Building a new gaming PC.

[Olfgar]

So I have been using an ASUS G72GX laptop, but now im feeling like upgrading to a more powerful Desktop ( or battlestation i you prefer xD)

I want to build it custom, and am Hoping the playground either knows some good parts to put in, or websites where I can ask there, etc.

My budget is a MINIMUM of $800, but preferably no more than $1200 (seeing as how it will take longer for me to save up for $1200 with my crappy job combined with other payments i need to, you know, pay), unless of course there will be a clear advantage in performance (other than just saying mo'money means mo'performance)

[Brother Oni]

A couple questions:


Just to make it clear, you need a completely new desktop, including a monitor, speakers and OS (presumably keyboard and mouse as well)?

How competent are you at building a PC? Very, not very or complete beginner?

Are there any other requirements you have, other than good at playing games?

Finally, I presume you're in Canada, so that budget is in CAD?

[fred dref]

Tom's Hardware and the subreddit BuildaPC are both good sources.

[Olfgar]

Yes I am in Canada, but since the Canadian and US dolalr arent to far apart, im not overly concerned witht he price diff.

Generally, all I use my computer for is Gaming, Streaming movies/music,TV shows etc, and sometimes downloading things every now and then. Purely for entertainment purposes.

Ive already got a mouse and keyboard and speakers, how ever I do have a friend that will either sell me new ones or straight up give them to me, so im not overly concerned there.

But other than that, yes, Im going to be building it all from scratch, but i may just get a "borrowed" copy of windows off a friend. Im pretty new at building desktops, but I have a general concept of it, plus know quite a few people who would know what they are doing (just not necesarily what individual parts I should get)

[OracleofWuffing]

I'm going to pick some parts at random from a list I found elsewhere and keep bookmarked for threads like this. :smalltongue: I can't actually recommend any of this, because I simply don't have the budget to keep trying things out. All prices are in US and before shipping (from what I've seen, international shipping's a nightmare).

Core i5-2500k (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072) $220
ASUS alphabet soup motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131824) $140
XFX ProSeries oh my gosh how do you pronounce that Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207018) $63
Might as well get 8 gigs of ram, it's probably overkill but it's still cheap at (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007611&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=8476%2C1471%2C2135%2C1687%2C11776%2C11 83%2C1459%2C1504%2C1455&PropertyCodeValue=521%3A29233%2C523%3A23986%2C524% 3A29248%2C524%3A35212%2C524%3A30325%2C2599%3A50618 %2C2599%3A29232&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20) $40
These video cards are apparently good for the price they run. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&IsPowerSearch=1&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&Manufactory=1315&Manufactory=1561&Manufactory=1312&Manufactory=12150&Manufactory=1402&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A140099) $115 (this is probably where you want to start looking for more options if you want to spend more money.)
500 GB Hard Drive. Prices are still too dang high. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073) $100. I actually use one of these, so um, actually, yeah, I guess I can recommend this?
DVD Drive, because the medium isn't quite dead yet. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=5&Description=&Type=&N=2010100005&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=1&Manufactory=1336&Manufactory=1112&Manufactory=1167&Manufactory=1077&PropertyCodeValue=365%3A6653&PropertyCodeValue=384%3A6820) $20
Chassis. It's a chassis. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352010) $70
23" Monitor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079) $160. You can look around on this one, and it might actually be worthwhile to find a monitor locally instead.

That's $928 before shipping and without OS, just going from Newegg. They don't always have the best prices though, and once you've settled on parts it'll be easier to shop for cheaper or better sales. I've been pointed to this site (http://pcpartpicker.com/), as well.

[boj0]

Are the Fractal chassis really that good? They've been popping up everywhere I look for building a PC.

[OracleofWuffing]

Like I said before, I don't have one, so I couldn't tell you. :smallredface: I just saw them suggested elsewhere. If you have a different suggestion, it'd be cool to suggest it, as I'm certain you can get cases for cheaper, but it's hard to tell if they'd be any good. This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068) was the one I used for a computer a handful of years back, but the fan sounds drove me nuts and the video card isn't exactly held in nicely. The Engrish packaging of the product was worth a chuckle or two, though.

[Triaxx]

I suggest getting an SSD to put your OS(s) on, to get maximum speed out of them. 64GB gives you room enough to put a movie on to watch if you want the best playback.

[Starwulf]

I literally just bought parts from Newegg on Tuesday and put together my comp last night. Here are the parts I ordered. Total price was no more then $905

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 It's a Bronze Certified 650w, perfect for just about anything you'd want to throw at it in a 800-1200 price range.
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 It's a HAF series, which are well known for their quality and ability to keep things in cool-working order. It's also PLENTY spacious, it's only a mid-tower, but it's a BIG mid-tower.
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461 This is pretty damn good ram for the money, G-Skill sniper series, 1600 MHZ, and it's 8Gigs.
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661 GTX 560 Graphics card. Great price for the power, it's DX11 compatible, and is actually tied for best graphics card in it's price range.
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157249 Good brand, good MOBO, I like the layout, and it supports up to 32GB of RAM. Good price too!
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 The i5-2500k. It's the ideal purchase right now, it's the easiest and best processor to OC, both in terms of speed, and heating. This is highly recommended, both if you plan to OC, and even if you don't. It's just that good.
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 It's windows 7 OEM. It's cheaper then buying the retail version and it's worth it if you have any ability with computers at all. Why pay 40 bucks more for a retail version that gives you Microsoft support when you're having issues, when you can just handle the problems yourself.
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795 This is only a 500gb Drive, but it is even better then Caviar Blue drive previously recommended, both in terms of speed, and in the warranty(5 years on this).

[OracleofWuffing]

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795 This is only a 500gb Drive, but it is even better then Caviar Blue drive previously recommended, both in terms of speed, and in the warranty(5 years on this).
As the guy who pointed out the drive previously mentioned, I just want to say this is a good call and totally pounceworthy over what I linked to.