Building my first gaming pc and I want to do it right

Discussion in 'New Build / Upgrade Advice' started by Toby D, Jan 21, 2013.

  1. Toby D

    Toby D Geek Trainee

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    Hello, I've been using a Dell Inspiron 1545 for a number of years now so as you can imagine I'm pretty limited to platform gaming. So anyway I'm of to uni in a few weeks and have decided to upgrade and build myself a proper gaming pc, out with the old and in with the new style. But here's the problem, my knowledge of computer hardware is pretty limited to knowing that the more GHz the better and get as many gigabytes of RAM and graphics as humanly possible. So I need all the advice I can get and would massively appreciate any help you give me.

    I hope to be using this computer for gaming a LOT but I might also be doing some light video editing (that depends on whether my friend starts her vlog). I have a budget of around $1500 AUD but would be pretty chuffed if it was cheaper. I will probably over clock it so could recommend to me by how much I should over clock it. I haven't decided on any parts, I thought I had but I decided to let the good people of hardware forum make that decision for me. If possible I would like it to be somewhat portable, but not necessary. Most importantly I hope this computer will allow me to play high end games for a good few years to come.

    So basically I need you to design me a whole computer from scratch, I hope this isn't too much in a challenge (unless you thrive in a challenge).

    Or if you can find a relatively cheap pre built computer I would definitely be glad to be rid of the daunting task of building the computer.

    Thank you so much in advance.
     
  2. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    I'm not sure what the best place for Aussies to buy from, so feel free to look elsewhere. It should be do-able. Currently, it looks like the US Dollar is pretty much equal to the AUD, so if other factors aren't too disparate, then this should at least give you a starting point.

    All prices from AusPCMarket.com.au

    Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-D3H 183.70 w/ Free Shipping
    CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K 264.00 w/ Free Shipping
    RAM: Corsair 2x 4GB (8GB) PC1600 DDR3 85.80 w/Free Shipping
    Case: Gigabyte GZ-X2 Mid Tower 63.80 + Shipping
    Optical Drive: Asus DVD RW 50.60 w/Free Shipping
    Hard Drive: Seagate 1Terabyte 7200RPM SATA 105.60 w/Free Shipping
    Video Card: HIS RadeonHD 7850 2GB 215.60 w/Free Shipping
    Power Supply: Corsair 750W Modular 145.20 + Shipping
    Monitor: AOC 23.6 inch DVI, VGA inch 180.40 + Shipping
    Keyboard/Mouse: Microsoft Wired Keyboard+Mouse pack 40.70 w/ Free Shipping
    OS: Windows 7 Home SP1 64-bit 127.60 w/ Free Shipping

    Total: AUD 1463 + shipping on a few items

    If you intend to overclock and tweak you won't get far without a motherboard using the Z77 or Z68 chipset and a K series CPU (3570K in this example). You can later on swap out for a better cooler, but since we're trying to make budget at stock, that can come later. Lately, you don't have to do much to get a K processor to scream.

    I'll explain the reasoning behind my choices:
    Motherboard: It's no-frills and seems to be solid at stock and overclocks fairly well for its price.
    CPU: About the cheapest Intel CPU that you can overclock.
    RAM: 8GB is relatively cheap for DDR3 stuff. You could save money going with 4GB, but again, it's pretty cheap to do 8GB, so why not?
    Case: It's basic, but it has a 120mm fan in back, and if you wanted a self-contained water cooling kit (Corsair H80, for example), no modding. Also, it comes with a 120mm fan.
    Optical Drive: Asus usually does well. Blu-Ray is still a little expensive and wasn't a requirement, but some sort of back up is probably a good idea, even with flash drives around.
    Hard drive: 1TB drives aren't that much more than 500GB ones, so between gaming and video editing, this is a good idea. If you get into alot of video editing, the motherboard supports at least 4 SATA drives, so you can still do that down the road without an additional drive.
    Video card: Biggest bang for the lowest price. 2GB frame buffer should give you headroom and is paired with a fairly powerful GPU.
    Power Supply: 750W might be a little big for your system, and if you want, you might be able to swap out for a 650 or 620 unit from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic or Thermaltake. Modular power supplies aren't necessary, but they are nice in that you only install cables you actually need without a big nest hanging in your case.
    Monitor: I almost put a Samsung 24" in the mix, but I saw it had HDMI and the video card didn't. The AOC has DVI like the video card.
    Keyboard/Mouse: I looked for a wired combo for cost. Microsoft tends to have solid peripherals.
    OS: If you want Windows 7, act now, or you'll have to get Windows 8.
     
  3. Jan Benedict

    Jan Benedict Geek

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