Author Topic: buying a new pc  (Read 738 times)

Offline pangea

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buying a new pc
« on: July 05, 2016, 02:04:27 PM »
Am getting close to pulling the trigger on a new gaming pc.  Not interested in building my own as I am not an expert at this.  Am hoping this pc will run AH3 for years to come.  Can afford a decent rig but need some help on picking some of the components.  Have read up on this board and others regarding configuring a gaming pc and think I have a decent idea of what I need.  Just have some questions on a few things.

Right now have narrowed it down to Velocity Micro or Digital Storm.  My previous pc was Velocity Micro and I used it for 9 years until it died awhile back.  It ran AH2 with no problems until the end.  Any input regarding these pc brands would be appreciated.

I know that the video card is very important for AH3.  Planning on getting an NVidia GTX 1070.  What is a "Founders Edition"?  What about hyperclocking?

I have no clue on what motherboards are good/bad.  Any tips on making a choice?

Going with Intel for the CPU.  Is an i5 good enough or should I go with the i7?  Should I get liquid cooling for this CPU?  Should I have the CPU hyperclocked?

Probably going to go with 16 Gb of RAM.  Is it worth the extra money to get 32 Gb?

What are the benefits of getting a sound card vs integrated audio?

750W power supply sufficient?

Lots of questions I know.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Offline Skuzzy

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2016, 02:41:18 PM »
Not commenting on any selections, but we have an NVidia 980Ti with i7 CPU working great with a Seasonic 750W power supply.
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Offline Bizman

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2016, 02:46:56 PM »
Letting a reputable company do the assembly is a good choice, especially when it comes to DOA warranty issues.

I wouldn't bother thinking about the special editions too much. 10% or less difference in numbers doesn't make any real difference. If it does, you'd be starting too low anyway. A well cooled design built by a high tier company will satisfy you for the years to come.

Motherboards? Again, well known quality brands. As a hint, don't pay for extras you won't use. I mean, if a motherboard has a line with only the last letters changing, like "Z97-A, Z97-AB, Z97-ABC" etc., often the cheapest one is the best choice. Their speed is equal, based on the same chipset. The rest is additional features like on-board WiFi etc. Buy what you need.

IMO i5 should do for gaming, heavy video editing and such might benefit from an i7. Remember, you can upgrade second hand parts later rather inexpensively if needed.

Again, 16 GB should suffice. However, get a motherboard that can take 32. You'll never know.

A sound card takes some of the load off the processor. No matter how good a processor you get, it would have to distribute the computing time between audio and other tasks.

750 W is enough, even 600 would do. Get a good, really good one. Seasonic has proven to be a good maker.


Offline guncrasher

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2016, 04:17:03 PM »
be careful you dont order a micro mobo.  unless you really want one.  most of the "stock" computers I see come with one.


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Offline pangea

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2016, 08:44:52 AM »
Thanks very much gents!  This helps a lot.

Offline Masherbrum

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2016, 02:52:47 PM »
Digital Storm is where it is at.   
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Offline morfiend

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2016, 05:19:24 PM »
Check out NCIX.com

 They will build anything you order,for a small fee,often if you purchase an OS they give a discount on the build and pretest before shipping.

  I have had them assemble my last 3 computers,my son has the first 1 and I still have 2,my oldest is about 10yo now and still runs strong!


 Oh and they will price match any component and often have bundle deals that will save you cash!!!  Give their site a look!


    :salute


 PS: I dont own shares or any part of this company,just been good to me.

Offline Chalenge

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2016, 05:26:54 PM »
I recommend Skylake. I just went through a MB going bad (Z87) and so I 'upgraded' to Z97, because the Z87s are impossible to find. I suspect that the same will soon be true for the Z97. The primary reason I chose to stick with Z97 was the simplicity of replacement, since I could 'upgrade' to a similar board by the same manufacturer in a plug-and-play approach. Sure enough a simple BIOS setting and the system never even knew it had a new board (except that Windows complained about activation).

By the way, the Windows 10 activation process when you change a motherboard is NOT the one you are familiar with. It's no wonder MS has been sued and lost over the forced W10 upgrade.
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Offline Gman

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Re: buying a new pc
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2016, 05:37:54 PM »
Bizman's advice is perfect - as for builders, IMO if a reputable local place with good prices/matching, and especially if they have a good rep with RMA/warranty, is a good way to go.  NCIX as stated is one such place, when I was on the West coast I used them frequently in Canada, Memory Express as well - both charge around 50$ USD to assemble your PC, test it for a day or two, and then ship it or have it picked up.  I know many recommend building yourself, but that 50$ is money well spent if you are having the parts/PC shipped, as they will instantly pick up any DOA parts and replace them before you even know about it, where as in my case, to use my place (Mem Express) since I've moved away from their home base is a 500 mile trip/weeks worth of shipping time.  That's worth 50$ to me to know I won't have one of the dozen or so parts not function right out of the box, plus I know their builder(s), and they always do a good job with cable management and such.

Digital Storm, Puget Sound, places like that are great too, price things out with them as well depending on what you want.

As said, Skylake i5 with a 1070 should do you well for a long time for most games at high detail/res settings.  The 1070 will apparently do everything the current Titan can and then some, and if you aren't doing vid editing or other CPU intensive non-gamer activities frequently, you can save $ going from i7 to i5 without noticing much in the way of FPS drops.  If VR is in your future, I've read several places that there is a BIT of a performance gain between the 6600k to 6700k, but I suggest doing your own research into that if its a concern.

I'm running 2 1080 on an 850 PSU in one system (1300 in another) until I get my new PSU in the mail, and it's powering them both fine along with an SSD and 2 other drives, so I'm sure a 750 will more than suffice for a single 1070 and everything else you want.