So, my old gaming laptop "broke" and I want to be able to build my own PC because I heard it's a lot cheaper and you get a better overall computer. 

 

My budget is around $1,000 so I think this is a pretty good computer for the price. Wish I had bought it in may when it was down to 975 and right now it's 1,144 or something like that.

 

Anyways, this is the computer: 

 

 

What do you guys think? Any suggestions and comments are welcome.

 

PS: Can you guys give me some more reason why building a PC is better than just buying something off Dell. Thanks 

Looks pretty damn sweet to me. I haven't had any experience with the OCZ psu however, so you may want to read a few reviews to check that it's a good reliable part since some that i've read suggest it isn't the best choice of manufacturer.

 

Liquid cooler's aren't really proven to be any better than normal fans. Get a decent heatsink and fan instead.

 

It's always better to build your own rig than to purchase from dell because you know it inside out and Dell charges huge amounts for labor.

Edited January 2, 201412 yr by Tom H

Looks pretty damn sweet to me. I haven't had any experience with the OCZ psu however, so you may want to read a few reviews to check that it's a good reliable part since some that i've read suggest it isn't the best choice of manufacturer.

 

Liquid cooler's aren't really proven to be any better than normal fans. Get a decent heatsink and fan instead.

 

It's always better to build your own rig than to purchase from dell because you know it inside out and Dell charges huge amounts for labor.

I ain't going to be building the computer. That's for someone else to do and not for me to fuck up.

Ok here's a few things.

 

First, get 2x 4GB ram and not 1 8GB stick, bad idea.

 

Second, ditch the water cooler. You said you don't even have the will to build it yourself, then I doubt you'll be OCing at all. I doubt you even need a 3rd party Heatsink setup. The default fan that comes with the CPU will be good enough for that + a slight turbo boost. 

 

Third, this is optional. But I recommend Windows 8, you're bottle-necking your system with going with outdated software. 

Pretty good! Although, like Mr. Quiggles said, get 2 sticks of 4, that's what I did. Unfortunately, one of the sticks (on my PC) broke, and I'm glad I got two sticks of 4. You may want to ditch the water cooler, because a heatsink is enough. I've got two Corsair fans both running at 1350RPM and my PC is running smooth. It seems like a good build though! Good luck! 

 

Oh, and, as for your OS, it's personal choice. I hate Windows 8, and I won't be upgrading any time soon, so I'm sticking with Windows 7 right now. Otherwise, again, totally up to you. I don't think there'll be any bottle-necking with Windows 7, because all my parts are pretty new.

So, my old gaming laptop "broke" and I want to be able to build my own PC because I heard it's a lot cheaper and you get a better overall computer. 

 

My budget is around $1,000 so I think this is a pretty good computer for the price. Wish I had bought it in may when it was down to 975 and right now it's 1,144 or something like that.

 

Anyways, this is the computer: 

 

 

What do you guys think? Any suggestions and comments are welcome.

 

PS: Can you guys give me some more reason why building a PC is better than just buying something off Dell. Thanks 

 

Like the other guy said, one stick of ram is a bad idea. If it happens to go bad... your in trouble. Get 2 4gb sticks. Also, Liquid cooling, like you said.. I use it and i overclock, if you don't intent to OC you probably won't need it. depending on how much money you can save, I'd really try to get an intel CPU (I'm an intel guy, but the corei7s are amazing) It looks decent though.

 

Im a huge supporter of building on your own, but your getting charged a huge amount for labor here too. It's much cheaper to actually order the parts off newegg and build yourself, but if you don't have the no how, this is the next best thing.  Looks decent, for sure though, 2 stick of ram man.

 

Ok here's a few things.First, get 2x 4GB ram and not 1 8GB stick, bad idea.

 

Just wondering why is it a bad idea? I only have one stick on 8GB. 

Just wondering why is it a bad idea? I only have one stick on 8GB. 

 

For example, if one of the sticks break, you have one other until you can replace it

Just wondering why is it a bad idea? I only have one stick on 8GB. 

 

One guy mentioned if it breaks, which is a good point. But the real reason is performance.

 

In computer world, 2 is always better than 1. Bad explanation, but 2 level 5 parts will be better than 1 level 10, even though they both add up to 10, the two 5's will be better (Really bad explanation lol). In this case, 2 sticks of RAM is better than 1 because it'll utilize dual channel technology, making it about 10% faster in some cases. 

 

NOTE: When you look at the motherboard you'll see the RAM slots like this (From Left to Right) (1)(2)(3)(4). And usually, 1 and 3 will be a color, and 2 and 4 will be a different color. If you get 2 sticks of ram, they should always be on the same color, so either slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. Otherwise, it's wont utilize dual channel. (Sorry it's a bit complicated to explain :D)

Mr Quiggles is correct, 2x 4GB rather than 1 x 8GB for the RAM.

 

And his bad explanation is also right, kind of....I think...to be fair it really is a bad explanation :P

 

My attempt at an explanation...(don't read it unless you're generally interested, it's quite dull to the non computer minded)

What he is trying to say is better explained if you use "lanes".

 

Single Channel Technology (1 x 8GB RAM chip)

Data travels from the RAM to the CPU, is changed or manipulated, then sent back to the RAM along what is called a BUS. (basically a pathway for data to travel along)

It does this a huge number of times per second usually but, what happens when you send some data along the BUS to the CPU but the CPU is also trying to send some data back along the bus to the RAM?

 

Short story is it can't, the bus is in use by the 1st piece of data travelling to the CPU.

 

Duel Channel Technology (2 x 4GB RAM chips)

Stops the bottlenecks, data can be sent simultaneously to either ram chip and vice versa. While chip 1 might be sending data to the CPU, chip 2 might be receiving data from the CPU.

 

It's the only thing limiting computer speed right now, is the length of the data pathways, your cpu might be better and better each time you upgrade it but you can only send data at a certain speed along the bus. So your cpu ends up storing all the "ready to be sent to the RAM" data in its cache, 

 

It's like driving a bugatti veyron down a single lane country road. You have an engine capable of doing over 200mph but nowhere to unleash all the power.

 

Also as has been said already, get whatever OS you like, I use windows 7 64x because I prefer it to windows 8.

But when they release windows 8.2 get that. Because that will basically be windows 7 after it's had a facelift. :)

 

I've also no experience of AMD stuff, but the build looks pretty damn good.

 

Oh and the guy who said OCZ aren't reliable based on reviews. They are. I've had one in my custom rig since I first built it, it's been flawless. :)

Edited January 5, 201412 yr by LukeD

Mr Quiggles is correct, 2x 4GB rather than 1 x 8GB for the RAM.

 

And his bad explanation is also right, kind of....I think...to be fair it really is a bad explanation :P

 

My attempt at an explanation...(don't read it unless you're generally interested, it's quite dull to the non computer minded)

What he is trying to say is better explained if you use "lanes".

 

Single Channel Technology (1 x 8GB RAM chip)

Data travels from the RAM to the CPU, is changed or manipulated, then sent back to the RAM along what is called a BUS. (basically a pathway for data to travel along)

It does this a huge number of times per second usually but, what happens when you send some data along the BUS to the CPU but the CPU is also trying to send some data back along the bus to the RAM?

 

Short story is it can't, the bus is in use by the 1st piece of data travelling to the CPU.

 

Duel Channel Technology (2 x 4GB RAM chips)

Stops the bottlenecks, data can be sent simultaneously to either ram chip and vice versa. While chip 1 might be sending data to the CPU, chip 2 might be receiving data from the CPU.

 

It's the only thing limiting computer speed right now, is the length of the data pathways, your cpu might be better and better each time you upgrade it but you can only send data at a certain speed along the bus. So your cpu ends up storing all the "ready to be sent to the RAM" data in its cache, 

 

It's like driving a bugatti veyron down a single lane country road. You have an engine capable of doing over 200mph but nowhere to unleash all the power.

 

Also as has been said already, get whatever OS you like, I use windows 7 64x because I prefer it to windows 8.

But when they release windows 8.2 get that. Because that will basically be windows 7 after it's had a facelift. :)

 

I've also no experience of AMD stuff, but the build looks pretty damn good.

 

Oh and the guy who said OCZ aren't reliable based on reviews. They are. I've had one in my custom rig since I first built it, it's been flawless. :)

Oh.. Didn't see that he was only getting one stick of ram, should have picked up on that really.

 

IMO, windows 7 is much better for gaming.

 

According to a friend of mine that works at the local PC shop, they stopped stocking OCZ power supplies since every 1 in 2 of them was being returned within a month of purchase. Either they're really good, or they're really shit. It's kind of based on luck.

Oh.. Didn't see that he was only getting one stick of ram, should have picked up on that really.

 

IMO, windows 7 is much better for gaming.

 

According to a friend of mine that works at the local PC shop, they stopped stocking OCZ power supplies since every 1 in 2 of them was being returned within a month of purchase. Either they're really good, or they're really shit. It's kind of based on luck.

Yeah I agree with you on windows 7, my laptop is windows 8 and I dislike it very much.

To be honest, windows 7 is windows xp's heir to the throne. So to speak :)

 

And yeah it's because they're more of a budget brand, not well named like corsair for example. But I did what you did and checked reviews, it was the best buy for value and had fairly good feedback.

I bought it in the last month or so of 2012. And my pc is still going strong :)

Yeah I agree with you on windows 7, my laptop is windows 8 and I dislike it very much.

To be honest, windows 7 is windows xp's heir to the throne. So to speak :)

 

And yeah it's because they're more of a budget brand, not well named like corsair for example. But I did what you did and checked reviews, it was the best buy for value and had fairly good feedback.

I bought it in the last month or so of 2012. And my pc is still going strong :)

Agreed. I absolutely love Windows 7.

 

Haha, after the experience I had with a budget PSU, I refuse to go near anything that isn't a big well known brand. I had a cheapo PSU in my first rig, and it took out $500 worth of components when it failed on me. Send a nice power surge through my PC.

 

Fair enough if you guys trust them though. I personally don't.

Agreed. I absolutely love Windows 7.

 

Haha, after the experience I had with a budget PSU, I refuse to go near anything that isn't a big well known brand. I had a cheapo PSU in my first rig, and it took out $500 worth of components when it failed on me. Send a nice power surge through my PC.

 

Fair enough if you guys trust them though. I personally don't.

That's understandable, I've never had a surge issue though because everything pc related in my room goes through a decent surge protector which auto trips the power if a surge occurs. That too has been flawless for me :)

There's too much AMD stuff, it will not even power on

That's understandable, I've never had a surge issue though because everything pc related in my room goes through a decent surge protector which auto trips the power if a surge occurs. That too has been flawless for me :)

Oh yeah, I ended up going out and buying myself an UPS with built in surge protection. Wasn't going to make the same mistake twice lol.

One guy mentioned if it breaks, which is a good point. But the real reason is performance.

 

In computer world, 2 is always better than 1. Bad explanation, but 2 level 5 parts will be better than 1 level 10, even though they both add up to 10, the two 5's will be better (Really bad explanation lol). In this case, 2 sticks of RAM is better than 1 because it'll utilize dual channel technology, making it about 10% faster in some cases. 

 

NOTE: When you look at the motherboard you'll see the RAM slots like this (From Left to Right) (1)(2)(3)(4). And usually, 1 and 3 will be a color, and 2 and 4 will be a different color. If you get 2 sticks of ram, they should always be on the same color, so either slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. Otherwise, it's wont utilize dual channel. (Sorry it's a bit complicated to explain :D)

 

Thanks for the explanation. Looks like I better get another sick of memory lol.

Really nice $1000 limit setup. Pretty much agree with everything else these other guys have said to be honest. 

 

 

Oh.. Didn't see that he was only getting one stick of ram, should have picked up on that really.

 

IMO, windows 7 is much better for gaming.

 

According to a friend of mine that works at the local PC shop, they stopped stocking OCZ power supplies since every 1 in 2 of them was being returned within a month of purchase. Either they're really good, or they're really shit. It's kind of based on luck.

 

I'm not looking to argue or anything, but I've always heard Windows 7 is better for gaming than Windows 8. I've run Windows 7 for 3 years and I've had Windows 8/8.1 for about 1 year now. Completely honest, I'm a big gamer and I haven't noticed any difference whatsoever.

 

But let me make this clear, metro version sucks. I only use the desktop version + Start8 Start Button and I honestly don't even realize I have Window 8 sometimes, it's literally the exact same.

 

My rational is you should always buy the newest tech because maybe you won't see a difference right away, but down the road as the manufacturers stop supporting old firmware, or your OS isn't optimized for brand new technology, that's when you'll loose performance. And that's why I said you're bottle-necking yourself. 

I'm not looking to argue or anything, but I've always heard Windows 7 is better for gaming than Windows 8. I've run Windows 7 for 3 years and I've had Windows 8/8.1 for about 1 year now. Completely honest, I'm a big gamer and I haven't noticed any difference whatsoever.

 

But let me make this clear, metro version sucks. I only use the desktop version + Start8 Start Button and I honestly don't even realize I have Window 8 sometimes, it's literally the exact same.

 

My rational is you should always buy the newest tech because maybe you won't see a difference right away, but down the road as the manufacturers stop supporting old firmware, or your OS isn't optimized for brand new technology, that's when you'll loose performance. And that's why I said you're bottle-necking yourself. 

That's fair enough. There's no noticeable difference really, however when I ran tests with my rig, I noticed a 7 FPS drop in windows 8 when running heaven, and a 6 FPS drop in BF4. Sure, it's not noticeable, but it's still there.

 

As well as that, I bloody hate windows 8's design, as you've said, the desktop version is okay, but I still prefer windows 7 for ease of use.

 

My problem is that I don't really pay for windows software if you catch my drift, student budget's are fairly tight and so I'll just upgrade when I see some real bottlenecking take place.