Desktop Computers

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
McCheese - find some room in your budget for a SSD, at the very least a small on to use as your boot drive. You can't imagine the difference they make until you actually run your operating system off of one. 20 second re-boots are a godsend, not to mention load screens so fast in games that you can't even read the little text tips that they give you while you wait.

Even if it's just a small 120GB like:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147188

I'd even go so far if my budget were tight to completely forsake a large storage drive and just run with the SSD for a little while until I could save up and add a storage drive down the road in a month or two or whatever. 120GB is going to be enough to initially install your OS and a half-dozen games that you are going to play in the immediate future, while you save up for a bigger storage drive.

Doing it this way is much easier than installing a SSD later on down the road and having to do another full windows reinstall at that point.
 

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
6,933
4,349
I have no intention of overclocking. I chose that chip and motherboard just because it seems like the best price-for-performance option. Is there a cheaper alternative that I can get at Microcenter if I don't plan on overclocking, without sacrificing too much performance? I'd like this computer to last me at least a few years, so I don't want to go too cheap.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
If you have no intention of ever overclocking, just get the same processor, but the non-"K" version. An i5 4670 will probably be $20-$30 cheaper than an i5-4670K, the only main difference being that you can't overlock the normal one as much, or as easily as the K.

that change right there, plus axing the 500GB hard drive would cover the cost of an SSD without raising your initial budget
smile.png
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
27,031
41,386
I think its a no brainer to OC. Get an extra 700-900mhz with a push of one button on that MSI board? You would be a fool IMO of not taking advantage of that. But thats just my opinion. THis is not like OCing in thae past, where you needed to adjust every single thing manually to eek out an extra 200mhz. this is literally one button you push in the bios and viola, you have a 4.2ghz system. also no worries with OC these days, because all you are doing is adjusting the headroom on that processor. They self throttle anyways, so if you are not using the power, they automatically throttle back. SO its not like you are running this thing at 4.2ghs 24/7.

Also, I agree with Joeboo about the SSD. IMO thats like a must these days. Its like a night and day difference.
 

TheRashyman

Golden Knight of the Realm
163
15
So I'm working off a computer I bought just for school, this is before my desktop died on me a few years ago. I want something that should be able to handle most games at 60fps for the next few years. I don't really know enough about computers anymore, so I'd probably try to buy a machine already put together. For example I went browsing and of course I see the Titan card and I feel I must own it! I know it's way overkill (fucking $1000 for a graphics card?), so I need some help.

Budget isn't as much of a concern as to getting what I will enjoy using. The only thing that is a must is having a SSD 512 drive, and I always prefer evga/nvidia cards to radeon and I also love ASUS. If you guys could help that would be awesome, I just honestly don't know what I need to fulfill my want without being absurd.
 

Gravel

Mr. Poopybutthole
41,729
143,102
Although a 1TB SSD sounds great, I honestly don't know what i would actually use it for.

Getting an SSD ruined all other peoples computers for me. No 'regular users' that I know use one, so it feels like I'm on dial-up using their PC.
I'm right there with you on that. I work for the government, and my work computer takes 5-10 minutes to boot. Seriously. Shit gets bogged down with internet explorer (did I mention it's got IE7 on there?). It's absolutely infuriating.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
I'm right there with you on that. I work for the government, and my work computer takes 5-10 minutes to boot. Seriously. Shit gets bogged down with internet explorer (did I mention it's got IE7 on there?). It's absolutely infuriating.
I hear ya, the company I work for just upgraded us to IE9 from IE 6 about 6 months ago, and we just got Office 2007 this year... Still running win XP
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
27,031
41,386
Were getting 41 new workstations with win 7 finally in a few months. They also have 2 256gb ssd. They are also giving us 2 24" monitors which will be nice from a productivity standpoint. One thing I cant say anything negative about my company is hooking us up with the latest and greatest every 2 yrs or so.
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Rickshaw Potatoes>
31,801
24,479
So I'm working off a computer I bought just for school, this is before my desktop died on me a few years ago. I want something that should be able to handle most games at 60fps for the next few years. I don't really know enough about computers anymore, so I'd probably try to buy a machine already put together. For example I went browsing and of course I see the Titan card and I feel I must own it! I know it's way overkill (fucking $1000 for a graphics card?), so I need some help.

Budget isn't as much of a concern as to getting what I will enjoy using. The only thing that is a must is having a SSD 512 drive, and I always prefer evga/nvidia cards to radeon and I also love ASUS. If you guys could help that would be awesome, I just honestly don't know what I need to fulfill my want without being absurd.
PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard:Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory:Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Seagate 600 Series 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($409.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card($409.99 @ NCIX US)
Case:Corsair 600T White Graphite ATX Mid Tower Case($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply($127.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)($89.73 @ Outlet PC)
Total:$1952.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-20 01:15 EDT-0400)

That's what I'd buy if I wanted something nice and fast and money was no real object, but I didn't want to feel like I was 'wasting' money on performance that's merely theoretical.

It's also a simple build you can do yourself as long as you follow the instructions included and watch a video on how to install the heatsink. That case couldn't be easier to work with. If you can read and operate a philips head screwdriver, you can build this yourself.
 

W4RH34D_sl

shitlord
661
3
PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard:Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory:Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Seagate 600 Series 480GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($409.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card($409.99 @ NCIX US)
Case:Corsair 600T White Graphite ATX Mid Tower Case($139.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply($127.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)($89.73 @ Outlet PC)
Total:$1952.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-20 01:15 EDT-0400)

That's what I'd buy if I wanted something nice and fast and money was no real object, but I didn't want to feel like I was 'wasting' money on performance that's merely theoretical.

It's also a simple build you can do yourself as long as you follow the instructions included and watch a video on how to install the heatsink. That case couldn't be easier to work with. If you can read and operate a philips head screwdriver, you can build this yourself.
If money was no object I'd go with a xeon or extreme chip. Why waste silicon on an integrated gpu?
 

BoozeCube

The Wokest
<Prior Amod>
54,553
324,202
This is currently what I am thinking about putting together. Was hoping to get some opinions and maybe refine it a bit. I am wanted to get the best value for my money and get something that will last for a couple of years. Unfortunately, it has been so damn long since I build my last PC and took the time to shop and keep up with everything you almost get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of shit out there these days.

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($33.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard:MSI Z87-G43 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($119.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory($68.46 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($126.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($62.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card($249.99 @ Amazon)
Case:Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case($93.49 @ Amazon)
Power Supply:Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total:$1073.11
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-20 02:00 EDT-0400)
 

gogusrl

Molten Core Raider
1,365
108
You could drop 150-200W from the PSU and save 20$. It's overkill for a single gpu system, my PCP&C 750W kept 3 x 6970 at full load for 6 months when I was bitcoin mining. Besides that, everything looks great.

Actually, I'd use the 20$ from the PSU and upgrade that Hyper212 to a Noctua/Thermalright/Prolimatech.
 

BoozeCube

The Wokest
<Prior Amod>
54,553
324,202
I was thinking sometime down the road if needed I could toss a 2nd 760 in there since I guess 2 of them apparently outperform the titan. Not sure if it's worth doing or not.

I certainty don't mind buying a better CPU cooler. If I plan on overclocking the 4670k will the better cooler make a big difference?
 

gogusrl

Molten Core Raider
1,365
108
It's not worth going SLI. When you feel that 760 isn't enough, sell it and grab a 780 or Titan. Regarding the cooler, it can be a 10+ degrees Celsius difference, the hyper212 is a pretty small heatsink compared to some other models.

Thermalright Silver Arrow vs Hyper 212
HbKWWEL.jpg
 

Rabkorik

Silver Knight of the Realm
164
45
Hey guys. I am going to finish buying my parts today. Any thoughts?

Already bought:
CPU -Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K
Motherboard -GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD4H LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard[Combo Deal with CPU] $350
RAM -G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL[Shellshocker Deal] $52.99

Plan on buying:
CPU Cooler -COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+$33.99
Storage -Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Optical Drive -ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM[Combo Deal with HD] $96.98
Storage SSD -SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)[Promo Code Discount] $89.99
Video Card -EVGA 02G-P4-2660-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card[Promo Code Discount] $189.99

Not really sure:
Case -COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case$59.99
Power Supply -CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply[Promo Code Discount] $79.99

Basically anything that isn't already bought is up for change. I think I like what I have selected but you guys know more than I do.
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Rickshaw Potatoes>
31,801
24,479
If money was no object I'd go with a xeon or extreme chip. Why waste silicon on an integrated gpu?
Ivy Bridge-E is such an old platform now.

And it was supposed to be a reasonable price/performance ratio system.