10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Designing a Gaming PC

[airdeano]

granted some of your points are valid, but not in all cases. you must also consider availability and regional costs.

just because you say something is under/over/too much might be the only options the end-user might have available to them at a decent total cost involved.

 

that is why our New Builds and Planning section is available to all to get many different solutions/suggestions based upon personal experiences, regional location or what is available at that time.

[turkey3_scratch]

Just now, NonaHexa said:

It can, but it can also scale amazingly well. It depends on the title. Yes, a single card is usually better, but if a single, cheaper card now (that pockets you $300 that can go into other things) and another one later can work, then i't usually best to do that. 

Yes if I own a 970 and want more GPU power, I'll buy another 970, I won't buy a 980Ti. But for a new rig, I'd buy a 980Ti. Even if two 970s gets some better FPS, the 980Ti has more VRAM for the future, less power draw overall (cheaper PSU), no scaling problems (even if all games don't have it).

[KuJoe]

One thing I don't get is when people tell me they can't afford the extra $XX (not even $100) for XYZ component, why don't they just wait another month for the better component? The "I NEED IT NOW" mentality is probably the biggest mistake when it comes to building a new PC from scratch.

[Oshino Shinobu]

4 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Or you could just pirate the os and games if you're not willing to pay their actual price. A 120 GB SSD is a waste, you could put maybe one big game on it. Putting that $40 into the cpu or gpu is a much better use of your money for a gaming system. I don't understand the hype behind ssds. They're nice but I could totally go back to using an HDD as my boot drive considering how little time it takes to boot on a HDD. But I would definitely miss my GTX 970 if I dropped down to an R9 380 with the money I spent on my SSD.

Again, it depends on the budget and how close you are to being able to afford said components. 

If you have a 4690K and a nice GTX 970, $40 isn't going to get you anything, really. Maybe a factory overclocked version of the GPU. At the same time, if you're literally just able to afford a 970 and 4460, then sure, keep the money in the GPU rather than dropping a tier and getting an SSD. 

[wyattzx]

Just now, turkey3_scratch said:

Yes if I own a 970 and want more GPU power, I'll buy another 970, I won't buy a 980Ti. But for a new rig, I'd buy a 980Ti. Even if two 970s gets some better FPS, the 980Ti has more VRAM for the future, less power draw overall (cheaper PSU), no scaling problems (even if all games don't have it).

Yes, but it also costs $650. A 970 can be had for $300. If your budget permits it, sure, get a 980 Ti. However, don't sacrifice your CPU, PSU, motherboard, monitor, etc JUST to get a 980 Ti. There would be no point.

[turkey3_scratch]

1 minute ago, KuJoe said:

One thing I don't get is when people tell me they can't afford the extra $XX (not even $100) for XYZ component, why don't they just wait another month for the better component? The "I NEED IT NOW" mentality is probably the biggest mistake when it comes to building a new PC from scratch.

But then you can wait for the next better component. You have to stop waiting at one point.

[Dash Lambda]

I disagree with two parts...

 

-I can never recommend someone against getting an SSD. No, it doesn't help games, but it just makes the entire system snappier in use. Many people think that a gaming computer only needs to do well in games, but I guarantee they'll be disappointed with the sluggishness of an HDD.

 

-Water coolers, while definitely expensive and unnecessary for low-mid budget builds, are considerably better than you make them out to be. Their performance is simply better and their noise is usually lower than air coolers.

[Yoinkerman]

I do see a lot of people going for 120mm AIOs or a $90 dark rock whatever when all they really need is a hyper 212.  Especially when they are on a budget.

[wyattzx]

4 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

One thing I don't get is when people tell me they can't afford the extra $XX (not even $100) for XYZ component, why don't they just wake another month for the better component? The "I NEED IT NOW" mentality is probably the biggest mistake when it comes to building a new PC from scratch.

You also have to remember that when someone says they have a $1,000 budget, they have a $1,000 budget. You can't argue it, and you can't say "this is only $50 over." Because $1,000 is $1,000. Not $1,050. Perhaps it's all the cash they have, or perhaps they're charging a credit card. Who knows? With the "$50 over is nothing" logic, $50 is nothing, but what's $25 more? What's $25 more? What's $25 more? What's $25 more? Suddenly you're $200 over-budget.

[turkey3_scratch]

Just now, Dash Lambda said:

I disagree with two parts...

 

-I can never recommend someone against getting an SSD. No, it doesn't help games, but it just makes the entire system snappier in use. Many people think that a gaming computer only needs to do well in games, but I guarantee they'll be disappointed with the sluggishness of an HDD.

 

-Water coolers, while definitely expensive and unnecessary for low-mid budget builds, are considerably better than you make them out to be. Their performance is simply better and their noise is usually lower than air coolers.

The only time I personally see water cooling necessary is once the GPU is at least one 980Ti and the budget $1750+. I think if people really want to watercool, they should make a custom loop, because those can get some freaking good temperatures. Yes, the watercoolers usually can cool better, but my overall point was that they cost $100+ and the money is often spent more elsewhere. I see people with a GTX 970 paired with a 6700K and H110i on a gaming rig.

[Oshino Shinobu]

3 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

You make a good point, but you can always pocket leftover money.

Well, you can. But if you have $40 left and no SSD, then it's a good purchase. Not even for boot times. Just the difference in launching web browsers, moving around the OS and such, it's better than an HDD. 

As I've been saying to many, it's a matter of how the budget works out and personal preferences in terms of priorities. I personally can't stand systems without SSDs for OS drives. Even for my HTPCs, I always put a SSD in there for the OS drive just because it makes everything more responsive and nice to use. 

[turkey3_scratch]

I recently made a mITX rig with a HDD, and I've been happy with the Windows 10 boot speeds on the HDD, which are under 10 seconds. It's not like the old XP days where things took forever.

[wyattzx]

2 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

The only time I personally see water cooling necessary is once the GPU is at least one 980Ti and the budget $1750+. I think if people really want to watercool, they should make a custom loop, because those can get some freaking good temperatures. Yes, the watercoolers usually can cool better, but my overall point was that they cost $100+ and the money is often spent more elsewhere. I see people with a GTX 970 paired with a 6700K and H110i on a gaming rig.

A 6700k paired with a H110i is a great combination.... When you have a chip like the 6700k that runs considerably hot, you want a good cooler. You don't want to spend $40 on a cooler for a $400 CPU, and then be thermally-limited in what you're capable of doing with it. My logic has always been to spend 25% of your CPU cost on your cooler, and it hasn't failed me yet.

[Oshino Shinobu]

5 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

One thing I don't get is when people tell me they can't afford the extra $XX (not even $100) for XYZ component, why don't they just wait another month for the better component? The "I NEED IT NOW" mentality is probably the biggest mistake when it comes to building a new PC from scratch.

Depends on their situation. If it's being bought by someone who's been given money for their birthday/Christmas/whatever and they don't have a job (or can't get a job), then saving up may be a matter of another year, rather than a month. 

[turkey3_scratch]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

Well, you can. But if you have $40 left and no SSD, then it's a good purchase. Not even for boot times. Just the difference in launching web browsers, moving around the OS and such, it's better than an HDD. 

As I've been saying to many, it's a matter of how the budget works out and personal preferences in terms of priorities. I personally can't stand systems without SSDs for OS drives. Even for my HTPCs, I always put a SSD in there for the OS drive just because it makes everything more responsive and nice to use. 

I, too, recommend SSDs for most all machines I design above $600. They sure are great, but when gaming the SSD isn't anything special to me. When I am opening tons of programs and such, that's when I love my SSD. Sure, you can make the point that gamers do other stuff on their PCs, but I'd consider that more of a multi-purpose machine.

[turkey3_scratch]

1 minute ago, NonaHexa said:

A 6700k paired with a H110i is a great combination.... When you have a chip, like the 6700k, that runs considerably hot, you want a good cooler. You don't want to spend $40 on a cooler for a $400 CPU, and then be thermally-limited in what you're capable of doing with it. My logic has always been to spend 25% of your CPU cost on your cooler, and it hasn't failed me yet.

That wasn't my point, though. It is a fantastic combination, but not on a gaming machine with a GTX 970, when if you dropped to something such as an I5-6500, an H110 board, stock cooler, you'd save yourself about $270 and can get a 980Ti or Fury X at the cost. If you already have the maximum, a 980Ti, and have more money to spend, by all means get a 6700K and an H100i.

[Bajantechnician]

Just now, NonaHexa said:

It can, but it can also scale amazingly well. It depends on the title. Yes, a single card is usually better, but if a single, cheaper card now (that pockets you $300 that can go into other things) and another one later can work, then i't usually best to do that. 

lets say...

for EXAMPLE, (no flame war lol)

gets two 970s NOW 2x$380= $760

gets ONE 980 NOW 1x$480 = 480.

 

timelapse 6 months

------------------------------------------

needs more gpu power, as they run 4k ultra

 

3x$380= $1140

2x$480= $960

 

                                              

970                                                 980

more power draw                           less power draw

more lanes used                            less lanes used

coolness factor                              coolness factor

scales not a well due to 3              scales better due to 2

more money overall                      less money overall

 

[SteveGrabowski0]

I think cutting corners on the cpu to save a few bucks is a big mistake people make. For the life of me I can't understand why everyone recommends the i5-4460 when the i5-4590 is often only about $15 more expensive while being nearly 10% faster in quadcore workloads (3.5 GHz vs 3.2 GHz). I think overspending a little on cpu makes more sense than underspending considering it's a reasonable thing to plan for a cpu to last through two gpus now, provided you buy something good.

 

Another huge mistake is people saying they'll buy a GTX 980 Ti now and then get a second one cheap after Pascal releases. GPU price drops are often really short lived when a new generation comes out to replace it. I can't count how many people I heard complain about how expensive GTX 780s got after the 970 and 980 came out. They have stopped making the old gpus by the time the new ones release, so supply is going to be extremely limited if you don't jump on the clearance sales right when the new shit drops.

[TetraSky]

Once you've used a system with a SSD, there's just no going back to regular HDDs.

[Dash Lambda]

3 hours ago, turkey3_scratch said:

The only time I personally see water cooling necessary is once the GPU is at least one 980Ti and the budget $1750+. I think if people really want to watercool, they should make a custom loop, because those can get some freaking good temperatures. Yes, the watercoolers usually can cool better, but my overall point was that they cost $100+ and the money is often spent more elsewhere. I see people with a GTX 970 paired with a 6700K and H110i on a gaming rig.

But you basically said AIOs perform no better than high-end air cooling, and that's simply not true. ESPECIALLY with the EK Predator now available.

 

Single rad AIOs, sure, they can be limited --But they can still be far better than air cooling in a lot of situations, budget allowing.

 

Another thing you forgot to consider is GPUs. Even sticking a dinky little H55 on a GPU can improve temperatures dramatically, leaving a lot of headroom for GPU-Boost and especially overclocking.

[BuckGup]

I agree with like 3 and the rest are false or depend on the situation of the person. Also what is wrong with SLI or Crossfire? Two GTX980tis are better then one

[turkey3_scratch]

3 hours ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

I think cutting corners on the cpu to save a few bucks is a big mistake people make. For the life of me I can't understand why everyone recommends the i5-4460 when the i5-4590 is often only about $15 more expensive while being nearly 10% faster in quadcore workloads (3.5 GHz vs 3.2 GHz). I think overspending a little on cpu makes more sense than underspending considering it's a reasonable thing to plan for a cpu to last through two gpus now, provided you buy something good.

 

Another huge mistake is people saying they'll buy a GTX 980 Ti now and then get a second one cheap after Pascal releases. GPU price drops are often really short lived when a new generation comes out to replace it. I can't count how many people I heard complain about how expensive GTX 780s got after the 970 and 980 came out. They have stopped making the old gpus by the time the new ones release, so supply is going to be extremely limited if you don't jump on the clearance sales right when the new shit drops.

By now, I only recommend Skylake anyway, but the 4590 is $20 more currently, but you are right that it does offer about 10% more performance, but it's almost 10% more price. It's almost even if you ask me.

 

3 hours ago, SamStrecker said:

I agree with like 3 and the rest are false or depend on the situation of the person. Also what is wrong with SLI or Crossfire? Two GTX980tis are better then one

The very first sentence says: "Unless your GPU is the best GPU on the market" - which refers to the 980Ti/Titan X.

 

3 hours ago, Dash Lambda said:

But you basically said AIOs perform no better than high-end air cooling, and that's simply not true. ESPECIALLY with the EK Predator now available.

 

Single rad AIOs, sure, they can be limited --But they can still be far better than air cooling in a lot of situations, budget allowing.

 

Another thing you forgot to consider is GPUs. Even sticking a dinky little H55 on a GPU can improve temperatures dramatically, leaving a lot of headroom for GPU-Boost and especially overclocking.

But you're ignoring the fact that the AIO coolers cost a lot more, and even if they perform slightly better (and it really depends on what one you're talking about), the price jump is not proportional to the performance jump. Buying an H55 for a GPU can be better spent by either getting a better GPU or just getting a case with better airflow, as that plays just as important of a role in cooling.

 

Overall, my point is that even in lots of situation an AIO or high-end air cooler is not necessary unless the budget is very high.

[SteveGrabowski0]

4 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

By now, I only recommend Skylake anyway, but the 4590 is $20 more currently, but you are right that it does offer about 10% more performance, but it's almost 10% more price. It's almost even if you ask me.

That's an extremely worthy tradeoff to me. That $20 is a small fraction of total system cost for that extra 10% in cpu performance. You could make the argument that 10% isn't going to show up too often right now unless you have a GTX 980 Ti, but then if you're on a 680/770/970/7970/390 your next gpu will probably be stronger than a 980 Ti and that 10% will matter. So I think it makes the 4590 a much better buy for the money. 

[Bajantechnician]

15 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

I recently made a mITX rig with a HDD, and I've been happy with the Windows 10 boot speeds on the HDD, which are under 10 seconds. It's not like the old XP days where things took forever.

i use ssds, they boot under 5 seconds.

4 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

But you're ignoring the fact that the AIO coolers cost a lot more, and even if they perform slightly better (and it really depends on what one you're talking about), the price jump is not proportional to the performance jump. Buying an H55 for a GPU can be better spent by either getting a better GPU or just getting a case with better airflow, as that plays just as important of a role in cooling.

 

Overall, my point is that even in lots of situation an AIO or high-end air cooler is not necessary unless the budget is very high.

some air coolers are same price as aios,

nocyua nhf-12 is the same price as a kraken x61

[Dash Lambda]

3 hours ago, turkey3_scratch said:

But you're ignoring the fact that the AIO coolers cost a lot more, and even if they perform slightly better (and it really depends on what one you're talking about), the price jump is not proportional to the performance jump. Buying an H55 for a GPU can be better spent by either getting a better GPU or just getting a case with better airflow, as that plays just as important of a role in cooling.

 

Overall, my point is that even in lots of situation an AIO or high-end air cooler is not necessary unless the budget is very high.

"Slightly better" is phrase that only applies to particularly bad AIOs.

 

As for budget, like I said: They're "definitely expensive and unnecessary for low-mid budget builds."
You made them sound like they were only bad. I don't think someone should go with a 980 with a Kraken G10 and an H55 over a 980 ti, and I don't think someone should overspend just to get an H110i when they don't even have a K-series CPU. Liquid cooling is not a cost-effective investment by any means, but it does simply perform better.