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Looking for comments on gaming computer build (1 Viewer)

NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired

Footballguy
I have never built a pc before so I want to dip my toes in the water with a budget build for gaming.

Could you guys look over my build and give any comments?  My one worry is whether I need a fan/cooler for the CPU.  Some sites say I do, and others say I do not.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HXGFKZ

 
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Can I recommend hitting this thread and bumping it through the weekend?  Will take a look when I have more time but I usually lean on cow and zasda and a few others.   

 
cool looking case. that one fan on the case won't be enough between the vid card and the cpu for any of the latest games. it looks like the case has two slots for 120mm fans. would add that for sure. 120mm silent fans are not expensive iirc. set the case fan it comes with as "in" and install the other 120mm's as "out" and u would be set. cpu cooling is still recommended, though this being a mini case not sure what ur options will be with a GPU sitting next to it. space will be tight.

i did a build a few years ago with a cpu fan and still ended up adding two additional 120mm fans to the front of the case to keep the temperature down a year or two later. if u're really looking at this as a gaming rig, u'll need all the air flow u can muster. with four case fans plus a cpu fan, my rig still runs on the high end of the temperature spectrum.

one last comment, is that ssd gonna be enough? 250 GB will fill up quick.

 
You always need a heat sink&fan above what comes stock with the CPU if you're going to do any real gaming or over clocking. 

Your solid state isn't big enough to hold a bunch of games and game saves. CPU and memory is just average for a desktop let alone a gaming PC.  

 
Thanks for all of the advice!

This is going to be a very light gaming rig.  Basically I just want to be able to play some games that don't play too well on my Microsoft Surface 3 laptop right now (128g capacity/4G Dram).  I am mostly a console player where I do heavy gaming.

I added a cooler for the CPU into the build now.  I will double check that it can fit based on what @Pigskin Fanatic suggested above.

 
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If I want to expand from 8g to 16g in the future for dram, should I buy a 1x8 instead of a 2x4?  The motherboard has two slots for dram.

 
BigSteelThrill said:
Depends on how "good" the Ram is. When you go from 8 to 16 you may want better quality ram then what the initial offering allows.
Click to expand...
can you expand on this?  the motherboard has both a speed and size limit.  What other specs do I need to look at regarding better quality in the future if the ram I buy today already is meeting the speed limit (2133)?

 
Yeah you might want to add a reguar hard drive.  Mini ITX are harder to build due to working in confined spaces, so add it now so you don't have to go back in and wire it all in.   I say that because you want the best possible airflow, meaning great cable management.  Easy to do the first through.  Not so much the additions.

 
Seems like a big pain in the ### to save a few hundred.  Gaming PCs are pretty cheap now in comparison to 10 years ago.

I'm guessing this is for pure hobby; I don't think it's cost saving move IMO.

ETA: actually a quick search on Tiger Direct says you could get a better one for less (and you don't have to build it, you get a warranty, etc.).

 
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Agree with others - 250gb is not enough for the HDD. You'll be conscious of space on day 1. Add a 1-2TB 7200 rpm. Won't cost much, and will save you a lot of headaches.   

 
tonydead said:
Legit?  I'm tired off spoofing my activation every year on one windows 8.1 machine. Might cave for $20. 
Click to expand...
Used one for my brothers build and it worked fine.  Granted, I purchased his on Amazon so I felt a lot my secure making that purchased. I've never dealt with Keymasters before. Only difference is that windows is locked to that system (motherboard). Whereas the regular priced windows you can move to another computer. 

 
Arizona Ron said:
Seems like a big pain in the ### to save a few hundred.  Gaming PCs are pretty cheap now in comparison to 10 years ago.

I'm guessing this is for pure hobby; I don't think it's cost saving move IMO.

ETA: actually a quick search on Tiger Direct says you could get a better one for less (and you don't have to build it, you get a warranty, etc.).
Click to expand...
It's more a value play than a cost saving measure. I haven't touched my PC in years and it still runs most new games with good to great benchmarks.

 
Arizona Ron said:
Seems like a big pain in the ### to save a few hundred.  Gaming PCs are pretty cheap now in comparison to 10 years ago.

I'm guessing this is for pure hobby; I don't think it's cost saving move IMO.

ETA: actually a quick search on Tiger Direct says you could get a better one for less (and you don't have to build it, you get a warranty, etc.).
Click to expand...
Thanks AZ.  I was under the I guess mistaken impression that I could build this cheaper but I guess I was wrong.

Can you provide a link to a machine that is better and cheaper?

 
jwb said:
Agree with others - 250gb is not enough for the HDD. You'll be conscious of space on day 1. Add a 1-2TB 7200 rpm. Won't cost much, and will save you a lot of headaches.   
Click to expand...
I guess I need to give this more thought.  I have been living with 128g memory space on my Surface and have no issues with the games I play and still have plenty of room.

If I go with a split SSD and HD is the general organization this?

1) All game related stuff on SD

2) OS and all other sw (browsers, media players etc) on the HD

 
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Eulogys said:
Used one for my brothers build and it worked fine.  Granted, I purchased his on Amazon so I felt a lot my secure making that purchased. I've never dealt with Keymasters before. Only difference is that windows is locked to that system (motherboard). Whereas the regular priced windows you can move to another computer. 
Click to expand...
This looks cool if it is legit.  I will check Amazon.  This $60 savings could easily be used for more dram or hd space.

Is this how it works for a new pc build?

1) buy key

2) download iso file from Microsoft

3) burn iso into usb flash 

4) change pc bios to boot from usb

5) install windows via usb (I asume some where in here the key is needed or is that needed in step 2?)

 
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tonydead said:
You always need a heat sink&fan above what comes stock with the CPU if you're going to do any real gaming or over clocking. 
Click to expand...
I will not be overclocking.   I will be doing some gaming but I don't know if it is considered "real" or not.

The cpu I am buying says it comes with a cooling fan, but from what you say here it seems like I should get a better one.  Am I right in assuming the cooler I buy seperately replaces the stock fan and is not added in addition to the stock fan?

 
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NewlyRetired said:
Thanks AZ.  I was under the I guess mistaken impression that I could build this cheaper but I guess I was wrong.

Can you provide a link to a machine that is better and cheaper?
Click to expand...
If you've gone this far, I'd still recommend building it. You'll learn a lot and know every inch of your machine. Also, a lot of the time pre-builts that look like great deals can have inferior components inside. Low grade motherboards for instance. I don't really know if the machine AZ referenced falls into that category or not. 

I am biased though, since I enjoy putting together a new machine.

 
Thanks to all of the great comments in this thread I have made the following changes

1) Changed SDRAM config from 2x4 to 1x8

2) Added 1TB 7200 HDD to supplement 240g SSD

3) Added CPU cooler which should fit my build (going to be super tight but meets specs)

4) Removed buying Windows 10 and replaced that with just purchasing a Windows 10 key

 
When booting the new computer for the very first time, do I need to have a wired USB connection for my keyboard and mouse?  I am unsure what drivers exist on the BIOS and if they will support a wireless connection.

 
NewlyRetired said:
When booting the new computer for the very first time, do I need to have a wired USB connection for my keyboard and mouse?  I am unsure what drivers exist on the BIOS and if they will support a wireless connection.
Click to expand...
If you are talking about wireless where you plug a little receiver into a USB port you should be fine.

 
NewlyRetired said:
I will not be overclocking.   I will be doing some gaming but I don't know if it is considered "real" or not.

The cpu I am buying says it comes with a cooling fan, but from what you say here it seems like I should get a better one.  Am I right in assuming the cooler I buy seperately replaces the stock fan and is not added in addition to the stock fan?
Click to expand...
Correct and some thermal paste between the two (google how to do this). Coolmaster is a top brand I usually use. My last build was over 3 years ago and had 16GB of corsair vengeance and an i7 for not much more than you are spending ~$1000. I did only have a 256ssd, but I've got to think prices have gone down at least double since then.  I boot to windows login from completely off in approx 20 seconds. 

 
I haven't built my own PC in about 10 years.  At a glance (and far from a tech guy) I can't see why you wouldn't just buy this instead.

This one

ETA corrected link

 
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NewlyRetired said:
When booting the new computer for the very first time, do I need to have a wired USB connection for my keyboard and mouse?  I am unsure what drivers exist on the BIOS and if they will support a wireless connection.
Click to expand...
I can't say enough about asrock motherboards and bios. Bios updates are a breeze compared to years past. Update all your drivers before you do anything else. You need to get your LAN driver working before you try to do any bios updates or anything else or you might get stuck in a do loop. There will be a lot of garbage on the cds that come with your motherboard, don't install everything, rather install the drivers you need one at a time. 

 
What if he wants to do some VR gaming in the future.  Will his specs support that?  That's my issue with gaming PC's, first they're super expensive compared to consoles and secondly all the expensive components seem like they'll be almost obsolete in like 3 years. 

 
James Daulton said:
What if he wants to do some VR gaming in the future.  Will his specs support that?  That's my issue with gaming PC's, first they're super expensive compared to consoles and secondly all the expensive components seem like they'll be almost obsolete in like 3 years. 
Click to expand...
You try and get a motherboard that is at the most current specs (most popular and current CPU PIN number) that way you can upgrade parts in 3 years. Then you sell the old parts, it's a way to save money in the long run. You would be surprised how much you can sell "obsolete" computer parts for. There is a whole market out there of people willing to pay more to replace an old video card in order to not have to buy a new computer. I've upgraded virtually for free before by doing this. 

 
James Daulton said:
What if he wants to do some VR gaming in the future.  Will his specs support that?  That's my issue with gaming PC's, first they're super expensive compared to consoles and secondly all the expensive components seem like they'll be almost obsolete in like 3 years. 
Click to expand...
A "gaming PC" is also a computer though.  Even if you buy an XBox or PS (whatever), you still have to buy a computer.  Might as well throw a few extra hundred at making it a better computer than a completely separate console that's only used for games.

 
NewlyRetired said:
This looks cool if it is legit.  I will check Amazon.  This $60 savings could easily be used for more dram or hd space.

Is this how it works for a new pc build?

1) buy key

2) download iso file from Microsoft

3) burn iso into usb flash 

4) change pc bios to boot from usb

5) install windows via usb (I asume some where in here the key is needed or is that needed in step 2?)
Click to expand...
Anyone can download the ISO file. It will ask for the key on install. Just stay away from E-Bay for the key.

 
I have been buying gaming notebooks from sager

Cali company and you can tweak it like you want.  it's not cheap but these guys do good work

 
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Arizona Ron said:
I haven't built my own PC in about 10 years.  At a glance (and far from a tech guy) I can't see why you wouldn't just buy this instead.

This one

ETA corrected link
Click to expand...
I saw that computer when you first mentioned Tiger Direct but the main game I am going to play is Path of Exile and everyone says to avoid the AMD CPU's as the game has severe problems running on them for some reason.

Also there is no monitor with that build, which I need, which my build contains (this makes mine look more expensive I think than what I am actually getting for just the computer.   So to compare apples to apples, my build costs $750 compared to over a $1000 for that computer.

My build has less SDRAM  (I am getting DDR4 vs the DDR3 in that build) 

My build has twice the amount of SSD storage.

I am not educated enough to know how the graphics cards compare to each other.

Thanks for the link!

 
NewlyRetired said:
Is the entire OS in the ISO file that I put on the USB or does the ISO file just act as a general loader and downloads the OS once it gets things set up on the virgin computer?
Click to expand...
An ISO file is the entire disc image. The link Eulogys gave has a tool, like the one you describe, that you can use to get the ISO file onto a disk or a USB stick or whatever media you're using from a computer that already works before starting on your new, "blank" hard drive. The media u create with the tool will have the full Windows installation files on it.

 
NewlyRetired said:
I saw that computer when you first mentioned Tiger Direct but the main game I am going to play is Path of Exile and everyone says to avoid the AMD CPU's as the game has severe problems running on them for some reason.
Click to expand...
Any gaming PC that is in the ballpark of what you intend to do is overkill for this game.

 
Pigskin Fanatic said:
An ISO file is the entire disc image. The link Eulogys gave has a tool, like the one you describe, that you can use to get the ISO file onto a disk or a USB stick or whatever media you're using from a computer that already works before starting on your new, "blank" hard drive. The media u create with the tool will have the full Windows installation files on it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that makes sense.

I was only asking because the link stated that I only needed 4GB of USB space and I figured Windows 10 was much bigger than that.  Are the files compressed inside of the iso file to fit the whole OS in just a 4GB usb stick?

 
NewlyRetired said:
Thanks, that makes sense.

I was only asking because the link stated that I only needed 4GB of USB space and I figured Windows 10 was much bigger than that.  Are the files compressed inside of the iso file to fit the whole OS in just a 4GB usb stick?
Click to expand...
They are compressed.  

 
Need a new video card.  Had a Radeon 6790.   Machine is 5 years old. Not looking to break the bank but needs dx12 support

 
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The Core I5 has an integrated graphics module.  I am installing a separate GPU card.

Is there any special configuration I need to do to allow the separate graphics card the ability to handle all graphics or will the Core I5 sense the graphics card on the pci bus and automatically off load the graphics work?

 
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NewlyRetired said:
The Core I5 has an integrated graphics module.  I am installing a separate GPU card.

Is there any special configuration I need to do to allow the separate graphics card the ability to handle all graphics or will the Core I5 sense the graphics card on the pci bus and automatically off load the graphics work?
Click to expand...
I had to disable mine in the bios

 
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