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Melon needs computer advice


=VG= Melon Muncher

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Hey all! My old computer has karked it, and now I've nothing but a tablet. So I need a new PC, sadly my computer building knowledge lies somewhere between none and next to none.
So I've come to you guys for some help. Sadly money is an issue, so I'm aiming anywhere up to $700 us. Obviously this won't give me a godbox, but if it can play PR and won't fuck up for no reason, it'll be a step up. I don't need monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers.

Any help is appreciated because I have no clue.
Melon
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I was thinking something like:

Cpu: i5 4690k
Cpu Cooler: Hyper 212 evo
Mobo: H97 Extreme (or any motherboard that supports i5 and uefi)
Ram: Crucial ballistix 8gb
Case: Any mid size case
SSD: Samsung 850 evo 120gb/250gb
GPU: GTX 960 2gb

This build i quickly put together is about $775, but it will run every game you play, just swap the i5 and gpu for something cheaper if you want to get it under $700. Or if you wanna pick out your own parts I can tell you if they're compatible or not and walk you through how to put it together. I don't know much about pre-built computers so if that's what you're looking for I can't really help you there.

Edit: Forgot to add a power supply, a 650 watt should do which adds an extra $50 - $60, but you can still easily swap out a couple parts to bring the total down to $700.
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There are 2 opitons in my opinion You must do:Ask around the net,and consulting to a pro,like for e.g. in Pc stores,thoose guys Know the best what You are gonna need at what price,and after that (or before) go to reddit like Mads said and other sites so You dont fuck up when acctualy buying it.Recommending visting the sites of the pc(and pc parts) that You are interested n.
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THIS RIGHT HERE IS A PERFECT SUGGESTION!

Ben =VG= LAN_WROTE ...

I was thinking something like:

Cpu: i5 4690k
Cpu Cooler: Hyper 212 evo
Mobo: H97 Extreme (or any motherboard that supports i5 and uefi)
Ram: Crucial ballistix 8gb
Case: Any mid size case
SSD: Samsung 850 evo 120gb/250gb
GPU: GTX 960 2gb

This build i quickly put together is about $775, but it will run every game you play, just swap the i5 and gpu for something cheaper if you want to get it under $700. Or if you wanna pick out your own parts I can tell you if they're compatible or not and walk you through how to put it together. I don't know much about pre-built computers so if that's what you're looking for I can't really help you there.



The GTX 960 is a killer card, just below top tier in affordability:performance - no matter which direction you go, this is the card you want until you can afford one of it's big brothers when they come out next year. Do not invest in anything such as 970 or 980 even if you had the scratch: nVidia is coming out with their new line early next year and major GFX "future-proof" or "god machine" purchases should wait until then.

The i5 4670k is amazing for the price and will likely last you a few years, it has enough overhead for minor multi-tasking, and combined with one of those Samsung EVO SSD's, you will get Windows Performance Scores of 7.5 and 7.9 respectively. The 970 GTX rates at 7.9 as well, meaning it tops the Windows Performance rating system. Before anyone jumps down my throat for quoting these silly, almost arbitrary Windows scores, just know I'm using it as a generic point of reference for Melon here.

You're not going to get a much better deal on RAM than the set mentioned, and 8GB (2x4GB) will be more than enough for anything you will ever need. If you are interested in simple overclocking, these systems now have "one-button" auto-overclocking that will attempt to take advantage of RAM with clocks over 1066MHz.
With regards to RAM, speed is the only determining factor, and it is only achieved through overclocking, either with the easy "one-button" mode or getting super-geek and using 3rd party software to adjust voltages and timings. Trust me, the first method is safe, easy, and recommended to use. *edit: So, for your usage, do not bother with any RAM over 1600MHz as you will likely not achieve it unless you get "super-geek" with overclocking.

On that point, overclocking will NOT be necessary, and your CPU (should you choose the i5 mentioned) will start at 3.5GHz per core, and overclock itself as needed in the background to up to 4.0GHz per core. Pretty neat, huh??


So - my advice is to take this list by Ben to an affordable company that can build this system for you, even if you have to order, say, the graphics card separate to get a better deal and slap it in the case when you get it... Finally, you will not need a PSU larger than 650, but if you can afford anything 80+ certified, you will not regret it, and the price difference is usually $30-50 from any standard PSU. You want the 80+, trust me - and a good surge/spike/dip/brown power bar is a good investment as well, but don't spend near $100 for a good surgebar (when you get to around $100 for power protection, it's better to invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply with the same protections + a battery backup)


You can and should plan to use your old hard drive(s) along side any new SSD you add to this system. I am using 240 GB of SSD and other HDD's. The WinOS is on the SSD's along with a few of my more intensive games, the rest of my programs are installed on the HDD's. You will achieve startup times of 20 seconds or so if you have an EVO and i5 combo for your system, it makes putting the PC into Hybernate or Hybrid Sleep pointless, as the entire system could boot in the same time it takes to wake, with more immediate control availability. ;)


So - take this list to a company that builds PC's or start ordering these parts as affordable from NewEgg, Amazon, and the rest and you will be good to go in no time.
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  • 2 weeks later...
My latest build is a amd setup as I got it dirt cheap, an intel cpu is faster core pe core, but eh, whatever.

Running a fx8350 with 8g of ram. a used gtx 770 fancy version, and a 750w power supply along with a samsung 840 evo 128gb ssd

It plays everything I want excellent.

What kind of gaming do you want, multi monitor 4k, or say 1 monitor lower res? That will determines how much cash you need to toss at your system
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Then AMD may be your best budget option like Airbats said. At a compromise, you'll rarely need more than 4GB of RAM, the ATI graphics cards pair well, and hit the budget category, and you'll never need more than a 600 watt power supply. The hard drive will still run just fine, if you can carry over that part from your old PC, or you can try to get a budget HDD or a small SSD to add with a cheap HDD to get the best of both worlds on the cheap cheap. It is very possible to build a system that will play well, record a bit while playing, too.

Someone needs to toss up some AMD CPU's that aren't crap in the budget area, and some ATI cards or even nVidia's that work in the low to mid end, I can't quote any myself. Also, there may be certain Aussie companies with some bundles and even perhaps some Holiday sales coming up, but not sure how long you can wait.
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The whole point of my build was to last 3 - 4 years. I'm actually using an amd build myself, but I upgrade parts every year or so. I'm assuming melon uses the same pc for years which is why I picked parts that would last a long time and play every game in his steam library.

Rotblut has a great build for a temporary pc that would run PR just fine, but the hdd and processor would be a downgrade compared to what melon had. If you have the money It would be better to just spend a couple hundred over budget to have a good pc that would last for years and be a huge upgrade to what you previously had.
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  • 4 weeks later...
Win7 is the way to go, easy and familiar UI, drivers work, large knowledge base for issues online....
Windows 7 handles SSD's just fine - not sure what you're on about keed... some kind of SSD optimization? Would appreciate a kb link or whatever to that info, could be useful for us Win7 users with SSD's...
I've not done anything in CMD for my SSD's and their read/write times are as stated by the manufacturer - lightning fast and impressive boot times.

Of course with Win7, you may want to remove the Windows 10 Upgrade Promotions and stop all the bullshit Telemetry data being sent from the PC to Microsnoop.
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