NOTICE: If you have not visited this thread before, please read the December 31 thread update at the bottom of this post.

For quite some time I have been wanting to build a new desktop gaming computer so I could play games like The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series, Just Cause 2, GTA, and other such games the way they were meant to be played. Ever since I got into playing video games back when I was 7 or 8, I have always been on consoles. Until this March, I never even had a computer that was capable of playing much at all.



This cruddy laptop only cost me $299, but it can play a lot of decent games on medium settings. I got it for my birthday in March from a combination of family members. We've never really had a lot of money to throw around on recreational things, but times have changed somewhat. I graduated high school in May, and since June I have been working at FedEx. The first $2,500 I made I didn't even keep a cent of it. I gave it all to my mom to help out with the family, but FedEx's peak season finally ended last Friday, and I made quite a bit of money.



I figure it's finally time to treat myself to the dream PC that I have always wanted. My budget is loosely based on about $1,200, but I do not want to spend that much at all if I don't have to, but I will spend a bit more if it means avoiding corner-cutting performance in favor of price.



WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR IN A DESKTOP PC:

-Be able to play Skyrim on Ultra (maxed out) settings

-Be able to use some texture and graphics mods (like 2k textures and ENB stuff) on top of that

-Have a smooth, non-choppy gaming experience without annoying screen tear, etc.

-Maintain a minimum FPS of about 60 on a screen resolution of 1080x1920 and 120Hz refresh rate

-Cost as far under $1,200 as possible without cutting corners in performance and quality



I have never really been in the computer world, as I have not been able to afford to, but I do read up on computer hardware quite a bit, because I find it really enjoyable. I know I would be a computer enthusiast who builds computers just for the sake of building and benchmarking them, but frankly, I don't have money like that do blow. Anyway, those are my minimum performance demands that I will go with, and I will not be cutting corners.



My question is this: Can I get performance like that for under $1,200? Because I sure as hell want to try if it is possible. Money doesn't grow on trees, ya know? I don't know much about building computers myself, so I considered websites like www.ecollegepc.com and www.ibuypower.com. What do you guys think of websites like that? Or would I be better off building it on my own?



The thing is, I could really use some help, and I have no idea where to start.



THREAD UPDATE 12/31/12:

I pretty much have all of my components picked out, and I would consider this whole matter pretty much resolved. I will list my components at the bottom of this post. If you have any input on what I have chosen, just drop a post on this thread.

I know some things about computer hardware components, but generally not a lot. Whenever I try to research building one on my own, I feel like a deer in headlights. I've heard things like not mixing Intel CPUs with HD Radeon GPUs, and mixing AMD CPUs with GeForce GPUs, but I don't really know if there is any truth beyond that. I know next to nothing about MOBOs, so I am hopeless to try and pick out a MOBO by myself.

I am currently saving up for a new desktop however I got help from most of my friends and mine totals to about 2k so I can't help you that much. I am sure there are plenty of people on here who can help though. Plus I am sure you could make a decent computer for that price.

Any idea what parts you're using in your computer?

Being annoying or invasive towards the forum community is the last thing that I would ever want to do, but does anyone have any sort of advice, help, or solutions that I might find helpful to my computer building situation? I know I may just not be getting responses because of the late hours, so forgive me if this post is unnecessary.

$1200 is a very good sweet spot for a gaming rig if you build it yourself.

Things I would suggest,

Get an intel i7 CPU ( there are few generations of them out now, ivy bridge is the newest I think, it on the 1155 socket)
Get a compatible intel 1155 scoket motherboar, unlike what many might say...you dont need to spend much for a reasonable motherbaord, it's got 2 PCI-E slots and usb 3.0 slots it should be fine.
Next up is ome RAM, 4Gig is your minimum, though 8gig will future proof your for a few year. RAM is dead cheap, only about $50 for 4Gb of corsair RAM.....pick your favorite brand.
Get a good power supply (this is seriosuly important, never scimp on the power supply), 700W is a good point to buy at, and a good quality supply should be usable for 5+ years.
Then you of course need a harddrive, if you want to spend up you could get an SSD and smaller HDD, but I personally dont care if my computer instantly boots up, and HDDs are much cheaper.
The video card too is a very important choice, I dont know what ATI is doing lately, but a Nvidia 660Ti is a really good card for gaming....I have a 560ti (previous genertion) and it still runs everything on highest settings.
Lastly you'll need a case to put it all in, find one you like the look of....though I would spend about $150 for a good one.

Don't forget you'll also need an Operating System (windows 7 or 8, up to you) which is very pricey. Then you'll also need to a DVD drive (bout $20). I know many people dont factor those two into builds....but from scratch they are pretty important.

If you need a monitor LG ones might be cheaper, but there is nothing wrong with them....i've had a 23' inch LG screen for 2 years now and it has had no problems.

Without a monitor a complete build comes in around $1200 from parts supplier I use, though that is pretty rough pricing, fine tuning would get you more money for choice.

If I was going to go with Intel, I was looking at the i5 3570k, are you sure I will need an i7?

nope, as far as I can see i5's are just as good....just be sure to pick the i5 that has 4 cores in it, there are some cheaper ones floating around with only 2 cores.

i7's are just top of the range, but if you need to cut money, switching for an i5 is fine.

For the past hour I have been researching and comparing the 660 ti and the 7950. From what I can tell, it is neck and neck with the two cards depending on the game and circumstances. For my situation (My main game being Skyrim with a 1080p resolution), do you think I should go with the 660 ti? I am no expert, but it looks like (at least for Skyrim) the 660 ti is getting better benchmarks.

EDIT: Yup, it looks like with these two cards they really are just trading blows depending on the game. So I guess I just need to get the one that works better with Skyrim.

yeah, ATI and Nvidia are pretty similar in terms of cost, I couldn't give you good info on comparisons though, I don't like ATI cards.

These are the specs I am looking at (subject to change):

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Heatsink/Fan: Freezer 7 PRO Rev. 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134&Tpk=Freezer%207%20PRO%20Rev.%202
GPU: 2GB GeForce 660Ti http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233240
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint 1TB 7200 HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194&Tpk=CM%20Storm%20Sniper%20Black
PSU: CORSAIR TX Series 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
Disc Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Total cost: $1,105

With that, I manage to get $30 below my suggested budget, and that's after factoring in the OS I completely forgot about until the last second. Is there anything there I should change?

Corsair TX series 650w is still a good supply, and in excess of your needs, $90, puts you back on budget. You should never skimp on PSU, but there's nowt wrong with this one. Or spend the difference on a 3GB 660Ti. Do you already have a mechanical HDD? That SSD will fill up in no time.

Thanks, that now puts me under my $1,200 budget. And yeah, I have a 1TB 7200rpm drive right now that I am not currently even using.

EDIT: I have updated my components list. Care to take another look?

That list above will give you a fine PC.

In regards to the video cards, that 2Gig model is actually better. No game on the market will come close to filling up 2G of video memory, but more importantly is the 2Gig model you linked to has a high clock speed in it, and 3Gig of video memory is way overkill. For example, my gaming PC only has 1 gig (it was an early 560ti) of video memory and has no problem with HD texture mods in skyrim. If you don't believe me, do some google-ing on the subject, thne you can see the actual numbers from benchmarking on the topic.

I will point out that unless you are overclocking a custom CPU cooler isn't really important, the stock intel cooler will do it good......that said though, the stock intel cooler is a real [censored] to actually put in, so a custom one at only $30 will make your like easier.

SSD's are a luxury, all they help with is boot/load times, and the space per dollar is too high for me yet. Thats more personal choice though, I know plenty of people that cant live without their SSD.

That PSU is good, I've put that exact model into gaming PC's I've built for other people.

Thanks for all the great advice. Now that I think about it, I will go back to the 2GB model, because it does have better clock speeds, and I wouldn't be using 3GB, just like you said. But about the SSD, I was going to tell you that I could never go back to a regular HDD after using my Crucial M4 256gb SSD in this laptop when it dawned on me. Why not just put my old HDD back in my laptop and use the SSD I already have for the new PC?

Okay, before I finalize my decisions and start confirming this set-up on a few other forums I frequent I do have one major question that could influence my buying decision. But first, here is my current and most updated list:


Motherboard: http://www.tinyurl.com/skyrimmotherboard
CPU: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimcpu
Heatsink/Fan: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimheatsinkandfan
GPU: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimgpu
RAM: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimram
HDD: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimhdd
Case: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimchassis
Case Fans1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103077
Case Fans2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103022
PSU: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimpsu
Disc Drive: http://tinyurl.com/skyrimdvddrive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium ($25 - Deal from a friend)
Total cost: $1,213

Basically what happened was that I realized that several of the items on the list have rebates, so I went ahead and upgraded to a GTX 680. My question is, Do you think it's worth it, or should I stick with the GTX 660Ti?

Shameless bump from some obscure far-away page.

There is absolutely no reason to get an i7 if all you are doing is gaming.

This, the only difference between an i5 and an i7 is the i7 can use hyperthreading and no game can take advantage of hyperthreading so it effectively offers absolutely zero benefit to gaming.


That's a really solid build that should last you for years to come. Only thing I would add is a 60-120GB SSD to keep Windows and maybe some games on assuming you can afford to stretch your budget a little further. As far as the question of the 680, it is noticeably more powerful than the 660, it all just depends on what games you are playing currently. The 680 can handle any game out there right now on max settings on a single monitor setup with ease, and probably will continue to do so for the next two years or so, the only cards as strong/stronger being the 7970 and the 690/7990 respectively. The 660 is starting to show it's age, though it can still play most games on max right now it will show some struggle with the most modern demanding games like BF3 and Crisis 2. This is assuming high resolution like 1920x1080. If you are playing on a lower resolution the 680 would just be overkill and a waste of money.

Thanks for the information. Yeah, I already have a SSD (Crucial M4 256gb) on this temporary laptop that I will be using as my OS and steam folder SSD. The drive that I have listed there is for everything else.

There are a couple of questions that I have about building a PC myself, as I have never done it before.

1. Do I need this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261003? Since I have never done anything like this before, I have absolutely no tools for working on computers, and the wrist strap thing that comes with it apparently neutralizes the chance of damaging components from a static discharge.

2. Should I replace the stock heatsink with something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007? I have been researching building computers for a few weeks now, and I have heard this exact compound mentioned over 50 times.

1. No, a phillips screwdriver and some scissors to cut cable tie ends is all you really need. The wrist strap is nice for peace of mind, but not necessary as long as you touch your hand to some metal once in a while, such as the computer case itself.
2. That aftermarket heatsink your buying should come with a tube of thermal compound, which should be sufficient.

Only thing you could add is more case fans. Can't have too many case fans. NVidia can run cooler than Radeon, but a 680 will (obviously) run hotter than a 660Ti.

EDIT: Sorry, the formatting of the post somehow got trashed, I will just post it again.

Alright, thanks for the advice. I will probably go for the wrist strap alone, but I won't be needing anything else.


Since I upgraded from the 660Ti to the 680, I was thinking the same thing. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194&Tpk=CM%20Storm%20Sniper%20Black&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=4166869&SID=v8knd5zms7me comes with 4 fans already, but I did notice this in the case details:

1 x 120mm or 140mm bottom fan (optional)

2 x 120mm side fan (optional)

If I am understanding this correctly, that means I can install three additional fans on top of what already comes in the case. If this is the case, what three fans should I go for?

Fans are just fans, you get two flavours, those that make a little bit of noise, and those that make less noise but cost a fraction more.

[As regards my comment on GPU ram, 2GB is fine, but Skyrim is an odd one out among games. It will run on half a gig, and just about any game is fine with 2GB, but you can add a shedload of mods. If and only if you go hardcoe with HD texture add ons or ENB, you can run out. Official textures and content, not graphical improvements, and 2GB is loads]