Gaming Builds

[ArcadeSandwich]

Yesterday I made a post about a gaming pc I was going to make (4 months from now)

I got a lot of replies on how to make one, but I still have questions, and Im still scared to almost sh*tting myself from it.

As I said Its my first gaming computer, and a lot people said that pcpartpicker.com was a nice website.

That made me think, and when I was just picking parts for fun, something came to mind.

 

1 How is some parts better for gaming and some for maybe, rendering or desktop use?

2 And I still have problem in general with understanding the terms that are in use.

3 A lot of people made a computer for me, but Im a little scared of just copying some guys build on the internet. I want to know how to choose parts, and since I don't know how the CPU supports the motherboard or, the ram support the motherboard, I cant choose myself. And when I know how the different parts work together, maybe then I could choose the ones, that for some weird reason is better for gaming than others. 

 

Thanks a lot!

 

- Mikael (14)

[MrChavelo]

Go and watch some videos, the internet is full of them. It really is not that difficult, you just have to invest a lot of time

[NanoTech56]

if you put all the parts you want in pcpartpicker.com it will tell you if the parts work together. and you can just google what motherboard supports a u7 4770k or whatever cu you want and pick a motherboard that way.

 

and for what makes stuff better fro gaming/ rendering. well i know that like a gpu with more cuda cores is better for rendering if not made to render.

 

its not bad to use computer people make on this site is usually better especially if you dont even know how to tell what motherboard you need for a certain CPU.

 

the people are here to help not troll and give you stuff that doesn't work.

[manikyath]

1: its generally accepted anything more than 4 cores is wasted money for gaming. as is more than 3 GPUs, and large amounts of ram.

on the other hand, it may be stupid to buy more than a low power processor and 4GB ram for a NAS that doesnt have to do any processing.

theres a few more things like this, but you get the point.

EDIT: as @dizmo mentioned, some newer games (game engines) are optimized for more than 4 cores, check reviews of your games of choice to know.

 

2: no one will ever be perfect at pc components, it goes too fast, and theres too many variables at play. you can only continue to learn.

 

3: theres a lot of rules on how things do and dont work together, and how well they do. i'll sum up some common ones:

- coolers fit on any socket thats listed in their compatibility listing, adding to that theres some similarly shaped sockets, and some experimenting that may add to this. (example: lga1156 1155 1150 and 1151 are pretty much interchangable cooler-wise)

 

- processors fit on any motherboard with the same socket (theres a few exceptions here, like *some* xeon that fits on *some* other socket motherboard by using a sticker that swaps two pins, i forgot the details tho)

 

- the processor/motherboard thing can be a tad fishy, as theres usually multiple chipsets per socket (example: every mainstream intel socket has B H and Z chipsets) these *should* be interchangable no problem, with a few feature differences (K cpus on B and H boards lose their overclocking ability for example)

 

- memory fits in any motherboard with the slot for that specific memory (DDR3, DDR4 currently, with their respective laptop alternatives).

you *can* mix different sticks of memory in most cases, but theres some rules to it:

-- even if your board has different generation dimms (DDR3, DDR4), they NEVER mix.

-- mixing different speed and latency dimms *should* slow down the fast dimm to the speed of the slow dimm, although sometimes fishy stuff happens.

(dimm = dual inline memory module)

-- mixing ECC/non-ECC and buffered/unbuffered isnt a thing either, and even if it works, you shouldnt.

-- mixing sizes should be fine, but there may be issues with dual/quad channel. it shouldnt crash, but you'll lose the 10% speed boost from dual/quad channel.

 

- storage is plug&play, if your motherboard has the connector to plug it in, and if your psu has the connector to power it, it should work on modern systems.

(back in the day there were bios limitations on large capacities, but i'm pretty sure we're over that at this point)

 

- video cards need their slot on the motherboard to plug into. most modern video cards are PCI-e 16x (theres also agp, legacy pci, and pci-e lower than 16x))

they also need the applicable number of power connectors from the power supply. if your power supply doesnt have the right connectors, DONT buy adapters, because that means your psu wasnt designed to power it, so you'd be creating a house fire. more on this in the PSU section.

something to note is that nvidia GPUs need at least pci-e 8x and amd GPUs need at least 4x

- video card SLI and crossfire needs a motherboard with the appropriate certification. most motherboards with the fitting slots are crossfire certified, SLI is limited to a select number of Z chipset boards (i'm sure theres a reason for this.)

 

- a case can hold any motherboard equal or smaller than what it's designed for (atx cases can fit atx, micro atx, mini itx) they hold their appropriate power supply size, and a number of 5.25" bays, 3.5" bays and 2.5" bays. theres adapters to go down in bay size, but i'm not gonna cover that.

something to note is that if you're not shipping the system anywhere, its not really required to mount SSDs.

 

- power supplies need to be quality units, if they're a fire hazard, keep away from them even if you're only using 10% of their capacity. they need to be rated above what your system will be using (margin is a personal preference), they need to fit in your case, and they need to have the appropriate connectors for your components of choice.

if your psu does not have *for example* a cpu 8-pin connector, but does have a cpu 4-pin, DONT buy an adapter, that means the 4-pin isnt made to supply more than what a 4-pin is meant to supply, and adapting from molex connectors may be a fire hazard as well.

 

- optical drives fall under the same rules as storage, make sure these are mounted sturdy tho, they vibrate hard enough to walk off your desk.

 

- operating systems and software have hardware requirements and limits, check the "back of the box" for info.

[LabRat]

get a multi core multi thread ( fast ) cpu, a good graphics card ( $250+ ). make sure the MB you choose supports the cpu ( MB cpu support list at board manufacturers site ). you don't need to buy the fastest ram or fancy name ram or ram with a cooler on it. today i would get 16gigs.

 

should have link other thread.

[daniellearmouth]

1. Well, that one isn't especially easy to answer. There are components such as GPUs that greatly influence what the system is capable of.

Compare an NVIDIA GeForce card to a Quadro card, and you'll see that a Quadro card is intended more for workstation use and is sometimes significantly more expensive, but is validated for use with many programs such as Adobe's Creative Suite and Autodesk products.

 

For the most part, however, it's not really worth thinking about it too much.

 

2. Terms? How do you mean?

 

3. Don't feel like you have to pick a build for yourself and make do with it. On this forum many of us have build machines of our own, and many of us have build machines based on someone else's recommendation.

My machine, for example, was built with the assistance of a very good friend of mine. Now I know how to build a machine for myself and even tinker with it. Just a few months back I did some tinkering with it; cleaned it, added an SSD and a second GPU, and applying some new thermal paste.

 

Don't be scared. Follow along with anyone who makes a build-your-own-computer guide and see what they do.

One particular guy I like to follow is Carey Holzman. He does PC builds, diagnoses and repairs for a living and he does some of his builds and repairs on camera. Check him out; he's very informative and knows what he's doing, having done it for over 20 years.

[dizmo]

1 How is some parts better for gaming and some for maybe, rendering or desktop use?

2 And I still have problem in general with understanding the terms that are in use.

3 A lot of people made a computer for me, but Im a little scared of just copying some guys build on the internet. I want to know how to choose parts, and since I don't know how the CPU supports the motherboard or, the ram support the motherboard, I cant choose myself. And when I know how the different parts work together, maybe then I could choose the ones, that for some weird reason is better for gaming than others. 

 

Thanks a lot!

 

- Mikael (14)

1. Rendering usually needs more cores/threads. You can see this information when you look at the chip information. For example, an i5 has 4 cores, while an i7 has 4 cores and HyperThreading, which gives each core an additional thread. Thus, you end up with 4 cores, 8 threads. This is better for rendering. It also helps in certain gaming titles, though not many take advantage of it.

 

2. RAM is measured in MHZ and DDR_ when it comes to motherboard compatibility. Just look at the numbers on each. If they match, you can use it. I believe you can use higher than rated MHZ RAM on the motherboard it just won't use the full power thus it's a waste of money. You'll either see DDR3 or DDR4, you have to pick the corresponding number.

 

3. If you look at the motherboard it will have a socket type. CPU's also have a socket type. If the numbers match (LGA1150, for example) then you can use the CPU.

 

Really though you should just watch a bunch of videos on YouTube, it really is the easiest way to get a grasp on all the gargon.

 

 

EDIT: my keyboard derped and magically entered post, i'll be editing in the rest of my post, gimme a minute...

1: its generally accepted anything more than 4 cores is wasted money for gaming. 

That's really not the case anymore as many games are starting to take advantage of more threads.

[PaulKolby]

Yesterday I made a post about a gaming pc I was going to make (4 months from now)

I got a lot of replies on how to make one, but I still have questions, and Im still scared to almost sh*tting myself from it.

As I said Its my first gaming computer, and a lot people said that pcpartpicker.com was a nice website.

That made me think, and when I was just picking parts for fun, something came to mind.

 

1 How is some parts better for gaming and some for maybe, rendering or desktop use?

2 And I still have problem in general with understanding the terms that are in use.

3 A lot of people made a computer for me, but Im a little scared of just copying some guys build on the internet. I want to know how to choose parts, and since I don't know how the CPU supports the motherboard or, the ram support the motherboard, I cant choose myself. And when I know how the different parts work together, maybe then I could choose the ones, that for some weird reason is better for gaming than others. 

 

Thanks a lot!

 

- Mikael (14)

ok i am going to try to give you a guide on how to buy things depending on your budget and what you can afford, how much do you want to spend

[manikyath]

That's really not the case anymore as many games are starting to take advantage of more threads.

i feel like its really dependant. some really do, other new releases are still single core... (insert "shoot the dev" here)

[PaulKolby]

Yesterday I made a post about a gaming pc I was going to make (4 months from now)

I go to make one, but I still have questions, and Im still scared to almost sh*tting myself from it.

As I said Its mking parts for fun, something came to mi

- Mikael (14)

nevermind i found your topic yesterday il give you a basic instuction on how to pick out parts

 

The cpu

 

the cpu is very important, you should get at least a 4 core intel processor, so if i were ou i would get a 4 core i7 so a 6700k because if you don get 4 cores then most games wont run as well and some wont run at all also amd doesnt have anything nearly as powerful as intel these days

 

the motherboard

 

this is one of those hings that you dont want to cheapen out on, and all the good ones are basically the same, except for minor features and looks

 

the gpu

 

the graphics card depends on what resolution you run at and what games you play, if you want to play very demanding games like battlefront you need a more powerful graphics card, which you need to determine by what resolution monitor you get 

 

in short for what gpu you should get for what resolution

 

Nvidia            Amd

 

1080p

960               370x

970               380

                     380x

1440p

970                380x

980                390

980ti              390x

                      fury

                      fury x

4k

980ti              fury x

 

keep in mind that ghetto chart above is mostly accurate but not 100%

 

Storage

 

you should definetely get an ssd these day it is almost a necessity u could either get a ssd and a hard drive or just a big ssd

 

monitor

 dont cheapen out on a monitor, it is what displays your computer and you wi see it everytime you look at our computer

 

heres my build suggestion

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VW3VkL

[ArcadeSandwich]

ok i am going to try to give you a guide on how to buy things depending on your budget and what you can afford, how much do you want to spend

On my last post before this one, my budget was 2,7k dollars, but it can grow, if something a little more expensive is a lot better

[ArcadeSandwich]

nevermind i found your topic yesterday il give you a basic instuction on how to pick out parts

 

The cpu

 

the cpu is very important, you should get at least a 4 core intel processor, so if i were ou i would get a 4 core i7 so a 6700k because if you don get 4 cores then most games wont run as well and some wont run at all also amd doesnt have anything nearly as powerful as intel these days

 

the motherboard

 

this is one of those hings that you dont want to cheapen out on, and all the good ones are basically the same, except for minor features and looks

 

the gpu

 

the graphics card depends on what resolution you run at and what games you play, if you want to play very demanding games like battlefront you need a more powerful graphics card, which you need to determine by what resolution monitor you get 

 

in short for what gpu you should get for what resolution

 

Nvidia            Amd

 

1080p

960               370x

970               380

                     380x

1440p

970                380x

980                390

980ti              390x

                      fury

                      fury x

4k

980ti              fury x

 

keep in mind that ghetto chart above is mostly accurate but not 100%

 

Storage

 

you should definetely get an ssd these day it is almost a necessity u could either get a ssd and a hard drive or just a big ssd

 

monitor

 dont cheapen out on a monitor, it is what displays your computer and you wi see it everytime you look at our computer

 

heres my build suggestion

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VW3VkL

Ok I understand. But the reason I personally cant use pcpartpicker.com is because I live in Norway... I need to know how to order the parts differently

[PaulKolby]

Ok I understand. But the reason I personally cant use pcpartpicker.com is because I live in Norway... I need to know how to order the parts differently

well then i dont know what you have in norway, i dont know what computer stores you might have but im sure there is a website that you can order parts off of can you send me a link to one? but essentially heres what i think you should get

 

but get these pats at a store you can

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pkkTGX

[ArcadeSandwich]

well then i dont know what you have in norway, i dont know what computer stores you might have but im sure there is a website that you can order parts off of can you send me a link to one? but essentially heres what i think you should get

 

but get these pats at a store you can

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pkkTGX

komplett.no its a website your order electronic shit. Thanks for helping me out! Idk of any, but if there is some near me, i could order from the web

[PaulKolby]

komplett.no its a website your order electronic shit. Thanks for helping me out! Idk of any, but if there is some near me, i could order from the web

Yeah I would order online and just look up the same parts I recommend