a motherboard that can support that!
- Check if it supports SLI or Crossfire. SLI is the ability to support a second graphics card. Crossfire is the AMD equivalent.
- Read the motherboard manual. There are some wires that have to be plugged in a certain way or else the computer won't turn on! You won't destroy it but it may cause a headache.
Processor (CPU)
http://i.imgur.com/jlS37p7.jpg
Your CPU is the brain of your computer. It will do all of the major processing so you should pick one that you will be comfortable with. Remember that the speed that everything will run at is generally limited by your CPU unless another factor such as hard drive speed gets in the way first.
Different CPU's are for different situations. For instance if you will only be gaming you do not need an i7 4770k. You will be better off saving your money by buying an i5 4670k instead (the "k" at the end of the processor means it is unlocked, which allows for easier overclocking of the processor).
Look into the CPU and decide what will be most suitable for your situation. Keep in mind that PC parts do not scale at a 1:1 ratio when it comes to price:performance so the difference between a 250 dollar processor and a 300 dollar processor will be less than the difference between a 200 dollar processor and a 250 dollar processor.
Do not limit yourself by only looking at AMD or Intel. They are both good brands, although you should keep in mind to look behind the numbers. For instance the AMD FX-8350 is an 8-core 4 GHz beast for about $220 while the Intel i7 4770k has 4 cores at 3.5 GHz for $385. Sounds like a no-brainer right? Wrong! The i7 4770k is actually a much stronger processor. It has hyperthreading meaning it runs 8 logical cores and although it does not run at 4 GHz it can keep its own and is in fact much more efficient than the FX-8350.
Basically, look into the processor and make sure it suits your situation.
CPU cooler
http://i.imgur.com/QVejin4.jpg
Your processor will come with a CPU cooler already but not a very good one. If you want a silent computer or want better cooling so that you can overclock you will want a better CPU cooler.
- You will have to add thermal paste to your CPU. Clean off your CPU with isopropyl alchohol using a cotton swab then add a small dab of thermal paste in the middle of the CPU. Place the CPU cooler on top and screw in the nails and you're done.
- Check reviews to make sure the CPU cooler is good enough for what you have planned.
- Check measurements. If the CPU cooler is too tall for your case it won't work. If it is too wide it may cover up your RAM.
- Closed loop liquid CPU coolers are almost silent and cool more efficiently than air coolers in most cases but they are more expensive.
- Different coolers are mounted in different ways so be sure to go over the manual to make sure you know what you're doing!
Graphics card (GPU)
http://i.imgur.com/OmL6mpM.jpg
Ahh the GPU. Arguably this is the most important part of your build and where 40-50% of your money should go.
- DO NOT COMPARE AMD TO NVIDIA BY NUMBERS IT DOES NOT WORK. Google up comparisons and the frame rates that the graphics cards support, do not just base it off of the amount of vRAM they have and their clock speeds.
- Do your research. You don't want to buy an extremely hot graphics card which throttles down and performs more slowly than it should because of how how it gets.
RAM
http://i.imgur.com/6ipTJfj.jpg
RAM is generally simple to choose. Just keep a few things in mind.
- 1600 MHz is about the sweet spot. More than 1600 is generally more expensive and might not be worth it.
- 8GB of RAM is the sweet spot for gaming. Most games will not utilize more than 4GB but having a bit of extra room for other programs will help.
- Your motherboard will only have a certain amount of slots for RAM and will only support a limited amount of it, so don't go out and buy 64 GB of RAM to find out your motherboard can only support 32 GB.
- Dual-channel will always run faster than single channel, so two 4 GB RAM sticks in a dual channel configuration (be sure to check your motherboard because to run dual channel successfully you will need to place the RAM in the correct sockets. Some motherboards do not support dual channel as well.) will run faster than a single 8GB RAM stick in general.
- RAM coolers are practically useless. Don't bother with them. Just save your money.