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Building new PC rig for Win games

PracticalMac

PracticalMac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 22, 2009
2,857
5,244
Houston, TX
EDIT: Thanks for replies, added more detail.

I have Mac's for important work (bills, tax, email, etc) so the PC will be for games mainly.

I consider the motherboard the most important part of the system, but the CPU needs to be match it well as well.
Of course video cards are important, but with PCI-e makes it a bit easy to pick.
The rest are easy to pick (SSD for drive)

Is their anything else to consider (or am I completely wrong?)


So, what hardware should I look at?



Added Details:
I have built PC rigs before, need advice on what is the current top of line is on market.

budget:
for MoBo and CPU $750 (likely more)
Video card: at least $200
Power supply: 500+ watt

That is foundation, the rest I will be a little more picky price wise.

I will get a 64GB SSD. I do not need space, I want speed.
And at least 4GB RAM, maybe more depending on other items.
 
Last edited:
You want atleast 8g ram, it will greatly increase your performance and it's not that expensive

You also need to consider the power supply of your computer, give him enought juice!

SSD is not necessary if you want to game... a 7200 rpm will be fine and much cheaper
 
What's your budget? Have you looked into components? What games will you be playing?

here's a quick list of components you'll need

  1. CPU
  2. motherboard
  3. case
  4. ram
  5. power supply
  6. hard drive
  7. optical drive
  8. fans
  9. video card

everything else is optional if needed
  1. SSD
  2. Wireless NIC
  3. sound card
  4. water cooling
 
SSD is not needed. My rig at the house is this:

EVGA P55
i5 2.8 Quad Core
8Gb Corsair XMS memory
EVGA GTS450 Video Card
and a simple HD and a few fans.
650Watt Power Supply

To be honest this is a pretty decent rig running 64Bit Windows 7. It runs games with no issues.
 
AppleDApp said:
What's your budget? Have you looked into components? What games will you be playing?

here's a quick list of components you'll need

  1. CPU
  2. motherboard
  3. case
  4. ram
  5. power supply
  6. hard drive
  7. optical drive
  8. fans
  9. video card

everything else is optional if needed
  1. SSD
  2. Wireless NIC
  3. sound card
  4. water cooling
Click to expand...

Edited above, but for emphasis:

Added Details:
I have built PC rigs before, need advice on what is the current top of line is on market.

budget:
for MoBo and CPU $750 (likely more)
Video card: at least $200
Power supply: 500+ watt

That is foundation, the rest I will be a little more picky price wise.

I will get a 64GB SSD. I do not need space, I want speed.
And at least 4GB RAM, maybe more depending on other items.


NOTE:
I hear new i7 has speed enhancements to make it really fly over i5 and i3. True?
 
Buy a very good PSU, it's a very important part and I see a lot of people trying to save $25 here, don't do it!

Get a high quality PSU, like Corsair, Mist, OCZ etc..
Buy a 650w or bigger, it never hurts!
If you want to keep your cabinet clean inside, get a modular one.
I myself have a Corsair TX 650watt, which is great, but I should have got the slightly more expensive HX 650watt, since it's modular.

Check here (http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp) to see how much power you'll need and buy at least 100-150watt more, a PSU running on 75% of max last longer and is quieter than one on 90-100% load

When it comes to gaming GPU > CPU, it's always better to buy a better graphics card than a better CPU, so any 1155 socket i5 will be good enough, unless you plan to go GTX580 or a SLI setup.

I like nvidia better than AMD(ATI).
If you are going the nvidia route buy at least a GTX560 or 6870 if you choose AMD.

I'm gaming on a custom built PC, with OSX too and I play most games on OSX, but not all. With an older Core2Duo@3.67GHz it still keeps up with my GTX 285 in most cases and games like Two Worlds2, Dragon Age 2, Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft and Assassins Creed runs very well on maxed settings
 
MasterTick said:
You don't need to spend that much on the MoBo and CPU, I'd take a few hundred off that and apply it towards the graphics card(s).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

And a 64GB SSD is not enough, Windows 7 takes up 20GBs by itself.

Add 8GB of RAM or so and you got yourself a badass PC that will play anything on max settings.
Click to expand...

He does NOT need a i7-2600k for gaming. At most he would need a 2500k, and even then he didnt say he would be overclocking at all.
 
Ace134blue said:
He does NOT need a i7-2600k for gaming. At most he would need a 2500k, and even then he didnt say he would be overclocking at all.
Click to expand...

The i7 2600k isn't much more expensive. You're right the 2500k would suffice, but he obviously has the cash, why not spring for the 2600k?
 
MasterTick said:
The i7 2600k isn't much more expensive. You're right the 2500k would suffice, but he obviously has the cash, why not spring for the 2600k?
Click to expand...

Thats not very good advice? He could drop the 2600k for the 2500k and get a nice sound card. The 2600k will net zero FPS in current games.
 
No real difference in gaming between an i5-2500 and an i7-2600. k series is only if you want to oc or need the better igp (obviously not in this case). The i7 will cost $100 more so there really is no point. Spend what you can on the GPU and make sure the PS is big enough.
 
I suggest you post this on Computer Forum a great forum that will help you with your build. Personally I think everyone on MR will contradict one another.
 
i5 and i7 are nearly same in performance in gaming so i think its better to get a good GPU if you are willing to spend extra anyway.
 
Thanks for advice guys!

Better stuff then from others I have asked!

My budget is high, but not limitless. Considering $1600 for everything in box.
Have not even started to looking at monitors. :rolleyes:


And unless it has soft-overlocking, I would not overclock.
 
For graphics card and motherboard I highly recommend EVGA products and ONLY EVGA products. Make sure you get EVGA products with AR at the end of the part number, that means it has lifetime warranty. Register them within 30 days from date of purchase and you have will lifetime warranty (inc. replacement if needed).

EVGA customer support is the best in the industry. You will be shooting yourself in the leg if you don't get EVGA. They might be a bit more expensive, but they are 100% worth it.
 
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