# About building your own PC



## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

I am just curious if there are more computer fanatics in here - please let me know. I took an interest, learned about the different hardware components, selected my own, and build the desktop PC I am on right now. Very rewarding, I must admit.

I didn't have that much money, so I decided to go with an AMD Phenom 8450 3x processor and a motherboard that features on-board video; nVidia GeForce 8200. My set-up is getting a little slowish at times and so my mind starts drifting to assemble something new.

Since I am no hardcore gamer, I won't be needing more than one video card. Which is why I am dreaming of the Intel H77 chip set combined with a Ivy Bridge processor. Core i7 will be outside my financial reach, but settling for an i3 seems illogical. If am spending that much money, I might as well get something good out of it. So, I am guessing an i5. What would you go for?

So - what about you? Are you into building your own PC too? What's your set-up? What would your ideal system look like right now?


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## Luke (Oct 17, 2010)

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about computers but I have built a PC before. I found that I learnt so much about computers by doing it, I think that alone makes it a worthwhile thing to do. I think in the past, building the computer yourself was really the only sensible thing to do, because you could upgrade individual parts as needed, instead of buying a whole new PC. It seems that now days, because technology advances so quickly, once one part is out of date, all the other parts are also out of date. I think this means that when you upgrade your computer, you often need to buy a whole new one, instead of being able to upgrade individual parts, which used to be the awesome advantage of building your own computer. That being said, I'm sure you can still save money by putting computer together yourself because at the very least you aren't paying for labour and it also allows you to make a custom PC that perfectly suits your needs.


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

Luke said:


> It seems that now days, because technology advances so quickly, once one part is out of date, all the other parts are also out of date. I think this means that when you upgrade your computer, you often need to buy a whole new one, instead of being able to upgrade individual parts, which used to be the awesome advantage of building your own computer. That being said, I'm sure you can still save money by putting computer together yourself because at the very least you aren't paying for labour and it also allows you to make a custom PC that perfectly suits your needs.


In my experience, you are right. Processor sockets keep changing fast; every new series of processors requires a new motherboard as well. My current motherboard has an AM2+ socket, but if I want to upgrade my processor any which way, I'll need to either get an AMD AM3+ or an Intel 1155.

Still, it is so much fun discovering what computers are all about.


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

The AM2+ socket is compatible with a phenom II 965 which is plenty for gaming. At maybe $120.oo it's a cheap upgrade that saves money for other parts like a good video card. We'd need your specs though to give you real feedback.

Otherwise an i3 setup with at least 4gb of ram is a good start. I recommend the Steam hardware forum for the best feedback on what to buy. Prices and parts change so fast it's hard for any one person to keep up. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest sales day of the year if you really want to save money.


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## ibage (May 5, 2012)

I'm a PC enthusiast myself. I built this one two years ago and I keep squeezing what I can from him. I'm running a core i5-750 in here clocked at 4.2GHz (I WILL push 5Ghz before this guy stops chugging along). I'm running 8GB of memory and dual GTX470s. They double as space heaters in the winter. I do everything from here. I game, read ebooks, use it for music and well, pretty much everything else. 

If you're looking to build a new one, what's you budget and what will you be using it for?


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## Erbse (Oct 15, 2010)

i5 2500k or its shrink, i5 3570k are good choices as far as CPU capabilities go.

Not familiar with AMD alternatives, if there even are any.

I was forced to switch due to my 775 board dying on me and there only having been micro ATX alternatives that didn't have 4 RAM Slots supporting 8gb.

New system:
i5 3570K
Gigabyte 560Ti
Kingston 8gb DDR 3
Gigabyte Z77-D3H

No complaints here just yet.


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

ibage said:


> I'm running 8GB of memory and dual GTX470s. They double as space heaters in the winter.


:laughing: Space heaters; that made me smile. Keeping the room temperature down during hot summer days regularly provides me with a challenge. Especially, since I once saw on youtube that AMD processors will burn, whereas Intel processors will just freeze when overheating.



ibage said:


> If you're looking to build a new one, what's you budget and what will you be using it for?


I know it doesn't make much sense to build a sizzling Core i7 3770K PC for browsing the web and drawing up letters and such, but the two things I mostly want from my PC are i) it needs to run smoothly and ii) it needs to make me happy just thinking about it. That last part is pretty important to me, so that's why I am reluctant to merely list what I will use my system for and decide on a certain set-up. 'Cause I am no 3D hardcore gamer (except for GTA San Andreas) and I do not video or photo edit anything. As a consequence, one might be tempted to say that I don't to upgrade at all.

I haven't decided on a budget either, for now I am just looking. But, as I said before, the things I own need to make me smile - for whatever reason (e.g. name, color, performance, overall feel or company).


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

wuliheron said:


> The AM2+ socket is compatible with a phenom II 965 which is plenty for gaming. At maybe $120.oo it's a cheap upgrade that saves money for other parts like a good video card. We'd need your specs though to give you real feedback.


I appreciate the suggestion! My favorite parts dealer lists the Phenom II 965 Black Edition as AM3 and doesn't mention it is backwards compatible! Should I be looking into all AM3 processors to see whether they are backwards compatible, or is the 965 the only one?

What I have read so far about upgrading my setup with this processor is that I need to update my BIOS, before I take out the old Phenom x3 8450. What else do I need to think about? Apart from this I read that I could go for 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM, but that my current 1066Mhz DDR2 would work also. Okay, I just found out I have 3GB DDR2 @ 800 Mhz.

Finally, when is it time to start thinking about an after-market CPU fan? I am using a stock fan now.

EDIT: My specs
AMD Phenom X3 8450 2.10 GHz
XFX NForce 780S SLI GeForce 8200
Kingston HyperX Dual Channel NVIDIA SLI-Ready 3 GB @ 800 MHz
Antec NeoHE Power 550 Watt, 24 Pins

I added the PSU so we can reflect on whether that's good enough for the Phenom II 965.


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## Proteus (Mar 5, 2010)

I built one last summer and it was a good learning experience. I'm not a hardcore gamer so mine wasn't super expensive or elaborate but I left myself the option to upgrade. A few points to make your experience easier - spend the extra $ for a modular power supply. It makes cable management so much easier it's not funny. Also try and get a case with clamping drive bays instead of the screw-in variety. I got a case with the latter because it was a good deal and it was a pain in the ass when having to move parts to install everything.


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

Bear987 said:


> I appreciate the suggestion! My favorite parts dealer lists the Phenom II 965 Black Edition as AM3 and doesn't mention it is backwards compatible! Should I be looking into all AM3 processors to see whether they are backwards compatible, or is the 965 the only one?
> 
> What I have read so far about upgrading my setup with this processor is that I need to update my BIOS, before I take out the old Phenom x3 8450. What else do I need to think about? Apart from this I read that I could go for 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM, but that my current 1066Mhz DDR2 would work also. Okay, I just found out I have 3GB DDR2 @ 800 Mhz.
> 
> ...


Yeah, you can use anything from a Phenom II 940 like I have up to the hex cores and overclocked they're all pretty much the same for gaming. From the 955 on up to the hex cores they're virtually identical when overclocked and the only real advantage of the 965 is they are slightly higher clocked to begin with. Newegg has them for $110.oo which makes buying anything more expensive rather silly. 

AMD makes lots of backwards compatible chips knowing DIY people love that feature and the only drawback in this case is you can only use ddr2 ram with that socket. However, once you get above ddr2 1066hz there really isn't much difference for gaming. I'd recommend 4gb and a cheap aftermarket cooler and overclocking a 955 or 965 to about 3.5ghz or so. You can check out the difference for yourself, but for gaming overclocking to anything over that just won't make much difference with these chips. The coolermaster hyper 212 is cheap and does the trick, but don't forget the thermal grease! Also, you have to wait a week for the thermal grease to set right before overclocking or you might fry the thing a bit.

Your psu has plenty of power and the only thing I'd check is how many pins the pci-e connectors have. Right now an Nvidia 670 is about the best video card you can buy before the cost starts exploding faster than the bang-for-your-buck, but it's still an expensive one at $400.oo+ and that's one part you might want to wait for black Friday to buy on sale.


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## PSchall (Jun 8, 2012)

Bear987 said:


> I am just curious if there are more computer fanatics in here - please let me know. I took an interest, learned about the different hardware components, selected my own, and build the desktop PC I am on right now. Very rewarding, I must admit.
> 
> I didn't have that much money, so I decided to go with an AMD Phenom 8450 3x processor and a motherboard that features on-board video; nVidia GeForce 8200. My set-up is getting a little slowish at times and so my mind starts drifting to assemble something new.
> 
> ...


I think you should check some things on your computer first, before you spend any money on the parts to build a new one.

If you haven't checked your current RAM and running processes, you should do so, I assume you know how to. If your CPU usage and RAM usage is too high, see what processes you can end to free up some of your resources, just don't end ones like explorer.exe, processes used for your video card, or system processes. If in doubt, look it up to see if it's safe. I had the same problem with my laptop, until I did this and now it works much better.

Another possibility is a virus or other malware. I don't know what protection you already have against malware, but if you don't have anything you could always download Malwarebytes and/or avast. They both have free versions, Malwarebytes is updated practically every few hours and avast allows for real-time protection.

I haven't built a computer yet, but I have wanted to. I just never had enough money to build one. I have seen some cool videos on youtube where these guys build a liquid cooled computer using mineral oil. Check it out sometime, see if your interested in that.


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

His processor and ram are minimal for video gaming. Cleaning it up might help, but it will never be a good gaming rig by modern standards.


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

@PSchall @wuliheron

I try and keep my system lean and mean. I've stripped away unnecessary parts and disabled processes I do not use or need. (OS MS Windows XP Home). I usually have 29 processes running. To the best of my knowledge, that's about the bare minimum.

I have seen those videos too; the ones where they try alternative ways of cooling things down. The one with the oil was surprisingly good, although I do wonder whether over a longer period of time the oil gets heated up more or faster than it is able to cool down and do its job properly.

I like reading blogs or watch videos where people show what they bought and how they assemble it - informative, exciting and fun in my book!


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

Bear987 said:


> @_PSchall_ @_wuliheron_
> 
> I try and keep my system lean and mean. I've stripped away unnecessary parts and disabled processes I do not use or need. (OS MS Windows XP Home). I usually have 29 processes running. To the best of my knowledge, that's about the bare minimum.
> 
> ...


The bottom line is either a computer provides the kind of performance you want or it doesn't. If you want to do more like play around with extreme cooling solutions that's great, but it's stepping out into enthusiast territory which can get expensive and time consuming. In the case of mineral oil messy as well.

My own interest right now is in holding off as long as I can until the next generation computers become available. One terabyte hybrid memory ram speeds and improvements like that will make a huge difference, while upgrading to something like an i5 won't.


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## PSchall (Jun 8, 2012)

@Bear987
I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you then, other than checking which processes you can safely end and going from there. I wish I could help more, but...

I really would like to build a computer like that though. As for the oil heating up, that would depend on it's specific heat. If it's close to water, than it should work well enough.


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## ibage (May 5, 2012)

Bear987 said:


> I have seen those videos too; the ones where they try alternative ways of cooling things down. The one with the oil was surprisingly good, although I do wonder whether over a longer period of time the oil gets heated up more or faster than it is able to cool down and do its job properly.
> 
> I like reading blogs or watch videos where people show what they bought and how they assemble it - informative, exciting and fun in my book!


Extreme cooling is a whole different ball game. It's more expensive and time consuming and requires a ton of research. However, in my opinion, it's very much worth it. With water cooling, it adds a whole new aspect of the hobby. You can customize your system in so many different ways and there's an even greater number of possibilities if you get into case modding. Also be sure to look into overclocking your equipment if you want to spend that much on a cooling system. 

This hobby can be very time consuming and expensive but you get a lot more out of it than most people see. It's like those folks who drop $1000 on their car to make it go just a bit faster for a few seconds longer. I know crap about cars but I know how those people feel. I can't express the excitement I got when I finally pushed the 4GHz mark with my CPU. Under water, I'm pretty damn sure I could hit at least 4.8GHz if not 5.

Oh, and be weary of what cooling methods void warranties. If you're talking about submerging your stuff in mineral oil, yeah, kiss the warranty goodbye.


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## Subtle Murder (May 19, 2012)

I build computers.  I love being able to troubleshoot and fix my PC without having to pay some ridiculous fee to someone who does barely anything to it. I especially love it because as soon as I know what's wrong, I can go out, get the part I need, install it, et voilà! No waiting time, no messing about, no getting your PC back and finding that your wireless network card no longer works etc. 

My computer is pretty damn old. I mean, it runs well, so I don't really have many complaints, but I would love to upgrade it. The last time I upgraded was in 2008 (I think...?). I am just getting back into PC games, and am running out of hard drive space (I have 3 internal drives, all almost at full capacity (1.3TB all up), and three brimming external drives (3TB all up) - they need to release the next step up from a terabyte!). Plus, I'd love to be able to run my games at full resolution with the graphics settings on high. I feel like I am missing out. 

I'm currently running:

Windows 7 64-bit
4GB of RAM
Intel Core Duo 2.5GHz
NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS

I was waiting for this to be released so I could hear some feedback on it:

Bulldozer (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But I haven't been keeping up with technology for quite some time, so I've been a bit lax about researching and getting started on an upgrade. At the moment, the x8 FX-8120 / x8 FX-8150 are looking more affordable than the i7...


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

La Petite Sirène said:


> I was waiting for this to be released so I could hear some feedback on it:
> 
> Bulldozer (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> But I haven't been keeping up with technology for quite some time, so I've been a bit lax about researching and getting started on an upgrade. At the moment, the x8 FX-8120 / x8 FX-8150 are looking more affordable than the i7...


Bulldozer has been on the market for a year now so I'm not sure what you are asking. It's OK for gaming, but got bad reviews for it's lack of bang-for-your-buck and poor single thread performance. Supposedly the upcoming Vishera model will contain significant improvements and nobody knows what socket it will use, but if it is different it's likely a better bet.


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## Subtle Murder (May 19, 2012)

wuliheron said:


> Bulldozer has been on the market for a year now so I'm not sure what you are asking. It's OK for gaming, but got bad reviews for it's lack of bang-for-your-buck and poor single thread performance. Supposedly the upcoming Vishera model will contain significant improvements and nobody knows what socket it will use, but if it is different it's likely a better bet.


I'm not asking anything.  I was simply stating that I was waiting for the Bulldozer to come out (from a while back) so I could hear feedback on it. But I haven't kept up with information in the last year or so in order to make a decision about buying it in my upgrade or sticking with Pentium. No questions, just my Ne doing its job. 

Looks like I'm going to have to roll up my sleeves and get to researching.  Thanks for the info anyway! As good a place to start as any.


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## Extraverted Delusion (Oct 23, 2011)

wuliheron said:


> Yeah, you can use anything from a Phenom II 940 like I have up to the hex cores and overclocked they're all pretty much the same for gaming. From the 955 on up to the hex cores they're virtually identical when overclocked and the only real advantage of the 965 is they are slightly higher clocked to begin with. Newegg has them for $110.oo which makes buying anything more expensive rather silly.
> 
> AMD makes lots of backwards compatible chips knowing DIY people love that feature and the only drawback in this case is you can only use ddr2 ram with that socket. However, once you get above ddr2 1066hz there really isn't much difference for gaming. I'd recommend 4gb and a cheap aftermarket cooler and overclocking a 955 or 965 to about 3.5ghz or so. You can check out the difference for yourself, but for gaming overclocking to anything over that just won't make much difference with these chips. The coolermaster hyper 212 is cheap and does the trick, but don't forget the thermal grease! Also, you have to wait a week for the thermal grease to set right before overclocking or you might fry the thing a bit.
> 
> Your psu has plenty of power and the only thing I'd check is how many pins the pci-e connectors have. *Right now an Nvidia 670 is about the best video card you can buy* before the cost starts exploding faster than the bang-for-your-buck, but it's still an expensive one at $400.oo+ and that's one part you might want to wait for black Friday to buy on sale.


Careful on that one, most Phenom IIs WILL bottleneck the full performance of this card, even while overclocked!


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