Help me build a PC?

Atomic77 said:

A store bought PC like my HP Envy was about $700 when I bought it at best buy right before Christmas in 2014. only negative thing about it is that it has HD4600 integrated graphics by intel.

That's why we recommend building your own PC. To be flexible about the components and not having to compromise with the shop's ready models. Here in Greece this is the most common way of buying a PC, build to order. Of course you can also find ready Dell, HP, Asus and others, but it is more common to build your own. It comes much cheaper too. If you buy an OEM computer and build one with exactly the same hardware, the custom-built will be much cheaper! So everyone on a low budget is advised to build his/her own, rather than select a ready model. We also do some market search to make costs even lower. There is no reason to buy all components from the same shop, unless you don't know how to build it yourself and you want the shop to build it.

Buying a ready made (OEM) computer is convenient for the novice, as he just chooses a model he can afford. But there is always some compromise. He either gets something less than he wanted because of cost, or buys something more than he needs and gives more money. If you have the patience to do a little research and build your own it will be cheaper than buying an OEM with same CPU, same graphics card, RAM etc. So when on a tight budget, you either compromise or build your own.

spapakons said:

I would buy a Core-i3 or the cheaper i5 model, 8GB RAM (you can always upgrade it later), a 500GB HDD, a DVD-RW, at least 500W PSU, cheap motherboard and keep the rest of the money to buy an as higher nVidia or AMD model as possible. Don't focus only on video memory, see the model family and the chipset. It is better to buy a higher level model with 2GB RAM than a lower model with 3GB RAM.

So the guide is to buy a medium CPU, at least 8GB RAM, as cheap as possible other devices, at least 500W PSU and then give the rest amount for a good graphics card which will make all the difference. If you start buying i7, expensive motherboard, large RAM etc, you will have to compromise with a medium graphics card and screw performance. Don't make the common mistake most gamers do. CPU and RAM make little difference. The most important component is the graphics card.

Hi there

Don't forget decent HDD's too -- Bad HDD's will KILL any OS. OK for games you might not use much HDD activity but the OS will be slower and sluggish on slow HDD's.

If your budget can afford it get an SSD for the OS -it will make all the difference even (perhaps I should say especially) on a low powered computer.

A 128 GB SSD for the Windows OS can actually be had very cheaply now (under 60 USD these days if you shop around).

Poor HDD's can kill even a top of the range i7 CPU. People always tend to overlook poor HDD performance when analysing systems and on home PC's it's often the biggest bottleneck. Anybody I know who has fitted an SSD has never regretted it and the performance improvement was way beyond what they expected.

Note - the performance of your Game won't improve much (apart from the initial loading and starting) but the overall OS performance will be so much better so the whole experience will be nicer too --well worth the 60 bucks or so IMO.

Cheers
jimbo

Yes, but don't forget he is on a tight budget and 128GB is too small for games (each one can take 2-5GB to install). I say get a 500GB or 1TB hard disk now and change to SSD later.

spapakons said:

Yes, but don't forget he is on a tight budget and 128GB is too small for games (each one can take 2-5GB to install). I say get a 500GB or 1TB hard disk now and change to SSD later.

Hi there
I assumed a desktop type system - so standard HDD for Games -- SSD just for the OS,

Cheers
jimbo

Buying both an SSD and a HDD would need a good amount that would give to buy a slightly faster graphics card. The whole point is to keep all other components to the minimum (apart from CPU, he shouldn't buy anything less than core-i3) to give the rest amount for a good graphics card which is more important. However I'm afraid he has already made up his mind and we are just wasting our time here. I have a feeling he is not going to bother. He will just buy an as expensive OEM computer as he can persuade his parents and that's it. This doesn't necessarily mean it would be the best choice for gaming... "Wearing a cloak doesn't automatically make you a priest", as we say in Greece (in other words, an expensive PC is not necessarily faster or better).

Games should be on the SSD too. They are often huge, and probably loaded more than any utter file on your computer.