30 replies to this topic

[bigvee]

My computers motherboard fried last week. Before I begin, I just want to say that I'm no stranger to building a computer, and have done most of my research before actually thinking about building my computer.

This will be a gaming computer, as well something for everyday use

Whoever HAS built a computer, or is in the business or something, help a laker fan out

I already have:
4 X 2gb DDR3 ram sticks = 8 gb DDR3 ram
HP optical drive (SATA DRIVE) - From my old PC
750 GB HDD - Will be restored for my new rig
Surround Sound BOSE Speakers
Dual HP 19" Monitors

With that said, I have a budget of ~$500

I have decided on some sort of a Radeon HD 5770. If anyone dissagrees with that model, please do tell me. Let me know if you think it will serve well for playing high end games on max settings.


Also, I will be getting some sort of case for ~$50-~$100. The case is not my biggest concern right now.


What I am confused about:
Intel or AMD? I am leaning towards an AMD Phenom II Quad Core, but I have been recommended to go Intel, even though it will break my budget. If it makes THAT much of a difference, I guess I'll go for a Intel i5, which is still a bit out of my price range.

Whether I go AMD or Intel, I will probably be going for an ASUS motherboard. Something with 4 ram slots, PCIE 2.0, and preferably an integrated sound card.

For my power supply, I'll be looking to go 500+ watts. I'm not sure how much is really enough to be running a gaming system.

I WILL BE DOING MOST OF MY SHOPPING, IF NOT ALL, ON BLACK FRIDAY

[vong]

i was having the same problem... i would personally go for NVDIA & INTEL. but if you want more bang for your buck, just get AMD

my future build will probably be..

intel i5 w/ nvidia card

btw, what is your case? my friend said i should get a FULL desktop instead of a MID-ATX tower. (since graphic cards are getting more huge)

Edited by vong, November 24, 2010 - 07:53 PM.

[bigvee]

i was having the same problem... i would personally go for NVDIA & INTEL. but if you want more bang for your buck, just get AMD

my future build will probably be..

intel i5 w/ nvidia card

btw, what is your case? my friend said i should get a FULL desktop instead of a MID-ATX tower. (since graphic cards are getting more huge)

What nvidia card do you recommend? I hadn't really considered going nVidia at all.

I haven't bought it yetI will be going for a Mid-Tower ATX for sure. A full tower really isn't necessary, unless you really want to go with two graphic cards.

[Draztik]

Gaming? Video Editing? Photo Manipulation? All around desktop? Honestly I've built systems with Intel or AMD & i'd say if you have a budget stick with it & go AMD. I have made systems for people before with AMD that had no problems with graphics intense gaming (Call of Duty type games). If you have money to blow then yea the i5 would be nice lol.

[Spooky]

On that budget go with AMD and don't cheap out on the Power Supply.

[bigvee]

Gaming? Video Editing? Photo Manipulation? All around desktop? Honestly I've built systems with Intel or AMD & i'd say if you have a budget stick with it & go AMD. I have made systems for people before with AMD that had no problems with graphics intense gaming (Call of Duty type games). If you have money to blow then yea the i5 would be nice lol.

I mentioned that it will be for gaming and everyday use.

I have decided to go with a AMD phenom II X6 processor, XFX Radeon hd 5770, and an ASUS motherboard. Thoughts?

[Kobe-Wan Kenobi]

I mentioned that it will be for gaming and everyday use.

I have decided to go with a AMD phenom II X6 processor, XFX Radeon hd 5770, and an ASUS motherboard. Thoughts?

I have an ASUS too. It is fine for gaming and everyday use.
Radeon 5770 is a pretty good card. I can play almost every game on max settings with a 4870 so that will be just fine.
The only game I think you cannot play on max is GTA IV. It looks impossible to find the right card for that game.
About Intel or AMD I would go for Intel though.

[Game]

sounds like you're on the right track for you money. i've been with intel as far as processors go since the pentium 4 came out basically...now i'm on an 3ghz e8400 OCed to 3.6 ghz. i had a 5770 and i've been playing everything at 1080p (haven't gotten around to installing black ops yet, but i'm pretty sure it'll run fine). asus = great motherboards too. good luck...

[bigvee]

Thanks guys. I've done some more benchmark research, and downing the extra $100 for an intel core i7 would be a great investment. I have yet again changed my mind, and will be going for the intel i7, which runs at around $300, instead of a AMD Phenom II x6 which goes around $180-200. My motherboard will still be ASUS, but will obviously be an intel unit

[bigvee]

I have an ASUS too. It is fine for gaming and everyday use.
Radeon 5770 is a pretty good card. I can play almost every game on max settings with a 4870 so that will be just fine.
The only game I think you cannot play on max is GTA IV. It looks impossible to find the right card for that game.
About Intel or AMD I would go for Intel though.

I've seen YouTube vids on HD 5770 running core i7 maxing out on GTA IV and Crysis, with about 25-30 fps

[bigvee]

Just wanted to check in to let everyone know how my black friday went.

I went to Fry's. 5 AM, and bought :

Intel Core i7 950 (NOT ON SALE)
ASUS Sabertooth X58 Motherboard (NOT ON SALE)
ASUS RADEON HD 5770 ($10 off)
750 WATT POWER SUPPLY ( Not sure how much, but it was marked down quite a bit. I bought it for $50, worth $65-$80)
Ziplex Case (About $10 off)

Looks like a beast of a setup right? Wrong. Well actually it would be, but either some of my packaging was damaged, defected, or a returned used product.

The processor turned on for about 10 seconds, then quickly shut off. The graphics card just wouldn't show up on any screen i put it up on. The motherboard never loaded the BIOS menu.

I called a friend in, who has built many computers in the past, to try and see what I'm doing wrong. He said everything looked fine, so we took the whole setup apart,and reinstalled everything.

Same result.

I just got back from Fry's. I returned everything that I bought. I went way over my budget, spending $800. Even the Fry's worker, who helped me pick everything out, was bummed that something had to go wrong.

What's next? Should I give up my dreams of building my own computer? Should I try one more time, and go for an AMD processor?

I haven't decided yet, but I will definitely take a week or so before I make another decision to spend that much money. I'll be using my mom's laptop for now. The irony of going from having a i7 core desktop in my hands, and going to a 1835 Windows XP laptop

[Draztik]

Hmm, strange. deff sounds like a BIOS problem really. Maybe power source wasn't supplying correctly as well. Did you make sure to touch the metal part of the case before handling hardware? Might of had some static problems?

Edited by Draztik Rhymez, November 26, 2010 - 04:25 PM.

[bigvee]

Hmm, strange. deff sounds like a BIOS problem really. Maybe power source wasn't supplying correctly as well. Did you make sure to touch the metal part of the case before handling hardware? Might of had some static problems?

The worker at Fry's (even though not the most educated man in the world) told me it was a processor problem. He told me that the brackets were probably damaged when I put them in.

[Game]

in my experience, building a computer rarely ever goes smoothly...there's always something.

the computer i use now had a processor issue when i built it what was probably a few years ago. took me awhile to figure out, but eventually got it done. so the motherboard still had a very old version of the bios on it. so old in fact, that it was about 5 versions away from support for my processor. of course i didn't know this, but nothing happened when i turned the computer on. distubing after all the money spent as you well know...after lots of troubleshooting, and internet searching figuring out that the bios was the problem, i had to find a friend w/ an old enough processor that was supported by my motherboard, bring him over, take his computer apart, pull out my processor, put his in, install windows, flash the bios, turn it off, and put both our computers back together...etc.

headache, but computer has run like a dream ever since =)

[bigvee]

in my experience, building a computer rarely ever goes smoothly...there's always something.

headache, but computer has run like a dream ever since =)

That's what my friend kept telling me. I kept saying whatever, forget it, I'll just return it. He kept telling me to be patient, and to exchange some parts out to get the perfect system.

I won't lie, if it had worked out, with my i7 and Sabertooth x58+ Radeon HD 5770, I would have the sickest computer in that price range.

My dad ended up suprising me with a black friday special, and ordering me a M11x Alienware laptop. It's small, but I honestly hate the feeling of huge laptops. I have dual monitors ready, so this laptop will basically serve as a stable gaming computer. Alienware made it powerful enough for everyday usage, aswell as mid to high gaming.

I'm pretty excited. If anyones wondering, and sees this post before midnight, dell.com is selling the M11x for $599, that's a whole $200 off the usual price.

[Draztik]

Nice i haven't gotten a chance to mess with Alienware yet, but i have heard good things.

[Bynumite17]

Nice i haven't gotten a chance to mess with Alienware yet, but i have heard good things.

Quality computers, but from my experience, it all depends on preferences. What you rather have, brand or specs.

[bigvee]

The m11x will serve me well for now. I'll be off to college soon, so I'll have to make a decision to when I'll really end up building a computer.

[bigvee]

So I have a small update... I had a change of heart and told my dad to cancel the Alienware order. It was too basic for me. Either tonight or tomorrow I'm going to go back to frys with a friend and he will personally build my computer so there will be no problems this time

[Game]

frys might be the problem though, people have mixed results buying hardware from them as i understand it...more of their stuff is refurbished than they lead you to believe supposedly, but i don't really know

i bought basically everything for my computer online.